Count of Monte Cristo

Saturday finally arrived.

The Count of Monte Cristo arrived at the Villa Auteuil at noon on Saturday.He came to review the work of his new butler, Bertuccio.The Count of Monte Cristo turned around and expressed his satisfaction. Sure enough, it is satisfying to let familiar people restore what he is familiar with.However, the Count of Monte Cristo still made some changes. For example, the restaurant used to entertain guests is beautifully decorated, the largest master bedroom is also luxurious and exquisite, and even the study next to it is very satisfactory.Mr. Bertuccio had fully demonstrated his wit in furnishing and the quickness of his execution.The butler had intended to fill the anteroom, the stairs, and the mantelpiece with flowers, whose scent filled the house with a strange atmosphere, a place of happiness and the beginning of tragedy.

The villa was still so bleak and gloomy on the first night, full of disgusting smells, but now it glows with vigorous vitality.The servants are busy and orderly for the upcoming dinner.

There are only two places in the whole villa that have not been changed. One is a room on the second floor. This room is located on the left corner of the second floor, and there are spiral stairs for going up and down.There is also the small garden where the hosts often take a walk after dinner. The place has not been changed in any way, and it still looks depressed, decayed and lifeless. Once you enter, you can smell the smell of carrion from the dead, which is incompatible with this villa.As for that room, Bertuccio didn't open it, he subconsciously stayed away from that room.

At six o'clock sharp, there was the sound of horseshoes at the gate, and the guests came one after another. Monte Cristo smiled at the gate and waited for the guests who came tonight.Lin Ke was rehearsing his good show in the backyard.

The first to come was Captain Montlain, who was riding a very beautiful horse, which they had won yesterday from Monte Cristo in the horse race.Montaigne looked elated and excited.Instead of handing the horse to the groom, he led the horse into the stable by himself.

Next came Minister Secretary Debray and Baroness Danglars and the famous banker, Baron Danglars.The Count of Monte Cristo noticed that the Baroness Tanglars looked a little strange, and the attitude of the Baron towards him was not as respectful as before. He didn't even help the Baroness get off the carriage, and he jumped out of the carriage by himself. .The baroness almost sprained her foot when she got out of the car, but thanks to Debray's support, she was saved from falling down and making a fool of herself.

"Hello, Madame." The Count of Monte Cristo smiled. "Your presence has made this villa even more beautiful. I hope you have a good time tonight."

"Thank you." Mrs. Tanglars replied palely.Her voice was weak, as if suffering from a serious illness.

The Count of Monte Cristo didn't seem to notice her different behavior. He pointed to the huge vase in front of the door and said to her, "It was originally made of two birch trees, but I think these Chinese vases are more suitable for the villa here. Madame , how do you feel?"

"How did such a large vase be made? You seem to like Chinese things very much?"

"Yes. I think the East is a magical country. And" the Count of Monte Cristo paused, "Madame, please wait a moment." He greeted Debray and Baron Danglars, and asked Bertuccio to welcome them into living room.Following his movements, Baron Danglars had already greeted Monte Cristo, and snorted coldly as he passed by his wife.

It was unimaginable before that Mrs. Danglars should have paid no heed to her husband's unreasonableness.The count of Monte Cristo curled up his lips and showed a smile, which frightened Mrs. Tanglars for no reason, and then she heard the count of Monte Cristo say: "Besides, this vase is said to be able to verify those evil souls, everything they have done Evil things can’t be hidden, the truth will always come out.”

Madam Danglars suppressed her expression, "I want to go in first, Your Excellency the Earl."

"I'll accompany you in, you look bad, do you need to go to the female guest room to rest for a while?"

"Then thank you for your kindness."

The Count of Monte Cristo asked his maid to take his wife to the ladies' lounge.

Then came several other guests, among them the Marquis George and the Viscount Franz, the Viscount Albert, and the Viscountess Cermont, who brought a niece of hers.The count chatted with them in the living room.

They looked at the layout of the living room and were full of praise.The earl introduced the origin of these decorations to them one by one, and each of them deepened the understanding of the wealth of the earl.

"Major Bartolomeo Cavalcanti and Viscount Andrea Cavalcanti have arrived!" Bertuccio announced loudly.

The Count of Monte Cristo stood up and walked out quickly. Seeing the Count's expression, the others also looked out of the door curiously.

People stared at the two men who came in, the older one had a gray breath and wore a major's uniform, and next to him was a young man about Franz's age, well dressed and ruddy.

As soon as the two new guests came in, their eyes glanced from the father to the son, and then naturally stopped on the latter, and began to discuss him.

"Cavalcanti!" said Debray.

"What a name!" said Montaigne.

Debray whispered, "He looks a little nervous, you can see that his eyes are erratic."

"Is this your first time attending a banquet?" Another youth asked.

"Who are these gentlemen?" asked the Baron Danglars of Monte Cristo.

"Cavalcanti."

"This is the surname of an Italian nobleman," Menglian said.

Danglars asked: "Then they must be very rich?"

"Maybe. Nobles are always rich." The Count of Monte Cristo was ambiguous.

Suddenly Lord Georges spoke. "Ah, that's right! You don't know the Italian nobles. The Cavalcanti family is the descendant of the prince. Their task is to spend money." Steven deliberately dragged his tune.The Count of Monte Cristo didn't show any expression. He said to Danglars, "A few days ago they said they wanted to contact you about something. It just so happened that you came today, so I invited them over. I don't think you would mind?"

Danglars' eyes lit up at George's words, and after hearing what the Count of Monte Cristo said, he immediately got up, "They must be very interesting."

"What are they doing in Paris?" asked Mrs. Danglars suddenly, without speaking.

"A rich father came to Paris with his handsome unmarried son, maybe for fun, maybe to find a Parisian lady?"

"It's a wonderful idea!" Baron Danglars' tone was unbearable. Monte Cristo noticed the disgust in the baroness's eyes, but restrained her again, and she stopped talking.At this time Danglars had gone to greet the father and son.

Jacob cried: "Mr. Villefort and his wife are here!"

"Now our guests are all here! Dear guests, let's move to the restaurant!"

The Count of Monte Cristo noticed that Bertuccio was not at his post sensitively. Bertuccio should be receiving him at the front door, but now Jacob was replaced.He frowned and summoned a servant to give some instructions, and then went to the restaurant with the guests.

As soon as the guests stepped into the restaurant, there was a sound of surprise from the Parisian nobles, because the food on the table was something they had never seen before. It was more like a food exhibition than a dinner.All the food on this table can only appear in fairy tale books, all kinds of strange and delicious.Those scents are wafting out.

They sat down one by one and began to eat dinner.

Monte Cristo, noticing the astonishment on the faces of all, began to laugh jokingly. "Gentlemen and ladies, when a person's wealth cannot be calculated, all he has to do is how to enjoy it to make himself happy and comfortable. Do you agree with Major Cavalcanti? My goal is simple, to enjoy what I have What I can enjoy, research what I don’t know, and accomplish what I long for. The Orientals have a story, and I want to share it with you.”

Everyone expressed curiosity.

"There was an emperor in China, he was born with wealth and status, so he enjoyed it a lot. But it didn't last long, his country was broken by another person, and the poor emperor became a prisoner, making cattle for the enemy Ma, the enemy did not kill him because he was pitiful. Although the enemy spared his life, the enemy insulted him, humiliated him, tortured him and killed his relatives, leaving him alone and living a life worse than death. This emperor He wanted to die many times, but he endured it. He felt that he could not just die like this, he must win back his country, his status and dignity!" The Count of Monte Cristo took a sip of water, and the guests They were not attracted by the story of the Count of Monte Cristo, they were just politely listening to the Count of Monte Cristo, and it could be seen from their faces that they were not interested in the story.The Count of Monte Cristo didn't care, and he went on to say, "So the emperor studied day and night, and he told himself to take revenge every day. He slept on a branch full of thorns, drank bitter bile, reminded himself Failure, pain, and family hatred! He secretly exercised and recruited troops. He carefully arranged his power, and he even bribed the ministers around the enemy to present beautiful women to the enemy."

"Beauty trap," Albert said.

"Yes, the emperor has been working tirelessly like this for ten years. He finally got his country back in one fell swoop. It took him ten years to get the result he wanted." Count of Monte Cristo The last sentence doesn't make sense.

"Beauty tricks in ancient and modern China and abroad are always very useful."

"All of this is extraordinary," said the Viscountess of Kermont, "but, Your Excellency, is there any deep meaning in the story you told? Are we discussing the theme of revenge? Then you should ask Hamlet, haha... ..." She giggled.

"Yes, ma'am. Our theme tonight is revenge."

"Revenge? Women don't have enemies."

"Why so sure?" Steven asked.

The Viscountess of Kemont laughed, "A woman is innocent and kind. She never persecutes others. How can there be enemies and have a relationship with revenge. And," she blinked, "Even if a woman made a mistake, wouldn't those enemies still act like you?" Was it poisoned like that in Hamlet?"

"Revenge does not distinguish between men and women," said the Count of Monte Cristo.

"Your Excellency, do you have any enemies?"

"I?"

"Yes."

"Why do you think so?" The Count of Monte Cristo said in amazement, "I don't think there will be my enemy in this world."

"why?"

"Who wants to be the enemy of money?"

"Others don't want to be enemies with money, but they can be enemies with the owner of money." Steven said casually.

"Your Excellency the Marquis, you seem deeply moved."

"You see, as far as I know, this villa has been completely changed within a week after you bought it. This is the power of money. But Your Excellency, if the source of your money is disturbing If so, can it also be a cause of hatred?"

"Yes." The Count of Monte Cristo raised his eyebrows, "I agree with you, but I disagree with your assumption. The reason why wealth makes people's hearts is that it is mysterious and omnipotent. Human beings always think that they pursue The deeds of wealth are protected by God, and the sharp edge of hatred cannot fall on him."

Madame de Villefort suddenly uttered a cry, as if in pain. "Women are always weak. I am a little scared when I hear such a scary topic." Her face was so pale that she almost caught up with Mrs. Danglars, and she didn't know what she was thinking of.Everyone stopped this topic one after another, and several ladies comforted her in whispers.There was silence for a while, and everyone changed the topic while eating dinner.

"Yes. I totally agree with Marquis Georges." Debray smiled obsequiously at Steven, and then flattered Monte Cristo and said: "Your changes are really amazing. I still remember when Mr. Saint-Meran When it was listed for sale in the newspapers, the house was gloomy and frightening."

"Yes, Monsieur Meillan!" said Danglars, "this is the prosecutor's house."

Madame de Villefort suddenly uttered a cry, as if in pain. ""

"My God! It looks really scary! If you hadn't invited us tonight, Count of Monte Cristo, I wouldn't have stepped here." The Viscountess of Kemont held her chest and said, "It turns out that The house of the prosecutor's father-in-law, if not because of the trust in the prosecutor's prestige, I would have thought that terrible crimes must have happened here. Earl, how did you think of buying it? Your previous villa was very beautiful."

Everyone intentionally changed the topic by coincidence. The themes of revenge and money are the motifs of human beings. If you talk about revenge for so long, it cannot be separated from money.And these two sensitive topics are involved in them, no one is clean, and no one's wealth is clean.

"It is the sole responsibility of my butler. I am sorry, Viscountess, but I thought you would like the house."

"I believe Earl, you will definitely decorate this house beautifully, and I must make a good restaurant."

"Of course."

"Then Mr. Prosecutor, have you lived here before? You must be familiar with this place." The Count of Monte Cristo seemed curious.

There was sweat on Villefort's forehead, he wiped it with a handkerchief, and then said with a smile: "Yes, my father-in-law was still there at that time, and it was very comfortable to live here."

"You look very pale." The Count of Monte Cristo asked with concern. "Does my house remind you of something unpleasant?"

"No, it's okay..." Villefort forced a smile, and swallowed the glass of wine in front of him in one gulp.

……

Dinner is over in an hour.

The Count of Monte Cristo showed them around the house, and everyone expressed their admiration for the house, and the topic revolved around the property.All were smiling, except Prosecutor Villefort and the Baroness Danglars.At the dinner table just now, Prosecutor Villefort was taciturn, and occasionally spoke with a reluctant expression. Of course, others thought that Prosecutor Villefort saw his former residence and thought of his wife who died of illness and his past life.They don't think it's weird.

They passed through room after room, most of which were furnished in an oriental mood, with cushions and settees instead of beds, and various pipes instead of furniture.The living room is full of the most precious masterpieces of the great ancient painters; the ladies' lounge is full of Chinese embroidery, with mysterious colors, grotesque patterns and extremely precious textures.

They finished visiting the second floor. In that room, Mrs. Tanglars looked like she was about to faint. Mrs. Villefort thought it was because the air inside was too stuffy, so she hurriedly asked everyone to go out.The Count of Monte Cristo saw it too, and proposed a walk in the garden.He also said that he had prepared a gift in the garden and hoped everyone would like it.

But as soon as the Count of Monte Cristo mentioned the garden, Madame Danglars' expression became more frightened, and her body trembled. She said with a trembling voice, "I'll stay here, you go."

The Viscountess of Cermont smiled and said, "We don't worry about you being here alone. Let's go, let's go and see what surprise the Earl has prepared for us." Walk to the garden.As for Prosecutor Villefort, he stayed at the end, but the Count of Monte Cristo smiled and said, "Your Excellency, you must know this house better than I do, please go ahead." The others also looked at him, Villefort had to go forward.

The garden was eerie.

But as soon as the footsteps of these people sounded, many candles lit the garden.

Many clowns in costumes stood in front of them, and the music started, but it was sad and eerie, and it gave people goosebumps floating in the night sky.

"This is the after-dinner entertainment program." Heidi came out with a gentle smile in her white clothes. "I hope you like it."