In December 1809, the Marquis of Rothena, near the suburb of the old town of Lyon, was warm and comfortable, quiet and peaceful.

But sixteen years ago, in December 1793, a special resolution voted by the National Assembly of Paris was first conveyed to the aristocratic manor near Lyon.

This is a murderous resolution against the city of Lyon, which was finally conquered, which ends with two concise sentences below: "Lyon opposes freedom, and Lyon no longer exists."

According to the final trial requirements of the National Convention, all the houses in Lyon must be demolished and the rebellious city must be razed to the ground. All the monumental buildings in the city should be turned into ashes; those involved in the rebellion, both the weak and the women and the children, must be identified one by one, without mercy and mercy, and are subject to the ruling of the death penalty.

It was in this Marquis of Rothena that there were two famous figures from the Revolutionary era, one was named Collo de Bois and the other Joseph Fouche, who were the new commissioners who implemented the resolution of the National Convention in Paris. Not long ago, the two teamed up to expel Kudon, the former commissioner of the National Convention in Lyon, on the grounds that he was indecisive and too rude.

Now, Kloe de Bois and Joseph Fouche decided to correct the mistakes of their ex. Two days later, it turned out that the order that was passionate to scare the people of Lyon became a hideous reality under the active planning of the two commissioners who entered the Marquis Manor.

Starting from early December 1793 to the end of January 1794, within two months, the engineers used thousands of tons of ** to razed all the landmark buildings in Lyon, including the city hall, church, school, monastery, libraries, textile factories, and wealthy areas. At the same time, nearly 3,000 Lyon citizens were sentenced to death after being subjected to efficient trials.

In order to speed up the killing efforts, the commissioner De Boois called artillery to assist, and the shotguns torn the body of the prisoner into pieces. However, Fouche felt that this was too inefficient and seemed cruel, so he ordered the soldiers to tie the suspect's limbs, then put the 24-pound iron ball directly into the Rhone River. He laughed and said that the rebels could walk all the way to the Mediterranean to look for the rescue of the British and the Royalists.

Now, 16 years have passed, the era of the Great Revolution has long ended. Time has healed the war trauma of France's third largest city (some say the second largest). The city of Lyon, once the most important silk production place in Europe, has risen again. It not only restored the glory of the former textile city, but also became the royal factory for members of the Napoleon royal family.

However, the Marquis of Rothena, which had witnessed the bloody history, gradually fell into desert until 1806 when the emperor's sister, Princess Polyna, "buyed" the manor and sent craftsmen to repair it as a palace for her journey between Turin and Paris. But most of the time, the Marquis of Rothena seemed a little deserted because there were only a few gardeners and handymen responsible for the care.

On the morning of December 1, he accompanied the Duke of Desay and his group to enter the Marquis of Rothana. A captain officer issued a license to use Princess Polina to the housekeeper who stayed behind the manor, announcing that the Marquis of Rothana was temporarily requisitioned by Grand Duke Hruna. The captain also took out a bag of francs and handed them to the housekeeper, asking him to send someone to clean the inside and outside the manor, and hired a chef in the city to buy all kinds of ingredients, saying that he wanted to welcome the arrival of a prince.

At noon the next day, Prince Eugen, who had just arrived in Lyon, and his family and his entourage went to the Marquis Manor as scheduled. The Duke of Desai, who had been waiting outside the door in advance, warmly embraced his close friend who had not seen for a long time, and also gave it to his goddaughter, Prince Eugen's eldest daughter, an exquisite handmade toy from Catalonia, which immediately won the favor of the little girl.

After a sumptuous but not luxurious lunch, accompanied by Miss Litisia, Princess Eugen's wife, Princess Ameria Augusta, brought her daughter under 3 years old, to visit the garden and enjoy this ancient Burgundian manor.

Desai and Eugen's other entourages also accompanied him, leaving only the Duke and the Prince to discuss in secret in the study room of the main building of the manor. The soldiers on duty outside the door had informed the Marquis of many attendants in the Marquis' Manor in advance that no one could approach the corridor passage of the study, nor did they need to provide services to the two distinguished guests.

In the initial time, the room was filled with a peaceful atmosphere, and the laughter of men came from time to time. It was a pleasant topic for both Desai and Eugen to continue lunch, such as the great achievements of the Desai divisions in various parts of Spain, the excellent performance of the Italian legion commanded by Eugen in the Second Danube Battle, etc.

But soon, the happy and harmonious scene came to an abrupt end. It was the temporary owner of the study. Desai said his true intention when it was very disagreeable: I hope Prince Eugen can convince his mother, Queen Josephine, to divorce the emperor on his own initiative.

Immediately, Prince Eugen's hysterical roar and a tight gasp came from the study. Then, several exquisite porcelains were thrown on the floor, making a sound of shattering piercing the eardrums.

Desai, sitting on the long sofa, witnessed all this, felt his scalp numb, his hands and whole body tremble slightly. It was not because his brother, who was worried that he could not calm his anger, but because he sighed, but because he fell on the floor and turned into ruins. It was a time traveler who could see that these pieces were royal tributes produced by the official kilns of the Song and Yuan dynasties.

If he had known this, Desai would have chosen a grocery room in the manor as the reception room for this secret talk. Now that he is better, he is worried about how to explain to Princess Polina.

Desai's indifference made Eugen very angry. After a storm, his former close friend didn't say a word, just staring at the fragments on the floor in a daze.

"Andrew Desay!" The prince waved his arm and shouted loudly at the duke who was sitting on the sofa: "Why do you also act as an emperor lobbyist, hoping that my poor mother, my sister, and myself will suffer this endless shame."

Desai sighed, pointed to the porcelain piece on the floor, and said in a conversation: "Once the relationship breaks, it will be like broken porcelain and will never be restored. The emperor needs a queen who can bring to his heirs, which is a fact that no one can change."

"But I have convinced my mother to accept the emperor's illegitimate son, or other members of the Bonaparte family, as the heirs of the empire." Eugen slightly eased his tone, but was still trying to defend.

Desai raised his head and looked at the angry lion in front of him. But he was still Eugen two years ago, a handsome young man with a rosy face, flat blond hair, light blue eyes, straight nose, tough chin lines, delicate hands, slender feet, and a short beard. If he had not led his troops to fight or welcome a grand occasion, the prince of the empire would always wear a dovetail top, a simple cloak, and a dark striped tie tie tightly tied around his neck.

Desai tried hard to maintain a soothing tone and said to Eugen: "But the emperor doesn't want to! In fact, what you know better than me is that since 1806, when Napoleon had his first illegitimate son, he had the crazy idea of ​​deposing the queen. However, the emperor at that time failed to convince the royal family members of Austria or Russia to marry princesses from both countries. To be honest, my dear friend, Napoleon believed that the queen had completed her historical mission, brought a bad Corsican general to the upper class in Paris, and created a circle of aristocratic interests for the latter.

Now, France has become a vast empire with a vast territory, with a wise and powerful war emperor, who also has to lead the subjects under the empire and prepare to continue to conquer the European continent and even the entire world. How could Napoleon give such a rich heritage to his illegitimate son who is not justified? As for the Bonaparte family, the emperor cared more about Napoleon's own blood relationship. From the core, our emperor still retains the paranoid character of the ancient Romans."

Eugen himself knew very well that everything Desai described was just that he could not face the facts. Eugen loved his mother and his stepfather, and sincerely wished the emperor and the queen to live in harmony and stay together for the rest of their lives. For this reason, Eugen once publicly stated that he was willing to give up all power and status, but in the end things went against his wishes.

After hesitating for a moment, Desai decided to tell the last sentence.

"Even if you refuse to persuade the queen to divorce on his own initiative, Napoleon still has too many means to force the aristocratic house to end the marriage between the emperor and the queen. Napoleon's biggest loss was nothing more than the ridicule and humiliation of the powerful and powerful countries in various countries in a short period of time. However, a diplomatic note or a military threat can make the nobles in the entire European continent shut up quickly.

But in this way, I would not continue to talk about what you and your mother will encounter in the future. You have been familiar with history and should be clear about how the British monarch Henry VIII treated his disobedient queen during the Tudor era; similarly, Napoleon also read the history of British politics, and he would try his best to imitate it."

The Tudor dynasty is not so much a history of the rise and fall of a prominent dynasty, but rather a romance of paranoid and wife-killing maniac. Especially during the period of Henry VIII, this British king who was talented, inflated and ignored the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, married six wives in his life, leaving countless controversies in history.

The Duke of Desai's words were like the last straw that crushed the camel, completely defeating Prince Eugen's entire psychological defense. He moaned like a whimper, collapsed on the bench behind him, and then buried his head deeply in his arms, as if he was escaping, regretting, or cursing something.

Desai stood up from the sofa, walked over, patted his friend's back with compassion, and said softly: "Since the emperor has made up his mind, he cannot hit the stone with his eggs. Why not compromise actively, retain his current power and status, and wait for the future opportunity. Hehe, Napoleon wants to keep the throne of the French Empire to his son. My dear friend, are you not the emperor's son? Even if the princess Ollidi gave birth to a prince for Napoleon as she wished, there will be too many accidents in the next 18 years. Similarly, the illegitimate son of the emperor and the Polish lady cannot avoid the troubles of growing up!"

...

The secret talk between the duke and the prince finally evolved into a conspiracy between two young powerful people with similar pursuits.
Chapter completed!