Amid the endless applause, the smiling Duke of Desai came from the stairs on the platform. Accompanied by many followers, he actively integrated into the more than 100 guests present. Whenever he met a familiar or unfamiliar guest, Grand Duke Hruna would give warm greetings and deep blessings, and would send praise and encouragement, with sincere words and warm feelings.

Ten minutes later, the band began to play waltz. The guests retreated to both sides of the hall, leaving a large open space. Then, Desai bowed gracefully to invite the mayor's newlywed wife, Baroness Aldia. After receiving the latter's permission, he pulled up the arm of the petite and beautiful mayor's wife, and the two walked into the dance floor together to dance the first dance. Because the Duke of Desai did not bring his dance companion, Mayor Aldia could only invite the chairman of the Hruna Chamber of Commerce, Tiffany's wife, to appear as the second pair...

Just as many guests exchanged dance partners and followed the hosts of today's cocktail party to the dance floor one after another, Barcelona's senior parliamentarian, majority leader, 35-year-old Decha Sanluge got out of the crowd watching the dance floor and walked towards the cold dining table in the banquet hall because he noticed Archbishop Amat alone, staying there.

Archbishop Amat was not only the godfather of Decha Sanluge, but also his savior. Twelve years ago, during the riot of the Spanish king's army brutally suppressing the Catalans, Sanluge's father, one of the important leaders of the rebel army, was executed by the king's army, and his noble title was also deprived of it. It was Archbishop Amat who protected the family of Sangluge. Later, the Archbishop himself went to Madrid and successfully persuaded the Spanish king to return the title of the baron to Sangluge.

In the eyes of many Catalans, this Archbishop Amat, who has French descent, is just a villain who knows how to flatter and bully the superiors and behaves. For decades, he has either tried to please the Bourbon dynasty (the former Spanish king Ferdinand VII imprisoned by Napoleon, and is also a descendant of the overthrown Bourbon dynasty of France. For details, he obeys the Bonaparte family, and is now cheering for the descendants of Poland. But in Sanluge's mind, the Archbishop is indeed the wisest and most rational Catalonia. Although the latter has French descent, he loves Catalonia more than most Catalans.

It was Archbishop Amat who had lost all his personal face and tried his best to please the then Spanish king Carlos IV, and even used his influence in the Roman Catholic Church, which allowed the Catalan Parliament to retain some of its autonomy for 12 years. The most important one was to win the right to tax independently, rather than sending greedy tax officials to the king;

It was Archbishop Amat who convinced the liberal aristocrats and, together with Mayor Aldia, surrendered to the French army at the beginning of the Peninsula War. The Mediterranean Pearl on the Iberis Peninsula survived the war.

At the same time, he was Archbishop of Amat, who was the first to sell all his family’s property and lobby for liberal aristocrats and wealthy merchants to donate money, satisfying the economic exploitation of French generals, allowing Barcelona’s important industrial pillars, a large number of textile workshops to survive, and economic prosperity can continue to maintain. Think about the city of Zaragoza, which was once as famous as Barcelona, ​​was almost razed to the ground by the French artillery fire, and countless casualties were injured.

A few weeks ago, Marshal Ogero, the most barbaric and greedy "bandit marshal" in France, was arbitrarily and was about to drag the entire Southern Catalonia into the abyss of riots. Everyone was helpless, Archbishop Amat was not at all panicked. After learning about the profound conflict between Marshal Ogero and Grand Duke Khruna, he only sent people to spread a few rumors, which prompted the civilized French general to make up his mind to undermine the barbaric French Marshal in one fell swoop.

...

Perhaps it was because he was old, he was not smart and had no clue. It was not until Councillor Sanluge walked to him and deliberately increased his pace. Archbishop Amat, 62, realized that he shook his head and stopped the godson who had been cleansed himself, and now Councillor Sanluge wants to quote certain topics.

Then, the Archbishop of Barcelona put down the plate full of food in his hand, and slowly wiped the corners of his mouth with a snow-white napkin, then pointed to the delicacy and whispered to the MP:

"Xiao Decha, you should try this French red wine baked snail. It tastes fragrant and tender, and it makes people feel endless after eating. Unfortunately, it's too troublesome to eat. You need to hold the tongs with your right hand and hold the double-tooth fork with your left hand. It takes some trouble to take out the delicious snail meat from the shell. I am old and I feel it's still troublesome, and it's far less convenient than eating pastries and other cold meals. However, it's different for young people. You have time and strength, but you just lack a little in terms of patience."

Sanluge nodded silently. He wiped his hands with a wet wipe, picked up the tongs and double-tooth forks, carefully stripped the snail shell for his godfather, took out the snail meat, and put it on the bishop's plate.

"Very good, my child!" Archbishop Amat praised with a smile, staring at his eyes like kind parents looking at his children. "You are as good as your father, and you know better how to keep your own opinions, listen and think about others' ideas! Well, let's talk about it now, it seems that you have your own ideas about that Duke."

"Godfather, I'm very worried!" Councillor Sanluge said bluntly that in front of his godfather, Sanluge can achieve unreserved trust without any concealment.

"It is no secret that the Duke of Desai's secret battle against Emperor Napoleon will inevitably make Paris aware and vigilant, and will even trigger a military unrest between the Grand Duke and the Emperor. I am very worried that Catalonia will be re-entered in the war. While temporarily interrupting relations with Cerlia (Spain's Provisional Central Government), we cannot expect the Duke of Desai to win the final victory. We must maintain a good relationship with the emperor of France, and of course, the one from Madrid."

The Archbishop did not immediately take over the topic of the parliamentarian. He glanced at the banquet hall casually, and then, calmly, led Sanluge to the small balcony facing the back garden.

"Oh, how do you determine that the relationship between Desai and Napoleon is rigid, and then destroy, or even hostile?" the Archbishop began to ask, and his wrinkled face slowly closed his smile, and a wise light flashed with his originally muddy eyes.

Member of the Sonluge hurriedly said: "This is all a well-known public secret. After the status of Desai's Polish crown prince was secretly stripped off by Napoleon, he was enthroned to the desolate Hruna. There were rumors a month ago that the emperor was still preventing the de facto marriage between Grand Duke Kruna and Princess of the Saxony Kingdom, the only heir. For this reason, the Duke of Desai was furious and took a series of confrontational actions, including the strong adjustment of the division team, the formation of the Hruna garrison brigade, the involvement in Catalonia, the British, and even Louis XVIII of the Bourbon dynasty in France. Are these not enough to explain the problem?"

Archbishop Amat asked without answering, “Oh, is there any more?”

Sanluge's lips moved slightly, but he wanted to speak but stopped. He tried to remain silent, but could not avoid the sharp eyes of the godfather. Sanluge finally plucked up the courage to speak out the facts in his heart. "Yes, about four or five weeks ago, outside your study one afternoon, I accidentally eavesdropped on your conversation with General Alvarez de Castro, and learned about the political deal between the Duke of Desay and the latter."

As an important leader of the surrender faction, Archbishop Amat and the main leader of the resistance faction, General De Castro, both represent the interests of each faction, and the relationship between the two was always in a state of danger. At the beginning of the year, there were excessive resistance elements trying to kill Archbishop Amat. Although the assassination failed, Archbishop Amat insisted that the mastermind of the matter was General De Castro, and publicly proposed to the Roman Catholic Church that General De Castro would be expelled from Catholicity. Later, due to the active defense of the Spanish Provisional Central Parliament, it failed to succeed.

But a month ago, General De Castro, who had died of illness in the French prisoner-of-war camp, actually appeared alive in the Godfather's study. What shocked Sanluge was that General De Castro humbly and respectfully called Archbishop Amat "the Godfather I respect the most." During the conversation, the main leader of the resistance faction asked the important head of the surrendering faction to "whether to agree to exchange conditions with the prisoners of Desai."
Chapter completed!