Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 120 Even though they know there is a knife on their heads, there are always people who are so bold

There was one thing Solovyov didn't know. It was true that he loved Louisa, but there were also many people in the court who admired the Crown Princess. In addition to the farce of Count Platon Zubov in the early years, there were also some young officers who were eager to try, especially those who were about the same age.

It’s just that they all have the courage to do it, but they don’t have the chance.

Solovyov thought this was very dangerous. He had the courage to do so, but he always thought that he should choose a time when Alexander was in Poland to express his love to His Highness.

After all, among all the Guards officers, his working conditions were the most convenient for doing so, since he was responsible for arranging the sentry posts and changing shifts.

And because he is the battalion commander, he even has his own separate barracks office and lounge, which is a solitary environment and relatively safer. He is also carrying out his own "conspiracy" here, but the prerequisite is to eliminate those potential rivals in love that he can see. Even if he doesn't do it himself, he has to ensure the safety of His Highness.

Because Alexander was away and she always had no one to talk to, Louisa became more and more dependent on little Maria.

She took the child with her almost everywhere she went, except leaving him for a while during meal times. He was with her during bathing and sleeping times. She was even always very careful, always putting the child in the cradle after coaxing him to sleep in her arms.

Or the child would simply grab her chest and refuse to let go, so she had to carry him to bed and fall asleep together. This was not only the case during naps but also at night.

The child seemed to be regarded as everything to her. Sometimes she called Maria "mon mouse". If Julie saw this, she would think that except for her own mother, Madame Le Brun, there was no mother more attached to her daughter than her.

It was a good thing for her to do so. While Alexander was out there with all the fun, she was at home with her children and received a lot of sympathy.

However, it would be fine if the sympathy she received was only from the circle of noble ladies. This is always a topic worth discussing. It can be said that the Crown Princess is a model of noble ladies. If her husband were also at home, it can be said that her happiness would not even be comparable to that of the lady at No. 17 Nevsky Prospect.

Alexander did like his daughter, but he preferred to be outside.

In this situation, there are always some Guards officers whose eyes are greener than Solovyov's green eyes. They want to transform themselves into flower guardians, hoping to catch a glimpse of her beauty. At night, they will transform themselves into Mike the old wolf and howl loudly.

However, Solovyov had always wanted to let these guys know who was the boss among the young officers in the Guards - even though he was the youngest on the roster.

Even in history, Okhotnikov, who wrote love letters to Queen Elizabeth, was older than Solovyov. He was born in 1780, and he did not appear in St. Petersburg at this time. He joined the Cavalry Guards only in 1801.

If he knew his resume, Solovyov would have complained, wondering if all cavalry captains like to seduce noble ladies?
And the story of this young cavalry officer is even more outrageous.

These young officers were extremely arrogant, and Solovyov learned about them from Fyodor Tolstoy, who was a lieutenant under him. After all, it was Solovyov who paid off his gambling debts. After transferring from the navy to the army, Solovyov happened to come to the Guards from the front and became his direct battalion commander.

"Mishka, you must listen carefully. We lieutenants and ensigns were drinking in the tavern, and those talkative fellows began to say that the Crown Prince often did not return to his own chambers, but went to the Polish girl of the Naryshkin family. Aren't you surprised?"

"I am responsible for the security of the palace. Although I have the lowest seniority among the four battalion commanders, I do the most work. I know this. In the streets of Petersburg, there are many people who sympathize with Her Highness Elizabeth. They all say that she is a pitiful person. From her manners to her beauty and personal character, she is the best in Petersburg. It is not surprising that she has a 'little lover' by her side. Is that the way you say it?"

"That's exactly what happened, Mishka. I see you're not surprised at all, but I find it a little magical!"

"I rented out the space downstairs from my house to open a cafe. Some people from the group that belonged to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince talked like this. I say, Fedenka, even though you were not very decent before, you are a good guy. Can you stop hanging out with these guys?"

"As for me, if I hang out with them, I can help you get intelligence. You rarely attend officer gatherings, and you're still single. You're called on by the emperor to carry out missions all day long. If I hang out with this group of people, maybe I can get some valuable intelligence."

Solovyov was so angry that he laughed. Everyone in Petersburg knew that the princess was very pitiful. Count Tolstoy was brave and aggressive, and now he had a life on his hands in a duel, but he was not a complete bastard, unlike Dolokhov.

Letting him go among that group of young officers was actually to gather intelligence, so that if there was really a conspiracy to murder Paul, it could be discovered in advance.

This guy can drink a lot and has extremely strong fighting skills. Apart from loving women, gambling and holding grudges, he doesn't have any other problems.

But he is always more likely to cause disputes when he is like this.

"But this is not the end, Mishka, my elder brother, you have to listen to me. These people are trying to take advantage of the fact that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not in the palace and sneak into the Crown Princess's bedroom at night to have sex with her."

They should not be members of the Cao family, but they all have this hobby. In fact, although Solovyov has not taken any action yet, he is also a reserve member of the "Boss Cao Club".

But such an arrogant guy is even more unreliable than Fyodor, who is so arrogant and has no limits. This makes Solovyov himself full of doubts.

He has been on night patrol recently, and he is always on it. As for someone trying to approach the bedroom where the Crown Prince lives in Peterhof Palace, it would be fine if it was just a stranger, but among this group of arrogant Guards officers, many are from this regiment.

Solovyov didn't even need to go to Dolokhov to verify, he probably already knew what these people were going to do.

"Fei Jianka, listen to me. Never mention this kind of thing to anyone else. Also, strengthen the guard work in the palace. In addition to the soldiers at the gate, there are also secret sentries. These must be arranged. In addition, our 1st Battalion will be on night sentry duty during this period, so we must pay close attention."

"Don't worry, as long as we are on duty, we will definitely listen to you!"

"That's good. Also, are there any officers from our battalion participating in this ridiculous bar revelry?"

"If this really happens, I will get my head blown off in the duel!"

After hearing this, Solovyov knew that the other party must be telling the truth. This guy was very confident in his dueling skills, which he had maintained throughout his life.

With what he said, it was necessary to strengthen the defense. However, because many officers made the bet, Solovyov and Fyodor Tolstoy didn't know which bastard was so bold as to come to the Crown Princess's bedroom at night.

Since there are such lawless criminals, there may be some who will try to assassinate the Tsar in the future.

After all, in Russia, anything abstract can happen. It's enough for a cook to cook, but there are also cases where the cooks rebel.

Solovyov patrolled the Peterhof Palace himself. As an officer on duty at night, he had nothing to do anyway. He rested during the day and worked at night. In the past few days, he solved the problem of malnutrition in the flower garden. He also had the energy to send flowers to various palaces to decorate the palaces and improve the mood of everyone in the palace.

This also includes the soldiers on guard duty. Agapeev was arranged to stand guard at the door of the Crown Princess. Next to him was a pot of roses, which bloomed beautifully during the day, and he could enjoy the sight of them during his rotation. However, when on duty at night, there was nothing to see except the bright moonlight.

He kept in mind what the major said and strengthened his vigilance to ensure safety. This was the creed of the Guards when they were on duty in the palace.

If we go out to fight, we will crush all enemies who dare to invade. However, we must also do our daily work well, and now we have to keep our ears open.

He could hear some rustling noises behind the bushes. There were many places in the palace that were easy to hide in, and someone might pop out from the bushes at any time.

This caused the private soldier of the Guards to be highly alert, but he still held the rifle in his hand in front of him. He often did this when on duty, pretending that nothing had happened. If something came out, he could open fire directly without responding to the command.

After all, all the royal family members were sleeping in their respective places at this time. Even the Tsar himself, if he went out at night, would be accompanied by two Guards officers, and would respond to commands.

That's when he shouted out when a dark shadow appeared behind the bushes in front of him.

"Password!"

When the man didn't answer, he raised his rifle, but was responded with a burst of gunfire from his pistol.

But this guy's shooting skills were really crooked. Since Agapev was selected to join the Guards, he must have been a tall and strong target. After firing four shots in a row, none of them hit the human body, but only knocked his hat off.

"Сукаблять! The tradition of our Guards is the flying hat!"

Then he took cover, loaded his rifle, and blew the alarm whistle again.

Historically, there would be no assassination or coup plot in Peterhof Palace. All business was done in the city, not even in Tsarskoye Selo.

This alarmed all the soldiers and officers who were on guard in the palace at night. Solovyov himself was on duty in Tsar Paul's bedroom. After all, the Tsar had not gone to bed yet.

Paul came out in his pajamas, looking very tired.

"Soloviev, where is the gunfire coming from?"

"Your Majesty, it's over at the Crown Prince's bedroom!"

The Tsar himself knew that his eldest son and heir was always hanging around his mistresses. As a father, he could educate him about this, but whether he would listen was another matter.

In this situation, he could only work with Queen Maria to counsel his daughter-in-law to appear more charming and win her husband back from the "vixen". At the same time, they could not forbid Alexander from having mistresses, which was a common phenomenon in the palace. Even though he spent most of his time with his wife, he still had to find a few noble ladies to chat about private matters. As for the last time he slept with a woman other than his wife, it was arranged by his mother, Her Majesty the Queen.

"You lead the team to check it out and ensure the safety of the palace."

However, Solovyov did not dare to relax the security of the Tsar's personal bedroom. He only took two young officers with him. At this time, one of them was always Fyodor Tolstoy, because he was the most accurate with a pistol.

As for Solovyov, he was the most accurate with the rifle, but he did not often carry a rifle when he was on duty in the palace, unlike on the battlefield.

Agapeev only chased the man away from the front of the palace, but he had already fled into the woods, so he had to send out patrols to chase him.

It is indeed horrifying that such a thing happened in the palace.

The black shadow had been running in the direction of England Park. If it entered the park, it would be even harder to find it, as there was not even a guard there, especially in the Birch House and the main palaces, which were usually unmanned.

However, it was on the path leading to the park that the guards with torches could clearly see the man's outline in the faint light.

"It seems he is still in military uniform!"

Then they were fired back again, but this time Solovyov grabbed the rifle of a soldier next to him and fired a shot himself into the fire.

The man fell to the ground, and when the Guards soldiers came forward, Fyodor Tolstoy saw the man's face clearly.

"It's from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's Guards. Good fellow, your shot was really accurate, it went straight into his back. I don't have your ability to use a spear."

"My pistol is no match for yours!"

"Don't worry about who has the best shooting skills. We have to give an explanation to the emperor for this guy showing up."

In the bedroom, Louisa, who usually slept lightly, was awakened by gunshots in the middle of the night. The child was crying non-stop, causing the maid and the nanny to be in a panic.

As for the few guards guarding the palace door, they could only continue to stand guard there, with no better solution.

It was not until they saw the major who had come to inspect at night that they came over to salute.

"You're back just in time. We still have something to report to you!"

"You did a great job, preventing the assassin from succeeding. Your Highness and the ladies inside are all okay?"

"In reply to the Major, the two princes and the ladies are fine, but little Maria keeps crying. We can't do anything about it. We are soldiers and there is nothing we can do about a crying child!"

"There's really no other way!"

When he went in, he saw Louisa there, and Solovyov still had the gun on his back.

"Your Highness, I'm glad you're okay!"

He left the palace without saying anything else, also to avoid suspicion.

(End of this chapter)