Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 123 The Golden Apple Party at Peterhof Palace (Part 023)

At the ball, the girls tried their best to show off their talents, especially the characteristics of the Greek goddesses they each played.

Maria and Catherine did not have to act out any roles, they both played their true selves. Maria was good at playing the harp and loved music. She was a famous music enthusiast in St. Petersburg. Among the muses, Cleo was the most suitable for her.

Although Catherine has a noble status, she is the youngest girl present today except Louisa's little Maria. It is no problem to say that she represents the goddess of youth. Moreover, her performance is also very good, and she has been pouring wine for her sisters.

However, the "big wine jug" she was holding did not contain wine, but kvass, so the alcohol content was not a problem.

Girls should not let themselves become drunkards, as this will easily ruin the good impression their beautiful appearance brings to outsiders.

They now came to the courtyard, wanting to find Count Stroganov to judge, but at this time they heard someone say this.

"If Count Stroganov were the judge, the story would lose its original meaning. We need an unmarried man to be the judge." (If Count Stroganov were the judge, the story would lose its original meaning. We need an unmarried man to be the judge.)
But the Count was waiting there, and before they had gone out into the courtyard some people began to chatter and to amuse themselves at this moment.

"Don't keep them waiting too long." (Don't keep them waiting too long.)
Louisa said this, and held up a writing tablet in her hand, which was a symbol of Calliope, the chief muse she played.

She was preparing to lead her sisters to the yard. There were more than twenty girls in the group. Louisa herself did not want too many people to attend the party, so only some girls who had close relationships in the palace were there.

It also includes Elena, a newly married girl from the Naryshkin family. She became Arkady's bride, and there was no necessary connection between that Polish woman and the other women in her family.

What's more, this girl is very cute. She dressed herself up as Demeter today. However, little girls usually can't handle such a majestic role. She held ears of wheat in her hands, but she also carried a fruit basket.

She was the first one to come out, and Solovyov wanted to complain: Are you here to pick mushrooms?

What's even more interesting is that the girls are very self-aware. Including this girl, no one really plays the role of the main god. Moreover, the god of agriculture itself has more symbolic meaning, and his main responsibility is agricultural harvest. He has a heavy responsibility. But in various stories, when he appears, he is accompanied by the appearance of his daughter Persephone - this is a story about an uncle who falls in love with his niece and takes her back to be his wife. The things about Mount Olympus have always been unclear.

At the same time, it also tests your knowledge level.

"Your Highness Maria, where is your harp?"

"We have to use this as a substitute. This is a lyre toy prepared for little Martha." After all, Maria's harp needs someone to move it, and it is too big to be pushed into the yard.

"It is indeed great, and Ekaterina holding the wine jug is Hebe, the goddess of youth."

"Yes, would you like a glass of kvass?" Ekaterina felt sore from carrying the wine bottle on her shoulders, so now she was holding it in his arms. In the ancient world, little girls would sometimes be held like this when they went to the well to fetch water.

"I don't think that's necessary. If you want me to give a golden apple to the most attractive lady during the judging, I'm happy to oblige."

When the Earl had said this, the girls began to laugh. Some of them even carried their folding fans with them out of habit, and used them to cover their faces as they discussed the matter.

"Pasha, the sisters think this is inappropriate, because you are not a Paris, but a Hector."

"Your Highness, I am even more flattered."

Louisa's idea was to have an unmarried young person do the evaluation.

"As for the shepherd's choice, it's too late to find someone temporarily. Baron, how about you come?"

When Solovyov saw Louisa now, he felt a little uncomfortable and even blushed.

"Major, I've never seen you so shy before."

Maria often dragged him to do illegal work such as recording music scores. She had seen Solovyov's resolute and serious expression at work, and had heard of him fighting on the front line, but she had never seen him like this.

Does he like his sister-in-law very much? Maria had this thought, but when she thought about what happened in the palace some time ago, he was more like a patron saint standing in Peterhof Palace, but this patron saint was also a little thin.

Of course, when the girl was daydreaming, she herself knew that the major still had a strong sense of aesthetics, because her sister-in-law was very beautiful and asked for love, which made him blush. He would not know the little story of their accidental meeting in the English garden.

"Your Highness, I don't want to be shot by a poisoned arrow. If you have read the Iliad carefully, you should know what happened to Helen. In the end, Paris was shot by Philoctetes, the archer of the Greek coalition army."

Solovyov's tongue was tied. After all, Greek names have always been like this. Although Russian names are long, they are not so long-winded.

"This is the first time I've seen you like this. You've always been known for your extensive knowledge."

"But your highness, my tongue sometimes refuses to keep pace with my brain."

Solovyov saw Louisa in Greek costume again, first in the light of the fire and then in the moonlight. She was so beautiful that he didn't know what adjective to use to describe her.

"That's true. I can't tell you for sure. Philoctetes was a great archer who was abandoned on an island. In the end, Odysseus went to bring him back."

"Yes, Your Highness. The city that was ultimately unbreakable was finally conquered by the Trojan Horse."

"Although you are clever, you are not cunning, and you can't be Odysseus."

"Your Highness, are you punishing me by making me unable to return home for twenty years?"

"Not really, hahaha, your home is not far from the Winter Palace, how could you be unable to return home, hahaha."

Louisa smiled. Her voice was always pleasant. Solovyov knew that Alexander was not willing to communicate with her intellectually, but only liked her delicate face. Although the crown prince was a diplomat who was good at socializing and liked women very much, he might not be very knowledgeable.

In front of the Tsar, Solovyov also felt that Paul was very familiar with many aspects of knowledge, especially military training and judicial provisions. He was not very talented but became an expert in these two areas through hard work. Alexander was not like that. He was always smart and mastered knowledge quickly, but he never sought to understand it thoroughly and was prone to give up halfway. In the future, he might just be able to be a good Tsar and an actor on stage.

Although such couples may look like an enviable perfect match in appearance, they are obviously not like that in real life.

Louisa still hopes that her husband can return to her, but their long-term relationship has developed to this point.

As for such a joke, although it is not funny, it can make her happy. At least their brain waves can match. "Your Highness, thank you for letting me go home. If I go to the new fortress in the future, it will be closer. I can go directly to the Moika River embankment."

"Let's not talk about this for now. You won't really be shot by a poison arrow. No one uses a crossbow coated with poison now. I ask you to be the arbitrator today. You can think of yourself as the judge of Hades. That would be more fair."

Having said that, Solovyov could also find that it was difficult to refuse a pitiful look from Louisa, no matter whether it was involuntarily given or pretended.

However, this statement really killed the person. Solovyov always understood what "misinterpretation" meant, but he couldn't refuse.

Her status is higher than mine. She will be the future boss lady of this Russian city, so naturally she is a higher official than me.

She`s bigger than me!
So he took the golden apple.

"Only the most charming women can get the golden apple."

Such a difficult question was indeed a life-threatening one, and when Solovyov saw the count winking at him, it seemed as if he was hinting at it.

"If your life is threatened, just blink at me!"

And the girls need to walk past him one by one to give their comments, which is very annoying.

As for the girl from the Naryshkin family, Solovyov always felt that although she was so young, she was very frivolous and would definitely not give her the money.

And Natalia Zagariyazhskaya, she is beautiful and Louisa's maid. She is only 15 years old this year, but like her old friend, the Countess, she likes to pretend to be an adult.

It’s just that the “little fairy” is plump and two years older than her, so she easily attracts the attention of others when she walks, while she is too thin, which is not a good idea. What’s more, she probably hasn’t mastered the essence of playing a Greek role, or the way a girl of this era should look.

Looking further, those young girls who are about to get married, their performances are not very good, just like "little fairies". Today she dressed up as the goddess of victory. Let's not talk about other parts, but her breasts are very "victorious". It's just that she performed very well at the beginning. She dressed like this to show "victory" rather than personal "charm". If she dressed up as Venus, she would still be a little short. In short, it's not very good. If you only care about her beauty, you may fall for her plump breasts and round little butt.

By the way, I have to make a check mark because the goddess of victory is written as Nike.

"Girls, you all performed very well, but I still cannot give you this golden apple. After all, there is still something missing. As for your opinions, I think you need to think more about it. Although Greek gods all have seven emotions and six desires, what are the divinities represented by these goddesses and their symbolic meanings?"

Now that everyone had passed, Solovyov was in a dilemma.

From today's "dangerous" conversations, he discovered that Louisa seemed to be interested in him, but giving the golden apple to her rashly would only bring disputes and various troubles. Life in the palace would definitely not be easy for Louisa.

But for him, this was a fatal question.

The solution he thought of was actually very simple. The last one to come was Ekaterina. In his opinion, this girl was often rash and reckless, and she was very young. He could always avoid some trouble by playing with children.

In order to make it easier to walk, Catherine put the ceramic kettle aside, leaving only the pocket around her waist, which was used to "feed the eagle". She also proudly raised her neck and straightened her underdeveloped chest as she walked on the cobblestone road.

This girl is still childish and can represent "youth". Solovyov still uses his brain. Seeing Ekaterina posing like a "proud little swan", he finally gave his evaluation.

"Finally, I want to give this golden apple to Her Highness Catherine. She represents youth, and I hope that ladies can maintain their youthful and beautiful appearance for a long time."

Count Stroganov laughed and thought to himself that this kid was really good at avoiding this kind of crisis. Giving the "golden apple" to the child could help avoid this embarrassment.

But when Ekaterina heard this, she jumped up.

This girl’s Achilles tendon must be short. She jumped very high, but you are wearing a Greek robe!
When she fell down, she didn't realize this, but jumped up and down like a little deer to receive the award, completely breaking the rules, but she still fell down.

When she got the golden apple, Solovyov saw that she was about to fall, so he squatted down and caught her in his arms.

I have to say, this girl is too thin. I don't know where her amazing appetite has gone.

"Your Highness, your ribs are rubbing against me even through your uniform!"

Moreover, the candies and dried meats in the big bag were generally very hard, as if they were hit by a small hammer. This was because the distance was too close.

Hearing this, everyone present laughed.

Solovyov was glad that he had escaped the danger by making a joke, but Ekaterina was still lying in her arms and did not get up.

"I think I sprained my ankle, Mr. Major."

Who told you to walk barefoot and jump like this? It's no wonder that something unexpected happened.

This tearful little girl really needs care. We need to carry her to the hall and call a doctor.

However, the situation was not as serious as Louisa's last time. When Solovyov was on duty here, he also prepared some medicine boxes with prepared medicines for bruises and injuries. After all, this was a common external injury, and the old Western doctors were good at operating, so it was not surprising that they had some external medicines.

Ekaterina was still seeking comfort, crying in her sister-in-law's arms, and she looked like she was in real pain.

"It's nothing serious. I've sprained it before, too. It healed quickly with medicine. In a week, you'll be a lively little deer again."

"Your Highness, we still have to wait for the doctor to come. I am just a 'quack doctor' and I have seen many injuries."

"Thanks for your intelligence, Misha."

Louisa's smile made Solovyov blush even more, and of course his heart rate soared, not because he liked her, but because he hoped in his heart that such a life-threatening question would not come again in the future.

(End of this chapter)