Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 127 The new target is the White Whale

It is unlikely to have a glass curtain wall like the one in an aquarium, after all, plexiglass was not available in that era.

The issue of intensity also needs to be taken into consideration, so Solovyov did not mention this in his suggestions for aquarium facilities.

He was mainly interested in the animals that came in, especially the relatively large area of ​​water allocated to the Royal Aquarium. Although the exhibition hall only displayed a few species of whales, great auks and seals, this design was actually very unreasonable.

But for captured animals, it is very scientific. Compared with the aquariums in the 21st century, the activity range of various animals is indeed very large. If the famous ocean street killer whales come, they may be depressed very slowly, but for other animals in such a huge number within this range, it will be a huge disaster.

However, the director of the Royal Aquarium is not so foolish as to bring large predators here, nor does he have the money to raise them.

Before Alexandra and Elena were about to give birth, Tsar Paul asked his two daughters to come here to relax, probably because Louisa's previous "recuperation" here had been quite effective.

After these two years, the dolphins here, even if there are subsequent members captured to join, just pass on "dirty words" to each other, and they also know that the people here usually feed them fish, and sometimes some squids, so the "two-legged beasts" are not that scary.

Especially when a "two-legged beast" with a round belly is detected to have a fetus in its belly, the number of fish released should be more than before.

There were more than ten dolphins coming to join in the fun today, and they all wanted to come up and cuddle with us.

Alexandra still couldn't go to Wurttemberg, the negotiations with France were still postponed, and Austria was defeated. In this way, Wurttemberg was still occupied by the French, so she could "stay" at home and spend more time with Elena.

"Look at these dolphins, they are always so friendly. When Lisa was pregnant with little Martha, they were often here."

"It's just that we can't go into the water right now. When I was pregnant, this place was still frozen."

When they each go back to their husbands' homes, this unique aquarium will no longer be there, and it will take quite some time to come back.

That is, the Russian Tsar and the Crown Prince, who had great power and could issue an order to build such a huge aquarium in their capital.

They only looked for a while, and because it was inconvenient for them to exercise, they returned to Peterhof. This was also the last time they came to the aquarium before "delivering the baby".

Inside the palace, Louisa was looking up Linnaeus's classification table. This was a new arrival in the aquarium, the beluga whale she had always wanted.

"Soloviev, I'm sorry to ask you to be my tutor today, but there's nothing I can do about it. The girls around me don't know much about these animals, but you're an expert in this area."

Alexander was also present, which was rather awkward, but the couple brought their children here today to provide them with "early education".

At this moment, Alexander's three younger brothers and sisters were also here. Little Maria and Grand Duke Mikhail might not understand what these were, but Anna and Tonya could already understand them.

"I am also willing to serve Your Highness."

Solovyov was not afraid, and Alexander had to thank him! After all, he was the duty officer that night, and while strengthening the protection, he also shot and killed the intruder, ensuring the safety of his wife and daughter.

Of course, Alexander could not detect Solovyov's eyes. After all, as soon as this guy entered the palace, he often adopted Mr. Talleyrand's method and lowered his head when bowing, so that the crown prince who was good at observing words and expressions could not see clearly.

"Well, let's start with what the white whale looks like."

He took out pictures and several large-sized beluga whale toys and distributed them to the children. However, for little Maria, these toys were a little too big, so she lay on the back of the beluga whale.

This child was purely "participating". He was picked up by his mother and held in his arms while holding the beluga whale doll, and then his mother "turned off the power" and fell asleep.

"First, we need to touch the beluga whale. Anya, what do you think is the difference between the beluga whale and the dolphins and whales we saw before?"

"It's white!" Anna tugged at her clothes. She was wearing a little white dress.

"That's right, Your Highness. Indeed, the whales we have seen are all this color, and there are also whales like this. There are all kinds of colors. It is rare to see a white whale like this, which is all white."

"This should be a little different, right?"

Alexander interrupted at this time to mobilize his younger brother Nicholas, who had just celebrated his 4th birthday. In fact, children are very smart and have some expressive ability.

But Nicholas was always in a daze, while Anna was more active.

The Crown Prince himself was thinking that it would be better to call the two girls, Maria and Catherine, over. Bringing just a few children to play was already more than he could bear.

After all, he himself lacks patience. If it weren't for the fact that he had neglected his wife recently and his reputation was really bad, he would not have chosen to follow Louisa to participate in this kind of parent-child activity.

His father, the emperor, and his mother, the queen, each had official duties, and they generally would not let Juliana out when Constantine was not at home.

But Solovyov over there was even more embarrassed. He now just became a child playing with Anna. It seemed that Nikolai was a "very smart" child, but he would probably make progress in the future.

Mikhail and Tonya were both in a state of silly laughter while holding their dolls. It would be nice to find a few more children of the same age to play with them, but it would take some time to gather them together.

The director of this "kindergarten" was obviously Louisa. She also realized that she could only enlighten Anna now. The rest of the children were too young. It would have been better if the tutor, Madame de Sible, had been called before. At least Nicholas relied on her a lot and often looked at this lady for support when he spoke.

But she also hoped that Alexander could participate, after all, they still had to visit the real thing this afternoon.

Although this husband was very interested in new things, he would not stick to them for long. After buying those encyclopedias, I only saw him flip through a few of them, not like me, who would read them many times.

"Your Highness, what do you want to say?"

"Let's get involved too. Otherwise, if this continues, Anna will be the only one answering your questions, Major."

"Ah, Your Highness, what do you say?"

"I think this is fine, Solovyov. Please give me the data card so I can see how it is classified. I'm not like Lisa. I have time to pay attention to these contents while taking care of the children."

Solovyov wanted to laugh in his heart when he heard this. If you had always been with Louisa, she wouldn't be so depressed now.

But it’s just like this that it looks the best!
Louisa would not join in the Q&A, after all, she knew the answer.

After reading the information card, Alexander was determined to enlighten Anna that he was a good husband only when he was with his wife, and his performance at other times was not necessarily better than Constantine.

"Ania, come and see, this is a dolphin and this is a beluga whale, aren't they different?"

"Brother, this is missing from the white whale's back."

"Which one is missing?" "Uh." Anna rolled her eyes and pointed out the dolphin's dorsal fin.

"This is it!"

The last time she mentioned "baby", she knew that the child was very smart, but still needed more inspiration. Now she has indeed found the difference.

"That is the dorsal fin, Your Highness. The back of a white whale is very smooth."

"But, but this toy."

"It is a stuffed animal after all, Your Highness. We need to go to the aquarium to see the living creature."

When it comes to the aquarium, the younger Nikolay and Mikhail become more excited. This is a stimulating signal.
Pavlov is no longer around, but this gentleman's future activities will indeed be in St. Petersburg.

Taking these two princes for a walk is like taking dogs. Such words cannot be said out loud.

Since we are going to set off, we need to call the nanny and the servants.

Peterhof is very close to the aquarium, and it only takes a short while to drive there in the afternoon.

The statue of the white whale has been placed at the entrance of the White Whale Museum by a sculptor hired by the court.

"Look there, it's a white whale!"

Louisa also shook her eldest daughter, which aroused the children's excitement.

But little Maria was still sleeping and couldn't be woken up for a while.

Solovyov was riding a horse in front to lead the way. It was not the first time for him to be a "tour guide", but because of his duty, he did not do this job very often.

This area of ​​water is not very large, after all, beluga whales are soft and slow. Among whales, it is currently believed that they are not good at swimming, and their range of activities is not that large, mainly concentrated in the Arctic Ocean.

The fact that these beluga whales were captured alive in Norwegian waters was a gift from the Danish royal family.

"What a pity, Your Highness, there are no glass walls strong enough, otherwise it would be more interesting to see such slow-moving whales."

"Oh?"

This aroused Alexander's curiosity, while Anna and Nicholas were very excited and ran to the observation deck, where the guardrail was very low.

When a bipedal baby approaches, this social whale will come closer and stick its head out, as is its nature.

A few bald heads with white hair emerged from the sea, and their foreheads were shiny, which was really cute.

Especially when it repeatedly pops its head out and, at this time, opens its mouth and circles on the shore.

"Beluga whales are better than dolphins, Solovyov. They look 'polite'."

Alexander was probably "jealous" that his wife was being kissed by those dolphins, as he even had cats and dogs in his palace!
Anna also bravely brought small fish to feed the beluga whale.

"Your Highness, this kind of animal is very docile and very smart. After all, it is also a mammal."

As for poking the white, soft ball of flesh on the head, Louisa held Tonya and Nicholas in her arms to try it one after another.

"It feels really good to the touch, and looks bouncy."

Louisa still remembered how the "little fairy" looked when she was poked by Ekaterina last time, but no matter how silky and elastic the human body was, it would never be so.

She wanted to try it herself, and then, unfortunately, a white whale swam over and suddenly jumped towards the dazed Mikhail.

This scared him and he ran into the arms of the nanny, but he was not scared to the point of crying.

After all, this fat white guy is not annoying in the water, and is a little naughty and willing to interact with people.

"It's really interesting. This animal can be used to make more medallions. It is also the new star of the Royal Aquarium."

As for observing beluga whales up close, it does help to improve parent-child relationships. Louisa was in a good mood today. She was with her two daughters and even held them in her arms to play on the carousel.

It is not surprising. In Russia, even without the influence of Solovyov, carousels have already appeared. No matter whether they are water-powered or steam-powered, they are also very fun.

Especially in order to give those nobles who lack parent-child interaction in social occasions the opportunity to spend time with their children, the carousels here are all rotating carriages.

Louisa was in a good mood today and could smile in front of Alexander. This did give the Crown Prince some ideas and he wanted to return to his family.

But the children were all here, so there was no way to continue being intimate. That's what he thought. In fact, there are always more solutions than problems. This is why he was always with Maria Naryshkina and was a little distant from Louisa.

In this situation where the wife cannot defeat the mistress, Alexander himself may have more problems.

He personally had too many demands for "spiritual compatibility", and he really didn't do enough to accompany Louisa out for fun and lead a normal family life.

Alexander's main purpose was to dispel some rumors from the outside world, the most typical of which was the Crown Prince's indifference to the Crown Princess. It's not like they can't have children. As long as the couple is willing to be together, the next generation of heirs to the empire will soon appear.

However, in his situation, it is unlikely to progress too quickly, and to have a child, he will always need to work hard on his own.

In the following days, Alexandra and Elena were pushed into the delivery room together.
This pair of sisters is really weird. They got married together in St. Petersburg and even gave birth to their child on the same day.

It’s just that Elena had given birth naturally, but Alexandra’s was not finished yet. After taking a baby girl out of her belly, she needed cooperation in addition to her own efforts.

It was Elena who turned sideways and grabbed her sister's hand, which made Alexandra relax. She finally did as the queen said and used the little strength she had left to "squeeze" the baby out.

I also have to thank the hospital for having delivered twins before, so we have quite a lot of experience in handling the situation.

(End of this chapter)