Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 133 033 Young people have no moral principles and dare to launch a sneak attack
After returning to the Winter Palace, Louisa felt even more lonely.

Alexandra and Elena were both arranged to live in other palaces, and Alexander did not come back often. Maria had been to the greenhouse in Pavlovsk and had caught a fever when she returned, and was arranging for a doctor to treat her.

Only Catherine is left, and she hasn't been very excited recently. It seems that she has lost her soul after the young Prince Mikhail went to Paris. She looks a little dazed, which makes the queen very anxious.

"When will Mishka come back?"

If there is anything to blame, it's because there are too many people called this name. If someone calls out in the palace, many soldiers will respond.

She put her sleeping daughter in the cradle and went to the reception room by herself. There were no servants there at that time.

Louisa was very bored, so she spread a map on her lap and started looking for a bunch of islands.

"Places like Newfoundland and Greenland are covered in ice and snow. There may be some islands underneath."

After watching for a while, she felt a little tired, so she took off her shoes and wanted to lean on the sofa to sleep.

However, it was not so easy to sleep peacefully. The sound of leather boots hitting the ground was getting closer and closer. She initially thought that Alexander had returned, so she got up and opened the door herself.

"Your Highness, I am on night patrol. It's already this hour and you are still not asleep."

The person who came was Lieutenant Marin, the adjutant of the Guards Regiment, who passed through the corridor with two Guards soldiers.

After moving back to the Winter Palace, the guards at her door were removed, but guards were posted at several key intersections and corridors, so it was still very safe.

The main reason was that the changing of guards at the door would disturb the rest of the delicate Crown Princess and little Maria, which was quite different from the arrangement in the Summer Palace. What's more, many of the surrounding rooms were already empty.

"Mr. Marin, go on patrol. I just can't sleep."

"Your Highness, please do not walk around the palace too much at night. Although it is heavily guarded, it is not safe."

"Who said this?"

"Major Solovyov, the commander of the first battalion, is always cautious. It was he who protected your safety in Peterhof Palace in the summer."

"I know he's young and smart."

"Yes, I am five years older than him and I am only a lieutenant, but he is favored by the emperor."

Louisa was also a cautious person, and did not ask more about Solovyov's situation. Moreover, she always took care of the child at night by herself, and rarely asked the maid and nanny to come over. That is, Zagryazhskaya was here, but the little girl was asleep now, lying on the other side of the cradle in her pajamas.

Louisa has had a hard time. In fact, the girls who were sent here have to take care of these "little sisters" while taking care of her daughter. If they were here at night, a nanny might not be of much use.

In order not to disturb the older and younger children from sleeping, she took off her mules, but the floor was a little cold, and her feet would be very cold if she walked to the reading room.

Louisa tiptoed quietly into her reading room, lighting the candle herself so that she could see clearly under the shade at night.

She now had no idea what to do, so she opened a hardcover novel herself.

After opening the book, I saw exquisite paintings inside, just like the Persian paintings depicting war scenes.

"This is the story of General 'Lubu' fighting the three brothers. It's a really nice painting."

She might have Solovyov in her heart, more than the major of the Guards. After all, her world was very simple and she was so lonely. If she couldn't sleep late at night, she would have more time to think about random things. But what came to her mind was the scene of Solovyov writing furiously.

"It would be great if you could finish the book soon, Mr. Major. I want to read it."

Louisa had never learned Chinese, and neither had the Russian royal family. She also had a set of thread-bound books that had never been translated. She only heard Maria tell her some of the stories in the books when she came to visit, and it was Solovyov who told her the stories.

Her eyes fell on the set of thread-bound books, which were carefully placed in a wooden box.

“What’s the full story?”

She was already tired by now, so she fell asleep in the recliner where she usually read.

At this time, Solovyov was indeed on night duty. He was different from other officers because he was still very young. Moreover, in Russia, he was very familiar with his own business, which was a rare species even in Moscow 180 years later.

"How's your patrol going, Seryosha?"

"Mr. Major, everything is fine, but Her Royal Highness Elizabeth is not resting and is in the reception room."

"Well, you should go and rest too. Tomorrow is your day off."

Solovyov is still on night duty, and he will have a rest tomorrow, but he will only be able to sleep for a while in the second half of the night. Tomorrow the editor of the Petersburg News will talk to him about the publication of the second volume.

Who could have done so much translation work during his rest time, plus the version that Marshal Suvorov listened to on his sickbed? Now the translation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms has reached a level that is difficult for readers to accept.

Regardless of whether they are positive characters or recognized villains, these people will leave the stage in large numbers within a short period of time, which has also attracted the attention of editors.

The next morning, Solovyov met with the editor to discuss the issue.

"After all, I'm not the original author. This is a popular version that has been popular in China since four hundred years ago. The stories in it are all from Chinese history. There may be some discrepancies in the content, but the overall historical context is correct."

"I understand your thoughts, but isn't it collapsing too quickly?"

"If you were in my place 12 years ago, I'm afraid you wouldn't believe that the situation in Europe would change so quickly. The manuscript I submitted, up to 'The Orphan's Entrustment at Baidicheng', if you have no other comments, I still hope you will publish it according to this content."

"Is it really impossible to make some changes?"

"If you understand Chinese, monsieur, you would feel that if the person who continues the book does not have the same ideas, it will end up being a dog's tail, a tiger ...

"Add a dog's tail behind the mink?"

"Yes, this is a Chinese idiom story, which means that the sequel to a literary work is not as good as the original one. If you are interested, I can also collect some Chinese idioms and make a dictionary."

As long as we don't make a fool of ourselves, Chinese culture can easily cause misunderstandings among Russians. At the same time, when Chinese people go abroad, they are also prone to not understanding other people's culture.

As October approached, the weather gradually turned cooler. Unlike in Peterhof or Gatchina, social activities gradually began to take place in the Winter Palace. Even in the era of Tsar Paul, receptions were not reduced much.

While the Tsar himself might devote himself to official duties, this kind of reception was where Crown Prince Alexander showed off his abilities.

The reception was also to be held at the Winter Palace, but strangely, Queen Maria, Crown Princess Elizabeth, and Arch Duchess Maria were all absent, which also caused various speculations.

In Russia, there are two kinds of fabricated rumors. One is the sensational one that attracts attention, and the other is the one that has details and even a very smooth logical chain.

This kind of atmosphere made people start to worry. Grand Duke Constantine had been in the legion and was not here.

For Count von Paalen, this was evidence that made it easier for him to spread rumors, such as the fact that members of the Russian royal family were absent due to illness and that the female members of the family were under house arrest.

Alexander was very dissatisfied with this, and he called the officer on duty of the Guards.

Lieutenant Savelyev of his own Guards Regiment, and Captain Baron Rosen of the Prussian Regiment.

"Your Highness, this rumor is nonsense. We all know that the princes in the palace do not necessarily have to attend such social events every time."

Of course, it doesn’t matter what these two have to say. Alexander is also an unpredictable person, and it is difficult for others to guess what he is going to do.

"I think that's it, just do what you should do!"

In fact, it was very simple to break the rumor. He ignored Louisa, took his wife out of the bedroom, and dressed her up with jewels, which solved the problem in terms of face.

However, considering his recent attitude of neglecting his wife, it would be difficult for him to make any improvements in this regard.

It is not surprising that other people were indeed sick at the time.

Then, after he said this to his adjutants, he did not return to his own bedroom. He did not care much about how Louisa was doing there, but he thought that this might be a kind of "compensation", that is, if Louisa really lived separately from him in the future, as long as she did not give birth to a boy, it would still be within his "tolerance" range.

It would be strange if this kind of thinking did not cause trouble in the backyard. Some prudent officers in the Guards had already demonstrated this once before, resulting in more than 20 people being sent to serve in the Caucasus and Odessa.

He was still very confident in the officer in charge of security at the time. After all, the fact that he was able to chase the intruder all the way from the bedroom to the gate of the English Garden and kill him was enough to prove his loyalty to duty.

But there are some small problems here.

No one outside knew what happened between Solovyov and Louisa in the English park earlier.

Moreover, in the palace, Queen Maria also allowed Paul to have a few women around him. This was probably what palace life was like. If you wanted to save face, you had to make arrangements.

The night duty work would be rotated among several battalions of the Putin Regiment every week. When Solovyov came to the area around the Crown Prince's bedroom, he would usually patrol on his own and arrange the time. There were rules for the rotation of the sentry posts to prevent someone from taking advantage of the change of guard to break in.

After he came up, he saw Louisa again at the door of the bedroom. She was there in a daze.

"Your Highness, why are you here again today?"

"Oh, sorry, it's Mr. Major. Are you here on patrol in person tonight?"

"I'm on duty tonight. Our regiment commander is attending a reception at Count Zubov's residence, so I have to take care of the patrol and guard alone."

"You are still as hardworking and diligent as ever."

The Crown Princess is in poor health, and everyone in the palace knows this. It would be troublesome if she really fainted.

And this time, it seemed that she had not had a good rest for many days and was very tired. She was about to fall to the ground. Solovyov was very close to her when he spoke. He hugged her and called the maid over.

"Bring the smelling salts!"

Although Zagryazhskaya was clumsy and often unreliable, and sometimes fell asleep earlier than anyone else in the palace, when she heard someone calling her softly, she would quickly come out and take out the smelling salts from the "first aid kit" that was always available in the palace.

"Mr. Major, what if the smelling salts don't work?"

"First check if he is breathing. Also, pinch the two bases of his hands, under his nose, and above his lips!"

The Crown Princess probably didn't know that he would be on patrol tonight. This kind of thing was usually done by the adjutants and company commanders.

He picked up Louisa and walked quickly to the front of the lounge chair, asking Natalia to put the smelling salts close to her nostrils.

After feeling the pulse, Solovyov was able to confirm one thing: this prince's health was very delicate. The pulse was relatively weak, but still relatively stable.

Today the maids and servants were all around, and he asked about them and found out that she didn't get enough rest at night, didn't eat much, and seemed very anxious.

Life in this palace is full of intrigue all day long. Fortunately, the Russian cabinet and the imperial prime minister did not step down or be fired, but the danger level of the royal family is also very high.

When Louisa woke up, she saw several little maids surrounding her, all of whom were rushing into her arms.

"Your Highness, you scared us to death!"

"Okay, stop crying."

There are two sides to the evaluation of Louisa in the palace. From the perspective of Queen Maria, she should indeed be more proactive so as to win Alexander back. Some senior maids also think so.

However, the young girls selected by the noble families who had just entered the palace all regarded Louisa as a gentle and amiable elder sister.

But what happened today was something they had never seen before at home where someone actually fainted, and they were all terrified.

The most outrageous thing was what Solovyov heard Natalia say: "What if you have a stroke?"

Well, it seems that excluding people of Louisa’s age, this disease, among the royal family, is exclusive to the Tsar, right?
But these girls took the opportunity to get close to Louisa. Now they have become light bulbs, which is quite funny.

(End of this chapter)