Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 243 010 A palace fight finally happened in Petersburg

It was spring, and Petersburg was busy preparing for the Tsar and his wife's official coronation in Moscow. Last time, because Louisa's belly was too big, she could not move beyond the city limits of Petersburg. During the coronation, she could only move around inside the Winter Palace, and often had to be carried outside.
This was a formal coronation ceremony, and Louisa's health had just recovered, so she was ready to go to Moscow.

Alexander hadn't come to the Tavrid Palace to comfort her for some time. Due to her recent miscarriage, the doctor also asked Louisa to rest more.

During this period, she stayed more in the Tafred Palace and was unaware of the changes taking place outside.

For example, the attitude of the Queen Mother herself is a roller coaster.

Recently, Queen Mother Maria's attention has been on the marriage of her third daughter Maria to Saxe-Weimar. The two sides have reached a preliminary agreement, but the follow-up matters still need to be discussed in detail by the Russian ambassador to Saxony, including the previous issue of faith.

A Russian Grand Duchess who married into a non-Orthodox country would be asked to retain her original faith, and the son-in-law had to come to St. Petersburg to propose marriage, and the engagement and wedding ceremonies would be completed in the church of the Winter Palace, with a blind date process in between.

Of course, some people may be curious, because Russia has always been much stronger than the in-laws when it comes to marriage. Even when it was considering finding Archduke Joseph as a son-in-law, Russia's size and military strength far exceeded that of the court in Vienna.

Maria already knew about this. The prince of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar was a very cowardly person, which was suitable for her. At least she would not be bullied.

The two sisters had a good life after they got married. Although Württemberg had actually become a follower of France, Alexandra's life there had always been relatively comfortable and undisturbed.

As for Elena, the Mecklenburg family, from top to bottom, almost worshipped her.

It is true that Russian Grand Duchesses would not suffer any injustice when they married into the German princely states.

Then, Queen Mother Maria, the biased mother, prepared to make arrangements for her beloved fourth daughter, Catherine.

But this girl said that she was not planning to marry far away.

Although she is young, she is very opinionated, but she accidentally let something slip in front of the Queen Mother.

"I asked the emperor's sister-in-law, and she felt the same way."

But when it comes to Louisa, Queen Maria's face turns ugly.

"Don't go to her place! She is a water fairy born to seduce people!"

In fact, the feud began with Louisa's speech to the soldiers in the Champ de Mars. This made the Queen Mother lose face and ruined her last chance to become the Queen.

However, judging from Alexander's performance, although her son is a little incompetent, he still has a lot of ideas. He has a group of capable people around him to help him reorganize the government. He is currently reforming the government agencies and local governments in St. Petersburg.

If Queen Mother Maria became the empress, I can’t imagine the scene. Maybe she would turn the Winter Palace into a factory?

Of course, she was indeed not as courageous as a "female version of Louis XVI", but she had always been resentful about this matter.

Although Louisa rarely appeared in the court, her semi-secluded lifestyle gave her husband Alexander a lot of freedom, and there were few gossipers in the court.

When Louisa and Maria Naryshkina were both in good health, Alexander basically split the public grain tax in half. The Queen and her Polish mistress did not bother each other, and Louisa even liked the woman's children. Maria Naryshkina had no intention of provoking the Queen. After all, she was so cute that it was a bit too much to bully her.

However, the Queen Mother did not like this situation. But she had no reason to destroy the marriage. Although Alexander's feelings for Louisa had changed from the passionate love of their teenage years to the coldness now, he still respected her. However, the Queen herself did not violate court etiquette in any way.

Moreover, this queen, who was not prone to jealousy, took the initiative to give up a large amount of royal expenses. Even if her presence was very transparent, there were still many people in St. Petersburg who sympathized with her.

She had been pregnant four times, and although she had a miscarriage the last time, the doctor said that the queen was still young and had strong fertility, so there was nothing they could do about her in this regard.

Moreover, the Queen Mother's lady-in-waiting, Sherer, and the maids all believed that the Queen was quite virtuous and there was no way to accuse her of any fault.

However, the Queen Mother herself refused to give up. In such a war between women, accidents were bound to happen.

What she thought of was a very low-level method, which was to meet with the Naryshkin family secretly, but call Maria Naryshkina alone.

Although she hadn't noticed it before, Queen Mother Maria still saw it. This Polish girl looked good at giving birth. Not only did she have a plump figure, but her breasts were full of maternal radiance.

"How many children have you had?"

"Your Highness, I already have two daughters."

"I think so. You are still young and in the best health. My son Alexander has been visiting you quite often recently. Is that true?"

This kind of thing was asked even though the question was already answered. Maria Naryshkina knew that the Queen Mother had never been very satisfied with the Empress, so she needed to be especially careful when answering questions at times like this.

"Your Majesty does come to my house often, but you also know that the Naryshkins are Peter the Great's uncles, and the two families are relatives, so there is nothing wrong with visiting more often."

"I heard people in the palace say that women with big breasts don't have much brains. You..."

The Queen Mother couldn't help but stretch out her hand and touch the plump body of the Polish girl. The touch was really good. And it was heard that she didn't necessarily need a wet nurse and preferred to breastfeed her child herself.

"Your Highness the Queen Mother."

"Ah, you still have some cleverness in you. Do you think I don't know, you fat devil, that you have been seducing the Emperor?"

This is a bit unfair. Maria Naryshkina was sent to Alexander's arms by her husband.

“That’s not the case.”

"So what? You are a Polish woman, I do want to help you. But you have to choose the right time. Otherwise, your sister is the lover of my son Constantine, and your brother often gets into trouble in Petersburg. I know all these things."

This has become a threat. Maria Naryshkina knows that although the Queen Mother usually stays in the Imperial Village and rarely goes to the city, she has a strong influence on the women in the palace.

It could even influence some officials in the court in St. Petersburg, such as the Imperial Prime Minister Count Rumyantsev.

The count was the second son of the marshal, and he had been communicating with the current queen mother since the time of the empress. Although there was no evidence, this relationship was obviously not ordinary. Every Russian courtier, when he was favored by a powerful woman in the palace, would start the Potemkin mode.
This put the Polish girl in a difficult position, for she knew the complexity of politics, and even when the Tsar's good friend, now Foreign Minister Czartoryski, asked her to persuade Alexander, she did not want to get involved.

After all, her father was hanged by his fellow villagers in Warsaw because of his pro-Russian stance. This terrible thing made her unwilling to get involved in politics.

But now, she is involved in palace fighting drama.

Logically speaking, in the court of the Russian Tsar, no matter how extravagant the Tsar himself was, he had to clearly distinguish the relationship between the empress and his mistresses.

Even the Empress herself, when she dealt with her husband Peter III, she intended to force this stupid German husband and his mistress to have children in a castle under house arrest, rather than taking his life.

As for Queen Maria, she herself had some double standards. Before she gave birth to Mikhail, Paul would not have physical relations with those mistresses. If it weren't for the fact that she might die if she gave birth to a child in the future, Paul's relationship with his mistresses would always be just a conversation.

Even those healthy and lively young girls in their youth, Paul never touched their bodies, and arranged marriages for them according to their wishes.

The people who actually made him sleep with were two "laundresses", who posed no threat to Queen Maria at the time, and had even been arranged to stay with them before their children were born.

What she has to do now is to sow discord between her daughter-in-law and her son's mistress. Although these two have great differences in figure and personality, they are essentially the same kind of people. They both dislike pomp and do not like luxurious life. If no one provokes them, they may even become best friends.

"I know you are pregnant, and it was my son Alexander who did it. I think you will not refuse this request, right?"

Maria Naryshkina had no choice but to follow this threat.

In fact, she knew very well that Louisa was the queen, and this title was given by the Queen.

In the Petersburg court, the legacy left by the empress was unavoidable. Even if she had an affair and had an illegitimate child, Alexander might not have had any clear reason to depose her after being discovered.
After all, where had he ever seen a queen who fully supported his position? On the night of the coup, Louisa's advice to the Queen Mother and her speech to the soldiers were all moves to stabilize his throne.

Moreover, Louisa has always been the "poor queen". Because she is neglected, many people in St. Petersburg sympathize with her, especially after her recent miscarriage.

As for what to do, it is actually very simple.

Louisa's physical recovery has been good recently, and the doctor also advised her to participate in social activities and not stay in the palace all the time.

It was under these circumstances that she went to Peterhof to accompany Alexander and attend the ball there.

Normally, it would be nothing. But today, the Queen Mother and the Empress were both present, which was an unusual situation.

Moreover, during the ball, there were quite a lot of nobles who came here to meet the Queen Mother.

Usually, they would go to Tsarskoye Selo instead of Peterhof.

Queen Mother Maria stared at the Polish girl's movements and was surprised.

At this time, even under the Queen Mother's watch and "surveillance", Maria Naryshkina had no choice but to provoke Louisa.

Of course, Louisa was not aware of this yet, as she was chatting enthusiastically with Princess Suvorova - yes, it was Alexander Naryshkin's beloved daughter Elena. Although this girl was shallow and frivolous, she still respected Louisa very much.

Of course she knew about the affairs at home, but after giving birth to a child, she returned to the social scene, and what she talked about here was still related to the men in her family.

"Arkady, he is a very serious man. It is not suitable for him to stay in the palace. He should go back to the army. After all, he is the son of the Field Marshal. The army is the right place for him."

"Aren't you afraid that he will be transferred to a faraway place? Elena, if you do that, you will be the one who suffers."

"Yes, your Majesty. I will obey you and ask Arkady to remain in Petersburg."

"You are still young, and now is a peaceful time, you should enjoy your life. Even that stupid girl, Katish, has learned how to take care of children now, you should catch up too."

"All right."

However, at this time Elena also noticed that her aunt Maria came over.

The Polish woman, Elena, didn't know what to say, but she felt a little strange about Maria Naryshkina today.

Although the aunt and the queen are essentially the same kind of people, and even have similar birthdays, their relationship is unlikely to be good because of the same man.

But today, Maria Naryshkina's staggering movement was indeed very strange, and even seemed a bit outrageous.

She bowed to Louisa, then said: "I have been having dizziness lately, I think I must be pregnant."

Even for a strong and fit young woman like her, if she is pregnant, the position of her belly is still very obvious and anyone can see it.

After hearing this, Louisa bit her lips, and at the same time she had many doubts in her heart.

This Polish woman had always been very polite to him, and she was able to tolerate Alexander's cohabitation with her. When he was unwell recently, he could let her deal with her lustful husband. After all, she was in good health. According to unreliable rumors, she had made Alexander "beg for mercy" several times.

If she gets pregnant, it doesn't matter.

However, it is still rare to see such public provocation.

However, Louisa was the queen and had to maintain her status as the monarch's spouse and the second lady of the court, so she had to remain calm.

You can express your dissatisfaction, but you must not take any extreme actions, such as slapping someone.

This Polish girl was actually quite likable, and she even took her daughter Louisa to raise for a few days. The sudden conflict between the two sides did indeed trigger many palace rumors.

Queen Mother Maria was very proud. As long as the Polish woman provoked the little bitch Louisa, her goal would be achieved.

(End of this chapter)