Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 248 015 Prince Borghese takes the bait
When treating Polina, he did tell her to dress "vacuum" to make it easier for the maids to clean her body, but she couldn't always be a stay-at-home girl at home. She was not like Louisa, who could stay in the palace without going out if she had a child, a book, and three meals a day.

She still has to go out and attend social events, so she still needs to dress up.

These days, her mind is always filled with the image of "the passionate spring breeze that blew open her skirt" that day. Even in this state, she still feels very ashamed.

However, her health has recovered a lot and she no longer has to worry about nausea and vomiting. Her complexion has become healthy and rosy and she no longer needs to dress up to cover it up.

"Ma'am, in this case, when you go out, you will look good with just light makeup."

"That's great, Madeline. Go to your closet and pick out a new dress for me. And..."

However, the outfit of white stockings was also prepared to show off her beautiful legs.

". And stockings and dancing shoes, all new."

Since she had to live this kind of life because her brother was consul, and she also had the 70 francs left to her by Leclerc, she naturally would not live a simple life.

Napoleon wanted to prepare a lot of jewelry for his wife and three sisters. In addition to this, Paulina received about the same amount of money as Josephine.

In her mouth, she is the "Old Josephine", a title that is not well-known now but will spread in Paris in the future.

Because she was favored and received a lot of favors, she became a little presumptuous. Her mother and brother felt sorry for her and allowed her to appear in social occasions again. However, the date of her remarriage had to be postponed, and the mourning period would exceed one year. This was not easy for her to accept.

She is a typical woman who is spoiled to the point of being lawless. She can't stand life away from the social scene.

As for this ball, it was held in the Tuileries Palace, where Napoleon was going to hold a reception and officially announce his sister's return to the Parisian social scene.

Of course she wanted to go back with a radiant image, but it was also good that her complexion had improved.

It would be even better if I could have a husband of my dreams.
This young widow, alas, just does whatever she wants and falls in love with everyone she meets. If she hadn't been undergoing treatment recently, she might have caused even more ridiculous things.

Solovyov finally met Silvia who came from Rome, and Belzoni and Adela also returned to Paris with their mother and daughter.

But in public, he couldn't call Octavia "daughter", and the child couldn't call him "dad".

"It will be all right in a few days. When Prince Borghese moves to his palace, our place will be vacant and you can come and see me."

"Okay, Sylvia, I just have a little trouble."

"What kind of trouble will you have?"

"I'll talk to you later. It's not convenient now."

These things do need to be discussed away from others, so that Sylvia will not leak the secret out of jealousy or any other reason.

But as May came, the weather improved, but it did not bring any good news.

Before the ball, the French side had already received another diplomatic note from the British, but this note was not aimed at solving the problem, but was a letter of condolence.

All of a sudden, everyone in the streets and alleys of Paris knew that the British had bad intentions and were going to war again.

The news also reached the Tuileries Palace.

"Talleyrand, the British have sent us an ultimatum, which is actually equivalent to declaring war on us. What should we do?"

"The ball will go on as usual. At this time, Your Excellency, you must not show any special concern for any political events. Doing so will make the French people more confident in you and lead them to victory in this war."

"Thank you, just like always."

"At the same time, you must not be too angry or anxious at the ball, and do not make any biased statements, so as to confuse the British. Your Excellency, you once said that you are afraid of stupidity and ignorance, but the British are obviously very cunning. They are worried about unknown dangers."

"In other words, if I don't express my opinion, the British people will feel scared."

"Besides, the war has already begun. Although the British are playing their chess moves cleverly, they are clearly still impatient in this matter."

The ball must go on as normal, and the people who come here are still the current dignitaries of Paris. Even those who oppose Napoleon will still come here because they oppose the British.

The competition between Britain and France for overseas markets can be said to be an all-round competition, and the distance between them is so close.

"Besides, this is what our people at the Russian Embassy heard."

Mr. Joseph Fouché obviously did not have a steel egg face, and he was also cunning enough to have spies in many places.

"The Russians thought that when Britain and France went to war, for various reasons, the London stock exchange would be sold off in large quantities, and this would be a good opportunity to buy? Interesting. If so, it would have some impact on the British economy in the short term."

However, Napoleon's military talent was much stronger than his other talents, and sometimes even his ability to turn his neighbors into enemies may be ignored.

“So it’s really interesting speculation that they’re going to acquire some assets in the UK.”

"Talleyrand, you have also been an ambassador to London, so you should be very familiar with that place."

"It does cause panic, but only for a short period of time. British newspapers like to brag. During the war they would take advantage of the late arrival of news and let the media say that the advantage is on their side. This is a good medicine for the market."

Although Talleyrand and Fouché did not get along well, they still had a common goal, so today they cooperated in front of the First Consul, who also handed over another note of denunciation.

"Then there is another interesting thing. The 'young' military attaché of the Russian embassy, ​​although young, has a clear mind. In this conversation, he also talked about some tricks, such as creating public opinion. He needs a pro-Russian media to exaggerate some public opinion, but he also needs to disguise it as... In short, it's very interesting. First Consul, I suggest you take a good look at the content here."

"It's somewhat interesting, but it's not enough. You can do it on the battlefield without using your tongue like this."

Napoleon was more confident in his absolute strength, but he had done a good job in manipulating public opinion in France. After all, these newspapers were always following the trend.

"But it is not without benefits to ambush those who spread rumors in London. If we can win this time difference, it will be a devastating blow to the British."

Napoleon now wanted to station his troops in the barracks at Boulogne-sur-Mer, and then try to plan his great plan of crossing the sea, and also to prepare for war here.

In fact, if he could successfully cross the sea, it would be difficult to stop him with the current strength of the British Army.

The problem is that the distance in the UK is so delicate and it has a strong navy. It's not like in the game where you can sneak across the English Channel with just one click. You need to divert the Royal Navy's fleet or destroy them.

Napoleon had already begun to have brilliant strategic ideas in his mind, and was even considering alternative strategies.

This kind of mind is indeed rare, but his way of expression is always so abstract.

Even at the ball, it was the same, and today there were guests from Italy.

It was Prince Camillo Borghese who, from the beginning of the Italian campaign, had been pro-French, or more precisely, a typical Bonapartist.

Such a handsome prince, who has little brains, is actually an easy target to control.

Napoleon also heard from his eldest brother Joseph that Pauline had not been at home recently, but he did not draw any conclusion about who was coming and going because he had forbidden Fouché to monitor his sister.

But when he saw Paulina take the initiative to invite Prince Borghese to dance, he had the idea.

Since the old man was gone, Paulina was firmly opposed to marrying such a man, and now she wanted to "sacrifice once more" for the French people and build an empire, "Emperor of the French People".
If she wanted to find a new husband for her sister, she would not look for one in the Italian Republic, but should look for a suitable nobleman.

"Joseph, what do you say about that young man?"

"You mean Prince Camillo Borghese, Napoleon. He is the hereditary prince of Rome. His family has produced popes and many cardinals. He still has some influence in Rome."

"Do you know the financial situation?"

As the eldest brother in the family, Joseph was more responsible for the living problems of his younger siblings. Before Napoleon became successful, he relied on him to support the family. After he got married, the family's living conditions improved because Julie's family was a wealthy businessman.

"Very wealthy, with a fortune of at least 200 million francs, and a large amount of jewellery and art."

Napoleon would not have relied on robbing northern Italy to take all the respectable people in Rome. He had to pay to get things from Rome.

"If it's a 30 franc dowry, that should be about right, right?"

"This prince is still single. He came to Paris with the intention of getting married, but he has not yet decided on a marriage partner."

"Are you still looking for a wife when you come to Paris?"

"Yes, it is said that he will give a dowry of 50 francs as property for the marriage with the woman to form a family, and in addition, he will have the right to use the jewels of Prince Borghese's family."

Like his eldest brother, Napoleon was particularly fond of his unfortunate second sister Paulina. It would be perfect if the two of them were interested in each other.

As for Prince Borghese in the dance floor, he was completely attracted by Paulina's beauty. He was also a frivolous and dissolute nobleman, so it was inevitable that he would be attracted by beautiful women.

Especially the dress that Paulina wore today, which made her chest look fuller. While dancing, Prince Borghese couldn't help but keep his eyes on this fair beauty, from her forehead to her neck, collarbone and chest.

"You are so beautiful, Polina."

"Thank you for the compliment, that's quite direct."

"If I use fancy words, it will easily lead to misunderstanding. And it will waste my time. What I want to say is, Ti amo, beautiful lady, I am overwhelmed by your beauty."

If Polina's skirt was shorter, revealing the white stockings underneath, he would definitely say the same thing. He would definitely not be able to resist such a look on such a beautiful woman.

"You don't have to talk like that. I'm a Corsican. I can understand everything you say."

The Corsican dialect, which has many things in common with the Tuscan dialect, is spoken just north of Rome.

"This is better. It brings us closer. My heart belongs to you."

But how long it will last? Judging from the performance of the Italians, it is unclear how long this shelf life will be.

"But you also know my identity, His Royal Highness Prince Borghese."

In fact, Polina also hopes to have the identity of a princess. Little girls always have a princess dream.

"That doesn't matter. I supported the First Consul a few years ago. He is your brother and he will not refuse."

After all, he lived in Rome, was born in Rome, was one of the top Roman nobles, had close contacts with the Holy See, and Joseph had already found out about his property status. For Paulina, who was remarrying, such a husband was perfect.

And he was so lustful that he didn't even mind that she was a widow who had just lost her husband. He even wanted to get Polina before the mourning period was over.

Well, it was not strange for the ancient Romans to marry widows and remarry second or even third marriageable women. This has been a local practice since ancient times.

Regarding this, Polina was somewhat "cunning as a pika". She nodded in agreement, with anticipation and excitement in her eyes, but she didn't say a word.

Prince Borghese, on the other hand, took the tacit consent of the beauty in front of him as consent.

As for the son she had with her late husband, that didn't matter. She could just take him in.

This can be considered a fan behavior that has been extended to the idol, and the idol's biological sister, which is much more efficient than future imitators.

Joseph was very attentive to the situation. He later mentioned Paulina's situation to Prince Borghese, but the other party did not take it seriously.

After all, Paulina was still very young, only 23 years old, unlike Josephine, who was already in her thirties when she married Napoleon.

Marrying such a daughter-in-law home would also help their family gain a strong backer in France, so it can be said to be a two-way win.

However, Napoleon still had a requirement, that is, whether it was the wedding ceremony or the government registration, it had to be done after Leclerc's mourning period was over.

However, Prince Borghese didn't care about that. He had his own ideas and even planned to move in with Paulina.

This even scared Polina, so she could only decline the other party's application for accommodation on the grounds that she was still recuperating.

Now it seems like this is another form of “evil will be punished by evil”.

(End of this chapter)