Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 484 A Chance Encounter at Sparrow Mountain
Pierre seems to be willing to engage in education, although the investment cost is indeed relatively high.
They continued to walk in the ruins of Ivan the Terrible's palace to see the situation here. In fact, if it was cleaned up, they could still build a square or a park.

"You know my situation, but religious beliefs do not allow for a casual divorce, even if the whole of Moscow knows about it."

"I have nothing to say about the Kuragins. Pierre, you can get out of this situation when the time is right. Prince Vasily's words sound nice, but he can only bring sin and disaster, and there is no redemption. If it were Prince Yusupov, he is still an old neighbor of our family, and he and his wife are still fulfilling their obligations to raise their children together, instead of just demanding and possessing."

"Come to think of it, I have to thank you, Misha. You didn't even know, did you?"

"What else don't I know?"

“Remember the Russian Imperial Trust?”

"I know this. It's part of the financial reform. It was one of the anonymous petitions I wrote when His Majesty Paul was still alive. This petition was never responded to, but the trust industry was still approved. In addition, there is also a property insurance company. I remember that the old earl was once one of the directors."

"Yes, it is precisely because of this trust that most of the property was preserved. You are really a smart person to come up with such a solution, although a lot of management fees and taxes were paid at the time."

"It's better to keep these wealth in your hands and do something practical than to let others squander it, right?"

After saying that, Solovyov also laughed. It was very likely that Helen did not get a large sum of money, but only occupied a mansion on Arbat Street. This was quite funny.

If she abused abortion drugs and died early, the property would still return to Pierre. This greedy woman, even though the two big grapefruits on her chest were so tempting, was a scorpion and a poisonous snake who was always trying to cause trouble.

But Lisa is still alive, and Andre will not consider finding another wife, which may be even more dangerous for Natasha.

Without an engagement, she is more likely to be abducted and even very dangerous.

This kind of thing often happens among Russian nobles. It is a daily routine to kidnap other people's wives and unmarried girls. The mother of the new daughter-in-law of the Goncharov family was kidnapped by her father in this way. That is, her father's real wife was relatively tolerant, and this illegitimate daughter was raised by his side.
What if it's a bastard like Anatoly?
Compared to Dolokhov, this guy is purely bad. Dolokhov knows how to stand by his friends and even calms himself down and explains things clearly before doing bad things.

At home, Dolokhov is a filial son, and he also has the desire to get married and start a family. He is an ambitious bastard.

But Solovyov had no time to think about these things. He was not very familiar with the Rostov family. He only met them once when he returned to his hometown in Ryazan, but that was at the old count's house.

But Pierre was different; he was always with the Rostovs and was always a guest there.

They were walking here, just chatting and taking a stroll. The other hills were not that important compared to Sparrow Hills and Borovetsky Hills.

But when you take a walk here, you will inevitably run into a group of chattering girls. The area around Sparrow Hill is very suitable for an outing.

Speaking of Pierre, he had also met Natasha when he was at the Rostovs' house. Perhaps the two of them are more suitable.

Now, it can be seen in the birch forest of Sparrow Mountain.

What's more, it's not a coincidence that these girls are all unmarried girls, and Solovyov's fiancée Katya is among them.

Yulia sometimes complains to her brother that he can't play with some of his friends because he sent her to a girls' school.

But I am also grateful to him because I made more friends at the girls' school in Smolny Palace.

This younger sister is so emotional, and other girls may be like this too.

After Prince Yusupov bought the Dolgorukov family's estate on Sparrow Hills, he invited the Dolgorukov family to live there permanently. This was also because the girls in his family got along well with little Katya, and the girls often kept her company when they were in Moscow.

As for the fact that they came here for an outing, Pierre and Solovyov certainly didn't know.

Of course, no one would have noticed it if Natasha hadn't been singing there.

It was Pierre who first noticed it: "Listen, Misha, it sounds like Natasha from the Rostov family is singing?"

"Count Rostov's little daughter?"

"That's right. We can go over there. I mean, let's go over and take a look. The girls are here, and we're here too. It might not be polite if we don't go over to meet them."

"Okay then, we can go over there."

Turning from the birch forest to the abandoned garden of the palace, you can see the girls sitting on the flower beds to rest.

Not only Natasha was here, but also the princess's daughter from her previous marriage, little Katya and her sister Sonya, as well as Sonya from the Rostov family.

Solovyov still felt very sympathetic towards the last girl, a girl who could not get married because she had no dowry. Spiritually speaking, she might be more valuable.

"See? It's the square Pierre and 'Flower General'."

"Miss, why is Pierre square and I am 'Flower General'?"

As for Natasha, she can’t be considered very pretty, but she looks very lively, and being young is indeed a good thing.

But she does have some skills in describing others.

The girl's eyes rolled around, and she thought about what to say, and finally answered Solovyov.

"Think of Pierre, with his broad shoulders, which look square from behind. As for you, we all know you are handsome, just..."

"Natasha, if you keep talking, I won't bring you to the tea party tomorrow."

Little Katya said this, and it was obvious that the girls were gossiping about something during their small gathering.

"It's okay. Girls always have some secrets that they don't want us to know. What are you doing here?"

"We're going to go for an outing, sing songs, write some poetry, and"

"Tell Katya to go back and paint the picture and include each of us. Brother Mishka, you and Katya are getting married soon. She will call you 'dear' in the future, but we will still treat you as a reliable older brother."

The girl from the Potemkin family is very good at talking and so cute. If a more homely person heard these words and her sweet voice, he would probably fall for her immediately.

Of course, she was also very good at finding her true love. She secretly married a young nobleman from Switzerland and got the blessings of her mother, stepfather, aunt and cousins. However, her face was really big, which was a typical feature of the Potemkin family. However, her father was Prince Potemkin's cousin. Solovyov couldn't understand why some people said that she looked like Aunt Josephine. He didn't know how to delve into this question, after all, he heard it from Madame Recamier.

"How are things going with you, Katya of the Potemkin family?"

There is no way, these girls' names are always so undistinguished, there are too many duplicate names, during the reign of the empress, there were more girls named Catherine, which also has a lot to do with the atmosphere in the court. Now there are many girls in the court named Maria and Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Prince Yusupov and his wife is named Maria, and many young mothers in the palace name their children Elizabeth.

"As for me, I have to wait for my mother's consent before there can be a final result." Although Alexandre Ribeaupierre had caused trouble before, he was also a very promising diplomat and financial expert. He did a very good job in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Princess's wife also agreed.

"Then I wish you the best in advance. Although the princess is easy to talk to, there are always some obstacles in this marriage. As for my situation, you all know that Katya and I are from the Krimsky family, to be exact."

"Mishka, please don't say this in front of the sisters."

Little Katya was a little embarrassed. She knew she was about to get married, but she was not willing to accept this fact.

The happy life of her teenage years was about to end soon, and she even felt a little nostalgic.

"Well, I can't tell you, but the girls can tell you as much as they want."

"Yeah, Katya, you're so silly. Why can't the person involved speak out?"

Natasha said this again, she was still too lively, and because she was not very familiar with it, she dared to say it out loud.

"But what kind of man are you going to marry, Natasha?"

Little Katya asked back, and Natasha didn't say anything.

Although they were close in age, Natasha obviously had no idea about being a bride. She just felt very happy when she saw her brother and cousin kissing, and then she kissed Boris.
That was probably the problem with the Rostovs: they always did whatever they thought of.

Natasha did not answer, but Sonya interrupted and changed the subject.

"What are you doing here, Count Pierre?"

"Well, Misha came from Petersburg and I invited him to my house on Smolenskaya Street, and that's how we came to know that Moscow also has 'Seven Hills', just like Rome and Constantinople. So we came to Sparrow Hills to visit the abandoned palace."

Pierre is like this, speaking slowly and methodically, and his speech is also very clear. Coupled with his honest and innocent expression, as well as his past experiences, everyone sympathizes with him.

"It's indeed something that 'Flower General' who loves to write poetry can do. Count Pierre, you are really willing to accompany him on the tour." Then, the topic was picked up again by the maid from the Potemkin family.

"Since you are my guest, I have to entertain you well. We always talk about things at times like this. It was the same when I was with Andre in the past."

"Yes, girls. We did that a lot, walking and talking about something. But I was always in the army. The best time for me to talk to Pierre was in Paris, when we rented the same apartment and had a lot to talk about."

"When I was at the apartment, there was Adela, how is she doing?"

"My stepmother is about to give birth again, so she came back to her home on the Moika River Embankment to help, just in case she is on her way back to Moscow."

"Then there is no other way. Your family is really prosperous now."

Solovyov had been away for a long time, and sometimes he didn't feel familiar with his home when he returned. After all, after a year or two, his father and stepmother would give him a younger brother or sister. In this case, he needed to work even harder.

“There are even more.”

"It's no secret, Catherine. You know Baron Mikhail's aunt is the Queen of France."

Sonya speaks in a more formal manner and she is not that close to Natasha and Solovyov.

"Ah, no wonder you always look for your relatives when you're away fighting overseas!"

This is the point. Solovyov couldn't say anything now. The girls were chattering away, and little Katya felt a little embarrassed after listening to them.

But these are all good sisters in Moscow, and she can only be a listener.

Solovyov noticed this and moved closer to the edge of the flower bed.

"Katya, shall we go for a walk?"

When he stretched out his hand, little Katya also came down from the flower bed and their hands were put together.

That’s it, the girls all covered their faces with their little fans and giggled.

"Come on, Katya, let's go for a walk alone."

The two of them did not have much emotional foundation, although among the nobles who got married in this way, they were considered to be relatively familiar with each other before the marriage.

However, in Katya's mind, Solovyov is still a brave soldier and a reliable elder brother, and her identity as his fiancée makes her feel a little uneasy.

In fact, the relationship between the two of them is similar to that between Andre and Natasha.

It's just that Solovyov's status is lower, and it is Prince Vasily who is very optimistic about the future of this young man. He was even appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Selenge Regiment. It was always Prince Vasily who pushed him behind the scenes.

Little Katya feels awkward and is not used to this identity.

Therefore, Solovyov wanted to take her out for a walk, and this place was so open that everyone could see clearly what they were going to do.

"I think we should get to know each other better now, Katya. After all, this is for our own happiness. You should have even heard of the rumors about me."

"Yes, Brother Mishka, but what can we do? Dad is very optimistic about you and is talking about your future, and those things are unavoidable."

"All I can promise is that I will treat you well when I'm at home. Although it's a bit unfair to you, the nickname the girls gave me is indeed very appropriate. 'Flower General', hehe."

(End of this chapter)