Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 509 Maria and Trouble
Alexander summoned Solovyov, and this time he did not get excited just yet, but issued an edict throughout Russia to build a railway chain. He even changed the previously planned six sections of railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg to just one. Before that, he also had to build the railway in Tsarskoye Selo.

Trevithick then got a big job to redesign a train based on Alexi's uncle's toy model.

This was the design that Solovyov had mentioned to him before, and there was nothing beyond the scope.

Alexander also promised a bounty. As long as the new locomotive was ready, Trevithick would receive 5 silver rubles, not the paper rubles that were constantly depreciating.

As a result, Alexander attached great importance to new inventions, especially the railway.

Even without steam locomotives, transportation efficiency could be greatly improved by just using horse-drawn carriages running on rails.

So the article was over, Alexander was very satisfied, and he kept Solovyov here for lunch.

But when the table was about to be served, Luisa was here with her children, and Maria was also here with her daughter and son.
As for Louisa, it's not so bad. Their relationship is still there, but they seldom see each other recently, let alone have time for intimacy. Alexander's recent efforts in "cultivating the land" have paid off.

"Misha, what do you think of my sister-in-law?"

Maria didn't know that they were lovers, but seeing her sister-in-law looking so radiant and glamorous, and joking with her brother in the morning, she was now trying to catch Solovyov.

"Her Majesty is naturally very beautiful, otherwise Her Majesty would not have chosen her."

“Now, it’s even more beautiful.”

Solovyov didn't understand what Maria's attitude was, but she was always troublesome.

Alexander knew that Maria had a good relationship with Solovyov when she got married, and she often called him by his nickname. He just didn't know that she often used that nickname in private, so he just thought of her as his sister coming out to liven up the atmosphere today.

Although Maria was almost disfigured among the sisters because of smallpox, she has always been working as a coordinator among the siblings. Today, it seems that she is more like adjusting the atmosphere between the brothers and sisters-in-law, and Solovyov is his prop.

But Luisa knew that when Maria mentioned him to her in private, she was very excited and it was obvious that she was interested in him.

This girl might be thinking that although her husband is good to her, he is not very smart, so she always thinks that although she is not competing with her now, it was she who pointed out Katya, and she will always protect the family of the maid around her.

At this time, she also wanted to bring the topic back to herself.

"I am not the same now as I was before, Maria. If you pinch my belly, I have become fat after giving birth to these six children. I am not as slim as before."

"Sister-in-law, let me take a look."

It was also a small-scale banquet, with two tables for the older and younger children. Seeing this, Solovyov went to find Anna and Nikolai to avoid causing trouble for himself here.

It was clear what he was doing, which was Nikola's homework these days. Even at the dinner table, he had to pay attention to his progress.

As for Maria, her little hand had already reached out to Louisa's belly.

"Sister-in-law has gained weight, but she feels better when she is fatter. My brother likes plump beauties the most."

Although Maria was not as favored as Catherine, when she spoke at home, her brothers and sisters still listened to her, the middle sister.

This was obviously a reference to Alexander's constant fooling around with his mistresses, but she hadn't expected what Louisa said next.

"I think I'm pregnant again. I hope it's a girl this time, but I haven't been feeling well lately. In the past, when I was like this, I always had a girl."

Considering Louisa's personality, she is shy and easily disturbed by external factors. She is almost going to bury the flowers with a hoe herself. However, Solovyov has no channels to import relevant books.

It's no wonder that she gets pregnant with a girl every now and then. Although it's a heresy, it's inevitable given the superstitious atmosphere in the Russian royal family.

"But with my personality, I gave birth to a boy the first time, so why is it a girl this time too?"

"Who knows? You should ask yourself."

However, Alexander was very happy when he heard the word "pregnancy".

"Lisa, let me take a look."

Although he failed to catch the kitten that stole food last time (it was actually in this room), Alexander recognized her when he saw that it was a girl, and a very beautiful baby girl.

This time it must be his own. Alexander is more or less obsessed with having a son, even though he has many mistresses, some of whom are pregnant and have children. Even the strong and lively Polish girl has given birth to girls one after another.

It was because of technological advances and the fact that hospitals and palaces began to pay attention to hygiene that children lived healthy lives and the infant mortality rate, at least in the royal family, was significantly reduced.

If Alexander had gathered together all the children he had with his wife and his mistresses, he would probably have been able to organize a destroyer fleet.

What’s even more amazing is that he doesn’t even have a son.

No wonder there will be descendants of Nicholas in the future.
At this time, Solovyov saw Alexander being intimate with Louisa again. After all, they were a serious couple. In this situation, he was more or less a kerosene lamp. Now he was just responsible for entertaining the children.

Louisa is raising children here, including the child of a close friend of hers, to keep her youngest daughter company.

However, what she didn't expect was that her pregnancy this time went very smoothly, and her health has been better recently.

Maybe it's a good sign, but Louisa is also worried about having a son. Now, no matter how she looks at it, the problem seems to be with Alexander.

After all, there is a control group.
She even knew about Solovyov's ridiculous deeds in Paris. He went straight to the "core area" of Paris and had a son with Polina. If you compare it this way, it was indeed not her problem.

But her marriage was arranged since she was a child, and maintaining the marriage here would also be beneficial to her mother's home in Baden.

In fact, she always had to comfort her sister Mary, because the Duchy of Brunswick was now in a state of extinction, and her brother-in-law

The "Black Duke" went to England to organize a Free Corps to fight against the French, leaving his sister Marie with her.

Fortunately, Mary came to live with him before the war between Sweden and Russia, and she even lived in the Alexander Palace.

The younger sister was also depressed. After giving birth to another daughter for her brother-in-law, Mary received an agreement from the "Black Duke" to divorce. The reason was relatively simple. Frederick had lost his duchy, and compared with Mary's status, the two families were now unequal. For Mary, because she had no source of income, she had to rely on her grandfather, parents and sisters for support. The property of the Brunswick family had always seemed to be thin, and most of it was confiscated by Napoleon.

Under such circumstances, although the "Black Duke" was reluctant to part with his delicate and virtuous wife, he still sent a divorce agreement and transferred all the remaining properties under his name, except for the apartment he lived in London, to Mary.

But Mary did not want to divorce, and she knew about her husband's situation. However, she considered that the church, whether it was the Eastern Church, the Western Church, the Calvinist Church, the Lutheran Church, or the Catholic Church in England that was established to facilitate Henry VIII's divorce, all did not advocate divorce and wanted to maintain the stability of marriage.

Even with the agreement, she would not feel comfortable.

Louisa is still worried about many things. On one hand, there is her husband, her lover, her sister-in-law, her younger sister, and these children. No wonder she can only give birth to girls. To be honest, this kind of worry is not good for your health during pregnancy.

Alexander also wanted to talk to her about naming the baby, and he wanted to pinch his belly, but ended up grabbing his sister's hand.

If it was Ekaterina's hand, it would be fine. Maria was tall and slender, with big hands and feet. She could have been caught by just moving sideways a little.

"elder brother."

"Ah, Maria, I got you. But I also want to ask, Lisa, if this child can be born successfully, what should we name it?"

Speaking of which, because there are so many children, many common names have been used. If we check for duplicates, if the eldest daughter and the fourth daughter did not have relatively special names, they would all have renamed themselves now.

"If it's a boy, Sasha, I think we should name him after Paul Petrovich, our father."

What Louisa said actually had another meaning. Paul was also the "little father of the Tsar". Even though he had been dead for many years, he still had some prestige among the people.

Paul was loved by serfs and citizens after all, so in this environment, the name was very meaningful.

Alexander nodded in agreement, but he then asked, "What if it's still a girl?"

Although some people wanted him to take back his magical powers, it was inevitable. Luisa ignored his opinion and said directly: "If you want to name it, it should be Anastasia. How about that?"

The name means "resurrection" and is somewhat related to the name Anastasius.

"I think it's possible."

But such a name could not bring about "resurrection". On the contrary, to Solovyov, it sounded like a invitation to something.

But what is even more troublesome is probably Maria. After her attention was diverted from her brother and sister-in-law, she has been looking in her direction.

Well, the baby is just one month old, and the little "python" here is out hunting, and the prey is the usual target.

Solovyov still wanted to hide for a while. After Alexander gave him a banquet, he wanted to slip away and go to another palace in Tsarskoye Selo.

This was enough to avoid her, but if Maria targeted her, it would be difficult for her to escape.

In this family, only Alexandra is relatively good, but the rest are not good men and women.
But after dodging, Solovyov did not notice the guest room he had arranged. After hiding from Maria, the room next door was Louisa's sister Mary.

"I never thought I'd see you here."

"My sister arranged for me to come here. Speaking of which, I have been an unfortunate person recently and can only stay here with my daughter."

"The child looks fine, but he is not healthy. He still needs to avoid getting sick."

"Yeah, I think so too."

"What's this kid's name?"

"Caroline, I kind of miss my sister in Bavaria."

"You should relax a little, Mary. It's not bad to live here. At least Her Majesty the Queen is your sister and can take care of you. If you really feel bored, you can go to Vilno to find Prince Czartoryski."

That was also her brother-in-law, and Mary knew that. However, she felt that the brother-in-law was unreliable, so she got closer to her third sister, with whom she had a closer relationship, and arranged for him to stay in Tsarskoye Selo.

"I don't think so. Did you come here for that road?"

"Yes, I didn't see you on the viewing platform either."

"She didn't see me. I was worried about the child, so I stayed here. Look at her expression."

"It's inevitable for a baby of a few months old to be like this. Have you ever tried to untie it?"

"The doctor checked it out, but couldn't find anything. It might be because I was so unstable when I was pregnant with this child. Even when I was in Sweden, the journey was often bumpy."

"Not necessarily. I saw Her Highness Maria. You and I have the same name, but she has always been full of energy. After giving birth, she was full of energy in just over a month."

"Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. I have to feed the baby." As she said this, the baby in Mary's arms started crying.

Mary also insisted on breastfeeding. Solovyov saw her breasts. When she met the Guards Cavalry, she was still an ordinary girl. Now she is like this.
Although smaller than Queen Louise's pair of big white pomeloes, they were also very plump. She had to undress to feed her child.

When Solovyov saw this, he turned around and went back to his room.

The child in her arms quickly calmed down after receiving breast milk, and after a while he went into standby mode and continued to sleep.

Mary also lamented her embarrassing fate. Now her two brothers-in-law were fighting with each other. Although her husband said he would leave her some property, he also announced that he wanted a divorce.

The two sons were also sent to their mother, and this child was the only one left, who was taken care of as a refuge, but the child was very weak.
She was faced with nothing but troubles.

In the past, she thought that her sister had encountered enough trouble in St. Petersburg, but she did not expect that her own fate would be even more confusing.

(End of this chapter)