Perhaps the topic that Zai Chun and William talked about was too sensitive. The soldiers and maids kept a certain distance intentionally or unintentionally. Even though they were just teenagers, the conversation between them already involved a lot of secrets.
For example, the Franco-Prussian conflict was about to break out, and the Qing Dynasty's future reform plan. The two even vaguely expressed the possibility of cooperation. Prussia's industrial power was no less than that of Britain and France, and China's huge market also deeply attracted Prussia.
Some children from poor families are still running around in crotchless pants when they are more than ten years old. The little newsboys who are everywhere in London start working at this age, and some children have even gone to factories to work as child labor.
People cannot be compared with each other, everything is fate. William and Zai Chun, who are both in their teens, have already begun to consider the future direction of the two empires. They are the same people but have completely different things in their brains.
Those who can serve the royal family have undergone strict confidentiality training. When they heard that the conversations of the big shots began to involve serious matters, they spread their alerts outwards.
This ensured the safety of the princes, but also kept the distance so that no one could eavesdrop on the conversation.
Originally four-year-old George was playing under the care of the fat maid, but his brother and the Chinese emperor were obviously more interesting than the bucket-waisted maid. After a while, Prince George walked up to Zai Chun and grabbed Zai Chun. The braid curiously played with it.
Of course, Zai Chun would not argue with a four or five-year-old child. He let him play with his pigtails and continued chatting with Prince William. At this moment, the topic between them had already touched upon the geopolitics of East Asia.
William Jr. even proposed that Prussia and the Qing Empire jointly build a military port on the Shandong Peninsula, with one providing land and the other providing funds and technology.
Maybe their topic was too boring. Four-year-old George obviously found barbecue more attractive. He stood up and moved his hands towards the sizzling barbecue on the charcoal fire, but his right hand actually forgot that he was still holding it. Zai Chun’s braid.
Zai Chun and William were both sitting on the ground facing each other. They were so excited at the moment that they didn't pay attention to Prince George's movements at all. Moreover, the barbecue was just one step away from George. As soon as he stretched out his hand, George touched the hot meat skin.
"Ah... God!" George cried out with a scream, sat down on the ground, and yanked Zai Chun with his right hand, which also hurt Zai Chun.
"Ouch... what's wrong?" Zai Chun felt that the roots of his hair were almost being pulled off. He subconsciously ducked away due to the pain. As a result, little George who was sitting on the ground was pulled out by twenty centimeters.
Prince George knocked over the olive oil bottle, knocked over the sauce bucket, and kicked over the groceries with his leather shoes. The red-hot charcoal sparks flew up to half a person's height.
These were messy. Half a bottle of olive oil and honey were poured on the ends of Zai Chun's braid, and burning sparks burst into it and ignited a fire.
"Oh God! You're on fire... the emperor's braids are on fire!" Xiao William shouted, picked up the coffee pot next to him and poured it over directly, but he forgot how hot the coffee was, and it immediately burned Zai Chun's neck when he poured it on her. A patch of scarlet.
ah! Zai Chun's braid was on fire, his neck was in pain, he tilted his head on the ground and shook his braid desperately. The soldiers and attendants around him were so frightened that they broke out in cold sweat, and they all rushed up with a roar.
"Long live the Lord!" Da Sixi screamed and threw Zai Chun to the ground, then pressed his burning braid on the grass, rolling and twisting to finally put out the flames.
The remaining guard soldiers' big leather boots trampled on the grass, and all the red charcoal was stamped out.
He got into trouble. Everyone knew that they got into trouble. Looking at Emperor Tongzhi's dark face and the braids that were burned to only a small part, the faces of the imperial guards who were guarding him all turned pale with fright.
When little George saw that he had gotten into trouble, he sat on the ground and cried. Prince William was also at a loss. Of course he knew what braids meant to the Qing emperor.
Zai Chun was applying burn ointment on his neck. Although he was very angry, he was Prince George after all, the Queen's grandson and the future heir to the United Kingdom. What else could you do to him?
"Where's the nanny? Hurry up and coax Prince George. I have nothing to do and tell him to stop crying! Four-year-old child, don't scare him..."
Prince William said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I blame my poor care for this matter. Let's go back to the city quickly and let the royal doctor take a look..."
There was no way to recover from the incident, so Zai Chun could only get on the carriage and return to Buckingham Palace surrounded by a group of people.
Er Mao was dumbfounded and said, "Long live Lord... Prince George did this?"
Zai Chun said with a bitter face, "Who else can I give face to except him? If it was an ordinary untouchable who did it, I would have shot him long ago! Hey..."
Da Sixi, Little Sixi and later Manshun knelt on the ground and cried loudly, "How good is this? How good is this! Long live the pigtails are gone, and we can't live anymore!"
"It's nothing for us to die. How can I be in charge without Long Live the Pigtail? How can those civil and military ministers in the capital and the nobles of the Eight Banners just let it go! There will definitely be trouble and manipulation!"
"I'm going to die..." I said that I was about to jump down when I opened the window.
"Dance! You dare to dance! Do you dare to die in Buckingham Palace? To bring fear to the Queen! Try to die..." Er Mao said angrily, not to mention that the moment he said this, he was so frightened that Da Sixi didn't dare to jump. .
Er Mao frowned and thought, "Long live my Lord! Who is in charge of guarding the Guards? Who are the accompanying British officials?"
"It's Gordon, he's been with us these days..."
"That's good. After all, Gordon is an old acquaintance. It should be no problem to shut him up. Let him issue a hush order later. We can't let any British people tell the truth about what happened!"
"Do you have any idea?" Zai Chun's eyes lit up and he grabbed Er Mao's hand and asked.
"It's not a good solution, it's just the best solution among all solutions. Try to make this bad thing have some good effect!"
Er Mao touched Zai Chun's shawl hair and said regretfully, "Since we can't keep the braid, we might as well shave it off!"
"What? Ermao, you are so brave! If you want to rebel, there is no long-lived man in the world who doesn't have pigtails... You are so cruel!"
Xiao Sixi jumped up and cursed. As a result, Ermao's eyes widened and he was so frightened that he lowered his voice in the second half of his sentence. "Pedantine, do you have a solution? If you have a solution, just say it. If you can't help it, you're still yelling. You think I don’t dare to follow the rules in the palace!”
"Long live my lord! You can't hide your braids when they are burned like this. If Europe knows about this accident, I'm afraid there will be changes!"
"Some people will think this is just an accident, but will there be someone with intentions to make a fuss out of it in an attempt to influence the situation you and the UK have just opened?"
"Even if it means driving a wedge between you and Britain, this is not a good sign!"
"So, why don't you just shave it off and claim to the outside world that you saw the great power of the British Industrial Revolution, and you felt something in your heart and decided to implement reforms in the Qing Dynasty..."
"The will to shave your hair! There is something special about this!"
