Just as Aigron expected, the picture album he and Teresa co-authored, as well as his other documents and letters, were quietly sent to their destination after a period of tossing and turning, and came into the hands of the Marquis of Treville.
At this time, winter is turning to spring, and everything is recovering. The snow on the houses has long melted, the air is moist and cold, the branches and leaves on the trees have sprouted green buds, and moss has spread on street corners and walls everywhere. The originally empty and gray world was re-lit by these bits of green.
The end of winter has also taken away the cold silence. This huge city has returned to its usual vitality, and the conspirators hidden in it have begun to get ready to carry out activities in the new year.
After understanding Aigron's intentions from the letter, the Marquis of Treville called his son Edgar. After all, his son was the only one who really knew how to paint, and His Majesty also specifically appointed Edgar to accept the next job. .
Because the New Year has just passed, Edgar has been basically at home recently. After hearing his father's call, he immediately came to the study.
The Marquis of Treville briefly explained the situation to his son, and then handed him the album.
Although Edgar was a little shocked, he still took the album and looked through it carefully.
"The painting is pretty good! He is very skilled in using the pen. It seems that His Majesty has found a good painter beside him, and he painted very carefully and put a lot of effort into it." After browsing for a while, he was full of praise for this pencil drawing album. , "To be honest, I want to collect one..."
"This is not important!" Marquis Treville interrupted his son. He was not interested in starting a technical discussion with his son. "What is important, Edgar, is that you must execute His Majesty's orders perfectly and turn these pencil drawings into printable materials." Can you do it with prints?"
"To be honest, it's a bit troublesome..." Edgar couldn't help but complain. "We have to expand and color the details of the painting, but we also need to be careful not to affect the meaning that His Majesty originally wanted to express. This is a very trivial and energy-consuming task."
"Even so, you have to do well!" Marquis Treville frowned and scolded his son sternly, "Edgar, I know you are bored during this period and want to go out and have some fun, but I tell you, Before this work is completed, I won't allow you to go out even half a step! You finally have a chance to be expected by His Majesty, and if you let him down, I will never forgive you!"
For the Marquis of Treville, what worries him most is that his son is not living up to expectations and his status in His Majesty's heart is not high. Now His Majesty actually personally assigns tasks to his son. This is obviously a rare honor and a rare opportunity. He will never allow it. Son makes any mistakes.
He did not expect his son to take the opportunity to turn around and become an indispensable talent in His Majesty's mind, but at least he could not disappoint His Majesty - he had been with His Majesty for a period of time, and he knew very well that His Majesty was lenient on the outside and taboo on the inside. You may appear to be generous but you may be harsh in reality. Once you let him down, it will be too difficult to get him back.
Even if Edgar cannot contribute much to the revitalization of his family, he must not become a stumbling block.
Edgar was frightened by his father's harsh attitude. No matter how many opinions he had in his heart, he could only swallow them now.
It seems that His Majesty's mission can only be regarded as the immediate priority, so let's not go to the club for the time being... He sighed secretly in his heart.
In order to finish the work early, he steeled himself and looked at the album carefully.
Then, he suddenly had a strange idea.
"This portrait of Joan of Arc looks like a person..." He couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Then he soon let out an exclamation of realization just like Aiglon.
"Agnes! Isn't this Agnes!?"
When he heard his son yelling, Marquis Treville, who had already focused his attention elsewhere, grabbed the album and started reading it again.
After all, he and Agnes had met countless times, and now he quickly saw the shadow of Agnes in "Joan of Arc's" eyebrows.
He was a little surprised at first, and after a moment, he couldn't help laughing.
"Hahahaha, it's a shame Your Majesty can think of it!"
Seeing his father's unusual appearance, Edgar looked confused. "Dad, what are you laughing at?"
"Do you see anything? Your Majesty's meaning is very clear." The Marquis of Treville replied.
Edgar looked at his father blankly, racking his brains but his mind was still blank, "No... I was surprised just now, but if you think about it carefully, it's normal. If we say who among the people we know is the most consistent in people's minds, The image of Joan of Arc is obviously Agnes. Although Your Majesty has been to more places than me, it must be difficult to find a more suitable image, right? So when making a portrait of Joan of Arc, he used Agnes as the character. The reference template is also very normal, at least I don’t think there’s anything strange about it.”
After listening to his son's analysis, Marquis Treville nodded secretly in his heart.
His son is really smart, and this analysis is reasonable and outlines the general facts - but it's a pity that he didn't think more about it and stopped at the surface.
Hey, the ambition has been passed down from generation to generation in his family, why didn’t it flow to him?
He sighed secretly, then frowned and explained to his son, "Your Majesty not only wants a portrait, but also wants to impress people. Pictures alone are not enough, there must be a real big scene! You were born in a sad place. I may not have an intuitive impression because of the age, but I was used to it when I was a child. Louis XVI and his queen traveled around, going to Reims, Namur, and many places! And I also used to I have been in the parade team! His Majesty also wants to play this trick. Look at the album, there are many pictures like this, isn’t it? "
After being prompted by his father, Edgar also noticed.
"You are right, but what does this mean?"
The Marquis was very dissatisfied with his son's slowness and glared at him.
"Fool! Don't you understand? This means that in His Majesty's eyes, Agnes is the contemporary Joan of Arc!" He couldn't help but roared with hatred.
"Agnes, contemporary Joan of Arc...?" Edgar wanted to laugh but didn't dare. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch, making an extremely ugly expression, "This...where do I start talking about this...I I feel that although she is an interesting person, she is still far from Joan of Arc."
Edgar also knew his sister-in-law relatively well. He knew that Agnes had a violent temper, was indifferent to national affairs, and was not very devoted to religion or the royal family. Apart from the fact that she was brave and fierce, what else did she think of her? It's not even comparable to Joan of Arc - although Agnes is indeed very good and powerful, saying she is a contemporary Joan of Arc is really flattering her.
"Are the facts important? What is important is that His Majesty needs her to be Joan of Arc." Marquis Treville laughed disdainfully, "I have lived for so many years, and I have never seen a king who really looks like a king. Don't people still Accepted being ruled by them? In comparison, calling Agnes a Joan of Arc is less of a joke."
His father's philosophical words left Edgar speechless for a moment.
That's right. There are so many jokes in this world. Madmen and tyrants can sit on the throne safely. In comparison, there is at least one or two "reasons" to say that Agnes is Joan of Arc.
But he still had a hard time accepting this analogy. After all, it seemed too ridiculous.
"Father, you mean that His Majesty wants Agnes to play Joan of Arc?" he asked tentatively.
"No, His Majesty needed a Joan of Arc, and then he chose Agnes as Joan of Arc's substitute." The Marquis shook his head.
"What's the difference between these two statements?" Edgar asked.
"Your Majesty has made his meaning very clear in the letter, but you still don't understand..." The Marquis shook his head, "Your Majesty hopes to embrace religion and transform the Bonaparte family into the guardians of religion. Therefore, He needs a saint to stand beside him to intuitively display this image, and Agnes is the living saint, the contemporary Joan of Arc. You can be unconvinced, and we all can be unconvinced, but as long as Once the people accept this, it will become reality."
"But will the people accept this?" Edgar was still hesitant.
"I don't know." This time, the Marquis shook his head very honestly, but he quickly changed the topic, "But it depends on the human condition. Your Majesty thinks you can give it a try, and I think it's okay - anyway, even if we fail, as long as we If we obey His Majesty's will, we will not suffer any losses."
After hesitating for a moment, he continued, "Your Majesty's doing this undoubtedly shows that he will never let Agnes go. This is even more good news for us..."
He didn’t know that this album was Teresa’s work, nor did he know that it was actually Teresa’s handwriting. He thought it was a creation under His Majesty’s instruction, so he immediately thought of that based on “normal logic”.
In a sense, it's a mistake.
"So Your Majesty is tired of playing ordinary tricks, so you want to do some saintly tricks?" Edgar couldn't help but joked, "I don't know who he and Agnes will be by then. Does the saint purify the evildoers, or does the evildoer pollute the saint? Or should it be switched?"
"Shut up!" Marquis Treville glared at his son, "We don't need to speculate on His Majesty's motives. We just need to understand his orders and execute them. Although he is thousands of miles away now, there is a period of time before he can return. Not far away, from now on, when you mention him, you must show enough respect and not reveal any flaws - Edgar, if you don't want to harm your father and family, you'd better do what I say. "
Seeing his father's stern attitude, Edgar felt he had made a mistake and had no choice but to bow his head and accept the scolding.
In the silence, he was thinking seriously, and Edgar did not dare to disturb his father.
"You should hurry up and complete this work during this period. After it is completed, I will find a way to print the album. At that time, you can find a reason to meet with His Majesty." After a long time, the Marquis of Treville ordered Edgar, "Take your wife and daughter with you."
Edgar was a little confused. After all, although His Majesty had already arrived in Switzerland and the journey was not that far away, the bumpy journey was still quite tiring. There was really no need to mobilize the whole family to go, not to mention the young Xia Lu?
But in just a moment, Edgar understood his father's intention.
As long as Alice and Xia Lu leave, even if they don't mention it, Agnes will take the initiative to ask Ying to go on the journey with her sister and niece...
As expected of a father.
He glanced at his father with admiration and nodded tacitly, "Okay, father, I will convince Alice-"
"Yes." Seeing that his son was still talking, the Marquis finally looked better and nodded gently, "Edgar, when His Majesty returns to France, there will be many people rushing to see him. We are afraid that He can't be ranked. So, take this opportunity to let him get familiar with and get close to our family. This is the only guarantee for our family's future. You must not neglect it. In addition, Alice is a smart person, and you must do everything. Listen to her opinions more, I think she deserves more respect in front of His Majesty than you."
"Okay, Dad." Edgar was straightforward about this. He never cared about others saying that his wife was better than him, but he did have another concern, "It's just that Alice may not be happy to see Agnes become... Becoming His Majesty's good friend...if she gets in the way, it might be quite troublesome."
"Everything should be done step by step. Don't be in a hurry. Alice is not willing to accept Agnes as her lover, but will she refuse Agnes to become a saint?" Marquis Treville asked impatiently, "She is afraid that her sister's reputation will be ruined. Defiled, but what an honor it is to play Joan of Arc, will she be disgusted? I'm afraid it's too late for her to be happy - the more radiant Agnes is, the brighter her face is, the more Xia Lu can benefit from it, even if She won’t object if it’s for Xia Lu’s sake.”
The Marquis of Treville explained to his son word for word, "Don't let her make a choice from the beginning, let her slip unknowingly. When the final showdown comes, she will side with the Treville family and stand on the side of the Treville family." On your and your daughter's side. At that point there was no choice."
Edgar suddenly understood.
"I understand, father... I know how to act on camera. As long as Alice is willing to convince Agnes, everything will be much easier to handle."
Seeing his son's face as he simply completed the task, Marquis Treville sighed slightly in his heart.
"Son, you should have considered these things yourself, but you didn't want to think about it, and you betrayed your responsibilities. I was angry and helpless, but I chose to forgive you, because her and I are the only son... …You can live any kind of life you want, as long as you are happy.
I can't force you, I choose to place my hope on future generations. So I only ask you one thing, before you can let go, try your best to create a better foundation for your next generation. They are our hope, and no matter how much they sacrifice, it is worth it. When they grow up, you can do whatever you want. I won't make things difficult for you anymore. "
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Alas, the second group exploded again... We have officially entered the third New Tokyo era, Can Nian.
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