Chapter 405: Chapter 399: Metternich Goes to Paris
"If that’s the case, then all the better!"
Augusta’s response brought a look of joy to Jerome Bonaparte’s face. A reckless acquisition could very likely trigger a stress reaction from the Prussian side.
Under the guise of returning home to visit her family, Augusta returned to Wurttemberg. Then, while discussing the transfer of the Oberndorf Royal Arsenal with her uncle and father-in-law, she could discreetly transfer all the workers within the arsenal to France without anyone noticing.
Looking at the gleeful expression on Jerome Bonaparte’s face, Augusta glared at him and said scornfully, "Did you plan this all along?"
"No! No! Absolutely not!" Jerome Bonaparte immediately denied it, saying, "It was your suggestion!"
"Oh? Really?" Augusta looked at Jerome Bonaparte suspiciously, seemingly trying to discern some clues from him.
"Really!" Jerome Bonaparte earnestly assured Augusta, "Actually, I don’t want you to go to Wurttemberg. Such a large court is managed by you alone. If you leave, who will I rely on to manage all the affairs of the Tuileries Palace?"
"You can find your two confidantes!" Augusta looked around the entire room, then said to Jerome Bonaparte in a tone full of resentment, "I’m sure they would love to become the mistress of the Tuileries Palace when I leave!"
"How could that be!" Jerome Bonaparte immediately made his stance clear, complimenting Augusta, "Those two don’t have the capability to manage the Tuileries Palace; it still relies on you!"
"I hope you can keep your word!" Augusta didn’t quite believe Jerome Bonaparte’s words, and she immediately shouted towards the door, "Vilnius!"
Vilnius, who was eavesdropping at the door, shuddered slightly when she heard the call from inside the room. She didn’t want to get caught in the "war" between the Emperor and the Empress.
Moreover, in some ways, Vilnius was still Empress Augusta’s "sidekick." All her actions to get close to the Emperor were officially permitted by the Empress.
"Here!" Vilnius instinctively responded from the other side of the door.
Immediately, she realized she had made a mistake. The Empress inside the door shouldn’t have known she was outside; her shout had directly exposed her presence.
"No need to eavesdrop! Come in!" Empress Augusta’s voice once again reached outside the door, and Vilnius could only enter the room hesitantly.
Vilnius straightened her body and came before Empress Augusta, asking, "Your Majesty the Empress, what do you need me to do for you?"
"Vilnius, during my absence, the entire court is entrusted to you!" Empress Augusta patted Vilnius’ shoulder with a reminder and then particularly emphasized, "Make sure not to let His Majesty bring in any inappropriate women!"
"But..." Vilnius timidly looked at Jerome Bonaparte, not daring to interfere in the Emperor’s private life.
After all, Vilnius was not the Emperor’s legitimate wife.
"Don’t worry! With me backing you, he won’t dare do anything to you!" Empress Augusta assured Vilnius.
Then, Augusta’s gaze fell on Vilnius’ large bosom, saying with a tinge of jealousy, "Besides, he wouldn’t bear to do anything to you!"
Standing nearby, Vilnius also noticed Empress Augusta’s gaze and instinctively used her hands to cover her chest.
"The court’s affairs are entrusted to you first! Remember, you absolutely cannot let certain people in!" Empress Augusta emphasized in a precise manner.
"Rest assured, I will complete the task!" Vilnius promised Empress Augusta.
In the next two days, Empress Augusta was continuously preparing the necessities for her first return to her parents’ home.
Jerome Bonaparte also informed the Wurttemberg Envoy in advance of Augusta’s return to Wurttemberg.
The Wurttemberg Envoy, upon hearing the news, first displayed a shocked expression as if something monumental was about to happen, then subtly instilled in Jerome Bonaparte the idea that "husbands and wives should live harmoniously."
Jerome Bonaparte, bewildered, looked at the Wurttemberg Envoy and only after a long while did he understand the envoy’s meaning. It turned out that the Wurttemberg Envoy misunderstood Jerome Bonaparte’s intention, thinking that Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta were separated due to marital discord.
Jerome Bonaparte hurriedly explained the reason to the Wurttemberg Envoy: The Empress, out of excessive longing for her siblings in the Wurttemberg Kingdom, returned to Wurttemberg with Jerome Bonaparte’s consent.
After listening to Jerome Bonaparte’s explanation, the Wurttemberg Envoy immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and then assured Jerome Bonaparte that the Wurttemberg Kingdom welcomed the Empress’s homecoming.
On June 10th, Empress Augusta of the Second French Empire prepared to embark lightly on her journey home, known only to some ministers.
On the evening of the 10th, Jerome Bonaparte escorted Empress Augusta to a temporary train station in the outskirts of Paris.
Empress Augusta would take the train to Strasbourg and then cross through Strasbourg to reach the German Region.
Upon reaching the German Region, the cavalry of the Wurttemberg Royal Family would come to meet her.
After a final farewell kiss at the train station with Jerome Bonaparte, Augusta boarded the train, ready to depart.
Just as the train was about to move, Jerome Bonaparte seemed to suddenly remember something and shouted urgently to Augusta inside the carriage, "Remember, you must bring back the people named William Mauser and Paul Mauser in the factory, they are brothers!"
As the sound faded, the train gradually moved into the distance, disappearing into the night.
Jerome Bonaparte, taking advantage of the night, went to the Seine River, looking at the bustling Seine under the moonlight, and at the newly repaired part on the other side of the Seine, Jerome Bonaparte smiled, feeling that life is just over 30,000 days, and he wanted to leave his mark on this world.
On June 11th, news from Vienna was transmitted via telegram from the French Embassy in Vienna to Paris.
The telegram stated: In view of the increasingly tense situation in the Balkans, Austria decided to dispatch a delegation to France, with the ostensible aim to mediate the conflict between the Russian Empire and the French Empire.
And the member of the delegation was the "little-known" Richard Metternich.
According to the telegram, the delegation would arrive in Paris on June 18th, and Paris should prepare for their arrival.
Upon receiving the telegram, Jerome Bonaparte once again called in the Minister of Foreign Affairs, De Luis.
"What on earth is the Austrian Empire trying to do?" Jerome Bonaparte pretended to be annoyed, slapping the telegram on the table and said to De Luis, "They are mobilizing in the Danube River Basin and sending a delegation! Do they really think it’s still Metternich’s era?"
"Your Majesty, I think the likelihood is that the Austrian delegation is coming to Paris to negotiate with France!" De Luis, a staunch pro-Austrian, offered his perspective to Jerome Bonaparte.
"What do they want to negotiate with France about? A compromise? That’s simply impossible!" Jerome Bonaparte said firmly, "You should understand, France has already begun mobilizing! We can’t stop this war machine unless the Russian Empire falls before the Empire! The French Empire can still recover by devouring the Russian Empire’s established shares in the Ossman and by subsequent cooperation with the Russian Empire."
"Then you must meet the Austrian Empire’s envoy with a tough attitude!" De Luis certainly understood the predicament the Empire faced now, it was like a tightly stretched bowstring, stopping halfway would only lead to the bow breaking and arrows snapping.
"You mean, convince the Austrian Empire to side with us?" Jerome Bonaparte asked De Luis.
"No! Your Majesty, we only need them to maintain a neutral stance!" De Luis responded to Jerome Bonaparte with a phrase: "The neutrality of Austria implies betrayal of the Russian Empire!"
"The neutrality of Austria implies betrayal of Russia!" Just as De Luis said this, in the distant Lombardy Region, inside a speeding train, an elderly man dressed in a bright red priest’s robe said the same words to the young man beside him.
"Then Father, are we to assist the Russian Empire in this war?" the young man asked the elderly man with a puzzled look.
"No! We must do everything possible to prevent the war from happening!" the elderly man said in a frail and weary voice to the young man beside him, then added: "Although our efforts to stop it may be futile!"
"If we cannot prevent the war, who should we side with?" the young man asked the elderly man again.
"We must side with the victors!" the elderly man replied to the young man without hesitation.
"So who will be the victors?" the young man asked again.
"France has one of the foremost armies in Europe, while Britain possesses the world’s most formidable navy! If these two join forces, no country in the world can stop their advance!" the old man said with a trace of sadness in his eyes, mourning the gradual decline of the Empire he served: "The power of the Russian Empire is simply not enough to withstand them!"
"Then isn’t that a betrayal to Russia? The Russian Empire might..." the young man lamented over the fate of the Empire post-war.
"Now the Empire has reached a critical point, and we can’t die alongside Russia! As for what comes later, that’s a matter for the future!" the elderly man sighed and said.