While Li Xiao was discussing countermeasures with his friends, Count Uvarov was sitting contentedly in his study, listening to the butler's report on the latest reactions from various circles in St. Petersburg.
Initially, he was quite satisfied with the results of his "magic stroke". Now there are rumors all over the city that he has compromised, and the reform may be about to begin.
As long as Alexander II was not blind or deaf, he would definitely be able to hear. With his character, it was impossible not to be anxious at that time. And as long as he was anxious, his position as Count Uvarov would be temporarily stable.
Of course, he is not just happy, he is also silently thinking about how to use tricks in the future. He is not the kind of person who just gives up when something is good. As long as he seizes the opportunity to catch a toad, he can catch it.
Come gold!..
However, before he could figure out the follow-up strategy, he received a piece of bad news that was not particularly ideal - Nikolai Milyutin was summoned to the Winter Palace by Alexander II.
He immediately realized that this situation was unusual. Just after Nikolai Milyutin finished chatting with him in the morning, he was called over by Alexander II. Without thinking, he must have asked about the status of their meeting.
This was a bit surprising to Count Uvarov, because he thought that with Alexander II's personality, it was more likely that he was confused and didn't know what to do, or that he was panicked and simply went to him to try to comfort him.
But Alexander II did not take either path, and instead let Nicholas Milyutin enter the palace. There were too many uncertainties.
Count Uvarov could not guarantee that Nikolai Milyutin would respond to Alexander II's questions as he expected.
Once the zoetrope is exposed and Alexander II knows that he is just a false shot, then his trump card will be seen through, and then he will only be beaten!
Suddenly Count Uvarov couldn't sit still. When he had an idea, he immediately rushed into the Winter Palace to try to disrupt the situation, but this was obviously impossible. After thinking for a while, he sat back on the chair, tilted his head and thought with pride.
Countermeasures.
It's just that there are too few cards in his hand, and after thinking for a long time, he can't find a good solution, which makes him a little restless and confused.
Just when he was getting restless, the door to the study room was pushed open, and Feodora walked in with concern and asked: "Dad, what's wrong with you? I've called you several times to finish dinner, but why don't you come?"
?The dishes are cold and not delicious!”
Only then did Count Uvarov glance out the window in surprise. He didn't know when it had gotten dark. It turned out that he had been sitting stupidly in the study all afternoon?
He himself felt a little unbelievable. He obviously only sat for a while, how could it take so long?
"Dad? Why don't you say anything? Are you having trouble again?" Feodora asked with great concern.
"Oh, oh, no." Count Uvarov shook his head, forced a smile and replied: "Dad was just in a daze for a while and forgot the time."
Feodora obviously didn't believe this argument. She pouted and said: "You lied at the first glance. You ran out happily in the morning, and you have been staying in the study since you came back. It seems that you are in a good mood.
, your mood completely changed in the afternoon, you must have encountered something troublesome, otherwise you wouldn't be like this!"
Count Uvarov smiled bitterly. His precious daughter really knew him too well and was worthy of being his caring little cotton-padded jacket... Speaking of which, where are his two precious sons? What about Nikolai and Vladimir?
Didn't he see his distressed old father who came to care for him?
"Where are your brothers?" he asked.
Feodora pouted and said: "You want to change the subject again. It seems that the brothers went to a party and went hunting with Grand Duke Constantine..."
Count Uvarov's face suddenly became a little more wonderful. He really didn't like Grand Duke Constantine, and he didn't even want to look at the prince. But his two stupid sons who didn't live up to expectations got mixed up with others.
Went, what is this called?
Surrender to the enemy?
In the past, he would have been furious and caught those two idiots and beat them up, letting them know how heavy the price would be for disobeying their old father's will.
But today, on the one hand, he was not in that mood, and on the other hand, he felt that those two silly boys were making mistakes.
Just imagine that he had just held talks with Nikolai Milyutin, and then his sons went to have a heated fight with Grand Duke Constantine. What does this mean? It means that he really has the idea of cooperating or reconciling with the reformists.
It's like those two stupid boys helped him increase the credibility of his morning operation. Of course, those two guys probably didn't think of this level. They only knew that they probably didn't think so deeply at all because they were having fun. They just wanted to go there for fun.
where!
snort!
If you look at it this way, Grand Duke Constantine is also a stupid idiot. Otherwise, how could he provoke his two stupid sons? He is so stupid that he is hopeless!
After despising Grand Duke Konstantin, Count Uvarov suddenly became confused. He felt that among the leading figures of the reformist group, Grand Duke Konstantin was a fool with a short eye and a short sight, while Nicholas
Milyutin is another fool who is unstable and wavering. As for the Grand Duchess Elena, she is just a female figure.
How could such a bunch of rotten eggs be forced into this position by his wise Count Uvarov?
No matter how you look at it, these fools are not difficult to deal with, but how can they lead those liberal elements to where they are today?
According to common sense, shouldn't these guys have been defeated and reduced to ashes by him long ago?
Count Uvarov was confused. He couldn't understand why he was stumped by a group of bad chess players. Could it be that he thought too highly of himself and in fact he was also a bad chess player?
To be honest, he didn't want to admit it, let alone believe the result. He didn't think he was a bad chess player, but if he wasn't, he couldn't find the reason why he was in trouble.
This feeling was driving him crazy. He felt like he was playing chess with an invisible opponent, and the stinky chess pieces above were just targets set out to confuse him.
He had to admit that Count Uvarov was quite capable. He had almost guessed the truth. But he could not find any evidence to support the truth. He looked around the entire officialdom and could not find anyone who could command Nikolai Milyutin.
, of Grand Duke Constantine and Grand Duchess Elena.
So he was at a loss, not knowing whether to trust his intuition, think that he was really overthinking, or simply admit that he was actually a bad chess player...