Naturally, old Adlerberg did not dare to talk about the Queen Mother Alexandra. If he did not take advantage of the Queen Mother's good mood to deal with the matter quickly, what if the Queen Mother's mood became worse later?
Queen Mother Alexandra didn't feel embarrassed about old Adlerberg's request. She just wanted to help with a few nice words. Even though her status is not as good as before, she occasionally opens her mouth to say something.
If Alexander II makes some requests, as long as they are not particularly difficult, Alexander II will try his best to satisfy them.
Old Adlerberg's request fell into this category, so Empress Dowager Alexandra agreed easily.
Of course, she wouldn't do it right away. Speaking good words to someone in the royal family, especially in front of the Tsar, also requires timing. The most taboo thing is to open your mouth at the wrong time.
Queen Alexandra has been hanging out in the Winter Palace for so many years, and she is well-connected here, so she plans to wait for Alexander II to come to talk to her in a few days.
In fact, old Adlerberg was not particularly anxious. Although it would be best to be able to do Alexander II's work, the ideological work of the Tsar is not so easy to do. According to common sense, there are more times when it cannot be done, so
He didn't have high hopes.
What he is really concerned about is the news from Duke Alexander. For him, if Duke Alexander can help to put in a good word and make Li Xiao not so difficult to deal with, his task will naturally be easier, right?
Prince Alexander did not disappoint him in this regard. Just one day later, he sent someone to invite him to come and talk.
"You mean, this matter is a bit difficult to handle?" Old Adlerberg frowned and asked.
Duke Alexander sat upright and looked at him like an old fox coveting an old hen. He replied with a smile: "It's not that it's difficult...but as you know, the Grand Duke is just a fool.
You don't follow the rules when talking and doing things. I asked Leonid to communicate with him. He was confused about your request and lost his temper, which made me very embarrassed!"
Old Adlerberg was stunned. He didn't believe that Li Xiao still dared to lose his temper at Duke Alexander. Did that guy take some gunpowder?
It's just that he can't question Duke Alexander's lies, at least not publicly in person. He can only ask in a roundabout way: "Grand Duke Andrei is so... so unreasonable? I heard that he is pretty easy to deal with!"
Duke Alexander was too experienced in dealing with old foxes like old Adlerberg. He immediately replied: "Easy to deal with? Why do you think he is easy to deal with? If he is easy to deal with, why are you coming to me?"
Without waiting for old Adlerberg to speak, he said to himself: "Today's young people are getting harder and harder to deal with. Every one of them has his tail raised to the sky. If it weren't for our many years of relationship, I would
I don’t want to suffer from this cowardice!”
Old Adlerberg was speechless. Although he wanted to say that this was too false, he still did not dare to say it.
He could only laugh awkwardly and said flatteringly: "I'm really sorry to trouble you, Duke. If I knew that Grand Duke Andrei was so difficult to deal with, I wouldn't have come to you to make you angry... This is all my fault. It's all my fault."
Blame me!"
Although he is apologizing on the lips, he has no real expression at all except apologizing. This is the style of a mature old fox in officialdom. He can pretend to be a grandson, but he still refuses to pull out a hair!
Duke Alexander was not surprised. If old Adlerberg was so easy to deal with, then he, the minister of palace affairs, would have packed up and gone home long ago. It is precisely because he is thick-skinned, dark-hearted, and full of scheming that he needs a master like him to take action.
!
He agreed very much with Li Xiao's request and decided to scrape at least a layer of oil from the old fox. Now that the old fox was going to use nice words to deceive things, how could that be possible?
He replied with an expression on his face: "That's right! If it weren't for you, how could I have seen the face of a little Maotou? You were not there at the time. If you had seen his face at that time, you would probably faint on the spot!"
Old Adlerberg chuckled again in his heart, but he was thick-skinned enough and didn't do this at all. He just kept apologizing, and there was nothing else.
Duke Alexander, an old fox like this, also finds it funny. If pretending to be stupid can fool things, why don't you pretend to be stupid in front of Alexander II? Do you think I'm easy to bully or fool?
It seems like you won’t be honest if I don’t give you something real!
Thinking of this, Duke Alexander responded decisively: "Okay, you don't have to apologize. Who knows that I am a warm-hearted person! Although I can't help you, my heart has been there, and I am worthy of the friendship between us.
Friendship... I don’t have a good solution for this matter, why don’t I try with someone else?”
Old Adlerberg was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that Duke Alexander would serve tea to see off the guests after a disagreement. Damn, do you think my grandson has been pretending to be a grandson for a long time?
He thought for a moment and gritted his teeth and said: "Duke, you are too humble. Who doesn't know about your relationship with Grand Duke Andrei? I think as long as you have a good chat with him, this little matter should not be difficult to solve."
?”
Duke Alexander raised his eyelids and asked with a tigerish face: "Isn't it difficult to solve? If it's so easy, why don't you talk to him yourself? What do you want from me? I'm repeating to you, Count, Andre and I
The Grand Duke has nothing to do with him. Although he is my son's friend, he is not my friend. Please remember this!"
Old Adlerberg was frightened. Duke Alexander made it clear that if he continued to fail, he would become ruthless, which left him with no choice. He gritted his teeth and replied: "Yes, yes.
What you said is absolutely true...I was negligent...what, Duke, please make an exception and help me again, I will never let you down!"
Duke Alexander rolled his eyes in his heart and said to himself: You have disappointed me now, can you be more honest?
Therefore, he was too lazy to say anything and just looked at the old fox without saying anything.
The two looked at each other like this for a minute. In the end, old Adlerberg was defeated. He said with a grimace: "What do you think? I also have a few good friends in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If anything happens to you,
, or if you have any instructions, I will ask them to help you, how about that?"
Duke Alexander said to himself: That's pretty much it. A smile immediately appeared on his face, and he said with a smile: "Then it's settled, I will do my best to help you with your matter!"