After admiring Karl Alexander's display of traditional aristocratic skills, it was almost time for dinner. Generally speaking, to welcome a distinguished guest like Li Xiao, one must have a grand banquet, followed by a grand salon or dance.
This is in line with the tradition of the nobility.
It's just that Li Xiao came back in a hurry, and his identity is quite sensitive. It's not suitable for a salon, a ball or a big banquet. Although the dinner was in line with the luxury of the aristocracy, the atmosphere was not particularly warm.
This is normal, because it is not possible to change glasses at a European banquet like a Chinese banquet. Especially for these nobles who have to maintain their dignity, eating is even more serious. Although there can be chatting and toasting, it is more of a spectacle.
.It is difficult to mobilize people's enthusiasm. Most of the participants are indifferent and just chat a few words.
Li Xiao really doesn't like this kind of aristocratic banquet. It's really more boring than eating banquets with other people in China in later generations. Anyway, the more you eat, the more you lose your appetite. I don't know if this style is what these nobles want.
It was done deliberately to save money. After all, the atmosphere was too lively and the food and wine couldn’t stand it!
The dinner lasted about an hour and a half, during which Li Xiao's cheap uncle also appeared, but he ate very little. He only ate a little quail and drank a little red wine and ended hastily. It could be seen that his health was indeed not good, and he
It's not that he doesn't want to eat, it's just that he really can't eat it.
Looking at Karl Alexander sitting next to him, this silly kid has a good appetite. He ate a whole turtle dove and most of a smoked salmon. No wonder he is so strong and tall. But his heartless look is really annoying.
Speechless, it can be seen that he has not realized how big his responsibility is. The next ten or twenty years will be an era of great changes for the German states. The former loose German federation will no longer exist. Grand duchies like Saxony will no longer exist.
It will be unified into the territory of the Second German Empire. In other words, Grand Dukes like Karl Alexander will soon lose the last bit of control over the country and become completely idle Grand Dukes.
Perhaps this is not a bad thing for Karl Alexander. Anyway, he does not have the talent or interest to govern the country. It is good for him, a half-hearted monarch, to be an art lover honestly, and he will not be short of money anyway.
, it’s good to be a leisurely prince.
It's just that Li Xiao can't stand this kind of life. Although he has no worries about food and clothing, he looks like a rice bug no matter how he looks at it. To put it bluntly, he is a burden to the country. He has such a high starting point in life, let alone doing an earth-shattering career.
There is no way they should be raised like pigs.
Anyway, he looked down on Karl Alexander. This man was a flower in the greenhouse and couldn't withstand the wind and rain at all, but he was a grass in the field and was not afraid of the wind and rain!
After the dinner, since there was no way to hold a salon or a dance, there was the usual nonsense and small concert. In fact, Karl Alexander took a few friends to hold a concert and had a great time, while Li Xiao accompanied Maria
.Pavlovna is talking nonsense.
"What, are you not used to such a leisurely life?" the old lady asked with a kind face.
Li Xiao was also very honest: "One thing, mainly because I have experienced too few such scenes. In addition to studying every day, I used to stand guard every day. Since I left the Preobrazhensky Guards last year, I have been busy marching."
War, such warm and leisurely time, is really rare!"
Li Xiao could feel that Aunt Cheap's wariness and hostility towards him had decreased a lot, and she showed a rare degree of warmth.
Li Xiao glanced at Karl Alexander who was having a great time and couldn't help but think: [Could it be that singing and dancing can make people more gentle?]
"You don't have to look at Karl, I know how you probably look at this child," Maria Pavlovna said casually with a smile on her face: "Maybe singing and dancing are meaningless to you.
?Only a young man like Karl, who lives a carefree life...can be so naive!"
Li Xiao was stunned, because he could see that this aunt was actually very precious to Carl Alexander. Occasionally, he could see her deep affection for licking the calf and directly say that someone was too naive. This was really unexpected.
Maria Pavlovna said with a smile: "Are you surprised? Didn't you expect that I would say this about Karl? Yes, you must have thought that I was the kind of stubborn old lady who protects her children in every possible way and cannot tolerate others' comments.
My child is not well at all, is he?"
Without waiting for Li Xiao to answer, she said to herself: "I definitely have the ability to protect my children, but I'm not that extreme. I know Karl's problems very well. He prefers art to that damn politics!"
"To be honest, I hate politics too, this damn politics!"
As she spoke, the old lady sighed: "I still remember that year, yes! It was 1801, when I was just fifteen years old. It was a cold March, and Ekaterina and I were playing in the room.
Piano, suddenly the whole Winter Palace became a mess, people were shouting and screaming... The news of my father's death came, and then the Preobrazhensky Guards imposed martial law, and the whole St. Petersburg seemed to be under fire.
A layer of thick dark clouds completely covered us. Ekaterina and I were frightened and hid under the bed shivering, thinking that soon some ferocious rebels would rush in to arrest us and execute us..."
Maria Pavlovna glanced at Li Xiao, then smiled sadly and said: "This is no joke. You should know how many of our ancestors died in the Winter Palace, right?"
Li Xiao nodded. His aunt was telling the story of the palace coup in 1801 in which Paul I was killed. It was the first coup in the Russian court in the 19th century. The blood of a tsar was used as a sacrifice to mark the beginning of this century.
It's a good start. I'm afraid this kind of thing can only happen in Russia.
Maria Pavlovna continued to recall: "But Alexander came back soon. He ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. He took on the crown, but I could see that he was not happy at all... From that day on
From then on, I felt that the old Alexander was gone. He became more and more gloomy, unhappy, and sad..."
Maria Pavlovna took a deep breath: "Then I heard all kinds of horrifying rumors. Some people said that Alexander murdered his father, and others said that all this was Alexander's conspiracy, because he
He's so emperor... I don't know if this is true, really, I don't know, the only thing I know is that I lost my father and my eldest brother just because of this damn politics..."