Eagle’s Glory

After concluding his meeting with Cardinal Vittorio Esposito, old man Joseph Fish hurriedly returned to his and his sister's residence, full of joy and excitement.

His sister is, of course, Letizia Bonaparte, the former Queen Mother of the French Empire.

Although Her Majesty the Empress Dowager once rose to great heights because of her son, she was known for being low-key and simple back then, with almost no record of being domineering. After her son fell into the dust, she became even more humble and chose to come to Rome. He lived in seclusion and never appeared in the public eye again.

She bought a palace not far from St. Peter's Church, named it Bonaparte Palace, and then lived in seclusion here, bathing in the light of God, preparing to spend the last days of her life quietly.

If history develops on its normal track, this old lady will indeed get her wish and return to the embrace of God in a corner forgotten by the world. However, with the rampage of a young man, her originally peaceful life has changed. It started to be full of unpredictable waves.

She was of course full of concern for her grandson who had been under house arrest in Austria at a young age. Especially after learning of Napoleon's death in 1821, she was even more concerned about this helpless child. Every time she thought about the possibility that she might never be born again in this life. There was no chance to see him, so she couldn't help but burst into tears.

But no matter how painful her heart was, she could do nothing about the current situation and could only watch the world collapse.

She never imagined that a few years later, after a series of dramatic events, she would be able to see her grandson again.

Although the two people only met once, for this old woman, this was the greatest relief in her life. This handsome and talented young man was enough to meet all her expectations.

As far as her true feelings are concerned, since her grandson has finally regained his freedom, he should find a place to live a good life incognito and not be involved in the disputes in the world, lest he be swallowed up by misfortune again; but her grandson has a complete Different ideas - or rather, the same ambition flowing in his veins.

It was obvious that the situation was hopeless and everything was irreversible, but he insisted on trying one more time to break through the obstacles that were like copper and iron walls, even if he suffered a bloody blow to his head.

Although she disagreed in her heart, Letizia could only reluctantly agree to her grandson's stubborn will.

Not only did she agree, she also opened her own purse and sponsored her grandson a large amount of money——

Although it was "sponsored" on the surface, it was actually a gift. She did not expect her grandson's career to be successful again, but seeing how insistent he was,

So in order not to make him sad, I just gave it generously. In essence, it is no different from a grandmother giving pocket money to her grandson to buy things.

She doesn't regret money at all - for an old woman like her who has only the end of her life, what's the point of having more money in her hands?

But she was very worried about her grandson's safety. She didn't know whether God was still willing to protect the new generation of Bonaparte family members from the devastation of war.

So since she said goodbye to Aigron, she has been worried and scared almost every day, and sometimes she even has nightmares about receiving bad news from Greece.

Fortunately, at least so far, everything has gone smoothly, and all she has received is good news.

After Aigron's temporary victory, Teresa, under the guidance of Father Faria, specially wrote to Letizia and Cardinal Joseph Fish in Rome, on the one hand to convey the good news to them, and on the other hand to convey the good news to them. On the one hand, they are urged to contact the Holy See and ask the Pope to fulfill his promise.

Overjoyed, the two siblings naturally did not dare to neglect and started activities immediately. Today is the day for the Pope to give a public sermon. If the plan does not go wrong, His Majesty the Pope will be watched by thousands of people. What an honor it is for this pious old woman to publicly praise Agron...

Since getting up in the morning, Letizia has been waiting nervously and anxiously, fearing that things will change.

Upon her brother Cardinal Fish's return, she immediately inquired about him.

"Everything went well." The old cardinal replied with a smile. "His Majesty the Pope's speech was even more enthusiastic than I expected. This shows that he is very satisfied with Aiglon's actions. He publicly said that Aiglon is the leader of the Christian world. A warrior is a role model for everyone."

"Thank God!" The old woman finally felt relieved.

Then, she added, "Aiglon did something right. Since His Majesty the Pope is satisfied with him, God must also be very satisfied. No wonder...no wonder he can be so successful. It turns out that God is blessing him." !”

The elderly siblings looked at each other with smiles on their faces, both thanking the Pope and God for their generosity.

Although she was once the empress dowager of the empire, she still worshiped God devoutly and loved her family like most ordinary Italian women.

She was extremely proud of Napoleon, her second son, for his achievements, but she was often saddened by the disputes between him, his family and the church.

When the emperor first came to the throne, he always paid great attention to win over the church, and his relationship with the church also had a honeymoon period. However, as time passed, the emperor's tendency to be self-centered became stronger and stronger, and the conflict with the church became more and more intense. In the end, The emperor was furious and sent people to arrest the pope and take him to France.

Although Letizia was very dissatisfied with this, she had nothing to do. Every time Napoleon quarreled with his brothers or had conflicts with the church, she could only cry silently. Apart from crying and persuading her son not to insist on his own way, she did almost nothing. Nothing can be done.

In her mind, the destruction of the empire and the failure of her son were the punishment for his disrespect to God.

She hopes that the same historical lesson will not happen again for her grandson. She extremely hopes that Aiglon can obey God's will, respect the church and the pope, and maintain orthodox Christian beliefs.

So she is very satisfied with what Aigron is doing now - liberating Christians, isn't it what God most wants to see? Even His Majesty the Pope was full of praise for it!

If there is any regret, there is only one thing left.

"Teresa mentioned in her letter to me... that after the war in Greece ends, she and Aigron plan to hold a wedding there." Letizia's smile turned solemn again, "For such an important event , I want to attend no matter what, I had no choice before, the Austrian government would not invite me, but this time is different... I have the opportunity to attend the wedding, personally bless them, and witness their sacred union. Please follow Please explain to Cardinal Esposito and let him understand my feelings.”

"Okay." Cardinal Joseph Fish nodded, "This is not difficult. The cardinal is very optimistic about Aigron now, and he also wants to let his 'nephew' get some light, even if he never From this perspective, he is also happy to help you realize this wish."

This is also true. Although the Roman Church had a falling out with Napoleon himself, it had a very good impression of Letizia, otherwise it would not have allowed her to live in seclusion in Rome after the fall of the empire.

Although Letizia was not able to participate in any important ceremonies in Rome, she had a good relationship with the church's senior leaders. In addition, Aiglon's status has increased, so I think they will acquiesce in this matter.

"Teresa has always told me in her letters to take care of myself... What a good boy." Letizia laughed again, "Also, it would be unseemly if I just ran over empty-handed to bless them... Joseph, what is the best gift we should give her?”

Since meeting Teresa, Letizia has been extremely satisfied with Teresa. She feels that a good girl like Teresa is really the best match for her grandson. In her heart, as long as she can see her grandson, If she marries Princess Theresa and sees their child born, she will have no regrets in her life.

Letizia's problem put the cardinal in a difficult position.

"This is a difficult problem... If you give jewelry, Her Royal Highness will be very grateful, but she has been used to these things since she was a child; if you give other things, it may be difficult to impress her in terms of value."

"Then what do you think, give this place to her?" Letizia asked. "Is it enough to express my love for her?"

"What?" The cardinal was stunned for a moment, and then he understood what his sister meant. "You mean... give her this mansion? What will you do?"

"I don't mean to give it to her directly, but to designate her to keep and use my current property." Letizia replied, "From now on, she will represent me in the entire family."

After being stunned for a moment, Cardinal Joseph Fish probably understood his sister's intention.

Although the empire has collapsed and Emperor Napoleon has passed away, the old lady's other children and grandchildren are still alive. Her eldest son Joseph Bonaparte is still living in the United States, her third son Lucien remains in Rome, her fourth son Louis is in Florence, and her youngest son Jerome also settled in Italy. Although the family was fragmented, it still existed. Among these children and grandchildren, how to deal with the property in her hands became the last issue she needed to consider.

Logically speaking, the eldest son Joseph should inherit her legacy wealth, or share it equally among his descendants. However, both she and others knew very well that Aigron was the only reasonable successor to the entire family, and he should have a unique legacy. Inheritance rights, since Letizia's wealth was obtained from Emperor Napoleon, of course it can only be inherited by him alone in the future.

Therefore, Letizia's move is nothing more than to confirm this fact and unambiguously transfer the identity of the family matron to Teresa, who will become Aiglon's wife in the future - the future union of Aiglon and Theresa, that is, It means that this family has a new master.

On the one hand, this is because of Teresa's humble and kind character, which endears her to her grandmother; but more importantly, it places expectations on Letizia, who hopes that Teresa can do better than she does and This once glorious family continues to flourish.

"Okay, I understand." Cardinal Fish nodded, "I will make arrangements, and I think Princess Theresa will understand your intentions and thank you for your love for her."

As a princess, Teresa certainly does not need to care about these monetary gifts, but Letizia's move is enough to show her respect and blessings, and I think she will feel it.

"Tell Theresa that I am old and this family will be handed over to her in the future. She will have the same rights as me to admonish and restrain the members of this family. Whether they are elders or peers, if they do something If what they do is not good for the interests of the family, she can reprimand them just like me - we are a big family, but the backbone can only be Aigron and her, and others can just act according to their will."

When she said this, Letizia lowered her voice and seemed to be touched, "Also, let her always stay awake, act in accordance with God's rules for the world, and restrain Egron not to do stupid things." The more intelligent people are, the easier it is for them to be pretentious and get carried away. I have already seen how a genius can destroy his career...I hope she can do what I didn't do at the time."

Precisely because he was an eyewitness of the previous era, Cardinal Fish also let out a long sigh after hearing his sister's words.

His Majesty the Emperor conquered Europe single-handedly, and everyone around him could only kneel down beside him in admiration and execute his will. This not only allowed his genius to be displayed without limit, but also allowed him to develop an unquestionable character. , the habit of being self-centered.

The grandmother didn’t know how successful Aigron would be in the future, but what she feared most was that her grandson would make the same mistake again and lead to the same tragedy.

History has shown that the more amazing the achievements, the more tragic the final decline and fall.

She couldn't control her son back then, and now she doesn't have much restraint on her grandson, so she can only place her hope on Teresa. She hopes that Teresa can play a restraining role to prevent Agron from being superstitious about her. ability to do things that are beyond the bounds.

This is indeed difficult, but Theresa followed Aiglon to start a business from the beginning, and her influence was not the same as that of Queen Josephine or Queen Louisa. She hoped that Theresa could do this.

"Joseph, if possible, I would rather they live in seclusion and live a good life, but God has other wills, so what can I do?" The old woman's wrinkled face seemed to be about to cry. It's like remembering something.

“Many years ago, when I married into this family, we had almost nothing but a few pieces of farmland in Corsica; later, my descendants once owned half of the land in Europe… Even if I am defeated now, I still have many ashes left over from the past in my hands. This is our family business and the capital for my descendants to settle down and live in the future. I am already old, and my drama is almost over. Leave this family to her... I have no doubt that Teresa will do a better job than I can, I knew it when I touched her hand and kissed her face. God. I will definitely bless her and Aigron!”