Eagle’s Glory

While His Majesty the Pope was publicly praising Duke Lechstadt as a "model of Christianity" in his sermon, thousands of miles away in Vienna, there was also a couple with a transcendent status who were secretly congratulating themselves on this young man's success. .

After the war came to an end, Archduke Carl and his wife received a handwritten letter from their daughter Theresa, and shortly afterwards, they received a report written by Major Hench. The two letters were enough for them to piece together the details of the entire military operation. The outline also allows them to have a good understanding of the development of the situation.

Because of this, they knew they no longer had to worry about the safety of their daughter and future son-in-law, at least for the time being.

Just in the afternoon, Archduke Karl was in his study, looking at a simple map, sketching it with his fingers, and reviewing the entire battlefield on the paper. In his mind, he felt as if he had personally experienced the entire battle process of Duke Lechstadt.

For him who has bid farewell to his military career, this is quite good entertainment.

"My dear, you have been sketching on this drawing for a while." Princess Henrietta couldn't stand it any longer, so she couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"

"Finding out what he did." Archduke Karl replied calmly.

"Then you should be happy, after all, he won." The lady asked with a smile.

"He won, but he exposed a lot of flaws - after winning the first battle, he acted slowly and hesitated, giving the enemy the opportunity and time to coordinate actions, and only made a decision after being reminded at the end; and His on-the-spot command ability also needs to be improved. He is really ashamed of the education he received in the palace." Archduke Karl casually expressed his judgment, "If there is any advantage, it is that he is brave enough, dares to fight hard, and knows how to do it at the same time. His own shortcomings are that he is willing to listen to advice and has enough trust in his subordinates. Of course, having these advantages is not enough. When facing a powerful opponent, he may be unable to withstand it. Fortunately, he is facing the Turks, but it is temporary. You can get away with it.”

"You are too harsh on His Highness, and you are completely judging him by the standards of those veterans." Madam completely disagreed, "Think about it, he is just a child now, what are ordinary princes and grandsons doing at his age? Are you afraid that you don’t understand anything? He was able to do so many amazing things during this period of time, which is already very remarkable.”

The lady's rebuttal left Archduke Karl speechless for a moment, because this was indeed the truth.

"It is a pity that he has such a talent." In the end, he could only say with a slight regret, "If he had stayed here, and Metternich and I would have taught him and supported him, he would have been able to Become the future pillar of the empire..."

"How can becoming the pillar of the empire be as attractive as becoming the emperor? There's nothing he can do if he doesn't aspire to this." Madam sighed,

"Of course it would be best if he is willing to stay in Austria. We can also see him and Theresa from time to time..."

The couple looked at each other, feeling a little regretful to each other.

However, moaning and sighing did not solve the problem, and they regained their spirits.

"Teresa said in her letter that she hopes we can help her find out what the Austrian government is doing." After a moment, the lady asked again, "Do you have any clues?"

"How could I possibly know what Metternich was thinking?" Archduke Karl asked, "Someone came to me two days ago to inquire about Theresa, but I refused forcefully."

When Teresa disappeared at first, the social world didn't pay much attention to it. People speculated that she might not be able to bear the shock of being abandoned by her fiancé and hid for a while; but as time passed, Princess Teresa didn't show up anymore. In front of people, the Duke of Lechstadt made one big news after another, and people began to have doubts. The rumor that "Her Royal Highness Princess Theresa has left Austria to follow her fiancé" also spread like wildfire. Word spread throughout the salons and drawing rooms——

Although the Grand Duke and his wife are still insisting that their daughter is just traveling abroad to relax, people who have become suspicious are becoming less and less convinced - after all, there is no news about the princess in any European capital or tourist attraction. The news of His Highness, even if it is a secret trip, she and her entourage can't be completely silent.

Now it is obvious that this news is about to be hidden.

"People nowadays are so boring, always thinking about spying on other people's affairs! When they laughed at Teresa, the way they kept chattering and gloating about her misfortune was really annoying." The lady was a little annoyed, and then she frowned, "Since In this way, why don't we just make things clear? Anyway, we can't hide it."

Archduke Karl looked at his wife, shocked by her audacity.

"How to tell?" he asked in a low voice.

"Just tell the truth - she was worried about her fiancé's safety, so she insisted on going to accompany her. We had no choice but to agree." The wife replied, and then asked her husband, "I don't see what's wrong with this. By the way, does she embarrass us by marrying His Highness?"

"How can things be so simple...?" Archduke Karl couldn't help laughing bitterly. "This is not a personal question, it's a political question - if I admit that Teresa is with him, how do I make people believe that I was forced and not that I was behind this? Some people even suspect that even his escape was deliberately arranged by me!"

"Anyone who believes in such a sensational conspiracy is either a madman or a fool. What reason do you have for doing this?" the lady was furious.

"Unfortunately...there is no shortage of both types of people in the government, but these mediocre idiots are full of imagination in places like this." Archduke Karl shrugged, "So, it is very simple to admit all this, But it’s not that easy to live with all the consequences.”

"Then what should we do?" Madam asked uneasily, "Should we continue to pretend that it has nothing to do with it? Even this is not an option... After all, Teresa's matter will be exposed to the world sooner or later, shouldn't it? Can she still get married under a false name?"

"That's not what I mean, I mean that we must declare the truth to the world skillfully." Archduke Karl shook his head, and then expressed his thoughts, "First of all, I will ask Metternich to clarify the empire Whether it is intended to deprive the Duke of Lechstadt of his title, and whether the court cancels the engagement between the two parties, if Metternich admits that the imperial government has no such intention, it is tantamount to publicly acknowledging that the engagement is indeed valid. At that time, I will casually bring up Trey Sha wants to go visit her fiancé and use him to silence the world."

"It would be best if he said that, but what if he directly said that the engagement was invalid?" Madam was still a little worried.

"Then His Majesty the Emperor will consider where to go with the reputation of the royal family." The Grand Duke spread his hands, "In that case, I will meet Your Majesty directly and tell him that Teresa values ​​her reputation and she will never allow herself to be treated like this, so She insisted on honoring the engagement; and I would tell him that it was Louisa and Metternich who had done their best to persuade me to accept the bastard. The boy is a son-in-law. Therefore, I firmly demand that they apologize to Teresa and me."

The lady's eyes widened.

Of course she knew that doing so would be tantamount to a showdown with the palace. His Majesty the Emperor would either give in or take the toughest measures in response.

Even as a royal disciple, this seems a bit bold.

"Are you really going to do this?" Now it was her turn to hesitate, "How about we see if there is any other way?"

"Perhaps we can still delay, but in the end, a showdown may be inevitable." Archduke Karl sighed, "Don't worry, even in the worst case scenario, I don't believe that anyone would really dare to order my arrest. "

Although it sounded dangerous on the surface, he actually knew it in his heart - these days he had been secretly observing the attitude of the palace and the government, trying to figure out the thoughts of the emperor and Metternich.

He didn't know what the plans of the monarch and his subjects were, but from the fact that the imperial government had not taken any action for so long, it was obvious that they had no intention of severing all relations with Duke Lechstadt.

Moreover, with Princess Sophie reappearing in the public eye, it can be seen that they have not been driven away by anger, but are instead trying to repair the damage that has been done.

So as long as he shows his cards, Metternich will also have to take a stand to get the derailed marriage back on the 'normal' track.

Although Theresa's willful behavior brought trouble to herself, it also made it inevitable for His Majesty the Emperor and Metternich to escape - soon, the whole of Europe would know that Theresa was beside the young man. Could it be that they Can you turn a blind eye?

They can't afford to delay it just like themselves, so at the last moment, they must give an answer so that everyone can end with dignity.

Either admit what has happened, or completely fall out with himself. He believed that the Imperial Prime Minister would make a reasonable choice.

Seeing her husband's calm and composed appearance, the Grand Duchess gradually felt relieved.

It seems that the Grand Duke actually said nothing on the surface, but he had already considered all the issues in his heart.

He has indeed done the best that his father can do, and no one can accuse him of anything.

"My dear, we will always stand together, no matter what we face." After a moment of silence, she said to her husband, "No matter what His Majesty and Metternich have planned, in short, Theresa's marriage can no longer tolerate them. No more questioning, we don’t need their blessing, but at least they should acknowledge their previous choices - we can’t treat our respective reputations as child’s play, can we?”

"Believe me, Metternich will only be more anxious than us now." A sneer suddenly appeared on the corner of Archduke Karl's mouth, and then he whispered, "It has become imminent and inevitable that the Russian Empire will send troops to march towards Turkey. It’s reality.”

--------------------------------------------------

"The Russian Empire's march to Turkey has become an imminent and inevitable reality."

In the Prime Minister's Residence in Vienna, Mr. Friedrich Genz solemnly declared to his benefactor Metternich in the same tone. "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we should really consider how to face this reality."

Metternich's face was livid, and he frowned and looked out the window.

"The Tsar is too young and arrogant, and he is not even willing to send people to attend an international conference before making a decision!" After a moment, he sighed, "The principle of international coordination is obviously the most beneficial foundation for him, but he is overjoyed The ground was kicked!"

"Maybe he just didn't want the international conference to decide his next actions, so he deliberately took action first and wanted to create a fait accompli before talking." Friedrich Genz replied. "In this case, he will be able to occupy a certain advantageous position during future negotiations."

"He is indeed playing this kind of cleverness, but past experience tells me that people who play this kind of cleverness will never gain anything." Metternich replied coldly, "He doesn't understand that he may be able to succeed by doing this. For a while, but it would do him and his empire no good in the long run.”

"With all due respect, your accusation against him here has no practical effect." Friedrich Genz whispered. "You should think about how to respond."

"How to deal with..." Metternich frowned even more.

After thinking hard for a while, he finally made a decision, "Tomorrow I will summon the Russian ambassador and ask him to clarify the rumors and tell me what the Tsar's decision has been. If he is evasive, then I will forcefully ask the Tsarist government to give an answer. explain."

"What if he tells you the Tsar's plans directly and doesn't want to change his mind?" Friedrich Genz asked.

"If that's the case, I have to tell him that His Majesty the Emperor of our country will never welcome this move and reserves the right to take a common position with other countries in the future." Metternich answered word for word.

In a diplomatic world full of fancy rhetoric, this sentence is indeed significant enough.

"If the Russians rule Constantinople, it will be an outright disaster for us, because it means that our outlet to the sea has been completely exposed to the guns of their fleet." Then, Mette Nie replied in a low voice, "So this disastrous result cannot happen no matter what. I believe London and Paris will also uphold the same opinions as us."

"But if the Tsar insists on having his own way, what can we do?" Friedrich Genz asked again.

This question really goes to the core.

All-out war? This is impossible.

The Austrian Empire and the Russian Empire border on each other. If a war really breaks out, the Austrian Empire will bear the brunt. This is an unimaginable disaster.

Moreover, Metternich's greatest achievement in his life was the creation of the European balance of power system at the Congress of Vienna. Of course, he preferred to maintain the status quo rather than ignite another war between major powers and let everything he worked hard to build be in vain.

"The Tsar's excuse was to help the Greek Orthodox Christians fight for freedom and independence." After a long time, Metternich gave the answer, "If the Greeks did this before he was completely victorious, then his excuse would naturally disappear. - Then, together with Britain and France, we put pressure on the Tsar to wake up."

"Even if this means that Europe's borders change and a new country appears on the map." Friedrich Genz understood.

"The great consensus we reached at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 was to safeguard the most precious legitimation and to safeguard the balance of power among the major powers in Europe. These are valuable assets that maintain the existing peace situation in Europe; but our support of legitimation is definitely not for the sake of Maintain the legitimacy of every frontier, especially that of pagan countries." Metternich replied generously, "If they prove that they are worthy of independence, then let us congratulate them."