Chapter 224 The culprit

Chapter 224 The culprit

Vienna, Hofburg Palace.

A box full of stinking filth was delivered to Queen Anna's palace. The pungent smell made the stomachs of those around him churn.

"You all go out."

After hearing Queen Anna's words, everyone immediately left the room as if they had been granted amnesty.

Only Carl von Slote, Empress Anna, and her chamberlain, Baron Diehl, were left in the room.

"No." Baron Dill quickly stopped him when he saw Queen Anna putting her hand on the box in front of her.

With the size of the box in front of me, it is impossible to fit an adult in it.

Two of the four maids beside Queen Anna have been killed, and Baroness Freety broke her neck while riding a horse yesterday. Today someone found this box in Lady Dora's garden.

Mrs. Dora had been missing for almost a month. She was Queen Anna's nanny. They had been together day and night for more than thirty years.

Queen Anna wanted to confirm this anyway, and Baron Dill pried open the box with a crowbar.

Queen Anna closed her eyes and took a deep breath and looked at the box. Inside was a body that was no longer human. All the bones in the body seemed to have been smashed. An extremely twisted elephant shape was stuffed into the box. The time of death should be more than a week. , the swollen body and the foul smell prove all this.

Fortunately, what was inside was not the body of Lady Dora, but what frightened her was that what was inside was actually the envoy of her cousin King Alberto of Sardinia, the Count of Monterey.

Queen Anna looked horrified, which seemed nothing wrong to Slote and Baron Dill. It was not unusual for them to panic after seeing such a terrifying scene.

There was also a letter in the box, which was left by Mrs. Dora to Queen Anna. The letter said: I hope the Queen will always be healthy and beautiful, cherish the life in front of her, and go to the New World to retire and cut off her ties with the Savoy royal family. It was the last thing she could do.

However, the death of Count Monterey made her feel complicated. Because the interactions between Queen Anna and the Count of Monterey were kept secret, not even her two lovers knew about it.

Although there was nothing wrong with the handwriting of this letter, it was the last one. They had agreed before that if the word "forever" appeared in the first sentence of the letter, it meant that the two would be separated forever.

So the person who killed Earl Monterey was naturally not Mrs. Dora. What's more important is that now that the other party knows the identity of Count Monterey, it is easy to guess who Queen Anna is helping.

Due to the formation of the Apennine Customs Union by Austria at Franz's suggestion, the Kingdom of Sardinia's income dropped sharply, and it also felt strong pressure from the Austrian Empire.

Carlo Alberto is not a man who will sit back and wait for death. He will do whatever it takes to keep his kingdom alive.

Queen Anna of the Austrian Empire was Carlo Alberto's cousin, and they both belonged to the Savoy royal family. Carlo Alberto had a bold idea, which was to kill the orthodox heir of the Habsburg family and instead let his cousin give birth to an heir with Savoy royal blood.

The dove takes over the magpie's nest, just like the Habsburg family once did.

Although Emperor Ferdinand I was unable to give birth to a child, the queen was in good health, and Alberto knew that his cousin had been secretly in love with him, but the first step was to get rid of Austria's orthodox heir.

As a person who lives in the harem all year round, it is not easy to create a vicious rumor.

The Empress soon found a perfect opportunity. The Austrian government was seeking to increase the influence of the royal family. They selected the future heir of the empire, Archduke Franz.

Just when the news that Archduke Franz led his army to recapture Belgrade spread, people's attention to this archduke reached an unprecedented height.

At this time, Queen Anna sent her two most trusted maids brought from Savoy. They lived up to expectations and quickly found a newspaper that was willing to cooperate.

After the transaction was completed, the two maids returned to the palace to avoid subsequent arrests. However, what the queen did not expect was that the government responded so quickly, and then used thunderous means to impose heavy penalties on those who spread the rumors.

The expected huge wave did not appear, and then people around her mysteriously disappeared one after another. She knew that the other party had not only suppressed the rumors, but also discovered herself as the culprit. Even the Count of Monterey was found. .

Queen Anna feels that she is very innocent. She has long pale golden hair, brown eyes, and has the confidence to not lose to the queens of other countries in terms of temperament and figure.

But Emperor Ferdinand I was obviously not blessed to endure this. He preferred meatballs (literally) to women.

Maria Anna's father had no sons, so he doted on his daughters. Anna and her sisters enjoyed a very free life.

Until 1830, her uncle Carlo Felice regarded her as a gift to please the Austrian Emperor Francis II and married her to the future Emperor Ferdinand I.

After the death of his uncle, his cousin Alberto became Queen Anna's only support.

Naturally, she went all out for her cousin's entrustment.

However, she had never expected that this situation would occur today.

"Her Royal Highness the Queen! Your Royal Highness the Queen!" Slot shouted, noticing that the Queen was a little distracted.

Anna had just come to her senses when Slot asked again.

"Does Your Highness know this person?"

"I don't know you." Queen Anna was like an innocent little white rabbit at this time, with tears still in her dark gray eyes.

Of course no one believed this kind of nonsense, but Slote and Baron Dill pretended to believe and care at the same time.

They all felt that Queen Anna had been conquered by them. The difference was that Baron Dill had guessed the mastermind behind this series of assassinations, while Slote felt that this was just a jealous internal fight.

Baron Dill felt that the mastermind behind these tragedies was Mrs. Sophie. After all, there were only a handful of people who could carry out kidnappings and assassinations in the Hofburg Palace.

Others would not abuse this right even if they could, but Mrs. Sophie would not care so much, otherwise she would not have the "elegant title" of the only man in the Habsburg family.

Although Baron Dill didn't know why, the other party had the ability to cause trouble in the palace, but he didn't attack Queen Anna. This proved that he was safe only by the Queen's side.

In fact, Queen Anna was not popular in the court. First of all, her German and French were very poor. Secondly, she did not bear children for Ferdinand I.

Although everyone knew that the emperor was not good, they could not say it, so all the blame was placed on the queen.

Baron Slote believed that it was impossible for his seamless plan to be discovered so quickly. The only explanation was that Baron Dill was up to something.

As for the reason, of course it was jealousy, and there was also the question of who would be the royal husband after helping Queen Anna control the government.

Of course, what he has to consider at this time is not what will happen in the future, but how to save his life now. Dill is the queen's attendant and has a powerful guard at his disposal.

That guy could kill all the maids she trusted around the queen, and he would definitely not be merciful to his competitor.

Under the guidance of this thought, Slot decided to leave the palace immediately and then seek ways to get rid of his opponent.