Chapter 776 Olga Nikolayevna (Part 1)

Chapter 776 Olga Nikolayevna (Part 1)

Chapter 776 Olga Nikolayevna (Part 1)

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

It's late autumn, but it's still spring-like all year round in Schönbrunn Palace, with flowers in full bloom. The leaves have begun to fall, but there is no sense of dilapidation and desolation.

All kinds of strange animals roamed the meadows and artificial lakes of the palace, and snacks from all over the world were placed on an exquisite crystal table.

Large-scale crystal products in this era are actually a reflection of a country's financial resources and strength. At this time, this giant crystal table weighing 2 tons is the best interpretation of waste.

In addition to delicious food, there are also various books listed on the table, covering everything from literature, music, history, education, military, technology, and philosophy.

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolayevna casually flipped through a few books while eating pizza.

As the princess who has been with her parents for the longest time, the 24-year-old Grand Duchess Olga Nikolayevna rarely ushered in a rebellious period.

I was urged to get married by my parents all day long, but the engagement was canceled for no reason. Occasionally, she would be overly concerned by her brothers. Led by Alexander, the unreliable eldest brother, her brothers would kidnap a handsome boy back from time to time.

They even offered her a bonus at the ball. Although her brothers had good intentions, Olga Nikolayevna really couldn't bear it.

In particular, Crown Prince Alexander offered a reward of 10,000 rubles for his sister at a ball, causing the latter to be chased by all the dandies in St. Petersburg for a whole day.

Afterwards, although Alexander was punished by a mixed doubles match by Nikolai and his wife and a one-month grounding, the reputation of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolayevna for being unable to marry had already spread among the aristocratic circles.

With Nicholas I protecting him, no one dared to say anything publicly, but pointing fingers behind his back was inevitable.

It happened that Grand Duchess Sophie of the Austrian Empire sent an invitation to Queen Alexandra. Grand Duchess Olga Nikolayevna was very happy because she had a very good impression of the powerful Grand Duchess Sophie. good.

Queen Alexandra and Grand Duchess Sophie are just two extremes. The former is too submissive and will hardly participate in any political affairs. She is not interested in charity and just wants to be a qualified "housewife."

The latter is just the opposite. Its "evil reputation" is already known to everyone from Spain to Russia.

She almost emptied her husband's political power, just like Catherine the Great, and tried her best to build the personalities of her children in an attempt to push them to higher positions.

Especially her eldest son even participated in two wars, but one hundred thousand against 3,000, three hundred thousand against 12,000, it would be difficult to lose with such a disparity in military strength.

In fact, Mrs. Sophie also created characters for Maximilian and Ludwig, but this is quite complicated.

However, Franz's character is even more outrageous, so people at home and abroad have long been accustomed to it.

Mrs. Sophie's various behaviors have been criticized a lot, but Olga Nikolayevna admires this maverick strong woman very much.

However, before coming to Austria, Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra strongly educated Olga Nikolayevna about the importance of this trip.

That is the real purpose of this trip - a blind date, and the target of the blind date is the legendary Archduke Franz Joseph.

It's just that the tragedy of her previous engagement made her a little resistant, and it would be too weird to go on a blind date with a boy eight years younger than herself.

But soon she learned of an even greater tragedy, that is, the failure of her marriage to the Crown Prince of Württemberg was due to a conspiracy between Grand Duchess Sophie and her parents.

The purpose is to allow Russia and Austria to marry and consolidate the Holy Alliance. This will be beneficial to both Russia and Austria, and even the Württemberg royal family will get a good marriage.

The only victims of the whole incident were herself and Archduke Franz Joseph, and Olga Nikolayevna wanted to refuse.

However, her crying mother and stern and decisive father made her unable to handle it. They even carried out the last edict of Peter the Great.

It seems that as long as he does not marry Franz Joseph, war will begin tomorrow between Russia and Austria, and the ambitions of the Romanov dynasty will be shattered.

Olga Nikolayevna had no choice but to follow her mother, Empress Alexandra, to Austria.

However, after arriving in Austria, she discovered that it was a paradise compared to the snowy St. Petersburg.

Especially in terms of food, drink and entertainment, there is almost everything you need. Austria and Russia both have strict censorship systems for books and newspapers, but the Austrian court does not prohibit members of the royal family from reading banned books.

Opera and music are even different from Russia and Prussia, delicate, soft and intoxicating.

In terms of food, it is neither flashy like French food, nor too affordable (relatively a bit rough) like Russian food.

In fact, French cuisine had begun to become more conservative at this time. Although Napoleon lost, the French chefs did not. These people's arrogance and the recipes that had not changed for thousands of years had begun to make the top nobles tired.

As for Russian food, to put it simply, it is big in size, strong in taste, monotonous in cooking methods, and lacks etiquette. Even the Russians themselves dismiss it.

In contrast, Austrian cuisine at this time was much better. It was based on Italian and Czech cuisine, and mixed with the styles of many ethnic groups, giving people a dizzying feeling.

In fact, this is also due to Franz. After all, his taste was quite strange in the eyes of people at the time. In order to cater to his taste, the chefs had to make some changes.

Franz felt that as the capital of the Austrian Empire, Vienna would be biased and a little too petty if it only served Italian and Czech food to its visiting guests.

Olga Nikolayevna and Empress Alexandra did not see Franz immediately after arriving in Vienna.

So the two of them stayed in Schönbrunn Palace for a month.

At first, Queen Alexandra would remind her daughter to be dignified. After all, Archduke Franz Joseph might be cured one day.

"Mother, when I first came to Vienna with my father, the eldest son of Archduke Karl lectured me on military theory for three days and treated us to marching rations."

After hearing her daughter's words, Queen Alexandra sighed helplessly.

"Hey, that's what men are like. That time when your father came back, he praised Austria's marching food for being delicious, and later he specially asked for the formula for your brothers to eat."

Olga Nikolayevna curled her lips and continued talking about her previous experience in Vienna.

“The last time my father took me to Venice, Friedrich invited me on board the boat. I thought he was inviting me to watch the sunrise.

As a result, he asked me if the boat was going fast? Can the cannon be fired? Just scrape some inexplicable creatures from the bottom of the boat and feed them to me! "

Queen Alexandra rubbed her eyebrows.

"Your father is obsessed with the Austrian battleships. There is also a barnacle. Your father said it tastes very good."

"Well then, why doesn't he marry in Austria?"