The new representative had just stepped into the German Confederation and immediately sparked heated discussions among the representatives of the Frankfurt Federal Assembly. Many Confederation representatives showed expressions of astonishment on their faces, and then turned their gaze towards Prince Metternich, seated in the position of the German Confederation Chairman, with eyes seemingly questioning if Prince Metternich’s actions were truly polite!

Facing the inquisitive looks from the German Confederation members, Prince Metternich chose to ignore them directly and proceeded to introduce the new member to the Confederation Assembly representatives: "I believe all of you have had more or less dealings with Mr. De Luyis, so I won’t elaborate further! However, Mr. De Luyis is now serving as the representative of the Luxembourg Duchy to the German Confederation. Let us welcome Representative De Luyis!"

After speaking, Prince Metternich immediately applauded for Mr. De Luyis. The German Confederation representatives, including Bismarck, applauded for the arrival of De Luyis, whether they were willing or not.

After the thunderous applause lasted a long time and concluded, the representative of the Luxembourg Duchy, Mr. De Luyis, solemnly opened his mouth: "I am very honored to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Jerome Bonaparte) after resigning my position as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, to serve as the representative of Luxembourg to the German Confederation. I hope that in the upcoming period, we can adhere to the principle of friendly cooperation within the German Confederation...contributing to the German Confederation..."

As Mr. De Luyis’s words fell, once again fervent applause arose within the German Confederation.

"Representative De Luyis, your seat is over there!" Prince Metternich pointed to the empty seat on the far left of the second row under the podium.

"Thank you very much!" Mr. De Luyis responded politely in fluent German to Prince Metternich, then proceeded straight to the seat belonging to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Once Mr. De Luyis sat down, he immediately received a cordial greeting from the representative of the Württemberg Kingdom next to him, and he gratefully glanced at Prince Metternich on the podium.

After properly settling Mr. De Luyis, Prince Metternich gently knocked three times with a wooden hammer and then solemnly announced the official commencement of the German Confederation Assembly.

Subsequently, Prince Metternich allowed each state’s representative to speak on behalf of their state according to the proposals submitted within the Confederation.

When the proposal reached the Kingdom of Prussia, Prince Metternich raised his voice to Bismarck and said: "Next, let’s invite the king of Prussia to provide supplementary explanation on their proposal of ’denying the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from arbitrarily transferring to another country without the consent of the German Confederation!’"

As soon as Prince Metternich finished speaking, the majority of representatives sent Bismarck glances filled with schadenfreude, curious about what this man, who had previously made arrogant remarks at the Frankfurt Assembly, intended to do.

Facing the malicious glances from many representatives, Bismarck stepped with determined strides towards the speaking podium under the chairman stage. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Prince Metternich on the chairman’s podium cleared his throat and solemnly said to Bismarck: "Representative Bismarck, you may now present your viewpoint!"

"Thank you very much, Mr. Metternich, for this opportunity to let me speak the voice belonging to Germany on this sacred stage!" Bismarck first calmly narrated the glory of the Holy Roman Empire and then told the history of the establishment of the German Confederation.

Then, Bismarck in an impassioned tone told all the representatives and onlookers present that the German Confederation is the institution of Germans themselves and should not allow certain non-German countries to seize its positions.

"This is all I want to say!" Bismarck bowed again to everyone present before leaving.

After Bismarck returned to his seat, Prince Metternich on the chairman’s podium spoke again, suggesting that since it was the Kingdom of Prussia questioning the representative of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, having only the Kingdom of Prussia speak seemed somewhat inappropriate. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg should be allowed to speak as well.

"Representative Luyis, what is your opinion?" Prince Metternich asked Mr. De Luyis.

Mr. De Luyis nodded, then got up and walked to the front of the chairman’s podium to give his speech.

Compared to Bismarck, who stubbornly held the viewpoint that "the German Confederation is the Confederation of Germans themselves," Mr. De Luyis questioned this by pointing out that the Kingdom of Bohemia wasn’t all Germans. He also asked why the eastern territories of the Kingdom of Prussia, which were once Polish lands, are now part of the German Confederation, thereby challenging Bismarck.

"If Representative Bismarck thinks that these two exceptions cannot illustrate the errors in your viewpoint, then I would like to ask whether the Duchy of Limburg is entirely a member of the German Confederation! If the Duchy of Limburg is entirely a member of the German Confederation, then is the Kingdom of Holland also considered a country seizing German positions?!" Mr. De Luyis loudly questioned Bismarck.

Representative Bismarck had no choice but to rise and argue that the Kingdom of Holland is also a Germanic nation, so in conventional terms, they are considered a Germanic country.

Mr. De Luyis immediately replied, stating that Alsace-Lorraine is also a region composed of Germanic people. Should they be allowed to join the German Confederation, and whether Venice and the Kingdom of Lombardy, which are also established by Germanic descendants, should join the German Confederation as well.

The successive inquiries from Mr. De Luyis left Bismarck somewhat defenseless.

To be fair, Bismarck prefers straightforward arguments over contorted debates.

Later, Mr. De Luyis told the members of the German Confederation present that whether the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg wishes to be ruled by Jerome Bonaparte should follow the opinion of all Luxembourgers.

Some time ago, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg expressed through a referendum that they are willing to accept Jerome Bonaparte as the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The Kingdom of Prussia raising this issue in the German Confederation is undoubtedly attempting to provoke a war between the German Confederation and the French Empire.

Once the war begins, it is the Germans and the French who will suffer.

Therefore, De Luyis himself hopes that the representatives within the German Confederation can consider carefully, as each of their oppositions signifies a closer approach to war.

De Luyis’ blatant threat successfully intimidated the Northern German states and Free Cities that were somewhat inclined towards the Kingdom of Prussia.

After De Luyis returned to his seat, Prince Metternich knocked on the wooden hammer in his hand again and said, "The voting begins now!"

Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Baden, Duchy of Limburg, Hesse, etc., quickly cast their opposing votes, while the Kingdom of Prussia and some Free Cities voted in favor. The Kingdom of Hanover and the Austrian Empire, one instructed by the Kingdom of Britain not to involve themselves in the dispute between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Empire, therefore abstained, and the other being the big brother of the German Confederation could not show too much inclination towards the French Empire, so they also abstained.

The final result ended with the opposition votes being the majority, causing the Kingdom of Prussia’s plan to challenge the French Empire through the German Confederation to fail under the influence of both internal (the German Confederation’s traitors) and external (Britain, Austria acknowledging the occupation) reactionary forces.

Upon receiving the news of the proposal’s failure at the Frankfurt Assembly, Regent King William I of the Kingdom of Prussia truly understood what it means for a weak nation to have no diplomacy.

Under the persuasion of Mantel and Ron, William I had to reduce the 5 armies stationed in the Rhine Region back to the previous three, and mobilization of the first-class reserves also ceased.

Seeing the Kingdom of Prussia gradually reduce forces in the Rhine Land, France also lifted their state of mobilization.

Apart from the one army stationed in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the remaining troops were all stationed dispersedly based on regimental units.

A tense military standoff ended with the Kingdom of Prussia’s concession.

Subsequently, Paris also announced the lifting of the wartime state of martial law.

That evening, fireworks were continuous over the skies of Paris, and people took to the streets to celebrate the French Empire’s victory once again.

Moreover, this victory was even more thrilling than previous ones, leading people to believe even more that the Empire would achieve greater triumphs under Jerome Bonaparte’s leadership.

Likewise, the Sardinian ambassador residing in Paris noticed an extraordinary enthusiasm among Parisians concerning territorial annexation.

(From the operations between France and Britain in the colonies, it is evident that they were willing to maintain French officials even at a loss, not viewing the colonies as mere profit-making businesses, but as genuine territories of France.

It can be said that the French’s enthusiasm for territorial annexation is no less than that of Ceres. However, due to policy issues, France had to retreat from Vietnam and Algeria with tears.

If France had geographical advantages as Ceres does, there is no doubt they would have engaged in similar migration and settlement activities.

Unfortunately, centralized power in France came about in the 19th century, and annexing land during the rise of nationalism is actually a very difficult task.)

Thus, the Sardinian ambassador suggested to Cavour that to win France’s favor and have them help expel Austria’s rule in Northern Italy, the best way would be to offer them land.

He (the Sardinian ambassador) heard that the concept of ’natural borders’ advocated by Prime Minister Richelieu is very popular in the French Empire now (with Jerome Bonaparte fueling it), so offering the regions of Savoy and Nice might entice France to act against the Austrian Empire.

If two lands could be exchanged for the unification of the entire Apennine Peninsula, then he (the Sardinian ambassador) believes it would be a profitable deal.

Receiving the telegram from the Sardinian ambassador, Cavour felt deeply gratified, never having imagined someone would share the same thought.

Thus, he replied to the Sardinian ambassador with another telegram.

In the telegram, Cavour expressed his approval of the Sardinian ambassador’s strategy and disclosed that he is striving towards this goal, hoping that the two of them could work together to create a Kingdom of Italy within their lifetime.