Make France Great Again-Chapter 773 - 764: Mei Scores Twice

"I understand!"

Princess Mathilde nodded and responded to Jerome Bonaparte, then left his study.

Watching Princess Mathilde disappear behind the door, Jerome Bonaparte shook his head with a wry smile and muttered softly, "This Garibaldi fellow, he’s really too impatient, isn’t he?"

After speaking, Jerome Bonaparte also got up and left the study, then found Chief Steward Mo Ka’er in the second-floor corridor.

"Your Majesty, is there anything you need me to do?" Mo Ka’er asked Jerome Bonaparte deferentially.

"Mo Ka’er, instruct the kitchen to prepare immediately! Tonight, I am hosting distinguished guests!" Jerome Bonaparte commanded Mo Ka’er.

"I will notify them right away!" Mo Ka’er bowed to Jerome Bonaparte in reply, then turned and left.

Jerome Bonaparte stood in the corridor for a moment before turning and re-entering his study.

As the Emperor of the Empire, there was still a mountain of work waiting for him to finish.

...

Around 6:45 that evening, a carriage stopped in the square in front of the Tuileries Palace, and Chief Steward Mo Ka’er swiftly walked down the steps to the carriage.

The carriage door slowly opened, and the Sardinian Kingdom’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Garibaldi, appeared before Mo Ka’er.

"Mr. Garibaldi, welcome to the Tuileries Palace!" Mo Ka’er said composedly to the plump man in front of him.

"Chief Steward Mo Ka’er, thank you for your hard work!" Garibaldi said with a face full of smiles to Mo Ka’er and, taking advantage of their proximity, discreetly slipped a note into Mo Ka’er’s pocket.

"Mr. Garibaldi, it’s no trouble! It’s no trouble at all!" The power of money made the previously unperturbed Mo Ka’er suddenly beam with a smile, "His Majesty specially ordered me to welcome you!"

"Where is His Majesty now?" Garibaldi asked Mo Ka’er.

"His Majesty is already seated in the dining room!" Mo Ka’er replied to Garibaldi, "Let’s hurry over!"

"Chief Steward Mo Ka’er, then please lead the way!" Garibaldi nodded slightly in response to Mo Ka’er.

Under Mo Ka’er’s guidance, Garibaldi soon entered the dining room.

At this moment, Jerome Bonaparte was sitting at the dining table gently swirling the crimson wine in his glass with his right hand. Garibaldi’s arrival made him stop and put down the glass, quietly watching Garibaldi.

"Your Majesty!" Garibaldi immediately bowed and saluted Jerome Bonaparte.

"Mr. Garibaldi, have a seat!" Jerome Bonaparte gestured for Garibaldi to sit next to him.

With solemn steps, Garibaldi sat on the right side of Jerome Bonaparte.

"Pour wine for Garibaldi!" Jerome Bonaparte signaled Mo Ka’er to pour wine for Garibaldi.

"No! No need to trouble!" Garibaldi said as he reached for the wine bottle.

Jerome Bonaparte immediately reached out to interrupt Garibaldi’s action and said to him, "Such matters should be left to the servants! Mr. Garibaldi, you’re the Prime Minister of the Sardinian Kingdom; your hands are for dealing with complex state affairs, not for pouring wine!"

Jerome Bonaparte’s words pierced Garibaldi’s heart like a needle. Here he was, the Prime Minister of a nation, reduced to jostling with servants over pouring wine.

It was truly somewhat humiliating!

"Your Majesty, I..." Garibaldi wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

"Mr. Garibaldi, perhaps my earlier words were somewhat inaccurate; don’t take them to heart!" Jerome Bonaparte uttered with a sharp edge, "Personally, I believe that a country’s decision-maker should focus most on the present problems and future development of the nation!"

Matters like pouring wine should be left to the servants!

The reason our society has so many professions is to ensure everyone fulfills their role.

Do you think I’m right?"

"Your Majesty, you are correct!" Garibaldi replied humbly to Jerome Bonaparte, "It was I who did not perceive my station!"

"Mr. Garibaldi, you are being too hard on yourself!" Jerome Bonaparte quietly watched the servant pour red wine into Garibaldi’s glass and spoke smoothly, "There’s no question of perception in this! Saying so makes me seem rigid!"

"I..." Garibaldi looked at Jerome Bonaparte, hesitating to speak.

After the servant filled half of Garibaldi’s glass with wine, he set down the wine bottle and withdrew several steps, standing quietly behind Jerome Bonaparte.

"Enough! Enough! Let’s not talk about that anymore!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head, then raised his glass to Cavour and said, "Let’s drink!"

Cavour raised his glass, clinked it with Jerome Bonaparte’s, and downed half a bottle of wine in one go.

After finishing the aperitif, the dining room doors opened again, and servants carrying aluminum trays placed a feast before Jerome Bonaparte and Cavour.

Looking at the feast on the table, Jerome Bonaparte didn’t pick up his knife but instead smiled and asked Cavour if he was interested in hearing a little story.

"Your Majesty, it would be my honor!" Cavour quickly replied.

Jerome Bonaparte began to tell Cavour, "When I was very young, I stayed in the Württemberg Kingdom, you should know this!"

"Your Majesty, I know!"

"At that time, due to my uncle—Emperor Napoleon—we were ostracized by all of Europe, and had no choice but to take refuge in the Württemberg Kingdom! It can be said that my childhood and adolescence were spent in the Württemberg Kingdom!" Jerome Bonaparte’s face showed a look of reminiscence, and Cavour, sitting beside him, quietly listened to Jerome Bonaparte’s story.

"And it was there that I learned all sorts of rules and etiquette. Once, when I attended a royal family dinner with my mother, I did something before dinner that went against the etiquette, and my mother gave me a hard scolding!

Not only did I not get to eat, but she made me apologize to everyone present!"

"Your Majesty, your mother was truly a woman of noble character!" Cavour praised.

"And from that moment, I learned that everything follows certain rules! Anyone unwilling to follow the rules would end up with nothing!" Jerome Bonaparte’s tone became solemn. "Do you understand?"

Cavour then realized that Jerome Bonaparte was subtly reprimanding him for not "following" the rules, and that this meal the Emperor invited him to was merely for the sake of Princess Mathilde.

"Your Majesty, I understand!" Cavour nodded solemnly.

"What do you understand?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Cavour again.

"Your Majesty, I understand that everything must be done by the rules, and one should not be too hasty!" Cavour replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Mr. Cavour, it’s good that you understand!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled, then pointed to the food on the table and said, "Let’s eat quickly! Otherwise, the dishes will get cold!"

Cavour and Jerome Bonaparte ate and talked, during which Jerome Bonaparte discussed the current European situation with Cavour, telling him directly that no major war was likely to occur in Europe anytime soon!

If Cavour was willing, the Sardinian Kingdom could target the vast colonies.

Cavour told Jerome Bonaparte that the Sardinian Kingdom’s navy was too weak to protect colonial interests.

"There’s no need to worry, Sardinia has us behind them!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Cavour, "If the Sardinian Kingdom has colonial ambitions, the French Empire can serve as your strong backing!

We can join forces and collaborate!"

"Your Majesty, I will give you my response after I return to the Sardinian Kingdom!" Cavour said to Jerome Bonaparte.

If the French Empire was truly willing to act as the protector of the Sardinian Kingdom’s colonial expansion, then Sardinian colonial ventures were possible!

After all, the Sardinian Kingdom still had some capital.

If the Sardinian Kingdom truly could not shoulder the unification of Italy, then emulating Portugal might be a wise choice.

Under the protection of the French Empire, Sardinia need not worry about losing its colonies.

"Good!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded and said, "I look forward to your response!"

The dinner lasted nearly two hours and ended with Jerome Bonaparte personally seeing off Cavour as he left the Tuileries Palace.

Watching Cavour’s carriage depart, Jerome Bonaparte muttered, "I shall see if they take the bait!"

Afterward, Jerome Bonaparte turned back into the Tuileries Palace and said to Mokar with a faint smile, "Mokar, you’ve received quite a few benefits from Cavour too, haven’t you? Do you have anything to say now?"

Mokar’s face immediately turned pale, and he spoke to Jerome Bonaparte in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I assure you, I only accepted his gifts! I haven’t told him any insider information!"

"I know!" Jerome Bonaparte replied indifferently, "Otherwise, we wouldn’t be speaking here, we’d be talking through bars!"

"Your Majesty!" Mokar immediately offered the tickets in his pocket with both hands.

Jerome Bonaparte took the bearer bonds in his hand, glanced at them, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "100,000 francs! Cavour is truly generous!"

Then, Jerome Bonaparte placed the bonds back into Mokar’s pocket and returned to his study.