Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Matvey Muravyov's report arrived in Russia in the summer of 1824.

Prior to this, Solovyov had planned to return to Crimea, but due to various commitments, he was kept in St. Petersburg.

Because the Grand Viceroyalty had various viceroys under it, and behind them were the provincial governors of several provinces such as Little Russia, and there was no war in the south, it seemed to be peaceful.

This winter, he became more familiar with the children at home.

Moreover, there are two other important matters at home. One is that Vasily is preparing to formally discuss his engagement with Sofia Naryshkina. It would be great if they could get engaged, but the Naryshkin family might not agree, and Sonia has quite a few suitors.

She was fortunate enough to recover from tuberculosis, but she was physically weak and looked like a sickly beauty, unlike her strong mother.

Furthermore, with three other grand duchesses still unengaged, the story jumps directly to the marriage of the young Anastasia and Pasha, at least to ensure their engagement is completed.

Louisa hoped her daughters would marry within the country, but only her two youngest daughters, Elizabeth and Anastasia, could fulfill this wish.

Svetlana is engaged to Oldenburg's cousin, and Alexander is trying to use his opportunity to arbitrate European affairs to put the Oldenburg family on the throne of Greece, and he can't neglect his daughter either.

Although she has green eyes, the third sister Polina looks a lot like Alexander. Alexander couldn't have imagined that Luisa had gone through such a thrilling experience, and it's unlikely that he knew.

Sophia, the fifth daughter, also got engaged around this time. Although she was usually a nobody at home, she had quite a few suitors. Even Ekaterina said that if her son wasn't too young, she would have come to join in the fun.

Princess Sophia is considering close cousins, Alexander's two older sisters, whose children are quite grown up. There are suitable cousins ​​in Württemberg and Mecklenburg, or perhaps Louisa's relatives.

As for Princess Elizabeth, she had more to consider. She was the most beautiful of the seven sisters, and although she was still a young girl like her younger sister, she was also a promising prospect.

However, the fiancés of the sixth princess and the youngest princess are likely to be princes, that's what's said publicly. Solovyov also roughly knows that his previous military achievements will probably earn him the title of prince, which is also commonly known as a duke.

But to become a Prince of the First Rank, he would need to make exceptional contributions.

Alexander had joked with him before, mentioning that France had the Duke of Berthene, so even though he defeated Napoleon in Berthene, he couldn't get a proper title of Prince of the First Rank, and could only leave it at that for now.

When Alexander said this, he had actually indicated that Solovyov was his future in-law, which was also a way to win over this talented general who was skilled in both literature and military affairs.

Linking their family to the royal family was also a form of encouragement, transforming them from barons without titles to new nobles with great military achievements, standing on equal footing with Russia's great nobles.

Soldiers also yearn to achieve meritorious service.

However, Solovyov always earned such merits in wars initiated by the Tsar or when he was forced to fight, which is quite difficult.

Solovyov knew that his son was popular with girls in the palace, just like he had been in his youth, and that the boy was quite proactive.

But unlike himself, who was not good at refusing, he truly knew that he and Nastya were bound together. Therefore, following Katya's advice, he carefully maintained the relationship and did not take it any further.

Of course, Solovyov wasn't initially that outrageous. If he hadn't been sent abroad, Maria would probably have been clamoring to marry him all the time, which would have led to an awkward situation regarding titles. His eldest son was lucky; his father had already paved the way for him.

As for his sons in the future, it was their freedom to choose which girls they married. Solovyov didn't even mind the marriage between nobles and commoners, because this generally only restricted the royal family and didn't have much impact on ordinary nobles. The Tsar would later grant these children of marriage a title or basic noble status.

As long as I'm not like that, I'm already incredibly lucky not to have gotten entangled in this mess.

The reason why the young ladies are in such a hurry to get engaged is that Louisa's health is getting worse and worse. There are always things that need to keep her mind optimistic and positive. Arranging marriages for her daughters, especially the two younger ones who are engaged and stay by her side, is always a good thing.

The palace had become somewhat deserted as the previous generation of aunts got married one after another, and the next generation of girls began to get engaged or marry far away. It was only because Nicholas and his wife were having more children that they could live in several palaces each in the future.

No one pressured Mikhail to get married. He was actually very clever. If he married later, after his third brother Nikolai had several heirs, he could then get married, thus perfectly altering the order of succession. Moreover, he could enjoy a few more years of carefree youth.

Then, Queen Maria would not allow it. The Mikhailovsky Palace, which was built especially for him, was almost finished. How could she let him be so happy?
Moreover, Queen Maria Theresa had an addiction to having grandchildren. Alexander's seven daughters had very different personalities, but unfortunately, they were all girls. Although the Queen Mother liked these granddaughters very much, none of them brought her as much joy as the young Grand Duke.

Then Mikhail married his cousin Charlotte from Württemberg, and as was customary after the marriage, he changed his name to Russian, becoming Elena Pavlovna.

In fact, Mikhail's descendants are probably all related to the British magistrate Boris Johnson (who is a descendant of Charlotte's illegitimate brother).

Alexander also had Solovyov, who was staying in St. Petersburg, take on many ceremonial duties on behalf of the royal family. Before Constantine returned from Poland, there was always someone who needed to help out.

Solovyov stayed there and hired many tailors and coachmen. So the bald tailor Ulyanov from Astrakhan and the bearded coachman Dzhugashvili from Georgia were both "honest" and reliable because they had met the count once and worked for him.

The honest tailor, Ulyanov, could say that while the coachman was reliable, he was not honest at all, his Russian was not very good, and he often got into fights. However, he was kind-hearted and genuinely helpful; he would definitely go to great lengths to help his friends in need.

They were so bad-tempered and violent. Fortunately, Solovyov didn't know what they were thinking at the time, otherwise he would have found it all very strange.

The two of them came to St. Petersburg. Ulyanov had passed through here when he went to Sweden with the Tatars. He didn't go into the city then, but he had traveled a lot and seen a lot.

But this was the first time Zaza, a country bumpkin, had ever been to such a big city. Moreover, the master's mansion was even bigger than the mansions of the masters he had served before. It looked like a place where women lived, with rooms painted in either pastel pink or sky blue.

"Hey Ulyanov, at your age, you should be married by now, right?"

“I did get a wife, but my son is still very young. My master summoned me from Astrakhan, and I was the one who went there to mend his clothes. At that time, I was with the Tatar cavalry.”

“I was released from the prison in the fortress by the master. It was because I was familiar with the mountain roads in my hometown that the master asked me to drive his carriage.”

"It seems we're all the same." "When the master saw you, did he look at you strangely, like with a surprised expression?"

"No. Why do you, driver, always like to pry into things?"

“I only know how to drive carts and herd sheep. I’m not like you, a craftsman. I heard from the master that there aren’t as many masters in Astrakhan as in Georgia. It’s a bit of a waste for you to be stuck in such a small place.”

“Isn’t it the same everywhere? Astrakhan is better. The people there are very kind and the neighbors get along well. They don’t like to fight like you, my friend.”

"Ah, there's nothing I can do about it, this is just how I am."

He was quite straightforward and admitted it himself.

"Oh, it's your great-auntie."

Nikolai Ulyanov knew Yulia through a portrait that Solovyov had shown him before. Yulia was the master's younger sister, who had returned with her German son-in-law.

At home, one can speak more casually, but Christian is, after all, a prince of Mecklenburg, and in public, this form of address cannot be mistaken.

"You're the tailor my brother mentioned before, right? You seem like a conscientious craftsman. My brother even said your skills are quite good."

"Grandma, you flatter me. I'm just a tailor who can do minor repairs and make a set of clothes. If I hadn't met the master, I wouldn't have been called here."

"This dress is one I wore when I was a young girl at home. It's a bit too small now, and I can't stretch it out. Could you alter it for me? Other dresses wouldn't be suitable for His Highness's wedding."

When an honest tailor received the garment, he saw that it was made of velvet. It was fine to make it a little looser, but the stitches would definitely be visible if a regular tailor made alterations.

When Julia got married, she was a slender girl. Now, although her figure hasn't changed, she has become much fuller, especially after giving birth to five children for Christian. Her clothes definitely need to be altered.

Zaza is right. He was indeed wasting his talents by staying in Astrakhan. With only a day or two left, he worked hard to catch up on his work, and his efficiency was surprisingly high.

Yulia was very satisfied and gave him a generous reward. Unlike Solovyov, her brother, despite being very wealthy, lived a very simple life. His most valuable clothes were probably his magnificent uniform, which he had to have custom-made as an infantry general.

Solovyov doted on all his younger siblings, giving them generous allowances, with their father providing an extra portion. As a result, they often didn't think much about spending their money.

Anton is the only one who's obsessed with money, and he has his own family tradition. Vasily, as the younger brother, has matured quite a bit in the past few years of training in Siberia, but his expenses are still quite high.

Therefore, we always need to add more people to the household, even temporary ones, and we still have to pay for their labor.

Solovyov was pleased to see his house bustling with activity again.

My father is still in good health, which is unexpected. Even after the doctor examined him, he said that since he moved to Italy, where the environment is very good, he doesn't seem to have any problems living to ninety, and living to eighty is just a small goal.

The younger sisters born to the stepmother also stayed in Italy. Now, there are two younger brothers and Julia at home. Anton has two children, and Julia has five.

In retrospect, Katya's decision to buy this house on the Kutuzov Dam was a good one. At least when relatives come to visit, they can accommodate their guests without having to stay in the two old houses on the Moika Canal.

However, Pasha was on duty in the palace, so he didn't take up any space at home, which made things a bit more relaxed.

However, with such a large family, plus the servants, tailors, grooms, coachmen, and various errand runners they hired, the cost was not small.

Therefore, he invited people he knew, including many veterans who had returned home after their service, especially those from the Guards and Grenadier Regiments.

"Sir, where is your formal attire?"

"We can take it out later, I'm not in a hurry. But you two..."

"Sir, is it strange that the tailor and I are here?"

"It's nothing, Zha Zha. It's just that the two of you sitting on this bench reminds me of someone I know."

Sometimes, Solovyov lamented that he was getting on in years, so why was he always living in misplaced memories?

The road ahead was long, and by 1824, the dikes along the Neva River all the way to Kronstadt had been reinforced, and new water conservancy facilities had been built to divert water towards Lake Ladoga, in order to reduce the impact of potential upstream floods on St. Petersburg.

Solovyov couldn't be omniscient; he didn't know the Neva River had flooded this year.

However, he knew that secret societies were rising in Russia, with various organizations emerging one after another. Compared to the Freemasons that his senior brother Miloradovich and his old friend Pierre had joined, the people there preferred to talk big and had rarely actually taken action.

People in the future will probably be more prone to violence.

Especially with these two people sitting in his house, even though they were invited as servants, Solovyov, following the traditionally loosely defined relationship between Russian nobles and commoners, still treated them as guests.

Later, a considerable gap formed between the nobles and commoners. This relaxed relationship before the abolition of serfdom should have been the norm in his household, but not in many rural areas, where many people were still starving and impoverished.

In short, the future is uncertain, and a new game is about to begin. (End of Chapter)