Catherine and the Black Emperor

90. Calm and peaceful

With Easter approaching, Elizabeth still did not make an appearance at court.

This further heightened the tension, as everyone realized that the Queen's condition was deteriorating rapidly.

"You should step forward and calm people down at this time. If you can't, you shouldn't show such panic."

Ekaterina, seeing Peter pacing anxiously around the room like a mouse, couldn't help but tell him.

"Shut up! What do you know, you bitch! I'm thinking!"

Ekaterina remained unmoved by Peter's outburst of insults.

"Sergei, you've come!"

Peter, who had just seen Sergei enter, couldn't help but run over, overjoyed.

Sergei came specifically to visit Catherine. At this time, Peter was extremely irritable and easily angered, so there was a possibility that Catherine might be in danger.

Seeing that the other person was alright, I felt relieved.

"Sergei, what should I do now?" Peter's question revealed his inner unease.

Sergei told him, "At this time, you should not see anyone, not Besdudev or Shuvalov."

Ekaterina spoke up: "I've told him, but he won't listen at all."

Peter immediately retorted, "Who said I wouldn't listen? This is exactly what I plan to do. I won't see anyone. If my aunt recovers, she won't blame me for trying to win over court officials. But if something happens to my aunt, no matter who has the most power, I am still the Emperor of Russia. Otherwise, the people and the Church won't agree, and history won't agree either!"

Sergei looked at Catherine; clearly, Peter couldn't have analyzed these things.

Ekaterina shrugged and smiled; these were exactly what she had told Peter earlier.

Sergei left.

With only half a month left, Besdudev had no appetite, Shuvalov tossed and turned at night, and Mikhail was in a state of utter distress. The "leaders" of each faction were filled with anxiety and worry.

Sergei, the one who strongly supported Mikhail and created the "three-way check and balance" situation, ate well, slept well, and was in a good mood every day.

"As long as the court isn't dominated by only the Besdov and Shuvalov factions, a check and balance can be maintained, preventing anyone from becoming impatient and taking the risk of assassinating the Empress and launching a rebellion!"

This is precisely Sergei's most fundamental strategy.

He is not yet powerful enough to directly confront figures like Besdov and Shuvalov, so the best outcome for him is for Elizabeth to recover.

Elizabeth's recovery will not only give him more time to build up his strength, but will also indirectly weaken the power of Besdov and Shuvalov once again.

Sure enough, Sergei waited and waited, and finally Elizabeth recovered.

5 month.

Elizabeth's health began to recover, and the moment she appeared before the courtiers, the tense atmosphere in the palace instantly dissipated, and everything was fine.

Besdov shed tears of joy, Shuvalov cheered, and Mikhail thanked God, sometimes praying to the sky and sometimes kneeling on the ground, truly giving thanks to heaven and earth.

"Mikhail, I have seen your loyalty to Russia, as have you, Besdudev and Shuvalov."

Of the three whose names were called by Elizabeth, Mikhail was overjoyed, while Besdudev and Shuvalov felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

6 month.

Just as Sergei had predicted.

After Elizabeth's recovery, Besdov and Shuvalov were weakened by her within a month, either by having some of their concurrent positions replaced or by having their management responsibilities changed.

In return, Mikhail gradually gained prominence and became a figure who could truly rival Besdudev and Shuvalov. Furthermore, as a favorite of Elizabeth, he enjoyed unparalleled influence in the court for a time.

7 month.

After this illness, Elizabeth became aware of the potential crisis in Russia and the court.

"Considering that security in St. Petersburg needs to be further strengthened, I hereby order the Butirsky Army to immediately move from Moscow and station itself in the suburbs of St. Petersburg."

And so the corps that was originally stationed in Moscow came to St. Petersburg.

8 month.

"The Grand Duke has been acting very strangely lately. Whenever he talks to anyone, he mentions the time when the Empress was ill, and he seems very distressed," Gemma reported to Sergei.

"He's not a stable person, but he's very timid. There's no need to pay attention to him. Keep an eye on those who try to get close to him and seduce him," Sergei ordered.

"Yes."

9 month.

Ekaterina told Sergei.

"Peter always looked worried and had no interest in training the dogs. Every time he saw me, he looked distracted or even frightened."

Sergei finally realized that something was wrong.

Peter was not one to keep his troubles bottled up for long. After sharing life and death with Elizabeth during her illness, Peter regained some trust in Catherine.

That's why he expressed his truest feelings when he saw Ekaterina.

"I will investigate this thoroughly."

Sergei quickly understood what had happened, and the situation was far more serious than he had imagined.

"The Grand Duke recently took a liking to hunting and spent most of his time at the hunting grounds. Later, he got bored and went to the countryside..."

Sergei was the deputy commander of the hunting party, so he naturally knew that Peter had gone to the hunting grounds. He heard that Peter had specially brought two batches of dogs for the hunt, one local and one from elsewhere.

"In the countryside, the Grand Duke met some hunters, and often ate, drank, and hunted with them. One of the hunters was from the Butirsky Regiment, named Yakov Batrean, who was a lieutenant..."

Yakov is a heavily indebted gambler who is arrogant and self-willed. After meeting Peter, he expresses great admiration for Peter.

"‘In the Butirsky Legion, everyone except the high-ranking officers stands with you, Grand Duke,’ these are Yakov’s exact words, which pleased the Grand Duke greatly, and the two later arranged to meet alone…"

Sergei listened to his subordinates' report while looking at the report in his hand.

"Once the evidence is verified, remember, without the Grand Duke's evidence, whether it exists or not, it's still invalid!"

"yes!"

10 month.

Sergei approached Peter and told him some earth-shattering news.

"Bart Ryan has been arrested and is currently being interrogated."

Peter almost collapsed to the ground, grabbing Sergei's clothes and immediately trying to defend himself.

"He arranged to meet me in the woods outside the city. As soon as he saw me, he knelt on the ground and swore to heaven that he would only acknowledge me as his leader and would go through fire and water for me if I gave the order!"

"This terrified me. I suspected his actions involved treason or something similar, so I rushed away, leaving him there alone. After that, I knew nothing more!"

Sergei severely overestimated Peter's psychological defenses.

In order to get to the bottom of the truth and verify whether Bart Ryan's account was true, he prepared some tricks to "interrogate" Peter.

Unexpectedly, after only mentioning that Bart Ryan had been arrested, the other party had already revealed everything.

Peter's account and Bart Ryan's account were basically the same.

There's definitely something fishy going on here. For example, Peter distanced himself too much, and Bart Ryan subtly expressed his loyalty, unlike Peter's direct and blatant approach.

But that's irrelevant now.