French and English are easy to speak. After all, this old guy used to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was stationed in the UK, so it is natural for him to speak these two languages.
But Danish... it's like knowing a foreign language to pick up a nice girl.
Alan speculated viciously that the old guy must have learned Danish in order to win the favor of Queen Margaret. Although his accent was not standard and he was always ridiculed by the Danes, saying that he was a prince with a non-standard accent, they didn't care, and Queen Margaret didn't care either.
As for the other two languages, it seems that he learned Vietnamese because his family's fiefdom was in Vietnam at that time, and he learned it when he lived there as a child.
As for Chinese, it was due to his interest in it in his early years. At that time, he was in Vietnam, which was close to China, and many things needed to be imported from there, so he learned it.
I first learned Cantonese, then went to Hong Kong for further studies, and later I went all the way to learn Mandarin and began to study relevant matters in China.
In the late 1970s, when he accompanied Queen Margaret on a visit to China, he initially pretended not to know Chinese, in order to see if people were hiding anything from him. The old guy was very mean.
Later, when he was eating, he didn't like the food that was prepared for him and wanted to change the taste.
But at that time, the foreign guests, especially those of high standards, were treated with great care, so the corresponding reception staff did not dare to neglect them and arranged extremely high-standard catering for them.
But as for the taste of this food...we can't expect everyone to like Chinese food, not to mention that there are so many types of Chinese cuisine.
Later, this guy couldn't hold it in anymore and started yelling at others not to fool him. He said that he liked Cantonese cuisine and didn't want Shandong cuisine. Shandong cuisine had a strong taste and he didn't like it, so he should be given something else to eat.
This was quite a shock and the receptionist at the time was a little confused.
Anyone who meets this kind of foreigner who is obviously an important person would be confused when he suddenly speaks Chinese to them in a fluent and clear accent, even though they thought he didn't know Chinese.
…
Alan sometimes envied Prince Henry and Prince Philip, both of whom were well-known gigolos in Europe.
Prince Philip used to be a bit down and out, but later he was still able to live off the British royal family and even dared to mess around. The old guy is really something.
However, in comparison, Queen Margaret was able to control Prince Henry so well that there had not been any scandals about him for so many years, proving that the queen's methods were, at certain times and in certain areas, more sophisticated than those of the old lady in Britain.
They are all not good people!
Unfortunately, looking through all the royal families in Europe, there is no decent crown princess about to ascend the throne. Alan is not destined to be a gigolo. As for that Victoria, she is just a joke as the queen, so she doesn't count!
…
After chatting with Prince Henry for a while, the two talked about some interesting things in the diplomatic field, and then talked about a very famous spy incident last year, when the French media said that Britain sent people to steal their ship's nuclear reactor technology.
The stuff in here...
Do we need to steal that broken reactor technology?
This is something that even the French themselves dislike. It's nothing more than that Britain wants to build a new aircraft carrier, but can't come up with any new reasons to defraud military funds. In the end, it can only pull in its "good friend" France, come up with a French threat theory, and use provocation to force Parliament to agree to the plan to build a new aircraft carrier.
Alan heard that the new aircraft carrier project seemed to have been approved. Now, in addition to naming it, there is also the process of allocating funds. However, there is a lot of controversy about which shipyard will build the main body, which factories will provide accessories, and how the benefits will be distributed.
…
The entire conference room on the second floor was quite large. King Gustav accompanied Queen Margaret and sat in the innermost seats. Alan was busy chatting with Prince Henry just now. When he walked over here and prepared to pay his respects to the two kings first, he found that there was a man in a suit sitting next to Gustav.
The man's age is unclear. His bald head makes him look old. He also wears glasses and has a hooked nose, which makes him look a bit French.
He was just sitting there talking to Gustav, with a notebook in his hand. He would glance at him and say a few words. When Gustav spoke, he would smile and nod, and sometimes he would write a few words on the notebook in his hand, like a secretary.
But now he was sitting next to the two kings so casually, and he didn't look like a secretary.
…
Queen Margaret is only 53 years old this year. Although Europeans look old, it may be because they live in different latitudes and longitudes. In a relatively cold place like Denmark, the Queen looks quite like a young woman.
The shape of her head was very interesting. Her medium-length hair was tied up, and she wore a relatively plain crown on her head. It was not made of gold, but shone silver. Alan guessed... it should be white gold or platinum or something like that. Anyway, the big diamonds on it were very pleasing to the eye.
A light purple half-sleeved evening gown.
While Gustav was talking to the middle-aged man, Queen Margaret was sitting next to them watching the fun, with her legs crossed under her skirt, her left hand on her knee, her right hand on the armrest of the sofa, and in her hand - a lit cigarette.
Alan looked a little strange when he saw her like this.
This girl just likes to meddle in other people's business. They seem to be talking about serious business, but she just sits beside them and listens to the gossip seriously. She even smokes while listening. She doesn't feel awkward at all.
When Queen Margaret saw her eldest son leading Allen to her, she reached out and grabbed the cigarette box on the table and threw it directly at Allen. After Allen subconsciously took the cigarette box, the queen put her left index finger in front of her mouth, and then pointed at Gustav next to her, indicating that Allen should light a cigarette first and listen together.
“…”
Holding the cigarette box in his hand, Alan was speechless. This aunt was really down-to-earth. She threw the cigarette box to him before they even said anything. No wonder Prince Henry was so honest. Aren't their genders reversed?
…
"Okay, then I won't disturb your Majesty from meeting guests. I'll go downstairs and wait for your Majesty's speech in a while."
"Um."
"Once again, congratulations on your twentieth anniversary of ascending the throne."
The middle-aged man looked at Queen Margaret, Allen and the Crown Prince of Denmark who were staring at him with curiosity. All three of them were staring at him. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he was too embarrassed to continue talking. He had to end the conversation hastily, performed a very casual courtesy to Gustav, and just walked out.
…
After he left, Gustav's chest rose and fell violently for a few times, and then he calmed down, turned his head to look at Queen Margaret, then looked at Allen, nodded to Allen and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, let's go, I have to go to give a speech."
Alan had just stood there for a short while, without eating the melon, and nodded towards Gustav.
Gustav stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked in front. Queen Margaret next to him put out her cigarette, stood up, glanced at Allen, walked up to Allen with a smile, and looked him up and down.
"If I had a daughter, I would definitely marry her to you, but unfortunately I only have two sons."
"Hello, Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet you."
Alan did not respond, but nodded obediently to Queen Margaret, took the hand she handed over, and gave her a standard hand kiss.
"Haha, you're late. You didn't hear the whole thing. The man just now was from the Swedish Parliament. He came here on behalf of their speaker to congratulate Gustav and force him to retire early. The Swedes are really something. They come to make trouble even on a day like this."
Queen Margaret was quite humble and shared the gossip with Alan as they walked.
Alan didn't expect this person to be so easy to approach, so he naturally walked to her left side, half a step behind her, eating the melon as he walked.
Queen Margaret whispered to Allen in detail when the middle-aged man came, what he said, and how Gustav endured it. The two sat there and chatted for a long time until Allen and his friends arrived and the middle-aged man left.
Anyway, the general meaning is that on such a festive day, the Swedish government sent someone, and that person was the middle-aged man just mentioned. He came specifically to congratulate Gustav, but on such an important day, not even a person of higher status came, but only a messenger like this came. This attitude is very interesting.
Moreover, he implied that the Crown Princess was already sixteen years old this year and could start working, so King Gustav could pass the throne to the Crown Princess earlier and worry less in the remaining time and enjoy life with the Queen.
Gustav can at least still fight with the Swedish Parliament now. Even if he is bullied, he at least has some means of resistance.
But if the throne were handed over to Crown Princess Victoria now...
Oh.
It is estimated that this person will not last for many years in her hands. He is so rebellious that who knows what tricks he will play when the time comes.
Alan stared at Gustav's back as he walked in front of him. This old guy... is so pitiful.
On such a happy day, someone came to his house and attacked him, but he had to greet him with a smile and send him off. If it wasn't really difficult to deal with, if it were Alan, he would have had someone throw that person off the roof long ago!
When he was nothing, he dared to deal with the debt collectors from the Ministry of Noble Affairs with real guns and knives. Later... later they became obedient.
People... are the same wherever they go. If you are weak once, you may not always have a bright future. Instead, you may be constantly exploited.
It depends on how Gustav plans to play this time. Anyway, Alan looks very happy.
…
"Dear guests, today is my day to ascend the throne..."
At the corner of the stairs on the second floor, Gustav stood in front of the podium, facing the guests in the entire first-floor hall, and spoke without a script.
Today, Gustav was wearing his field marshal's uniform, with epaulettes on his shoulders shining with gold.
At this moment, ignoring his past experiences, he finally looked a bit like a king.
In the hall in front of him stood hundreds of nobles who came to congratulate him. The hall was magnificent and filled with many "digent" people.
Queen Margaret stood diagonally to the side of Gustav to support him. She looked at Gustav with a smile, then turned her head to look at the guests below.
Alan stood at the corner of the stairs. He didn't want to go out and steal the limelight, so it was nice to just stand here and enjoy the show from a close distance.
Gustav first reminisced about the past, focusing on what happened during his grandfather's time.
After the war, it was the old king who led Sweden to restore its economy step by step with his outstanding vision. The old king had a very high reputation at that time, but unfortunately... the crown prince died early.
This situation is called generation gap.
Without the crown prince to take over, the throne went directly to the prince's grandson. Without the old king or father to take over, he was young and could not control the group of old politicians who had already become rich.
The final result...
All the power he had had was completely taken away from him over the past decade, and now... he can't even keep the throne.
Gustav reminisced about the past in a very emotional voice, then changed the subject and talked about Denmark, saying how Denmark was under the rule of Queen Margaret and how the Danish people were.
Queen Margaret's philosophy of doing things is basically the same as that of Gustav's grandfather, the old King of Sweden.
The old king also anticipated that with the development of society, his rights would be further reduced, so he took the lead in proposing the concept of the so-called "commoner royal family."
The general meaning of this concept is to open part of the royal life to the public, reduce the royal living expenses, reduce the size of the royal palace, and open part of the existing palaces to the general public.
Anyway, he kept talking about being close to the people, and in the end... when it came to Gustav, he ended up living like this, but his current awesome look was a little different from what the old king had thought back then.
He is now forced to "popularize", while the old king did it for "show", and their starting points are different.
Today, Gustav not only invited his cousin, Queen Margaret, to support him, but he also mentioned Denmark in his words and deeds. Subconsciously, he was using this occasion to express his demands.
He wanted to be like Queen Margaret, closer to the people and more approachable, but the prerequisite was that he had to have some power in his hands. He wanted to be a real king.
As for the last part about restoring Sweden's glory.
this……
Alan looked down at the various expressions of the guests in the hall and was skeptical about Gustav's request.
However, his speech today was just a rough expression of his inner thoughts.
Retiring early is certainly impossible, and passing on the throne is even more impossible. However, the issue of rights can still be negotiated, and he can accept being like Queen Margaret.
It’s just…all the power in his hands has been stripped away. Judging from the character of those people in the Swedish Parliament, will they return all the things that have been taken away to Gustav?
This thing is not reliable at all. After being a master for so long, who would want to find an ancestor above his head?
They wanted Gustav to abdicate early and then welcome Victoria to the throne, wasn't it because they thought she was young and easy to fool?
By then, with that person's high opinion of herself, if she were to be tricked into losing her temper or making a fool of herself, what would await her would probably be the abolition of the royal family.
“Huahuahua…”
With a burst of applause, Alan came back to his senses. Gustav had finished his speech and the buffet session was about to begin, which marked the official start of today's celebration.
The rest of the time, Gustav just walked around and chatted with each guest. That was probably the extent of today's celebration.