Catherine and the Black Emperor

84. Problem-solving ability

Elizabeth's jealousy of Ekaterina gave Shuvalov an opportunity to tell Elizabeth, and the surge of resentment made Elizabeth almost lose control.

Elizabeth sent Shuvalov over as if the matter had reached a point of no return.

"Her Majesty the Queen is furious that you are so heavily in debt! She demands that you write down exactly how you spent the previous 5 rubles, and the even earlier 10 rubles, and hand it to me tomorrow!"

When Shuvalov delivered the message, he deliberately chose a time when Peter, Ekaterina, and others could hear it.

In front of so many people, including her friends and servants, Catherine burst into tears.

"I will, Earl."

Ekaterina had just wiped away her tears when her eyes immediately welled up again.

Shuvalov walked away, full of self-satisfaction.

Now that you've rejected my offer, you're starting to see how powerful I am.

This is a far cry from your arrogance and indifference outside the courthouse!

"Auntie is right, you spend money recklessly every day, you're such a spendthrift! But this isn't your home yet!"

Instead of comforting his wife, Peter added insult to injury.

"If Count Shuvalov hadn't brought this up in public, you probably would have kept it a secret, and we wouldn't even know you were in debt! Count Shuvalov was absolutely right!"

The Grand Duke, who previously loathed Shuvalov, has now begun to admire him.

Sergei looked at Catherine, whose face was streaked with tears.

She has a calm mind when dealing with him or other people's affairs, but when it comes to her own problems, she still can't remain calm.

The emperor still needs to grow.

He stepped forward.

"Your Highness, I will find a way to resolve this matter. I know where your money has been spent."

Catherine rarely used the money she received after arriving in Russia for herself. Initially, she gave part of it to her mother and sent part to her father in Germany to support her younger brother.

So although she often argued with her mother and never saw her father again before his death, deep down she longed for family affection.

Later, she used the money to buy gifts for many people.

They bought gifts to please Peter, gifts to reward Mattrea and Gemma, and also gifts for Mrs. Bruezer.

When she discovered that gifts could help her win people over, she naturally began to use this direct and blatant method.

It was simple and effective, and she had no reason to reject it.

"The entire palace is sending gifts, and even I have received many, many gifts," Sergei comforted her.

"Trust me, I can handle this, Your Grace. You don't need to interfere this time!" Ekaterina wiped away her tears.

She didn't want to show her weakness in front of the person she loved.

Sergei nodded.

He understood Ekaterina's thoughts and knew that she now had the ability to solve the problem.

Back in her room, Ekaterina took out her notebook.

It records every expense she makes. She has this habit, which saves her the trouble of thinking about or writing it down.

"I've spent every penny honestly and openly; even the Queen couldn't find any fault with it!"

But only a very few people, such as Sergei and Naryshkin, truly knew the truth.

So the news of the Grand Duchess's heavy debts quickly spread throughout the court, and all the courtiers gossiped about her behind her back after seeing her, making Catherine feel as if she had returned to the situation she was in when she first came to Russia.

She was very sad.

But she quickly adjusted her mindset and immediately took action.

As she made her way to Elizabeth's office, Matrena and Gemma signaled to the servants to act, and the message quickly spread among the servants.

"The Grand Duchess arrived in Russia with only a suitcase, while the noblewomen in the court changed their clothes three or four times a day."

"When she first received the title of 'Your Highness,' the Grand Duchess used her own allowance to buy clothes in order to be worthy of her status."

"Yes, the Grand Duchess gets up before dawn every day to learn Russian. She has never experienced the Russian cold."

These are facts, and when mentioned again, they still remarkably garnered everyone's sympathy and approval.

Yes, there must be a reason why such a girl, who doesn't have any bad habits like gambling, is so heavily in debt.

In addition, everyone knows that the Queen lives a life of extravagance and is very generous to everyone, so the Grand Duchess's debts are nothing to the Queen.

Clearly, the Queen's criticism of the Grand Duchess was merely a cover for her dissatisfaction with the Grand Duchess in another aspect.

Then, the wind direction began to change.

"The methods are simplistic and naive, but direct and effective." Sergei smiled with satisfaction.

If Catherine were to feel ashamed of praising herself, she would be unable to grow and ascend the throne.

"The Empress is a captivating yet terrifying woman; her two faces alternate without warning."

This was mentioned by Ekaterina during a conversation with Sergei.

Of course, that's all for the future.

Catherine's intelligence was proven once again.

Before long, she had become adept at switching between Elizabeth's two faces.

"I no longer need to use all my tricks to win His Majesty's favor," Catherine said with a smile.

"Your Highness, your biggest change isn't this, but rather that when you say these words, your expression is no longer proud, but as calm as the snow in St. Petersburg," Sergei said with a smile.

In fact, it is very common for women to be fickle, let alone the Empress of Russia.

Each time her jealousy subsided, Elizabeth would feel pity for Catherine, and eventually, no matter what the turmoil, Elizabeth would put it all behind her.

Of course, one thing remained constant: the estrangement between Elizabeth and Catherine.

Catherine was still not pregnant!

September, the secret committee.

"These are the officials the Prussian ambassador has recently lobbied," Vadim said, handing Sergei a list of names.

Frederick II of Prussia was dedicated to undermining Bestudev's political strategy of courting Austria.

Johanna failed, and Catherine was pushed to the opposite side of Prussia by him, becoming a true Russian.

The Prussian ambassador was left to fend for himself, so the head of the secret presidential palace consulted with Frederick and approved a large sum of money for the Prussian ambassador to begin bribing Russian courtiers.

The secret committee had known about this matter for a long time and, on Elizabeth's orders, had been secretly investigating it, but had never brought it up.

Sergei looked at the personnel list that had already accumulated to a small stack.

It wasn't that Elizabeth didn't want to deal with these people, but there were too many of them—court officials and nobles—and too many people were involved. If she were to deal with them, it would inevitably cause turmoil in the court.

Of course, most importantly, none of these people have betrayed Russia so far.

"That's a decent backup plan."

Sergei put the list into the drawer.