ATPnovel Chapter 113. Nikita Panin
Chapter 113. Nikita Panin
Chapter 113. Nikita Panin
Sweden.
Stockholm, the capital city.
A dignified and grand private residence. The carriage drove in, and the butler waited at the steps. As Sergei stepped down from the carriage, the butler immediately approached him.
"Welcome Ambassador Saltykov. My family has been waiting for you inside for quite some time."
Sergei walked up the steps, with the butler leading the way.
Upon entering a reception room, a middle-aged man was sitting at the table. When he saw Sergei, the man did not get up but instead gestured to the chair in front of him.
There was no one to greet him outside, nor did he get up at this moment. Instead, he sat on the sofa himself and made the guest sit in a chair. It was obvious that the other party was trying to intimidate Sergei.
"Ambassador Panin, I have long admired your name."
Sergei sat down in the chair without the slightest hesitation.
"The current ambassador should be you, Prince Saltykov," the other person said with a smile.
Sergei said slowly, "To be honest, the Queen sent me on this mission to the country, and I have already decided that no matter how far away it is from Sweden, I will come to pay my respects to you, Ambassador."
"You flatter me, Your Grace, you're too kind," the middle-aged man said with a smile, waving his hand.
Sergei smiled again: "But I never expected the Queen would send me to Sweden, and even steal your ambassadorship."
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The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I had heard that the Duke was a very strong political rival of my teacher in St. Petersburg. Now that he has taken away my position as his student, it just proves that the Duke is not as good as my teacher."
Sergei nodded frankly: "I was never a match for the Prime Minister, and besides, we are now very close partners."
Indeed, the middle-aged man in front of you who always keeps a smile on his face is a student of Besdudev, the Prime Minister of Russia, who is second only to the President!
"I received the teacher's letter of recommendation. He said he didn't expect that you, Duke, would be sent to Sweden by the Queen, so he told me not to mind. Since it was not the Duke's own wish, I will naturally help the Duke and be a good deputy to him."
"I wouldn't dare accept the title of deputy. We can discuss things from now on, since we're both serving Russia," Sergei said with a smile.
The middle-aged man smiled without saying a word.
"I'm going to the palace to meet the King of Sweden the day after tomorrow. Does the ambassador have any suggestions?" Sergei asked.
The other party had served as a diplomatic envoy in Sweden for many years and clearly knew many things that needed attention.
"I dare not offer such advice. Your Grace, when you meet the King of Sweden, you need not worry about anything. You only need to present Grand Duchess Catherine's handwritten letter, and you will receive the King's warmest hospitality."
Sergei smiled slightly.
This is absolutely true, because King Adolf Frederick of Sweden was the older brother of Johanna Elizabeth, Catherine's mother, and their father was Christian Augustus (Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, not Johanna's husband, Prince Anhat-Zerbst).
Therefore, King Adolf of Sweden was Catherine's maternal uncle.
Providing the niece's handwritten letter is the best solution.
But the words coming from the middle-aged man in front of him were full of sarcasm towards Sergei, a questioning of his diplomatic abilities.
Sergei didn't care; the other party's contempt was normal—anyone would be unhappy to have an experienced ambassador replaced by a young man who had never served as a diplomatic envoy before.
Seeing that Sergei remained silent, the middle-aged man slowly spoke again.
"I would like to invite the Duke to Knight Island for tea tomorrow. I wonder if the Duke would have the time?"
Sergei stood up: "With pleasure."
The middle-aged man also stood up, escorted the other person to the door, and then stopped to look at the butler.
"See the Duke off for me."
"Yes."
As they rode in the carriage and left the mansion, the steward who had been accompanying Sergei finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Sir, he is extremely rude! Not only has he been disrespectful, but he has also blatantly given you the order to leave!"
Sergei smiled slightly: "Do you know who he is?"
"Ambassador to Sweden, Nikita Panen, a student of Besdützev, so what? He's no longer the ambassador; you are. He can only be your deputy."
Sergei smiled, but said nothing more.
That's right, the other party was Besdudev's disciple, followed by the ambassador to Sweden, and lastly Nikita Panin.
However, Russian history records that during the reign of Catherine the Great, this Foreign Minister was a figure who achieved a position of power comparable to Besdudev, and whose achievements even surpassed Besdudev's.
That's him, Nikita Panin!
This person has surpassed his teacher and is even better than him!
She was also one of the three key figures who helped Catherine secure her throne in the early years of her reign!
This is the person he wants to contact through his diplomatic mission abroad!
"I want to try tomorrow's tea now. Let's go to Knight Island," Sergei said.
Although the steward was surprised, he immediately notified the stableman.
This is why Sergei brought the other party along.
Pimen needs to stay in St. Petersburg to handle all his secret affairs, and his butler Roman is equally loyal to him, and is also intelligent, quick-witted, and thorough in his work.
Therefore, the other party came along as a butler, not only to be his butler here, but also his secretary.
Sergei closed his eyes.
Knights Island is quite far, and he didn't want to be late for tomorrow's meeting. He was staying at the accommodations arranged by the Swedish royal family, and it was very likely he wouldn't make it in time tomorrow.
As for this potentially displeasing the royal family—
Elizabeth's happiness makes the whole royal family happy, and the same principle applies in Sweden.
The next morning, Sergei went to a teahouse building that resembled a lighthouse.
In a secluded room, Sergei met Nikita Panin.
"This design is truly unique."
Sergei approached the window, which was more like a railing than a window, because the entire wall facing the sea was less than a meter high, offering a clear view of the ocean and the islands opposite.
"Stockholm has many such buildings. Their original purpose was for lookout, to be vigilant and detect enemies. The ones here, because they are located on the inside, have basically lost their function. Over time, they were bought by nobles and turned into teahouses," Panin slowly explained.
Sergei turned around and smiled, "The ambassador summoned me all this way just to talk about this, didn't he? Or is there some tea here that I can learn a valuable lesson from?"
"Whether the tea is good or not, you'll only know after you've tried it," Panin said with a smile.
Sergei sat down opposite him, and soon tea was served, its aroma filling the air.
Panin cut to the chase: "Now that the Duke is the ambassador to Sweden, what do you know about Sweden?"
"I wouldn't say I understand, but I can talk about what I don't understand."
"Oh? I'm all ears."