The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1448: Chapter 225: A Good News, Also a Bad News

A mad scientist raising a talking monkey.

An eerie pianist electrifying the piano.

A femme fatale who applies poisonous lipstick to murder with a kiss...

Of course, no matter how vicious, cunning, or cruel the criminal, they will eventually be brought to justice by the detective Sir Arthur Hastings from the fog city.

Just as Arthur was eagerly planning to promote his masterpiece ”Hastings Case Files” to everyone, he suddenly heard a greeting from nearby.

”Your Excellency, Duke.”

Arthur turned his head to see that the host of the ball, Duke Golitsyn, the Governor of Moscow, had arrived at some point, followed by the Moscow Police Chief and several local police station chiefs.

The Duke brushed off the snow on his clothes and muttered, ”On such a good day, troublesome things come one after another.”

Governor Zubkov, his secretary, handed him a glass of Madeira wine: ”Has news come from St. Petersburg?”

Duke Golitsyn nodded: ”Exactly, the Emperor personally ordered us to immediately shut down the ’Moscow Telecommunications’ and arrest the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Bolievoy.”

Upon hearing this, the scene immediately erupted in uproar.

As an influential top-tier newspaper in Russia, the ”Moscow Telecommunications,” founded in 1825, was to Russia what the ”Manchester Guardian” was to Britain.

Apart from the semi-official ”Northern Bee,” the ”Moscow Telecommunications” had virtually no rivals in Russia.

However, such a newspaper was ordered to be shut down just like that.

As a liberal-minded official, Zubkov couldn’t help but ask, ”Why such a sudden order? Did the Emperor not consult you in advance?”

Duke Golitsyn was evidently also displeased with the order to shut down ”Moscow Telecommunications.” He took off his hat and said, ”I heard that Minister of Education Uvarov submitted a report to the Emperor, including excerpts from the ’Moscow Telecommunications’ publications over the past few months. After reading it, the Emperor agreed with Uvarov’s claim that editor-in-chief Bolievoy had sinister intentions in guiding public opinion in the ’Moscow Telecommunications.’

A few nobles on the side couldn’t help but ask, ”Didn’t Count Budorov and the others try to stop it?”

”Stop what?” Duke Golitsyn looked angry, slamming his hat onto the table: ”Those excerpts came from Budorov’s advice, and Pulunov was responsible for the specifics.”

”And what about Rukovski? Our Crown Prince’s Tutor also said nothing?”

At these words, Duke Golitsyn became even more irate: ”Rukovski did speak, expressing regret. However, he generally felt that the ban on ’Moscow Telecommunications’ was deserved because he believed it was promoting Jacobinism right under the government’s nose. Furthermore, he said he couldn’t understand why Bolievoy was once the darling of our Moscow Police Department, nor could he comprehend why the police believed Bolievoy’s liberalism was just a facade.”

Just as Duke Golitsyn finished speaking, Arthur noticed the Moscow Police Chief’s forehead was covered with cold sweat.

The police chief hurriedly explained, ”Your Excellency, I assure you, we...”

But Golitsyn Duke didn’t give him a chance to explain, directly pulling a newspaper out of his pocket and slapping it on the table: ”Come! Feodor Ivanovich! Read it for me, what’s written here! Why didn’t you inform me before this article was published?”

”I can’t read it.”

The police chief was flustered, without reading out loud.

The furious Duke Golitsyn just stared him down.

That dull, cold, leaden gaze made one feel like they were falling into an ice cave.

The police chief couldn’t withstand the pressure, so he had to reluctantly pick up the newspaper, converting the Russian text into the French the Duke found easier: ”Critique of Kukelnik’s new work...”

Arthur, hearing just the title, roughly understood what the issue was.

Kukelnik was the Tsarist Court’s appointed writer, and just last month, he published a historical play titled ”The God’s Hand Saved the Motherland.”

Just by hearing the name, one could tell that the play’s main theme was to extol the Russian monarchy, mythologize Russia’s performance in defeating Napoleon in the 1812 war, and thus prove that the Russian monarchy was not only a historical choice but also the people’s choice and even God’s choice, and so on.

In short, this play lacked substance, considered a high-level version of ”Russian Strongmen Driving Away the Frenchmen.”

Although Arthur bought a copy, he flipped through it hastily and didn’t feel like reading it again.

However, lack of substance aside, Bolievoy actually dared to write a critical article about this play and even dared to publish it in the ”Moscow Telecommunications!”

Such outrageous behavior was definitely culpable.

And Duke Golitsyn’s fury was understandable; ”Moscow Telecommunications” was a Russian-language publication, and while the Duke understood a bit of Russian, he seldom spoke it and rarely read Russian magazines.

Therefore, he always entrusted the newspaper management and censorship tasks to the police department and didn’t usually intervene much himself.

But he never thought that Moscow’s police work was so negligent, landing him in big trouble.

What made the Duke even more furious was the haughty attitude of those constitutional soldiers who rushed over from St. Petersburg with the Emperor’s decree.

He had never liked these Third Bureau operatives and was always pondering how to deal with these Bendendorf cronies.

Who knew, he hadn’t figured out how to deal with the soldiers yet, but his police officers had already handed the soldiers some incriminating evidence.

If it weren’t for the presence of so many guests, especially British ones, Duke Golitsyn would have already exploded in crude language at the police chief.

Duke Golitsyn, suppressing his anger, walked over to Arthur and apologized, ”Sir Arthur, as the host and according to social etiquette, I should have stayed here to accompany you today. But unfortunately, due to official duties pressing on me, I must apologize for excusing myself today.”

Arthur waved his hand and said, ”Of course, official duties take precedence. The ball is just a pastime, how could that be considered rude.”

Duke Golitsyn was clearly holding back a belly full of anger, but couldn’t erupt. Furthermore, losing face in front of guests today made him feel increasingly aggrieved.

He instructed his secretary, Zubkov, ”You’ll keep them company on my behalf these two days; don’t worry about the prosecutor’s office work for now.”

Zubkov nodded slightly, ”Understood, Your Excellency.”

Duke Golitsyn, having arranged tonight’s setup, suddenly turned and shot a glare at the police chief behind him: ”Once Bolievoy is found, bring him to me at once; I want to question him personally. As for all documents in the ’Moscow Telecommunications’ editorial office, organize and seal them, and deliver them intact to St. Petersburg. The Emperor has said he wants to review them personally.”

After speaking, Duke Golitsyn was about to leave but suddenly paused, recalling something, and instructed, ”All actions must be faster than the soldiers!”

The police chief hastily kept pace with the Duke, quietly querying, ”What if Constitutional Soldier Commander Volkov insists on taking Bolievoy away? After all, the Emperor’s command is to arrest him and directly send him to the Petersburg fortress, the soldiers might refuse to let us take him to your residence.”

Hearing this, Duke Golitsyn coldly glanced at him: ”That’s for you to consider; what I want is for Bolievoy to be brought to my place, so I can question him first. How you explain it to the soldiers is your problem. However, Feodor Ivanovich, I’m warning you, if I don’t see Bolievoy today, you’ll be in big trouble!”

The police chief scratched his head, pretending not to understand Duke Golitsyn’s meaning: ”Are you suggesting we oppose the Emperor’s decree?”

”I never said that.” Golitsyn wasn’t about to let him take advantage: ”I just said I want to see Bolievoy. Feodor Ivanovich, you caused this mess; you find a way to resolve it!”