The Shadow of Great Britain

"No, neither."

Feng Kromeier shook the napkin and then leisurely tied it around his neck: "I originally planned to attend the solo piano concert hosted by Liszt tonight. Franz Liszt is the newest rising star in the Austrian Empire's music scene, and his outstanding work in Paris has enhanced the reputation of Austrian art in Europe. As a cultural attaché, I feel it is my duty to attend his concert."

Schneider glanced at Arthur with a peculiar look upon hearing this, then spoke with ill intent: "Oh, Liszt, he is indeed an outstanding figure, but fame brings trouble. The praise he receives is almost matched by the criticism."

"Criticism?"

Feng Kromeier raised an eyebrow: "You must be referring to that bastard Heinrich Heine, right? Probably only he in all of Paris would be so keen on slandering our brilliant Liszt. This guy tried to extort Mr. Liszt, but he hit a brick wall, and then, out of rage, he started smearing him through the major newspapers in Paris, saying that those who praised Liszt were all paid to do so. These tactics, I'm all too familiar with, because when he wrote books defaming Metternich back then, the cause was almost the same."

Arthur was intrigued and timely asked: "What happened exactly?"

Feng Kromeier snorted disdainfully: "I clearly remember that in the early days, although he often published some untimely comments in his books, at most they were satirical remarks like 'Germany treats ignorance as a virtue,' 'A person's stupidity is harder to tolerate than the collective wisdom,' 'Jehovah's branches are quite numerous there.'

But after the Prime Minister ordered all of his publications to be put on the banned book list, this guy sank so low as to talk daily about hemorrhoids and urinary incontinence. After doing these things, hiding in Paris was quite shrewd. If he dared to go to Vienna, our people would let him experience what real urinary incontinence is like."

At this point, Feng Kromeier couldn't help but curse: "But this Jewish bastard, though he might not excel at other things, every time something goes awry, he really runs fast! I heard he recently applied for special subsidies from the French Government. If he gets political asylum in Paris, it will be even harder to catch him in the future."

Schneider laughed heartily: "That's not something you should worry about, after all, he hasn't criticized Austria nearly as much as he has Prussia."

"You're right."

Feng Kromeier sipped his drink: "So Prussia has a stronger desire to ruin him than we do. I heard they plan to announce him as a traitor in the major Germanic Region newspapers once he applies for French subsidies. Didn't he always claim to be a proud man of letters? Yet this proud individual takes foreign aid and slanders his homeland in the papers—it's utterly ridiculous."

Arthur was taken aback.

Even a guy as imaginative as he could never have anticipated Heine would pull such a big act.

But, how to say, it does seem in line with this guy's character.

He indeed wants to see Germany progress, but if he can take money from France, why wouldn't he?

However, once he takes that money, how others view him becomes another matter.

After all, from some perspectives, this indeed counts as colluding with foreign forces to disrupt the Germanic Confederation.

Whether it's Austria or Prussia, these two major Germanic powers have contentious relationships with France.

Feng Kromeier put down his glass and then asked: "Sir, forgive my poor memory, but it seems we haven't met before? August, why don't you introduce us?"

Schneider smiled and introduced: "This is Sir Arthur Hastings, a legendary figure among the London police. Due to his excellent work, he has now been transferred to the Foreign Office to continue to shine."

"Arthur Hastings..."

Feng Kromeier recollected the name, thinking he'd heard it somewhere before.

Suddenly, he frowned as an incendiary article previously published by Heine flashed in his mind: "Forgive my rudeness, though I know it's impossible, but I want to confirm, you wouldn't happen to be the Sir Arthur Hastings mentioned in the 'Hastings Mania,' would you?"

Arthur smiled and raised his glass: "It's not impudent at all because you're correct."

Feng Kromeier's expression froze upon hearing this: "You..."

Arthur added: "Yes, Heinrich Heine is my friend."

"I..." Feng Kromeier paused for a long time and suddenly asked: "Then you must know who I am, right?"

"Of course, I do, but I doubt you know my job." Arthur replied with a smile: "A little hint— I used to be a policeman, and after coming to the Foreign Office, I'm still doing the same work, just under a different title."

"Ah..." Feng Kromeier thought for a moment and quickly concluded: "You are a spy? Oh no, that's too impolite. I should say your social circle is quite extensive, and you've sacrificed a lot for your work, not even minding being friends with the infamous bogeyman in Germany."

After speaking, Feng Kromeier, quite regretfully, apologized: "Sorry, Sir, this should've been our job. Letting this portable toilet run to your turf without concern was really inconsiderate of us."

"Um... actually I think it's fine." Arthur replied: "Because I've always operated on a pay-to-play basis, so he's never really spilled our secrets."

Feng Kromeier was greatly impressed by this and praised: "It seems August was right, you really are a rare talent. If the Viennese police were half as nimble as you, they wouldn't be called 'a pack of well-trained dogs that can only sniff Metternich's hemorrhoids' every day."

Arthur gave a light cough: "You certainly know him better than I do. I'm quite curious—why does such a prominent poet often resort to such lowly means?"

"Low means? Although I don't like him, to be fair, he doesn't always act this way."

Feng Kromeier commented: "From what I understand, when he resorts to such low tactics, it usually means he's exasperated and has no way to deal with you."

Arthur nodded slightly: "It seems maybe we should exchange some information on Mr. Heine later, which would be helpful for our future work."

"No problem, your willingness to handle this undesirable is truly compassionate." Feng Kromeier sighed: "If you can help improve his bad temper, I'm sure our Prime Minister, Metternich, would be very grateful."

Arthur waved his hand with a smile: "This is nothing about compassion; in our line of work, communication is key. Back when I was with Scotland Yard, I exchanged criminal intelligence with Mr. Victor of the Paris Security Department. You may not know, it's not just these annoying poets, even those small-time thieves and robbers often commit crimes across borders nowadays."

Feng Kromeier waved his hand with a smile: "There's no need to separate them too much; in my view, they're all the same. Arguably, poets commit more significant offenses. After all, thieves and robbers endanger a few households at most, while a poet can endanger a nation, their destructiveness far exceeds that of ordinary criminals."

Arthur did not respond to this but instead took out a prepared document: "However, to thank you for agreeing to exchange information on Heine, I feel it's necessary to inform you of a potential anti-government activity possibly unfolding in Northern Italy. By the way, are you aware of the Young Italy organization?"

"Young Italy?" Feng Kromeier got to his feet involuntarily upon hearing the name: "You're saying those rebels from Young Italy are planning something in Italy? Just with their numbers? Who's giving them the guts!"

Arthur nodded slightly: "Although the intelligence is not fully verified, based on reasonable speculation, they do seem to have such intentions. As for who's giving them the courage, that's hard to say, because overall, based on current diplomatic policies, we have no intent to damage the good diplomatic relations with the French Government."