The sheets and pillowcases prepared for the wedding were made from my mother's old sheets.

In total, these things only filled a small suitcase like the one a local girl brought when she married into a neighboring village.

Sophia had already realized what was going to happen. She took a look at Vorontsov's letter and saw that the letter came from Russia.

And when my mother opened the letter, she read aloud:

"...Take the princess, her eldest daughter."

In addition, the look of her mother out of breath, and the look of her parents ducking aside in a hurry and mumbling, made Sophia even more convinced that the letter involved her future.

Sophia knows the meaning of marriage.

Finally, Sophia could no longer restrain her curiosity and found her mother.

Johanna confessed the contents of the letter to Sophia, and she also confirmed things that the other party had not clearly stated.

Johanna told Sofia that there was great risk in this matter due to the unrest in that country.

And Sofia said to Johanna:

"If this is God's will, then He will make everything calm down, and my courage allows me to face this risk, and my heart tells me that everything will be fine."

What distressed Sophia's father was that she was not distressed by the fact that Sophia had to convert to Christianity.

As Pastor Wagner learned, Sophia had a very practical approach to religious belief.

In the last week of getting along with Teacher Babette, despite her reluctance and sadness, Sophia kept silent about everything that was going to happen.

Sofia's parents did not allow her to let the news out, claiming that they and their daughter had left Zerbst only to complete their annual visit to Berlin.

Babette, who has a strong connection with her students, realizes that everyone is not telling the truth to her.

Even when Sophia said goodbye to her beloved teacher with tears in her eyes, her students still did not tell her the truth.

In 1744, the family boarded a carriage for Berlin, where they would meet King Fattre.

Sophia said goodbye to her nine-year-old brother Frederick, and kissed her newborn sister Elizabeth.

Then, the carriage passed through the city gate and drove onto the road. This time, Sophia left without looking back.

Sophia set off for Berlin with her parents.

The Prussia that Frederick inherited from his father was only a small country with a small area, sparse population, and limited natural resources, and its territory was scattered in pieces along the Rhine River to the Baltic Sea.

The electorate of Brandenburg is located in the center of Prussia, with Berlin as its capital.

To the east of the Kingdom, a long and narrow territory of the Kingdom of Poland lies between the province of East Prussia and the Kingdom.

To the west, there are a series of isolated territories along the Rhine, Westphalia, East Frisia, and the North Sea coast.

Although this country has the disadvantage of scattered territory, Frederick II possesses powerful weapons——

The Prussian army was an elite force composed of elite soldiers and generals.

This force has 83,000 well-trained and experienced soldiers, a group of outstanding commanders, and advanced weapons and equipment.

Frederick II intended to rely on Prussia's powerful military to solve its territorial distribution problems.

Soon he got his chance.

Five months after he succeeded to the throne, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles VI of Austria, died suddenly, and the throne of Austria fell into the hands of Charles VI's 23-year-old eldest daughter Maria Theresa.

Frederick immediately summoned his generals and decided to incorporate Silesia, one of the richest regions under the Habsburg dynasty, into his territory.

Silesia is on the doorstep, agriculture and industry are very developed, and the large number of Protestants among the residents will be a beneficial supplement to his small country.

However, Frederick, who was so confident before the war, did not expect a situation.

Maria Theresa, the princess of Austria and the queen of Hungary, had a pair of blue eyes and golden hair. Her doll-like beauty was extremely beguiling.

Under the heavy burden, she tried her best to show an unusual calmness, and some onlookers even concluded that she was a little stupid.

However, these people were wrong.

This woman is not only smart, but also brave and tenacious.

When Frederick launched an offensive and occupied Silesia, everyone in Vienna was stunned with fear. Only Maria Theresa was not frightened.

Even though the breakup was approaching, Maria Theresa still reacted with the strength of a rage.

She raised funds, mobilized the army, boosted the morale of her subjects, and at the same time gave birth to Joseph.

Frederick was shocked by the young woman's tenacious resistance and determination not to give up her country. She was not at all the frail and frail little girl he had known before.

What surprised him even more was that in April, an Austrian army crossed the mountains of Bohemia and invaded Silesia again.

The Prussians once again repulsed the Austrian army.

During the brief period of peace that followed, Frederick controlled Silesia's 1.4 million miles of fertile agricultural areas, rich mineral deposits, prosperous towns, and a population of up to 1.5 million people.

Most of the new population were Germans who believed in Protestantism. Together with the original population in the country when Frederick succeeded to the throne, the population of the Kingdom of Prussia reached 4 million.

However, Frederick's plundering also cost him a huge price.

Maria Theresa believed that she had a sacred duty to the Habsburg dynasty she inherited. Frederick's war of aggression aroused Maria Theresa's strong hatred for him, which plunged Prussia and Austria into a long period of hostility.

state.

And Frederick also put himself in a dangerous situation.

Prussia has always been a small country, its territory is fragmented, and its growing national power makes its powerful neighbors feel uneasy.

The two empires, which were larger in territory than Prussia and whose actual national power was stronger than Prussia, were both likely to become its enemies.

The two countries were Austria, ruled by the furious Maria Theresa, and Russia, whose territory stretched as far as the eye could see east and north of Prussia.

The ruler of this empire was Queen Elizabeth.

Faced with this situation, the most important thing for Frederick was to seek Russia's friendship, or at least let it remain neutral.

Frederick remembered a principle his father reminded him to remember when he was dying -

"If we go to war with Russia, we will lose more than we gain."

At the moment, Frederick is still not sure what choice Queen Elizabeth will make.

Because not long after she came to the throne, Queen Elizabeth appointed Count Alexey Bestudev Lyumin, who was hostile to Prussia, as the new Deputy Prime Minister of the Privy Council, and he was in charge of state affairs together with Vorontsov.

Frederick was well aware of Bestudev's attitude. He believed that the only obstacle in his diplomatic mediation with Queen Elizabeth was the deputy prime minister.

This obstacle had to be removed.

After careful consideration, Frederick concluded that if he could assist the Russian Empress in choosing a bride for her nephew, then many of the thorny diplomatic problems between the two countries would be solved.

A year ago, the Prussian ambassador in St. Petersburg reported to him that Bestutev was suggesting to Elizabeth that she choose Princess Marianne, the daughter of August III, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

If this plan comes to fruition, the marriage will become a vital pawn in the Deputy Chancellor's foreign policy in building an anti-Prussian alliance.

Frederick wanted to prevent Elizabeth from marrying the Elector of Saxony, but at this moment, Queen Elizabeth chose Sophia to run for the crown princess, which undoubtedly made Frederick ecstatic.

Frederick did not want to leave the Empress with a moment's hesitation.

He was eager to meet the Zerbst family from Anhalt in order to make some small arrangements.

Upon arriving in Berlin, Johanna went to the palace alone because her daughter did not have decent clothes.

After some secret conversations, Johanna followed Frederick's plan to serve as Prussia's unofficial envoy in St. Petersburg.

Frederick explained to Johanna in detail Bestudev's personality and the policies he implemented.

He particularly emphasized that as a sworn enemy of Prussia, the Privy Councilor would use his power to try every means to obstruct the marriage between Sophia and Peter.

The King of Prussia also declared that Johanna should work to weaken Bestudev out of self-interest, if for no other reason.

He easily aroused Johanna's enthusiasm, and the secret mission made Johanna extremely excited.

She became a central figure in a crucial diplomatic campaign aimed at overthrowing the Russian Empire's deputy prime minister.

Her sincere but pedantic husband had warned her not to get involved in politics, but now Johanna forgot all about it.

She even forgot that the real mission of the trip was to escort her daughter to Russia.

On Friday, Sophia and her parents left Berlin in a light convoy of four carriages and headed for Russia.

(According to the text, what follows is the second half of Chapter 66, but there are too many rigid descriptions. Later, more than 10,000 words were deleted. Now that I think about it, maybe there are people who are interested, so I will put it in the author-related section.
Chapter completed!