Judging from the appearance, Paul I does look a little bit, with a big forehead, a slightly collapsed nose, and red and swollen eyes, Paul I's appearance makes people completely unable to think that he is the crown prince of Russia and the future tsar.
But after all, people cannot be judged by their appearance alone, who knows that it is the person in front of him who began to implement various reform measures at the beginning of his ascension to the throne, and changed many of the rules and regulations of Catherine's time.
In just over five years of his reign, a single law was signed, with an average of 40 decrees issued every month.
At the same time that William looked at Paul, Paul was also looking at William, who was ten years old this year and looked like a normal fourteen or fifteen-year-old young man, and in the short two years of his reign, William resolutely appeared in the kind of demeanor that only a good ruler would have.
Jet-black hair, slender eyebrows, and big piercing eyes all reveal William's noble and elegant temperament.
After a while, Paul seemed to have just finished looking, he smiled and gestured to William, and William also returned the courtesy, without waiting for Paul and William to be polite, a squire behind Paul quietly approached Paul's side and didn't know what to whisper, and when the squire finished speaking, Paul looked at him dissatisfied, and then helplessly signaled to William that Catherine II was waiting for William in the palace, and after William nodded, Paul walked to the palace with a group of people.
The grand chamber of the Polish royal palace has changed its appearance by this time, and it has changed from its usual solemnity.
When the attendants standing at the door of the hall saw Paul and William coming, he tapped the staff in his hand, and then a trombone sounded, and the attendant said in a loud voice: "His Majesty King August of the Kingdom of Poland, His Majesty King William of the Kingdom of Prussia, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Paul of the Russian Empire have arrived" After the squires were over, the door to the hall was pulled open by the squires on either side.
Immediately before William was a road paved with a white woolen carpet, and William, after giving in to no avail of Humility with Auguste, walked on the carpet first, and many richly dressed nobles around the carpet bent down, and his usually invincible countenance became kind and humble.
Of all those present at the moment, William is the undisputed central point.
William saw three chairs lined up side by side on the steps at the end of the carpet, and he knew that one of them must be his place, and William strode forward with his chest straight.
When William, August, and Paul reached the top of the steps, and with the sound of the trombone of the ceremonial officer, the nobles present straightened their waists.
But soon, the crowd at the foot of the stairs was full of exclamations, and August and Paul looked at each other awkwardly, knowing that the exclamation was not for them, but for William, one of the protagonists of the evening.
When seeing William's appearance, some of the aristocratic girls present had red hearts, although William can barely be called handsome, but power is a man's most beautiful coat, as long as you have power, no matter what you look like, there will still be a large number of women crazy for you.
Just as some bold maidens were stupidly moving, the attendant at the door announced again: "Her Majesty Empress Catherine II, ruler of all Russian territories, living saint, conqueror of the Crimea, arrived" As the proclamation ended, a noblewoman in a long dress appeared in William's sight, standing with his back straight facing the door, and he did not bow his head like Auguste, Paul, and all the nobles present.
How to describe this noble lady, her long dress did not have much decoration, but the intertwined pattern of black and yellow sè on the long skirt set off her more and more noble, although William had done enough research on the empress beforehand, but William admitted that when the empress appeared in front of him, he was no less shocked than sailing alone in the sea.
William looked at the Empress who was getting closer, and the impact he received became stronger and stronger, but William knew that he must not show cowardice on such an occasion, because this was the first face-to-face confrontation between William and the Empress, William's hand clenched the scepter in his hand more and more, and at the same time, William tried not to show discomfort in his hand.
When the empress walked in front of her, her eyes that had been staring at William instantly bent into a crescent moon, and William admitted that the empress was really very attractive, and if the empress was thirty years younger, maybe William would not be able to resist her fatal temptation.
After exchanging greetings with Catherine II, Empress Catherine II made it to the middle of the three chairs on the steps, and William did not object, and Auguste certainly did not lose interest.
Paul stood in front of Empress Catherine II and saluted the Empress, and William clearly saw the Empress's forehead wrinkled, and William went to the chair on the right and sat down, after which Auguste sat down on one of the remaining chairs.
Catherine II, after signaling Paul, spoke: "We are here today to welcome our Prussian guests from afar, of course, according to the custom, the first dance must be danced before the banquet, I wonder if His Majesty Wilhelm can dance this first dance" Speaking of the back, Catherine II said to William kindly, but William knew that Catherine II was not as kind as she appeared on the surface.
But William did not have the right interface to refuse this first dance, and after nodding his head in agreement with the empress's arrangement, he stood up and walked down the steps, and at the sight of William's footsteps, some of the noble maidens on the steps began to get excited, and although they did not say anything, everyone knew that these maidens were very eager to dance with William.
But Wilhelm did not do as everyone thought, and Wilhelm went to the bottom of the steps, turned around, and said to Catherine II with a noble courtesy: "I don't know if it's an honor to invite Her Majesty the Empress to dance together."
After listening to William's words, Catherine II's expression was stunned at first, but soon this stunned expression turned into a smile, and she smiled and lifted the hem of her skirt and walked towards William.
After seeing Her Majesty's movements, everyone present instantly began to disperse in all directions, knowing that this was a dance between the supreme rulers of two of the great powers of Europe, and perhaps this scene would not occur in the next hundred years.
After receiving the outstretched hand of Catherine II, the first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto, composed by Bach, the father of Western music, sounded in the hall.
There was no difference in height between William and Catherine II, who were already about the size of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old man, which allowed William to take Catherine II to dance to the sound of cheerful music without feeling discordant.