The Shadow of Great Britain

460: Chapter 253: Not Ordinary and Exceptionally Confident (5K8)_2 460: Chapter 253: Not Ordinary and Exceptionally Confident (5K8)_2 Heine continued, “To be honest, when I left Prussia, I hadn’t planned on staying in London for so long.

After all, while I was traveling, I was also looking for local publishers to publish my collection of poems.

I was lucky, and the quality of my poetry was recognized by readers from all over Europe, so where I went, the publishers I worked with made a fortune.

But when I was ready to end my stay in London and visit Austria, I found out they didn’t seem to welcome me there.”

“They didn’t welcome you?” Arthur asked, “Why is that?”

Heine took a swig of beer before responding, “Probably because I liked to use a string of glorious adjectives when describing Metternich?

But you should know, I’m a poet, and a poet’s language is always splendid and resplendent.”

Louis asked, “What kind of adjectives did you use on Metternich?”

Heine earnestly cut his sausage and said, “I simply repeated what Tsar Alexander I of Russia said.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows and asked, “So, what exactly did you say?”

Heine put down his fork, annoyed, and said, “I said he was even more contemptible than a dog.”

Arthur pressed on, “Was that all?”

Heine scratched his cheek and added, “I also took the opportunity to praise the Austrian police.”

Louis asked, “How did you praise them?”

“Nothing much, just some old blessings,” Heine replied.

Louis persistently probed, “So, what exactly was it?”

Heine picked up his knife and fork again and began to eat his sausage, saying, “I said: ‘I gift all my bouts of stomach cramps to the Austrian police, they are like pincers clamping down on guts, and while we’re at it, I give them the prickly Prussian hemorrhoids and urinary difficulties as well.’

Even Louis, who had just resolved to practice self-restraint, couldn’t help but slap his forehead upon hearing this.

He exclaimed, “How could you say such things?”

Heine, supporting his head with one hand as he chewed, said, “I just wanted to test them, but what I didn’t expect was that Metternich and Austrian officials would promptly admit to these accusations.”

“They admitted to it?”

“Yes, they admitted it very readily.”

Heine took out his handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

“Those fellows banned all the ‘poetic works’ that I had distributed in Austria.

The speed and efficiency of their actions were really impressive; they wouldn’t have gotten hemorrhoids if they were that diligent normally.

At that time, I had nearly spent all my royalties, and I was hoping to earn a good sum in Austria, but they were ruthlessly unsparing with any publications bearing my name.

It turns out Tsar Alexander was right; Metternich truly is worse than a dog.

Er…

excuse me, I usually don’t speak so crudely, but I just can’t hold back my honest thoughts about that fellow, Metternich,” Heine confessed.

Louis’s brows twitched as he listened.

Suddenly, he nudged Arthur with his elbow and said, “Perhaps we should introduce him to Alexander; they might hit it off.”

All Arthur did was continue to smoke vehemently.

“Let’s wait until the monkey comes back from South America.

I suddenly think training the monkey might prove promising for his future.”

While Arthur and Louis were talking, Heine suddenly seemed paranoid, peering out of the tavern’s glass window, as if searching for something.

Arthur asked, “What’s wrong?”

Leaning back in his chair, Heine began, “Austria doesn’t welcome me, and it’s the same with my homeland, Prussia.

They fear me, afraid that I’ll reveal their affliction with hemorrhoids.

So, when I lived back home, I would often see a few familiar faces outside my apartment.

They were there almost every day, shadowing wherever I went.

They thought they were well disguised, but they couldn’t fool me; I knew they were spies sent by the authorities, nothing but Prussian lackeys.”

As he spoke, Heine tugged the Venetian blind by the window down a bit, making a small crevice just wide enough for two eyes to peer through as he surveyed the outside: “Moreover, I’ve noticed that these lackeys have become increasingly audacious recently.

In Prussia, they would surveil me, and now in London, there are still people watching me.

It seems I have now become a major thorn in Prussia’s side.”

Of course, it wasn’t plausible for Prussia to cross the sea to watch Heine in London, and as for those lackeys in London Heine mentioned, Arthur, of course, knew where they came from.

He just snapped his fingers lightly and exchanged a knowing look with Louis.

Louis Bonaparte intuitively pulled out his notebook, adding a precise note—”This person has strong counter-surveillance skills and is also a narcissist.”

After writing this, Louis didn’t forget to stretch the notebook towards Arthur and asked, “What do you think?”

Arthur pointed at the ‘narcissist’ scribbled in the notebook and wagged his finger.

He advised, “It’s really rude to say that.

Although we’re not poets, we should still choose our words with elegance.

What do you think of calling him a ‘Narcissist’?”

“Narcissus?

The guy from Ancient Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection in the water?” Louis mused, pinching his chin.

“Arthur, you may have a point.

The term does fit quite nicely.

I’ll write that down.”

Heine released the Venetian blind and turned around to ask, “What were you two discussing?”

Arthur smiled and said, “Rest assured, Mr.

Heine.

If the Prussian government dares to send someone to surveil you in London, we’ll make sure they regret it.

You know, Louis and I are Scotland Yard police officers; just last year, we solved a French kidnapping case on the high seas.

When it comes to sovereignty, Britain won’t yield to anyone.

As long as you stand on London’s soil, the Prussians can’t touch you.”