I weave fate in parallel time and space

Chapter 239 Kill or not kill
"This is the seal, along with some important documents."

In the palace, Orlov put some things he found on the table, and Ekaterina was also looking at the documents.

"Any news from Peter?" she asked.

"According to the information we asked, after learning of the coup, he was very panicked, and his subordinates suggested that he immediately go to Kronstadt, lead the navy and troops loyal to him, and rely on Prussia to counterattack St. Petersburg.

But Peter III rejected this suggestion, and commanded his Holstein Army to stay in a local wooden castle that was usually used for training. "

Ekaterina smiled disdainfully, "It is indeed something he will do, and then?"

"Later, it was estimated that what we brought with us were the elite imperial guards, but we changed our minds and fled to Kronstadt with our mistress and entourage."

Ekaterina nodded, "When you catch him, remember not to kill him, I want him to sign the abdication decree."

"Yes!"

After Orlov left, it didn't take long to capture Peter III.

For when Peter III arrived in Kronstadt.

The local garrison announced that they had sworn allegiance to Ekaterina, so they could not accept Peter III.

After that, Peter III completely lost his fighting spirit, and even lost the courage to flee to Prussia. He obediently followed Ekaterina's wishes, returned to Oranienbaum, and signed the edict of abdication.

Of course, this is not enough. Judging from the law of succession to the throne stipulated by Peter the Great, Ekaterina’s actions are undoubtedly rebellion and usurpation, which is untenable in law.
So the first thing she did after she ascended the throne was to announce to the world and explain the legitimacy of her gaining power.Ekaterina knew that she could not justify her actions from a legal point of view, so she needed to make a fuss on the moral and political levels.

So at this moment, she is leaning over the desk and writing a manifesto, which will lament Peter III's perverse actions and describe many of Peter III's actions as betrayal and crimes against Russia at the national level, so launching a coup is a last resort .

In a sense, these contents are actually not wrong.

After she wrote these declarations, Orlov also came in from the outside, holding a roll of parchment in his hand.

"He's already written it."

That should be Peter III's abdication edict. Ekaterina hated Peter III very much, so Orlov did everything, and she didn't even bother to meet him.

"Your Majesty." Orlov looked at Ekaterina with a gleam in his eyes, "Now, he has no use for you, can you hand him over to us?"

The behavior of Peter III to return the land laid down by those bloody fighters to Germany is undoubtedly a great betrayal and shame to the army.

Their glory was trampled upon, and their beliefs were shaken. Whether they participated in that war or not, those who participated in that war hated the emperor extremely.

So his purpose can be imagined.

Ekaterina closed her eyes slightly, and continued.

"Let him live for now, don't touch him without my consent."

Orlov pouted, but still said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

With that said, he left here directly.

Ekaterina slowly opened her eyes, looked ahead and said.

"You said, what should I do with Peter?"

Xiaya was standing beside her, so it was obviously speaking to him.

Xia Ya's eyelids slightly closed, "You are the emperor, this is something you should decide, isn't it?"

Ekaterina's eyes flickered, "A person once asked me to save Peter III's life."

"Is this person important to you?"

"It's not important, but I have a lot of respect for him."

Ekaterina didn't continue to speak, but just got up from her seat.

"You still have time, right?"

"Before sunset today, I'm going back to have dinner." Xia Ya said.

"Then follow me to another place," she said.

She got up from her seat and walked out of the room, and Xia Ya followed behind her.

She found an Orlov and said to him.

"Prepare the carriage, I'm going to the Schlisselburg fortress."

"Yes!"

Orlov nodded in response, and then retreated from here, waiting for Ekaterina to walk out of the palace, and there was a carriage parked at the door.

She got into the carriage with Shaar, and with the sound of the wheels, they gradually drove to the distance. After walking for about 10 minutes, they arrived at the Schlisselburg Fortress that she mentioned.

This is the Russian Bastille, where political prisoners were held, and was once occupied by revolutionaries during a revolutionary movement in another world.

There are many towers here, and there is only one suspension bridge connecting it, and many heavy artillery are placed on it, which fulfills its function as a fortress very well.

However, the soldiers here also declared that they had surrendered to Ekaterina. Under the leadership of the soldiers, they walked through the promenade, walked through the stairs, and entered a tower.

The environment here is very dark, and the eighteenth-century fortress structure can only support a few small windows, so the interior needs to be illuminated by torches.

"Have you heard of it, Ivan VI?" Ekaterina asked.

Xia raised his eyebrows, Ivan VI, for those who know the history of this country, he is also a celebrity.

He was the eldest son of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick. The mother of Ivan VI, Anna Leopoldovna, was the only granddaughter of Tsar Ivan V and the only niece of Empress Anna I of Russia.

Anna has lived almost her entire life in Russia, where her husband has also made their home, and the couple hope that either themselves or their descendants will succeed to the throne after the empress's death.

On October 1740, 10, Ivan VI's great-aunt Anna I adopted him on her deathbed and declared Ivan VI her heir.

Anna also announced that her longtime lover and advisor, Ernst Johann von Byron, Duke of Kuran, would serve as regent until Ivan VI came of age.

In fact, to ensure her lover's power and influence after her death, the dying empress chose the infant Ivan as heir over Ivan VI's grown mother.

On October 1740, 10, Anna I died.The next day, baby Ivan was proclaimed Emperor Ivan VI, dictator of all Russia, and Byron became regent.

However, neither Ivan VI's parents nor most of the nobles accepted Byron's power.As Anna I's lover, Byron made numerous enemies and was extremely unpopular in the court.Within three weeks, Byron fell under the orchestration of Ivan VI's father.

At midnight on November 1740th/11th, 8, Byron was captured in his bedroom by the imperial army led by the chief of the palace imperial army, Minih, and was exiled to Siberia.

Ivan VI's mother, Anna Leopoldovna, was elected as the new regent, but the real power was still in the hands of Minich and other generals of the imperial army.

Shortly after Minih came to power, he was overthrown by Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Ivanovich Osterman, and Minih was dismissed from office and demoted to a commoner.Osterman as the new regent.

Ivan VI's reign and his mother's regency lasted only 13 months, and on December 1741, 12, Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne in a coup.

This Elizabeth was the previous emperor of Peter III.

Since then, Ivan VI began his extremely long imprisonment, that is to say, he was imprisoned in infancy, not allowed to receive education, not allowed to have freedom.

In all of Russia, he should be the most miserable person.

Shaar looked at the iron door at the end of the corridor. A guard in military uniform opened the iron door. Behind the iron door was a metal square iron railing. Inside was a round cell with a large space. Big, only a dozen square meters, dark and dim.

There was only one small window that let in light, and the outside sunlight swayed in through that window, just hitting Ekaterina's face standing at the door.

In that cell, there was a man standing, wearing a dirty petticoat, with hair scattered randomly on his shoulders, glued together because it hadn't been washed for a long time.

There was a little bird resting on his hand, and he seemed to be whispering something to the bird.

Then, he carefully placed the bird on the narrow window and let it fly away by itself.

Then he turned his head slowly, because he hadn't been out of the cell for many years, his face was morbidly pale, his cheekbones and eye sockets were sunken, and he was so thin that he didn't look like a human.

Seeing Ekaterina, he walked over slowly, grabbed the iron railing, and looked up and down at Ekaterina with wide-open eyes. There was no hostility in his eyes, and there was only a little ignorant curiosity in his eyes.

He opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't say it.

After a while, he stammered slightly.

"glad to meet you.

Your eyes are very.beautiful.

I am the emperor, Ivan VI. "

Ekaterina's eyes rippled a little, but she didn't speak.

Her body was slightly sideways, and she didn't look directly at him, but just looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"What's your name?" said Ivan VI.

"Ekaterina," said Ekaterina.

"Ekaterina," he repeated.

"They say you can't talk," said Ekaterina.

"No, I can talk," he said, "It's just...it's been a long time since I've had anyone talk to me, so I'm glad you could come.
I often read the Bible alone. "

It seemed that it was because the sunlight projected outside the window was a bit dazzling, so Ekaterina slightly shook her eyelids.

"Who gave you the Bible?"

"My grandma."

His palm was slightly open, and there was a puppet in his hand. He showed it to Ekaterina as if showing off to his friends.

"It was given to me by a good magician
His name is Peter and I pray for him every day.

He promised to release me. "

Ekaterina lowered her eyes, "I haven't prepared anything for you."

"I'm glad to see you." He smiled, "I will pray for you every day too."

After a pause, he asked curiously, "Will you let me go?"

Ekaterina raised her eyes and continued to look at him, staring at him for a long time, looking at his empty and innocent eyes, and his pale cheeks that were sickly due to years of captivity.

After a moment, she whispered.

"Will do."

With that said, she turned around and left, and the soldier behind her also closed the iron gate.

Ekaterina breathed out lightly, raised her hand and touched her arm, trembling.

asked the soldier on one side.

"Your Majesty, do you know that the late emperor once ordered that if someone robs the prison, the secret prisoner will be executed. Is the order valid?"

She was silent for a long time, glanced at Xia who was standing on one side, and said.

"The order works."

With that said, she turned and left the room, and a more senior officer stood by the door and asked.

"Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions for secret prisoners?"

Catherine turned sideways to him.

"It's good that you have a clear conscience."

"Please give clear instructions," he said.

"You are a heroic and noble man."

She raised her eyes to look at the officer, there was no hesitation in those blue eyes.

"You will make the right choice."

The officer's eyes flickered, then he nodded and said, "I understand."

Ekaterina continued to take Shaar out, and they boarded the carriage again, but the carriage did not leave immediately.

After a while, Xia Ya opened the curtain, and through the window of the carriage, Xia Ya saw a group of people in different military uniforms entering the fort with guns in hand.

"Those, who are they?" Char asked curiously.

"Prison robber."

Yekaterina said without turning her head that she was quietly watching the scenery outside the window at the moment.

Shaar's eyes flashed with light, but he didn't speak.

After a while, Ekaterina whispered.

"Do you feel sorry for him?"

"A tragedy created by fate." Shaar said, "He didn't do anything, he wasn't the one who usurped the throne, he was just a puppet pushed to the throne, a tool for his mother to rule the empire, but the pain in the future, But it’s all his responsibility.”

"Queen Elizabeth chose to imprison a man for 20 years for her vow not to kill, and let him live a life that was worse than death.

It's not kind, and it's hypocritical. "

She raised her eyes to look at him, her blue eyes full of sharpness.

"He's the emperor.

As an emperor, one should have the dignity of an emperor. "

Shaar's gaze flickered, "I think you already have the answer to how to deal with Peter."

She leaned on the back of the carriage and continued to look out the window, with sparks dancing in her eyes.

Ivan VI was the emperor, and even though he never really held power for a day, he was still the orthodox emperor who had succeeded.

Except for Peter III, it is impossible for any emperor with normal IQ to release him.

The political risks brought about are extremely huge, not to mention, Ekaterina was usurped from the throne.

Ending his pain and tragic fate was already the greatest dignity she could give him.

This is the kindness that belongs to Ekaterina.

She had already made up her mind to ascend to the throne with blood on her feet.

(End of this chapter)