Act 1 of Shakespeare's King Lear.

After asking his eldest and second daughters, King Lear asked his youngest daughter which piece of fertile soil in the beautiful kingdom she wanted.

Claudia said, "Nothing, my king."

King Lear asked in surprise, "Nothing?"

Claudia answered firmly, "Nothing."

King Lear then said, "Nothing will come of nothing, speak again."

King Lear's words may have come from a medieval proverb: nihil de nihilo.

If "existence" exists, it is either eternal (aidion) or generated (geneton).

If "existence" is eternal, it will not have any beginning, because only generated things have a beginning, and eternal things that are not generated have no beginning.

A thing cannot exist and not exist at the same time, that is, everything that exists will come from something, because things are created from something and nothing, how to understand the creation of everything from nothing?

Just like time, if it is created, then it has a beginning, and if it is eternal, then it is infinite.

To use another metaphor, in terms of the natural attributes of marriage, the union of the body and soul of a man and a woman is marriage, and an invalid marriage is a marriage that does not exist, has never existed, and does not require any procedures to dissolve it.

Just like Bessieres and the actress, Georgiana thought they were just "in love", without secular procedures and religious weddings, even if they lived together as husband and wife, they could be declared invalid because Bessieres was already married.

Even if they registered their marriage at the municipal council, it could be invalid for some reasons. If they had children, because they were invalid marriages, their children would be considered illegitimate children.

Several marriages of Henry VIII were ruled invalid by the Pope, resulting in Mary I and Elizabeth I becoming illegitimate daughters.

Although the children were innocent, because the parents violated the regulations, the marriage was declared invalid and the legal rights of the children would be deprived.

The marriage of Countess Ciconiara and Count Veronese was declared invalid by Venice for another reason.

In the feudal system, there is a personal dependency relationship. In the Lombard custom, the squire knights were brought to the new home like dowries to be driven by other family members. Sometimes the vassal was the same, but most of the vassal had fiefs, and Count Veronese was just a painter.

The Countess of Ciconiara's family was the steward of the Visconti, not even a vassal.

In theory, the vassal should obey the feudal lord. However, if the vassal's land is more vast than the feudal lord, that is another matter.

"Commitment" is a person placing himself under the authority of another person.

For example, if a daughter wants to marry a young man, she notifies her father that the father does not like the young man and wants to marry her to a target he finds satisfactory. The daughter obeys her father's arrangement and "commits" to marry someone she does not like.

For people with lower social status, commitment can quickly obtain many things, such as titles, fiefs, etc.

Even though the Countess and Count Veronese met at the Venice Carnival and had no relationship with their respective masters, the Venetian authorities still considered the marriage invalid.

There is no big difference between a person wearing a mask at the carnival and a person wearing a white dress and black coat and dancing the waltz at a Parisian social ball, because neither party knows who the other is.

Maybe the elegant and charming lady at the last moment has to mop the floor when she goes home, and the gentleman lives in the basement.

They fell hopelessly in love, and when they were about to get married, they found that neither of them had any property.

For love, you don’t want anything?

Nothing will come of nothing.

What was the beginning of your love for the other person?

Of course, asking this question is very similar to Mr. Darcy’s aunt, who ran to Elizabeth’s house early in the morning to question her.

The Bennet family is not completely penniless, but it is much worse than Mr. Darcy’s family.

Oh, no, the Bennet family is all daughters. After Mr. Bennet’s death, his inheritance will be inherited by a nephew, and everything Elizabeth has will become Charlotte’s.

Georgiana would not talk to Madame Talion about "existence". In the carriage, she remembered that she had lived with Madame Talion for a few days and they had "brunch" together.

Madame Talion lived a completely reversed life. She gave Georgiana the impression of a "Parisian woman" who loved to play and attend parties. She even took Georgiana to social events in Paris. If Georgiana had not been scared away by the audience's gaze in the opera house, everyone would not watch the opera, but would look at her appearance.

When Josephine was abused by her ex-husband, she hid in the monastery, and Madame Talion was also in the monastery. Later, Napoleon forbade Josephine to contact Madame Talion, so she faded out of the social circle.

The life of the "Queen of France" is different from that of the "Princess", so when Georgiana saw Paulina and Bertin together, she was not surprised at all.

Before leaving, Georgiana was still complaining that Paulina brought too many clothes, and there was a whole box of shawls. Now looking at the situation in front of her, she realized that it was fortunate that Paulina brought so many Paris fashions, which were just right for giving away.

The ladies of Milan adjusted the newly received clothes with the help of female tailors. Most women in this era were not like the women in Bonaparte's family. They dared to undress in front of male tailors, so there was a clear boundary between women's clothing and men's clothing, and there was an unwritten rule similar to the guild.

The businesswomen monopolized the entire fashion industry chain, from purchasing raw materials, organizing production, decoration and beautification, to sales and after-sales, including shawls, headscarves, etc., and the decoration of dining tables, apartments, etc. belonged to the business scope of the guilds monopolized by men.

But there are overlaps in some areas, such as the decorative ribbons on the sabers. Bertin had previously obtained the privilege from the king to organize sales.

After Napoleon arrived in Milan, the first thing he did was to change the clothes of the troops, changing those beggar clothes into gorgeous uniforms, each of which was worth a lot of money.

Although he took away 20 million francs in donations, he also spent a lot in Milan. In short, Milan's clothing industry was boosted and many people benefited from it.

There were so many of these ladies that the ordinary small living room could not accommodate them at all. They had to go to the "Oriental Gate Castle" to entertain them. It was also the first time that Georgiana stepped into Bonaparte's residence in Milan.

She knew that Josephine was the hostess here, but... Paulina treated this place as her own home, and she decorated the ballroom as the backstage of a fashion show.

At this time, someone noticed that Georgiana appeared and reminded Paulina that Paulina was looking in the mirror.

The mirror that Paulina looked in was just an ordinary dressing mirror. Although its workmanship was very similar to an antique, when the mirrors in Venice were still priceless, it was not as magical as the Mirror of Erised. It could reflect many things, but only when the person looking in the mirror felt very happy could he see himself in the mirror.

At least in this place, there was no need to worry about someone suddenly jumping out and telling Paulina that she had a pair of donkey ears, and everyone was praising her beauty.

"Are you going to keep watching over there? Come here!" Polina said to the mirror.

Georgina played with the necklace around her neck, which was the Eye of Horus made of peridot.

"Who cares?" She muttered, and walked towards the most beautiful woman in Europe under the curious gaze.