My Italy

Chapter 6 Funeral

The death of Umberto I shocked the whole world. The result made many people feel incredible that such a king was actually killed by an assassin without a heel.

But compared to other countries, Italy is more sad. Many people did not expect that their monarch would disappear like this. So when King Umberto was sent out from the hospital, people stood on the street to see him off, and the scene was solemn and solemn.

As for the royal family, they were all sitting in the carriage with red eyes. It would take them some time to adapt to this result.

As for the Prime Minister, he is busy preparing for what comes next. There are a lot of things waiting for him to deal with after the death of the king, not to mention the funeral. Next, the new king will ascend the throne, and there are more important divisions of power, which will keep him busy.

In addition, the next king has been determined, and as the eldest son, Carlo is the best choice. Because on his hospital bed, Umberto had already determined that it was impossible to be overturned and re-elected in front of so many people.

But it is a pity that even if Carlo becomes king, he will have very little power, because his power is basically divided between the Prime Minister and the Regent, Uncle Amedeo, and he does not put his mind on it.

Now he plans to finish his father's funeral first and wait for the rest.

It was quick to get to Palermo from Rome and quick to get back.

But this time it’s no longer a cargo ship. The Prime Minister has brought in the Gordon, the best cruise ship in Italy. The cruise ship, which can carry 300 passengers, required him to rush from Venice to Palermo while he was still in Rome.

The idea at that time was to send the assassinated Umberto I from Palermo to Rome where the medical facilities were better, but now the body can only be sent to Rome.

Fortunately, Prime Minister Cairoli took this into consideration and already issued a message asking the officials who stayed behind to prepare for the funeral, and they now need to return to Rome quickly.

On April 25, the Gordon, carrying everyone and the king's body, arrived in Rome. There were also a large number of people on both sides of the road silently seeing off His Majesty.

On April 27, the gate of the Quirinale Palace opened, and the guards in simple clothes walked at the front with various weapons. Then the chrysanthemum-decorated carriage carrying Umberto's body drove away slowly, driven by the charioteer Feng. come out.

Following behind were the family members, Queen Margarita and Carlo, who were dressed in mourning clothes. In addition, uncle Amedeo also took his family for a stroll, followed by government officials and representatives from various countries. An expression of grief appeared on everyone's face. It made the atmosphere very depressing.

As the funeral procession set off, the people on the street couldn't help but follow suit, and this made the procession grow larger and larger. In this regard, Sabot, who is the mayor of Rome, ordered the police to maintain order and avoid any unexpected incidents.

The long procession led all the way to the Pantheon, a temple built by Octavian's son-in-law and now a royal cemetery, where Victor Emmanuel II, who led the unification of Italy, is also buried.

Due to the size of the Pantheon, the people who followed were kept out. Four tall guards carried the coffin containing the body of Umberto I to the grave that had been dug.

Such a scene made the queen cry again, which in turn caused other people to cry, and for a time the cemetery was filled with cries.

However, no amount of grief could prevent Umberto's coffin from being buried. When the priest came forward to talk about the king's life, Carlo breathed a long sigh of relief.

It wasn't that he wasn't sad about Umberto's death, but because he was an adult at heart, he had already passed the sadness. He could tell that except for the royal family, no one else present was in such a sad mood. At least most of it is just an act. For example, the fat man over there looks like his parents are dead. It's so fake.

Where is that guy over there...

Hey, Carlo saw a gray-haired old man and felt like he had seen him before. I have definitely seen him, but where did I see him?

Carlo couldn't care less about the old man now, because the people attending the funeral had already come to greet them as family members.

"My condolences, Queen."

"Um."

The queen, who was still crying, replied casually.

"This is Ambassador Wells from England."

The official who was in charge of the introduction whispered the name of the visitor to Carlo. Why was there a diplomat to introduce him? Because as the next king, Carlo also needed to accept greetings from guests. In order to avoid embarrassment because he did not know the person, the Prime Minister specially arranged for a young official to remind him.

"Please have your condolences, Your Highness Carlo."

"Thank you, Ambassador Wells."

"This is Mr. Danny Dyer, the French Ambassador."

"Please have your condolences, Your Highness Carlo."

"Thank you, Ambassador Dale."

Carlo felt like he was constantly saying thank you to the guests, which made him feel like a puppet being manipulated by others.

Then the white-haired old man also appeared in front of him.

"This is the distinguished Mr. Giuseppe Garibaldi."

When introducing the old man, the young official used honorific words, which shows the official's respect for the old man.

It turned out to be him, no wonder I felt familiar.

However, when Carlo heard the introduction, he felt more of a sigh of familiarity. The name of Garibaldi has long been well known. It can be said that without him, the unification of Italy would have been much more difficult and would have taken much longer.

If you want to choose a selfless person in the unification war, then no one can be convincing except Garibaldi. This is a heroic figure with great charm, but also a heroic tragedy. The reason is very simple: he is a republican.

Without letting Carlo think too much, Garibaldi walked up to him.

"My condolences, Your Highness."

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Garibaldi. It is an honor to meet you, a hero who helped unify Italy."

Faced with Carlo's unconventional answer, Garibaldi couldn't help but pause for a moment.

"It seems that His Highness thinks I am a hero?"

"I think so."

"You know I'm a republican."

"But it still doesn't change the fact that you are a hero."

The brief conversation ended like this.

Carlo continued talking to the others.

But in Garibaldi's heart, the name Carlo remained.

Regarding this episode at the funeral, no one knew what Carlo thought of Garibaldi except the young official behind him.

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