The bells of Marseille rang, the wedding feast was set
A hundred miles away, in the dark dungeon of If, a man carved the 4900th mark on the stone wall
That was the 4900th day and night he spent in prison
His face no longer held tears
His name was Edmond Dantès, he was the first mate of the ship Pharaon, and he should have married his beloved Mercedes
The day before the wedding, Fernand stood at the edge of the feast, his eyes dark, he loved Mercedes, but she only saw him as a neighbor
Maximilian came over, patted his shoulder, and they whispered in the corner
Not far away, the prosecutor Villefort was reading a letter, someone had secretly slipped it into Dantès' clothes, the letter had Napoleon's name on it
Villefort read it, folded it, put it in his pocket, and walked away as if nothing had happened
He knew what to do
As the wedding bells rang, police kicked open the door
Dantès was handcuffed in front of Mercedes, he turned to Fernand, Fernand looked away
He was pushed onto a carriage, drove to the port, drove to the black fortress on the sea
Mercedes screamed behind him, the sound grew fainter, until nothing could be heard anymore
The sound of the iron door locking was something Dantès would never forget
The prison cell was cold, there was no sunlight, rats ran wildly in the corner
He beat the iron door, he shouted for justice, no one paid attention
The guard said, "You will stay here until you die"
He didn't believe it
In the first month, he shouted every day
In the third month, he stopped
He began to scratch lines on the stone wall, one line every day, until the lines were full
When he reached the thousandth line, he slammed his head against the stone wall
He wanted to die, but his life was too tough, he couldn't die
The day the cell next door started moving, Dantès thought it was a rat
A stone came crumbling from the crack, then came a pair of hands full of mud, then came a face covered in wrinkles
This was the Abbé Faria, a scholar of the Roman Curia, imprisoned because he knew too many secrets
He had dug a tunnel for three years, but dug in the wrong direction, and drilled straight into Dantès' cell
Two people with nowhere to go, crashed into each other like this
From then on, light came into Dantès' darkness
The Abbé taught him to read, to do math, to speak many languages, to do chemistry, and to learn the law
Knowledge took root in his brain like seeds, he greedily absorbed every word
More importantly, the Abbé told him a secret, there was an island in the Mediterranean called Mount Cristo, buried under the island was an unimaginable treasure
The Abbé was old, and knew he wouldn't get out
He shoved a hand-drawn treasure map into Dantès' hands, said, "You go out for me, take that treasure, and live a good life"
That night, the Abbé died
The guard came to collect the body, put the Abbé's body in a sack
Dantès used the darkness to swap places
The sack was carried to the cliff, the soldiers counted, one, two, three, and threw him into the sea
The cold sea water pressed in from all sides
Dantès used his fingernails to tear the sack, and desperately swam upward, he broke through the water surface, gasped for air, he survived
He swam to Mount Cristo Island, dug according to the map, gold coins poured out from the cracks, jewels filled the entire cave
He knelt there, his hands trembling uncontrollably
Fourteen years, he had used his best youth to gain all this
When he stood up, he was no longer that ignorant sailor, he gave himself a new name: Count of Monte Cristo
He returned to Paris with amazing wealth, no one recognized him
Fernand was already a general, married Mercedes, lived in a mansion, and called the shots in the aristocratic circle
Maximilian became the richest banker in Paris, his name appeared on every business contract
Villefort became the prosecutor, sat in court every day deciding other people's fates
The three of them had climbed to the top of power, they had long forgotten that young sailor
The Count began to act
He found the military secret files Fernand had sold to the Greek king, and sent the evidence one by one to major newspapers
The next morning, all newspapers in Paris printed Fernand's name and crimes
Fernand sat in the parliament hall, surrounded by mocking looks and angry pointing
He went home, the door was open, Mercedes had already taken their son and left
He walked into the study, closed the door, and a gunshot followed
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