From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"His Majesty the King has arrived!"

As the official's loud announcement resounded in the throne room, the participants immediately stopped talking to each other, stood up straight and looked towards the door solemnly.

Led by four mighty and solemn guards, Louis XV slowly walked into everyone's sight.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince followed closely to his right, holding the king's arm worriedly.

Everyone's eyes instantly focused on Louis XV's face, and they all wanted to know immediately whether the rumored news that His Majesty the King was seriously ill was true.

And His Majesty the King's face, which revealed his old age and unconcealed haggardness, had already proved to the courtiers that those rumors were not groundless.

There was almost no sparkle in Louis XV's eyes, and his cheeks were pale. It was not the bright white of lead powder applied for makeup, but as pale as a tuberculosis patient who could not see the color of blood.

There were shocking black circles around his eyes. It was obvious that His Majesty the King had hardly slept for even an hour continuously in the past two days.

Perhaps the king still had not recovered from the blow he suffered the day before, or perhaps it was the excruciating pain caused by neurosyphilis that kept him awake all night. It was more likely that it was a combination of both.

His Majesty the King's steps were very slow and frivolous. The distance from the gate to the throne on the steps was only more than fifty yards. However, with the support of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, it took him more than two minutes to sit on the ancient throne with difficulty. Stone throne.

Louis XV did not chat and say hello to the attendees on both sides as usual. He walked straight towards the throne, as if just moving his legs and feet forward was a task that required full concentration.

Looking at the haggard and tired look of His Majesty the King, the expressions of the participants suddenly became worried. No one could have imagined that His Majesty, who was rosy and calm at the banquet a few years ago, would change in less than two months. It looks like this.

If one throws away the supreme identity and status of Louis XV, I am afraid that anyone would think that the man leaning limply on the throne is just a dying old man.

Although Lawrence was not as shocked and heartbroken as ordinary people, his expression was extremely serious.

He could probably tell that Louis XV's syphilis had only recently developed to an advanced stage.

In other words, His Majesty the King's current appearance is already the healthiest moment in his remaining life. As time goes by, Louis XV's situation will only get worse.

With a complicated expression, Crown Prince Louis helped his grandfather to sit firmly on the throne, then stepped back to the right, facing the ministers obviously nervously.

"Ahem, ahem."

Without any pleasantries, Louis XV started with a few violent coughs, announcing the beginning of the royal meeting:

"Although most of you have come from Versailles. Ahem, you must have heard that there was a disaster in Paris."

Lawrence was not surprised when His Majesty the King directly mentioned the riots in Paris the day before yesterday, and stood calmly among the ministers.

Regarding this unprecedented riot, even if it was known that Louis XV did not want to pursue it to the end, His Majesty the King would inevitably need to express his position in such a public place.

At least everyone, especially the civilians outside, must not know that His Majesty the King has a calm attitude towards riots of this scale. This will only breed the determination of the citizens to further resist.

Therefore, for those ministers who need to be directly responsible for the riots, they are all frightened at this moment without exception.

After all, even if His Majesty the King does not want to thoroughly investigate everything that happened on the 19th, someone still needs to take responsibility for this treasonous rebellion.

"Yes, your wise majesty."

Mayor Lyle, the head of the Paris City Hall, stood in the middle corridor anxiously, bowing his head and responding.

Louis XV sighed, his eyelids drooped, his voice was very soft and tired:

"What happened that day? Why did it cause such trouble?"

Mayor Lyle lowered his head and spoke in a trembling voice:

"Returning to Your Majesty, according to what I know, the citizens of Paris seemed to be very dissatisfied with the Countess Du Barry because of some rumors about subsidies a few days ago, so they took to the streets to demonstrate, which led to what happened later."

"Rumors."

Louis XV nodded helplessly and said nothing more.

At this moment, a certain Duke in the front row of the throne room suddenly stood up and shouted:

"Your Majesty, I think this is too strange!"

Everyone looked intently and were surprised to find that the nobleman who stepped forward was the Duke of Aiguillon, the current leader of the Richelieu faction.

Duke Aiguillon in the center of the hall clenched his fists and looked directly at Lawrence and Justice Maupe in the crowd, making no secret of his hostility and suspicion.

Although Duke Richelieu had hinted to him that he would focus on the plan with Baron Bertula, the strong-tempered Duke Aiguillon did not want to let go of this opportunity.

He knew that all of this must be related to Lawrence Bonaparte. As long as he could catch the Corsican, he would have the sharpest blade in his hand:

"There are tens of millions of rumors in Paris. How come the ones about Madame Du Barry are so widely circulated? Your Majesty, it's hard for me to believe that there is no one behind this to add fuel to the flames. Moreover,"

Duke Aiguillon's voice was passionate and he spoke righteously:

"The rumors about Madame Du Barry are all secrets in the palace. People without a certain status have no access to that information. In my opinion, only those few people are likely to leak the information."

Lawrence frowned slightly, looked at Duke Aiguillon without flinching, and immediately analyzed the other person's thoughts in his heart:

"It is impossible that he did not guess the king's intention. In other words, it seems that the Duke is still unwilling to accept the death of Madame Du Barry. Does he want to use this occasion to force Louis XV to open an investigation?"

The naked gaze between the two people immediately became the focus of the throne room. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Duke of Aiguillon was directly accusing His Excellency Bonaparte.

Justice Maupp and Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe couldn't help but sweat. They both knew that the Duke of Aiguillon's accusation was completely correct, and His Excellency Bonaparte could not reveal any mistakes for Louis XV to initiate an investigation.

Faced with this sudden accusation, Lawrence just snorted and smiled calmly:

"Your Excellency, the Duke, is staring at me like this, is he doubting me?"

Duke Aiguillon also sneered:

"I don't just doubt you, Monsignor Bonaparte, I doubt you and everyone around you."

"Everyone around me? Then let me sort it out for you."

Lawrence's smile became even brighter. In front of everyone, he turned to look at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on the right side of the throne, and said slowly:

"First of all, my lord, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince"

"you!"

Duke Aiguillon's face suddenly turned green, and he choked and was speechless for a long time.

Everyone present knows that the person who benefited the most from the riot the day before yesterday was the timid and nervous Crown Prince. His decision-making and performance on the 19th won him the support of the people. general support.

If there is anyone who has the most motivation to release the news about Madame Du Barry's misappropriation of funds, from the perspective of subsequent benefits, it is really possible that it is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

But even a fool knows that no one will investigate His Royal Highness, not even Louis XV.

Even if His Majesty the King did know that Crown Prince Louis disliked Madame Du Barry and was aware of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's strange behavior on the 19th, he would not pursue any investigation into it. After all, Madame Du Barry's death was already a fact. If he really wanted to pursue it, his grandson would only be plunged into scandal and turmoil.

As a great English official once said - Never launch an investigation if the results cannot be known in advance.

Louis XV knew very well that if he really carried out an investigation into Lawrence as the Duke of Aiguillon said, if it was finally proven that his grandson was involved in Madame Du Barry's death, it would be a complete attack on him. own feet.

Therefore, Louis XV once again looked at the Duke of Aiguillon with a hint of displeasure in his eyes. He was very dissatisfied with his behavior of disregarding the reputation of His Royal Highness, and waved his hand to interrupt:

"That's enough, Emmanuel Armand, I know you have a rift with Laurence, but he is Auguste's first attendant who I personally appointed. His character is trustworthy, and there is no need for this uselessness. I'm suspicious, Mr. Lyle, please continue."

Duke Aiguillon glared at Lawrence reluctantly, but did not return to his original position. Instead, he continued to stand in the middle of the corridor, waiting for Mayor Lyle to continue.

Mayor Lyle wiped away his cold sweat. Even as the mayor of Paris, he had not been qualified to speak at the Royal Council for a long time. He continued nervously:

"Yes, Your Majesty, the day before yesterday morning, the mob gathered on the Ile de la Cité to protest. But the strange thing is that neither the police force nor the city defense force made any response to the mob at that time. Instead, they stood by and watched. It further fueled the arrogance of the mob.”

A flash of light flashed in Louis XV's eyes. This was also a problem that troubled him very much, so he frowned and looked at the police lieutenant general and Jacques Philippe:

"Standing idly by? Why didn't you suppress the riot in time? Even after the mob moved to the Tuileries Palace, didn't you react until then?"

As early as the morning before yesterday, when Louis XV wanted to use the police force and the city defense force to deal with the riot without getting dirty, he had this question. Why did the two major forces not arrive at the Tuileries Palace for a long time, and why did they not arrive at the Tuileries Palace? Suppress the signs of riots as soon as they arise.

The police lieutenant general was the first to stand out of the queue. This was a trembling old marquis, who had little to do with the image of a mighty soldier:

"Your Majesty, according to the command system of the police force at that time, the person responsible for emergency command was Colonel Albert Giovanni. He misjudged the situation and believed that the police force alone was not enough to calm the situation, but would instead aggravate the situation. This That’s why he didn’t react.”

"Huh, misjudged the situation? Is it that simple?"

Duke Aiguillon suddenly interrupted, still staring at Lawrence suspiciously:

"I have been in contact with that Colonel Giovanni. He is an outstanding soldier and has served in the police force for more than ten years. How could he make such a low-level mistake? I think, huh, someone is deliberately trying to escalate the situation."

Once again faced with naked questioning, Lawrence did not wait for Louis XV to stop him, and sighed in a pretense of helplessness:

"Your Majesty, Duke, do you want to say that Colonel Giovanni deliberately chose to stand by and watch because of someone's instructions?"

Duke Aiguillon narrowed his eyes slightly and said coldly: "Judging from his abnormal behavior, this is the most likely possibility."

"But have you forgotten one thing? If someone is suspected of manipulating Colonel Giovanni, then the biggest suspect is yourself, Your Majesty the Duke."

Amidst the astonished expressions of Duke Aiguillon and the ministers, Lawrence chuckled and explained:

"As early as a year ago, it was this Colonel Giovanni who, together with your nephew, Count Falcone, broke into our Corsican Embassy; he later even took away the investment property of our Corsican Silver Company. It was smashed and confiscated, and it seems that the reason why Colonel Giovanni raided that property was also for you, Your Majesty.”

Duke Aiguillon's pupils shrank and all the muscles in his body tensed.

Lawrence smiled and sighed to himself:

"The colonel even made me sit in a prison car in humiliation. Considering the conflict between you and me, is this also what you ordered Colonel Giovanni to humiliate me? Your Majesty, and everyone, these things are terrible. The evidence is verifiable; Your Majesty, do you think that Colonel Giovanni is a close confidant of yours? If someone really secretly controlled the police force on the morning of the 19th, you should be the most suspected, right?"

"What are you talking about?!"

The Duke of Aiguillon tried his best to argue, but found that any defense seemed feeble at this moment.

The relationship between Colonel Giovanni and the Richelieu family is no secret. After a little investigation, he found out that this colonel was promoted by the Richelieu family, so it is conceivable that he must be a member of the Duke of Aiguillon.

Even Louis XV's expression became a lot weird after listening to Lawrence's self-narration. He secretly wondered if it was really the Duke of Aiguillon who allowed the riot to occur, but he was obviously a major victim of the riot. right.

"Okay! Armand, stop making these childish accusations against Lawrence. I'm tired of it."

Louis XV, who had a splitting headache, didn't want to do any more complicated thinking, so he directly drove the Duke of Aiguillon back to the team and ordered at the same time:

"Anyway, that incompetent Alberto Giovanni is the main culprit. If he had dealt with the initial mob in time, none of this would have happened. Come here, give me an order and we will kill him immediately." Albert Giovanni is imprisoned to await punishment!”

Even if he decided not to pursue the violence in Paris to the end, Louis XV still wanted to punish a group of those directly responsible. This was an explanation to the outside world and other courtiers, and it was also the most basic principle for a ruler to distinguish rewards and punishments. Colonel Giovanni was undoubtedly a candidate.

However, before the herald could take two steps, the police lieutenant general suddenly interrupted:

"Your Majesty, please allow me to say one more thing. Colonel Giovanni has committed suicide; the night before yesterday, he sent a suicide note, saying that it was his dereliction of duty that caused the palace to be desecrated, and he was willing to die to apologize. He should have put a He set fire to it and burned himself to death. We found a completely charred corpse in the ruins. Although the face could not be identified, it must be Colonel Giovanni. "

Louis XV frowned and looked dazed for a long time. He sighed and shook his head:

"That's all, he is still a self-aware man, so don't hold him accountable. Treat him as if he died in battle and bury him."

Duke Aiguillon, who heard the news of Giovanni's death, turned to look at Lawrence in disbelief, his face filled with endless doubts.

Lawrence calmly took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time, thinking silently:

"At this moment, the colonel and his family should have boarded the ship in Calais port."