Joseph Really Was Terrifying

A few days later, it would be the "ten-day holiday." Since the French Republic adopted the Republican Calendar, this rest system has aligned with the ancient customs of the Eastern Great Eater Nation. In the Eastern Great Eater Nation, the government had one day off every ten days, hence the line in the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng, "Ten-day holiday, friends gather like clouds." In the Western Great Eater Nation, following the customs derived from the Jews, there was originally one day off every seven days. However, after adopting the Republican Calendar, to show its difference from Christianity, the rest system was changed to one day off every ten days.

This, of course, reduced rest time in practice, which is why Joseph never liked this bizarre system.

Today is Joseph's second ten-day holiday since arriving in Toulon. He spent his previous holiday working overtime because he was too busy, but now that Joseph has some free time, and for some other reasons, he decided that he must take this holiday to rest and relax with his family. To that end, he made sure to go to bed early and get up early a few days in advance to make sure he was well-rested.

Early that morning, before sunrise, Joseph boarded a carriage and, escorted by cavalry, left the "Naval Research Institute" towards Marseille. Toulon and Marseille were quite a distance apart; in fact, the best way to travel would be to depart in the evening, sleep in the carriage overnight, and arrive in Marseille by dawn. However, considering safety, Joseph felt it was better to travel during the day; after all, half a day was enough time to enjoy a good time with his brothers.

After rushing for a while, Joseph finally arrived in Marseille at lunchtime and made it in time for his family to eat.

The whole family warmly welcomed Joseph's arrival. After lunch, Joseph said to everyone, "Well, as you know, I only have one day off, so I have to rush back tonight. Damn it, I've wasted most of my time on the road."

Everyone agreed that Joseph's arrangement was far too hasty. However, Joseph also noticed that Lucien's eyes gleamed with a hint of smugness.

"Oh, Lucien, when I came last time, I wanted to see how your homework was going. Unfortunately, I spent too much time with Mr. Fouché, and you were already asleep when I got back. I didn't want to wake you, and I left in a hurry early the next morning, so I didn't have time to grade your homework. Hmm, is there anything you don't understand?"

"No, Napoleon explained everything to me that I didn't understand," Lucien said.

"Alright, let's go to the study together. Bring me your workbook." Joseph stood up.

"Joseph, if Lucien doesn't do a good enough job, don't get too angry or beat Lucien up," Letizia suddenly interjected.

"Mom, am I such a rude person? Lucien, tell me, when have I ever hit you? I'm not a violent maniac like Napoleon," Joseph replied dismissively.

"Joseph doesn't usually hit people, Mom," Lucien replied obediently, while thinking to himself, "But he has many more tricks that are worse than hitting people..."

So Lucien took Joseph to the study, and Napoleon followed, whether to be ready to support his brother or to see Lucien make a fool of himself is unclear.

Since Napoleon had gone along, Pauline and the others followed as well.

Joseph sat down at his desk and looked through Lucien's homework. Lucien had done well this time, doing quite a few problems. Lucien wouldn't have been this obedient before.

"He's definitely acting out of guilt!" Joseph thought to himself, but a kind smile appeared on his face. "Lucien, you did well this time; your self-discipline has improved a lot. Hmm, when you solved this problem, the knowledge you used was something I hadn't had a chance to explain to you yet. Did Carnot explain it to you before?"

"No, no," Lucien said, "Napoleon taught me."

"Napoleon, you did very well too!" Joseph said with a smile. "I know you're very busy these days, just like me, working non-stop every day. Under such circumstances, you still managed to find time to teach Lucien; that's impressive, you're starting to act like an older brother. Explaining this method to Lucien must have been very difficult for you. Lucien isn't as efficient at learning mathematics as you are."

Napoleon nodded in agreement, saying, "Exactly, exactly, it's just a matter of limits. I've been explaining it to him for days and he still doesn't understand, while Pauline, who was listening nearby, understood it all..."

Joseph nodded and continued, "But Napoleon, there's actually a simpler solution to this problem; you don't need to do it this way. Your method is too cumbersome and complicated. You see, we only need to... understand?"

"Yes, yes, I understand!" Napoleon nodded repeatedly, while Lucien was completely confused.

"Alright, that's enough checking the homework," Joseph said.

Lucien immediately smiled with relief and quickly put away his homework.

"Lucien, your homework is quite good," Joseph said. "You can relax a bit. When you have time, it would be good to go sightseeing nearby. However, I heard from Mr. Fouché that the suppression of the counter-revolutionaries in Couthon was unsuccessful; although many were killed, many rebels escaped. Napoleon defeated them, and even the place we live in now used to be their estate. They must hate our family to the core, so be careful when you go out, and make sure you go to a safe place. Hmm, there's a place near Toulon that's beautiful and very safe. It's Fort Mulgrave ..."

Lucien and Pauline's expressions both changed slightly.

"When I came to France with Napoleon, we took a boat trip around that area, and the scenery was really beautiful. It's also where Napoleon achieved his decisive victory. That Napoleon loved to show off; he probably took you there, right?" Joseph continued casually, as if he were genuinely recommending a great tourist destination.

"No, no..." Lucien quickly said, "I've been doing math all day, I don't have time to go."

"So, Napoleon, you've been there before, when will you take him there for a good time?" Joseph laughed. "Oh, and Pauline, you could also take him to raise the flag, after all, you're the Toulon Saintess."

"Ah..." Lucien plopped down on the ground, and Pauline was also terrified. However, Pauline had only heard about Joseph's terror from others and didn't have much personal experience, so although she was startled, she didn't lose her composure like Lucien.

"Joseph ...I..." Pauline said.

"Pauline, to be honest, you did nothing wrong in this matter; you were a victim too," Joseph said. "It was all that unreliable bastard Lucien's nonsense that brought you to the battlefield! Frankly, your performance on the battlefield was a hundred times better than that idiot Lucien! There's nothing wrong with becoming the Toulon Saintess, so I don't intend to blame you for this."

"I knew it, Joseph, you're the best! You've always been the best to me," Pauline quickly said.

"But I'm very sad," Joseph said. "Pauline, I've always been good to you, haven't I? Why did you help those two bastards lie to me?"

"They...they scared me," Pauline burst into tears. It would be incredibly stupid not to seize the opportunity to clear her name. "They threatened me, saying that if I found out, they would punish me by making me do endless math problems! Then Lucien told me that if I didn't help him, I would drown him in math problems. And then..."

"Lucien, you're really something!" Joseph said through gritted teeth. "You've even threatened your own sisters! No way, I'm going to teach you a lesson today..."

Joseph stood up, as if looking for a riding whip or some other substitute.

"Joseph, you should spare Lucien. Actually, it can't all be blamed on him. If it weren't for that storm, if it weren't for that fog..." Pauline added.

"Lucien, look at Pauline! You threatened her, and she's still pleading for you. Aren't you ashamed? It's infuriating! Lucien, making mistakes isn't terrible; we're not the Pope, how can we not make mistakes? But to try to cover up your mistakes, even to deceive your own brother—tell me, is that right? You even threatened your own sister... It's infuriating! You... you tell me, how should I punish you!"

"I... I'll do another set of practice questions..." Lucien said quickly.

"No, that's not enough!" Joseph said. "First, you need to write a self-criticism."

"Okay, okay, I'll write it right away," Lucien said quickly.

"This self-criticism must touch your soul. It must find the root cause of your mistake, it must be a revolution erupting from the depths of your soul, it must be sincere, it must be... no less than five thousand words, no spelling errors, no misuse of words, no rambling, no repetitive word count padding, no... hand this self-criticism to me before dinner tonight! Understand?"

"..." Lucien foamed at the mouth and almost fainted.

When Joseph uttered the words "Toulon Saintess," Napoleon knew something terrible was about to happen. Taking advantage of Joseph's tirade against Lucien, he crouched down and stealthily made his way to the door, intending to slip away quickly and inspect the troops until Joseph returned to Toulon. However, just as he had stepped out of the study, he heard Joseph say, "Napoleon, where are you going?"