Getting ready for a marriage meeting!

"It just so happens that the Crown Prince is here. You can carefully refine the painting according to his instructions..." Queen Mary smiled and gestured to the painter, Madam Lebrun, then had a maid bring a chair and, without saying a word, placed Joseph on it.

Seeing this, Brienne cast a helpless glance at Joseph, took the Potato promotion plan signed by the Queen, and left.

Madam Lebrun professionally directed her assistants to set up the painting equipment, squinted at the sunlight, adjusted the angle, and began to revise the painting "The Child of Divine Grace".

Joseph's plans also required an artist, so as the Queen requested, he struck a prayerful pose and asked Madam Lebrun, "Could you paint a version of ' The Last Supper,' like Leonardo da Vinci's?"

Madam Lebrun ran her fingers over the paint on the painting and nodded without hesitation. "Your Highness, of course. In fact, any student at the Paris Academy of Arts has copied this painting hundreds of times."

Joseph smiled and said, "Could you make some changes to the image?"

"Oh, please resume your previous expression, Your Highness." Madam Lebrun frowned slightly, but nodded nonetheless. "Of course, would you like to make some alterations to the attire of a certain saint?"

Joseph quickly wiped the smile off his face and looked up sideways, "Ah, no, actually, I wanted to add two Potato to the food on the table."

"That's easy..." Lebrun started to say, then suddenly stopped, "You mean ' the Devil of the underworld'?"

She looked worried. "Your Highness, I'm afraid this requires the Church's permission, otherwise I fear it would constitute some kind of blasphemy. You know, that would subject me to Church judgment..."

Joseph tried to persuade her again, but Madam Lebrun still refused, saying that no painter would dare to paint something as controversial as Potato.

Joseph sighed inwardly, feeling helpless: Asking God to speak for you is indeed not an easy task...

Queen Mary, sitting a little further away, noticed her son frowning and shielding his eyes from the sun with his fan. She asked loudly, "My dear, what are you talking about?"

"Potato..."

The Queen smiled kindly, "Stop thinking about Potato. Archbishop Brienne will handle those matters."

"Oh, by the way, did you know? Princess Mary Mary of the Two Sicilies is coming to Paris for a trip next month."

"Ah, okay." Joseph was pondering how to persuade the Church, and taking the Queen's words as casual conversation, so he gave a perfunctory reply.

However, he forgot one thing: according to Royal House custom, such a clearly defined "tourism" usually means a blind date.

Queen Mary, seeing her son agree, assumed it was because he was satisfied with the princess. Feeling a little anxious, she quickly added, "Also, your cousin, Maria Clementine of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, will be visiting next month. What do you think?"

Currently, Archduke Joseph II of Archduke of Austria, who is also the Holy Roman Emperor and the brother of Queen Mary, has no children, and his wife has been deceased for many years. Therefore, his brother Grand Duke of Tuscany's Grand Duchess, Clementine, is essentially one of the highest-ranking young ladies in the Habsburg Family.

She was also Queen Mary's favorite daughter-in-law, her own niece, and the most considerate of them all.

Joseph, still not quite understanding, remained in his pose and said, "Welcome to Paris."

The Queen was delighted, but then somewhat surprised. Her son had no objections to either side; which side did he favor more?

Forget it, let's wait until we get here before we talk about it.

She was extremely concerned about her son's marriage, who was exceptionally outstanding, but precisely because of his excellence, she also had to consider his own opinions.

If it were Louis XVI of that era, she probably would have arranged a marriage proposal long ago.

Finally, noon arrived, Queen Mary took her son, whom she hadn't seen for several days, to an exceptionally lavish lunch.

Louis XVI was the last to enter the Dining Hall. Although he looked energetic, his heavy eye bags reminded everyone that His King was working day and night on weapons development.

Louis XVI first hugged his wife and son, then whispered mysteriously and excitedly in Joseph's ear, "Joseph, the first sample has been assembled. However, the airtightness still needs some improvement. I believe you'll see it launch next week!"

Joseph gave him an approving look and whispered, "You truly have the most skillful hands in France! Without you, who knows when this gun would have even appeared. Let's go to the Paris Police Academy next week for a test shot; they have a professional shooting range there."

The father and son exchanged a nod, secretly pleased with themselves. But when Queen Mary looked over, they both stopped smiling—if she found out that His King was secretly manufacturing dangerous firearms in the palace, she would scold him for days.

After finishing lunch, Joseph gave Louis XVI a thumbs-up, and before Madam Lebrun could arrive, he immediately called to Eman, and they fled Versailles Palace like lightning.

Inside the Carriage, Eman bowed and asked, "Your Highness, are you returning to the Industrial Planning Bureau or...?"

Joseph immediately said, "No, let's go to Notre-Dame de Paris!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

After several hours of bumpy travel, the convoy finally entered the city of Paris. Through the car window, Joseph saw Craftsman digging holes and building walls by the roadside; it was clearly a construction team building a public toilet.

He had already seen seven or eight public toilet construction sites along the way.

Joseph nodded to himself. Although Mono was a seasoned politician, he was quite capable of carrying out tasks if entrusted with them.

It's just unknown how much of the funds he embezzled.

Joseph pursed his lips, thinking to himself that he should remind him sometime that this was his own project and he shouldn't go too far.

After walking for a while, Joseph finally caught sight of Notre-Dame de Paris's towering spire atop a treetop. Soon, the two square twin towers, seemingly standing majestically between heaven and earth, also came into view.

This is the largest church in Paris and the residence of the Archbishop of Paris District.

Joseph came here to discuss with the Archbishop the revision of "The Last Supper".

Although Brienne was also Archbishop, his influence over the Church had diminished considerably since he took over as Minister of Finance. Moreover, as the Archbishop of Toulouse, he had even less say in the Paris District.

Upon learning that it was His Crown Prince, a group of priests in black robes, led by Archbishop Beaumont, immediately went to greet him at the church entrance.

Joseph warmly led Beaumont into Notre-Dame de Paris, saying with a friendly smile, "Archbishop Beaumont, I have something I'd like to ask for your help with."

(End of this chapter)