Crown Prince Guards

Something was wrong. Joseph frowned in thought. Had the gangs in the Saint-Antoine District gone mad these past few days?

He immediately instructed Alden, "From this moment on, everyone will extend their patrol hours. Make them work harder, and double their performance pay. Night patrols must be especially strengthened. Something else may very well happen."

"Yes!"

Alden placed a hand over his chest in salute. Just as he turned to leave, the official in charge of police personnel came running in, drenched in sweat.

"Your Highness, suddenly, a large—a large number of Police Officers have requested leave... There must be nearly a hundred of them."

"Nearly a hundred?!" Alden froze. The Saint-Antoine District police force, including its main officers and miscellaneous staff, numbered only a little over four hundred. That meant a quarter of them had taken leave.

"Yes. Some said they were sick, others said something had happened at home."

Joseph took the leave request list and skimmed through it. They were all from the old police force, with logistics personnel making up the bulk of them, along with more than ten detectives.

And the one leading the leave requests was Bonneau, the police station's second-in-command!

Joseph narrowed his eyes. Violent crimes were breaking out one after another over there. He had just said they needed a full mobilization to maintain public security, and now there was a mass request for leave here?

How could there be such a coincidence? There had to be something fishy going on!

Alden said anxiously, "Your Highness, we need manpower right now. They—"

Joseph turned and handed the leave list to his attendant, saying coldly, "Eman, personally take doctors to verify them one by one. Anyone whose circumstances do not match their stated reason for leave will be dismissed immediately!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Trying to dig a pit for me? Joseph gave a cold smile. It would save quite a bit in wages, at least. Just a hundred or so people—did they think that would leave me helpless?

He first ordered Alden, Magoney, and the other Public Security Inspectors to lead teams out to maintain order. Then he gestured to the captain of the Crown Prince Guards, who had been standing five steps away.

"Viscount Kex, how many Guards do I have here?"

The latter answered without hesitation, "One hundred and five, Your Highness."

On the surface, only two or three Guards followed Joseph at his side. In truth, within a three-hundred-meter radius around him, a large number of Crown Prince Guards were always standing watch.

"Deploy ninety men to join Magoney and the others in maintaining order on the streets."

"Your Highness," Kex said, standing ramrod straight, "this is against the rules..."

"Rules are made by people. Don't be so rigid." Joseph smiled. "Besides, you are my Guards. You can't go wrong by listening to me."

Kex's face was full of a soldier's resolve and refusal to yield. "Your Highness, our duty is to protect your safety! I believe His Majesty the King would never approve of your proposal either."

"His Majesty the King?" Joseph suddenly smiled slyly. He turned, took out Louis XVI's letter from a drawer, and handed its last page to the stubborn captain. "As it happens, I really do have His Majesty's approval."

"What?" Kex was greatly surprised.

Joseph pointed at the letter and read, "Just go ahead and do it... If anything goes wrong, I'll cover for you." He looked at Kex. "That is in His Majesty's own hand. You must obey his instructions."

Kex was stunned. "But..."

Joseph threatened again, "If you don't listen to me, then I'll personally lead the patrol. You heard about the situation outside just now."

"You absolutely cannot go on patrol!" Kex hurriedly stopped him. After a moment of deadlock, he finally said with a bitter expression, "Your Highness, Major Fersen absolutely cannot be told about this. Also, you must not leave the police station."

Fersen was the captain of the Versailles Palace Court Guard and Kex's direct superior.

"Deal!" Joseph nodded. "Don't worry. Aren't I still keeping fifteen men here? There won't be any problem with my safety."

Kex saluted once more, left Joseph's office, and strode quickly to the open ground outside the police station. He took a whistle from his pocket and blew it sharply twice.

In an instant, more than a hundred Crown Prince Guards, swords at their waists and guns on their backs, surged in from all directions like a tide and swiftly formed five ranks.

Kex motioned for several officers to step forward and gave them a few quiet instructions.

"Yes!" the officers shouted. Then each led his men at a run out of the police station, including ten Cavalrymen.

Inside a dilapidated house in the Huaike District, thick with the stench of feet and the sour reek of vomit, several Black Sheep Gang leaders held cups of Alcohol and roared with laughter. "White Laurel's women really do have more fire in them. The Saint-Antoine District doesn't have goods that good."

The chief leader took a huge swig of Alcohol and shot the man a contemptuous glance. "Look at you, like you've never seen the world. If we're talking prostitutes, the ones in the Louvre District are the very best! Thirty Livres for one night. Those breasts, tsk tsk..."

A man missing half an ear said gruffly, "We've made two thousand Livres these past few days. From now on, won't the high-class whores in the Louvre District be ours to play with whenever we want?"

Someone immediately mocked him. "Valian, you lost all your high-class-whore money in the casino, didn't you? One hundred and fifty Livres, right? You must have pissed all over your hands, hahaha."

Half-Ear grabbed a copy of Paris News beside him, let out an alcoholic burp, and fired back, "See this? What I did burning down that shoe shop made the newspaper. That crooked cop Similien will send over a thousand Livres tomorrow! Why would I be afraid of not having money to visit a brothel?"

"Look at your pathetic ambitions." The chief leader pointed his bottle at the men before him. "All you know is prostitutes? Put some more muscle into it and win those twenty thousand Livres. Then I'll take you to play with real noble girls, hahaha!"

The leaders' eyes immediately gleamed with lechery, and they began howling one after another. "We'll listen to the boss!"

"What the hell is the Horse Gang? Those twenty thousand Livres are definitely ours!"

"Tomorrow, I'll lead men out and get to work!"

Ever since Similien had promised them three days ago that he would pay one thousand Livres for every major crime they committed, the Black Sheep Gang had given its members a death order, along with heavy rewards, to create chaos at all costs. Though the Police had arrested quite a few of their underlings these past few days, they had still made a fortune, their bowls brimming and their basins overflowing.

The leaders dreamed of being loaded with wealth until they finally fell into a deep sleep in the middle of the night.

The next day, just as the sun rose, a pounding on the door jolted them awake. "Boss, boss! Something terrible has happened! One of our brothers is dead!"

The chief leader climbed out of bed, rubbing his throbbing head from the hangover, and said displeasedly,

"What are you yelling for? So someone died. Who did it? The Horse Gang or the Police?"

"Ne-neither." The voice outside the door trembled. "It was the Royal Guards, and three people died..."

"The Royal Guards?" The chief leader frowned and kicked at his sprawled-out subordinates. "Get the hell up and go see what's going on!"

A moment later, two leaders came out the door cursing, taking several underlings with them as they followed the messenger.

They had not gone far when they saw a unit of Royal Guards approaching from across the street. They wore exquisite uniforms, tricorn hats adorned with feathers, Royal insignia, and fine weapons, carrying themselves with imposing dignity.

"What are these people doing in the Saint-Antoine District?" Half-Ear asked nervously.

"They seem to be maintaining public security." The underling who had delivered the news looked as though he were about to cry. "There are a lot of them. They're on almost every street."