A Date with the Princess

Suddenly, from the Marble Square in front of the main gate of the Versailles Palace, came an angry shout from a girl:

"The French Guard couldn't even stop two bandits; they must be severely punished!"

The Nobility ladies in the corridor nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

"Yes! It was them who caused His Highness the Crown Prince's injury!"

"I heard that there was a loophole in the security measures set up by Bessonval, which allowed the bandits to sneak in. 6̲9̲s̲h̲u̲x̲.̲c̲o̲m̲"

"I wonder how serious Your Highness's injuries are, and when you will recover..."

Joseph heard the loud condemnation outside and suddenly his eyes lit up. He quickly whispered to Eman to thank the Nobility who had "spoken out for justice" on his behalf.

Soon, news spread among the girls that Andreanne had received the Crown Prince's thanks for condemning the French Guard. As a result, more and more girls began to join the chorus of condemnation.

By noon, two or three hundred Beauties had gathered outside the Minister of War's office, loudly demanding severe punishment for the French Guard. Soon, their brothers or male friends were also brought in, further expanding the group.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lamark and his daughter were visiting the Crown Prince at his bedside.

"His Highness's injuries should have stabilized." Perna finished her examination, turned to look at her father, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Lamarck nodded, and was giving Joseph some instructions on how to recover when they heard a Master of Ceremonies announce, "Princess Maria has arrived—"

He quickly pulled his daughter aside and retreated into the crowd of Nobility who had come to watch.

The Two Sicilies Princess walked in, their eyes red.

Perna, standing beside her father, glared at her fiercely, thinking to herself: If she hadn't insisted on coming here for some kind of trip, the bandits wouldn't have had the chance. Fortunately, the Crown Prince was blessed by God, otherwise he would have been seriously injured.

She didn't realize that her anger actually stemmed more from the fact that she had been visiting His Highness but had to give way to this young girl.

It also stemmed from the fact that the girl with smaller breasts than herself might one day become the Crown Princess Consort, while she could only stand by and silently take care of his health...

When Joseph saw Maria's red, swollen eyes, he felt a pang of guilt and remorse—he had caused her unnecessary distress in his efforts to bring down Bessonval.

Maria curtsied and asked softly, "Your Crown Prince, are you feeling better?"

Joseph smiled and nodded, "I'm much better now. Thank you for visiting. Please have a seat."

Maria lowered her head, and with what seemed like great effort, managed to say, "Your Highness, it was because you came to fetch me that you suffered..."

Joseph quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, this is not your fault, please don't blame yourself."

Maria's heart warmed instantly—she had been prepared to be scolded, but she hadn't expected His Highness to be so forgiving. Tears welled up in her eyes again. "I, Your Highness... Waaah..."

"Hey, don't cry! I'm really okay!"

Comforting a crying girl wasn't Joseph's forte. He rubbed his temples, unsure what to say, when the surrounding Nobility suddenly stepped aside and bowed. Then Queen Mary, in a long pink and white dress, her hair still unkempt, strode over and waved anxiously:

"Oh God! Why are you sitting up? Lie down! The doctor said you need to rest more!"

Joseph smiled, patted his chest, and bowed his head. "Mother, I'm much better now, it's alright."

The Queen had her maids place the various desserts she had brought in front of her son, and then inquired about his well-being. Suddenly, she caught sight of Princess Maria to the side, and her expression immediately darkened.

She had already decided that her niece was the most suitable daughter-in-law, while this Two Sicilies Princess was an annoying distraction. As a result, her son was attacked because of her, which made her even more dissatisfied with her.

When the latter saw the Queen looking over, he quickly wiped away his tears and stepped forward to pay his respects.

Queen Mary turned her head away and deliberately said to Countess de Berninac, "Please have all the irrelevant people leave, so as not to disturb the Crown Prince's rest."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Countess de Berninac immediately turned to shoo them away. Maria bit her lip, took two steps back, bowed, and left with her maid.

Seeing Maria's aggrieved expression, Joseph guessed that the Queen might be angry with her, and felt even more guilty. He quickly said to her retreating figure:

"Princess Maria, I'm so sorry to have disrupted your trip. Once I'm feeling better, please allow me to be your guide and show you around Paris."

Maria paused, then turned her head sharply. Her previously dull eyes lit up again as she thought to herself: So His Highness likes... Ah, no, no, at least he didn't leave a bad impression on me!

That's enough!

She immediately turned around, lifted her skirt, curtsied, and smiled:

Thank you for your invitation. I hope you recover soon. I will pray for you every day.

Perna felt a sudden pang of sadness: she had known the Crown Prince for so long, yet he had never invited her to visit anything...

She shook her head again, quickly walked out of the Bedchamber, and said to herself with self-reproach, "Perna! What are you thinking? Being able to see the Crown Prince often and perform his routine checkups is already very good. With your status, how can you have any other desires?"

Four days later, at the French Guard camp.

A Gendarmerie police officer with the rank of general handed a stack of documents to the Minister of Justice, saying politely, "Baron de Breteuil, is the review of these individuals roughly complete?"

The latter nodded, signed the document, and then pressed the stamp from his Ring onto it a few times.

The five French Guard officers listed in the document, along with the four whose investigations were completed the day before yesterday, were all on duty elsewhere on the day the Crown Prince was attacked, so they were essentially innocent suspects, and the investigation process was quick.

Another, slightly older Gendarmerie police officer, his face heavily powdered, took the documents from him and smiled, saying, "Then I'll apply to the Marquis of Saint-Priest later to reinstate them, oh, and Obin Lieutenant Colonel Aubin and the others from the other day."

Breteuil and Vermorel exchanged a glance and nodded, saying, "Yes, General Astu, I will also report the situation here to Her Majesty the Queen."

Just as General Astu was about to hand the documents to his clerk, Breteuil's assistant, adjusting his hat, hurried over, whispered a few words to the Minister of Justice, and handed him a stack of documents.

The latter frowned, flipped through the documents, read only a few pages, then pushed them in front of Astu, coughed lightly, and said, "General, it seems we can't end the interrogation of those people just now."

Astu looked at the document with suspicion, and saw on the first page. "Report: Paul Lieutenant Colonel Bertrand Obin embezzled funds for the purchase of Military Uniform three years ago."

The next page contains a report that another officer, whose investigation was completed the day before yesterday, accidentally crippled a soldier two years ago.

Six or seven pages in a row were filled with reports denouncing the officers they had investigated.

He turned to Breteuil with a dark expression. "Where did this come from?"

"I don't know either. Someone delivered these to my assistant this morning. Anyway, we can't pretend we didn't see them."

In a small office in Paris, more than ten miles away, Mr. Desmoulins, the newly appointed captain of the Second Action Team of the Fair Investigation Department, looked at Marat, who was writing furiously, and said with some hesitation:

"Mr. Marat, all these things you wrote about... but there's no evidence for them... is it really appropriate to just report them like this?"

Many thanks to Left Bank Youyang for his generous donation to this book! Tian Hai Shan is deeply grateful!

(End of this chapter)