The second floor of Versailles Palace.
Eman bowed slightly and said, "Your Highness, Archbishop Beaumont, Archbishop Boissy, Archbishop Aceri, and the others request an audience."
"I thought they would hold out a little longer." Joseph glanced from the window at the few luxurious church carriages parked in the Marble Courtyard, then gestured to Eman. "Please go notify the Crown Princess Consort. It's time to prepare for her 'entrance.'"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Before long, Beaumont came to the Crown Prince's reception room with six high-ranking clerics.
After the men had paid their respects, Joseph looked toward Archbishop Beaumont and said calmly, "If you have come to plead on behalf of certain people, I believe it would be better to..." "Your Highness, this matter is a disgrace to the church!" Beaumont suddenly burst into tears, grief pouring from his voice, and pointed hard at Archbishop Boissy and the others. "I have already had them submit letters of repentance to the Holy See."
He quietly glanced at the impassive Crown Prince, then hurriedly raised his voice. "Of course, that is still far from enough!"
"They, along with the entire upper leadership of the church, should receive the harshest punishment!"
He gave Archbishop Aceri a look. The latter took out a list, stepped half a pace forward, and said carefully, "The abbots, deputy abbots, financial stewards, and instructors of sixteen abbeys, including Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey, Little Picpus Abbey, and Saint-Denis Abbey, are all to be stripped of their holy offices and sent to abbeys in the south to repent.
"All embezzled funds must be immediately returned to the church, and a fine of twice that amount will be paid to the Royal Chapel.
"The church will establish an 'Audit Committee' to cooperate with the Fair Investigation Bureau in calculating the accounts of all abbeys and