Dust Settles
Mocenigo watched Talleyrand's breezy demeanor, unable to stop himself from clenching his teeth hard.
He knew that if the following matters were spoken aloud, he would definitely no longer be able to mix in Venetian politics—today, France's influence over Venice exceeded the sum of all other countries.
It was just that the mission Vienna handed him was to bring "diplomatic disaster" to France, which he was still far from accomplishing.
He abruptly stood up and said in a loud voice, "To my knowledge, French troops rushed into Rome in order to search for a person of noble status."
"This gentleman was clearly closely related to the rioters, or even the primary organizer."
"That day, some saw that after the French army picked him up near the rioters' command post, they immediately withdrew from the City of Rome."
The corners of his mouth hooked into a sinister smile: "Multiple intelligence reports indicate that he should still be a member of the French Royal Family. An underage young royal. Currently, the adult age recognized by France is 21 years old. Among the direct royals, the Count of Artois's two sons are 24 and 27 years old. The Count of Provence has no children."
Mocenigo came within a hair of directly reporting Charles's name.
Yes, the major powers of Europe had deployed quite a few spies in Rome, especially Austria, which had once ruled Northern Italy, making it easy to glean some news from the revolutionary party.
Based on the reaction of the French army, the Austrians inferred that the person in the revolutionary party's command post was very likely the Second Prince of France. Thus, they intended to use this rare opportunity to make France stumble heavily in international politics. With good luck, they could even tear the Mediterranean Security