The Queen taught the art of kingship

Queen Mary hesitated for only half a second before readily agreeing, "You are quite right, Archbishop Brienne. 😲🏆 ☝🐨 It is time to pardon Viscount Calonne and allow him to return to Paris."

She had always admired Calonne's abilities and was even more pleased with his loyalty to the Royal House —she certainly wouldn't have exiled Calonne if she hadn't been forced into it by the Assembly of Notables.

Now that even Brienne doesn't object to pardoning Calonne, she's naturally happy to go along with it.

Brienne exchanged a subtle nod with Joseph, then bowed to the Queen and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Her Majesty the Queen."

"Oh, your magnanimity earns me even more respect." Queen Mary smiled and nodded to him. "In a sense, Viscount Calonne is your rival, yet you, for the sake of the Royal House dignity, unhesitatingly suggested that I pardon him."

"Thank you for your praise. Serving the Royal House family is my duty."

Brienne suddenly felt he had made a profit; in just half an hour, he had gained favors from both the Crown Prince and the Queen.

The Queen's clerk quickly drafted the Pardon according to the established format, gave it to the Queen for her signature, and then took it to Louis XVI for his signature and seal.

Seeing that things had been settled smoothly, Joseph and Brienne took their leave.

Just as the two reached the door, Queen Mary suddenly called out to her son, "Joseph, my dear, wait a moment, I just remembered something I need to tell you."

Upon hearing this, Brienne bowed to the Crown Prince and left the Petit Trianon alone.

Joseph turned back in surprise, adopting an innocent look, and asked, "Mother, what do you want to tell me?"

The Queen led him to Small Balcony surrounded by White Marble Railing, squinted at the setting sun, and said earnestly, "Joseph, you are destined to become a King."

"I used to think you were still too young, so there were some things I didn't mention to you. But now you've shown amazing talent and are increasingly involved in the management of the country, so I must tell you about how to be a good King."

"You..." Joseph's eyes widened, thinking, "You're going to teach me how to be a ruler? Are you serious?"

Queen Mary glanced at Brienne's departing figure downstairs, her tone unusually serious. "As a King, the most important thing is to have your own opinions. You can be close to some ministers, but you must never be swayed by their ideas, much less let them always dictate to you."

Joseph: "???"

Seeing his bewildered expression, the Queen sighed and explained more clearly, "Since you joined the Cabinet, you've always been by Brienne's side, sharing all his views. Even when he comes to me with important matters, you're always there to support him."

Joseph was exasperated. "My goodness, you're quite observant, but haven't you got the priorities backwards...?"

He nodded helplessly. "Ah, yes."

The Queen continued, "Although Archbishop Brienne is very capable and politically experienced, you only need to learn from him, but you don't necessarily have to listen to him in everything."

Joseph could only nod again. "Yes, yes, you're right!"

Queen Mary was pleased to see her son so eager to learn, and she instructed him even more patiently, "With a minister like Brienne, you should show the dignity of a crown prince in his presence, for example..."

Joseph was both amused and exasperated. Brienne now listened to almost everything he said; how could he possibly maintain any more authority?

"Yes, yes, I will definitely remember it."

Queen Mary seemed to be getting carried away, and her discourse on the art of being a ruler continued until it was completely dark, showing no sign of ending.

Joseph was eager to resolve the matter with Calonne, but the Queen continued to talk incessantly, leaving him no chance to even interject.

Just as he was getting anxious, he suddenly saw a lively and petite figure passing by under the balcony, illuminated by the streetlight.

It was Clementine —after Fashion Week, Queen Mary said she wanted her niece to spend more time with her, so she left her at the Versailles Palace. Clementine, of course, was more than happy to oblige.

Joseph's eyes lit up: he would use her to "stir things up"! So he turned his head and frantically winked downstairs.

Clementine suddenly felt a burning gaze fixed on her from somewhere. She turned her head to look around and caught sight of her cousin's handsome and charming eyes.

"Your Crown Prince!" She immediately smiled, lifted her skirt, and quickly ran upstairs to the second floor.

With this little darling chattering away, the Queen had no choice but to pause her "must-do course for the King" and greet her niece with a smile.

Joseph seized the opportunity to excuse himself and leave.

The little girl, who had just been nestled in the Queen, immediately leaped up like a bird upon seeing her cousin leave, curtsied to the Queen, and said, "Your Her Majesty the Queen, I just remembered..."

Queen Mary smiled knowingly and gestured towards Joseph with her eyes, "Go quickly, and good luck!"

Clementine blushed slightly, but then turned and ran away, leaving only the words, "Thank you, Aunt!"

As Joseph emerged from the Petit Trianon, he pondered who to send to contact Calonne — Marat was injured, Fouche's status was inappropriate, and it seemed unsuitable for anyone else to get involved.

He recalled Mirabeau mentioning that the Nancy Industrial Development Zone had opened and that his own Steam Engine factory had started production. He had been wanting to go and see it, but had never been able to find the time.

Since the cities of Toul and Nancy are very close, I might as well go see Calonne in person and then take a detour to Nancy to see the results of industrial development there.

As he was pondering this, he heard the clatter of small leather boots behind him. Turning around, he saw his cousin excitedly chasing after him.

"Cousin, where are you going?" the little girl asked, her big, watery eyes wide.

"I..." Joseph blurted out, "I need to go to Lorraine."

Clementine exclaimed almost without thinking, "I want to go to Lorraine too! Please take me with you!"

"Play?" Joseph was a bit overwhelmed and could only smile and say, "Lorraine is remote and desolate; there's nothing fun there."

"I want to go there and see..." The little girl had no idea about Lorraine's situation, and she secretly glanced at her maid, her eyes darting around.

The latter, also Austria, momentarily lost his train of thought, then suddenly remembered hearing about a dish in northeastern France called "Artichoke Stewed Veal," and reluctantly whispered the name of the dish.

Clementine's French was already poor, and the maid's voice was too soft, so she only caught the last word, "Artichoke." Overjoyed, she excitedly told her cousin, "Let's go see the coal!" [Note 1]

The two words sound very similar, so it's no wonder she was upset.

Joseph's eyes widened. "You... go to see coal? Lorraine does have quite a few Coal Mine."

The little girl realized she might have made a mistake, but it was too late to take it back, so she could only grit her teeth and nod. "Ah, yes! I especially love Coal Mine... that vast and deep feeling, bringing light and warmth to people... it moves me inexplicably."

[Note 1]: The French for artichoke is chardon, while coal is charbon, which are quite similar...

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Introduction:

Carrying the supreme demonic cultivation technique of the Demonic Sect, [Dao Heart Planting Demon Technique], he transmigrated to Douyi, where everything around him was a resource, allowing him to cultivate demons throughout the world.

Tang San, the Demon Seed cultivator, obtained the dual godhood of the Sea God and the Asura God.

He fell into the abyss of Qian Renxue and obtained the "Immortal Demon Holy Fetus".

Transform Zhu Zhuqing to gain the most loyal maid, the Heavenly Demon Maiden.

Refining Master Yu Xiaogang obtained the third martial soul, "Golden Sacred Dragon".

By fusing twin martial souls, one can obtain the god-level martial soul "Mother Tree of Desire".

Tame the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena and obtain the power of the Dragon God.

He devoured the gods of the divine realm and obtained the Dao fruit "The Demon Lord of Free Transformation".