A Case That Shook the Heavens

Joseph was exasperated, thinking to himself, "What kind of weird hobby is this?" He could only advise, "Look, I have important business to attend to in Lorraine this time, and I don't have time to take you to see the Coal Mine. 💋♩ 💣👍"

Clementine grabbed his hand and shook it, pouting, "Please, take me there—"

"But..."

The little girl suddenly took a half step back, pointed to her fair and delicate neck, and said in a pitiful voice, "I did what you said, and I returned the ' Wish of the Stars ' necklace. That's my absolute favorite necklace! Shouldn't you make it up to me a little? Okay--"

Joseph couldn't help but look up at the sky and sigh.

A few days ago, he saw the little girl wearing the "Wish of the Stars" necklace and asked her about it out of curiosity. He then learned that his spendthrift mother had spent nearly Livre on it, plus his cousin's 560,000 livres, to buy a "big scam" necklace.

He immediately told the little girl that he had never worn the necklace and that she should return it.

Clementine was quite clever; realizing she had been tricked, she went to the Jeweler and, through a combination of pleading and cajoling, finally paid him Livre to return the necklace.

Actually, the Jeweler didn't lose out either—everyone knew that "Wish of the Stars" was fought over by the two princesses and was finally bought for over a Livre, which made him famous and made it easy to sell it for a high price in the future.

Finally, Joseph couldn't resist Clementine's persistent pleading and had to agree to take her to Lorraine, thinking it would be a way of thanking her for saving the Queen a huge sum of Livre.

The following day at noon.

Clementine turned to look at the three Carriage she had prepared all night—filled with her various Cosmetics, clothes, Kitchenware, toys, Cat Food, and so on—and asked the Crown Prince again, reluctantly, "Cousin, can't we really bring them?"

Joseph sighed, "Either take the Carriage, or take you. Choose one."

"Oh..." The little girl immediately gave the maid a knowing look, signaling her to have someone load about a dozen suitcases onto Joseph's Luggage Carriage.

The convoy started and headed Northeast.

Joseph soon realized that bringing Clementine seemed like a good decision.

The little girl's antics and antics completely dispelled the boredom and dullness of the journey. Despite her young age, she was quite familiar with the Aristocratic Family Nobility of continental Europe, even teaching Joseph a great deal about these matters. It seems she must have been memorizing these things since she was little.

Well, apart from the occasional resentful glances cast from the Carriage following behind, which made Joseph's back ache, everything was fine.

That was Perna's jealousy.

She had assumed she would be going on a "sightseeing" trip with the Crown Prince, like on her last trip to Bordeaux, and had come along as his Private Physician. But this time, a little girl was "stealing her business," and she couldn't even ride in the same Carriage as the Crown Prince...

Along the way, Joseph could already see signs of drought everywhere.

Some streams have dried up, leaving many farmlands withered and yellow.

Everywhere, farmers were driving water carts or carrying water on their shoulders and in their hands, transporting water little by little to the fields to alleviate the drought.

However, France currently mainly relies on extensive farming, taking advantage of its vast land and sparse population to cultivate large areas with low yields, which means that the amount of Farmland that needs irrigation is so large that it becomes unbearable.

Joseph knew that time was drawing ever closer.

Fortunately, most of the Grain Reserve in various regions had already been built, and before the dry season, large quantities of grain purchased from overseas were transported to major cities by water.

Paris, in particular, has two very large grain depots, whose storage alone is enough to feed the Paris Citizens for four or five months.

Joseph thought to himself: I hope I can get through that critical moment next year, and then I will have a chance to rebuild the glory of France.

Four days later.

Joseph's convoy stopped at Calonne's Manor. It wasn't until the Crown Prince Guards dispersed that Calonne realized a distinguished guest had arrived, and she hurriedly led her relatives and Servant out of the beige Villa to greet him.

After the usual formalities, Joseph followed Calonne into the house and immediately gestured, "I need to speak with you alone."

Please come with me.

Calonne led him to a small Study, turned around and closed the door, then said respectfully, "Your Highness, please have a seat."

"Please have a seat," Joseph said, skipping all the formalities and getting straight to the point. "I need information about Necker, the kind that could get him in jail."

"You are a highly trusted senior minister of the Royal House, and I hope you will trust me as well."

Calonne feigned a troubled expression. "Your Crown Prince, you've probably believed some rumors. I really didn't..."

Joseph, not wanting to watch his act, immediately interrupted him, saying, "You can name your terms. What will it take for you to give me what I want?"

"This... you've misunderstood..."

Seeing that he still looked constipated, Joseph directly offered his bargaining chip. "If I can help you return to Paris, will that earn you your trust?"

Calonne's eyes lit up with surprise. He had long been fed up Toul this wretched place, Tule, and had thought he would rot there for the rest of his life. But now he saw hope again.

He nodded almost reflexively, but before he could utter a single word, he immediately froze.

"I... Your Highness, I do want to go back, but I don't have what you mentioned..."

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly. If he wasn't willing to exchange such a significant benefit, then there could only be another possibility.

Calonne had something to hide, so he dared not expose Necker!

Joseph's voice turned cold. "Viscount Calonne, you've heard about the murder of Mr. Evans of the Fair Investigation Department a few days ago, haven't you?"

"Yes, Your Highness, I have heard."

"Yes, Evans and Marat only came to your place that day and asked the same question as me, right?"

Calonne shuddered. It seemed that the Crown Prince's visit to him so soon after the man's death was no coincidence!

He nodded and said, "That's true."

"Well, so you're the prime suspect in the Murder Case." Joseph glanced at Calonne and said coldly, "To be honest, this is a very serious matter. The entire Fair Investigation Department has been mobilized and will arrive two days later than me. They will then begin a full investigation into you."

"Oh, right, and the Secret Police too. They'll be involved in the investigation as well."

Calonne exclaimed in surprise, "Why would the Secret Police be involved?!"

Joseph thought to himself, "Of course it's because I spoke to Robert, to put some pressure on you."

"Because the deceased Evans was a very important investigator. The case he handled was extremely complex, and he had some crucial leads. His death brought the investigation to a near standstill."

Calonne secretly wiped away a cold sweat. He immediately realized that Evans must be in Necker's, so it was quite reasonable for the Crown Prince to say that the case was "extremely complex"—how could there be few people involved in Necker's affair?

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