The Assembly of Notables' Boomerang

"What nonsense are you spouting?" The butler of the Duke of Dourfo Manor looked at Scarface with arrogance. "His Excellency the Duke knows nothing about any grain reserves!"

"This is the Duke's territory. You'd better leave immediately, or the army will come and arrest you all!"

The special agents from the Police Intelligence Division immediately turned to the crowd and shouted:

"Did you all hear that? They're guilty and threatening to call the army to arrest us!"

More than a thousand demonstrators suddenly erupted in a roar:

"That Nobility's lackey, beat him up!"

"Stop wasting time talking to him, go inside and get our food!"

"Everyone, charge in!"

The butler was startled by the commotion. He only had ten guns; if the rioters surged forward, the Manor's guards would have no chance of stopping them. ♔✌ 💢🍮

He hid his slightly trembling hands behind his back and shouted, his voice stern but his voice weak:

"You dare threaten Nobility? This is a serious crime!"

A gang member mingling in the crowd threw a clod of dirt at the butler.

"Those who steal grain are the criminals!"

The others, alerted, immediately launched a barrage of stones and trash, nearly overwhelming the guards at the gate of the Manor.

The butler retreated inside the gate and said to the guards in fear:

"Pick up your guns, and shoot anyone who takes another step forward!"

The special agent in charge of the Nice Police Intelligence Division district signaled for people to cease their attack and looked at the butler with a friendly expression:

"You see, everyone says the Duke took away the grain reserves. If you could let us into the Manor to take a look, perhaps we could prove the Duke's innocence."

Scarface and his henchmen joined in the shouting:

"Yes! Inspect the Manor!"

"Prove your innocence!"

According to the "boss's" rules, anyone who enters the Manor will receive a bonus of 20 Livre.

Seeing that some rioters were already eagerly preparing to climb over the wall, the butler hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded helplessly:

"Go ahead and look if you want. I've already said we don't have much food reserves here. But only three people can come at most."

Scarface immediately shouted:

"No! Three people can't possibly investigate such a large Manor; we need at least twenty!"

"That's right, only three people can be bribed!"

"We need thirty people. I need to go check!"

Finally, under pressure from the crowd, the Manor's butler led 20 people, including Scarface and agents from the Police Intelligence Division, into the Manor.

The special agents from the Police Intelligence Division first pretended to look around several cellars, and quickly identified a garbage-burning stove, gesturing to Scarface with their eyes.

The latter immediately followed the "script" and ran to the stove, picked up a tattered piece of cloth from the weeds behind it, and shouted:

"Aren't these grain sacks from the Grain Reserve?"

The people who entered the Manor immediately gathered around, and when they saw the half-burnt cloth bag, they could no longer contain themselves:

"They're the ones who stole the grain reserves!"

"This is the evidence!"

"These damned guys, they still say no!"

Under the butler's astonished gaze, Scarface strode back to the Manor entrance and tossed the "evidence" to the protesters:

"Look what we found?!"

Of course, this thing was left at the Manor by Police Intelligence Division last night. There are two other similar "pieces of evidence".

Scarface waved vigorously at the crowd:

"What are you waiting for? Take back our grain!"

His henchmen immediately stepped forward and shoved the guards aside—a tactic taught to them by the Duke of Orléans's Spy.

The angry protesters, their eyes bloodshot, stormed into the Manor, screaming.

Everyone in the Manor was trembling with fear, hiding in a corner and not daring to stop them.

Scarface led the group to a cellar, smashed open the door, and gestured inside:

"Our food is right here!"

Similar scenes played out throughout the Manor. The thousands of people quickly unearthed tens of thousands of Bushel of Grain from the Manor's cellars or storerooms, and naturally assumed that this was the stolen grain reserves.

Later, other evidence was found, such as half-torn Grain Reserve release slips, which further confirmed the Duke of Dourfo's act of stealing grain.

The old man looked at the Grain of grain before him, covered his face, and burst into tears:

"If we had this food, my wife wouldn't have starved to death..."

The others were immediately reminded of painful memories and began to loudly curse the Duke of Dourfo.

Scarface continued his task, pointing to the luxurious Villa in the center of the Manor:

"The things there were all bought with the money from selling the grain reserves; we have the right to take them!"

Immediately, someone loudly echoed:

"Yes! My sister's death deserves compensation!"

"And my father!"

"And my twin sons!"

A massive crowd stormed into the Villa, almost instantly looting everything, valuable and worthless, even tearing down the doors, windows, and roof. They took what they could carry, and smashed what they couldn't.

It wasn't until dusk that the people seeking revenge gradually left the Manor.

Although the army stationed in Nice received over a dozen requests for help from the Manor, they did not send out a single soldier. All their officers, from battalion commanders upwards, were still at the Versailles Palace meeting with the King and had not yet returned. No junior officer dared to mobilize hundreds of soldiers at will. Moreover, the soldiers had heard about the Duke of Dourfo's theft of the grain reserves, and many of their relatives had died in the previous Famine. If it weren't for military discipline, they might have even wanted to join in and smash up the Manor.

The next day, the angry crowd returned to the Duke of Dourfo's Manor, where they heard a man with a scar on his face shouting:

"The Duke of Dourfo also has Villa in Villefort Town; we can't let him get away with this!"

People immediately responded with shouts:

"That's right! To Villefort Town!"

"Avenge our loved ones!"

This Devil must pay the price!

Even more demonstrators than yesterday marched in large numbers to the Villefort Town...

Hatred-fueled riots swept across the West and the South France, with situations similar to Nice being commonplace.

In Montauban, the Duke of Mouchy's three Villa were burned to the ground by enraged citizens...

In Auch, after smashing up the Duke of Brissac's Villa, people shaved the heads of everyone there, men and women, in a fit of rage...

The worst off were Nobility like Count of Dumont and Duke of Noailles, who had just returned to their the South hometowns to escape the cold. They were caught by the mob and beaten to death in their homes. Some were even wiped out by the enraged crowd...

These Nobility at the Assembly of Notables probably never imagined that the famine-stricken people they had painstakingly planned and created would one day turn into "monsters" and devour them all!

Northern Brittany.

Armor.

Fouche's eyes were filled with excitement and madness as he stared at the bare tree trunks outside the car window, muttering to himself incessantly:

"You absolutely mustn't run away... Yes, you're right here, waiting for me..."

Half an hour later, the Carriage stopped in front of a small house on the northern outskirts of Armor.

The Police Intelligence Division officer in charge of greeting them stepped forward and eagerly opened the car door, only to hear Fouche's impatient voice:

Is he still there?

The official quickly leaned forward and lowered his voice:

"Yes, sir. The Duke of Orléans has been at that Manor for the past few days..."

(End of this chapter)