The Yellow Mud in Paoli's Crotch

"Hello, does Ms. Maria Michaela Quirino live here?" the United States Lawyer asked first in English, then repeated in French.

"Oh, it's me," Mrs. Pauli nodded. "I'm Maria Michaela Paoli now, and I'm married. And you are?"

The man quickly handed over his business card. "My name is James Denton. I'm your aunt's Lawyer."

Aunt?

The Lawyer nodded. "Yes, it's Mrs. Massimo. Do you remember her?"

Mrs. Pauli shook her head. "I'm sorry, I really don't remember. Oh, please come in and have a seat."

Lawyer Denton entered the house and said politely, "First, I need to confirm that you are from the Quirino family of Ajaccio, Padano, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then you should be the heir to Mrs. Massimo's estate." The Lawyer took a stack of documents from his briefcase. "She is the cousin of the second son of your maternal grandmother's sister..."

The Lawyer listed a long list of kinship ties. "After her death, you are her only relative. Her estate of over US Dollar 10,000 will be inherited by you."

Upon hearing this number, Mrs. Pauli felt her mind brighten with sunshine, birdsong, and the image of her Aunt Giovanna seemed to appear before her.

US Dollar 10,000, that's Livre! Enough for her to buy a sizable Manor in Corsica!

She nodded immediately, then, as if remembering something, a look of sadness appeared on her face. "My aunt, when did she pass away? Oh, God, she was such a good person, how could she..."

"Mrs. Massimo passed away three months ago due to illness," said Lawyer Denton. "She said she learned of your presence in London many years ago when we corresponded; thankfully, you hadn't moved."

Mrs. Pauli tried hard to recall her correspondence with relatives in United States. After Corsica was occupied by France, many of her relatives did indeed go to United States to make a living.

That US Dollar 10,000 quickly helped her construct the entire set of memories.

"Oh, yes, I think I did write a letter to my aunt."

"Then please go to the Bank of Amsterdam as soon as possible to receive the inheritance. Of course, you can also go to Philadelphia; I would be more happy to serve you there."

Paul, who was directing the Servant to clean up the fire on the second floor, heard the Paoli and came down to the living room. After his wife told him about the inheritance, he frowned slightly. "Go to Amsterdam? Can't we stay in London?"

After all, he was doing something to divide France, and there were people everywhere who wanted him dead; he had to be vigilant at all times.

"I'm sorry, sir. Mrs. Massimo's assets are all in the United States. As you know, there are currently no banking transactions between the US and the UK. The nearest bank for foreign exchange is in the Netherlands."

After verifying Mrs. Pauli's identity, Lawyer Denton handed her the will and other documents, arranged a time for the inheritance process, and then took his leave.

Paoli looked at the documents suspiciously and asked his wife, "Do you remember this aunt?"

"Yes, darling, I remember when I was little, she took me to town to play."

In fact, there was no such person Mrs. Massimo.

Fouche sent people to investigate and found that Mrs. Pauli had relatives in the United States, so he fabricated this character.

No one would doubt the existence of a substantial inheritance, Mrs. Pauli quickly used self-suggestion to attribute her other vague memories to her "cousin," thus becoming convinced that she had this relative.

"So you're going to the Netherlands?" Paoli asked, looking at the documents. "This might be a scam."

The woman nodded. "Mr. Pietro and I will go together, nothing will happen. At worst, we can treat it as a trip to the Netherlands. Actually, I've wanted to go there for a long time."

She knew that Paoli would definitely not leave United Kingdom —if he left, the France might kill him. But she had never been involved in politics, so she was certainly not in any danger.

After much deliberation, Paoli finally agreed, as US Dollar 10,000 was no small sum.

Less than two weeks after his wife went to the Netherlands accompanied by the housekeeper, Paoli received a letter from her.

The letter was filled with excitement, telling him that the inheritance was real, that she had received a US Dollar 10,000 Bill of Exchange from the United States, and that it had already been cashed. Moreover, her aunt's inheritance was far more than just cash; it also included a considerable amount of real estate and land, though the exact value was unclear. Perhaps she would have to go to the United States sometime in the future.

Paoli was overjoyed. After dedicating himself to the Restoration Movement, all his income came from donations, and his life was not particularly wealthy. Now, with his wife's inheritance, he could finally live a comfortable life.

Shortly after Mrs. Pauli received her "aunt's" inheritance, another high-level meeting of the Restoration Organization was held at its secret base in Ajaccio, Corsica.

The group quickly finalized the details of the uprising to be held in Cargèse next month and submitted the plan to their leader, Paoli.

During the lunch break, MP Girolamo casually mentioned that his wife had a chance encounter with Mrs. Pauli in Amsterdam.

"What is Mrs. Pauli going to the Netherlands for?" Giuseppe asked casually, sipping his Coffee.

"It seems she went to inherit an estate," Girolamo said. "She mentioned to my wife that she has a distant relative in United States who left her a large sum of money."

Seeing that no one was paying attention, he continued, "There might be tens of thousands of US Dollar, and real estate or something. It's like a windfall."

Of course, Mrs. Pauli hadn't met his wife at all, let alone said anything. But the Intelligence Bureau had personally given him instructions, so he had to say it. As for the truth of the matter, no one was going to go to London specifically to ask Mrs. Pauli if she had told Mrs. Girolamo about the inheritance.

Yes, Girolamo was recruited by the French Government a long time ago. But because of his low position in the organization, he was not of much use except for providing some peripheral intelligence.

He deliberately emphasized "a large sum of money," a "windfall," which finally made Bartorio frown. "That's a bit too coincidental. Mr. Chamos's donation was just burned, Mrs. Pauli unexpectedly inherited a large sum of money?"

"What are you saying?" Giuseppe immediately retorted, "Are you questioning Mr. Paoli?"

"Oh, no, I was just joking."

Girolamo quickly waved his hand, but exchanged glances with the other two who had gone to London with him.

After the meeting, the three immediately went to Girolamo's house.

"Are you doubting that the Pound Sterling 25,000 wasn't burned at all?"

"Yes, what was burned might just be waste paper. I don't want to doubt Mr. Paoli, but with such a large sum of money, it's hard to guarantee that no one wouldn't be tempted."

What he didn't say was that the money was originally meant for people like him, so no one else should even think about taking it!

So what are your plans?

"Send people to the Netherlands and the United States to investigate!"