After convincing Lavoisier, Joseph could prepare to return to Toulon, but before that he could do so, he would have to visit Armand's house. Armand is the only son in the family, and his family must be very sad if he loses him, and as a good friend of Armand, Joseph would not be in Paris, but if he was in Paris, it would be very unpleasant.

So the day after signing the contract with Lavoisier, Joseph took two retinues with him - the neighborhood where the Armand family was located was a wealthy area, and the law and order was quite good. So it's already very safe to take two people and get in a four-wheeled carriage.

The carriage stopped near Armand's house. Joseph got out of the car, motioned for his entourage to stay in the car, and walked towards Armand's house with a bouquet of white lilies in his hand. He knocked softly at the door, and after a long time heard footsteps hurrying by, and then the door opened a crack, and a green eye peeked out through the gap, and then the door was opened a wider slit, revealing Fanny's face.

"Is it Monsieur Bonaparte? You're here to ......," Fanny said, as she saw the bouquet in Joseph's hand.

"Mom and Dad don't know about my brother yet...... Fanny said in a lower voice.

"Ah......" Joseph looked at the flower in his hand, and wanted to put it on the ground, but it seemed inappropriate, and it seemed useless to put it behind his back.

"Give it to me." Fanny whispered. At the same time, all the doors were opened.

She took the bouquet from Joseph and hid it behind a table with a broken leg in the porter. Joseph noticed that Fanny had lost a lot of weight compared to the last time they met, but this made her appear taller.

"After a while, you said that you came to visit my brother, so you don't know about my brother yet, please." Fanny said, "Mom is not well. ”

"I understand, I understand." Joseph hurriedly said.

At this time, the voice of a middle-aged and elderly man came from inside: "Fanny, are there any guests?" Who is it? ”

Fanny quickly turned her head and shouted inside, "Daddy, there is a guest, my brother's friend Monsieur Bonaparte." ”

Then she turned to Joseph and said, "Come in with me, Monsieur Bonaparte." ”

Joseph followed Fanny into the rococo building. Perhaps because of the neglect of care, the house is even more dilapidated than it was when Joseph last came. In the Hereafter, on this basis, with a little decoration, maybe Fanny can claim that I have a house of horrors.

Entering the hall, Joseph found it surprisingly clean and empty. Although the marble floor has been worn out, it is still clean, and the curtains are very old, and the patterns on them are completely unvisible, but they are obviously clean. As for the emptiness, some of the furniture that used to be placed here is gone.

Fanny seemed to notice that Joseph was looking around, and whispered, "These days, bread is so expensive, we have to take out some things and sell them......"

"Yes, Miss Fanny, it's not easy for everyone these days." Joseph also sighed. Although he was not short of money and did not starve after the revolution, it was not easy for him to be scared by the guillotine demon king and couldn't sleep, right?

"My father is in the small living room, his legs and feet are not very good, he is old rheumatic, and it is almost difficult to walk, so he can only wait for you there, please understand, this is not our arrogance." Fanny explained as she led Joseph into the small living room.

Joseph nodded and said, "I can understand. When my father was still alive, he was not in good health. ”

At the same time, he noticed that there seemed to be no servants left in the entire small building.

Fanny led Joseph into the small living room. Viscount Charles Lavoisier was sitting in an old elm rocking chair, much older than he had last seen him, with gray hair and a sparse beard. On his knees was an old blanket that had turned white, because the hair on the blanket had been sparse over time, and in many places you could even see holes that had been bitten by insects.

"Welcome, Monsieur Bonaparte, I beg your pardon for not being able to stand up to meet you. Ah, you're the first friend to visit us in the past six months. Please sit down. Viscount Charles said with a smile on Joseph.

Joseph sat down in a high-backed chair beside him.

"Monsieur Bonaparte, I heard that you are now in high office in the Ministry of War?" Viscount Charles asked when he saw Joseph sitting down.

"Yes, I'm in the War Department." Joseph replied.

"Ah, that's good. Armand's bastard boy now runs to the Northern Army, it seems to be in the Fourth Army, and the commander is General Joebel. The same one who had just repelled the Austrians some time ago. ”

Speaking of this, a hint of embarrassment appeared on Charles' face:

"Monsieur Bonaparte, you are a friend of Armand. When Armand went to the north, I didn't object. Men, they always have to make their own decisions. What's more, at that time, I felt that although there was danger on the northern front, there were not many more dangerous places in the world than Paris at that time. Do you say? ”

To be honest, Charles's support for his son's decision really can't be miscalculated. Because at that time, Paris was indeed very dangerous, especially for those who were aristocratic and too involved in politics.

"You're right." Joseph replied.

"Yes, but Paris is safe now. Robespierre was finally beheaded. Speaking of which, Robespierre did some good things. If he hadn't clicked all those Jews, I wouldn't have a single piece of furniture left in my house. Now that my creditors are dead, I ought to shout long live Robespierre. Viscount Charles smiled, then coughed violently again, and Fanny hurried to pour him a glass of water.

"Ah, Fanny, look, you're ...... You haven't poured a cup of tea for Monsieur Bonaparte yet. Go and pour a cup of tea for Monsieur Bonaparte. Viscount Charles said with disgust.

Fanny nodded and turned to go out to pour her tea. Charles watched Fanny go away, and said to Joseph, "Monsieur Bonaparte, we just talked about ...... Ah, speaking of Paris, it's safe now, so ...... So I thought, can you find a way to transfer Armand back from the north. You know, it's not that I'm unpatriotic, it's that I only have such a son. The other day, Armand's mother had a dream in which she dreamed ......"

"Dad, what are you talking nonsense again! I'm not afraid of people's jokes. A voice rang out, and Charles turned his head to see Fanny standing behind him with a teapot.

"You still talk about this kind of dream talk or something, and you're not afraid of other people's jokes!" Fanny poured tea for Joseph and continued, "I told you a long time ago, the dreams are all fake. Besides, didn't you receive a letter from your brother a few days ago, and he sent back the money? My brother is fine in the north, why do you have to pull him back. ”

Just as he was taking the teacup, Joseph noticed that Fanny's hands were already calloused - apparently the same girl was now trying to carry the whole family on her shoulders.

"Alas, alas, I can't figure out what you young people think!" Charles waved his hand in annoyance, "A fool is not afraid of death, and he will do whatever is dangerous; There is another one, by now, she is about to become an old girl, which is really worry-free! ”

"Daddy!" Fanny was handing the teacup to Joseph. Hearing this, she put the teacup in Joseph's hand, stood up straight, and said with a straight face.

"Well, well, my little Fanny is angry. I won't say anything. Charles shook his head and said, "Alas, Monsieur Bonaparte, I've made you see the joke." Ever since the revolution, my house has been in a mess...... The only good thing is that we don't care about the decency of the nobility anymore. What the hell...... Well, Monsieur Bonaparte, you are now a great man, and you can ask Armand and persuade him......"

"If I could, I would." "But you know, Armand is a bit stubborn at times. And he has a lot of romantic temperament, and I guess my persuasion may not work. For example, my brothers, who are already generals, still often like to rush to the front. I can't even control him......"

"Alas, the young people are like this, and they are not obedient." Charles sighed, "Alas, counting Armand, he is not small now, and when I am as old as him, Armand will crawl all over the ground." But this bastard boy is still messing around. Because of him, some of his former friends don't associate with us anymore. Alas, many of my old friends are not coming, well, they are all guillotined, and they can't come. If they do come, don't look at me as rheumatism, I can jump up and run as fast as I can. ”

Charles burst out laughing.

"Dad, the more you talk, the more you don't talk." Fanny said with a frown.

"Fanny, Daddy hasn't seen anyone other than you and your mom for almost half a year." Charles said, "I'm so happy." More than a decade ago, when you couldn't walk and the Charles couldn't count, how could our house be so deserted. Your mother's salon was the whole of Paris ......"

"If you get daddy, you don't have to brag, if you keep talking, you're going to say that your mother's salon is Madame Dubarry's salon." Fanny said again.

"All right, Fanny. I didn't mean that, but it was a memorable time...... Look at Monsieur Bonaparte, look at it now, we are deserted here, my friend is not coming, Armand's friend, no one is here except you. You see, the house is so deserted that my Fanny is going to be an old girl......"

"Daddy......"

"Fanny, you asked me to tell me that when your mother was your age with you, Charles would call her mother......"

Old Charles babbled for a long time, and Joseph listened to it. It was not until near noon that Old Charles was visibly tired, and Joseph got up to say goodbye. Fanny sent him out, and as soon as the two of them walked out of the small living room, the voice of Charles came from behind: "Monsieur Bonaparte, you say, Fanny is not a very good girl......"