When Fouché's carriage arrived in Paris, Fouché realized that all his plans in the carriage had been in vain, because both Desmoulins and Danton had been guillotined. That night, the lights in Fusse's residence were kept on, and no one knew what Furest was doing.

Early the next morning, Fouché immediately went to the National Assembly. He was almost the first to arrive at the council, and when he walked into the council hall, the whole hall was empty and there was no one except for a cleaning crew.

Fu Xie sat down in the position of the mountain sect in a hesitant state. Gradually, more councillors came to the hall, and they sat down, but no one spoke or greeted Fouche. In fact, it doesn't necessarily mean anything else, because the parliamentarians don't talk to each other or greet each other.

In Fouché's memory, the National Assembly was always lively, sometimes like a wet market. There is no hand to speak, parliamentarians are always talking to each other, some are talking about the current situation, some are discussing the posture of a certain courtesan; And when a member of parliament speaks on the podium, some people below will applaud if they agree, and some people will applaud if they oppose it, and some people will even take off their leather shoes and knock on the table in front of them, and the parliament will naturally be more lively. But by this time, many members had already entered the council hall, but everyone was just sitting in silence, motionless, like stone statues in a cemetery. And the entire council hall is like a silent and gloomy cemetery.

Time was ticking by, and it was time for a meeting. But the seats in the council hall were still mostly empty—the right seat had been vacant for a long time, and those who had once sat there had long since disappeared; Even the left side is much vacant these days. Fouché only had to glance at it to see Shomet, Danton, Desmoulins, Chabeau, Ebel, Fabre de Gnantin...... Dozens of people's seats were empty.

Looking further, Fouché saw a man with a sallow face and a low, shaved head, who was also looking at Foucher with his little eyes—it was Robespierre. Robespierre, noticing that Fouché was also looking at him, smiled at Fouché - just as a lion smiled at a rabbit that had been pressed under its paws.

Fouché's heart tightened suddenly, and from this terrible smile he could see Robespierre's undisguised malice towards him. He couldn't help but shiver all over, the cold sweat of the big spring broke out, his hands and feet were cold, what was wrong with this society, everywhere was full of oppression for a poor chameleon like him, his tears almost flowed out of breath (fortunately, Fuche's eyes were big and the capacity was high), hell was empty, and demons were in the world......

Fouché knew he couldn't wait any longer. He stood up, walked over to the podium, and said to the presiding officer: "I am citizen Joseph Fouché, commissioner of the Marseille region, and I have been ordered to return to Paris to report to the 'National Salvation Committee'. But I thought it might be better to talk about these things here. ”

Fouché's actions were a challenge, and it was not the National Assembly that ordered him to return to Paris, but the "National Salvation Committee", and it was not the National Assembly that required him to report to work, but the "National Salvation Committee". However, instead of reporting to the "National Salvation Committee," he directly asked the National Assembly, which was theoretically the superior organ of the "National Salvation Committee," to report to the National Assembly.

Fouché looked at the host, who hesitated, then looked up and glanced over to the seat—perhaps he was looking at Robespierre. Then he said to Fouché, "All right, citizen Fouché, you can come up to the stage and speak." ”

Fouché stepped up to the podium and glanced habitually at the room, noticing that Robespierre was looking at him with interest, just as Tom was looking at Jerry, who had been caught in his claws.

Fouché took a deep breath and began his speech.

Houche's speech was rich in content, sincere in emotion, and took a lot of time. But if you want to boil it down, it's actually relatively simple, that is: I have shed blood for Jacobin, I have done meritorious service for Jacobin, and I want to continue to be a dog for Jacobin, you can't do that......

No one applauded, no whistled, no one took out their shoes and banged on the table, only the voice of Fouché alone echoed in the empty hall as in the empty cemetery.

Eventually, Foucher's speech ended, and there was still silence below, as if all the people had died, and all that remained here was only a puppet stalk.

Fouché didn't know how he ended up stepping down from the podium, and he sat back in his seat, trembling in fear, knowing that his resistance had been a complete failure. The National Assembly is no longer the National Assembly it used to be, and its courage has been worn out in a series of events.

Ever since the executioner broke into Odysseus' ranks like the Cyclops of Greek mythology, taking some of them and feeding them to the guillotine, the rest of the National Assembly has become so depressed that they have almost become marionettes.

At this point, Robespierre stood up. Fusse's face was pale and trembling. He knew that if Robespierre spoke that he was a traitor, a viper spitting letters, all the councillors would applaud and cheer, and then someone would propose that the traitor Foucher be arrested, brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal, and then ...... This set of processes is really familiar to Fuxie.

"With regard to the report of the citizens of Fouché, I recommend to the National Assembly that the matter be referred to the 'National Salvation Committee'." Robespierre said.

This statement was completely unexpected, and Robespierre could have directly asked the National Assembly to declare him a traitor and arrest him. As long as Robespierre had said this, the remaining parliamentarians would have raised their hands in agreement. But Robespierre made such a request......

Robespierre's proposal was immediately supported by all the parliamentarians, and it was done. Like a fish jumping in a fishing net, Fouché jumped with all his might, trying to escape into the blue sky, but eventually fell powerlessly into the big net that still surrounded him.

Fouché left the National Assembly in despair and returned to his lodgings. But he quickly forced himself to calm down - panicking didn't help, and if he wanted to save his head, he had to calm down first.

Fouché was not an artistic person like Danton or Desmoulins, who was willing to face death calmly. He decided that, no matter what, he was going to struggle until the very end.

Then Fouché remembered Robespierre's actions today. He began to wonder what Robespierre meant by doing this. In the end, he came up with two such guesses.

First, Robespierre did want his life, but he didn't want to cut him just like that, but wanted to appreciate his fear and despair like a cat playing with a mouse, and then bite off his neck again when he got tired of playing.

Second, Robespierre hoped that he would honestly surrender to himself, surrender to him, and repent to him. And then give him an honest dog.

Fouché felt that the first might be greater, at least, as he knew about Robespierre. But the second possibility cannot be completely ruled out. After all, Foucher felt that as a dog, he was still very useful and valuable.

Fouché was a man of action, and since he had such an idea, he did not hesitate to put it into practice. Fouché immediately picked up his spirits and left his lodgings for Robespierre's lodgings on rue Saint-Honoré. Calvin of the First French Republic (the leader of the Protestant Calvinism during the Reformation, who once burned Servette who opposed his teachings) rented a small attic on this street to show his poverty and virtue.

It is not known what Fouché talked to Robespierre that night, for Fouché never mentioned it to anyone since. However, we can guess what happened to Foucher from what happened to other similar people.

Barras also went there to confess his mistake to Robespierre and beg for mercy. Downstairs, he first encountered the landlord's troubles. This landlord was a devout believer in Robespierre. Ballas was searched by him because he suspected that Ballas might be an Assassin.

Baras then climbed the wooden staircase up the attic, where he met Robespierre in a narrow room with his own portrait. And Robespierre didn't even give him a chair, just let him stand there and talk.

Fouché must have whispered his mistake to Robespierre, like Baras, and with tears in his eyes, he pulled his trouser leg and begged for his forgiveness. And Robespierre probably scolded him to the same extent as he did with Barras at the time. The only difference is that Barras is forgiven, while Foucher is not.

When Fouché left rue Saint-Honoré, he trembled with fear and anger. He knew that Robespierre was going to cut off his head. What else can he do now? Perhaps tomorrow morning someone will knock on his door, and when he opens it, he will see several soldiers of the National Guard, and an officer leading the team will say to him: "Joseph Fouché, you have been arrested for trying to overthrow the republican government and restore the feudal system!" ”

At that time, will he still be able to say, "I'm sorry you are mistaken, Joseph Foucher lives next door." "And then take the opportunity to escape? But where could he flee? In France, there will be no place for him, he killed so many nobles and left France, and those exiles will not let him go...... What's more, once he escapes, everything he fought for will be gone.

In the dark and cold streets of rue Saint-Honoré, Fouché's steps gradually became firm: he could not wait for death or escape, he had only one choice, one way, and that was to cut off Robespierre's head before he could cut off his own!