At noon on Sunday, just after lunch, Armand took Joseph to a café near the Bishop's Palace. The Bishop's Palace was the private domain of the Grand Nobleman Duke of Orleans, and His Royal Highness the Duke of Charles, the eldest son of the old duke and also named "Joseph", transformed the corridors of the Bishop's Palace into various shops and cafes. Because these places were the private territories of the great nobles, the royal police had no right to enforce the law here, so it became an "extralegal place" where ordinary civilians could enter and leave freely.

In this way, it became the center of "illegal activity" in the whole of Paris, and there is not a single one. All kinds of smuggling trades, the sale of contraband items, and the gathering of conspirators against the church and the king often took place here. It was an important meeting place for the later famous Jacobins.

And the Duke of Charles, who provided all this (who later inherited his father's title and became the new Duke of Orleans) himself, although a relative of the king, one of the largest feudal lords in France, was a staunch liberal, a faithful follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a staunch believer in the Enlightenment, advocating the establishment of a democratic, theocratic constitutional monarchy in France, and at the same time believing that feudal fiefdom and slavery should be abolished, and he was good friends with many "conspirators".

Armand took Joseph and sat down in one of the seats by the window in the café. At this time, the afternoon sun was shining through the window on a bright red rose placed in the center of the table.

"It seems that we came a little earlier than Mr. Denardi." Armand laughed.

A maid stepped forward and said, "What do you two gentlemen want?" ”

"Two cups of coffee, thank you." Armandau.

The maid stepped back, and in a few moments came over with a tray and placed two cups of coffee in front of them.

"Six Sue." The maid said.

The rent at which Duke Charles rented out his shops was quite low, but he also had his own requirements, which were that the prices of the goods in these shops must be relatively cheap. Sometimes, the Duke himself would put on trousers and pretend to be a normal person, wandering around these cafes, bars, and other shops.

Armand placed the coins of the eight su into the maid's tray. The maid thanked her and turned away.

"Joseph, you can't stay in your own house all the time, and you have to come here often when you have time, where you can meet all kinds of people and learn more things." Armand took a sip of his coffee.

Joseph was about to answer, when the door of the café was pushed open, and a man in his forties, dressed in a gray tweed blouse, walked in. As soon as the man entered, he craned his neck and looked in all directions.

Armand raised an arm and waved it at him. Then he said to Joseph: "This is the head of Denardi, who is blinder than the brown bears of the Ardennes Forest, and he cannot see clearly at a distance." ”

Denardi had obviously seen them, so he strode over, pulled a chair by himself, sat down next to the two of them, and said with a smile: "Armand, my eyes are indeed as blind as a brown bear, but my ears and nose are as sensitive as those of a brown bear. Ha ha...... Well, this is Monsieur Bonaparte, right? I'm Denardier, the head of the Dragon and Rose Theatre, Henri Denardi. You can just call me Henry. ”

As he spoke, Dana first extended his hand to Joseph.

Joseph stretched out his hand, took his hand and said, "Joseph Bonaparte." I'm a classmate of Armand......"

"Dead friends." Armand added on the side.

"You can also call me Joseph." Joseph said.

"Ah, Joseph, Armand must have told you what I was here for." "Actually, for a long time, our troupe has been in need of a really well-educated playwright. I've been playing Armand's idea all along. But this guy Armand is a lazy fellow, and there are many things to do, please ask him for a favor, and he will have to wait for a long time.

That idea you gave us last time was really great, especially at the curtain call, when the applause from the audience almost knocked the roof off. In addition, I read some of the scripts you translated, plus Armand's recommendation, Joseph, I think you can completely replace Armand. I just don't know if you're interested in coming to my small troupe as a part-time playwright. ”

While several people were discussing ways to work together, the door of the café was pushed open again. This is also a common thing, the café is originally a place where people come and go, some people come in and some people go out is the most common thing, and everyone doesn't even bother to look there.

A middle-aged man in his thirties wearing a black hat with green eyes and a reddish beard walked in. He looked around, and immediately saw Armang and the others, so he walked over directly and said, "Armand, I didn't expect to meet you here." ”

"Ah...... Mr. Philip. Armand's words paused visibly after seeing the Monsieur Philippe.

"Why, it's not like I'm going to introduce these two friends of yours." The Mr. Philip asked.

"Ah...... Mr. Philippe," Armand seemed a little flustered, and he hastened to his feet to introduce the other two men to Monsieur Philippe, "this is my classmate Joseph, Joseph Bonaparte. This is...... This is Mr. Denardi, the head of the Dragon and Rose Troupe......"

When Joseph and Denardi saw Armand's performance, they knew that this Mr. Philippe must be unusual, so they both stood up and greeted Mr. Philippe.

"Don't be so polite, everyone sit down." "Let me introduce you," said Monsieur Philippe, "I am a friend of Armand's uncle, Monsieur Lavoisier, so I know Armand." I'm fine today, I came here to sit and I happened to see Armand, so I came and had a look. Well, what are you all talking about? ”

"Mr. Denardi is the head of the Dragon and Rose Theatre Company and a friend of mine. He needed to find a screenwriter with a high artistic appreciation. And my classmate Joseph met his requirements, so I introduced them here to meet him. Armand replied quickly.

"Dragons and Roses?" Philip laughed, "Ah, that's the one who played 'The Governor of the Island,' right?" Well, the acting was good, I went to see it. Especially at the end of the curtain call, that Sancho of yours suddenly stood up straight, and he was actually the tallest one among the actors, which was really funny. But the best thing is your will, the noble are not necessarily wise and upright, but the lowly can also be noble. Good script! Who wrote this script? ”

Although Denardi did not know the origin of this Monsieur Philippe, he also judged from Armand's attitude and the fact that Philippe claimed to be a friend of Armand's uncle Lavoisier, and that this Monsieur Philippe was not as ordinary as he was dressed. He was probably a man of great status, and even ...... A conjecture popped up in Denardi's mind.

So he replied respectfully: "Monsieur Philippe, I made the draft of this script myself, and then Armand revised it for me, and it is completely different, and as for the last big man to play Sancho, it was the creativity of this Monsieur Bonaparte." ”

"Ah, Armand, I'm glad to hear that you've done something truly meaningful." Philip laughed, "Monsieur Denardi, well, Joseph, you are a classmate of Armand, so I will call you Joseph as well." Drama is a great art that can influence and educate many people. I hope to see more of your good works in the future. ”

With that, he stood up, raised his hat slightly, and said, "I saw a friend of mine coming. I lost my company first. ”

With that, he left their table and walked to the other side.

Seeing that Philippe was walking away, Denardi lowered his voice and said, "Armand, this Mr. Philippe ......"

Armand also lowered his voice and said, "He is the master here, His Royal Highness Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke Charlie." I really didn't expect to meet him here. ”

"Is this His Royal Highness Duke Charles?" Joseph was also taken aback, "I don't see a great nobleman at all." ”

"His Royal Highness the Duke is originally a different nobleman, and he and the Empress are exactly two extremes." Armand whispered.

Joseph had not studied history in his previous life, and he knew only a few cursory things about the Revolution that would follow, and he did not know the crucial role played by the duke, who would later be called "Philip the Equal", in the Revolution. The people he could remember were the so-called "Jacobin Triumvirate" Robespierre, Marat, and Danton.

However, Joseph did not want to have too deep contact with these people at this time, for a period of time after the start of the Revolution, the situation was too chaotic, today John cut off Luke's head, tomorrow Matthew cut off John's head, no matter who he was too close to, it was dangerous, and he could go to the guillotine. Joseph even planned to find an excuse to go back to Corsica before the Revolution began.

The three of them continued to negotiate the way of cooperation and the reward, and then said goodbye to each other.

When he returned to his lodgings, he saw Father Jean-Jacques approaching with a letter and said, "Ah, Joseph, are you back?" Well, your brother sent you a letter. ”

Joseph hurriedly took the letter, thanked Father Jean-Jacques, and went back to his room. He sat down at the table by his small window, picked up the small knife on the table, cut open the envelope, took out the letter and read it.

The contents of the letter were in fact something that Joseph had known for a long time, and Napoleon had successfully received the recommendation, and in about a month, that is, around the 20th of November, he would be able to leave for Paris.