The day after the premiere, Armand and the Dragons and Roses received a number of new invitations. And among these invitations, there is one invitation that stands out from the rest. Because it did not come from a theater, but from one of the members of the "National Constituent Assembly", Monsieur Robespierre.

If the person who saw the invitation was Joseph, he might have been taken aback, for Monsieur Robespierre was later known as a "murderer", and according to some accounts, during his reign in France, a high guillotine was erected in the center of every square in Paris; On each lamp pole hangs an "enemy of the people" who has been sentenced to death. Later generations even made up an epitaph for him: "I, Robespierre, rest here, passers-by, do not mourn for me, O passers-by, if I live, none of you will live!" ”

Joseph believed that after the fall of Robespierre, almost no one of his enemies, from the Thermidorians to the later Emperor Napoleon, to the restored Louis XVIII, would like this guy who was "incorruptible, defender of the people, who created the motto: 'Liberty, equality, fraternity' (Robespierre's true epitaph). So throwing sewage on his head is almost a sure thing. Just as during the Bourbon Restoration, they invented all sorts of delightful stories about Napoleon, portraying him as a combination of "Daldiuf" (the protagonist of Molière's comedy "The Hypocrite") and "Don Juan" (a name synonymous with womanizers in Europe). Therefore, the legends about Robespierre's moodiness and pleasure in killing people are mostly unreliable. However, even after considering all this, one thing is still certain, that is, this "incorruptible, defender of the people" has indeed killed many people, and many of them were people who were once in the same trench as him. If Robespierre took pleasure in killing, it was probably slandering him; But if Robespierre was accustomed to solving problems by "getting rid of the people who made the problem," it probably wouldn't be false. In general, that is: it is very dangerous to become an enemy of Robespierre; But being a friend of Robespierre doesn't necessarily mean that it's safe.

But Armand didn't know any of this, and at this time, Robespierre's reputation was just right. He spoke more than 200 times during the Estates-General and the Constituent Assembly, ranking 20th among the delegates. In his speeches, he supported universal suffrage for male citizens, opposed the king's veto, supported civil rights for Jews, called for the abolition of slavery and the death penalty, and opposed censorship. (Yes, you read that right, Robespierre, the "murderer" was a death-canceling maniac.) Strange? It's not surprising, it's just a piece of evidence that the ass decides the head. When Robespierre was an abolitionist, the death penalty was in the hands of King Louis XVI, and it threatened "people" like Robespierre. So Robespierre, as a "Diao Min", naturally opposed it. And when this tool fell into the hands of Robespierre, the situation was naturally different. Speaking of which, Louis XVI had just completed the only technological invention of his life - to improve the design of the guillotine and increase its efficiency. Ironically, the first user of this improved guillotine was Louis XVI himself. Master Lu's poem: "As soon as your face is broad, you will change, and your beheadings will increase." Suddenly, he went into the wilderness, and there was no Amitabha in the south. "It can be a portrayal of these people. ）

Most of Robespierre's recommendations were not adopted, but they gave him the reputation of the "Incorruptible". Now that he has been invited, Armand is naturally overjoyed. And the location provided by Robespierre is also very special, this place is the Palace of Royal.

Originally built for Richelieu, Prime Minister of Louis XIII, the Palais Royal was once known as the Cardinal Palace (Richelieu was a cardinal of France) and later became the residence of the Duke of Orleans. In order to win over the people of Paris, the House of Orleans opened it to the public in 1780. Since then, this private garden palace has gradually become a public square for the Parisian people. Of course, there must be the Duke of Orleans behind this. Now his political ambitions can be said to be well known to passers-by.

During the French Revolution of 1789, Paris had two political centers. One is Versailles, outside of Paris, where the Estates-General are taking place to decide the fate of France. The other is the Royal Palace in the heart of Paris. During that time, it was a thermometer for measuring the political fanaticism of the Parisian populace. These are the two political authorities, and if you compare them, after July 14, 1789, it was not Versailles but Royal who led France. Because Versailles could not influence Royal; Royal, in turn, was able to dominate Versailles.

The Palais Royal is a large palace with a capacity of tens of thousands of people, a place where all kinds of political pamphlets and orators are produced, and of course there is no shortage of spectators and listeners. Since the Estates-General, people have exchanged information here, including from Versailles; At the same time, it turned it into all kinds of rumors and spread it. If Armand's play could be staged here, even if it was only for once, it would definitely make Armand famous.

After a little consideration, Armand accepted the invitation. In the evening of the same day, he also took the lead actor Louis to visit Robespierre.

Robespierre was staying in a hotel near the town hall at this time. In fact, he could have had a better place to live—many members of the Constituent Assembly had accepted the kindness of the Duke of Orléans or the Marquis of Falayet for security reasons. But the "incorruptible" still lived in an ordinary hotel at their own expense. However, Robespierre won some lawsuits when he was a lawyer, so he was in a good financial situation, and he lived in a good hotel, with a small living room with a sofa in addition to his bedroom.

Armand took Louis with him, led by a waiter, to the third floor. This is the top floor of the inn, which is a bit quieter than the first and second floors, which is perhaps one of the reasons why Robespierre chose to stay here.

The waiter led Armand and Louis to a door and knocked softly.

"The door is open. Please come in. A hearty voice came from inside.

The waiter pushed open the door and said inside, "Monsieur Robespierre, Monsieur Lavoisier, and Monsieur Saint-Just have come to visit by appointment." ”

Yes, Louis's surname was Saint-Juste. If Joseph had known his surname the last time he met him, he would have looked at this handsome young man who didn't talk much. Because although Joseph, who was an engineering dog in his previous life, was not particularly familiar with the history of the French Revolution, he had read Victor Hugo's "Ninety-Three Years", and from the annotations of that novel, he also knew Robespierre's most hardcore younger brother, Saint-Juste, known as the "Archangel of the Revolution" or "Archangel of Terror".

But even if Armand doesn't mention his last name when he introduces Joseph to St. Juste, Joseph should have thought that he was the "Archangel of the Terrible" because of his incomparable beauty.

"Please come in, gentlemen." There was a voice in the room, but there was no one in the living room.

"I'm sorry, I'm writing a manuscript and I'll be done in a few words, so please wait a little while on the couch. Hey, Henry, you can greet them for me and pour them a cup of tea, thank you. The voice came from the study on the other side of the living room.

The waiter led them into the living room, sat them down on the sofa, and poured them tea. The tea is Indian black tea, but the quality is very average, and Joseph is probably not going to drink it, because he knows that the low-grade tea leaves of this era are often added patina to hide mildew, and drinking this thing is not good for health at all.

Armand and Saint-Juste had no such concerns, so they sat down on the sofa and drank their tea.

After another two minutes, the words came from the study: "Finally finished!" Sorry to keep you waiting. ”

With this voice, a young man walked out, perhaps because he had stayed up all night, his face was a little pale, but his expression was serious. His lips were thin and his gaze was calm. His cheeks twitched a little nervously, which made his smile look a little unnatural. According to the custom of lawyers, his face was powdered, gloves were on, his clothes were neatly brushed, the buttons were neatly buttoned, and there was not a single fold on the light blue jacket. The lower body is beige overpants, white stockings, shoes with silver buckles, high ties, and a crotch trim on the placket.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to be able to handle it so quickly." Robespierre stretched out his hand to shake hands with them, "I went to see your premiere yesterday, and when I came back, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night, and my ears were full of your war songs, and those stirring speeches of our Spartacus. I had forgotten about my work, and it wasn't until a while ago that I remembered that I was going to give a speech in parliament tomorrow, and I looked at the time, and I guess you would have an hour or two to arrive, so I went to draft the manuscript first. I have a problem with this person, once I start writing, I can't interrupt it in between. I'll have to keep you waiting here. I hope you don't think I'm deliberately trying to snub you. ”

"I understand that." "I don't like to interrupt halfway through what I'm doing. ”

"Do you know the purpose of inviting you to perform at the Palais Royal this time?" Robespierre sat down on the couch and asked very directly.

"You want to put pressure on the king through this drama." St. Just replied almost without thinking.

The young St. Juster's reaction was evidently faster than Robespierre had expected, and he was stunned for a moment, then said, "You are right, this is indeed one of our purposes. Obviously, there are political considerations behind our invitation, and if you accept our invitation, you may also get into some political risks. I don't want to drag you into the political maelstrom without knowing anything about it. Well, as you know, the current situation is quite tense and dangerous. ”