June 6, 1770, three days after the end of the hunt at Versailles.

And in the early morning of this day, on the gravel road of Versailles, a troika decorated with She Hao was smoothly driving towards the center of all France, the Palace of Versailles.

The pedestrians on both sides of the street also looked at the carriage with envy and respect, because they recognized the coats of arms drawn on both sides of the carriage.

For the aristocracy, the yellow cross on a blue background and the yellow rectangular coat of arms should be recognizable even if it does not require much knowledge of heraldry, because it is the coat of arms of the famous Choiseul family.

And the identity of the owner of this carriage is self-evident.

"We'll be at the palace in about an hour."

In the carriage, the Duke of Choiseul took out his gold pocket watch and looked at it, smiled and looked at Lawrence opposite and asked:

"Governor Bonaparte, you should be ready."

The Duke of Choiseul, as an important minister and favored courtier, was of course experienced in this kind of banquet, and as long as he stayed in Versailles, he received invitations from Louis XV almost every month.

Therefore, he did not have any special feelings about this ordinary royal banquet.

"If you're talking about those damn court rituals, I don't think I'm ready."

Lawrence shrugged and joked casually.

During these three days, Lawrence did not return to Paris, but temporarily lived in the estate of the Duke of Choiseul, claiming to be recuperating from his wounds, but in fact to make up for court etiquette.

While it was a blessing to be received by the King, the red tape that ensued was much to Lawrence's dismay.

For this purpose, the Duke of Choiseul sent Monsieur Lund, who was in Paris, to personally guide Lawrence's court ceremonies.

Mr. Lund, as a qualified chamberlain, was quite proficient in the elaborate courtly etiquette, but Lawrence, who came from later generations, apparently did not know much about it.

By the time Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul got up for Versailles, he had only mastered the etiquette of facing the king.

"Haha, you have to be glad that the current king is not his great-grandfather, otherwise your rudeness at the court is not as simple as making a fool of yourself, it is really possible to go to the guillotine."

The Duke of Choiseul laughed and said:

"But you don't have to worry, anyway, everyone knows that you are a foreigner, and there will be no high etiquette requirements for you. To be honest, it's good that you can speak French so fluently. ”

Lawrence nodded, he had the impression that Louis XV was indeed much more generous than his great-grandfather Louis XIV, at least not angry at his negligence in etiquette.

"If I have the chance, I'm going to have to ban all these damn court rituals, I think it's good to shake hands and bow."

Lawrence also laughed twice at Duke Choiseul, looked out the window, and said very casually.

"Hey, then you can only try it in Corsica, there are a lot of vassal and elegant guys in France, their grandfather may not be a poor peasant, and they themselves have to talk and walk like a king."

"Maybe there's a chance." Lawrence just smiled and said in a joking tone.

......

Amid the laughter of Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, the carriage slowly approached the glorious Palace of Versailles.

Although it was still early in the morning, there was already a long queue of carriages at the gates of the Palace of Versailles, and their carriages were painted with all kinds of noble coats of arms that Lawrence did not know, and they were obviously all people of status who came to the banquet.

Although the banquet does not begin until around the end of the evening, most of the people, with the exception of a few nobles who actually come to the banquet to eat, drink and have fun, take the opportunity to spend the whole day at the Palace of Versailles, which is the center of power in all of France.

"This is the Palace of Versailles, it's really good."

Lawrence sat in the carriage and nodded.

Although only the gates of Versailles can be seen, judging by the marble walls and the well-trained royal guards at the entrance, this is indeed a court worthy of being called the heart of Europe.

It is no wonder that in the heyday of the Palace of Versailles, a quarter of France's financial revenue was spent here.

"Not bad? My dear Lawrence, there are nearly forty thousand people living in it, and there are four thousand in the Horse Guards alone, which is not a 'good' to describe. ”

Seeing Lawrence's unfazed comment, the Duke of Choiseul shook his head again and again and said:

"If you count the guards and the royal police, the population of all Corsica is not as large as here."

Lawrence nodded approvingly, but according to Duke Choiseul's counting of servants and guards, the Forbidden City was about the same size in its heyday, so he went on to say:

"Perhaps, but palaces of this size exist in the East."

"Oh? Orient? You mean India? I've heard explorers say it's basically full of monkeys. Duke Choiseul asked with a frown.

"It's true that India is basically monkeys, but I'm talking about an ancient country further east of India." Lawrence shook his head.

"Oh-"

The Duke of Choiseul nodded in understanding, and said with some regret:

"It's a pity that I'm an old bone and don't have a chance to see what you're talking about."

"Then I can bring you a set of albums back in the future."

Lawrence closed his eyes and said slowly:

"I'll go there once."

...

The procession moved slowly, and it was a long time before the carriage of the Duke of Choiseul reached the gate.

Although Lawrence thought that this short distance could be walked on foot, in the eyes of a traditional aristocrat like the Duke of Choiseul, it was only a horse-drawn carriage to reach the destination.

The two men stepped out of the carriage with the help of the stable, and two guards at the door stepped forward.

One of them looked lazily at the Duke of Choiseul and Lawrence, and said in a loud voice:

"Gentlemen, please show me your invitations, and we need to conduct a security check on you."

Before the guard could finish speaking, he saw an officer who looked like a captain rushing out of the barracks not far away.

He came up and slapped the two guards twice on their helmets, and scolded them sharply:

"Two idiots! Get out of here! ”

After that, before the Duke of Choiseul could say anything, the officer quickly bowed to him and said sincerely:

"I'm sorry Lord Duke, they're both new here. Please come in and have a pleasant banquet. ”

The Duke of Choiseul nodded, didn't say anything, and walked into the Palace of Versailles with Lawrence as a matter of course.

It wasn't until the two of them had gone away that the officer looked hateful and pointed at the two guards and scolded:

"You're blind! Don't look at what is painted on their carriage, it's the Duke of Choiseul, you dare to stop such a big man?! ”

The two guards also looked like they were in trouble, but they still carefully defended:

"But what if the Duke of Choiseul doesn't have an invitation either..."

"Bullshit!" The officer was even more annoyed, pointed to the noses of the two and scolded:

"I think you'd better buy more newspapers and read them, do you know that the King and the Duke of Choiseul call each other brothers?! Which of the king's banquets was he not allowed to attend? ”

"Yes, sir... But the young man next to the duke, I don't think he looks like a nobleman—" The two of them asked with some reluctance.

The officer cautiously glanced sideways at Lawrence's back, and said affirmatively:

"Whoever can get so close to the Duke of Choiseul must be the governor of Corsica. I've heard that he beat the eldest grandson of the Duke of Richelieu into a eunuch two days ago, and if you annoy him... Hum! ”

When the two guards heard this, their faces immediately tightened, and they subconsciously covered their crotches, sighing again and again that they were fortunate not to offend this character.

......

"Let me see the time... Oh, it's still so early. ”

Walking in the marble courtyard at the entrance of the Palace of Versailles, the Duke of Choiseul took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and saw that it was only ten o'clock in the morning, and said to Lawrence very easily:

"There's nothing to do before the banquet, let's just do whatever we want and wait for the evening to come, the Palace of Versailles is a good place to have fun, I like the pool table in the Venus Hall, and the Royal Opera House is also good, but the level is not as good as the Paris Comédie."

Lawrence smiled wryly and nodded, it is estimated that only a person of the status of the Duke of Choiseul can use the Palace of Versailles as a place to play.

And just as Lawrence was looking around, thinking about what to do to pass the time, a somewhat unexpected figure suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

"Huh? Doge Bonaparte, what's wrong? The Duke of Choiseul asked puzzled when he saw Lawrence's sudden frown.

Lawrence stretched out his finger slightly, pointed to the two men who were walking side by side not far in front of him, and said in a low voice:

"The two people in front, the one on the left, are they the Duke of Richelieu?"

When the Duke of Choiseul heard this, he quickly narrowed his eyes, and then said with the same frown:

"Yes, it's definitely the damn old man, I didn't expect him to actually attend this banquet in person. Hmph, I guess I can't sit still when I hear the bad news about my grandson. ”

Lawrence also agreed with the Duke of Choiseul, after all, the Duke of Richelieu was seventy-four years old, and under normal circumstances, he would definitely not attend such an ordinary banquet.

However, this also means that the Duke of Richelieu must have come for Lawrence, so he may already have a way to deal with Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul.

"Wait... The guy next to him..."

The Duke of Choiseul did not immediately look away after confirming the identity of the Duke of Richelieu, but looked closely at the man beside the Duke of Richelieu and said in a low voice:

"If I'm not mistaken, it's Baron Betura."

"Baron Betura?" Lawrence thought he had heard the name next to the Duke of Choiseul, but couldn't remember it for a moment.

The Duke of Choiseul nodded and added:

"I'm an old Englishman, and I'm also England's envoy to France, and I used to have a good relationship with him, but because of what you did in Corsica, I got into a bit of a stalemate with him."

Lawrence looked at the Duke of Richelieu with some surprise, although there was no problem for a duke to walk side by side with the ambassador of England at the Palace of Versailles, but at this sensitive moment, this scene still made Lawrence a little suspicious.

The Duke of Choiseul apparently thought so, and he stroked his beard thoughtfully, and said in a deep voice:

Let's try it soon, everyone. 】

"It's kind of intriguing, they must have gotten off the same carriage like this, which means they were together earlier, um..."

"How is the personal relationship between the Duke of Richelieu and the Baron Betula?" Lawrence raced through his mind and asked.

"Personal relationship? It's hard to have a personal relationship between the English and the French, and if there's one thing I have in common with the Duke of Richelieu, it's that we both hate the British. ”

Duke Choiseul said.

Lawrence agrees:

"This is also what Corsicans and the French have in common. Then again, that means that they are likely to have a political relationship together? ”

"Government affairs..."

The Duke of Choiseul pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said:

"Although the Duke of Richelieu was reinstated by the High Court four years ago, he had no power at all, that is, he was only called a French marshal, and his position was basically reflected in his influence."

Lawrence and Duke Choiseul glanced at each other, both of them already sensing that something was wrong.

If the Duke of Choiseul had a good relationship with the English ambassador, it was because the Duke of Choiseul was in charge of France's foreign policy, then it was indeed a little suspicious that the Duke of Richelieu walked with the English ambassador without personal or political affairs.

The two men then kept some distance from the Duke of Richelieu and followed them for a while.

Fortunately, the Palace of Versailles was still crowded today, and the tracking of the two was not noticed.

Eventually, under the watchful eyes of Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, the Duke of Richelieu and Baron Betula entered the Royal Opera House in the east wing of the Palace of Versailles.

Seeing this, the two also gave up and continued to follow, and it was still easy for them to detect in the environment of the theater, and the Duke of Richelieu, like the Duke of Choiseul, had his own private box in the Royal Opera House.

"What do you think, Governor Bonaparte?"

The Duke of Choiseul and Lawrence stood in front of the Royal Opera House, leaning against the wall and whispering:

"In this case, the only thing that can bring the two of them together is some common interests."

"It's very likely." Lawrence nodded in affirmation:

"But maybe they really just happened to meet in the Palace of Versailles, and I think I still have to be in direct contact with them to make a conclusion."

"Direct contact? And Baron Betula, you mean? ”

The Duke of Choiseul also nodded again and again when he heard this, and said very approvingly:

"Hey, that's just right, you'll have to talk to him about the execution of the officer aboard the Reasonable in Corsica, so take advantage of this opportunity."

With that, the Duke of Choiseul summoned a passing servant and told him to inform his men at the Palace of Versailles, and ordered them to wait at the door of the Royal Opera House until Baron Betula came out.

"By the way, Your Excellency the Duke, it must be a felony in France to fornicate with the British."

Seeing that Duke Choisell had finished his order, Lawrence suddenly asked.

"Of course, this can be considered treason."

Duke Choiseul realized something, frowned and asked:

"Can you be sure that the Duke of Richelieu had an affair with the English?"

"No, I'm not sure."

Lawrence shrugged and said:

"I just hope that in terms of results, he really had an affair with the British."

The Duke of Choiseul chuckled lightly and asked understandingly, "What about the process?" ”

Lawrence replied, shaking his head:

"Who cares how the process goes."

82 Chinese Net