"You... I don't know when you started playing pantomimes."

Lawrence turned slowly, chuckled and walked back to Justice Mopp and said.

It can be seen that His Excellency the Lord Chancellor also thought deeply about his position after learning of the loss of power of the Duke of Richelieu.

"This is not a dumb mystery, Lord Bonaparte."

Justice Mopp glanced at Lawrence, his expression was not at all as relaxed as Lawrence's face, but said in a gloomy and solemn manner:

"Just a kind reminder. The Duke of Richelieu is not so vulnerable, and it is not for nothing that the Richelieu family has been able to stand for two hundred years, and he still has a back hand that will be fatal to you."

Lawrence gradually retracted his smile and stared into Justice Mopp's eyes.

In fact, Lord Mopp reminded Lawrence that when he and the Duke of Choiseul first went to Versailles, they bumped into the Duke of Richelieu and the British ambassador, Baron Betura, who were walking together.

At that time, Lawrence had already assumed that there must be some conspiracy between the two, but there was no sign of it until now.

"If I had to say that there was any indication... That's the British fleet in Gibraltar that the Duke of Choisell had mentioned."

Lawrence frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at Justice Mup and asked:

"You want to reveal something... Message?"

"No, I don't know what the Duke of Richelieu's backhand is, and he hides it from me."

Justice Mopp shook his head slightly and said:

"All I know is that it's related to the British."

"British..."

Lawrence leaned back in his chair, his fingers unconsciously tracing the outline of the Western Mediterranean on the table, and his mind thought quickly:

"The famine in Naples, the British fleet in Gibraltar, and the trickery of the Duke of Richelieu, are these three independent... Or is there a connection between some or two things.... If it's the worst-case scenario..."

After half a minute of hard thought, Lawrence put away these thoughts for the time being, in any case, sitting thousands of miles away in Paris, he could not come up with a result, and all the answers had to be explored after returning to Corsica.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency."

Lawrence stood up again and asked kindly knowingly:

"I don't know how you became so kind today."

Justice Mopp behind the desk ignored Lawrence's quips, and without a ripple on his gloomy face, he still said solemnly:

"I've just reconsidered my position, but you, Lord Bonaparte, when will you find time to think about yourself?"

Lawrence glanced at Justice Mopp without replying, then tucked the heavy file bag under his arm, swung the chair back into place, and walked straight out the door.

It wasn't until he reached the door that Lawrence suddenly shook his head and said:

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No, of course you do, you do."

Justice Mopp did not prevent Lawrence from leaving, but sat behind his desk and said to Lawrence:

"Following the Duke of Choiseul is a good choice, and you can get to where you are today in just a few months, and most of the credit goes to him. But what next? The Duke of Choiseul will stand over you like a ceiling, and no matter how hard you try, you can't get past him. And if you want to keep going... The only way to do that is to shatter this ceiling."

The two men in this office were standing at the very top of the Parisian political scene, and Lawrence instantly understood what Justice Mup meant by breaking the ceiling, and even more so what he meant by saying this at this moment.

Lawrence stopped where he was, shrugged his shoulders and said:

"Thank you for putting yourself in my shoes and thinking so much for me, but unfortunately I can't share my thoughts with you."

"Of course you can keep it

My own opinion, Lord Bonaparte, I am merely imparting some experience to you as an elder."

Justice Mapp didn't care about Lawrence's lukewarm reaction, but said to himself:

"What I want to tell you is that politics is about making yourself more and more friends and having fewer and fewer enemies. And you, Lord Bonaparte, do not seem to have many friends in Paris, especially when you are about to break the skylight, and you are even more alone. I think you'll need the help of a strong and faithful friend, right?"

"That's a good point, Your Excellency. a strong and faithful friend."

Lawrence chuckled and shook his head, jokingly:

"It's not easy to find such a person, I'm looking for such a person, if you happen to know someone you know, please introduce it to me."

Hearing Lawrence's words, Justice Mapp couldn't help frowning, and he completely heard the meaning of Lawrence's words, which was to accuse himself of not being a so-called capable and loyal friend.

After all, Justice Mapp had just parted ways with the Duke of Richelieu, and he had not provided any help to the Duke of Rëchelieu's house arrest in Versailles this time.

"Enough, Lord Bonaparte."

Anyway, there were only two people here, and Justice Mopu didn't want to play with words anymore, so he said in a deep voice:

"I suggest you think about what I've said, we can be very good friends, better friends than you and the Duke of Choiseul, because we don't have a conflict of core interests."

"Core interests?" Lawrence asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Your core interests are in Ajaccio, my core interests are in Paris and Versailles, and there will be no conflict between us." Justice Mopp knocked on the table and said confidently.

Lawrence smiled and glanced at Justice Mopp, then pretended to take out his pocket watch and look at it, and said in surprise:

"Oh my God, it's already this point, I'm sorry I can't talk to you, Your Excellency, there's something urgent waiting for me."

Justice Mopp nodded slightly, and said nothing more, he had already said everything that needed to be said, and he was confident that Lawrence would consider it and accept his proposal. Unless Lawrence is willing to stand still in political standing until the death of the Duke of Choiseul or the succession of Crown Prince Louis.

After leaving the Palace of Justice, Lawrence sat in the carriage on the way back, closing his eyes and recuperating while recalling the words of the official Mopp Dafa.

"As the future chief minister of history, he has a very good grasp of my current situation."

Lawrence closed his eyes and whispered:

"It's just that Your Excellency is still wrong about something. My core interests are not limited to Ajaccio. Paris, Versailles, Ajaccio, I'll hold them all in my own hands."

......

In the days that followed, Lawrence continued to go to the Palais de Justice every afternoon to continue the treaty with Justice Mope to complete the treaty of Corsica's submission to the Bourbon crown.

However, in the next few negotiations, Justice Mapp did not mention Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul again, but focused all his attention on the negotiations themselves.

And on the controversial terms of the negotiations, Justice Mopp also made all the active concessions.

Lawrence was also well aware of Justice Mopp's careful thoughts, so he quietly accepted these small favors.

During the negotiations, Rousseau, who was highly valued by Lawrence, was soon released from the Judicial Palace, and he personally took his wife to visit Lawrence on the Champs-Élysées, and was invited by Lawrence to stay there for a while, and to return to Corsica with him in a few days.

The day after the treaty was fully completed, an official order from the Palace of Versailles was sent from the Palace of Versailles, nominally requesting that Lawrence return to Corsica immediately to prepare for the coronation.

The same goes for the Duke of Choiseul

He was also formally urged by the king to immediately go to Dijon for a judicial investigation, which was also the responsibility he had taken on himself at that banquet.

Of course, the king's actual intentions were well known to the top of the political world, and this was to counterbalance the Duke of Richelieu and the Duke of Choiseul and prevent the scales from tilting too much in favor of one faction.

...

By July 10, Lawrence had already given an account of his affairs in Paris.

On the side of the Corsican National Silver Company, which was by far the most important, Lawrence entrusted Monsieur Montmartre and Lord Merry to take care of it, and of course, for this complete shell company, the so-called care was nothing more than a trick to trick the investors with the newspapers.

Monsieur Montmartre and Lord Merry were already deeply involved in the Corsican National Silver Company, which they took more seriously than their own industry, lest the financial bomb should explode in their own hands in advance. With such a link of interests, Lawrence is also quite relieved for the two.

In addition, Crown Prince Louis will stay in Paris for a short time, and he is still the nominal shareholder representative of the company, so he does not worry about any problems with investor confidence if he stays in Paris.

As for Jean Dubarry, who had recently taken a lot of effort to domesticate by Lawrence, Lawrence had reached an agreement with the Duke of Choiseul to use him as a weapon in his next attack on the Duke of Richelieu.

Lawrence therefore secretly transferred him to the Duke of Choiseul's men, put him under house arrest and occasionally appeared in public, thus confirming that Dubarry had not been kidnapped at all, but had been busy lately because he had to deal with personal finances.

In addition, Lawrence had nothing to do in Paris, after all, he had only been in Paris for two months, and he had no power of his own, and other affairs could be left to the Duke of Choiseul's subordinates.

On the morning of July 10, Crown Prince Louis personally rushed from the Tuinleries Palace to the Champs-Élysées to see Lawrence off.

Hearing that his closest friend was leaving Paris after only ten days of companionship, Crown Prince Louis also felt reluctant to do so, and the next time the two met was not sure when.

Crown Prince Louis even wanted to write a letter to his grandfather asking Lawrence to stay in Paris, but Lawrence hurriedly stopped him, after all, it would be embarrassing if King Louis misunderstood that he had instructed him.

"Oh... Lawrence, I don't even know what to say."

On the Champs-Élysées, which was guarded by the royal guards, Crown Prince Louis, dressed in white civilian clothes, personally took Lawrence's hand and walked to the carriage, sighing repeatedly:

"Ugh... A thousand words swirled in my throat, and when they came to my lips, I did not know what words to spit out to describe my sorrow, and perhaps I should take the court poet with me, so that you could fully understand how I was feeling at the moment. Alas, parting."

The sincere and sentimental voice of Crown Prince Louis echoed in the deserted Champs-Élysées, and even the halberd-wielding guards on both sides of the street could not help but look sideways at the Crown Prince, and they all sighed in their hearts that this was the first time they had seen such a sentimental look of a member of the royal family.

"Your Highness, it won't be long before I'll be back in Paris."

Lawrence smiled helplessly, held the hand of Crown Prince Louis and explained:

"And Corsica still has my people, and I can't stay in Paris forever."

"I know that's the case, but I still feel sad. I have a hunch that Paris is going to be boring in the next few months."

Crown Prince Louis nodded with a wry smile.

Then Crown Prince Louis suddenly remembered something, and actually reached out and took off a delicate pure gold cross that he was wearing around his neck, and stuffed it directly into Lawrence's hand, and said worriedly:

"I've also heard the Duke of Choiseul mention the situation near Corsica, and he says that there might be some unrest in the area. Dear Lawrence, this is the Holy Cross blessed by Pope Clement XIV, and I hope that God will bless you with a safe return, so take care."

Lawrence

He took the still warm gold cross necklace, solemnly hung it around his neck, then hugged Crown Prince Louis, and got into the carriage that had been prepared, and slowly drove with a long convoy out of Paris.

......

In the afternoon, in the west wing of the Palace of Versailles, in a modest building near the back garden.

"Your Excellency, someone has come to visit you."

Wearing a silver wig and a meticulous expression, the attendant walked into the small study of the small building and reported to the Duke of Richelieu, who was taking a nap.

The Duke of Richelieu woke up and asked a little tiredly:

"Visit? Who's coming?"

"British Ambassador, Baron Betura."

The squire said lukewarmly, and he, as a squire assigned directly to the Duke of Richelieu by King Louis, was not so much to serve as to spy on the Duke of Richelieu. Whoever the duke has talked to, the squire must report to the king the next day.

"Baron Betura... Let him in."

A gleam flashed in the Duke of Richelieu's eyes, but he quickly concealed it with a tired look.

Soon, Baron Betula laboriously squeezed into the cramped study, with the attendant present.

"Baron Betura, what do you think of visiting me, an old man who is about to enter the earth, today?"

The Duke of Richelieu greeted politely, while cautiously slanting his eyes to the attendant who was in charge of watching.

Baron Betula also understood and knew that the Duke of Richelieu was under surveillance, so he said with a smile:

"You're laughing. But I have come today to say goodbye to you, and I am going to leave Paris for a while, thinking that since I have been taken care of by you before, it is necessary to speak to you personally."

"Leave Paris for a while...?" The Duke of Richelieu sat up suddenly, squinted his eyes and asked:

"Why did you leave Paris all of a sudden, an ambassador?"

"As you know, there were still some disputes in that armed conflict between Corsica and Britain that had not been fully resolved."

Baron Betula said as if intentionally or unintentionally:

"My Government has entrusted me with the task of resolving this incident diplomatically, and I have been informed that the Governor of Corsica has left Paris this morning, and that I have to follow him to Corsica in order to resolve the conflict as soon as possible."

The armed conflict to which Baron Betula was referring was the massacre of the civilians of Ajaccio by the officers and men of the ship Reasonable on April 1 and the burning at the stake by Lawrence of all the officers of the Reasonable.

Although Lawrence and Baron Betula agreed that the British would exchange St. Kitts for their former prime minister, the hundreds of British sailors and prisoners of war on Corsica had not yet been found.

It was therefore understandable that Baron Betula was so anxious to follow Corsica, at least the squire who was on surveillance felt that it was completely understandable.

"That's right, you'll have to work hard for a while."

The Duke of Richelieu nodded with a smile, waved his hand and said:

"Okay, okay, I know, you go about your business, and we'll see you when you get back to Paris."

The attendant watched solemnly as Baron Betula left the small building, then returned to his room to record the meeting that sounded normal and without any problems.

And in the dimly lit little study, the Duke of Richelieu recalled the information brought by Baron Betula, and couldn't help clenching his fists and muttering in a low voice:

"Finally, the wheels are turning."