In the splendid main theater, as Lawrence and Duke Aegion stepped in, the attention of the guests instantly focused on these two.

Although almost none of the wealthy merchants present had the privilege of seeing the Duke of Agilon himself, the duke's clothes and family crest made these keen guests immediately realize his honorable status: "The duke... Red inverted triangle coat of arms on white background... Is he from the Richelieu family? ”

"A Duke of the Richelieu family in the prime of life, he can't be wrong, he must be the Duke of Ageillon."

"He actually came to this auction, and what a great energy it is for Your Excellency Bonaparte."

"Shhhh No, isn't Your Excellency Bonaparte quite at odds with the Duke of Richelieu, as the heir to the family, the Count of Falcone was beaten into a eunuch by him, how could the Duke of Aguion still come to participate in the auction of His Excellency Bonaparte. ”

"That's right... Could it be that the Duke of Agilon is here to deliberately seek trouble? But why did Lord Bonaparte let him in in that case?"

"I can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out." ... Crowds of whispers resounded at the Comédie de Paris, and the guests watched the Duke of Aguion as he watched the uninvited guest, whose unkind and vicious face hardly anyone believed that he had come to cheer for Lawrence.

What made the guests even more curious and worried was how His Excellency Bonaparte would allow this nemesis to blatantly participate in his own auction.

Lawrence, who had received much attention, acted as if he had not heard these discussions, and went straight to the free seat near the front row, and casually pointed out an empty seat for him: "Please take a seat quickly, Your Excellency the Duke, the auction will start soon." The Duke of Aegion frowned, glanced at the armchair with great disgust, and ignored the frightened expressions of the few guests around him, and said in a cold voice: "Your Excellency Bonaparte, are you humiliating me?" Want me to sit with these rancid moles? "It was a great shame for the pampered duke to sit in the theater only the lowly burghers, and to have his own box in any of the French theatres he entered, and to sit with these untouchables.

The surrounding guests listened to this straightforward insult, but they also dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, so they had to bow their heads timidly, for fear that the duke would spread his anger on himself.

Lawrence shrugged, pointed to the only box above the theater with a crimson drapery, and said, "I'm sorry, there are no more boxes left, so you can be a little wronged." ”

"None? Hmph, someone! The Duke of Agillon's mouth twitched, and directly waved his hand to call one of his personal attendants, pointed to the box upstairs and ordered: "Tell them that the Duke of Aguilon of the Richelieu family wants to borrow their box and let them pack up their things and get out within a minute." ”

"Yes!" The squire replied without hesitation, it was not the first time he had done such a thing. Lawrence, however, had no intention of stopping him, just clasped his hands to his chest and smiled as the attendant climbed up to the second floor with ease.

The Duke of Agilon looked at his men triumphantly, watching him swagger open the curtain and break into the box, like an arrogant tax collector patrolling his tax district.

In his previous experience, the middle class or the petty nobles in the box would soon roll out of the box humbly, respectfully invite themselves into the box, and some of the brightest would take the opportunity to say a few words of flattery, saying that it was their greatest honor for the great Duke of Agilon to use their box.

The guests in the theater couldn't help but look at the dog-fighting attendant with complicated expressions, and they all sighed that he was worthy of a noble duke, and such privileges and prestige were not available to everyone.

Duke Agiyon listened to the guests' comments mixed with envy and fear, and the corners of his mouth could not help but rise into a smug smile.

However, in the next second, the smile on Duke Agilon's face completely froze. I saw that less than twenty seconds after the attendant entered, he was directly pushed out by the people inside, and he didn't even leave any affection.

And the attendant even fled in too haste, one of his feet was unstable, and he rolled all the way from the second floor to the first floor, and after getting up, he was still swaying, like a drunk, he couldn't even tell the difference between the southeast and the northwest.

Looking at the embarrassed appearance of the attendant and the dumbfounded expression of the Duke of Ageon, I don't know which guest was the first to not hold back, and couldn't help laughing twice.

This happiness soon spread to the entire theater, and for a while, the theater was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, and those who didn't know it thought that an improvisational comedy was being staged here: "Hahaha, I really didn't expect to see that expression on a duke's face, did you see it, the speed of the change of face hahaha!" ”

"I wish there was an artist here, and it would be nice to be able to record that scene."

"But who's in the box upstairs? Offending the Duke of Agilon like this is estimated to end nothing. ”

"Who knows, probably the richest bankers, and I don't know how they had the confidence to throw out the Duke of Ageon's attendants." Duke Ageillon, who had been taken for fun, immediately felt a surge of anger in his heart, and he stepped forward in two steps, grabbed the squire's ear and shouted, "You shit! Didn't I ask you to give my name! The sharp pain in his ears suddenly made the attendant grin, and he had to reply without tears: "I... Lord Duke, I said it, and I told them when I went in that Lord Duke Agion asked them to get out of here immediately, and then..."

"What did you say?!" The Duke of Ageillon laughed angrily, let go of the attendant, and looked at the box upstairs with a hideous face: "Okay, I really admire those people, dare me accept this shameful humiliation, I think it is a few silver coins in their pockets that make them dizzy, thinking that they can run rampant in France if they have money?" I'm going to teach them a lesson. With that, the Duke of Agilon prepared to go upstairs himself, so that the rich merchants in the box could have a good understanding, and let them kneel in front of their boots and beg for mercy.

"That's it, Your Excellency." Only then did Lawrence press the Duke of Agilon's shoulder, shook his head and said, "You better sit still, as the organizer of this auction, I don't want to see anyone making trouble here." The Duke of Aguilon exhaled a vicious breath and shook Lawrence's hand away, and then, he looked at Lawrence, glared at the box upstairs with a vicious gaze, and said fiercely: "I should give you face, Lawrence Bonaparte, hmph, anyway, after the auction is over, it's not too late to clean up that group of rebellious fools." ”... As the Duke of Agilon took his seat, the heavy dark curtains on both sides of the theater were slowly pulled up, and the crystal lights on the stage were also lit up at the same time under the control of the mechanical ignition.

The guests also refocused their attention on the glittering stage, watching Lawrence step out from behind the curtain and stand solemnly in front of everyone.

"Good evening, good-hearted gentlemen and ladies." Lawrence bowed slightly, and said skillfully: "It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Paris Comédie Theatre tonight for this charity auction for our compatriots in need; I am glad to see that, even on this cold winter day, there is no shortage of warm and beating hearts in Paris..."The Duke of Ageillon, who was seated, was evidently disgusted by this false cliché, and he was eager to go up and expose the true face of this fame-seeking imp.

However, the Duke of Ageillon's sanity told him that he had a better way to turn this auction into a disaster for this Corsican boy.

After a thunderous round of applause, Lawrence officially announced the opening of the auction and motioned for the theater's assistants to bring the first lot to the stage.

Soon, a beautiful woman of a beupping figure came up with a fine officer's saber in red silk, and she raised it to the light so that the guests could clearly see the details of the golden-sheathed dagger.

"This is the saber used by Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe in the Seven Years' War." Lawrence also explained in a loud voice: "According to the general himself, this long sword accompanied him on his journey on the Eastern Front for several years, and the general also used this saber to cut the throats of twelve Brits; Monumental aside, the sword itself was a superb sabre, crafted by Vienna's finest swordsmith, and had no drawbacks other than a slightly heavy scabbard of pure gold, though I don't think its powerful new owner would have cared about it. The guests in the audience were also immediately attracted to their eyes, and it had to be said that an officer's saber from the former Austrian marshal and now a French lieutenant general was undoubtedly an excellent collection and ornament for the men present, especially those young men with strong blood: "General Jacques Philippe's saber?" It's really good, I kind of want to make a bid. ”

"Hmm... The sword itself was worth a thousand livres, not to mention that it was the sword that General Philip had used. ”

"It's worth about five thousand livres, and if it's less than that, I'll buy it." Guests are excited to estimate the value of the lot and their wallets, ready to bid for such a rare piece.

After a moment's wait, Lawrence announced, "Then, ladies and gentlemen, General Philip's saber has no starting bid, and now the bidding begins." And just as Lawrence finished speaking, and the guests were still hesitating to make an offer, only to hear a majestic but somewhat joking voice resounding throughout the theater: "I'll give a hundred livres." ”

"A hundred? It's better not to call it, who is this? ”

"It's just that a hundred livres can't even buy a sword hilt."

"Wait... The person who asked for the price seems to be...! The guests subconsciously looked at the speaker, and they were surprised to find that this was the Duke of Ageillon, who had just arrived at the auction.

The Duke of Ageillon sat cross-legged and glared at Lawrence defiantly, then glanced at the other guests in the theater with his chilling gaze.

The guests who were about to bid were stunned for a moment. Go and raise the price with the Duke of Aegion? The Duke doesn't have a very good reputation, and if he thinks he's deliberately going against him... At this time, a visitor who did not seem to have figured out the situation saw that everyone did not accept the price, so he casually answered: "I will pay five hundred..."

Seeing that the Duke of Agiyon turned his head and stared at the bidder without concealment, like a wolf staring at a weak fat rabbit.

Although the Duke had not said anything, his fierce gaze had already made it clear that he meant - anyone who dared to raise his price should be careful when he walked out of the Paris Comédie.

The atmosphere instantly dropped below freezing, and the sluggish bidder finally reacted at this time, so anxious that his whole body was sweating, and he shouted at Lawrence: "Sorry, sorry, Your Excellency Bonaparte!" I haven't decided yet! Lawrence didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.

The guests were even more silent when they saw this, for fear that they might annoy the notorious duke, who could not afford the revenge of a Duke of the Richelieu family.

For a moment, there was silence in the Paris Comédie Theater, and people could only hear the whirring wind outside and the sound of their own heartbeats.

At this moment, in addition to fear and apprehension, the hearts of the guests were filled with infinite doubts: why did His Excellency Bonaparte bring this notorious duke to the theater, did he not know that he would ruin the whole auction?

"Fifty thousand livres!" At this moment, a melodious and loud cries suddenly came from the second floor of the theater, which instantly broke the silence.

People looked in shock at the box on the second floor, which was covered by crimson curtains, and it was a chamberlain outside the box who shouted the high price of fifty thousand livres on behalf of his master: "Fifty thousand? This sword is worth five thousand at most, right? ”

"Could it be that the man is really here to do charity?"

"The key is that he also accepted the price of Duke Agilon, which is really bold."

"Who the hell is in there, who dares to take Duke Agilon so indifferently." ...

"This! Damn it! The Duke of Agiyon was stunned for a moment, and then slammed his fist on the armrest in anger.

The Duke knew very well in his heart that the value of the saber was only a few thousand livres, and he did not expect that the owner of the box would dare to accept his price, and he also shouted out the high price of fifty thousand livres, which could be called a provocation.

"It's kind of... Dare to make such a provocation to me ... I'd love to see how you're going to get out of the Paris Comédie tonight. The Duke waved his sleeves, gritted his teeth, and forced himself to calm down, vowing that he would show this unbelievable creature the power of the Richelieu family tonight.

Soon, after Lawrence symbolically confirmed twice that there was no price increase, the auction for this first lot was over.

This was followed by a women's bracelet made of gold thread, a centuries-old artifact from a count's collection.

Although the ladies in the field were fascinated by this magnificent ornament, this time none of them dared to speak first, and they all stared at the Duke of Ageillon in the front row.

Sure enough, as soon as Lawrence's introduction ended, the Duke of Agiyon immediately quoted the same extremely low price as last time: one hundred livres.

And the owner of the box on the second floor also seemed to be on the same page as the Duke of Ageillon, and still quoted the obviously inflated price of 50,000 livres.

This time, Duke Agion didn't say anything more, but his purple face and clenched fists showed that the duke's anger was still rising.

And for the audience invited to this auction, it was definitely the most bizarre bidding event they had ever participated in.

Whenever a new competitor was brought to the stage, the Duke of Agilon would call out a very low price, and the upstairs box would immediately call out a very high price to win the lot.

These guests didn't have the opportunity to interject in the middle of the price increase, or they didn't have the courage to increase the price at all.

This repetitive process continued nearly twenty times before it was over. At this time, the auction has also come to an end, and it is about to usher in its finale.

...

"Ladies and gentlemen, the last treasure that will be on display next must have been known to everyone in advance." Although the guests were not involved in the auction, Lawrence enthusiastically explained: "A tassel necklace set with twenty-two diamonds, it is said that it took three years for the craftsmen to collect its materials, and the whole necklace took seven years of polishing before it appeared on the chest of the Countess du Barry, I dare say that this necklace is bright enough to make it worthy of any princess and princess." As the finale was brought to the stage in a crystal box, the tired guests regained their spirits.

It can be said that most of the people present came for this diamond necklace, after all, such treasures are indeed rarely lost to the people, let alone at an auction.

For these shrewd profit-seekers, if they can buy the necklace at the right price, even if they break the bank, if they can find a willing buyer, whether it is a princess of Austria or a queen of Italy, it can make them a fortune.

In front of this lot, even if the Duke of Aegion still bids, they don't care, and when the naked interests are in front of them, these bourgeoisie can even regard the guillotine as nothing.

As for Duke Agilon, who was already numb with anger at this moment, his eyes were also firmly fixed on the diamond necklace.

He knew how much Madame Dubarry's mad woman cared about the necklace, and if he didn't bring it back to her in good condition, he might be mad again.

This time, the Duke of Agilon could even accept to pay for the necklace, and Madame du Barry would not hesitate to pay for the necklace again anyway, after all, if she wanted to get the money, she only needed to draw a few strokes on the royal family's financial accounts.

Moreover, in the Duke's original plan, he only had to keep the auction price of the rest of the lots, and deliberately default on the payment for one or two years after buying the necklace, which was enough to make Lawrence's use of the auction to sell his reputation this time fall short.

Duke Agilon took a deep breath, glanced at the box on the second floor unconsciously, and mocked in a low voice: "Idiot, I've spent a million livres on all the garbage in front, and you still want to fight with me for this necklace?" And Lawrence on the stage also officially announced the start of the bidding after ending the hype of the necklace: "I pay 500,000 livres!" ”

"Don't be ashamed to be conspicuous, I'm 750,000!"

"Add another fifty thousand, eight hundred thousand livres!"

"A million, a million livres!" In the blink of an eye, the price of this diamond necklace was coaxed to one million livres, which is still a certain distance from its valuation of two million livres.

Listening to the noisy bidding sound like a vegetable market, the Duke of Agilon couldn't help but feel irritable, and directly yelled, reporting his psychological threshold: "Two million livres!" With this loud roar of the Duke of Ageillon, the theater suddenly fell silent.

While people were surprised that the Duke of Agilon had honestly joined the bidding this time, they were also surprised that this was worthy of a duke, and he had quoted a high price of two million livres at one time.

Enjoying the surprised and admiring gazes of the people, the Duke of Agilon suddenly felt much better.

Although his plan to lower the auction price had failed, the Duke of Agilon felt that it would be a good reward to be able to bring the necklace back to Madame du Barry.

In the eyes of the Duke of Aguion, as long as Louis XV was persuaded by Madame du Barry to have a grudge against Lawrence, the Corsican would be of no avail even if he had the support of the people.

And in the theater, with the Duke of Ageillon's two million livres announced, the voices of those competing bids immediately disappeared without a trace.

First, because Duke Agilon's offer is very close to the real price of this diamond necklace, and secondly, because continuing to increase the price is likely to really offend this duke to death, after all, this duke is already in a serious bidding, which shows that he is also determined to win this necklace.

"Well, two million livres, this gentleman from the front row." Lawrence smiled and raised the small gavel in his hand: "Two million livres at a time... Two million livres twice—" The Duke of Agilon smiled confidently, waiting for the mallet to smash against the table with a crisp and pleasant sound.

At this moment, there was a loud price increase in the box on the second floor: "Five million livres!" As soon as this voice came out, the entire theater seemed to be immersed in a state of shock.

Five million livres? For this diamond necklace? The guests covered their mouths in shock and looked up at the box on the second floor, and if it weren't for the attendant's determined expression, people would have thought that it was a fool who didn't know anything about the auction and was shouting and playing.

"What a joke!" Duke Agilon's face was full of sluggishness, even if the five million livres were a huge amount of money for him, no matter who was in the box, it was absolutely impossible to take out five million livres to buy such a diamond necklace.

Before Lawrence could open his mouth to confirm, the Duke of Agion stood up directly, pointed to the entourage outside the box and scolded: "You go and ask your master!" He really has five million livres to buy this necklace?! The attendant glanced at the Duke of Agilon, as if he was not at all afraid of the Duke's prestige, but he nodded anyway, leaned into the box to confirm a few words, and then announced in a loud voice: "Sorry everyone, Your Excellency Bonaparte, our bid is not five million livres..." The attendant continued, "... It's six million livres. As soon as these words came out, let alone the full number of guests, even the Duke of Ageillon couldn't say a word for a long time.

It was the first time they had seen themselves bidding at an auction. Could it be that the owner of the box really has so much money that he needs to sprinkle a little into the slums of Paris?

But after all, who has the financial resources to spend six million livres on a necklace at once, not to mention that he also spent a million livres on a bunch of second-rate collections.

Almost all the guests present were pondering this question, and there were not many people in Paris who could afford to give this amount of wealth, and who was the owner of the box.

And just as everyone was meditating, they suddenly heard a loud roar in front of the seat.

"I see, Lawrence Bonaparte!" I saw that the Duke of Ageillon, who was stunned, suddenly came back to his senses, his full anger was full of his cheeks, and at this moment he was pointing directly at Lawrence's nose and shouting: "What a charity auction, this is just a scene you directed and acted by yourself!" You hypocrite! The people in the seats were even more shocked, they did not expect that this auction would be so twists and turns, and the duke would confront His Excellency Bonaparte face to face.

Lawrence smiled unchangeably, and asked unhurriedly, "I don't understand what you're saying, Your Excellency, Duke." ”

"Don't play dumb, I've already seen what it means to donate all the turnover to the citizens of Paris, I'm afraid you don't have that intention at all!" Duke Aigion sneered, as if he had seen through everything, he pointed to the box on the second floor and said: "That box is actually your person, you deliberately directed and acted to inflate the turnover of this auction, so that you can release the news that you have donated a huge amount of money to the poor, and the so-called donation of diamond necklaces for auction is just a left-handed hand-to-right-handed!" Listening to Duke Agilon's angry accusation, the faces of everyone present also became solemn.

After careful consideration, everyone found that the words of the Duke of Aguion still had some truth, and there were only a handful of wealthy businessmen in Paris who could come out with millions of livres to participate in such a charity auction.

And those people do not seem to have anything to do with this Lord Bonaparte, even Monsieur Montmartre, who is closest to Lawrence, whose assets are not sufficient for him to spend such a large sum of money on a charity auction.

Thinking about it this way, it is likely that the box was not the guest invited to the auction at all, but Lawrence's own people, and only then could it explain why the owner of the box did not give the Duke of Aegion a trace of face.

After sorting out this set of logic, the eyes of the guests looking at Lawrence instantly became a little more complicated, and they were already fifty percent sure that this auction would be a complete show.

Lawrence, who was the center of the storm of speech, still looked unhurried, and asked with a smile: "Your Excellency, I really don't know what gave you that unrealistic idea. ”

"Huh, unrealistic? It couldn't be easier to verify my claims. The Duke of Agilon looked like he was winning, he stood directly and confidently on the stage, and confronted Lawrence face to face: "Please invite the owner of the box on the second floor to come out, I don't think I have even heard the name of the person who can afford to buy a diamond necklace for six million livres." Lawrence shook his head secretly, thinking that this Duke of Egillon was also worthy of being the leader of the Richelieu faction, and he had already figured out his intentions in such a short period of time.

However, the limit of what he can figure out is this, seven, seven, eight, eight. Lawrence spread his hands and explained helplessly: "I'm sorry, Your Excellency, the owner of the box is not willing to show up today. ”

"Hahahaha, what am I talking about? You don't dare to let the people inside show your face at all, so I'll help you! As soon as he heard these words, the Duke of Ageillon immediately burst out laughing heartily, and at this time he was already ninety percent sure that Lawrence was pretending to be a ghost, and then his face sank, and he commanded loudly: "Someone! As Duke Aegion's order was issued, a dozen or so guards waiting outside the door quickly rushed into the theater and respectfully awaited the duke's order.

"Go and throw all the people in the box on the second floor out of me! Didn't you hear it, you lost it! The Duke of Ageillon had obviously not forgotten the humiliation suffered by his own attendants, and ordered: "A group of clowns who pretend to be ghosts, see how I clean you up today." ”

"I advise you not to be so impulsive, the owner of the box will be very upset." Lawrence sighed, and watched with hundreds of guests as the dozen sword-wielding duke's guards marched up the stairs.

The smile on Duke Aegion's face was simply uncontrollable, he leaned forward and backwards in front of Lawrence, patted Lawrence on the cheek contemptuously, and sneered: "Do you still want to pretend to the end at this time?" Lord Bonaparte, little Lawrence? Well? Okay, I'll let you die, and the guards will obey the order! Bring me all the bastards out of the box and bring them to the stage for everyone to see! ”

"Yes!" More than a dozen guards replied loudly, and then rushed into the spacious box.

However, in less than half a minute, the dozen or so guards who were as strong as cattle actually escaped from the box one after another, and everyone's faces were extremely frightened and shocked, as if they had met a ghost on the street at noon.

Duke Agion was stunned for a moment, and hundreds of guests also lost their minds for a moment, none of them understood why the dozen or so sword-wearing soldiers retreated from the box in such a panic.

And before the Duke of Aegion could ask a question, the owner of the box finally spoke for the first time tonight, his voice was slightly immature, but at the moment it was full of anger: "Emmanuel Armand, do you want to do something to me?" The Duke of Ageillon's mind went blank, and the voice seemed familiar, as if he had often heard it in one place, which was filled with the aroma of champagne and cologne, accompanied by dazzling fireworks and singing and dancing.

By the way, the Duke of Agilon remembered, he often heard this voice in Versailles. As for the owner of this voice, it is... Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a white and slightly thick arm lifted the crimson curtain of the box on the second floor, and out of it came a very young couple.

Everyone couldn't help but open their mouths wide, few of them knew the couple, but the gold iris coat of arms on a blue background on their shawls spoke for themselves.

Duke Agion staggered back two steps and nearly fell to the ground, the unbridled smile on his face vanishing without a trace, replaced by a bloodless pale.

After a long time, the duke struggled to squeeze out a sentence from between his teeth: "Please forgive me, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."