I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 4 Solve a case casually



Joseph opened the curtains and frowned when he saw the scene around him.

Since he came to this world, he has been taking exams in the Palace of Versailles. This is the first time he has seen the appearance of Paris.

It was completely different from what you imagined as the most prosperous metropolis in Europe - the buildings were dirty and old, and the streets were filled with mud, sewage, and even excrement. That's where the smell comes from. Dead animal carcasses drifted across the Seine from time to time, and the workshops along the river discharged strangely colored wastewater into the river, dyeing the water brown.

Vendors placed their stalls in a mess on both sides of the road, making the originally spacious street crowded. The children waved mud and chased each other happily. Curses of unknown origin kept coming and going.

Fights can also be seen everywhere, and passers-by turn a deaf ear to the screams of those who are being beaten.

Some people even robbed in broad daylight. It was not until Joseph asked his guards to stop the robbers that they escaped into the alley. And this is the Louvre area with the best security in Paris...

In short, the whole city has no romantic atmosphere under the influence of Enlightenment ideas, let alone the vitality of the Industrial Revolution.

Although the magnificent Palace of Versailles and Paris are close together, they seem to be in different worlds.

As the carriage passed the north bank of the Seine, the coachman softly shouted "Oooo" and the carriage slowly stopped.

"Your Highness, we are here." Eman bowed to signal, then got out of the car and opened the door for the Crown Prince.

Joseph rubbed his almost broken butt and walked down the stairs set up by his entourage. Looking up, he saw in front of him a nearly 100-meter-wide building with statues carved on the exterior wall and a large number of columns and arched floor-to-ceiling windows. The magnificent building is like a huge castle in the center of Paris, declaring the supreme power of the feudal class.

The City Hall had already received news that the Crown Prince was coming. At this time, all the officials, big and small, gathered in the square outside the main entrance and lined up to welcome His Highness.

But the silver royal carriage they had been waiting for never appeared.

Until three gray-black carriages stopped in front of the main entrance of the city hall, Emang got out of the car. The leader of the Paris Municipal Commissioner Lewebel twitched his eyelids and hurriedly greeted everyone around him:

"Quick! It's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Lewebel held his black three-cornered hat in his hands, stepped forward with his inverted trapezoidal legs, and drove his 200-pound body. He led everyone to run in front of Joseph and saluted respectfully, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The surrounding musicians also reacted and began to play music in a hurry.

Lewebel introduced himself first, then pointed to the middle-aged man next to him with gray-blue eyes and cheekbones so sharp that they almost burst his skin and said: "Your Highness, please allow me to introduce to you, this is the Paris Chamber of Commerce. Lord Viscount Fleiselle."

Joseph looked at the man twice after hearing this. He learned from the information just now that although Lewebel is the Paris Municipal Commissioner, equivalent to the mayor, the actual number one in Paris is this Fleiselle. There was no way, the government was short of money, and if it wanted to maintain operations, it had to rely on funding from the Chamber of Commerce. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce's connections could solve many problems, so the president of the Chamber of Commerce became extremely powerful.

Fleiselle stepped forward again and saluted: "Your Highness, we have prepared an afternoon banquet, and please enjoy it."

Although Joseph disliked the banquets and dances of this era. For him, all the complicated etiquette and rules were simply torture, but he was still unavoidable in the world, so he nodded in response:

"Thank you very much."

In the spacious and luxurious city hall banquet hall, servants were busy going back and forth. The table was filled with all kinds of expensive dishes. The cold dishes would be replaced immediately and new ones put on the table.

While drinking and laughing, Joseph dealt with the endless rainbow farts from the officials, but he was always thinking about rectifying the police force.

"Your Highness, do you mean to participate in police management?" The fat mayor looked at the president of the Chamber of Commerce in surprise, and hurriedly apologized to Joseph, "Your Highness, you are so noble, how can you go to fight with those thieves, murderers and the like? Dealing with?"

The president of the Chamber of Commerce nodded in agreement: "Yes, and the police department has a lot of trivial things, which are very boring."

But he was complaining in his heart, my young master, you are just here to plate gold, but don't take it so seriously. This will mess up the police system, and there will be riots in Paris?

Joseph was a little helpless. While he was arguing back and forth with the two of them, a woman's high-pitched voice suddenly came from outside the city hall:

"No! There is no way Lenot committed suicide! You must catch the murderer!"

The voice suddenly became sharp and suddenly turned into an aria, "Lenotre is so cheerful. We are getting married next month. How could he commit suicide? The case cannot be closed! The murderer is still at large..."

The fat mayor's face turned dark immediately, and he said angrily: "Why is she here again?"

Fleiselle immediately waved vigorously to the guard: "Drive her away quickly! Didn't you see who is here today?!"

He turned to Joseph again and said with an apologetic smile: "Ah, Your Highness, she is just a crazy woman. Don't let her affect your mood."

Joseph looked out the window and asked, "I heard her talk about the murderer. What is the situation?"

Mayor Lewebel said hurriedly: "A month ago, her fiancé, the Vicomte Lenot, committed suicide by swallowing a sword. Oh, the case is clear and there is absolutely no problem, but this woman seems to be crazy. It cannot be said that it was murder. .”

"She was so violent that we had to ban her from the city hall, but she would be outside shouting outside every few days."

Joseph was a little surprised and said: "Suicide by swallowing a sword?"

The thin man sitting on the right side of Lewebel stroked his chest and said:

"Your Highness, just put the hilt of the sword on the ground, swallow the tip of the sword into your mouth, and then press down hard, and the sword will penetrate the back of the neck. It is a very common way of committing suicide. [Note 1]"

Joseph remembered that the fat mayor had just introduced him, Viscount Guizot, the Paris police chief, who was also the top person in charge of the Paris police.

Seeing that the Dauphin seemed interested, Guizot began to tell the story diligently:

"More than a month ago in the afternoon, Vicomte Lenot's servant came to report that his master had died in his bedroom. I sent someone to check and found that he had committed suicide by swallowing a sword."

Joseph frowned: "How are you sure he committed suicide? Is there a suicide note, or did he show signs of world-weariness before?"

"That's not true," Guizot said, "but Renault used his own sword, and no property was missing. There were no signs of fighting in the house, and there were no other injuries on his body.

"You have to know, Your Highness, Le Nôtre has fought in the United States. He is 6 feet tall and is proficient in fighting. If anyone can put a sword into his mouth in broad daylight without hurting him at all, Here, that person can only be himself."

At 6 feet and over 1.9 meters, he is really tall.

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly. He had seen many similar killing techniques in mystery novels. There were no signs of suicide or suicide notes, so the police in the 18th century who had not attended the police academy and had limited information would roughly characterize it as suicide.

He looked at Guizo and said: "No, besides himself, there is another person who can do it."

"Your Highness is really good at joking," the fat mayor smiled and waved his hand, "Does that person know magic?"

Joseph said calmly: "No, he just knows how to treat teeth."

"Treatment teeth...you mean the dentist?!"

"Yes, dentist."

Several people around him were stunned for a moment, and a picture emerged in their minds - Lenott opened his mouth obediently at the dentist's instruction, and then the dentist covered his eyes with the white cloth used during the operation, turned around and pulled out the The sword hanging on the wall stabbed into his mouth effortlessly, and blood spurted out...

[Note 1]: Because Europe in the 18th century promoted "fast and flexible" swordsmanship, the swords of nobles were thin and light, making it difficult to wipe their necks, so they often committed suicide by swallowing swords. Moreover, this method of suicide will remain kneeling in prayer after death, which makes it even more popular among nobles.

The new book has set sail, begging for collection, recommendation, comments, everything! The young author is grateful!


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