From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

After receiving the news from the secretary who was following Lawrence, Justice Mopp immediately realized that he had been tricked.

At noon, that damn Bonaparte boy had no intention of obeying him. His escorting hundreds of thousands of livres of silver coins to Versailles was certainly not a normal behavior.

"Damn it, if this is the worst case scenario, the treaty that was never shown to me might include the royal family's share in the company. Choiseul, that bastard."

While thinking, Justice Maupe anxiously came to the stables of the Palace of Justice. He didn't even have time to change into the special attire for meeting the king, so he directly wore the robe of the justice and got into the carriage.

"But the only good news is that the conversation between me and that Bonaparte was private. I only need to explain this matter clearly to the king. I don't have to worry about outside influence."

In the carriage, Justice Mopu gritted his teeth and pondered, then suddenly remembered something, opened the carriage door and said quickly to the secretary outside:

"By the way, go and tell the Duke Richelieu this news immediately!"

After saying that, Justice Mopu closed the carriage door impatiently and urged the horseman to set off immediately.

Although there were a large number of freight carriages in Lawrence's convoy, the speed would not be too fast, but Justice Maupe could not control so much. He had to get to Versailles as soon as possible.

The secretary who received the order from Justice Maupp naturally did not dare to neglect, and rode a fast horse directly from the stable, relying on his status as an official of the Palace of Justice and galloping all the way through the streets of Paris regardless of the ban.

Less than twenty minutes later, the secretary reported the news to the housekeeper of the Duke of Richelieu, who immediately reported it to the Duke of Richelieu.

"Well, it means that Justice Maupe is already on his way to Versailles?"

Duke Richelieu was wearing a silk robe and was drinking cold tea contentedly on the balcony. After hearing the report from the housekeeper, he just frowned slightly and asked.

The housekeeper humbly said:

"Yes, we set off more than twenty minutes ago."

"That's it." Duke Richelieu slowly placed the tea cup on the round table, exhaled a long breath, and said as if to himself:

"He should be able to handle it alone in Versailles, so I don't have to rush to Versailles. But what exactly is this Bonaparte planning to do?"

Duke Richelieu closed his eyes and lay in the rocking chair, thinking for a while alone without a completely certain answer.

So he told the housekeeper:

"Let's gather all the staff in the government to discuss this matter. I can't make up my mind on this matter."

"Yes." The housekeeper replied, and then turned around to carry out Duke Richelieu's order.

"Wait a minute"

Duke Richelieu suddenly opened his eyes in the recliner. After calling the butler, he sighed and added:

"Invite Falcone to participate in the discussion. He has been negative for too long. It's time to cheer up and participate in some family affairs."

When talking about his poor eldest grandson, Duke Richelieu couldn't help but show a bit of anger and sadness in his eyes.

In Christian tradition, eunuchs like Count Falcone were not eligible to become family heirs.

In other words, after that pistol duel, Count Falcone changed from the aloof heir to the duke to a marginal figure who was worse than an ordinary second son.

Although the Richelieu family's financial resources and power allowed him to live the rest of his life in peace and prosperity, this kind of fall from the top of the clouds to the quagmire was not something Count Falcone could accept at all.

The servants in the Duke Richelieu's residence all knew that in the small building where the Count lived, wild beast-like cries and screams were often heard, even in the middle of the night.

Although this grandson has been completely removed from the line of succession, Duke Richelieu cannot bear Falcone's current situation and still wants him to cheer up.

"That Laurence Bonaparte who was killed by a thousand cuts. He should start praying now. After Choiseul is overthrown, I will let him know what cruelty is."

Thinking of his poor grandson, Duke Richelieu immediately gritted his teeth.

However, the housekeeper of the mansion stopped where he was, scratched his chin in embarrassment and said:

"Your Majesty the Duke, Your Majesty the Earl is not in the mansion, he just went out."

"Huh? Out? Hasn't he not stepped out of the mansion in a few weeks?" Duke Richelieu was stunned for a moment and asked with a frown.

"Well, I just met the Earl before I came in. He asked me why I was in such a hurry, so I told him the news just now."

The housekeeper said carefully:

"After hearing the news, the Earl stood there stupidly for a while, and then, please forgive my wording, he rushed out like a madman."

"Rush out?"

Duke Richelieu frowned even more tightly and couldn't help cracking his fingers.

After pondering for a long time, Duke Richelieu sighed and shook his head. He waved his hand helplessly, but did not say anything. He just motioned to the housekeeper to leave first.

On the road from Paris to Versailles, Lawrence's motorcade was driving steadily and slowly.

At the front of the motorcade was Lawrence's car, and in the carriage were the same trio of Lawrence, Grosso, and Ya'an; followed closely by were two escort carriages ridden by precision shooters and a long queue of cargo carriages.

Finally, two more escort carriages protected the rear of the team.

There is almost no danger on this avenue from Paris to Versailles. After all, many dignitaries, including the Duke of Choiseul, and other important ministers must pass through this road to and from Paris and Versailles, but no bandits dare to Misbehaving on this road.

However, for the sake of safety and to show his identity, Lawrence still brought all the precision shooters with him.

"It's getting dark soon, and we won't be able to reach Versailles before sunset."

Lawrence sat in the carriage and glanced at the blood-red sunset through the window, shook his head and said:

"The meeting with King Louis can only be discussed tomorrow morning."

Grosso yawned, carelessly stuck his head out of the window, glanced at the fleet of silver coins behind him, then sat back and said:

"There's nothing we can do about it. Those carriages full of boxes behind them can't move very fast. Our trip will probably take twice as long."

Lawrence also nodded with understanding. Those carriages loaded with goods were not very fast. In order to prevent rollover and maintain consistent movement, they had to deliberately control their speed. This made the entire team move much slower than usual.

"But Justice Maupe will definitely rush to Versailles after learning the news. It seems that he can't get ahead of him, but it doesn't hurt."

Lawrence thought silently as the carriage jolted, waiting to arrive at Versailles.

The bloody sunset was still emitting the last ray of light. The coachmen of the motorcade had already lit the coal lamps and hung them on the front of the vehicles. At the same time, the dim light also made the team move slower.

The motorcade was still driving slowly, and all that could be heard in the carriage was the monotonous noise of wheels running over the stone road, which made the three people in the carriage a little sleepy.

At this moment, Grosso and Ya'an suddenly trembled, sat up, and looked at each other seriously.

Seeing the two people suddenly reacting so violently, Lawrence immediately swept away his tiredness, frowned and asked:

"What happened."

"Shh-"

Grosso hissed with a frown, then closed his eyes and listened carefully for a moment.

"There was a sound of hooves, but it wasn't from our horses. It sounded like there were a lot of riders."

Grosso gritted his teeth and said, while cautiously leaning half of his head out of the window to observe the surrounding situation.

Ya'an also added nervously:

"Yes sir, and this sound has been following us for a while."

"Does that mean someone is following us?"

Lawrence asked slightly surprised. Lawrence trusted the experience and intuition of these two people.

Grosso looked behind him hard for a while, then spat out the window and said:

"I saw their shadows, damn, there were indeed people following us on horseback, probably three to four hundred yards away."

Although he had no talent in combat, Lawrence immediately reacted:

The riders on the horses must be much faster than their own team. If they just follow the road, they will definitely surpass this team soon.

But according to Grosso and Yaan, they had apparently been following the convoy for quite some time.

"Can you tell who the other party is?" Lawrence asked immediately.

Grosso squinted for a moment, stretched his head back, shook it and said:

"It's just a blind eye, but it's definitely someone with bad intentions. They absolutely controlled their speed and followed behind them deliberately, keeping their distance. Boy, just listen to me."

Without any hesitation, Lawrence nodded directly and approved Grosso. Lawrence had complete trust in his ability and loyalty.

With Lawrence's permission, Grosso immediately took out his pistol and started loading it. After skillfully filling in the gunpowder and projectiles, Grosso directly stuck the muzzle of the gun out the window and pulled the trigger.

boom!

In the quiet evening, a loud gunshot suddenly sounded, and a flock of birds suddenly frightened the woods on both sides of the road.

After firing a shot casually, Grosso stared at the dozens of figures following the carriage, then smacked his lips and said:

"Hey, I'm telling you the person here is evil. No normal person would speed up and run towards us after hearing the gunshot. Ya'an! You stay in the car and protect Lawrence."

After that, Grosso opened the compartment door, leaned out and shouted to the startled drivers:

"Hey! Driver, stop the car slowly. There are others behind you! Follow my instructions!"

Grosso was indeed experienced. It only took him a moment to organize the panicked coachmen, and according to his arrangement, he used the carriages to form a rough circle, forming a barrier to protect everyone within it.

The accompanying precision shooters immediately poured out of the carriage under Grosso's command, calmly raising their rifles and aiming forward. The coachmen were also distributed swords after completing their arrangements and joined the battle.

Almost at the same time that Grosso completed the arrangement, the group of trailing riders also rushed out of the night.

Under the light of the carriage's oil lamp, Lawrence and Grosso could see the clothes and grooming of this group of people.

All these dozens of riders were seen wrapped in ragged black robes. Many of them just tore off a piece of rag and wore it on their bodies. They looked no different from beggars in the slums.

Even the scimitars and swords on their waists were rusty, and they were old antiques dug up from nowhere.

Some people didn't even know how to ride. As they accelerated towards the convoy, they lost their center of gravity and fell directly to the ground.

"That's weird, why are there horse bandits on this road?"

Grosso frowned and looked at the group of riders, but he didn't have time to think too much. As soon as the precision shooters arrived, the group of horse bandits rushed in front of him, so Grosso ordered free fire without hesitation.

Continuous gunshots exploded in the forest, instantly knocking down the mounts of a dozen people, causing the riders above to fall to the ground and fainted.

The horse bandits who charged on horseback obviously did not expect that one round of shooting could knock down almost a quarter of their men, and they suddenly panicked.

Coupled with the obstruction of the surrounding carriages, the horse bandits had to slow down their charge, and chose to squeeze into the encirclement through the gaps in the carriage shop under a hail of bullets. This also caused more horse bandits to die before they could squeeze into the encirclement. Under the bullet.

More horse bandits gave up their mounts and rushed directly into the encirclement with knives, engaging the guards inside in close combat.

Grosso also drew his sword himself and joined the battle. With his sword skills and combat experience, fresh blood splashed onto his scimitar almost every ten seconds.

The sound of gunshots and swords clashing continuously rang in his ears. In the carriage, Ya'an had already drawn his sword and nervously used the corner of his eye to scan for any enemy who might be approaching the carriage.

Lawrence was sitting upright. He could see that this group of horse bandits couldn't hold out for long in front of the well-trained shooters, so he frowned and thought while observing the situation outside:

"The appearance of this group of people is too strange. Let's not talk about why there are horse bandits near Versailles. Judging from their performance, they have no intention of stealing money."

This group of horse bandits made no move to communicate or persuade them to surrender, from following them to drawing swords, as if the hundreds of thousands of livres of silver coins were not important to them at all.

Even at this moment, those carriages filled with coin boxes were placed in front of them as obstacles, but this group of people turned a blind eye to those boxes, and instead charged directly without saying a word.

"It seems that he is coming for me. Who would have the courage?"

Lawrence rubbed his chin and thought deeply. All these behaviors were so abnormal that it could basically be denied that these horse bandits were responsible for it.

Although Lawrence had many political opponents, the political struggle in France was not bloody enough to kill him. In history, after the fall of the Duke of Choiseul, he swaggered back to his fiefdom and lived a wealthy and luxurious life for several years. .

Especially on the way to Versailles, under the nose of Louis XV, who dares to risk the world's disapproval like this.

However, although he is not completely sure yet, Lawrence already has a guess in his mind.

The battle outside was coming to an end. Although the scene was very tragic, with stumps and organs everywhere, Lawrence and his team defeated this bizarre attack at the cost of only five or six people being injured.

Lawrence opened the carriage door, took a look at the corpses of the horse bandits everywhere, and said silently with a gloomy face:

"No matter who instigated it, he gave me a good excuse."