From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"I know that Du Barry is a close friend of yours, Your Excellency."

Lawrence smiled meaningfully and said:

"I can understand your anxiety, but I don't want to be charged with a crime that doesn't exist."

"You guy."

Count Falcone's eyes flashed fiercely. Although he was a little crazy, he was not stupid. He understood what Lawrence was saying in an instant.

Lawrence was hinting to himself that he had learned the dark secrets about himself from Du Barry.

"Damn Bonaparte."

Count Falcone's expression became more ferocious, and he became more determined to take Du Barry back. Who knows if that damn pimp will confess everything.

Count Falcone turned his head and looked at the hole in the door, which could barely allow a person to get in, so he said with a gloomy face:

"Huh, let's let the facts speak for themselves."

After saying this, Count Falcone gave Colonel Giovanni a wink.

The colonel quickly got in with several of his subordinates and stood in the beautiful courtyard of the mansion.

Lawrence watched them enter indifferently.

After the first few people who entered all stood in front of him, Lawrence said loudly:

"This is the third warning, Mr. Colonel, you and your men have committed aggression."

Colonel Giovanni also breathed a sigh of relief after entering the gate of the mansion, and spoke a lot more forcefully, and responded directly:

"Your Majesty Bonaparte, we are not invading, this is just a legal search."

However, before Colonel Giovanni could finish speaking, Lawrence suddenly stopped shouting:

"Everyone obeys the order! Load, aim, and wait for instructions!"

Colonel Giovanni, including all the police and onlookers, were stunned. They did not understand Lawrence's Italian command.

But they clearly saw that the twenty resolute soldiers uniformly took down their muskets and began to load them, and then pointed the twenty black muzzles at the police officers who entered the mansion.

Even Count Falcone was stunned for a moment when he saw the dozens of raised muskets, and then hurriedly hid aside, wondering what Lawrence was doing.

Colonel Giovanni's brain shut down for a few seconds, and the muzzle symbolizing death was aimed at his heart and head. After retreating from the battlefield, he had not had this feeling of facing death for many years.

"Your Majesty Bonaparte, what are you doing!"

Colonel Giovanni was shocked when he came back to his senses. The color suddenly disappeared from his face. He backed away in panic. He didn't react until the back of his head hit the iron door and screamed:

"Tell your men to put down their guns! We are the Paris police force!"

The other police officers who entered were not much better. They were as panicked as Colonel Giovanni, and some even tried to crawl back through the hole in the iron door.

As for the citizens who were watching, they felt their hearts beat faster. Such armed confrontations did not happen every day in Paris, especially when both sides of the confrontation represented the two dukes. This was more exciting than any drama.

"I don't want a fourth warning, Colonel."

Lawrence took two steps forward, slowly pulled out the saber from his waist and made a gorgeous dance in his hand, then pointed the shimmering tip of the knife directly at Colonel Giovanni and said in a cold voice:

"Take your people and leave here immediately."

Colonel Giovanni stared blankly at the tip of the knife pointed at him. He was also a high-ranking member of the Paris police force. He had not personally been pointed at such a sharp knife for who knows how many years.

Colonel Giovanni felt that the blood in his body was flowing faster, and his mind went blank. He was caught in a dilemma for a while.

The citizens who saw this scene couldn't help but marvel. No matter what kind of person Governor Bonaparte was, his toughness had already left a deep impression on these onlookers.

At this moment, Count Falcone, who had just hid aside because he was afraid of being hit by a stray bullet, finally came to his senses and thought to himself with joy:

"No, Du Barry is in this mansion. Damn Bonaparte is just bluffing! He would never dare to order the fire. Once he fires, he will be guilty. Damn, you want to scare me, right? You are extremely stupid. ! Let me expose this little trick of yours in person, and let everyone see the ridiculous face of this stubborn clown!"

Thinking of this, Count Falcone immediately ran back to the gate, got in through the hole himself, laughed wildly and said:

"Little Bonaparte, tell your men to put away these toys. Who are you trying to scare?"

Lawrence narrowed his eyes, slowly put the sword in his sheath, and said with a smile:

"Your Excellency, it seems that you entered this mansion without being invited. I will warn you once, this is an invasion."

"Invasion? Hahahahaha"

Count Falcone laughed even more wildly. He had never laughed so proudly since he lost his manliness:

"I am the intruder, what do you want? Let your men shoot me to death? Hahaha"

Lawrence sighed slightly, pulled out the pistol from his waist, and started loading it himself.

"Oh, the pistol is pretty good. Is it the one you used in the duel with me?"

Count Falcone stared at the extended pistol in Lawrence's hand, grinned ferociously and shouted:

"What do you want to do when you take out your pistol? I'm not dueling you now, are you? Do you want to threaten me? Don't be stupid, you idiot! I won't do this!"

Without saying a word, Lawrence pointed his pistol at Count Falcone, closed his left eye and began to take aim.

boom!

Count Falcone wanted to say something else, but a sudden explosion interrupted all his words.

A lead bullet flying at high speed flew out of the barrel of the gun, but it did not hit Count Falcone himself. Instead, it hit the ground two feet in front of him, splashing a burst of gravel.

Gunfire is definitely the most unfamiliar sound on the Champs Elysées.

This is the center of Paris, the residence of the powerful, and even the area where the royal palace was a hundred years ago. No gunfire should occur here.

But at this moment, the explosion of gunpowder clearly reached everyone's ears.

The Corsican governor really fired the gun, and he pulled the trigger himself.

Count Falcone's sarcastic words were interrupted for an instant, his face was full of shock and confusion, and boundless panic followed shortly after.

"He really shot. He really dared to shoot. How dare he...!"

Count Falcone stared down at the crater less than one meter away from him with wide eyes.

He didn't know that Lawrence hit him in front of him intentionally. He thought that Lawrence's target was his heart, but he just missed.

"One bullet missed, but the rest are there."

Count Falcone suddenly raised his head and looked at the twenty muskets pointed at him. He instantly felt a chill on his back, as if the projectiles spurting out in the next second would shoot him into a sieve.

"No! No!!" Count Falcone's legs became weak and he sat down on the ground, shouting with a cry.

Even the crotch of his overalls was covered in water stains.

Colonel Giovanni looked at the frightened Count Falcone in shock. He did not expect that Lawrence actually dared to shoot.

However, although Colonel Giovanni also disliked this count very much, he was the grandson of the Duke of Richelieu after all, and he was someone whom Colonel Giovanni could not afford to offend.

So Colonel Giovanni rushed forward to help Count Falcone up and shouted to Lawrence:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, we all saw it! You shot the Count. This was an attack, no, it was an attempted murder! All the more reason for us to ask you to accept a search by the police force!"

After saying that, Colonel Giovanni immediately made a gesture to the surrounding police forces, asking them to continue entering the mansion.

Soon, more than a dozen policemen came in with muskets, nervously holding the barrels of their guns and confronting the Corsican shooters who were only twenty meters away.

The smell of gunpowder between the two sides is getting stronger and stronger, and it is on the verge of breaking out.

Lawrence stood there, gently waving his hand to disperse the smoke that filled the air around him, inserting the pistol back into his waist, and said loudly:

"Attempted murder? I was just defending myself against thugs who invaded my territory."

"Invasion of territory?" Colonel Giovanni blinked doubtfully, noticed Lawrence's wording, and then asked in confusion.

Lawrence raised his heels and stepped on the stone slabs on the ground, and said coldly:

"You are now treading on Corsican soil."

"The land of Corsica?" Colonel Giovanni frowned and denied loudly:

"Your Majesty Bonaparte, the land under your feet is the land of France, the land of the king. Even in terms of ownership, it is the land of the Duke of Choiseul and has nothing to do with you."

Lawrence stared at Colonel Giovanni for a while, then suddenly showed a kind smile, spread his hands and said:

"Colonel, it seems that you did not prepare enough before carrying out the mission."

Colonel Giovanni was stunned for a moment. He had no idea what Lawrence meant. Everyone knew that this mansion was the property of the Duke of Choiseul and was lent to Lawrence for temporary residence.

Even if the property was owned by Lawrence himself, he would not have the power to resist a search by the Paris police force, let alone shoot a count who accidentally broke in.

"Asshole! What are you talking nonsense to him!"

Count Falcone, who was helped up by Colonel Giovanni, realized his gaffe and shouted to the colonel angrily:

"Didn't you see that he shot at me? Just rush in, find Du Barry and arrest this damn country bumpkin!"

Colonel Giovanni nodded helplessly and said to Lawrence:

"I'm sorry, sir, please don't obstruct our search. This is just a reasonable routine inspection, and we don't want the scene to be too ugly."

After that, Colonel Giovanni made a gesture to his men, indicating that they should start to move forward.

"Wait a minute."

Facing more and more armed police approaching, Lawrence just chuckled and said:

"Colonel, I think you haven't read this document yet? Ya'an, take it over and show it to the colonel."

As he spoke, Lawrence took out the thick piece of parchment from his arms and handed it to Ya'an. This was exactly the order document signed by the Foreign Secretary sent by the Duke of Choiseul a few days ago.

Colonel Giovanni's brows furrowed even more, but he still quickly took the parchment from Ya'an's hand and started reading.

"This is.!"

The colonel's expression was puzzled at first, then shocked, then dull, and finally frightened to the naked eye.

"What bullshit document? What does it say?" Count Falcone asked with disdain as he looked at the panicked Colonel Giovanni.

"My Lord Count."

Colonel Giovanni anxiously rolled up the parchment and returned it to Ya'an. At the same time, he immediately ordered his men to stop their actions and whispered to Count Falcone:

"This is the Corsican Embassy."

"What did you say?" Count Falcone did not react for a moment.

"This entire mansion has been established as the Corsican Embassy in France with the approval of the Foreign Secretary, and the order document was signed a few days ago."

Colonel Giovanni's eyes widened and he said in a daze:

"We have no authority to search diplomatic missions at all, and"

The colonel looked back at the door, which was almost in shape, and gritted his teeth and said:

"Governor Bonaparte is right, this is Corsica's land, and our forcible intrusion will be regarded as a violation of Corsica's sovereignty."

Count Falcone suddenly became furious, pointed at Colonel Giovanni's nose and cursed:

"What?! That's nonsense! The crown of Corsica will be on the king's head soon, why does it care about this bullshit embassy! Go in and search for Du Barry! Do you hear me?! "

Colonel Giovanni gritted his teeth, shook his head resolutely and said:

"I'm sorry, Lord Earl, I can't"

He knew in his heart that refusing Count Falcone's request would only offend Duke Richelieu and affect his future prospects. Moreover, an enlightened figure like Duke Richelieu might not blame himself.

But if he openly led the police force to invade an embassy, ​​and even almost had a firefight, the seriousness of the matter would be enough to make his head move.

Those small German countries with embassies or agencies in Paris will definitely seriously protest against this diplomatic insult that may happen to them, which may even become the trigger of a diplomatic crisis.

And by that time, Colonel Giovanni, as the culprit, would not be able to escape death penalty no matter what.

Even the entire Paris police force will undergo a top-down purge.

When he thought of this, Colonel Giovanni shuddered all over. No matter how loud Count Falcone shouted, he hurriedly ordered all his men to withdraw to the gate.

"Ah, Colonel, it seems there is quite a misunderstanding between us."

Lawrence walked forward with a chuckle, passed the incompetent and furious Count Falcone, and said to Colonel Giovanni:

"It's my fault, but this document has not been fully disclosed to the public, and I have not put a sign at the door of the mansion."

Colonel Giovanni, who was heartbroken, suddenly felt a glimmer of hope after hearing this. He looked at Lawrence excitedly, knowing that the Corsican governor was taking the initiative to give him a chance of survival, so he quickly put aside Count Falcone. said:

"No, no, no, I was reckless. Damn it, me"

"Stop it, Colonel, since it's a misunderstanding, I think we should shake hands and make peace, right?"

Lawrence smiled and stretched out his hand and said:

"I am happy to issue a good-faith statement to express my understanding of the actions of you and your subordinates. Of course, as usual, you must also issue a public statement to explain the entire incident in a specific and comprehensive manner."

Colonel Giovanni held Lawrence's hand without any hesitation. This was his life-saving straw at the moment. If Lawrence wanted to hold him accountable for invading the embassy, ​​his head would definitely not be saved.

As for the public statement Lawrence mentioned, Colonel Giovanni glanced at Count Falcone, who was still angry, and immediately understood what the other party meant.

This is asking him to drag Count Falcone and even Duke Richelieu into the water in this statement, and throw the responsibility for the attack on the embassy on them.

"Don't worry, I will send the statement to the major newspapers before evening." Colonel Giovanni said, holding Lawrence's hand tightly.

"Then I will also express my understanding to you before night." Lawrence nodded and said.

Colonel Giovanni was so moved that he held Lawrence's hand and stood for a while, then turned to his men and said:

"Everyone, listen up! Unload the bullets and put the gun on your back! Leave the Corsican Embassy immediately."

Lawrence then walked up to Count Falcone, who was staying where he was, and said with a smile:

"And you, Your Majesty the Count, please leave Corsica if you don't want to take another bullet."