From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

After leading the team back to the station, Lawrence did not take any time off.

The first urgent issue before him was the follow-up to the Ajaccio orphanage.

Lawrence himself felt sympathy for those children from the bottom of his heart. In addition, in the process of mobilizing the people this time, Lawrence did not make less use of those children.

This made Lawrence unable to treat those children badly, both emotionally and rationally.

Sitting in the hall of the patrol station, Lawrence took a detailed list of supplies in the church from Old Sean, glanced at it casually, handed it back to Old Sean, and said:

"Old Sean, send someone to deliver all the living supplies inside to the orphanage now."

Old Sean took the list and nodded solemnly. Even with his greedy character, he did not have any objection to Lawrence's allocation this time.

After all, he had also seen with his own eyes those children who were as skinny as wood and mummified. He really didn't know what they ate to survive.

Unable to help sighing, Lawrence held his chin with his hand. He had no better way to deal with those children for the time being, so he had to let them continue to live in the orphanage.

Of course, they would no longer be crowded into those dark and harsh underground cells. With the size of the orphanage, it would be no problem for each child to live in a spacious and bright room.

"etc."

Lawrence suddenly stopped Old Sean who was walking to the door. Since he mentioned the orphanage, he must not go around that disgusting old man, Old Mario:

"Where is old Mario now?"

Old Sean touched his head, thought for a while and said:

"Oh, that old man is now locked up in the dungeon like the gang, and he has been shouting that he wants to see you, sir."

"Take me to see him first."

In the patrol dungeon, when Lawrence saw old Mario, he was huddled in the corner with his head buried between his legs.

Old Mario noticed that someone was coming, looked up, and when he found out it was Lawrence, he immediately jumped up, flew to the iron fence, kept shaking the fence, and said excitedly:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, Mr. Bonaparte! I, I have done as you asked, and you must be very satisfied! Ciro is also dead. As you said before, that, you said, you will consider it. Yes, he will let me go."

Lawrence listened expressionlessly, never interrupting him.

Old Mario talked to himself for a full half minute, and then he noticed Lawrence's stern expression, swallowed, and asked uneasily:

"Your Majesty Bonaparte, what are you doing?"

Lawrence ignored him and suddenly asked:

"Old Mario, do you have any children?"

After hearing this, Old Mario's face suddenly tightened, he shook the iron fence even more, and said repeatedly:

"I, I have a son, but he has nothing to do with any of this! He is a hard-working forest ranger who lives in the country, and he doesn't know any of this!"

Lawrence chuckled, looked at old Mario and said:

"Oh, your son must be proud of you. Kind old Mario's son, that's what the villagers will call him."

"That's probably it"

Old Mario said in a daze, not understanding what Lawrence meant.

"Somebody come!"

Lawrence turned to the patrolman on duty and ordered:

"Open his cell door."

"Ah! Your Majesty Bonaparte, are you going to let me go! This is really true. You are really the reincarnation of a saint. You are simply possessed by the Virgin!"

Old Mario watched the patrolman open his cell door, ran out quickly, plopped down on his knees in front of Lawrence, grabbed the corner of Lawrence's clothes, and said excitedly.

However, before old Mario could finish his flattering words, Lawrence's next words directly made him fall into the ice cave:

"Old Mario, you don't want your son to be despised by thousands of people."

The air seemed to freeze. Old Mario's eyes widened and he asked in confusion:

"What do you mean by this?"

"There is a word called final conclusion. When a person dies, his reputation will be determined forever."

Old Mario was not stupid either. He understood what Lawrence meant in a blink of an eye. He gently let go of Lawrence's clothes with both hands and sat on the ground blankly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Lawrence looked down at him and added:

"Go and die with dignity. In this way, you will always be a kind Mario. Of course, if you don't want to die with dignity, I can also send someone to help you."

"I, I understand."

Old Mario squeezed out these words from his mouth, stood up with difficulty, patted the dust on his body, and slowly walked out like a soulless corpse.

Old Sean looked at his back and said to Lawrence with some worry:

"Master Bonaparte, won't you send a few people to follow him? What if he runs away?"

Lawrence shook his head firmly and said:

"No, he's not a fool. The whole of Ajaccio is in the palm of my hand now, and he can't escape."

The next morning, Lawrence at home received the news of Mario Sr.'s death from Anna.

"Sir, many people outside are discussing you and the director of the orphanage."

Anna came back from the market with a wooden basket. As soon as she entered the house and before she put the basket down, she talked to Lawrence about what she had seen in the market.

Lawrence was in the living room reading a book written by an Englishman discussing monarchy and republics.

Although the literary and ideological nature of this book is only third-rate in Lawrence's opinion, it is still a way to understand the thoughts of the people of this era.

"Really, what did the dean say about that?"

Lawrence closed the book and looked at Anna with a smile and asked.

Anna placed the wooden basket on the table, calmed down a bit, and said seriously:

"He was only discovered this morning. When he was found, he was naked and nailed himself to a large cross. There was a spear stuck in his chest. It is said that he was still alive when he was found, but When he saw someone coming to save him, he took the initiative to put the spear on the ground and penetrated his whole body with force. "

"That's it..."

Lawrence thought for a moment and understood what old Mario meant.

In Catholic doctrine, the Son's crucifixion on the cross is the greatest salvation. Old Mario also followed this example to express his atonement and debt to the children to the people.

As for how sincere old Mario was in atonement, Lawrence didn't want to expose him.

The spear on his chest should refer to the Spear of Longinus.

In the teachings, a soldier named Longinus stabbed the chest of the Son on the cross with his spear to confirm whether the Son was really dead.

There is no doubt that this is a signal sent by Old Mario to Lawrence, indicating that he has indeed died according to Lawrence's request, hoping that Lawrence can preserve his reputation.

"He's a smart guy."

Lawrence listened, smiled, shook his head, and said to himself.

Regarding old Mario's reputation, Lawrence would have found a way to preserve it. After all, yesterday he and old Mario stood on that high platform to deliver a speech.

If old Mario's horrific behavior is exposed, then Lawrence himself will be affected to some extent.

And it is easy to preserve the reputation of old Mario. Just put all the blame on Ciro. From one dead person to another dead person, there is nothing simpler than this.

Anna seemed to want to say something more. After hesitating for a while, she blinked her blue eyes, carefully approached Lawrence, looked into Lawrence's eyes for two seconds, lowered her head and said:

"Thank you, sir."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Thinking about the children in the orphanage, and then thinking about myself. I have a job. People will call me the maid of the Bonaparte family. I have fresh broth and vegetables to eat every day. I can still be like Mrs. Dora. Chatting with the noble lady feels like a dream.”

"Anna."

Lawrence called softly, and when Anna looked up, he stretched out his hand and scraped her little nose hard, and said with a smile:

"Does it hurt?"

"A bit, sir."

"Then it's not a dream."

Thanks to "Call Agui" and "cyl book friends" for their monthly support!