Shadow of great britain

D’Artagnan thought that fate was a strange thing. It tricked people into killing each other for the benefit of people who had nothing to do with them, and those people who had nothing to do with them often didn’t even know they existed. Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but sigh.

——Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

“Sir, why are you so distant? Aren’t we family?”

Arthur stood by the car door, and after hearing what the other party said, he was more certain that this was a scam designed by Victor.

Although he would never forget how simple and enthusiastic the Breton peasants were, and they were even willing to share their own scarce drinks with strangers like Arthur, Arthur was also very sure that the peasants did not trust him from the bottom of their hearts.

Because when the peasants finally made up their minds to ask him for help, they were unwilling to reveal their current hiding place anyway, and except for telling Arthur that someone had betrayed them, they were unwilling to give more information.

If we consider it from a reasonable logic, the fact that these peasants dared to assassinate the king means that they had already made up their minds not to go back alive.

So, rather than saying that they came to Arthur for help, it would be better to say that they actually came to remind Arthur that the encounter between Arthur and them that night might be leaked by traitors.

How strange, people are such contradictory!

This group of peasants.

On the one hand, they wanted to kill the king and wanted to blow him to pieces with a bomb.

But on the other hand, they were worried about Arthur's safety and didn't want to implicate this British diplomat who they had only met once because of their own affairs.

From their point of view, this may be because Arthur did not report them to the authorities after what happened that night, so they were unwilling to owe Arthur a favor.

But from the perspective of the July Dynasty government, this group of people were traitors, and attacking the king was a crime of treason, and having secret dealings with foreign forces like Arthur was an unforgivable crime.

But then again, from the perspective of a person, they were quite loyal.

If they can survive this disaster safely, Arthur is willing to make friends with them.

The more they don't want to owe Arthur a favor, the more Arthur wants their favor, because the harder it is to get something, the more precious it is.

Although both Earl Darramore and his old friend Schneider reminded Arthur to take the upper-level diplomatic route, Arthur, who had just arrived in this extremely professional field, inevitably took the wrong route.

For some reason, he seemed to be close to farmers in this life, reincarnated as a swineherd, and came to France to deal with the elders of Little Britain.

He can wear a tuxedo, wear a silver ring inlaid with ancient Roman coins, and be awarded the title of a lower-level knight, but the pig smell on his body is still unavoidable.

Even though he has tried his best to only appear at banquets in the upper class, he still couldn't escape this disaster. Maybe this thing is called fate.

The Red Devil sat on the roof of the car, grinding his nails with a file, his eyes met Arthur's eyes with a faint red glow.

The man and the ghost had already had a tacit understanding. Even if Arthur didn't speak, Agares knew what this kid wanted to say.

The Red Devil snorted disdainfully: "Don't ask me questions. I don't like to answer questions that already have answers. Arthur, you come to ask for advice, either you don't want to listen, or even if you listen, in the end it's just to complain that I gave you advice in the future. History only relies on facts to explain, and never relies on any speculation to continue. If you think you are very smart, you can continue, but I will only remind you once, if you are beaten to death again, I will be incurable."

The Red Devil has said this, how can Arthur not understand what he means.

This is probably another life-threatening multiple-choice question, but he has come all the way to this place, relying not on intelligence and wisdom, he has a future because of his indomitable courage, and only because of this indomitable courage.

As a swineherd, he never had anything to lose.

Oh, that's not right.

In fact, he still had something to lose, and he still had his life.

But that night under the Tower of London, he had lost even the little he had left.

He had already put everything he could put on the gambling table in his life. Since the rainy night in London, every extra minute and second he could stay at the card table was a surprise.

Now he has long become a person who has nothing in the true sense.

What else can I continue to lose?

I have nothing to lose.

Thinking of this, Arthur finally stopped hesitating. He raised his arm and pulled the trigger of the pistol at the other party.

Click!

Just as Arthur expected, the gunpowder soaked in water could not be ignited, and the bullet could not be fired.

The so-called royalist standing opposite him was also stunned for a moment, and then burst into jubilant laughter.

This is the easiest way to prove that he has no connection with the royalists in front of Victor, but it takes a little risk. If his inference was wrong, he would inevitably be beaten to a pulp by the other party.

But the results proved that there was no such possibility.

Arthur pretended to show a look of surprise. He first turned the pistol over and looked at the black hole of the muzzle, and then looked up at the smiling opposite side.

"Mr. Vidocq, would you like to explain it to Sir? He seems to be still in the dark."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vidocq, I shouldn't laugh, but I couldn't help it when I saw the look on his face that looked at death."

Vidocq smiled and took off his hat to Arthur: "Brother, I have to say that it was my fault for doubting your knighthood. At least based on the scene just now, you are quite brave and very talented. Wisdom. You tricked them into putting down the gun first, but then you planned to shoot the bullet first?"

The group of detective agency employees pretending to be royalists stopped acting at this time. They joked: "Sir, you are really a typical medieval English longbowman."

When Arthur heard this, his shocked expression slowly returned to calm, and then he took out a match and lit the cigar, looking like he wanted to take two puffs to calm down his shock.

And he not only smoked it himself, but also handed the cigar box in front of Vidocq, raising his head slightly to indicate that he would take one too.

Vidocq just reached out to take the cigar, but before his hand touched the cigar box, he felt as if his nose hit the wall. With a bang, his nosebleed suddenly came out. , everything in front of you is Venus.

Arthur punched Vidocq on the nose, and then he easily put the cigar box back into his coat pocket and took a puff of cigarette: "Mr. Vidocq, you seem to be very forgetful. You just said, I am not only brave, but also very wise, and I have mastered the essence of the English longbowmen. How dare you reach out to take my cigarette after you tricked me? "

Vidocq held his bloody nose and took two steps back.

When the employees of the detective agency saw this, they were about to step forward to regain ground for their boss.

But Vidocq hurriedly raised an arm to stop them: "It doesn't matter, I owe him this. One punch to solve a doubt, this business is worth it."

Arthur inserted his cane into the crack of the floor tiles, leaned against the carriage and said: "Please explain to me, did you take the wrong medicine today, so you came up with a play that could not be performed in the Paris theater to joke with me? . Otherwise, it’s not a matter of one punch.”

Vidocq took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nosebleed while explaining: "Don't be angry, brother, this is also part of the investigation. I told you before, no one can be trusted in Paris. I am also based on this, so I just designed this scene. I got punched and you clarified your identity. This is a happy ending."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, "Do you think I'm with the Royalists?"

"It's a pity, brother, although I consider you a friend, but your government has a precedent when it comes to uniting the royalists in Vendée and Brittany."

Having said this, Vidocq paused: "Besides, I also have good reason to doubt you. After the bombing that day, you were the only person who followed the assassin out. I calculated afterward that from Kaido Sai Mansion The distance to the location where the assassin is captured, and the time it takes you to chase the assassin, is quite different from the normal time. Of course, since you are chasing the assassin in a small alley, you may have made a big circle in the process of chasing the assassin over the wall. I can understand some discrepancies, but I can confirm that the assassins you captured that day were not the group that planned the bombing."

"Huh?" Arthur raised his eyebrows and said, "Mr. Vidocq, I heard from Alexander that the assassin personally admitted that he was a royalist."

Vidocq blinked at Arthur: "Brother, are you really stupid or are you pretending to be stupid with me? I remember we discussed before which people's words are not credible. You said that there are two types of people's testimony I can't believe that one is a pimp who is eager to redeem the money tree, and the other is a policeman. As long as he enters the police station, he can get whatever testimony he wants from the prisoner, let alone admit that he is the king. Damn it, you can get him to admit that he is the reincarnation of Christ, the only difference is whether the fight lasts longer or shorter."

Arthur did not refute Vidocq's words, not because he did not want to cover up the past for the Royalists, but because as an old London policeman, he really could not refute the truth. If he really did that, it would make Vidocq suspicious again.

"Of course I know this. But weren't you involved in the interrogation? If there were any doubts, why didn't you raise it earlier?"

After hearing this, Vidocq and Arthur were sloppy: "Brother, please forgive me. Although I'm sorry to say this, but at that time, I couldn't completely trust you, so I let out some false news. If If you are really connected to the royalists, you may be paralyzed by this news. In that case, it will be easier for me to see flaws in you. "

Arthur couldn't help but feel shocked when he heard this.

Needless to say, it’s hard not to be fooled by Vidocq’s habit of putting on a show. No wonder he was able to reduce the crime rate in Paris by 40% on his own.

If Arthur hadn't received the news about the traitor from the Royalists, and hadn't been more cautious when facing Vidocq's tricks today, he might have been deceived by him.

Arthur couldn't help but cursed: "A good detective must be a bastard."

"Brother." Vidocq wiped away his nosebleed and laughed: "You are going too far in scolding me like that."

"I'm not scolding you, I'm scolding myself."

Victor smiled and said, "That's what I'm talking about. It's my fault, just scold me, you don't have to scold me so fairly."

Arthur took out the cigar box and handed it over again: "Okay, so now, which ones are true and which ones are false? You don't want to tell me that Gwawei, Clara, these criminal groups, and the idea of ​​​​defrauding the bank are all your tricks to bluff me?"

"Oh, that?" Victor said, "Not all of them are false. Gwawei, Clara, including the forgery criminals Francois, all of this is true. If a play is all fake, only 70% of it is true and 30% is false. If it is all fake, smart people will not be fooled. "

"So is Francois really dead?"

"I don't know whether he is dead or alive." Victor took the cigar and lit it: "But it is true that Bartemi took him out early this morning. The warden of Saint-Pérager Prison is my old friend, and he told me all this. Maybe it's just like you guessed, someone from the Greater Paris Police Department learned from Director Rissoke that Francois was related to the assassination, so they came to the prison overnight and took him out. This bastard is He is an idiot. He can't get a single word of truth out of Francois by interrogating him like this."

"Didn't you contact the Greater Paris Police? After all, Risoke gave you a high degree of authorization in the assassination case. You went to them to ask for him. They can't refuse to let you see him, right?"

After hearing this, Victor rubbed his neck, which was aching from Arthur's heavy punch: "Yes, this is the most fucked up part. That bastard Baltemi actually rejected my request directly. Not only can I not see Francois, I can't even see him in person."

"This is really strange. . Arthur asked: "According to you, wouldn't the civil servants like Bartemi be scared to death by the words like minister, sir, and minister? Where does he get the courage to fight you?"

Victor, holding a cigar in his mouth, rushed into the carriage by the handrail of the carriage. He waved to Arthur and motioned him to get in the car to talk: "This is my negligence. I forgot to tell you that under special circumstances, these cowards can grow backbones in front of the titles of ministers and ministers."

Arthur got on the carriage and closed the door. The carriage started to move again in the narrow alley.

"What's the situation?"

"That is, he has another document dotted with words like ministers and ministers to support him.

Arthur frowned and said: "What do you mean? The French government is merciful and does not intend to continue to investigate the assassination? Louis Philippe takes his life so lightly? If so, I have to look at him with a new eye.

Victor did not answer Arthur's question directly, but told him another story.

"Although the king is gentle, that is only in terms of his personality. As for politics, at least the Orleanists who respect him are not so gentle. After the July Revolution, the Orleanists immediately carried out a large-scale purge of the Legitimists in the legislative, executive, judicial and military circles shortly after they came to power.

In a few months, the new regime not only disqualified 68 Legitimist members of the House of Representatives, but also declared the qualifications of 175 Legitimist members of the House of Lords invalid, and all open Legitimists were expelled from both houses. Local Legitimist officials were even worse off. 76 senior officials, 196 district governors and more than 400 mayors of cities and towns were dismissed, and 65 generals were stripped of their titles. Military ranks were taken away, benefits were cancelled, and a large number of diplomats and judges became unemployed.

Most of the Legitimists left the capital after that, and the land nobles basically returned to their territories in the south and the west, living in their ancient castles that had been passed down for who knows how many generations. However, although these Legitimist nobles lost power in Paris, they still had great influence in the local area, especially in rural areas.

Although these Legitimists were not allowed to miss the old system in Paris, they still stubbornly maintained the lifestyle and social etiquette of the past era in their own territories, held religious activities in accordance with the previous norms, and commemorated the Bourbon family. Days of special significance, such as January 21, when Louis XVI was guillotined, and February 14, when the Duke of Berry was assassinated.

Because the most die-hard royalists had basically gone into exile abroad with the Bourbon royal family, the government turned a blind eye to their behavior in order not to provoke the sensitive nerves of these royalists in the general sense. However, this assassination seemed to have caused an uproar among them. They suspected that the king and the government were conspiring to frame them so that they could have the opportunity to deprive them of their remaining power and property.

In addition, some die-hard royalists had just led the Duchess of Berry last year. The royalists had started a rebellion in Vendée, so these royalist nobles suspected that the government might liquidate them. Although I have not received any news that they might start a rebellion, I don't know if there is any news from the government.

Moreover, there seems to be some new progress in the assassination case recently. Although I don't know where the news came from, some people say that this assassination may be related to the Republicans. It just so happens that the Republicans also had an uprising in Paris last year, so some Republicans are also worried that the government may clean them up as well. "

Arthur heard a bad smell from it: "Is what you said based on facts?"

"Base? I don't know what counts as a base, but not long ago, the royalist newspaper "The Constitution" and the republican newspaper "The Globe" were both closed down, and..."

"And?"

Victor looked out the window: "I heard that the government is drafting a new bill, which will simplify the prosecution and sentencing procedures for political treason. Any offense to the king and attack on the principles and forms of government will be severely punished. And the bill also includes a list of banned words. Unfortunately, Alexander's catchphrase "republicanism" seems to be on this list. If the news is true, he will be thrown into prison as long as he calls himself a republican..."