Flowers, Swords and France

When Charles de Treville came out of the secret passage, it was almost dark, and the sound of gunfire in the distance continued. He carefully observed his surroundings, then tiptoed slowly along the shadow of the building until he turned into an alley and saw that his light two-wheeled carriage was still parked there safely. He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

"Jacques?" He called softly.

Hearing his call, the gray-haired coachman who had been sitting in the driving position hurriedly looked in the direction of the voice, and his wrinkled face was piled with a surprised expression. "Sir! Are you okay?"

The gunfire continued to come, and the exchange of fire had lasted for quite a while.

"I'm fine," Charles answered casually, "but what happened here? Are the police suppressing bandits? Or is there another riot there? It's just like the rue de Transnonen?"

[In 1834, the Republicans launched a riot in Paris, and the government sent three brigades of troops into the city to suppress it. The rue de Transnonen was bloodbathed in the fierce exchange of fire. ]

"I have been waiting here as you ordered, and then there was a gunshot over there..." He turned his head to look in the direction of the exchange of fire, "I was still worried about you just now..."

It seems that he knows nothing.

"Okay, never mind, let's go." Charles, who had a guilty conscience, did not dare to stay here for long, and urged the other party to start quickly.

"Okay, sit tight!" Jacques was as anxious as he was, and whipped the horse to start.

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Sitting in the carriage, Charles closed his eyes slightly and seemed to be resting, but his thoughts drifted far away.

He was a time traveler, a time traveler who traveled from 21st century China to 19th century France.

In the original time and space, he was an orphan who grew up slowly relying on the care of the government and relatives. Finally, he went to college and found a job and lived like an ordinary young man.

He couldn't explain how he traveled through time. It was like he woke up from a sleep and suddenly found that he was born into this world as a baby one day, restarting a new life.

At first, Charles was a little uncomfortable and couldn't accept the reality.

But as the years passed, Charles gradually accepted his new identity, accepted his new family, and started his new journey with a new identity.

Now, except for a few unknown aspects, he has completely integrated into this era. He faced the new life with a positive attitude that he had never imagined in his previous life.

Because here, he had his own family and everything he had to fight for.

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The meeting place of these conspirators was the rue Batignolles in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The carriage drove into the nearby rue de Clichy at a very fast speed until it passed through the Place de Clichy and entered the 8th arrondissement. When it felt that it had entered a safe area, the carriage slowed down.

Then the carriage rushed left and right through the streets and alleys and came to the Place de la Concorde, which was the Place Louis XV in the old dynasty era, and the Place de la Revolución in the Great Revolution era.

Louis XVI and his queen, as well as the revolutionary leader Robespierre and other famous figures were taken to the guillotine here amid the cheers of the crowds. Of course, among the victims was Charles' "ancestor", the former Duke of Treville.

The carriage continued to drive from the edge of the square, then passed the Concorde Bridge - it took some time because there were so many vehicles crossing the bridge - and then crossed the Seine and reached the left bank.

The carriage then entered the edge of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, which is often called the Saint-Germain district. After the collapse of the Bourbon dynasty and the transfer of the political center of France from the Palace of Versailles to the city of Paris, the French dignitaries gradually gathered in Paris.

Due to the prosperous population and many vendors in the city center, no matter which dynasty, the nobles and the wealthy families who always tried to imitate the nobles would always try their best to build their mansions away from densely populated areas. Therefore, these nobles also built their mansions on the left bank of the Seine, which was not so prosperous at the time, and gradually the Saint-Germain district became the gathering place of the French dignitaries.

The carriage carefully passed through various exquisite or magnificent mansions, and finally stopped in front of a small mansion on the edge of it. After the doorman opened the door, it drove directly in, stopped under the glass shed in front of the steps, and put down the footrest.

This is the mansion of the old Marquis de Treville.

Charles finally felt relieved. He got off the carriage, walked up the steps, stepped through the opened glass door and walked directly into the mansion.

This is his home, where he was born and grew up.

The layout of the living room is a typical Empire era style. It was once glorious in the old days, but like the Napoleonic Empire, it has slowly faded under the erosion of time.

The red silk curtains were tanned purple by the sun, and the folds were about to be worn out; there were gold-painted railings on the stairs from the first floor to the second floor, but large pieces of paint had already peeled off, revealing the original white wood base color; the living room was covered with a bright red carpet, but the color of the carpet had almost faded, turning into an indescribable pink; the gold paint on the furniture had also peeled off, and the flowered silk surface was showing a little bit of warp and weft:

To sum it up in one sentence: This mansion was once glorious thirty years ago, and then it only stayed thirty years ago.

The reason for this is that we have to start with the fate of the owner of this mansion, the old Marquis de Treville.

The Treville family was once glorious in the old dynasty era, and the previous generation of the Duke of Treville had always been a favorite in Versailles. In 1789, the storm of the Great Revolution began to sweep across France, and in the general atmosphere of liquidation of the aristocracy, the Duke of Treville also went to the guillotine as a matter of course.

He had two sons, both of whom fled to Germany and became exiled nobles in France. The eldest son Philip inherited the title of Duke, continued to serve the Bourbon royal family, and became a confidant of the Count of Provence (later King Louis XVIII).

And his second son was named Victor.

In 1802, Napoleon, who was still the first consul at the time, issued an edict announcing the pardon of nobles who had been exiled abroad for various reasons. After the Supreme was officially crowned on December 2, 1804, such edicts were issued repeatedly. Victor, the second son of the former Duke of Treville, returned to France in 1805 after years of exile abroad.

As we all know, Emperor Napoleon has always been quite magnanimous to the old nobles who returned from foreign countries and respectfully submitted to him - especially those from famous families. He generously treated Victor and fulfilled Victor's wish to join the army.

Due to time constraints, Victor did not catch up with the Battle of Austerlitz at the end of 1805, which made Napoleon reach his peak, and could not see the embarrassment of the Russian Tsar and the Austrian Emperor seeking peace. However, in the battles of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806, Victor, as a cavalry officer, fought bravely and led his men to defeat the Prussian army on the North German Plain and marched all the way to Berlin. He was commended and promoted by His Majesty the Emperor, and "Brave Treville" became famous in the Empire. In the subsequent wars between the Empire and Austria and Russia, Victor also made many contributions and was finally promoted to general by the Emperor.

The Emperor usually did not hesitate to reward his meritorious officials. He re-conferred Victor as the Marquis of the Empire and gave him various other honors and a large amount of financial support. This mansion was purchased by Victor with the Emperor's reward. In the old Empire, the Marquis often entertained guests here, and it became a famous social place for the upper class of the Empire. There are even rumors that the Grand Duchess of Tuscany (Napoleon's eldest sister Elisa) had visited here.

However, after the collapse of the empire in 1815, the grand scene was never seen again.

After the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, unlike other returning nobles who had turned back and bowed to His Majesty the King again, Victor refused to beg for forgiveness from King Louis, but continued to show his nostalgia for the old empire and the emperor. Therefore, he was naturally treated coldly and became a member of the half-paid officers.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

[After the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, the officers of the Napoleon era were basically dismissed and could only receive half pay. 】

If the salary cut was a threat to the Treville family, then the idleness was a fatal blow to the Marquis family. The later French governments, whether Bourbon France or the July Monarchy, did not give the Marquis any opportunity, so he could not make extra money to supplement his family income (in 1823, Bourbon France intervened in the Spanish throne turmoil and later occupied Madrid. The colonization of North Africa has been the consistent policy of the French government for decades), so the decline of the Marquis family became a matter of course.

However, whether it is prosperity or decline, glory or fall, this is still Charles' home, and this will never change.

Recently, the old and frail Marquis always goes to bed early. In order not to disturb the old man's sleep, Charles lightened his steps and planned to go back to his room on the second floor to rest.

However...

"Aha, our hero Charles is finally back!"

The sudden loud shout made Charles stunned for a moment, and then he breathed a sigh of relief after he heard who was speaking.

The Marquis walked out of his room, walked through the corridor to the stairs on the second floor, and looked at his grandson at the bottom of the stairs with a kind expression.

"Grandpa, what's wrong with you..." Charles looked up at his grandfather.

The Marquis, who was over 60 years old, had gray hair, but it was still combed and separated delicately; although there were many wrinkles on his face, the edges were still quite straight, and there were traces of the handsome man in his youth. The most impressive thing was the pair of eyes full of vitality and enthusiasm. Charles always thought that the passion retained in these eyes was not less than that of a young man.

And at this moment, these eyes were staring at him with love.

"Once you reach this age, it's not easy to fall asleep. You made such a big noise when you came back that you woke me up a long time ago." Although the tone seemed to be complaining, it was full of the deep affection of the elderly for their children and grandchildren. But soon, his eyes became serious again, "How is it, is everything going well on your side?"

"Well..." Charles hesitated for a moment, and then answered, "It's going well."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" The Marquis keenly sensed Charles's hesitation and asked hurriedly.

Charles didn't want to tell the old man about this kind of details and add unnecessary worries to him, but since the Marquis had already asked, he decided to tell the whole story. "The meeting went smoothly and there were no unexpected situations. However, there was a gunfight near the place where we met..."

The old Marquis raised his eyebrows.

"The thing is..." Charles was about to explain, and the old man suddenly interrupted him.

"You just came back. Drink some water, eat something, and rest for a while. Then come to my room and talk about today in detail!" He left his instructions and slowly walked back to his bedroom along the corridor.

"Okay." Charles nodded, feeling grateful.

After eating, Charles knocked on the door of the Marquis' bedroom with the mood and spirit of a schoolboy going to the teacher to hand in homework.

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