The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1070: Chapter 84: 19th Century Forced Marriage Plot_3

Upon reaching this point, Louis pulled out a newspaper from the bag he carried with him and slid it over: ”Have you read today’s newspaper?”

”Of course, but there’s nothing interesting in it. If you’re talking about the French government’s public announcement of the Royalist leader, the Duchess of Berry’s extramarital pregnancy, didn’t I already tell you about it beforehand?”

Louis nodded and said, ”We indeed knew this news in advance, but the entire public of France only learned about it today. Paris is in chaos now, the Royalists are all mentally collapsing, the republicans are busy mocking them, and the Bonaparte Party is watching from the sidelines, occasionally chiming in. Several well-known Royalist literati couldn’t stand the ridicule and have publicly issued duel challenges to several republican literary leaders, intending to have a life-and-death duel with them.”

Upon hearing this, the first person Arthur thought of was the Great Dumas: ”Alexander hasn’t gotten involved, has he?”

”Alexander is keeping a low profile this time, I think it might be because he’s busy helping Young Italy, so he doesn’t want to attract too much attention.”

Arthur felt half-relieved: ”He hasn’t caused trouble, and no one has caused trouble for him either?”

”Of course not! The Royalists are angry, not stupid. All of Paris knows that Alexander is a sharpshooter, and the Royalists want a life-and-death duel, not one where they die and Alexander lives.”

Arthur reflected on this: ”That makes a lot of damn sense. But with Paris in such chaos, Louis Philippe is probably secretly delighted. The republicans, the Bonaparte Party, and the Royalists are fighting fiercely, and no one can unite, so the Orleans Party can keep their crown.”

”It’s more than just that.”

Louis continued, ”Last night, I attended a ball and met the daughter of General Ali of the Duke of Padua. General Ali is specifically responsible for the martial law in Paris after the explosion at the Kaidao Sai Mansion, and he’s also in charge of liaising with the Great Paris Police Hall. So, to understand the latest progress on the explosion case, I deliberately provoked this young lady.

I complained to her that the government officials responsible for this case were ineffective, only catching a few Royalist assassins, yet after half a month, there’s still no result. If this were at Scotland Yard, the case would have been solved long ago. The young lady defended her father, saying that they couldn’t catch the assassins not because of inefficiency, but because there was something hidden in the case.

Actually, the government identified the criminal’s hideout early on, but hesitated for other considerations. Moreover, the case’s perpetrators weren’t as claimed in the newspaper—a bunch of Royalists. This case, in fact, was planned and executed by republicans. The public claim that it was the Royalists was just to pass the blame and tarnish the opponents’ reputation.”

Arthur slightly widened his eyes at this statement.

Nobody in Paris knows who really committed this crime better than he does.

Yet, the young lady’s claim isn’t entirely wrong; it is indeed a blame game.

Except, the blame isn’t being shifted onto the Royalists, but rather onto the republicans.

Currently, due to the Duchess of Berry’s pregnancy, the Royalists are mentally collapsing and further enraged by republican taunts. Their previously noble status can no longer be flaunted, and their only wish now is to silence their attackers.

If at this moment the government proposed to shut down republican newspapers and control their narrative, the Royalists would certainly not oppose it.

Coincidentally, only yesterday, Arthur learned from Victor that the July Monarchy Government seemed to be drafting such a bill.

Therefore, the real identity of the party pointing out the Royalist assassins as republicans is already evident.

With this thought, Arthur couldn’t help putting down his teacup.

He looked at Louis, hesitated to speak, but finally said, ”I’m going to meet some people in a while; if you’re interested, you can come with me.”