Queen Mary stared at the sketch in front of her, her face taut with extreme dissatisfaction, “Is the punishment that light?”
Justice Minister Breti nodded somewhat helplessly, “Your Majesty, according to the relevant decrees, this is the heaviest punishment for General Besanval. Unless there is evidence to prove that he deliberately allowed the bandits to get close to Your Highness.”
That’s how the laws of France were at the time, very lenient towards the nobility. More than a decade ago, Countess Jeanne de la Motte, claiming to be Queen Mary’s maid, found another woman to impersonate the Queen and tricked the Archbishop of Rouen into buying a necklace worth 2 million livres for the “Queen.” Jeanne then handed the necklace to Count de la Motte, who sold it in England.
It was only when the jewelers complained to the Queen about the installment payments not being received that the matter was revealed. The Archbishop of Rouen publicly presented “the Queen’s” personal letters to clear his name, putting the Queen at the center of everyone’s gossip.
Even for such a serious case, Rouen and Count de la Motte were astonishingly released without charge, while Jeanne, because of her nobility, was only sentenced to imprisonment in the Bastille. And the next year she escaped from prison—some suspected with the assistance of the Duke of Orleans.
So, considering General Besanval’s situation, exile was truly the limit.
Queen Mary looked towards Brian, Mono, and others who were nodding in agreement. With no other choice, she pinched the bridge of her nose, “Very well, then let it be exile.
“However, the place of exile… I remember we have a small island in East Africa, what’s it called?”
Kesode, who had been summoned as an eyewitness, immediately answered, “It is Seychelles, Your Majesty.”
“Right, Seychelles,” the Queen nodded bitterly, turning to Breti, “Then that’s where Besanval shall be exiled.”
Seychelles was a good ten thousand nautical miles from Paris. Moreover, with the 18th-century sailing technology, it was not even guaranteed that everyone could survive the voyage from France to there.
Although Besanval had not yet been sent for trial, since the Queen had decided on Seychelles, there was pretty much no escape for him.
In the council hall, including the military ministers, no one dared to speak for Besanval. Aside from the King and Queen’s rage, the attack the day before was too severe. Add to that a foreign princess had witnessed everything, making it a complete embarrassment.
Baron Breti glanced at the Queen’s expression and continued, “Your Majesty, regarding the other members of the French Guards… they are all significantly responsible for failing to stop the attackers.
“Since it is still unclear how those two bandits approached the Crown Prince’s carriage, all the officers and soldiers of the French Guards need to be isolated for investigation. Suspects will then be handed over to the military court for prosecution and trial.”
“Investigation…” The Queen, weary, waved her hand, “Baron Breti, please, along with Wemorel, assist the Gendarmerie in investigating the officers and soldiers of the French Guards.
“Until they are proven innocent, all officers are to be suspended from duty, and no one is to leave the barracks.
“Report the results of the investigation to me at all times.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Minister of War Saint Priest heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this—Besanval was certainly finished, but as long as the Gendarmerie and the military court were in charge of the matter, the other officers of the French Guards should be safe.
After all, they belonged to the same military system; go through the motions, then declare they were not involved in the incident.
As France’s elite troops stationed in Paris, the officers of the French Guards were mostly quite influential. In the Military Nobility Group, everyone’s interests were entangled. These people had a very wide network of connections.
Setting aside everything else, the commander of a cavalry battalion of the French Guards was the cousin-in-law of Saint Priest. If Queen Mary had directly assigned Royal Family members to inspect the matter, it would have been very troublesome for him.
Just when he thought things had come to an end, he saw Kesode bowing to Queen Mary and saying, “Your Majesty, given the performance exhibited by the French Guards, they are no longer suitable to continue guarding Paris. Perhaps, it is time to replace them with a more reliable regiment to ensure its security.”
Queen Mary nodded in agreement and turned to the other ministers, “What do you think?”
Saint Priest kept his head down and said nothing.
Minister of the Interior Mono squeezed out an “honest” smile and said, “Your Majesty, the entire French Guards are currently under examination and unable to fulfill their duty of protecting Paris. It’s indeed necessary to deploy other regiments to ensure the defense of Paris.”
The previous evening, Joseph had sent someone to inform him to coordinate with Kesode.
Brian also nodded and said, “Your Majesty, there is currently no conflict at the Southern Netherlands border. Elite regiments like the Flander Regiment are somewhat wasted there; it would be perfect to redeploy them to assist in the defense of Paris.”
Baron Breti’s eyes lit up at the words, and he voiced his agreement loudly, “Your Majesty, I also think the Flander Regiment is highly suitable.”
The commander of the Flander Regiment, like him, was one of the very few among the nobility who were staunch supporters of the King. Having them in Paris would greatly benefit the strengthening of his political power.
The Minister dealing with the ceremonial conclusion of England-France trade negotiations was in Birmingham. The Foreign Minister was on his way back from Russia, having only reached Austria.
Therefore, at that moment, there was no one in the council chamber to object. Seeing this, Queen Mary decided on the spot, “Then summon the Flander Regiment to Paris. The garrison of the French Guards will be changed to Moretrowan Town.”
She remembered the town that served as the lair of the Blood Blade Bandits very well; it was just the place to send the French Guards to.
…
An hour later, in the gardens of Versailles Palace Square, Duke of Orleans was smiling broadly at Marquis Saint Priest, saying,
“So at the moment, it’s not appropriate for me to be in touch with the gendarmerie. I must ask you to convey the message. Who could have predicted an attack by bandits? Even Louis XV had faced an assassination attempt right before him; we cannot allow innocent officers to be implicated.”
The French Guards were his stronghold after years of management, especially those officers to whom he had invested over a million livres; he naturally couldn’t just watch them be dismissed or exiled.
Minister of War confidently nodded, “Rest assured, with this amount of ‘campaign funds,’ the gendarmes will definitely turn a blind eye. Even if someone were to be prosecuted, I will handle it at the military tribunal.”
Just now, the Duke of Orleans had promised him a full 250,000 livres; he estimated he could pocket at least half of it since the officers of the French Guards would also bribe the gendarmes, sparing him the need to step in entirely.
Duke of Orleans, who had missed the earlier meeting, now breathed a sigh of relief and, bowing slightly, indicated, “Then that shall be your task.”
…
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Inside the Crown Prince’s chambers, dozens of noble young ladies looked on worriedly at the Crown Prince who had been “severely” injured, wishing it had been them who took the attack, and in their hearts, they cursed the incompetent French Guards thousands and thousands of times.