Joseph’s carriage was still three or four kilometers away from the Palace of Versailles when he discovered that the nearby area was already crowded with people.
Eman glanced out the window and explained, “Your Highness, the official competition doesn’t start for another two days. These people must have come from other places to watch.”
Normally, there are strict dress codes for entering the Palace of Versailles, but during the Star of France competition, the Versailles Palace Square can be freely accessed, just as it was during the King’s birthday.
As a result, a large number of ordinary people set up camp outside the square, waiting for the competition to begin.
However, they wouldn’t find it dull, for with the great influence of the Star of France, various vendors had long set up their stalls here.
From snacks to fruits, from toys to shoes and hats, from painters to cobblers, the space on both sides of the road was densely packed and stretched out for seven or eight kilometers, with the sounds of vendors, music, and the chatter of passersby filling the air, forming a huge open-air commercial street.
Even the more business-minded individuals had erected hundreds of tents under the shade of trees to serve as temporary hotels.
Brian, worried that the large crowds might cause chaos, had even dispatched the court guards to patrol the “commercial street,” which added to the lively atmosphere.
As Joseph looked at the bustling and flourishing scene outside the carriage, an idea struck him.
Why not take advantage of this moment to set up a commercial street or something?
With France’s continuous development, the population of Paris was bound to increase, especially after Fashion Week and the Standardization Conference. Not only more French nobility flocked to Paris, but also a steady increase in foreigners settling here.
Nowadays, the permanent foreign population in Paris has almost reached a thousand, with most concentrated near the real estate projects associated with Fashion Week, and several tens of thousands more staying temporarily.
The subsequent result was a surge in demand for the expansion of Paris.
And with the Palace of Versailles situated outside of Paris, it was extremely unfavorable for disseminating decrees and for the Royal Family to establish an image among the people.
Joseph had long been thinking of integrating Paris with the Palace of Versailles, and now, he saw a good opportunity.
Especially since the construction of the wooden railway from Versailles to Paris had been completed, providing the foundation for integration, it was even more imperative to put this matter on the agenda as soon as possible.
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The carriage stopped in the Marble Courtyard, and Joseph noticed that Queen Mary was not among the crowd that had come to welcome him.
Eman leaned in and whispered, “Your Highness, I’m afraid Queen Mary is probably angry with you.”
Indeed, the Queen’s maid Debreninac quickly made her way through the crowd and curtsied to him, “Crown Prince, Her Majesty the Queen has ordered you to come to her as soon as you return.”
After she finished speaking, she cast a glance around and advised him in a softer tone, “Your Highness, you have really been too willful this time, rushing off to North Africa on your own. You may not know this, but His Majesty has been so worried that he couldn’t even sleep.”
“Uh…” Joseph rubbed his forehead somewhat helplessly—why did this feel like a parent giving a cold look to a child who had sneaked out to play all night?
He had no choice but to follow Countess Debreninac to the Petit Trianon Palace. Upon entering the front hall, he saw Queen Mary standing with her back to him in the center of the room.
Joseph hurried forward to bow, speaking earnestly with a smile, “Mother, I’m back…”
“Hmph!” Queen Mary tilted her head up at a forty-five-degree angle, not even looking at him, “So you still know how to come back?”
“Of course!” Joseph hurriedly moved closer, flashing a bright smile, “Ah, the most beautiful, intelligent, and kind mother in the world, I haven’t seen you for almost a month, and I’ve missed you terribly!”
“Is that so?” the Queen still tilted her head back, deliberately wearing a stern face, “Daring to run off to such a dangerous place on your own? And to deceive me saying it was domestic!”
“Tunisia is also considered domestic now, isn’t it?” Joseph moved in front of Queen Mary, took her hands, and rubbed them against his face, “Look, haven’t I returned safely?” he said, then turned back to Eman with a wink.
The latter immediately instructed the servants to carry in several exquisite boxes and then opened them one by one.
Joseph, grinning, introduced, “Look, this is a Tunisian-style dress designed for you by the best tailor in Tunisia.
“This necklace is made of pearls, a specialty of North Africa, specially picked for you…”
“And this scarf is…”
Seeing Queen Mary still wearing an impassive face, Joseph sighed lightly and had to play his trump card.
“Mother, guess whom I’ve brought back for you?”
“Who?” the Queen glanced at her son, “It’s no use, whoever you bring to plead won’t do any good!”
“Jeanne.”
“Hmph, I said no amount of pleading would…” the Queen was midway through her sentence when she suddenly froze, her eyes wide with astonishment, “Who did you say?!”
“Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy,” Joseph said with a smile, “that fraudster.”
Queen Mary immediately grabbed her son’s arm, her eyes wide, “Are you serious? How did you find her?”
“Ah, well, actually, I went to Tunisia just for this reason,” Joseph immediately exaggerated the story about catching the British Spy, though in his tale, he had set out with the objective of exchanging the spy for Jeanne.
“Ah, my sweetheart! Good boy, I’m so thankful to you!” Queen Mary heard her son had braved danger to retrieve the fraudster who had humiliated her from the British, and tears filled her eyes as she embraced him, “But you really shouldn’t have taken such a big risk! Tripoli is even at war… Joseph, your life is more important to me than everything! That damned female fraudster isn’t worth the risk! Ah, I’m so moved, my son has grown up, and like a valiant knight, you have cleared my disgrace. I was still blaming you, oh, I really shouldn’t have…”
Joseph instead felt a bit embarrassed, and quickly extricated himself from the Queen’s embrace, signaling the maids to bring some cake, pudding, and the like, and then took out the red Tunisian dress embellished with gold pieces and ornate curves and held it in front of the Queen, “Mother, you must try this on, it’s beautiful and will certainly suit you perfectly…”
An hour later, an utterly exhausted Joseph who had finally appeased his mother walked out of Petit Trianon Palace, and headed straight to the office of the Minister of Commerce Bailly to discuss plans for developing the area between Paris and the Palace of Versailles into a commercial center and a new scientific research district.
However, the time at Queen Mary’s had also seen some gains; the Queen had promised him that as long as he brought the Swiss Guard and informed her, he could go abroad anytime.
After relaying the matters of Paris’s expansion plans to Bailly, Joseph immediately went to the General Staff Headquarters’ office building without a break.
Because of its special nature, the headquarters was located in a two-story building next to the Royal Armory.
The space was small but bustling with activity. Dozens of civilian officers carrying various documents continuously shuttled between different functional offices. Shouts urging action emerged from the rooms from time to time, strikingly different from the relaxed atmosphere typically found in traditional military officers’ offices.
When Bertier learned that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had arrived, he hurried out to meet him with several officers.
Before they could salute, Joseph asked the question he was most concerned about, “Has that officer named Napoleon reported for duty yet?”
The Chief of General Staff, clearly not expecting the Crown Prince to be so interested in that young captain — who was newly promoted — hesitated before nodding, “Yes, Your Highness, he has already reported the day before yesterday. He is now serving in the artillery battalion of the Guard First Legion.”