In the markets in the north and south cities, the commotion caused by Captain Haled has not dissipated.
Under his coercive orders, the patrols were forced to control the vendors, and then used various forms of fines and fees to empty each of their wallets.
At first, a few young and strong boys stood up and wanted to resist. However, soon, as their bloody corpses fell in the market, no one dared to commit Harad's atrocities anymore.
At the same time, the Dongcheng district of Ajaccio was not peaceful either.
"Alas... alas..."
Carlo was hunched over the desk, staring closely at a beautifully printed gilded envelope on the desk and dozens of pages of letter paper inside, and kept sighing.
From the pattern of the paint seal on the opened envelope, it can be seen that this is a letter from the Governor's Palace, and it is a personal letter sent by Pauli himself.
Maria sang a lullaby in a low voice and walked into Carlo's study with the sleeping little Napoleon in her arms. Looking at Carlo who was still sighing, she asked in a worried voice:
"My dear, what's wrong with you? You haven't stopped sighing for almost an hour."
Carlo stood up silently, walked to Maria, took the little Napoleon in her hand, and gently smoothed the broken hair on Napoleon's forehead with his hand.
"Please give the baby to the wet nurse for a while, and then come to me. Remember to close the door when you come in."
Carlo only held the baby for a short while, then handed the baby back to Maria. After giving instructions, he went back to his desk to read the letters.
After a while, Maria returned to the study, closed the door tightly, and then sat opposite Carlo, tilting her head, also wanting to see what was written in the letter on the table.
"Is such a thick letter from a certain case that you are responsible for?" Maria asked with a slight frown.
Carlo shook his head slowly, picked up the letter and sorted it out, then carefully put it in the drawer, looked at Maria and said seriously:
"My dear, you can't say what I'm going to say next, at least not for the next few days."
"Swear to God, I won't." Maria said, crossing herself on her chest.
Carlo took a deep breath, closed his eyes, hesitated for a moment before speaking:
"We...are going to be British."
"British?" Maria looked at Carlo in surprise, wondering why her husband said that.
"To be precise, the Corsicans are becoming British."
Carlo held his forehead, couldn't help but sigh, and said:
"Governor Paoli sent me this letter, saying that at the parliament at the beginning of next month, I need to vote to support the resolution of Corsica's annexation to England."
The two people in the study looked at each other in silence for a moment.
Maria patted Carlo on the shoulder, smiled softly and said:
"No matter what decision you make, the children and I will support you."
"Thank you, Maria." Carlo smiled bitterly, shook his head, and added:
"Governor Pauli did promise me generous terms, saying that he would still retain my status as a member of Parliament, and in addition, he would also make me a Lord of the United Kingdom. But... I think I still need to talk to Lawrence about this matter."
Maria nodded in understanding and said:
"But didn't your brother go to visit Count Malbeuf? Has he come back?"
"I don't know. Maybe I should write a letter and ask Count Malbeuf."
Carlo stood up in distress and said that although his brother had been dismissed from his post, he still had considerable influence in Ajaccioli. This was also an important reason why Carlo hoped to get Lawrence's opinion.
However, there is only one week left before the regular parliament at the beginning of next month, and Carlo is also a little worried about whether Lawrence can come back during this time.
Just when Carlo was hesitant, his housekeeper suddenly knocked on the wooden door of the study.
"Come in." Carlo said casually.
The butler pushed open the door and entered with an opened envelope in his hand. He bowed to Carlo and said:
"Sir, a little boy just knocked on the door and said that he had sent a letter at the request of someone. I have checked the content and it seems to be an invitation letter."
For such a letter of unknown origin, the butler would naturally confirm the content in advance, so Carlo was not angry, but took the letter from the butler and glanced at it with some confusion.
The content of the letter was very simple, just hoping that Carlo could change into casual clothes immediately and go to an ordinary tavern in Nancheng District.
"This handwriting..."
Carlo stared at the letter for a long time, then suddenly said in shock:
"This is Lawrence's handwriting!"
"Really?" Maria asked in disbelief:
"He went back to Ajaccio? Why not just come here?"
"I don't know either. He may... have his own considerations."
Carlo glanced at the name of the tavern on the letter again, then swallowed nervously, folded the letter in his hand and tore it into pieces.
Paulie's letter and Lawrence's letter arrived almost at the same time, which made Carlo vaguely aware of something.
...
According to Lawrence's request, Carlo specially changed into a simple cloth coat with long sleeves and walked to the tavern mentioned in the letter.
"here."
As soon as Carlo walked in, a young man covered half of his body with a linen cloak poked his back secretly, and then led him to a table in the corner to sit down.
"Lawrence, it's really you! Why are you dressed like this? Also, why did Governor Pauly remove all your official positions?"
Carlo looked at the face under the cloak and saw that it was indeed his younger brother. He was surprised and happy and asked in a low voice.
Lawrence just shook his head and said in a deep voice:
"Pauli wants to give Corsica to the British. I don't want to, that's it."
Carlo was very surprised and said:
"Huh? How do you know that Governor Paoli wants to annex Corsica to the United Kingdom?"
Lawrence was also stunned for a moment and asked:
"Wait, it's you, Carlo, how did you know?"
"Governor Pauli just sent a letter a few hours ago, which was mentioned in the letter." Carlo explained in a low voice.
After hearing this, Lawrence couldn't help but frown, lowered his head and thought for a while, and said to himself:
"If this is the case...all MPs should receive this message, which means..."
Lawrence raised his head suddenly, looked at Carlo and asked:
"The regular meeting at the beginning of next month?"
"Yes, that's right." Carlo had no idea that Lawrence could infer so much information from his words, and nodded subconsciously.
Lawrence waved to the waiter and ordered two beers casually, making the two of them look more like real drinkers.
Picking up the wine glass and taking a sip, Lawrence endured the feeling of vomiting and swallowed the sour beer in his mouth. Then he put the big wine glass aside and whispered seriously:
"Carlo, what do you think of Paulie's actions?"
"I..." Carlo paused hesitantly for a while and whispered:
"The terms Governor Paoli gave me are very good, but... I think for other people, I mean ordinary Corsicans, this may not be a good thing."
Lawrence listened silently, occasionally nodding in agreement.
"By the way, Lawrence."
Carlo's face already showed a worried look. He sighed, looked at Lawrence and said:
"You just said that you opposed Governor Pauli's resolution, so what are you going to do? You no longer have an official position, you have no voting rights in the parliament, and my vote will not make any difference..."
"Overthrow him."
"What?"
"Overthrow him."
"You...overthrow? Governor Pauli?"
Carlo almost lost control of his voice, and even the hand holding the wine glass couldn't help shaking, and he spilled the beer down his leg.
"In parliament on April 1, I will end the Poly era."
Lawrence whispered quietly, as if he was talking about what to have for dinner tonight.
"I...I don't understand how to overturn it. This is no joke, Lawrence."
Carlo looked around nervously to make sure that no one else heard their conversation.
Lawrence leaned forward, lowered his voice, and informed Carlo of his contract with Duke Choiseul.
"This...this is crazy, but..."
Carlo didn't wake up from Lawrence's plan for a while. It wasn't until he took a sip of beer that he sobered up and said:
"This is the only way we can continue to call ourselves Corsicans."
"What are you going to do, Carlo?" Lawrence asked, nodding.
Carlo took a deep breath and made up his mind and said:
"I'll support you, Lawrence."
...
After Carlo left the tavern, in order not to arouse suspicion, Lawrence continued to sit on his seat and drank all the sour beer in small sips.
"I originally wanted to ask Carlo to help me pay attention to Pauli's movements, but unexpectedly I happened to know the time when Pauli disclosed the contract."
Lawrence moved the empty wine glass aside, waved to the waiter, patted a few silver coins on the table, then stood up and murmured in a low voice:
"April 1st...for Pauly, maybe he hopes that everything on that day is just an April Fool's Day joke."