Louis XV's voice suddenly became unclear at some point, as if there was a thick lump of phlegm stuck in his throat.
The king's eyes were no longer as shrewd and piercing as before. Now, the only thing revealed in those eyes was boundless tiredness and confusion.
He turned most of his body towards Lawrence and asked with a trembling tone.
At this moment, Louis XV wished so much that this loyal and outstanding minister could stand up and use his exquisite eloquence to persuade everyone present to accept the exile of Madame Du Barry for his own sake.
Although he also knew about Laurence's bad relationship with Madame Du Barry, Louis XV still held on to this residual hope.
However, what His Majesty the King is waiting for is not a life-saving straw, but the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
"Ahem...Your Majesty..."
Lawrence was bathed in the gaze of all the ministers. He pondered for a moment in embarrassment and replied calmly:
"You did make a merciful decision. Although Madame Du Barry embezzled the seven million livres, fortunately it did not cause a catastrophe. The money is still on the royal family's accounts, and everything has been repaid.
It’s too late to make amends.”
Louis XV was stunned, his eyebrows twitched in excitement, and he said repeatedly:
"You mean, the decision to banish Jeanne to a monastery..."
Lawrence nodded and said:
"Based on reality, this is indeed a very reasonable decision. Your Majesty, it is impartial, neither heavy nor light, and the punishment is just right."
His Majesty the King's face instantly regained some vitality. He looked at the other courtiers excitedly and almost clapped his hands for Lawrence's support.
However, before Louis XV could say anything, Lawrence's next words made him freeze on the throne for a moment:
"It is true that banishment from the convent is a suitable punishment for Madame du Barry's crime of embezzlement, but your majesty, I beg you to take Madame du Barry's second crime into consideration."
Louis XV did not realize what Lawrence was talking about for a moment. He subconsciously looked at Madame Du Barry on the ground and asked blankly:
"Second crime?"
After hearing Lawrence's words, the brilliance in Madame Du Barry's eyes disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye, and returned to a pool of stagnant water without any ripples. Even the waist that had just stood up was like a reed.
Bent down.
How could she not know what the second crime mentioned by Lawrence was.
That was a crime that could lead to death.
In front of the throne, Lawrence was deliberately stunned for a moment, and then suddenly snapped his fingers and said with a hint of remorse:
"Oh! I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I haven't finished explaining to you the whole story of this riot. I just mentioned that Madame Du Barry seemed to have been caught by the mob and sent to the Palace of Justice for trial."
Louis XV's pupils trembled and he asked absently: "Trial...what do you mean? Isn't that trial about Jeanne and the seven million livres? What is the second charge?"
"I don't know the specific details, but judging from the results, Your Majesty..."
Lawrence bit his lip and said with difficulty:
"There seems to be some discrepancies between Madame Du Barry's parentage and what she claimed. The lady's brother-in-law, Jean Du Barry, was also brought to the scene by the citizens, and his testimony also confirmed this."
After saying that, Lawrence winked to Dean Edmund beside him and signaled Edmund to hand the verdict to His Majesty the King again.
Taking the fresh verdict, Louis XV just flipped through a few pages, and his eyes instantly froze on the verdict, as if he had been petrified, and did not move even an inch for a long time.
"Fake identity...false birth...Jean Du Barry...whore..."
His Majesty the King spat out some words intermittently, but his voice became lower and lower, and in the end, it completely fell into deathly silence.
Madame Du Barry knelt on the ground, buried her head deeply in her chest, and did not dare to look at anyone, especially His Majesty the King, who loved her deeply.
How she wished she had a sharp knife in front of her that could kill her on the spot, so that she would not have to accept this humiliating and desperate public execution.
Three minutes later, Louis XV closed the verdict, but he still maintained his previous actions, motionless and silent, as if he had not fully accepted this cruel reality.
Crown Prince Louis, Crown Princess Marie, and all the court officials were all surprised to see His Majesty the King lost his mind and could not believe what content in the judgment could make His Majesty the King so lost.
Even on the day when he was defeated in the Seven Years' War and was forced to sign a peace treaty that was humiliating and humiliating, Louis XV did not behave in such an unruly manner as he does today.
Dean Edmund stepped forward at the right time and explained in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, Jean Du Barry personally admitted that he helped Madame Du Barry...no, she should be called Jeanne Bequ, and helped this prostitute to forge a birth certificate and aristocratic blood. He also provided evidence of correspondence at the time.
All have been submitted to the High Court, and you can check them at any time. In addition, there are also contradictions in the birth records of Madame Du Barry in the Bureau of Quanxu and the Chamber of Heralds. If you need to check, the High Court will issue it for you as quickly as possible.
A report.”
"No, no need."
Louis XV's voice was low and weak, like a seriously ill dying man. He tremblingly handed the verdict back to Dean Edmund, closed his eyes and murmured:
"Jean Du Barry...the Lange family...everything can be explained..."
Louis XV believed that there was no fraud in this judgment. Whether it was the evidence provided by Jean Dubarry or the records of the Office of Archbishops and the Chamber of Heralds, these were extremely easy to verify. Abbot Edmond could not possibly have committed any fraud.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Moreover, in the past, Louis XV had some minor doubts about Madame Du Barry's identity.
She and her husband, the Comte du Barry, seemed to be completely unfamiliar with each other. Madame Du Barry stayed in Paris all year round, but the Comte du Barry lived far away in Dauphiny. Louis XV was still very curious about the identity of these two strangers.
How to get married.
Madame Du Barry, on the other hand, had a close relationship with her brother-in-law, Jean Du Barry. She even mentioned this insignificant little person in front of Louis XV more than once, hoping that His Majesty the King could give Jean Du Barry some errands.
Do it.
In addition, the Lange family that Madame Du Barry claims to be from is full of loopholes.
Logically speaking, as the legitimate daughter of a down-and-out family, Madame Du Barry should have been eager to use her power and influence to revitalize the family after becoming the official mistress. However, she seemed to be completely cut off from the entire family and never took the initiative.
Mentioned her family in front of Louis XV.
On the contrary, whenever Louis XV casually asked about the Lange family, Madame Du Barry would always hesitate, eager to change the subject, and not wanting to say another word on this topic.
In the past few years, Louis XV has not paid too much attention to this, just thinking that his dear Madame Du Barry has some unspeakable secrets.
However, it was not until today that he truly realized that it was not an unspeakable secret at all, but a complete and shocking set of lies.
The woman whom His Majesty the King of France loves most is actually a dirty prostitute living on the streets?
When Louis XV saw the words on the verdict, he even felt his heart stop beating for a moment.
Those beautiful memories of the past, those spring evenings spent with Madame Du Barry, and the clouds and rain stirred up by the two of them going to Wushan together were now shattered into pieces that exuded a rotten stench.
Looking at the woman kneeling on the ground, Louis XV felt his stomach churn, and a feeling of nausea rushed straight to his brain. He could not accept this cruel reality at all. As the king of a country, he actually gave out thousands of love and favors.
All pinned on a prostitute.
Louis XV stood up tremblingly, like a drunken man, swaying even when he was standing still, as if he would fall straight down in a certain direction at any time.
Several attendants rushed forward and tried to support His Majesty the King.
But Louis XV stubbornly pushed away these attendants, staggered down from the throne, and staggered to Madame Du Barry.
He tore off the strip of cloth from Mrs. Dubaliff's mouth and looked at the other party with a complicated expression:
"Jean...then everything mentioned above is true?"
Madame Du Barry looked at the king with a pale face. Her brain wanted to order her throat to spit out a set of eloquent lies, but any words that came to her mouth turned into a meaningless string of choked words.
.
She would not lie to Louis XV at all. In the past days, Madame Du Barry had no need for lies. Her unparalleled charm and appearance were enough to fascinate His Majesty the King.
Finally, Madame Du Barry, whose mind went blank, slowly lowered her head and nodded her head very slightly.
Madame Du Barry herself knew very well that from the moment Jean Du Barry handed over the evidence, she had no room for defense.
Louis XV was in a daze for a long time as if struck by lightning. If he hadn't kept standing with difficulty, the worried courtiers would have thought that His Majesty the King had passed out:
"In other words, you...were once a street prostitute, and later became the mistress of Jean Du Barry...?"
Madame Du Barry nodded slightly again. She had given up any useless struggle. The only prayer in her mind was to leave the throne room immediately. No matter whether she went to a damp dungeon or a poor monastery, it would not matter to her.
It doesn't matter anymore.
A biting winter wind blew violently into the throne room, causing the crystal chandelier at the top of the hall to sway left and right, and the tassel pendants at the bottom collided with each other, making a series of crisp sounds.
A strong sense of dizziness suddenly rushed to Louis XV's forehead. His Majesty the King raised his head and suddenly laughed miserably:
"Haha, hahaha! Whore! Jeanne, you are really... Hahahahaha cough, cough! Cough! Cough!"
The shrill laughter became lower and lower, and in the end, it turned into a series of uncontrollable violent coughs.
Louis XV clutched his chest tightly, his whole body moving forward and back with violent coughing.
His throat couldn't stop gurgling, as if something was blocking his throat.
Suddenly, His Majesty the King bent down suddenly and opened his mouth in pain:
"Ahhhhh!"
However, what he spit out from his mouth was not food residue or gastric juice, but a large pool of black bloody phlegm.
Everyone in the throne room was stunned, without any exception. People stared blankly at the pool of dirty and horrifying blood slowly flowing in the magnificent throne room, feeling as if they were dreaming and unreal.
A few drops of dark blood were still dripping from Louis XV's mouth. His face was paler than plaster, and his whole body was crumbling like a tower about to collapse.
"damn it!"
Lawrence's pupils shrank, and he immediately rushed forward without hesitation and supported the unconscious Louis XV.
This was not part of my plan.
Crown Prince Louis was the second to react. He also rushed to his grandfather's side anxiously. Seeing the dim blood on Louis XV's mouth, a line of clear tears flowed out of the corner of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's eyes. He turned around and shouted:
"Where is the imperial physician! Where is the imperial physician? Let them come here, immediately! Now!"
Several courtiers looked at each other in panic, and then ran out of the throne room without stopping to summon the imperial doctor.
Lawrence supported the unconscious Louis XV, took a deep breath, quickly regained his composure, and carefully observed the king's symptoms.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After spitting out that big mouthful of bloody phlegm, Louis XV's cheeks also regained some color, and his breathing became much calmer, even though the whole person was already in the middle of the
He's in a coma, but he should be fine for a short period of time.
Crown Prince Louis tremblingly took out his handkerchief, carefully wiped the blood from the corner of Louis XV's mouth, and looked helplessly and hesitantly at his most trusted friend:
"Lawrence, grandfather..."
At this moment, Lawrence couldn't care so much. He raised his hand to test Louis XV's breath, then opened the king's eyelids and looked at them for a moment, and said solemnly:
"Your Majesty may have been hit too hard in one moment, and he is already suffering from a stubborn illness... Your Majesty, it's cold here. Let's send Your Majesty back to the king's suite first."
If there was anyone who least expected Louis XV to collapse, it was Lawrence.
Although Lawrence now has a deep friendship and trust with Crown Prince Louis, if the young and immature crown prince were to be crowned Louis XVI in a hurry, it would disrupt Lawrence's entire long-term plan.
After all, Crown Prince Louis himself has not yet established prestige among the ministers, and he does not yet have the ability to rule the entire Kingdom of France.
More importantly, the next government team prepared by Louis XV for the crown prince, the planned Golden Iris faction led by Lawrence, had not yet achieved a dominant position in the court and local governments.
This also means that if the already immature and incompetent Crown Prince inherits the throne of France without preparation, it will be almost impossible for him to suppress those powerful ministers and ministers for a long time.
Two restless classes.
Whether it was powerful dukes like Choiseul and Richelieu, or royal cronies like Chancellor Maupe, with their means and power, it was almost easy to seize and divide administrative power from the royal family.
And this is certainly a pretty bad situation for Lawrence:
If he abandons the royal family and joins the feast of carving up power, Lawrence's weak political foundation in France will make it difficult for him to get a share of the pie like other important ministers.
After all, Lawrence's current power and status basically come directly from Louis XV. Once the old king leaves and the new king becomes weak, Lawrence's status will undoubtedly plummet.
But if they stand firmly with Louis XVI, then waiting for Lawrence will be in a embattled and isolated situation. At that time, I am afraid that even the royal family confidants like Justice Maupe will re-examine their relationship with the new people.
relationship between kings.
Now, Lawrence needs time, time for himself to develop his power, time for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to grow up, and time for Louis XV to pave the way for the succession of the throne.
Before that, His Majesty the King must not make any mistakes.
