I will be crowned king

"Please tell your Majesty that I am powerless."

In the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, facing the royal guards who came anxiously to deliver orders, Ludwig seemed very calm: "When things have reached this point, they are no longer something that I, a small ruler, can control."

"Sir!" The Wang family guard looked very excited: "This is His Majesty's personal will!"

"Even if His Majesty himself stood here and repeated what you just said, my answer would still be the same."

Ludwig slowly raised his gaze, revealing his unique majesty in his indifference: "I have given the advice that should be given, I have also made suggestions and plans that should be put forward, and I have tried my best to give the advice that should be given. In fact, I tried to delay the situation as much as possible to prevent it from deteriorating so quickly."

"But what about the reaction of the royal family? Procrastination, hesitation... Hesitation when it was time to be decisive, unscrupulousness when it was time to compromise, and in the end things became the way they are now out of control. Who should be blamed for this?!"

The sonorous and powerful words contained unspeakable anger and helplessness, turning into raging anger that echoed under the ceiling of the office.

Ludwig was indeed angry... He tried more than once to save Anne Herred and the young King Nicholas who were seeking death. Although it was not his intention, as the nominal leader of the royalist party, he was indeed doing so; but Not to mention being grateful, the other party simply treats themselves as air and only knows how to have their own way.

In fact, even he himself didn't realize that now he is so disgusted with "having a king above his head"; not only must he carry out all kinds of extremely stupid orders from the other side without compromise, he even has to Take the initiative to consider the other person's problems, and never refute, let alone doubt or offer contrary opinions, otherwise you will be disloyal.

If the king is the kind of wise king who is absolutely correct, or a type like Carlos II who is willing to listen to the professional opinions of others and remains humble and vigilant about things he does not understand, then that is fine; but whether the little king or the queen mother, they It seems that he thinks that his power is inherent and natural.

"But the situation now is indeed very critical!" The royal guard finally stopped being arrogant, and his tone became pleading: "The only person who can turn the tide at this time is Lord Ludwig!"

"Then what do you want me to do?"

Ludwig sneered: "Surge out alone and order the protesting crowd to stop immediately? Or warn them that if they don't disperse, I will let the Southern Legion kill them all?"

"this……"

"Let me make the matter more clear. Even if your Excellency immediately rushes out with all the royal guards and kills all the protesters outside, it will not help." He stood up with his hands on the table, his sharp eyes still sarcastic. :

"I don't know how the so-called rumor of 'Her Majesty the Queen Mother colluded with the empire' spread, but it is still just a rumor. No matter how loud the people outside are, it is just a rumor; but if you dare to shoot and kill people, the rumor will Become the truth.”

Of course, the premise is that you can really do it... Ludwig added in his heart.

He knew that as the core elite of the Osteria family, almost all the Royal Guards were talented people... This was the foundation and card that a great country should have. No matter how much he didn't value the power of blood, no matter how he was called an upstart, the emperor could The "privileges" enjoyed by Clovis' kings were not bad at all.

But not everything in this world can be solved by killing people. Rather, the more bloody and cruel they are as royal guards, the more passive the situation becomes for the Osteria royal family.

"Then, may I ask, what do you think the throne should do most now to end this... commotion?"

After this commotion ends, don't you think they are already planning to overthrow the rule of the Osteria family... Ludwig couldn't help but complain in his heart:

"The most important thing at the moment is to declare Anson Bach innocent as soon as possible before things become completely irreversible, shift all the responsibility to a certain close minister, and declare that His Majesty did act impulsively and acted irrationally, and is willing to Accepting the conditions proposed by the National Assembly and accepting the royal family must also be restricted by the Constitution and the Code.”

"Don't look at the ferocious riots made by those outside. In fact, there are only a handful of real extremists. The vast majority of the National Assembly representatives still hope to compromise, or it is not a last resort. They are also afraid that without the king, they will be defeated. Loewy will fall into unprecedented turmoil." Ludwig sighed:

"But the premise of all this must be that those rioters have not yet captured the Whitehall Street headquarters; if Anson Bach is not released by His Majesty, but is 'rescued' by them... Don't talk about me, even the Ministry of War, Gram Loewy Cathedral, even that bastard Anson Bach, all to no avail!"

……………………

Inner city, Whitehall Street headquarters.

"Bang——!!!! Bang——!!!! Bang——!!! Bang——!!!..."

Raindrops of gunfire exploded over the broad street, and the surging smoke merged with the crowd into a rolling tide.

But it wasn't the protesting crowds exchanging gunfire with the police inside the Whitehall Street headquarters... quite the opposite, it was the cheers of victory and the gunshots of celebration.

Looking down from the cloudless dome, you can see that the cheering crowd is not only shooting into the sky, but even holding banners and flags. The angry protest march is shouting "Long live Clovis!" shout.

In fact, they did not encounter any resistance - the first time they saw the rioting crowd, the police at the Whitehall Street headquarters followed Ludwig Franz's previous order and evacuated the scene as quickly as possible. , and also locked the door tightly to ensure that the other party would not think that he had missed the opportunity and lost interest.

The protestors climbed over the wall and broke open the door. What greeted them was an "empty" Whitehall Street headquarters: not a single police officer tried to resist, not a single soldier loyal to the royal family to fight to the end.

Some are just offices full of junk documents and paper, warehouses full of worthless miscellaneous items, and cells with few criminals and no guards.

But the protesting crowd didn't care. They rushed into the innermost prison like crazy, smashed open the heavy iron door with bullets and gun butts, and rushed into the prison where Anson Bach was being held as if they already knew where the target was.

A few minutes later, a thin figure who was not strong and looked like a musician walked out surrounded by people who rescued him. Thousands of protestors crowded into the originally spacious Whitehall Street headquarters.

He was wearing tattered clothes and coat, and there was a bruise on his face; in order to cover up the "injury" on his body - because there was no injury at all - William Cecil, the representative of North Port who came with him, also covered him with a black-and-bloody coat. The unicorn flag came to the protesters like stars holding the moon.

The crowd went wild.

The cheers of mountains and tsunamis exploded under the sky like cannonballs. Blue veins were exposed, and their reddened cheeks shouted as loudly as they could in this life, waving their fists as if they would never fight again:

"Hurray Clovis-!!!!"

"Hurray Clovis-!!!!"

"Long live Clovis..."

On the roof of a pub just one street away from the Whitehall Street headquarters, David Jacques, who was equally excited, set up a drawing board early according to his brother's suggestion, and hurriedly applied oil paint on it to record this scene destined to be recorded in history: Anson Bach, wearing the flag of King Clovis, stood outside the prison gate and accepted the cheers of the protest march...

"Just wait a moment."

Karin Jacques, who was writing a letter, suddenly raised his hand to stop his brother: "What about... Although I don't know much about painting, I suggest you change it."

"Change?" David turned his head in surprise: "Did I draw something wrong?"

"No, no, no, it's not wrong, it's so right... Uh, it's wrong because it's right... Hi, that's what I mean!" The trainee priest felt that he was getting more and more confused as he spoke: "This kind of painting cannot be painted according to reality. , didn’t you draw something similar when you were in the New World Colony?”

"Then, how to draw it?"

"How to draw... By the way, you are like this!" The trainee priest suddenly snapped his fingers:

"You just draw a protest march attacking the headquarters on Whitehall Street, encountering fierce resistance... Well, don't be the police, let them wear the clothes of the Royal Guards, and then the protestors suffer heavy casualties, and then draw Anson Bach coming from the headquarters. Come out of the attic and wave the Clovis flag at the protesters... find a way to tell a story!"

"Tell me a story..." David Jacques' eyes widened: "But, in fact, there was no battle at all!"

"What does that matter?"

Karin Jacques had a matter-of-fact expression: "Do you think anyone other than literary historians will really verify this kind of thing? The protest marchers and the police on Whitehall Street will admit that the Whitehall Street headquarters is Were they taken down without a single shot being fired? Ordinary people who heard the gunfire and shouting around would think that no one has died in this riot so far?"

"Uh, this..." David suddenly lost his mind: "It shouldn't be... right?"

"That's right! Since everyone thinks so, why do you go against everyone?"

The trainee priest put down the letter in his hand, stepped forward and patted his younger brother on the shoulder: "You listen to me, those professors and artists in the college still look down on you and don't agree with your painting philosophy?"

"Complete this painting and then publicly send it to the National Assembly. Believe me, from today on... no! From now on, no one will dare to say that you are not half of it; our Jacques family will soon be known as a great artist. Let’s carry it forward!”

……………………

Just when the trainee priest was dreaming about how to make his family's name go down in history, or be infamy for eternity, the Osteria Palace finally received the news that the headquarters on Whitehall Street had fallen and Anson Bach had been "rescued", and it was still In ways they least expect.

Nearly ten thousand people who surrounded and protested outside the palace not only brought the great news to His Majesty the King, but also sent another token - smashed handcuffs and shackles - just in case he didn't believe it.

Not only that, the letter was sent by a former royalist nobleman; now he has spoken "Long live Clovis" and said "the Constitution is supreme", and has become a die-hard supporter of the National Assembly.

In the deathly silent throne room, a livid-faced Anne Herred looked at the handcuffs and shackles on the ground, her cheeks aching.

It was as if Anson Bach was standing in front of him arrogantly, saying to himself in a mocking tone, "The fact that I can be arrested by you on my own initiative proves that I can do it when I want to."

The little king on the throne looked at his mother tremblingly. In his mind, this was the first time he saw the queen mother looking so angry.

No, that's not anger, that's...

despair.

"Sophia Franz." After a long silence, Anne Herred suddenly raised her head and looked at the royal guards kneeling at the foot of the steps: "Can you find a way to avoid the thugs outside the palace and help me contact them? The noble Minister of War?"

"yes!"

The royal guard quickly lowered his head: "Your Majesty, just ask."

"There is nothing to say. Tell our Minister of War, just say...say..." Anne Herred hesitated for a moment, but still chose to speak: "Just say that I agree. The throne agrees to the request of the National Assembly and lets The War Department will mediate."

"Let her tell the representatives of the National Assembly that His Majesty is not a man who does not know how to adapt. He has always refused to make concessions before simply because he found it difficult to accept some of the requirements in the terms. The arrest of the chief of the royal bodyguard was just an accident and was purely out of necessity. I received secret information that someone was going to assassinate him, so I just took action to protect him.”

"As long as the National Assembly makes concessions, Your Majesty will naturally order the Southern Army and ask them not to enter the city." She sighed softly, and the Queen Mother Regent looked helpless:

"As for the Constitutional Code...the throne is not unwilling to discuss many things."

"Huh?" The little king raised his head with a surprised expression: "Mother, you...really want to go with them..."

"shut up!"

Interrupting Nicholas I's words mercilessly, the Queen Mother Regent calmed down and looked at the royal guards at the foot of the steps: "Just tell Sophia Franz, and the tone can be as tactful as possible. If she has any additional conditions, , you can also agree first, and all responsibilities will be borne by me."

At this moment, the Queen Mother's eyes were filled with determination.

Yes, she was already thinking about sacrificing herself to save Nicholas I - even if things really couldn't be dealt with, being the sinner who "hoodwinked the king" by herself should be able to block the mouths of those villains.

Everything can be compromised, everything can be compromised; as long as Nicholas's throne can be preserved and the Osteria family's rule in Clovis can be preserved, anything, including one's own life, can be given up!

"Your Majesty... that..." The royal guard raised his head with difficulty, his expression a little embarrassed:

"Southern Legion...they..."

"...They seem to have entered the city."