Descending On France 1780
Chapter 221 - 214 Farewell to the Old Era

Chapter 221: 214 Farewell to the Old Era

Palais des Tuileries is burning.

The enraged Paris mob blocked the palace entrance, preventing the Royalists from escaping. Screams kept coming from within Palais des Tuileries.

Anning couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Riding on horseback through the chaotic Palais des Tuileries Square, she arrived behind the line formed by the people of Paris.

"Citizens!" Anning spoke, "I am Frost. At least let the children and women out, won’t you?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than a man with a mutton-chop beard replied: "General, when the Royalists killed our wives and children, they showed no mercy!"

Anning was at a loss for words.

It seemed that the animosity between Paris’ Blue Party and the Royalists had been long-standing, and tonight’s total reckoning could not be stopped by anyone.

Anning sighed, at which point Christina, following nearby, said: "You’ve done all you could, Andy. This isn’t on you."

Anning looked at the burning Palais des Tuileries, remaining silent without reply.

The Palais des Tuileries, as the King of France’s palace, naturally also housed a considerable number of famous paintings and art treasures. Now all was lost.

To tell the truth, when Anning previously entered Palais des Tuileries, she had harbored some thoughts, thinking the palace looked rather nice.

According to original history, Palais des Tuileries would become the residence of Napoleon I. At that time, Anning had even fantasized for a moment about whether, as a future Emperor’s high official, she could mooch a suite there to enjoy the taste of living in an Imperial Palace.

Now it was all gone.

As Anning was thinking, someone engulfed in flames jumped out from the second floor of the burning Palais des Tuileries and fell to the ground.

Then, amid the flames enveloping their body, they rose and continued to struggle.

Someone among the Paris crowd shouted: "Don’t kill him, let him burn!"

So, the people who were about to go forward and stab the poor soul with bayonets and pitchforks stopped and watched him dance wildly in the flames.

Anning couldn’t bear to watch any longer; she drew her pistol, poured gunpowder into the Medicine Pool, and shot the poor person.

The shot was quite accurate; the poor person jerked then fell to the ground motionless.

Christina made the sign of the cross in front of her and prayed for a few moments like a devout nun. Then she looked up at Anning: "May God bless your kindness and mercy."

Anning nodded, then turned her horse around: "Let’s go. Back to the troops."

**

The entire evening following, the National Guard of Paris under Anning’s command stood by and did not take any substantial suppression action.

Throughout the night, she watched the spread of chaos.

Wherever the French Army was, there was at least some order; where the French Army could not reach, there was complete chaos.

Some Royalists later started to run to the French Army’s zone for protection.

Anning ordered her troops to pick out those with noble titles and unconditionally protect the civilians without titles.

Snow had stopped at some point, and the clouds that had continuously enveloped the sky began to dissipate. The East began to show a faint glimmer of dawn’s light.

The long night was finally over.

The sky gradually brightened, and Anning slowly saw the tragic state of the still-burning Palais des Tuileries.

The square in front of the palace was filled with the bodies of the brutally murdered.

Not only were there men, but also women and children. The excessively brutal scene made Anning look away.

——I wonder if the situation at Revolution Square, which I personally ordered to suppress, would be any better.

At least my troops wouldn’t harm those who have already surrendered or the injured.

As Anning thought so, she suddenly saw a young girl in a white riding skirt appear at the edge of the square, walking slowly to the center, taking a flute from a servant, and playing amidst the bloodshed of the square.

Anning was shocked by this scene. Could there really be someone sending off the dead with a flute?

If a send-off was needed, it should rather be with an erhu or suona.

The flute’s music echoed through the sky, and at the same time, alarmed the nearby citizens of Paris.

The crowd, furious, swarmed up, and someone shouted, "She’s playing the flute for those Royalists, she must be a Royalist too!"

"Right! Hang her up!"

Anning took a deep breath and roared, "Nobody touches her!"

The crowd quieted down.

General Frost’s reputation still held significant sway among the Patriots.

Anning: "When people die, they’re just hunks of flesh, it doesn’t matter if they’re Royalists or Patriots. If someone is willing to send them off, then let them be. Besides, those who died here last night weren’t just Royalists; there were Patriots like you as well!"

The crowd looked at each other, bewildered.

Just then, from a distance, Napoleon shouted, "Andy! Someone is coming!"

Anning turned around and saw Robespierre riding a horse, wearing his green coat, coming this way, followed by Marat and Dan Dong.

The three heads of the Jacobins in this timeline had all arrived.

Robespierre: "This is too tragic, although I was resolved at the time of decision-making, but..."

Marat: "Are you pitying them? They are all enemies of the Republic, for the life of France, they must die."

Robespierre was silent for a few seconds, then answered, "That’s true, the newborn Republic must live."

Marat: "This is just the beginning. Next, we must continue to purge the Royalists, root out the traitors! We must completely erase them with the guillotine!"

Anning looked at Marat’s ugly face and thought you’re going to bring trouble upon yourself, be careful when you bathe.

Robespierre: "Indeed, we must continue to consolidate our achievements. Now the King is already dead..."

Anning: "About that, actually, before I suppressed Palais des Tuileries last night, I entered and advised him to give up resistance, but they wanted to capture me as a hostage, so I just... took Louis XVII out with me."

Robespierre, Marat, and Dan Dong looked at Anning as if they had seen a living dinosaur.

Dan Dong: "What the fuck did you say? You just casually took the King with you?"

Anning: "Yes, my initial intention was simply to escape from the enemy’s encirclement."

Marat sighed, "Damn it, you shouldn’t have done that. If the King isn’t dead, there will be endless debates when it comes to executing him."

Robespierre: "This is also good, it’s more in line with procedural justice. We should have Parliament vote and convene a public trial for the King, and then execute him!

"Although the accidental death of the King amidst chaos would save us a lot of trouble, there might be legal and moral loopholes to be exploited later on. Where’s Louis XVII?"

Anning pointed at a house beside them: "Last night was chaotic, so I ordered my right-hand man, Lana, to select the most loyal soldiers to imprison him inside."

Robespierre: "You did very well. Next, you should immediately take control of Paris’s largest prison, and lock up the King and other traitors! And we should return to Parliament right away to pass the bill for the King’s public trial!"

Dan Dong: "France is truly about to usher in a new era!"