Descending On France 1780
Chapter 257 - 250 Paris Elites

Chapter 257: 250 Paris Elites

A five or six-year-old child was playing beside the carriage, waiting for Robespierre to get off and enter the National Assembly. As soon as he did, the child quickly ran across the street to a gentleman.

"Sir, I heard it, inside they were arguing fiercely, even the carriage was shaking," the child said.

The gentleman took out some copper coins and stuffed them into the child’s hands, but did not let go immediately, instead he asked, "Did you hear what they were arguing about?"

"No. They spoke too quickly, I couldn’t understand," the child replied.

French is indeed a very precise language, but it’s really hard to understand when spoken quickly.

The gentleman let go, and the child, happy with the copper coins, ran off. Copper coins, unlike paper money printed by the National Assembly, are hard currency anywhere and can be exchanged for anything a child might desire.

Then the gentleman silently left the National Assembly and turned into the main street nearby, entering the Paris branch of Telson Bank.

This was a bank that operated in both the UK and France, often handling multinational exchange transactions.

Of course, under the current circumstances, Telson Bank was not just a bank, but also tasked with gathering intelligence in Paris.

Indeed, in this era, there were no spies yet; the word hadn’t even been coined. Yet, the task of gathering intelligence still needed to be done.

In this era, this kind of task was typically carried out by businessmen, sailors, postal workers, and bank employees who traveled everywhere.

The gentleman requested a sheet of paper at the bank’s counter, quickly wrote down "A rift may have developed between Frost and Robespierre," and handed it to the elderly steward guarding the counter.

The steward nodded, said nothing, took out an envelope, placed the letter inside, and then sealed it with wax.

"The letter will be taken on the next mail coach to Calais."

"Don’t use the mail coach, send a special courier," the gentleman whispered. "This is important. London needs to know about this situation."

The steward nodded, "Understood, a special envoy will be sent to Calais to deliver the letter across the Channel."

The gentleman nodded, then turned up his collar and left the empty branch office.

**

Anning stayed in Paris for a few more days, waiting for Marat’s funeral to take place.

During these days, the frontline reports indicated that all was normal; other than discovering some routine movements, Lasalle found no signs that the enemy was shifting their strategic focus.

That is to say, the main effort of the enemy was still concentrated on the sieges of Sedan and Verdun.

Thus, Anning stayed calmly at the headquarters in Versailles Palace, waiting for the day of the funeral.

However, he attracted various visitors to Versailles Palace like a magnet. Christina suddenly became the darling of Parisian social circles, receiving various invitations to tea parties and salons day and night.

Seeing those invitations, Anning couldn’t help but comment, "It seems that Paris hasn’t lost that many people, the upper class still enjoys their song and dance."

Christina immediately responded, "It’s different, before these balls and salons were hosted by the wives and daughters of nobles and major businessmen, now they’re hosted by the wives and daughters of representatives of the National Assembly, special commissioners, and officials of the Paris Commune."

Yes, during the French Revolution Era, there was a Paris Commune as well; it was actually just the Paris City Hall which was renamed after the revolution.

The famous Paris Commune of later times was actually version 2.0 of this Paris Commune.

Anning frowned and said, "I see."

Christina asked, "What, are you not happy?"

"No, I’m just reflecting," Anning changed the subject. "So, is there any notable news from these tea parties, balls, and salons?"

Christina replied, "They are spreading rumors that you and Robespierre have a disagreement, so many people came to me to probe the reality. But I strongly countered them, telling them that you and Maximilien are close friends."

Anning nodded, "Yes, we are close friends. We share common ideals, although Maximilien has become somewhat extreme now, he remains the incorruptible man he always was."

Robespierre, until the end, remained an incorruptible man.

Though he became extreme, it was more like he got caught up under immense mental strain, to the end his thoughts were still with the revolution, with the Republic.

Even there is a view that considers Robespierre’s death as marking the end of the Great Revolution, for what followed his death was various ambitious figures dividing the spoils, which could no longer be termed "the Great Revolution."

Also, because Anning understands these things, he has never been able to dislike Robespierre.

Christina embraced Anning’s shoulders and whispered into his ear: "Since this is the case, you need to take more explicit actions to show that you stand with Robespierre."

Anning: "Is this advice given by a good wife?"

"What is a good wife?"

"An Eastern term describing a capable female head of a household. Alright, I’ll be mindful. I’ll arrange for the Twilight Knights to guard Marat’s funeral."

The Twilight Knights, distinguished by their unique gray uniforms, have been considered as the personal guard of Frost.

Anning paused: "Right, let me also have Ludwig compose a piece for the send-off."

Christina: "He’s on the second floor in the music room, seemingly composing. No one dares disturb him. You should go speak to him yourself."

Anning nodded.

Christina voluntarily moved away from him, as if telling Anning through her actions, "Go ahead."

Therefore, Anning decisively left his fiancée and headed straight to the music room on the second floor.

As soon as he opened the door to the music room, he heard Beethoven playing the piano.

It was a new piece.

Of course, Anning was not a music expert. He only knew those popular pieces composed by Beethoven in the original time, such as "Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, ’Eroica’" or "Moonlight Sonata."

Thus, theoretically, it was impossible for Anning to recognize immediately if the piece was a composition that Beethoven had never written in history.

However, Anning was utterly certain at this moment that this was indeed a piece Beethoven had never written in history.

Because the melody Beethoven was currently playing was too familiar to him.

Every player of the world of tanks wouldn’t be unfamiliar with this melody; it was a rearranged version of the famous Soviet military song "Oh Fields, My Fields," one of the most recognizable background music pieces from the game!

A German composer, drawing a piece from a Slav music repertoire, isn’t this somewhat odd?

Beethoven was not wearing a hearing aid, but his expression seemed as if he could hear the music he was playing!

Rather, it was as if the maestro had already sketched out the music in his mind and could examine the complete form of the music just by imagination!

Anning quietly waited for Beethoven to finish playing before he began to applaud.

Beethoven actually heard the applause, he turned around sharply, saw Anning, and immediately stood up, then picked up the hearing aid placed beside him and inserted it into his ears.

Anning: "Wonderful piece!"

"This piece depicts the scene when Lasalle’s cavalry was sweeping the riverside," explained Beethoven enthusiastically. "I have used many unconventional techniques, not adhering to norms, but I believe only in this way can I represent what I saw."

Anning nodded, his admiration was beyond words; the maestro truly was incredible, able to transcend the limitations of era and style, drawing from different ages freely!

Anning praised him several more times.

Beethoven unreservedly accepted all of Anning’s compliments.

Then he asked, puzzled: "You came to see me, must there be something special?"

Anning: "Yes. Ludwig, all of Paris knows now that you are my appointed musician, and I would like you to compose a piece, representing me, to be played at my friend Jean Paul Marat’s funeral.

"Moreover, I hope you will perform it personally, this is very important."

Yes, this was to declare to all of Paris that there is no discord between Frost and Robespierre.

Beethoven immediately grew serious: "I understand. How many days do I have?"

"Not many days left. So you don’t need to write a complex sonata. Just compose a solo. Hmm, I think a flute solo would be nice. I like the sound of the flute."

Mainly after playing Xenoblade 3, Anning felt that to bid farewell to the deceased, one should either use a flute or an erhu and suona combination.

Beethoven nodded confidently: "Flute, solo, farewell, I understand, leave it to me."