Descending On France 1780
Chapter 259 - 252, The Big Four Reunite Missing One

Chapter 259: 252, The Big Four Reunite Missing One

Anning saw Robespierre on the viewing platform.

He couldn’t help but frown slightly because Robespierre had changed his old green coat.

Anning asked, "Maximilien, where is your green coat?"

Robespierre, originally lost in thought, raised his head upon hearing Anning’s voice, as if suddenly awakened from a nightmare, "Oh, you’re here, Andy. The green coat finally served its time; it got a big tear, and I wore it just like that to the National Assembly yesterday.

"Saint Just pointed it out, and only then I noticed that the coat which accompanied me for so long was in such a state. Then I took it to the tailor, and the tailor said it needs patching to be fixed. Many members of the assembly opposed me wearing a patched coat, so I bought a new coat with my allowance.

"How does it look?"

Anning walked around Frost and commented, "It looks quite fitting. But I don’t know much about clothes, after all, I am just a leatherworker; your shoes, however, I could take a look at."

Robespierre burst out laughing, but quickly realized it was inappropriate and straightened his face again.

Anning smirked and went straight to the point, "The painting I commissioned from David is completed, let’s unveil it at today’s ceremony. Besides, Ludwig has composed a piece to bid him farewell; let him perform it solo later."

Robespierre nodded, "Alright, I am the master of ceremonies, I’ll arrange it."

"Are you personally acting as the master of ceremonies, Mr. Chairman?"

"After all, that’s our dear friend, Dan Dong also agrees to this approach."

While they were speaking, Dan Dong came to Robespierre’s side.

Dan Dong: "The Jacobin’s four giants, now only three remain. Andy, I strongly advise you on a personal basis, do not undertake dangerous actions on the battlefield. Under such circumstances, we can’t afford to lose you again."

Anning thought to himself, don’t worry, I have player-based damage reduction activated, only Stegia’s javelin could potentially take me out with one blow.

Robespierre glanced at Anning and echoed, "Yes, you are in the most dangerous situation among all of us, I really don’t want to hear news of your death in battle."

Anning: "I’ll be fine. After all, I have a family now; naturally, I won’t be as reckless as before."

"You’d better be right. I’ve heard you’ve become even more desperate than before on the battlefield," replied Dan Dong.

At that moment, Saint Just ran up to the viewing platform and said to Robespierre and Dan Dong, "The ceremony is completely ready, let’s start."

Robespierre nodded, then gestured to Anning, "Please take your seat, Mr. Paris Security Commander."

Anning patted Robespierre’s shoulder, then led Christina to their place.

After all the guests were seated, the ceremony began.

Robespierre stood at the podium, delivering a passionate speech: "... Our Friend of the People, Jean Paul Marat, who has always been listening to the voices of the people, was assassinated in the most despicable way by treacherous rebels!

"They should feel ashamed of their actions!

"We will retaliate against these vile rebels in the most horrifying way! We will make them feel absolute terror!

"There is no mercy for them anymore! They do not deserve mercy! All those who are enemies of the Republic will be completely destroyed!

"Today, let us use their deaths to commemorate the soul of that Friend of the People!"

After finishing, Robespierre snapped his fingers.

"Today, here, we will execute a series of extremely wicked people!"

Anning finally understood why there were so many guillotines.

Robespierre loudly declared, "The first one, the chief villain of the Girondists, Jean Marie Roland!"

Anning raised his eyebrows; he was more familiar with Roland’s wife—not that Anning had an affair with the lady, but because Mrs. Roland appears in the British writer Dickens’s "A Tale of Two Cities," and the British used her famous quote to criticize the Great Revolution: Oh Liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name.

Mr. Roland was escorted to the guillotine by the soldiers.

From the viewing stand, Anning could clearly see how the executioners operated the guillotine, which had a vertical plank, the executioners tied the condemned onto the plank, and then they could directly tilt the plank down, turning the condemned into a prone position.

After the blade fell from the high frame, the head would roll into a frame. By untying the rope, they could throw the body into a containment box and then raise the plank again.

Anning knew the guillotine was an efficient execution tool, but he hadn’t thought it would be this efficient.

Mr. Roland was tied up and beheaded in a moment, the guillotine blade smeared with a large swath of crimson.

Before such an efficient execution machine, there was absolutely no chance to speak any last words.

Robespierre continued his duties as master of ceremonies: "Next, another villain of the Girondists, the just-deceased Roland’s wife, Marie Jeanne Roland!"

Madame Roland was immediately brought up and executed with the same efficiency as her husband.

Anning did not hear that famous quote: Oh Liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name.

At least in this era, that phrase was likely fabricated by later generations.

The executions continued for a long time.

Christina simply closed her eyes and leaned against Anning, barely managing not to vomit.

But the watching crowd was utterly frenzied, continuously shouting, "Execute them!"

After what seemed like forever when the executions finally ended, Anning no longer had the energy to pay attention to Robespierre introducing David’s paintings and Beethoven’s compositions.

Logically, Anning had already seen many deaths on battlefields, but today he realized that deaths on the battlefield are far more merciful than the guillotine.

At least on the battlefield, most people still have a whole corpse.

The guillotine simply chops people up like objects; the executioners who operated the guillotine must have already been numb to it all, not feeling that they were executing living beings.

The onlookers would also become numb, and who knows, they might even start doing some activities as ghastly as making steamed buns with human blood.

It wasn’t until the sound of Beethoven’s flute played that Anning managed to slightly recuperate.

He looked up at the sky, feeling as if he saw many wronged souls ascending to heaven amidst the flute sounds.

After the ceremony, Anning followed Marat’s coffin to the Panthéon and then, citing ill health, refused to leave with Dan Dong, Robespierre, and the others.

At Christina’s suggestion, Anning and his father-in-law, Mr. Liberty, who also attended the ceremony, returned to the Royal Palace together.

Upon entering the gate of the Royal Palace, Mr. Liberty spoke up: "You’ve seen it yourself, this is what’s happening in Paris right now. The guillotine, that machine, is trampling human dignity with tremendous efficiency."

Anning took a deep breath and then said to Mr. Liberty, "I suggest you leave Paris as soon as possible."

Mr. Liberty: "Like Talleyrand and FouchE did? Hmm, maybe that is the smart thing to do. Alright, since you’ve advised me so, there’s no need to persist. I’ll apply for a Special Commissioner’s post from the Parliament and head to the countryside."

Anning: "Remember to take Lavoisier and others with you."

"I will, my dear son-in-law."