Descending On France 1780
Chapter 319 - 312 Necessary Sacrifice

Chapter 319: 312 Necessary Sacrifice

The duel was to take place in Mars Park.

Originally a holy land for Parisians to enjoy outings, the park witnessed the Mars Massacre during the second year of the Revolution, where, with the tacit approval of Lafayette, the General of the National Guard, the National Guard opened fire on the long-trousered men peacefully assembling in the park.

Since then, the place was no longer the young Parisians’ choice for picnicking, and as time passed, grass grew over the square, covering the stone-paved paths completely.

On the day of the duel, Anning arrived early with Pauline.

Napoleon, who was away at war, could not attend. Anning wrote to him, assuring him that his sister would return unscathed from the duel.

De Mulan also arrived early and brought with him his witness.

Upon seeing the witness, Anning couldn’t help but frown.

Georges Jacques Danton dismounted his carriage, glanced around, and then his gaze fell on Anning.

He scratched his head: "De Mulan is my good friend. When a good friend duels, I must at least be present to witness his final moment, right?"

De Mulan really was Danton’s good friend, and as an "old man" of the Jacobin Club, Anning was very aware of this.

He stepped toward Danton and asked, "Do you know why De Mulan was challenged with a glove?"

Danton replied, "Because he was rude to you, I know. But you should be aware that this is just De Mulan’s nature—he’s not a bad person. You fought alongside him at the Bastille."

Anning: "It wasn’t me who threw the glove; it was Pauline. I was a little angry at the time, but not to this extent."

After all, they had fought together at the Bastille, so a degree of tolerance was there.

Danton: "Then hold her back. We Jacobins haven’t yet fallen in battle against the enemy, only to end up dueling and dying among ourselves—outsiders will laugh at us.

"Jacobins are supposed to die like Marat, at the hands of our hated enemies, beneath the enemy’s blade."

Anning: "Stop talking, the weapon chosen by De Mulan is his own. If he had chosen a sword, I might have been able to coach Pauline to show mercy."

Pistols are basically a matter of luck.

Therefore, Anning was extremely worried. After all, he didn’t have Steinway prosthetics to save Pauline before a bullet could hit her.

Acting as a duel witness was really just to put his own mind at ease. At such a time, if he wasn’t in the place closest to Pauline, watching over her, he’d probably go crazy with worry.

Christina also came, sitting behind a table and chairs set up by Vanni in the distance, her hands nervously fidgeting on the table, betraying her anxiety.

Only Pauline seemed as if nothing was wrong, this young lady definitely had a big heart—carved from the same mold as her.

Danton looked at Pauline’s demeanor, then at Anning: "Did you teach her some sort of incredible skill?"

Anning almost burst into laughter, thinking I’m a general of the Revolution, not a martial arts master—what kind of incredible skill could I have?—no, wait, I actually do have one, but it can’t be shared.

At that moment, Lazar Kano appeared too, and Danton joined Anning in stepping forward to greet this third party witness.

Anning: "Thank you for your trouble, having to come out here for this business amidst organizing the supplies and ammunition for the march into Rhein."

Kano: "Actually, it wasn’t too much trouble, just consider it an outing—sorry, it’s a bit disrespectful to say that given the two of you might shed blood soon. Now that all three witnesses have arrived, then..."

Just then, another carriage stopped beside them, the door opened, and the splendidly-dressed Robespierre stepped down from the carriage.

Even Anning was shocked, because this duel wasn’t a salon; theoretically, apart from the witnesses and the participants, there was no need for others to come.

Robespierre detests appearing at social events, so his attendance at such a lively scene is simply unthinkable.

Anning took the lead to greet him: "Maximilien, what brings you here?"

As he spoke, Anning embraced Robespierre and then smelled the scent of lavender on him.

The old Robespierre would never carry such a scent, for he found such things utterly trivial.

Robespierre: "I heard that both you and Georges Jacques Danton are serving as witnesses, so I thought, why not I be the third-party witness? It would make a complete set."

Robespierre said, looking towards Lazar Kano: "I wonder how Minister Cano feels about this?"

Cano bowed slightly: "If you are willing to be the third-party witness, I am naturally willing to cede this position."

Robespierre nodded, was about to speak when De Mulan intervened: "Well now, the three giants are all here, one a embezzlement criminal stuffed to the gills, and the other a slaughtering devil of the innocent."

Dan Dong: "De Mulan! Shut it!"

"Why? During the Kingdom Era, we could criticize whoever we wanted. Now in the era of the Jacobins, can’t I, as a Jacobin, even speak?"

Robespierre watched De Mulan with an icy gaze, without retorting.

Anning silently thought that if Danton were to end up on the guillotine, it would definitely be related to De Mulan’s mouth.

Never mind, for the unity of the three Jacobin leaders, it’s better to let De Mulan leave the scene at this point.

There’s a duel just for this.

Anning turned his head and gave a signal to his own weapon craftsman.

The pistol prepared for Pauline by their weapon craftsman was a rear-loading firearm, and Pauline had received training in its use.

The accuracy of this gun was much higher than that of ordinary pistols.

The only issue was that before the duel, weapons had to be inspected by the weapon craftsman brought by the opposite party, to ensure absolute fairness.

But this issue was not a problem any longer.

Because the weapon craftsman brought by De Mulan’s side, upon entering the scene and locking eyes with Anning, simply broke into a silent and slight smile.

Anning looked again at De Mulan. In actual history, one of the signs of the rift between Dan Dong and Robespierre was Dan Dong’s funding for De Mulan to start "The Old Cordelier" newspaper, criticizing the acts of the Savior Committee.

If De Mulan were taken out, maybe that part of history could be avoided.

—It’s time for your exit, my comrade.

Anning suddenly remembered that summer four years ago, with De Mulan dressed in standard sans-culotte attire, jumping onto the carriage in front of the café, and pulling a pistol to his own head.

"The King wants us to stop, the only way is to shoot me down!

"Comrades, unite! Forward!"

De Mulan’s loud shouting still echoed in Anning’s ears, nearly making him change the decision he had made.

But in the end, he steadied his mind.

For the sake of changing history, this was a necessary sacrifice.