Descending On France 1780
Chapter 327 - 320 is in the male waiting room

Chapter 327: 320 is in the male waiting room

The wedding was held at Notre Dame in Paris, just as Anning had hoped.

The bishop who managed Notre Dame was previously sent to the guillotine by the enraged citizens for refusing to swear off the Pope’s leadership to pledge loyalty to the National Assembly. The new bishop, a sworn-in Priest, was very respectful towards Anning.

As Christina was getting ready, Anning was taken to the adjacent gentleman’s lounge, where Napoleon, who was also getting married today, was already there.

Upon seeing Anning, Napoleon immediately called him over: "Andy, come!"

Anning approached with curiosity: "What’s up?"

"These children are the flower bearers and skirt lifters for the bride today. You choose first!"

Anning: "Flower bearers?"

"It’s the bouquet that the bride holds."

"You mean the one that gets thrown to the wedding audience, and whoever catches it will be the next to marry?"

Napoleon looked at Anning with confusion: "What the devil, does France have such a tradition?"

Anning raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure when the tradition of throwing flowers at Western weddings began; perhaps it wasn’t popular at the moment.

Seeing that Anning didn’t respond, Napoleon didn’t press further and returned to the previous question: "Come on, you pick first. Boys are the flower bearers, and little girls follow behind the bride to lift the end of her skirt."

Anning first looked at the two little girls: "Oh, you’ve found some very pretty little girls, these two will surely be beauties when they grow up."

Napoleon frowned: "Are you interested in such young children too?"

"How could that be, I’m not Lasalle." Anning replied, taking the opportunity to throw shade at Lasalle.

This jibe received Napoleon’s response, the Corsican laughed out loud: "Hahaha, Lasalle indeed might do that; I feel like that guy wouldn’t mind little girls and even sheep."

Anning: "Because he’s a man who dares to fight with the devil."

In the West, the devil and sheep have a very close relationship. It is said that it all started because gypsies trained sheep to recognize letters and perform on the streets, which led people to believe that the devil had possessed the sheep. Over time, sheep became associated with the devil in Western culture.

What Anning was actually playing with was this European cultural reference.

Napoleon got it instantly and broke out into another round of laughter.

While the two of them were joking around, the four children looked at them with wide eyes, not understanding what they were laughing about.

Finally, sensing the children’s gazes, Anning stopped making fun of Lasalle and squatted down in front of them: "Now is the era of freedom; you four can also choose who you want to be the ring bearer and the maid of honor for, you go first!"

Anning pointed to the little girl on the left.

The girl immediately replied: "I know you are Frost! I want to carry the skirt for General Frost!"

Anning, a bit embarrassed, corrected her: "It’s my wife’s skirt, I’m not Scottish, I don’t wear skirts."

Napoleon, however, said: "In our military tradition, a high-ranking officer who makes a mistake has to wear a dress and work at the headquarters for a day. Andy, are you so sure you’ll never have such a day?"

Anning: "I..."

"You think you won’t make a mistake?"

Anning hesitated for a few seconds, and finally couldn’t bring himself to say such a stubborn comment: "No, I will make mistakes too, and if I do... yes, you’re right, I’ll wear a maid outfit and work at the headquarters for a day, as a warning to everyone."

Napoleon laughed: "It’s a deal then! But I still hope you don’t make a mistake, for if you do, I can’t imagine how many unnecessary casualties our army would suffer."

Anning: "Every Commander must be like this, so we must think thrice before acting, and plan before moving forward..."

Napoleon: "You are right, but you shouldn’t speak Latin in front of the children. Look at their expressions."

Anning’s translation plugin translated ’think thrice before acting, plan before moving forward’ into Latin.

This cheat is as powerful as always — or rather, too powerful.

Anning patted one of the boys on the head and then asked, "This lady has already chosen to lift my wife’s skirt; now we need a gentleman to hold the bouquet."

Immediately, two little boys raised their hands and shouted, "Me!"

Anning: "It seems both of you have the same idea. In free France, such matters are decided by a debate to determine who gets the prize!"

Napoleon: "Oh, come on, they’re just a few years old, and you want them to debate... They probably don’t even have basic logic yet."

Right as Anning was about to reply, one of the children said, "General, shouldn’t we two duel for it, with the winner getting this honor?"

Anning sized up the boy who had spoken and muttered the word that had just come out of his mouth: "Honor? Although the pronunciation is a bit off, it should be Latin, right?"

The little boy nodded, "Yes, I’ve studied a little Latin."

"Then did you understand what I just said in Latin?"

The child shook his head, "I only know a little, not enough to comprehend what you just said."

Anning decided on the spot: "The boy holding the bouquet will be this one. Really good, bright and clever, and even knows Latin! By the way, whose child are you? Do I know you?"

Napoleon joked from the side, "Maybe he’s also a leatherworker’s son."

Anning laughed: "That would be a coincidence. I could share some leatherworking insights with him and see if my hands have gotten rusty."

Napoleon: "If you’re really going to show off your leatherworking skills, I definitely want to see it. After all, I’ve seen your skills in commanding, playing with language, and music, but never your leatherworking."

Anning raised an eyebrow: "Then if there’s a chance, I’ll definitely show a thing or two."

Anning inherited some skills from the original body, like how right after transmigration, he could beat a standard marching drum like a long-trained drummer.

For example, in loading a flintlock gun, before transmigration, Anning was an enthusiast of the era of firing squads and had studied the loading steps a bit, but had never put it into practice.

However, once he transmigrated, he could use a flintlock gun skilfully, load it quickly and well, and even with a sense of rhythm.

So, it seems, Anning would have the skills of tanning leather and repairing leather shoes.

Just give him the tools, and his body would likely move on its own, completing tasks that had become muscle memory.

At this moment, apart from Napoleon, who really wanted to see how Anning repaired shoes, everyone else probably didn’t dare entertain the thought.

Anning was pondering when the men’s waiting room door opened, and Moura popped her head in and said, "It seems that the ladies are almost ready, so they sent me to check on you two."

Anning: "You can tell them we’re ready at any time."

Moura nodded and left.

Napoleon watched the door that Moura had closed and said, "It’s said that it was she who caught the messenger of Josephine Boarne?"

Anning: "Yes, although the intelligence was not provided by him, he indeed contributed work."

Just as Napoleon was about to reply, Vanni came in: "It’s almost time, are both grooms ready?"

Anning took a deep breath and nodded solemnly: "We’re ready, let’s go."