The next day.
Many nobles from the Palace of Versailles have received invitations to attend a small dance tonight. The ball was given by Mrs. Veral.
No one objected because they had danced all night yesterday—a monthlong dance was common for them, but a dance given by Mrs. Veral was very unusual.
It was an open secret that the Duke of Villars had some financial difficulties.
At 9 o'clock in the evening, everyone came to the small dance hall one after another. After the host said some warm-up remarks, the music started. The current Duke of Villars, Mary Emily and a strange young man first came to the center of the hall and gave everyone an opening dance.
Everyone was whispering to each other about who the young man was, and Mrs. Villar asked everyone to look at her with a smile on her face, and then announced loudly that her daughter, the Duke of Villars, was going to marry Louis Andre de Dar. Wu held an engagement ceremony three days later.
Everyone was in an uproar because no one knew who the man named Davout was.
Not long after, a nobleman finally heard about Davout's origins from his manservant:
"It is said that he is an unknown little baron, serving as a lieutenant in the Soissons Corps."
"Why did Duke Villar marry him?!"
"I only heard that this Davout is highly appreciated by the crown prince, but there doesn't seem to be anything else extraordinary about him."
"This kid is really lucky..."
Mrs. Veral did not explain much, but enthusiastically asked everyone to continue dancing.
In a certain room in the Palace of Versailles, a young nobleman pushed the door in pantingly. He ignored any politeness and shouted at Roche: "Duke V. Villars is getting engaged!"
Luo Xie stood up in surprise and asked: "Engagement? Has she accepted my father's suggestion?"
"No, no! It's with a young lieutenant named Davout!"
Luo Xie's eyes suddenly darkened, he grabbed the man and asked about the source of the information, and immediately rushed out of the door.
Emily, Duke of Villars, looked at André Davout in front of her with a smile and danced gracefully. The dance steps of the two are in perfect sync, like two colorful butterflies entangled and playing in the grass.
She felt that all this was as unreal as a dream. Originally, she was ready to compromise with fate and marry the man she had no feelings for, but just last night, her mother suddenly said that she wanted to get engaged to Davout.
She couldn't help but recall the conversation her mother had with her at that time.
"Lieutenant Davout is very valued by His Highness the Crown Prince, and has now been transferred to the Crown Prince's Guards as an officer, which is also His Highness's confidant personal guard.
"In addition, His Highness also said that as long as Mr. Davout performs meritorious service on the battlefield, he will request His Majesty the King to grant him the title of viscount or even earl!"
"But he doesn't have much money, and our family's financial situation..."
"No, His Royal Highness the Dauphin said that he guarantees that Davout has a large amount of money, at least 50,000 livres."
The mother lowered her voice: "The most important thing is that His Highness said that Mr. Davout has outstanding abilities. If you marry him, Your Highness will fully support him and help you get everything that belongs to you from Noetta!"
The Noetta she was talking about was Emily's cousin. Although the Duke of Villars lost a lot of property in his father's generation, he still owns dozens of acres of land - not the named land of the nobles in the Palace of Versailles, but a real fiefdom with tenant farmers. And the kind of fief privileges!
And the huge influence and appeal in the Mulan Infantry Regiment. Although she is the only female heir left in Duke Villar's lineage and has little contact with the army, as long as he is summoned in the name of the Duke, there will definitely be a lot of responders in the army.
Her cousin borrowed the name of Duke Villar and became a major general.
No wonder, her mother finally chose to let her marry Andre. Rather than living in humiliation under the charity of her cousin, what her mother wanted more was to restore the glory of Duke Villarde!
Andre, who was opposite Emily, was also thinking a lot. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince summoned him last night and told him that he had reached an agreement with the Duke of Villars' family and that he would marry Emily.
The crown prince also generously lent him 50,000 livres for the wedding and future living expenses, without charging interest and repaying the money at any time.
However, His Highness also left him a task, which was to help his future wife regain all the resources that Duke Villar should have, and then use the foundation of the Mulan Infantry Regiment to train an elite army.
At this time, he was holding Emily's tender little hand, and his whole body was enveloped in happiness. He no longer knew how to thank the Crown Prince. Perhaps building the Mulan Corps into an invincible army would be the best reward for His Highness!
Luo Xie suddenly broke in and made a hysterical fuss like a clown, but was persuaded to go out by Vera with a pleasant face - today is a happy day, no matter what, everyone should deal with it calmly, even if Being disgustingly disrespectful.
When Andre saw Luo Xie looking back at him fiercely, he ignored him and just silently pointed at his boots.
...
In the crown prince's study, Fouche respectfully presented a roster to Joseph.
"Your Highness, these are the members recently recruited by the Police Intelligence Department, a total of one hundred and seventy-six people."
Fouche's eyes were bloodshot. He only slept about 4 hours a day in order to prepare for the Police Intelligence Unit, but the feeling of having power made him very excited:
"Most of them are former royal police officers, and there are also some retired soldiers. In accordance with your instructions, my subordinates will strictly screen them to ensure that they have no serious criminal records and no bad habits."
Joseph opened the roster, which contained names and general background, specialties and other information.
It is impossible for him to remember these people, but this is a necessary process to show that he is the real controller of this intelligence agency.
Joseph didn't know how Fouche was able to recruit so many people and initially form an organization within a week, but it was obvious that letting him chair the Police Intelligence Division was the right decision.
He looked at Fouche and praised: "Your work is indeed very effective, you are an excellent manager.
"Then can you tell me when the Police Intelligence Department will be able to start operations?"
Fouche said without hesitation: "Now, you can carry out the mission immediately, Your Highness."
Joseph nodded with satisfaction: "Your efficiency really surprises me. So there are two things that you need to investigate right now."
Fouche immediately took out a pen and paper and solemnly said: "Please give me your instructions."
Joseph said: "I wonder if you know about the former Paris police chief Guizot, colluding with gang members to create chaos in the Saint-Antoine district, and intending to attack the police station?"
Fouche nodded: "Yes, I have heard about it."
"I feel that there are other people involved in this matter, but Guizot always puts all the blame on himself. The first thing you have to check is whether there is someone else behind Guizot, and what is the purpose."
"Yes, Your Highness!"