I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1333 Church Schools and Welfare Homes
Seeing the awkward silence, Leroy smiled and reminded him:
"Mr. Fellini, please tell me which school you come from."

Angelique raised his head:

“I come from Saint…Our Lady of Our Mother…”

Archbishop Boissi's face also turned pale; this fool seemed to have forgotten the name of his own school!
He quickly whispered:
"Our Lady of the Corridor Street Church School"

The boy then repeated it, but then got stuck again.

Leroy had no choice but to continue prompting: "So, which excellent teacher taught you to win first place in this competition?"

"Yes Yes……"

Archbishop Boissi gritted his teeth and said:
"Father Benedetto".

Alexandra looked over with some displeasure:

“Archbishop Boissi, perhaps you should return to your place. I would like to hear what Mr. Fellini himself has to say.”

After Boissy sat down tremblingly, she asked the boy again:

Could you tell me about your usual class schedule?

Angelique, like a struggling student finally seeing a problem he could solve, raised his voice several decibels:

“From Monday to Wednesday, I have two French lessons, two math lessons, one science lesson, and one craft lesson every day. From Thursday to Saturday, I have one physical education lesson and one art lesson every day. The rest of the time, I have French, math, and Latin lessons interspersed…”

The hall fell into a deathly silence as all eyes turned to Archbishop Boissi.

Because what the boy said was exactly the standard curriculum of the "new primary school".

Alexandra and Dean Leroy exchanged a few words in hushed tones, then she rose and approached Angelique, speaking with an air of authority:

"So, you didn't study at the Oratori school?"

"I……"

“You must tell me everything you’ve been hiding. I can assure you that no one here can threaten you, and this is your only chance to be forgiven.”

Angelique was clearly intimidated by the Crown Princess's long-held air of authority, nodding frantically, his voice choked with emotion:
“I…I’m from Milan. Three years ago, I came to Reims with my father and studied at the new primary school in the Gilda district. My math teacher is Mr. Parent.”

“Last year, my father was scammed and the family is now heavily in debt.”

He pointed to Archbishop Boissi:
"This kind archbishop told me that he would give me 3 francs if I took a math exam. This money saved my family..."

Alexandra stared coldly at Archbishop Boissi:

"You'd better give me a reasonable explanation."

The latter, already drenched in cold sweat, hurriedly bowed and said:

"This...I...please forgive me..."

The Crown Princess glared at him coldly and left the hall with a gloomy face.

The following day, the front pages of all the newspapers in Paris, large and small, were filled with headlines such as "The church school's math competition champion actually comes from the new primary school" and "Olatoli will spend a lot of money to hire students from the new primary school to impersonate him in the competition." The Paris Commercial Daily even had a drawing made overnight depicting Archbishop Boissy being exposed in public, his expression of shame, which was printed below the news.

In the days that followed, while continuing to report on the math competition scandal, the newspapers also began publishing articles such as "Does the Olato Council, which is supported by lies, still have the right to educate students?" and "The curriculum of church schools is outdated and cannot be compared with that of new primary schools."

Immediately afterwards, it is unclear which newspaper first shifted the topic to the public childcare system run by the church.

In a short time, the church spent nearly six months and claimed to have invested millions of francs, but only managed to build two kindergartens, accommodating fewer than 1 children. This completely failed to achieve the goal of providing public childcare coverage throughout France within two years.

The Paris Business Daily then published a timely news report about the tragic death of a three-year-old child in the Saint-Antoine district who fell into a fireplace while his mother was at work. A kindergarten had been planned across the street from his house, but only a fence had been erected, with no further progress made.

Soon, a priest revealed inside information, saying that the church had only spent 5 francs to build a kindergarten in Paris.

People began gathering outside Notre Dame Cathedral to protest, demanding a thorough investigation into the alleged embezzlement and misappropriation of public childcare funds from the Church.

Archbishop Beaumont was now in a difficult position to defend himself. The church had only contributed 5 francs, so there was no possibility of embezzlement. But if he claimed there was no plan to "cover all of France with kindergartens within two years," the public's criticism of the church would likely only intensify.

Although he could "play dead," someone reported the matter to the Notary Public Investigation Bureau.

Mara, who had been having some free time lately, was immediately intrigued and personally led the elites of the Notary Investigation Bureau to investigate the "church corruption case".

Yes, the whistleblower was Joseph's clerk.

Starting with the "Angelic Affair," Joseph's series of moves have completely shattered the church's prestige in the education sector and firmly drawn people's attention to the church.

Next, they will seize upon the church's financial problems and deliver a fatal blow.

He knew very well that it was impossible not to find evidence against the church, a hotbed of corruption.

However, it was not Mara who made the first breakthrough, but a reporter from the City News newspaper.

Landry escaped from the Bloissy district welfare home thanks to his extraordinary willpower.

When he returned to the newspaper office, he was emaciated and had a vacant look in his eyes. Even his childhood friend took several minutes to recognize him.

After Landry recovered somewhat, he had a friend write down his experience of disguising himself as a beggar and infiltrating the orphanage.

The entire welfare home is a completely enclosed structure, completely isolated from the outside world.

Managed by 7 priests and 5 nuns, all inhabitants were divided into orphanages, elderly, women and homeless areas according to their status, and no one was allowed to communicate with each other without the priests' consent.

Landry was only given two meals a day of moldy black bread and a little vegetable soup—and that was the best food in the entire nursing home, while the elderly ward only had one meal a day—yet he was forced to work 16 hours a day and pray for more than an hour.

Any violation of the rules would result in punishments such as having their food withheld or being forced to kneel in the prayer room for an extended period.

As for wanting to leave?

A 24-year-old man named Landry took advantage of the priest on duty being drunk, used a homemade saw to break the lock, then climbed over the more than 4-meter-high wall, evaded the hunting dogs, and barely escaped back to the newspaper office.

At the end of his article, he attached data released last year by the West End Welfare Home—a total of 1020 people were provided with aid, costing 134,000 francs.

According to his calculations, the annual expenditure on food and basic medical care provided to the inmates by the welfare home would not exceed 5 francs. Meanwhile, the inmates' wages should have been at least 10 francs per year, all of which ended up in the church's coffers.

(End of this chapter)