I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1446 The Undercurrents of Vienna
Joseph then nodded and said, "Please tell me what you heard?"

Lavallet said, "It is believed that His Highness Charles is having an affair with an older lady from Berlin, uh, and she must be of high status."

Joseph frowned, but wasn't too surprised. After all, Charles grew up in Versailles and it wasn't surprising that he had picked up the "good habits" of French nobility.

He sighed: "No wonder he said a couple of days ago that he was going to Essens to oversee the military situation there. It seems he wants to stay in northern Germany for a while longer."

He then asked Lavallet, "Do you know who the other person is?"

"That's still unclear, Your Highness. However, Baron Mosten once revealed that he wields considerable power in the City Palace."

Joseph nodded somewhat helplessly: "Alright, while Charles is in Essens, you should find out about this as soon as possible."

He paused for a moment, then instructed, "Also, make sure to ascertain the woman's health condition first. If she has contracted any disease, send Charles back to me immediately."

Fortunately, penicillin is now available in France, so even if Charles unfortunately contracts syphilis, as long as he receives treatment as soon as possible, it won't have too much of an impact.

……

Karlmen Theatre, Vienna, Austria.

In the middle of the first floor, a girl with fine curly hair and a light green dress clenched her fists tightly, her large blue eyes filled with anger, and she gritted her teeth and whispered:

"These devils, they all deserve to go to hell! What will become of poor Tristan..."

The play being performed on stage is "A Quiet Summer Night" by French playwright Pierre Leblanc.

This show tells the story of a poor young man named Tristan who loses his left arm due to persecution by the town's tax farmers, yet is still forced to work 16 hours a day to pay off his debts. Even his boss eventually goes bankrupt and commits suicide because the tax farmers arbitrarily change the tax rates.

Of course, the girl didn't see the end—the king implemented tax reforms, abolishing the tax farmer system. With the help of the righteous mayor, Tristan bravely exposed the tax farmers' crimes. Ultimately, the tax farmers were forced to abandon all their possessions and flee to America to become beggars.

Lucas looked at the girl whose face was flushed, and patted her back affectionately to comfort her, saying, "He's a strong person, he'll definitely find a way out."

The girl turned to look at him and nodded vigorously: "It's good to have people like you who are fighting tirelessly for all the poor Austrians."

Lucas was somewhat hesitant to meet her gaze, because he had long since given up on the "fight" she had mentioned.

In fact, back in late summer, Lucas was already disheartened and ready to return to Paris. But on that very day, he unexpectedly met Gloria, the girl beside him, and fell hopelessly in love with her.

So he stayed in Vienna and soon fell in love with her.

Now, he only occasionally participates in Stilz's activities and translates some meaningful articles from French newspapers.

To his surprise, Gloria, despite coming from an aristocratic family, strongly supported reforms such as human rights and parliament, and after meeting him, she also joined Stilz.

Now, Stilz Society has fewer than 30 members left. Even Lucas continues to advocate for freedom and human rights simply because he is used to it. Gloria, on the other hand, is full of energy and has become the most active person in the society.

Finally, Tristan on stage began to fight back, and cheers erupted from the theater.

As the wicked tax farmers fled onto the ship bound for America in the dead of night, Gloria jumped up excitedly: "Great! The devil has finally been defeated!" The curtain slowly fell. Gloria, arm in arm with Lucas, walked out of the theater. The curses against the tax farmers still lingered in the air.

“This is truly the most wonderful play I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed. “It’s no wonder it’s a work by a renowned French composer. I wish I could see French plays more often.”

Since the last theater festival, France has become the center of theater exports for all of Europe.

Lucas sighed. "You know, the Press and Publication Administration will do everything in its power to ban French plays from appearing here."

"A Quiet Summer Night" was only able to be performed in Austria because it perfectly aligned with Metternich's tax reforms. As for other French plays, even their titles were forbidden from appearing in Austrian newspapers.

Gloria pumped her fist: "Freedom, we must have freedom..."

Lucas quickly pulled her aside, then cautiously looked around until he was sure no one was paying attention before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

There are secret police everywhere right now, and what the girl just said is enough to get her arrested.

Just as Lucas and his girlfriend were leaving the theater, in a VIP box on the second floor, a man in his thirties, wearing a fancy blue coat and with powder on his face, was glaring fiercely at the stage, which had been covered by the curtain.

The scene he just witnessed almost took his breath away—

What did Fleurish do wrong? He collected taxes for the king for decades, only to end up penniless and forced to beg for a living.

Fleurich is the tax farmer from the play we just saw.

And he happened to have been a tax farmer—he was in charge of collecting taxes from all tobacco, alcohol, salt, and long-term shops in southern Vienna.

Although he had millions of florins in assets, the drama he had just witnessed made it clear to him that if he lost his tax-farming rights, he would sooner or later become a beggar like Fleurich.

He wasn't afraid of death; his grandfather had once led a group to kill a rival for a few hundred florins. But he was terrified of poverty, a torment that tormented him more than death itself.

A servant's voice came from behind: "Master, it's almost five o'clock. If we don't leave soon, we might miss the party."

The man nodded and walked out of the private room with a gloomy face.

On the other side, Gloria and Lucas kissed goodbye, and only after his figure disappeared at the end of the street did she return to the carriage and carefully go over their "statements" with the maid.

The car circled around several times before finally stopping in front of the brick-red villa in the middle of Land Street.

"Miss, why are you only just getting back?" The maid who came to greet her checked her makeup before letting her in, and said anxiously, "Luckily, there was a party at home today, otherwise I wouldn't know how to help you cover it up."

In the east hall of Gloria's house, her father, Count Ulfert, was talking in hushed tones with the man in blue from the theater earlier.

“Mr. Holtz, I must remind you that the secret police have their eyes on you regarding the case of Federer, the tax officer.”

Holtz smiled nonchalantly and said, "Please rest assured, my men have done a very clean job."

(End of this chapter)