I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 887: Holy Ride
Joseph slapped his forehead and almost forgot about the Pope.

He turned to Countess de Berninac and nodded: "Please tell Her Majesty the Queen that I will definitely entertain the Holy Father well."

When the queen's maid left, Joseph said to Emand, "Please send Monsieur Fouché and Viscount de Besançon to see me."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Half an hour later, the intelligence chief and the police chief came to the Crown Prince's reception room and saluted Joseph on his chest: "Your Highness."

Joseph gestured towards the sofa. "Please sit down. I want to talk to you about the Holy Father's coming to Paris."

Fouché said hurriedly, "Please rest assured, Your Highness. I have mobilized more than 400 agents and have conducted five rounds of screening. There will definitely not be any accidents."

Joseph nodded calmly: "I don't care about safety issues."

Fouché and Besançon looked at each other, then at the Dauphin: "What do you mean?"

Joseph did not answer, but asked Fouché first: "Where is Cardinal Muzzarelli now? [Note 1]"

"In the basement of Saint-Sulpice, Your Highness," said the intelligence chief. "My men are guarding him day and night."

Muzzarelli had come to Paris last week, but when he reached the outskirts of the city, Joseph had the Intelligence Agency intercept him secretly.

"Very good," said Joseph, "Please prepare a full set of ceremonial utensils for him, and then..."

Fouché's eyes flashed with surprise, but he still nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph looked towards Besançon again: "The day before the Pope's carriage enters Paris, you have to do this..."

"Yes, Your Highness."

An hour later, Fouché and Besançon walked out of the Dauphin's reception room. They looked at each other again, Besançon crossed himself, and Fouché smiled.

three days later.

The procession of Pope Pius VI moved slowly along the empty King's Road, more than 10 kilometers away from Paris.

The Pope was riding in a golden carriage that was like a mobile palace, pulled by twelve pure white horses and with wheels wrapped in shock-absorbing silk. Following behind it were many peasants who saw the procession along the way.

At this moment, more than 300 Paris police appeared in front. Under the command of Besancon, they surrounded the procession of Pius VI and dispersed the crowd for security reasons.

Besançon bowed his head and confessed in secret before he came to the carriage of Pius VI. However, he did not kneel down to salute according to etiquette. Instead, he simply touched his chest and bowed, saying loudly: "Merciful and great Holy Father, due to some special reasons, I need you to change the carriage."

The plump and white Pope Pius VI, supported by two priests, got out of the car and looked at Besançon in confusion: "Who are you?"

"Jacques Pierre de Besançon, the Director of the French Police." Besançon pointed to the white "Jewel VI" carriage not far away, "You will take that carriage to the Palace of Versailles."

The priest next to Pius VI frowned: "Why do you do this?"

"The police department received a tip that someone was planning an assassination against the Holy Father. You know, some people in Paris are dissatisfied with the Vatican."

Pius VI glanced at his luxury car and said, "Mr. Director, my car is very safe."

He waited for a moment, and seeing that Besancon was unmoved, he nodded: "Thank you for your arrangement. Let's go to that car."

The priest next to him gestured to the Vatican Guards standing around, and the Swiss mercenaries in red uniforms immediately lined up and walked towards the white carriage.

Besancon raised his hand to stop the captain of the guard and said, "Please go to the inn to rest. From now on, the task of protecting the Holy Father will be undertaken by the Paris police."

The captain of the Vatican Guard firmly pushed his hand away and ordered the guards to continue moving forward.

Besançon sighed, raised his right hand and waved. Hundreds of Paris police immediately trotted up and blocked the Vatican Guards on both sides of the road.

The captain of the Vatican Guard looked at Besancon and said in a deep voice: "We have all sworn to never leave the Holy Father. What do you want to do?"

Besançon looked at Pius VI again and said, "Holy Father, for your safety, my people must be on guard."

The Pope stood in front of the carriage, somewhat at a loss.

The two sides were deadlocked for a while, and Besancon sighed and raised his right hand again.

More than a hundred policemen in the distance instantly took off the flintlock rifles behind them, pulled the hammers, and pointed them at the Vatican Guards.

These policemen were carefully selected by Besançon, and most of them were from the Saint-Antoine police station who followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. As long as it was the Crown Prince's order, let alone asking them to point guns at the Vatican Guards, even if it was to fire at the Pope, they would execute it without hesitation.

There were less than 150 members of the Vatican Guard, and most of them were equipped with halberds. There were only about 40 flintlock rifles, so they dared not move.

Pius VI waved his hand to the captain of the guard and said, "Leonhard, do as this gentleman says."

"Here," the captain of the guard glanced at the dark muzzles of the flintlocks around him, gritted his teeth and signaled to his men, "Back off."

The next day.

Several luxurious but very common "jewel" carriages in Paris slowly drove into Paris.

The motorcade was surrounded by nearly 200 Paris police officers in neat formation, and even the musicians were drawn from the police band.

There were no red carpets along the way, and no children scattering flower petals. At first glance, it looked like the police station was escorting serious criminals into the city.

The citizens of Paris gathered together in surprise, whispering to each other what was going on.

Soon, people noticed the high-ranking priests in purple robes carrying ebony thrones in front of the convoy, and the young deacons holding the monstrance and wearing lily crowns on their heads.

And the cross pennant held by the policeman in front of the carriage had an image of two crossed keys of St. Peter on it - the emblem of the Vatican.

Someone exclaimed: "This, this looks like the Pope's procession!"

Pope Pius VI leaned out of the car window and waved to passers-by with an awkward smile.

It is no wonder that the citizens of Paris did not know that the Pope was coming. In this information-blocked era, if the newspapers did not report it, even if someone in the Palace of Versailles leaked the news, few people would hear the news.

Finally, after a long and arduous journey, Pope Pius VI's procession arrived not far from the Palace of Versailles.

The devout Louis XVI and Queen Marie had already dressed in their best attire and were here with thousands of nobles to welcome them.

Pope Pius VI finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar grand scene.

Suddenly, a convoy of more than ten carriages, escorted by sixty or seventy Vatican guards, came diagonally from the northeast.

The motorcade and the Pope's procession got mixed up and the place suddenly became a mess.

Queen Mary looked at the scene in front of her in shock and asked the captain of the guard beside her: "What happened?"

The latter hurried to inquire, and soon returned to the queen and said: "Your Majesty, that is the ceremonial guard of Prince Cardinal Muzarelli. He also happened to be visiting today..."

[Note 1] “Cardinal Prince” is an honorary title granted by the Vatican to cardinals. His red robe is slightly different from that of other cardinals.

(End of this chapter)