roccoschili Chapter 14: Eugène Napoleon, "Disabled but Determined," How Did He Become an Oscar Winner?
Chapter 14: Eugène Napoleon, "Disabled but Determined," How Did He Become an Oscar Winner?
On August 3, in the Tuileries Palace, the bedroom where Eugène Napoleon was located was filled with the smell of medicine and a faint odor of blood.
The morning light filtered through the carved window lattice and shone on the bed covered with snow-white velvet.
Eugène Napoleon leaned against the headboard, his back wrapped in bandages, with a faint hint of dark red seeping through the edges.
These were all details that he had specifically asked Pierre to handle, and today Eugène Napoleon could no longer avoid seeing him.
Continuing to avoid seeing people wouldn't make people suspect he's faking it, but it could easily lead to misjudgments about his injuries, making people think he's terminally ill. Such rumors would also have a significant negative impact on a royal family with only one son.
"Your Highness, the doctor says you are feeling much better today. Prime Minister Olivier is already waiting in the outer reception room. Shall we allow him to come in?"
A servant pushed open the door and entered, his tone extremely respectful, his eyes filled with worry.
The fact that the attendants cared so much about Eugène was undoubtedly related to his financial power. As attendants in the royal residence, Eugène Napoleon had already demonstrated his ability to spend lavishly, raising everyone's salary.
In this situation, the servants, who had no way of knowing the truth, were naturally very concerned about the health of their patron, Eugène Napoleon.
When the servant announced Olivier's arrival, Eugène nodded to signal him to inform him, while simultaneously showcasing his acting skills.
Eugène Napoleon raised his hand to his "swollen" forehead, deliberately softening his tone and using an extremely soft voice to feign his weakness.
"Please let the Prime Minister in."
After the worried-looking servants left, Eugène Napoleon did not change his posture, still appearing half-dead.
When Olivier, dressed in a sharp tailcoat, stepped into the room that was once a bedroom but is now a hospital ward, he saw the Prime Minister, who had not seen Eugène Napoleon for several days.
His gaze immediately fell on the bandage on Eugène's back. Seeing that there was indeed blood on the bandage and Eugène's expression, Olivier's brows furrowed subconsciously, and his steps into the room became softer.
Although Olivier was not a staunch royalist and even advocated limiting the monarch's power, his moderate nature made him unwilling to see such a sudden event as the heir being assassinated or even killed occur in the empire.
In other words, Olivier prefers things to happen naturally and dislikes sudden changes.
While in bed, Eugène noticed that Olivier was holding two documents, and without a doubt, Eugène knew what they contained.
One document is estimated to be a report from the Paris police on the latest developments in the search for Republicans, and the other is a list of his previous loan usage, questioning why he didn't invest the money in public works.
After all, the prime minister had visited him several times before, wanting to question him about why the loans originally intended for urban public works had ended up being used for bread distribution and pay raises for various parties.
However, it was precisely because he had been hiding, followed by the sudden assassination attempt, that Olivier was unable to find a suitable opportunity. Now, Eugène can no longer escape.
"Your Highness, I am very pleased to hear that your injuries have improved."
After bowing slightly in respect, Olivier hesitated for a moment, his gaze lingering on Eugène's pale face, before swallowing back the question about the loan that was on the tip of his tongue.
Asking these questions now that Eugène Napoleon has just recovered seems a bit cold-hearted, and if it causes Eugène Napoleon to fall seriously ill, who will be responsible?
Seeing Olivier's hesitation, and also wanting to avoid the topic, Eugène proactively brought up the Republican Party incident to change the subject.
"The Prime Minister is concerned. It's just some superficial injuries, nothing serious. But how's the manhunt for the Republicans going? Any trace of those radicals in Blanqui?"
Given Blanqui's high-profile publicity, the Paris police, not being entirely incompetent, naturally learned that radical Republicans had admitted to the assassination attempt.
Republicans labeled as terrorists are now much easier to arrest in Paris than before.
Previously, due to the control of various forces, if the empire wanted to punish anti-government elements, it had to fight in court against the anti-government lawyers hired by the anti-government elements.
This time, the inaction of the two pro-establishment forces, coupled with the Republican Party's own admission of wrongdoing, provided the government with an excellent opportunity to take action against the Republican Party.
"As of this morning, police have arrested more than 200 Republican members and shut down more than ten of their public strongholds. Blanqui and other core radical members are currently in hiding and have not yet been apprehended, but I have still ordered a thorough search of all entrances and exits to Paris and increased police presence for the manhunt. I believe it will not be long before we can round them all up."
"But Prime Minister, the radical faction of the Republicans is known for its extreme actions. Now that the assassination attempt failed, they might resort to desperate measures again. Paris is in a state of panic, so I need your help to stabilize the situation."
After Olivier's attention was shifted to suppressing the Republicans and stabilizing the situation, Olivier agreed as expected. The busy prime minister gave a few instructions on how to recover from his injury and then took his leave.
The prime minister never produced the loan list he had in his hand. He probably wanted to wait until Eugene had fully recovered and the storm had subsided before bringing it up.
Once he was sure Olivier was far away, Eugène Napoleon softly called out to his captain of the guard, Pierre, who was also an accomplice in the incident.
Pierre.
"Your Highness."
"Have everything been arranged for my mother?"
"Everything has been arranged. The Empress, having learned of your improvement today, is on her way."
"very good."
After a brief conversation, Eugène remained silent, leaning back against the headboard and closing his eyes to contemplate his next acting move.
No one understood Eugénie better than him, not even Napoleon III. From Napoleon III's perspective, Eugénie was far too domineering; only Eugénie knew how much she doted on him.
The benefits of this assassination are numerous, far beyond simply winning over the hearts and minds of the people of Paris and dealing a blow to the Republican Party.
This operation also involves Eugène's military expansion plan. The 13th Army cannot increase its size without a reason. If it can pay to make up for the 6000 vacant positions, no one will say anything, and they are even afraid that Eugène will bring this matter to the forefront.
However, if the number of personnel is to be increased further, then the government's approval is required. If Eugène expands the army at will, the National Assembly will definitely impeach Eugène Napoleon.
The French regular army's advance was temporarily blocked, and the police's combat effectiveness was limited. Expanding their ranks to suppress the civilians was fine, but it would have no effect on the Prussian army that was advancing on Paris later.
In this situation, Eugène came up with the idea of a force that could be reasonably expanded and whose combat power was sufficient to handle certain matters: the Paris Garrison Gendarmerie.