Chapter 540: Return to Paradise
West of Reims, Meitihan Village.
Paul Leonor caressed his old house inch by inch with his hands, as if he were touching a rare treasure. Hot tears were already rolling in his eyes that were always red and swollen due to poisonous gas erosion.
This is Leonor's home, the home left to him by his father, which carries his memories from childhood to adulthood. Five years after losing it, he returned to his hometown full of warmth.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince chopped off Mr. Poca's head, and Leonor saw it with his own eyes. That day when he heard that the tax collectors were going to be beheaded, he and his wife put down their work and went to the Louvre Square to watch, risking the family's starvation.
The Boca was so frightened that he kept shaking. He didn't look as arrogant as before when he forced them to pay. Finally, when his ugly and fat head was lifted up by the prison officer, he and his wife shouted with the crowd until their voices became hoarse.
However, their child seemed frightened and kept crying. In the end, it was the eldest brother, Domi, who showed his brotherly spirit and stood in front of his brothers, loudly telling them that he was a bad person and that God was punishing him to hell.
What Leonor didn't expect the most was that a week later, the master of the Reims District Court came to him and asked him to put his fingerprints on several documents, and then told him that his 47 acres of land, as well as real estate, etc. Everything paid to Polkadot will be returned to him in the near future.
Even Polkadot will compensate him 35 francs in compensation.
The gentleman was very polite and said that according to the instructions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Poca should have paid him twice the compensation for the property he had illegally taken. But Polkadot had harmed too many people. After dividing all his property, each person could only get a few dozen francs.
Of course, Polkadot should have hidden a lot of property, but it has been difficult to find out. In fact, even if the victims receive justice, they often cannot get back what was taken away from them, let alone the years they lost.
Leonor was already very satisfied.
He thanked the Lord of the court profusely and led his family to pray for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for several hours.
Another half month later, he finally got back his house deed, land deed, and 35 francs in banknotes.
Later, Leonor borrowed another 30 francs - it was easy to borrow money from the bank with land as collateral - and performed an operation on his wife, removing the two ulcerated fingers.
Afterwards, the family had their first beef stew in five years. Several children held their stomachs and groaned for half the night because they ate too much, but there was no sign of pain on their faces.
Leonor was recalling the recent ups and downs when he saw his wife who was packing her luggage suddenly stood up straight and looked toward the door.
"Honey, what's wrong with you?"
"Sophie," Mrs. Leonor's face was full of excitement, she picked up her skirt and ran out the door, "It's old Sophie! I remember the sound of her hooves!"
When Leonor followed him out of the door, he saw his wife holding the old horse that was already losing some hair, laughing and jumping, as happy as a child. Sophie also rubbed her cheek against her old master, and her eyes seemed a little moist.
For farmers like them, horses are simply another pillar of the family. As long as there are horses, there is hope in their lives.
Immediately, Madame Leonore began to sob softly again, kissing Sophie's skin that was beginning to loosen, and kept choking:
"Old man, I thought... we would never see each other again..."
Father Carlo, who sent the horse over, comforted her, and then crossed himself on his chest and said: "Thank God. Look, isn't everything getting better?"
Madame Leonore nodded and added:
"I would also like to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Oh, and the master of the tax bureau. Oh, and the Court of Reims..."
Father Carlo asked Leonor to put his fingerprint on the document he received from Sophie, declined the hostess's invitation to come in and drink some coffee, and left in a hurry:
"It's getting late. I have to rush to baptize little Joseph. Let's do it next time."
"Joseph?" Leonor was a little surprised, "Is he the child of the Trouet family? He should have been baptized last week?" "He is the youngest son of Korgeva." The priest smiled and waved his hand, "Well, what happened recently? In two months, all four children born in the village were named Joseph. "
In this small village of just over 100 households, one-third of the villagers have gone bankrupt or fallen into extreme poverty due to various exploitations by tax collectors in the past ten years, but now 70% to 80% of them have regained their income. own property. The Crown Prince's prestige in the village is almost second only to God.
These simple farmers expressed their gratitude to the crown prince in the most direct way - by naming their newborn child Joseph. If it was a girl, she would be called Josephine—that was the feminine name for Joseph.
In fact, there have been a total of 60,000 to 70,000 newborns named Joseph in France recently...
Father Carlo took a few steps and suddenly remembered something. He turned to Leonor and said: "By the way, the parish is going to hold a mass for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince next Sunday. You must come to attend. ”
Leonor nodded immediately: "We and the children will go, Father."
He looked at his wife again and whispered, "How much money do we have left?"
"Seven francs and nine sous, Paul."
Leonor hurriedly said to the priest: "Father Carlo, I would like to donate 5 francs for the mass."
The Catholic “consecration” means donation.
The priest was startled and advised: "This is too much, Leonor."
"No, not much at all. Your Highness got these for us..."
Western suburbs of Paris.
A dance was being held in the newly rented courtyard of the Viannal family to celebrate their taking back the family property from the tax collector.
In fact, their villa has been taken back, but it is still a bit messy, so Mrs. Viannal decided to redecorate it, and they lived here temporarily.
Although Mr. Viannal's face still bears the traces of his previous troubled life, his whole person is full of high spirits.
He stood on the chair, knocked the glass in his hand, attracted the attention of the guests, and said loudly: "Thank you everyone for coming to this dance. Now, let us respect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Our 'son of God'!"
Everyone raised their glasses and echoed loudly:
"To Your Highness."
"The son of God's beloved."
"May God bless His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
But a few people did not respond, but murmured coldly:
"The crown prince actually let the nobles and the untouchables beheaded together. This is simply a humiliation to decent people."
"Yes, those untouchables also used beheading, which should be reserved for nobles!"
"Hmph, are the royal family going to let all the despicable guys climb on top of us?"
(End of chapter)