King's Landing in France

Chapter 24 Nightmare and planning ahead

After returning from the dance that night, it was almost three o'clock. After An Ning sent Christina home, she returned to her residence and saw Fanny still waiting for her.

An Ning: "It's so late, you have to get up early tomorrow as a servant, you can go to bed first."

"That's not acceptable. If a servant falls asleep before the master, it will be a dereliction of duty."

An Ning: "I don't have such a rule here, you can sleep when you should."

Although An Ning said so, seeing Fanny waiting for her felt pretty good.

In her previous life, An Ning lived alone as a laborer, and no one would wait for her at home. Every time she came home from get off work, she faced an empty and quiet home.

If I went home in my previous life and saw a lovely maid like Fanny waiting for me, my sense of happiness would definitely be greatly improved.

It's a pity that this was just a delusion in my previous life. Unless there is a breakthrough in robot technology in the future, making domestic maid robots a daily necessities, it is basically impossible to have such a thing.

But it would be nice to have that dream come true in this lifetime.

Fanny observed An Ning carefully, and suddenly said, "Actually, you are quite happy to see me waiting for you, right?"

"Uh, indeed." An Ning admitted, "But one size counts. I hope you chose to wait for me because you were worried about me, rather than because of the obligation between master and servant. I hope we can be friends, but Not master and servant."

Fanny was speechless: "Friends... How interesting, you actually want to be friends with a servant."

"Can't you? In my opinion, you are also a lovely woman. Isn't it natural to want to be friends with a lovely woman?" An Ning said.

Fanny: "But I'm a maid."

"I am the son of a cobbler. And your perception is wrong. Everyone should be born equal."

"You've listened too much to Mably's speeches."

"Just treat me like this. In short, don't treat me as your master, but as a friend. Well, it's getting late, you have to get up early tomorrow morning, right? Go to sleep!"

Fanny did not leave: "I want to make the bed for you, are you planning to go to bed?"

"Yes, I'm going to bed, just make a bed."

Fanny picked up the candlestick on the table: "Then please follow me upstairs."

After a while, An Ning finally fell asleep on the bed, held the candlestick, and whispered, "Good night, Mr. Frost."

"Good night." An Ning said.

All day today, he was really exhausted, so he fell asleep quickly, and then he dreamed that Reginald's father, the Marquis Richard, took him to court aggressively, accusing him of committing murder .

The Duke hired a lawyer to defend the Marquis, but the lawyer turned his back on the spot in court, thinking that the Marquis was a nobleman, and nobility was justice.

So An Ning was sentenced to death and immediately executed by hanging.

An Ning dreamed that he was on the gallows all the way, and then he asked the executioner suspiciously: "Shouldn't all France use the guillotine?"

The next moment, the gallows transformed into a guillotine. Louis XVI adjusted the setting of the guillotine himself, and then said to An Ning, "This new guillotine I invented will never cause pain and is extremely efficient!"

Then An Ning was pinned on the guillotine, and the dream ended at this moment.

An Ning sat up abruptly, and realized that she was already sweating.

He thought back to the content of the dream, thinking that he couldn't do it, he had to find a reliable lawyer.

At least find a lawyer who won't get sidetracked just because of his status as a commoner or aristocrat.

Although the Marquis may not really kill him and accuse him of murder, it is always right to be prepared at such a time.

Speaking of lawyers, An Ning suddenly thought of a person. During the French Revolution, this person was elected to the National Assembly because of the accumulation of people who often helped civilians in lawsuits.

This man was Maximilian François Marie Isidore de Robespierre.

At this time Robespierre should be studying for a bachelor's degree in law school, which happens to be in Paris!
Both Robespierre's grandfather and father were lawyers, and both had experience in helping civilians in litigation. It would be reliable to find him at a time like this.

A little later, Robespierre will return to his hometown of Arras, where he will work as a lawyer and judge until the three-level parliament is held in 1789.

An Ning made up her mind and got up and got dressed.

Fanny seemed to be stuck on purpose, knocking on the door when An Ning put on her pants and shirt.

"Come in!" An Ning said.

Fanny opened the door and came in, glanced at An Ning: "Breakfast is ready, are you eating in the bedroom?"

"Can I eat elsewhere?" An Ning asked.

Fanny: "Your Excellency the Duke said yesterday that if you want to have breakfast together, you can go over."

An Ning shook her head: "I still won't disturb the Duke's family life."

Fanny nodded, turned and left, and came in with breakfast after a while.

There are eggs, bread and smoked ham slices this morning, which is much richer than yesterday's breakfast.

An Ning: "Is it my illusion? It seems that my food standard has improved."

"It's what the Duke meant, you are now the Duke's distinguished guest." Fanny replied.

An Ning shrugged. He was putting on the last piece of clothing on his body. After Fanny put down her breakfast, she stepped forward to help An Ning organize her clothes.

An Ning: "By the way, I'm planning to go to King Louis the Great this morning. Can you call me a carriage?"

Fanny asked suspiciously, "What are you doing there?"

"I want to find a lawyer. At the ball yesterday, the queen's best friend, Mrs. Lamballe, said that Reginald's father would definitely be furious and would definitely come to Paris to find an explanation for his son."

Fanny: "Then it would be better to use the Duke's lawyer. The Duke has already approved the result of this duel, and he will not allow a Marquis from the countryside to dictate to his guests."

An Ning raised her eyebrows, the reasoning is true, but the dream last night was a bit of a shame.

An Ning could even recall the feeling of the guillotine's lock clamping her neck.

And there's nothing wrong with getting acquainted with Robespierre ahead of time as part of future plans to sit on the fence.

Before entering the second half of 1893, the Jacobins were more reasonable, but later on the situation was too critical and they had no choice but to implement the policy of terror.

Just go out and command the army before the Jacobins start terrorizing, and avoid the era of bloody rivers of blood.

An Ning thought about this, and said to Fanny: "I want to find a lawyer who is willing to fight for the common people against the nobles to defend me."

Fanny: "Do you know such a lawyer?"

"No, I don't know him, that's why I was looking for it." An Ning said.

Fanny looked at him suspiciously: "Start looking now? Can this be found? Why don't you ask Mr. Mirabeau, that alcoholic is very well connected in Paris."

An Ning: "Did you just call Mirabeau an alcoholic?"

"That's the truth." Fanny said firmly, "And Mirabeau always looks at Miss Christina with lewd eyes."

An Ning: "Is there?"

Fanny: "Yes! And he also..."

"He still looks at you with lewd eyes?"

"It's not, but it's more annoying."

It's even more annoying!
After finishing her sharp criticism of Mirabeau, Fanny said sternly, "But he does have a wide network of contacts. Maybe he will know lawyers who are willing to help common people file lawsuits against nobles."

An Ning thought for a while, and felt that going directly to Louis the Great's Academy might not necessarily find Robespierre, so it would be more reliable to ask Mirabeau first and ask him for a recommendation.

So he asked Fanny: "So, when will Monsieur Mirabeau come to the Royal Palace?"

Fanny: "He lives nearby, and the house is also the Duke's property."

"Okay, then I'll visit him in the morning..."

"You should first have the servant send him a message that you want to visit."

"Then you go and send him a message?"

"This kind of thing is usually done by the male servant who is in charge of running errands. How can you ask your own maid to run errands?"

An Ning: "I'm just you as a maid, there are no male servants?"

"That can be done by the stableman of the Duke's Mansion." Fanny suggested.

An Ning: "Then please go to the stablekeeper and ask him to deliver a message to Mirabeau. I plan to visit him in the morning."

Fanny nodded: "Okay, I will."

An Ning breathed a sigh of relief, sat down at the table and began to enjoy today's hearty breakfast.

(End of this chapter)