French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 11 Political Showboating: Scaring Yourself

"Your Highness, be careful!"

Pierre Laroche deliberately slowed his movements by half a beat, exclaiming loudly as he made a gesture to step forward and block Eugène.

The guard captain who was acting alongside Eugène was doing his best, but his acting was a bit exaggerated. In front of some politicians, this kind of acting would be seen through in a minute.

However, in such a chaotic setting, Pierre's acting was more than adequate.

Pierre was a beat slow, just to let Eugène act. He caught a glimpse of a figure flashing in the shadows at the street corner out of the corner of his eye. After receiving the signal and confirming the timing, he...

The instant the gun fired, Eugène did not hesitate for a moment. He lunged forward and tackled a woman who was standing at the front of the line and had just received a loaf of bread to the ground, taking her and the child she was holding with him with him.

bang~

The second shot rang out precisely on time, and this time, the bullet "accurately" hit the blood pack on Eugene's back.

Pierre, who was a step too late to throw himself on Eugène to shield him from the bullet, was "horrified" to see his prince's back covered in blood as he got up.

It turned out that Eugène had prepared a blood pack on his back, which Pierre deliberately punctured when he pounced on him.

Therefore, warm "blood" slowly seeped out from Eugène Napoleon's tunic, quickly staining the fabric on his back and even dripping onto the muddy ground, a truly shocking scene.

Just as the gunman hiding in the attic was about to fire his third shot, pretending to complete the assassination and leave, ending his "assassination" mission, he made his escape.

Having employed this double tactic, Eugène Napoleon, while feigning excruciating pain, looked at Pierre, who gave him an affirmative nod.

Before the "assassin" could fire a third shot, a gunshot rang out from the other side of the roof. This shot accurately hit the gunman in the attic, and the assassin, with a bloody hole in his forehead, died on the spot.

At this moment, the scene was in chaos. People in line screamed and scattered in all directions. In their panic, some people knocked over the bread tables next to them, scattering a large pile of bread all over the ground.

Some women who were too weak to escape could only squat on the ground, trembling, holding their children. Others pushed and shoved each other to avoid each other, and insults rose up everywhere. The scene was once out of control.

It wasn't until the guards around them fired several shots into the air that the crowd was forced into silence. Only then did they realize that the gunman seemed to have stopped firing after the initial three shots.

Realizing that the other side might escape or be killed, the French people began to pay attention to their surroundings.

When some people instinctively looked in the direction of the French Crown Prince Eugène, they saw him lying on top of a mother and child, with blood seeping from his back. Many people held their breath.

The crowd wasn't stupid. Seeing this scene, everyone had a picture in their minds. When they realized that the prince might have been injured while saving a mother and child, the fear in their eyes gradually gave way to worry.

Upon seeing this scene, the Imperial Guard soldiers and police who came from the perimeter immediately reacted. Some of them surrounded Eugène, forming a human wall, while others rushed towards the building from which the gunshots had been fired, searching for the gunman's whereabouts.

A deathly silence fell as everyone stared at the human wall. Finally, someone couldn't bear the pressure any longer and desperately wanted to know how the beloved Crown Prince was doing.

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"Your Highness! How are you?"

Some deeply moved people disregarded the danger and tried to break through the human wall to check on Eugene's injuries, but were easily stopped by the even stronger guards, who were all over 1.8 meters tall.

There was no deep-seated hatred between the two sides, so the crowd was unlikely to attack the human wall.

Lying on the ground, Eugene felt waves of "severe pain" in his back. He gritted his teeth, "forced" himself to lift his head, and shouted at the guards and police.

"Don't worry about me, prioritize protecting the people. Don't let anyone get hurt!"

His voice trembled slightly, and when it reached the surrounding crowd, they heard that the injured prince was still thinking of them, and the crowd fell completely silent.

The initially panicked crowd, upon seeing Eugene lying in the mud, his back stained red, through the gaps in the human wall, began to have tears well up in their eyes.

Those most deeply moved were the elderly who had become sentimental. For example, the white-haired old man who had just received the bread stood outside the human wall, leaning on his cane, calling out in a choked voice.

"Your Highness, please get up and get treatment! You can't be hurt!"

The woman holding her child, who had been "rescued" by Eugene, burst into tears as she repeatedly thanked him while holding her child.

"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you for saving me and my child..."

After a few people took the lead, everyone felt that a wise 14-year-old crown prince was about to die in front of them at any moment, and that he would give his life to save a commoner, or even a lowly person, whose status they considered completely unequal, or even a person with an insulting name.

The emotional people of Paris could not accept such a thing, and once someone took the lead, the crowd immediately began to cry and shout.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, how are you?"

"Please save His Highness! God, are you watching? Please save our Highness!"

This unexpected situation left the young workers who had just privately questioned Eugene's performance completely stunned.

They had never seen anything like this before. Recalling what they had just said, they wanted to slap themselves. They felt they deserved to die.

At this moment, there was no longer any sense of vigilance; instead, there was only shock and a deep sense of guilt.

"We were wrong just now. His Highness wasn't putting on a show at all; he genuinely cares about us."

"Yes, when the gun went off, His Highness's first reaction was to tackle the woman, he didn't care about himself at all. If it were just a show, there would be no need to risk his life, especially since he is the Crown Prince."

"We were so afraid of being deceived by the royal family before that we made malicious assumptions about His Highness. Now it seems that His Highness really wants to help us and wants us to live a good life."

........

The more suspicion there is, the stronger the sense of guilt will be when things turn out differently. These few people probably admire Eugène Napoleon even more than the people around them.

At this moment, the guards who had rushed into the corner tower to scout out the situation shouted loudly.

"The gunman has been killed. The gunman has been killed."

Everyone was worried. Hearing this, the people's hearts were slightly relieved, but they still stared at Eugene, who was seriously injured and receiving bandages, with no reduction in their worry.

Euren's face was very pale, and the bloodstains on his back had been drained as the blood pack was released, leaving a large red patch, indicating that his injuries were quite serious.

But Eugène Napoleon still "stood on," giving a weak but gentle smile to the crowd that had gathered around him.

"Don't worry, everyone, I'm fine. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

The sound wasn't loud, but in this quiet environment, it could still be clearly heard by everyone. Hearing that His Highness was still concerned about them, those who were being chased and "killed" by Eugène Napoleon couldn't help but burst into sobs.

With no other means of expression, people could only clap their hands, the applause growing louder and louder, while cheers gradually spread.

"Long live Your Highness!"

"Long live Napoleon IV!"

........

All the dissatisfaction and doubts about the royal family at this moment turned into heartache and respect for Eugène Napoleon. The crowd gathered outside the human wall to watch Eugène and urged the prince to take good care of his injuries.

Even after Eugène Napoleon was helped into the carriage, the doors were closed, and the carriage began to move, shouts could still be heard from outside.

"Your Highness, please take good care of your injuries!"

"We're waiting for you to come back!"

"Long live Your Highness!"

........

By slightly lifting the carriage curtain and looking at the crowds standing on the muddy street waving at the carriage, Eugène Napoleon knew that everything was in order.

Inside the carriage, Eugene leaned back in his seat, showing no signs of his serious injuries or weakness. He raised his hand to touch his wet back, his fingertips stained with some foul-smelling blood, and a faint smile curved his lips.

To avoid being exposed, Eugène Napoleon used a blood pack, a real blood pack.

Bloodletting was still very common in those days, so when Eugène Napoleon sent Pierre to the hospital for a casual stroll, he collected a large bucket of freshly drawn blood, more than he could use.

"Pierre, have you made the arrangements for the gunman's family as we discussed?"

Upon hearing Eugène Napoleon's question, Pierre, the captain of the guards sitting opposite Eugène, responded with a solemn expression.

"Your Highness, rest assured, everything is arranged according to plan. The gunman's wife and two children were secretly escorted by special personnel two days ago and departed yesterday on a steamship bound for America."

I gave them enough dollars, a house in Washington, and arranged for reliable people to 'take care' of them 'secretly' to ensure they could live comfortably in Washington and not return to France.

Upon hearing that he had gone to Washington and was being monitored to ensure that the last loopholes were eliminated, Eugène Napoleon nodded.

The only remaining clues in this case are him and Pierre, but who will speak out about them, and who dares to interrogate them?

"Was this the former Republican I requested?"

"Yes, he has been out of the Republican Party for three years. More than his ideals, he longs for a better life for his family. I gave him a condition he couldn't refuse, and he didn't refuse."

"That's good. Let's pin this on the Republicans. Remember to coordinate with Pietri when you get back."

Take this opportunity to strike a blow against the Republicans and Democrats. Eugène was certain, and even they themselves weren't sure, whether they had actually attempted to assassinate the Crown Prince.

Because there are many extremists within these two parties, and many of them don't follow the party's orders at all. This person's identity can be easily constructed; by portraying him as an extremist who wants to practice his own ideology, whether good or bad, the kind of person who believes the monarch should die.

Even within the Republican Party itself, people are probably questioning their own beliefs, wondering if this person was ever really that extreme, and if they would actually do such a thing.