From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"You? Do you accept it?"

Not only the nobles who were watching, but even Count Falcone couldn't help but widen his eyes, thinking that he heard something wrong.

Lawrence nodded solemnly, stared at Count Falcone and said:

"Your Excellency, in order to reveal your true identity and to drive people like you away from Miss Elvy, I accept your duel. But..."

Lawrence showed his injuries to everyone, and then said:

"I'm obviously not physically able to handle a longsword now, so I proposed that we have a pistol duel."

For the nobles, they are actually more inclined to engage in real sword duels rather than pistol duels, because in their view, pistol duels have no skill, and a simple-trained civilian also has a considerable chance of killing in a pistol duel. A well-trained nobleman.

Such situations are rare in real sword duels. It is almost impossible for people who have not received swordsmanship training to defeat a well-trained swordsman, and in this era, only those who have the money and leisure to practice duel swordsmanship are basically the only ones. Noble gentlemen, mastering swordsmanship and engaging in real sword duels are also ways for nobles to show their status.

But Count Falcone obviously couldn't control that much. He was stunned for a moment, looked at Lawrence's arm with a splint, and regardless of other people's opinions, he nodded with joy and said:

"Okay, okay, okay, if you have the guts, let's have a pistol duel. I'll go find the notary and the deputy, and we'll fight to the death in this castle!"

Having said that, Count Falcone was afraid that Lawrence would go back on his word, so he ran out of the banquet hall with a proud look on his face. In his opinion, with Lawrence's disabled arm, even a pistol duel was still seeking death.

In the banquet hall, the nobles were even more in awe of Lawrence. They did not expect that he would choose to accept the duel with an injured body in order to defend the truth and protect Miss Elvy from harassment.

As for Count Falcone, people already despised him to the extreme. Not only did he most likely use deceptive means to win the favor of Miss Elvy, but he also accepted the duel with Lawrence, a wounded man, without any shame. This is all Completely ungraceful performance.

Lawrence saluted the nobles around him, then winked at the worried Miss Elvy and the Crown Prince and his wife, indicating that everything was under control, and then led Grosso out of the banquet hall to get his equipment. .

"Tsk tsk, boy, how did you tell that the antlers were fake? I didn't even see anything wrong with it."

After leaving the banquet hall, Grosso, as an experienced hunter, quickly asked Lawrence in a low voice.

Lawrence rolled his eyes, shrugged and said:

"I've never seen a stag in my life, how could I tell if the antlers were real or fake?"

"Damn it, I'll just say it." Grosso said angrily:

"I'm still thinking that I didn't see the problem with the antlers. How did you see it? You must have said this deliberately to provoke the count. You kid is really lying."

Lawrence smiled and responded indifferently:

"How can this be called a lie? This is called a political statement, but the political statement has nothing to do with the facts. And if you were an ordinary person present, who would you believe? It was the heroic Governor of Corsica who saved the crown prince. ? Or the notorious playboy in Paris. This assertion is almost free."

"Yes, yes, I can't say enough about you, kid."

Grosso suppressed his playful expression and asked seriously:

"But now that you have accepted a pistol duel with him, are you sure? A pistol duel is more dangerous than a real sword duel to a certain extent. After all, bullets don't have eyesight."

Lawrence nodded, took Grosso directly back to his room, found his own gun and handed it to Grosso.

There is nothing unusual about this pistol. It is a very ordinary engraved flintlock pistol, but the barrel is longer than that of an ordinary pistol, and it is heavier in the hand.

Grosso took the pistol and looked at it carefully for a while, then said with enlightenment:

"I see, this is the same as those precision shooters' muskets. It was made by Major Trifari."

After that, Grosso picked up a few special bullets next to him and looked at them. Sure enough, they were Mini bullets used with rifled muskets.

"Hey, no wonder your kid specifically proposed a pistol duel."

Grosso laughed twice, and finally let go of his worries about Lawrence. He patted Lawrence on the back and said:

"It seems that the count is going to suffer a lot."

When Lawrence returned to the banquet hall, Count Falcone had not yet returned, and the focus of the discussion in the banquet hall was still the upcoming pistol duel between the Governor of Corsica and Count Falcone.

Although people recognized Lawrence's courage and will, they still had little confidence in him winning the duel. Therefore, as soon as Lawrence stepped into the door of the banquet hall, many nobles came forward to persuade Lawrence to give up this duel. duel.

"Dear Lawrence, you are so young and there is no need to put your life on the same scale as that villain."

The nobles persuaded them earnestly:

"Besides, you are injured. This duel is against the rules. You have every right to give up this duel unconditionally."

Lawrence bowed to the persuading nobles and said righteously:

"Thank you for your concern, but this duel is for both Miss Elvy and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Louis. I can't just watch my two friends continue to be insulted by Count Falcone. Therefore, even if there are many dangers, No matter what, I am willing to stand up."

There was silence in the banquet hall for a short while, but what followed was a burst of warm applause and cheers. People looked at Lawrence in admiration, and did not hesitate to applaud and praise him.

Many young nobles even said that they saw all the fine traditions of the French nobles in this Corsican.

The ladies next to Miss Elvy looked at her with envy, and said with some jealousy:

"Oh my God, Elvie, did you hear it? He said this was a duel for you. He was like a loyal knight. I bet you can't find another man like this in Paris."

Facing the envy of her companions, Miss Elvy just forced a smile and nodded. Compared with these, she was more concerned about whether Lawrence could survive the duel.

"Oh! Lawrence, you are so loyal and brave to do this for me."

Crown Prince Louis looked at Lawrence with tears in his eyes. Although he knew that Lawrence would take revenge on Count Falcone for him, he really didn't expect that Lawrence would have to engage in a life-or-death duel for this.

Crown Princess Mary on the side glanced at her husband with some dissatisfaction, pouted and said:

"Huh, don't even try to persuade Mr. Bonaparte. I don't want such a good person like him to die here."

After listening to the translation, Prince Louis scratched his head and realized that he was a little unjust, but he didn't know what to do.

Crown Princess Mary sighed helplessly and directly ordered:

"Hurry up and send someone to call the court physician to get them ready, and if Mr. Bonaparte is injured, you will directly interrupt the duel. This duel is illegal anyway."

"Ah, it is indeed a good idea." Crown Prince Louis nodded repeatedly, almost obeying his wife's words, so he quickly sent someone to make arrangements according to what the Crown Princess said.

At this time, another man was seen hurriedly walking towards the door of the banquet hall, but it was not Count Falcone, but Duke Choiseul, who came immediately after hearing the news of the duel.

Duke Choiseul was not in the banquet hall just now, so he still learned the news from his subordinates. As soon as he knew that Lawrence was going to have a duel with Count Falcone, Duke Choiseul rushed over without stopping.

Duke Choiseul frowned and looked around as he entered, and soon found Lawrence in the crowd. He stepped forward and patted Lawrence on the shoulder, took him to the corner, and asked in a low voice with great displeasure:

"Governor Bonaparte, are you serious? My impression is that you are not such an impulsive person."

For Duke Choiseul, no matter in terms of personal emotions or interests, he did not want anything to happen to Lawrence at this time.

"I'm really not an impulsive person." Lawrence said with a smile.

"Huh?" The Duke of Choiseul looked confused, looked at Lawrence for a few seconds, and asked aloud:

"Are you sure of winning?"

"I dare not say that we will win, but we are 90% certain." Lawrence lowered his head and said.

Duke Choiseul narrowed his eyes and looked at Lawrence, and the displeasure on his face disappeared. Although he didn’t know where Lawrence’s confidence came from, based on Duke Choiseul’s understanding of Lawrence, this young man would not Taking uncertain risks.

Moreover, if Lawrence is really sure to win the duel, then Duke Choiseul is also happy to see this result. After all, Count Falcone is not only the grandson of Duke Richelieu, but he has also been harassing his own daughter recently. Duke Vasseur also wanted to teach this damn bastard a lesson, and the best result would be to kill him with a gun.

"In this case, I choose to believe you, Governor Bonaparte."

Duke Choiseul nodded and said:

"But to be on the safe side, I will still send someone to watch you. If anything happens, I will immediately interrupt the duel. Do you have any objection?"

Lawrence smiled and nodded in acceptance. It seemed that he still had a very important position in Duke Choiseul.

While Lawrence was talking to Duke Choiseul, Count Falcone also returned to the banquet hall with his deputy and notary, looked at Lawrence with a gloomy face and said:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, I am ready. I hope you will not be frightened by the battle."

Lawrence glanced at Count Falcone with feigned contempt and said loudly:

"I'm standing here, how can I have stage fright? But it took you so long to show up. Isn't it because you're not mentally prepared?"

"Hmph, let's see how clever you still are when you're lying in a pool of blood." Count Falcone twisted his nose and said viciously:

"Then don't waste time. Check the weapons quickly. I can't wait to shoot you, a lying country bumpkin, with my own hands."

Before a pistol duel, it is also necessary to check each other's pistols.

This process also originated from the early days of pistol dueling. At that time, duelists took advantage of loopholes in the rules to achieve victory and used many weapons specially designed for dueling that could not be called pistols at all.

For example, a pistol with six barrels, a hand cannon with a caliber as large as a baby's fist, and even a shield gun with a shield fixed on the gun body.

In order to prevent pistol duels from becoming an arms race, later duelists designed a process for inspecting weapons to completely exclude these strange weapons from duels.

But Lawrence still safely handed over his pistol to the opponent's deputy for inspection. Although his pistol was engraved with rifling, there was still no difference in appearance from an ordinary pistol, and the inspection of the weapon basically stopped at the target. Just a visual inspection.

Sure enough, Count Falcone's deputy only looked at Lawrence's pistol for a while after taking it, and then quickly returned the pistol to Lawrence. After all, in everyone's eyes, this duel was not good for Lawrence. If he was still there, It would be unjustifiable to make things difficult for Lawrence with weapons.

Grosso also took Count Falcone's luxurious pistol decorated with gold and silver and looked at it for a while, saying that there was no problem.

"Hmph, then let's go to the castle courtyard. Don't let your legs get so weak that you can't walk."

After checking each other's pistols, Count Falcone gritted his teeth and looked at Lawrence and said.

"Wait a minute."

After Lawrence put the pistol back into his waist, he did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he looked at the notary brought by Count Falcone and said:

"I should have the right to discuss the rules of the duel, right?"

"Well, of course, as long as you both agree." The notary nodded hesitantly.

"Very good, then I propose to set the duel distance from the normal thirty steps to sixty steps." Lawrence looked at Count Falcone and said.

"Sixty steps?"

Count Falcone sneered, thinking that Lawrence deliberately increased the duel distance to delay time. After all, at a distance of 60 steps, it would take seven or eight rounds of firing to hit the target with a pistol.

But in Count Falcone's view, his shooting frequency must be faster than that of the injured Lawrence. Even if the distance was increased, he still had the advantage, so he directly responded:

"Okay, sixty steps, sixty steps, let me see what tricks you can do."

After a while, Lawrence and Count Falcone came to the courtyard of the castle.

Nobles and ladies crowded the platform on the second floor, watching the duel from above. Most people also silently prayed for the heroic Lord Bonaparte, hoping that he could defeat the despicable Falco. Earl within.

Both of them took off their coats and stood back to back wearing only their shirts. This was also to prove that neither of them was wearing protective gear.

The bandages on Lawrence's body were still vaguely visible under his thin shirt. Seeing this, the noble ladies who were watching him shook their heads and sighed, admiring his courage and character even more.

In addition to the two dueling men and the notary in the courtyard, people from Prince Louis and the Duke of Choiseul were also standing below, ready to rush up and interrupt the duel at any time.

Crown Prince Louis even stood at the gate of the courtyard in person, watching Lawrence uneasily.

Soon, the notary began to give orders skillfully, directing the two people back to back to walk forward, accurately opening a distance of sixty steps.

The summer evening breeze stopped at the right time, and there was silence in the castle courtyard. The onlookers looked down with bated breath, swallowing nervously.

"Both sides started loading." The notary announced nervously.

As Laurence and Count Falcone drew and reloaded their pistols, the notary finally raised his voice and shouted:

"The duel begins!"

As soon as the words fell, the two turned around almost at the same time, raising their pistols and pointing them at each other.

The distance of sixty steps is almost fifty yards, which is more than forty meters. At this distance, it is only enough to distinguish the opponent's head, body and legs.

Coupled with the poor shooting accuracy of the pistol, experienced duelists will not pursue defeating the enemy with one shot, but will use skillful loading to shoot the most times in the shortest time.

Count Falcone was obviously experienced. He turned around and pointed the barrel of the gun at Lawrence before pulling the trigger without hesitation.

A burst of white smoke spurted out from the muzzle of his gun, and the bullets came out in response, but they only hit the dirt a dozen yards in front of Lawrence. The distance of sixty steps was indeed a bit far for the accuracy of the pistol.

But Count Falcone was not discouraged when he saw this. He skillfully took out the ammunition from the paper bag and started another round of loading. In his understanding, such loading and shooting would take more than ten rounds to determine the winner.

However, Count Falcone, who was reloading, also noticed something was wrong. He had only heard the sound of his own gun just now, and Lawrence on the opposite side seemed to have not fired the first shot.

Through the slowly dissipating gunpowder smoke, Count Falcone glanced at Lawrence, only to see that he was still standing there, aiming his pistol at himself with both hands flat, but he had not yet pulled the trigger.

Seeing this scene, even Count Falcone, who was in the middle of the duel, suddenly laughed from ear to ear and cursed in his heart:

"It turned out to be an inexperienced guy with mud-legged skills. He made me laugh so hard. He was still taking aim. Did he think it was archery?"

At the same time, the nobles watching on the second floor also noticed something strange about Lawrence and discussed in panic:

"What's going on?! Why doesn't Monsignor Bonaparte shoot?"

"Isn't the pistol malfunctioning?"

"No, he didn't report it to the notary. He is indeed still aiming."

"Oh my god, even aiming at this distance is useless."

"Hey! Governor Bonaparte! Can you hear me! Shoot quickly!"

Even Duke Choiseul frowned and looked at Lawrence. He could tell from Lawrence's performance that this was a complete rookie who had never experienced a pistol duel. Duke Choiseul regretted allowing Lawrence to engage in this. duel.

However, Lawrence, who was being watched by everyone, just stood there calmly, blocking out all the shouts from the outside world.

For a humanoid target at a distance of more than forty meters, with the gun in hand, as long as the shooting skills are in place, the hit rate is at least 70%.

Lawrence was still waiting silently, waiting for the white eyes in front of Count Falcone to slowly dissipate. Only then could he aim at Count Falcone's head with complete accuracy.

"What a fool looking for death."

Count Falcone had completed the second reload, pointed his pistol at Lawrence, and said to himself disdainfully.

The gray-white smoke slowly faded away as if it was dissolving in the air. Before Count Falcone's second gunshot, Count Falcone's head was briefly revealed.

"It's now."

Lawrence's face froze, and his wrist suddenly exerted force to hold the gun more steadily, and he pulled the trigger almost at the same moment.

Driven by the gas in the gun chamber, the Mini bullet rotates at high speed within the constraints of the rifling and is ejected from the muzzle, squeezing out the air in the air to form a short but transparent bullet mark visible to the naked eye.

When Count Falcone heard Lawrence finally fire, he subconsciously opened his mouth to taunt this slow idiot. However, when he opened his mouth, what came out of it was not mocking words, but a chilling scream. Voice:

"Ahhhhhhhh!!"

The nobles who were watching looked at Count Falcone blankly. With the dim light, they could barely see that Count Falcone's crotch was immediately stained red with blood.

"Did you miss the target?"

Lawrence frowned and looked at the screaming Count Falcone. Although his shot hit, it was still far from the expected headshot.

And just when Lawrence was about to load the second shot, Count Falcone couldn't support himself and fell backwards. Even when he fell to the ground, he was still screaming loudly, and the facial features on his face were almost twisted into a ball. .

Count Falcone's deputy, like the nobles who were watching, had no idea that Lawrence could knock down Count Falcone with one shot. However, as his deputy, he rushed to the duel field and shouted:

"Admit defeat, admit defeat, we admit defeat! Damn it, where is the doctor? Call the doctor! He is the grandson of the Duke of Richelieu!"

Seeing this, the notary quickly stepped forward to stop Lawrence from filling in, and announced loudly:

"That being the case, I declare that Monsignor Laurence Bonaparte has won this duel!"

Although the nobles who were watching on the platform were in disbelief, when they heard the verdict of victory coming from the notary's mouth, they cheered in unison, and their thunderous applause lasted for a long time.

Prince Louis also hurried to Lawrence, patted him on the shoulder and said excitedly:

"I, I really don't know how you did it, but no matter, hearing his screams made me feel a lot better. Hey, let's go see how this bastard is doing."

Prince Louis said excitedly, while pulling Lawrence forward to check Count Falcone's injuries with the palace doctors.

Count Falcone was seen lying on the ground, his body twisted in pain, the pistol had been thrown aside long ago, and the roots of his pants were stained with blood, but it seemed that the amount of bleeding was not large.

Lawrence's mouth twitched, and he probably guessed where the bullet hit would cause so much pain to the Earl, so he patted the doctor who was examining Count Falcone's injury and asked:

"How is his injury?"

"Uh-huh, what should I say?"

The doctor looked strangely and said:

"Your bullet penetrated his unborn offspring. There shouldn't be any danger to his life after we stop the bleeding, that is, in the future."

Lawrence and Prince Louis looked at each other in tacit understanding, and both of them felt a chill in their lower bodies and a touch of sadness.

"What a pity. My dear Count Falcone still has a lot of romance to enjoy. You must cure him."

Lawrence took advantage of Count Falcone not fainting and said to the doctor with regret.

"Oh, what a pity." Crown Prince Louis also rarely felt proud, shaking his head at Count Falcone and saying:

“He may never again be able to do his beloved nighttime runs.”

"You! You guys! Ahhh!"

Count Falcone, who was squirming on the ground, tried his best to raise his finger and pointed at Lawrence and Crown Prince Louis. As soon as he uttered two words, he fainted. He didn't know whether he was fainted from anger or pain.

"It seems we have an extra eunuch count." Lawrence looked at Count Falcone who had passed out and shrugged.

Crown Prince Louis nodded in agreement with Lawrence's words almost with an expression of reverence. Without this loyal and brave Governor of Corsica, he would not have dared to imagine that he would be proud of Count Falcone before inheriting the throne.

"I really don't know how to repay you, Lawrence." Crown Prince Louis said from the bottom of his heart.

"Oh, Your Highness, you said so."

Lawrence hugged Prince Louis' shoulders very intimately, shook his head nonchalantly and said:

"We are friends, aren't we? Do you do favors for your friends just to get paid? I, Laurence Bonaparte, am not that kind of person."

After hearing this, Crown Prince Louis even more excitedly held Lawrence's hand and said:

"You are so right. We are friends. It is a great blessing for me to have a friend like you."

"It's even more of a blessing for me, Your Highness." Lawrence lowered his head and said with a meaningful smile.

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