Chapter 1704 - 1610: Traditional Education Methods

Chapter 1704: Chapter 1610: Traditional Education Methods

The cold autumn wind constantly whipped against Charles’ cheeks, forcing him to shrink his neck into his collar in a fluster, his eyes warily scanning the surroundings.

Just now, Captain Normand had left him here and led his team away, taking the carriage with them.

This seemed to be the west side of the hunting ground, and although the terrain was flat, there were no man-made structures in sight.

In the distance, wild boars occasionally roared from the dense forest; it was the season when they voraciously fed and fiercely competed for mates.

Charles knew that at this time, boars were even more ferocious than bears.

The occasional wolf howls were comparatively less terrifying.

Instinctively, Charles felt urged to leave this place, but his legs didn’t budge even an inch—running randomly might bump into wild boars. More importantly, Captain Normand said the Regent wanted him to wait here.

He was now most afraid of seeing his brother, yet also very eager to see him.

He stomped hard on his trembling feet from the cold and nervously whispered to himself, "My brother will forgive me, yes, he’s loved me deeply since childhood..."

It wasn’t clear how much time had passed—Charles felt it might have been over ten hours—when a white Arab horse came galloping, kicking up dust.

Charles hurriedly fixed his collar, tried to stand straighter, and then saw his brother jump off the horse, dressed in a Hussar military uniform.

Unexpectedly, the speech he had prepared for so long vanished instantly from his mind, and he stammered, "Bro...Brother..."

"It’s finally good to see you again, my dear brother, respected acting Governor of Ravenna." Joseph’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it made Charles’ ears buzz, "Your time in Italy was truly eventful during this period.

"You said earlier that you wanted to gain governance experience in Ravenna, which I agreed was excellent.

"Yet the time you spent in different places across Italy exceeded that in Ravenna.

"Hmm, particularly you liked going to Rome.

"The more chaos hit that place, the more fascinated you seemed to be with it, even deceiving the people at the Security Bureau, risking the danger under flying cannonballs, just to get involved in the damn uprising!"

Charles’ mind was blank, subconsciously retreating two steps, but quickly lifted his head to look at his brother, "No, it wasn’t an uprising, it was a revolution..."

"Revolution for what?" Joseph interrupted sharply, "Do you even know what a revolution is? Or do your Roman friends know?

"Do they have revolutionary programs? Do they have plans for revolutionary mobilization? Is there a governmental plan succeeding their revolution?

"They don’t!

"They can’t even arrange a gathering place for the uprising.

"They are just leading Roman citizens to their doom!"

Charles wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, retorting, "You don’t know the situation in Rome at all.

"The Holy See drains the people of their last drop of blood; countless are bullied daily by priests and nobles, yet they have to kneel before them, praising their cruelty!

"Do you know a 15-year-old youth just because he mocked a certain Archbishop, was dragged behind a horse until his legs wore off? And the perpetrator didn’t face any trial!

"What Josiah and Mr. Sorendino are doing is declaring war on all this injustice, aiming to save Rome’s people.

"I simply felt what they were doing was right and wanted to lend a hand..."

"What you speak of is still a riot." Joseph waved to stop him from continuing, "I don’t want to discuss what revolution is with you; I just want to tell you, what you’ve done could plunge 40 million French people into the abyss, possibly more miserable than your unfortunate Romans!"

Charles shook his head pale, "This, how is it possible?"

Joseph glared at his still deluded brother, forcibly bending the whip in his hand, stepping toward him, "Do you realize how stupid your actions are? Do you know every enemy of France eagerly awaited your mistakes?

"Over so many years, I’ve desperately avoided such a situation, yet you, for those supposed Roman ideals, nearly made France a country supporting riots and overthrowing the Holy See!"

Charles retreated again, "No, I didn’t..."

Joseph sneered coldly, "Are you perhaps trying to say, there’s your cherished love in all this? The Security Bureau’s report mentioned, you requested them to protect that girl when leaving Rome."

"I, perhaps fell for her," Charles seriously stated, "But it wasn’t the main reason; their revolutionary enthusiasm moved me..."

"No matter for what, you forgot you are first a member of the French Royal Family."

Joseph stood in front of his brother, his tone slightly calmer, "Do you know why I wanted you to come here the moment you returned?"

"No, I don’t know."

"Because only wild boars and deer surround this area; you won’t worry about them hearing anything."

Charles looked up puzzled, "Hear...what?"

Joseph suddenly raised the whip, fiercely striking Charles’ left hip, producing a muffled sound of tearing fabric and skin.

"Ah—" the pain made Charles shout half a sound, immediately covering his mouth forcefully, seemingly not wanting the boars and deer to hear his cry.

Joseph said coldly, "This one is for the French people nearly dragged down by you."

He truly couldn’t think of how to discipline his brother—parents couldn’t be counted on as their doting on Charles was nearly limitless—last week in the Palace of Versailles hallway, hearing a certain noble discipline his son with a brass cane, recalled this most ancient education method.

"No, I beg you, I swear I’ll never again..." Charles suppressed tears, pleading.

Yet Joseph remained unmoved, the whip swung backhanded, pausing briefly but still fell heavily, "Snap—"

"This one is for the father and mother who constantly worried because of you. If you hadn’t returned, Mother was prepared to declare war on the Pope State."

Charles couldn’t hold back anymore, tears painfully streamed down his neck as he protected the wound on his thigh, curling up desperately.

Joseph followed forward a step, "Hopefully you’ll remember this lesson.

"Next one is for the Foreign Ministry officials who trashed nights for a half month dealing with your mess."

"Snap—"

"Ah—" The sharp pain made Charles stagger and sit on the ground, but under his brother’s stern gaze, he struggled to rise.

"This one is for the soldiers who risked storming Rome for you."

"Snap—"

"Ah—Please, stop, stop..."

Joseph took a deep breath, raised the whip again, "This one is for me, anxious and worried for half a month because of you. Even when first fighting against the Anti-French Alliance, I hadn’t been this stressed."

He looked at his brother, now frightened with eyes shut, trembling nonstop, hand hovered in mid-air for more than ten seconds but finally sighed, throwing the whip into the weeds.