"De Maupe..." Mrs. Du Barry raised her head stiffly and looked at Justice Maupe on the presiding court. Her eyes that were originally out of focus gradually became clearer at this time, and the pupils finally Regained some energy.
Her body was shaking slightly, but it was not because of the cold, but because of the anger and fear that filled her brain.
Madame Du Barry could not understand at all, she was the most powerful woman in France, how could they dare to kidnap her to the Palace of Justice to participate in an inexplicable trial.
However, looking at the thousands of pairs of eyes around her that stared intently at her, a sense of fear that penetrated her bones occupied Madame Du Barry's brain before the humiliation of being kidnapped.
She took a deep breath, tried her best to restrain the trembling of her legs, and then looked at Justice Maupe, trying to still maintain her identity and majesty as the Countess of Du Barry, and scolded in a sharp voice: "De Maupe, What on earth do you want to do! You and that damn Laurence Bonaparte, what on earth do you want to play! I tell you, after I returned to the Tuileries Palace today, this matter..."
"Quiet!" Seeing Mrs. Du Barry's drooling look, Justice Maupe directly picked up the judge's gavel and slammed it on the main hearing table, instantly interrupting Mrs. Du Barry's words: "The person on trial Jeanne Béqué shall not make any noise in the court.”
"You! Mopp!" Mrs. Du Barry's pupils trembled, and she raised her voice to say something, but the next second, the citizens' comments immediately drowned out all her words: "What? That woman is Du Barry Mrs. Barley?! I thought she ran away from the asylum."
"It can't be wrong. Justice Mopu just called her madam. They must know each other."
"This damn woman isn't hiding in the palace."
"Hmph, it's really good luck to be able to witness the trial of this snake-hearted woman."
"This vicious bitch, damn, I'm going to get mad when I see her face!"
"Bitch! Go to hell!"
"Go to hell!"...At this moment, the people in the courtyard were finally convinced that the unkempt female madman on the stage was the legendary Countess Du Barry.
As Madame Du Barry's identity was confirmed, the mood of the citizens instantly changed from shock to anger.
Even the abuse and curses could not alleviate the anger in the hearts of the citizens. Many people directly picked up the stones on the ground and threw them at Madame Du Barry.
From the perspective of the citizens, Madame Du Barry was the source of all the misfortune of this winter, and the newspapers they read every day almost emphasized this point.
In fact, many people present vented their dissatisfaction with the country and society on Madame Du Barry.
Whether it is inflation or rising prices, or corruption and economic malaise, it seems that the culprit of all these bad things is the Countess Du Barry in front of them.
On the trial stand, listening to the rude and straightforward insults in her ears and looking at the rain of stones falling in front of her eyes, Madame Du Barry's mind went blank, as if she had not yet accepted this nightmare reality.
She is the noble countess, the noble mistress of the king. But now, she stood in the middle of thousands of people with an unprecedented ugly look, being criticized by thousands of people, and forced to swallow the most vicious insults.
Such a huge gap instantly put Madame Du Barry into a trance, and she couldn't say a word for a long time even if she opened her mouth.
In addition to this unbearable humiliation, looking at the thousands of extremely angry people, Madame Du Barry suddenly had a frightening question in her mind - whether she could return to Duy alive today. Lery Palace.
Justice Maupp did not take the initiative to stop the discussion of the people at the scene. He quietly waited for the abuse in the courtyard to gradually subside, and then said in a deep voice: "Jeanne Bequ, since you have come to the court, please Cooperate with all investigations by this court; if you are innocent, this court will not impose any injustice on you, but if you are guilty, this court will not miss any trace. Do you understand?" Madame Du Barry said with the corner of her eye. With the corner of her eye, she glanced around at the people who were watching eagerly, and managed to squeeze out a sentence through her teeth: "I understand." At this point, Madame Du Barry's remaining rationality also told her that the only way to cooperate with Justice Maupe was to Only by continuing this pretentious trial can we hope to escape. Otherwise, the people present alone will never let him leave the Palace of Justice in a swagger.
"Very good, Jeanne Bequ, we will start your investigation and interrogation now." Justice Mopp nodded with satisfaction, spread out a blank file on the main hearing table, and took out a goose feather dipped in ink. Pen, ready to start recording this unprecedented public trial: "First of all, it is about your alleged crime of embezzling citizens' property. Listen carefully, the person on trial, have you misappropriated property that should belong to the common ownership of citizens?" And don't wait. After Justice Maupp finished speaking, Madame Du Barry shook her head twice and said sharply: "Appropriation? Are you kidding? When have I ever done that kind of thing? What crime can be slapped on me!" "As soon as she finished speaking, there was an overwhelming wave of insults from the crowd below: "Shameless woman! You are still lying at this time!"
"Go to hell! You dare to quibble!" Justice Mopp's face also darkened. He put down the quill in his hand and confirmed in a low tone: "Jeanne Bequ, you should understand that if you are If you tell any lie in court, this court will definitely punish you to the full extent." Madame Du Barry snorted coldly, not taking Justice Maupe's threat seriously at all. After all, what she was afraid of was the people at the scene. A thousand emotional mobs rather than any High Court judgment.
She knew in her heart that no matter what crime she was ultimately sentenced by this hypocritical court, as long as she could return to the Tuileries Palace and to Louis XV, no matter how thick the verdict was, it would be nothing more than a pile of waste paper.
Justice Maupp was not irritated by Madame Du Barry's contempt. He said with dignity and without changing his expression: "Well, the person on trial, Jeanne Bequ, since you insist on your innocence, this court needs you to answer the following questions." Make an explanation for these things." After saying that, under Madame Du Barry's puzzled gaze, Justice Maupp took out a stack of accounts from his robe, handed it to an assistant judge next to him, and motioned for him to read it out. .
The assistant judge took the nearly half-foot-thick account, walked to the center of the courtroom, and read loudly in front of everyone: "On April 2, 1769, two hundred and fifty thousand livres were transferred for the Countess Du Barry to order a gift. Dress, note: The cost of gemstones on the dress is not included in this payment.”
"On June 12 of the same year, 2.2 million livres were transferred for the Countess Du Barry to purchase a garden villa in the Saint-Germain district. Note: The cost of repairing the villa is not included."
"On July 7 of the same year, 400,000 livres were transferred to the Countess Du Barry to purchase eight purebred Andalusian horses to pull the carriage for the lady."
"On September 15th of the same year, one hundred thousand livres were transferred for Madame Du Barry to hold a salon and reception in Versailles."...This stack of accounts was exactly what Lawrence got from Director Jonah. Madame Du Barry All records of funds being misappropriated from the royal family's accounts over the years.
As the assistant judge read, the people in the audience gradually widened their eyes with expressions of disbelief.
Although the citizens had already heard about the luxurious life of the royal family before this, it was not until these specific figures were put in front of their eyes that the citizens knew that this woman's greed and extravagance had far exceeded their imagination.
The citizens could not imagine that a dress worth 250,000 livres and a draft horse worth 400,000 livres. That amount of wealth that they could never look up to in their lifetime was completely poured out like running water in Madame Du Barry's hands. go out.
After being shocked, the people suddenly became angry. Such an extravagant and wealthy woman was not satisfied with this extravagant and indulgent life, and even wanted to extend her claws to the life-and-death subsidy that the poor were eagerly waiting for.
Madame Du Barry stared blankly at the accounts in the hands of the assistant judge. She did not understand at all how this account from within the palace could appear in the hands of Justice Maupe.
But there was no extra time for her to think about these issues at this moment. When Madame Du Barry heard the curses ringing in her ears again, her face suddenly turned red. She directly interrupted the assistant judge and shouted: "That's enough! What the hell are you doing?" What do you want to say? All this money was given to me by His Majesty the King. Are you questioning His Majesty the King's decision?!" Justice Mopu knocked the judge's gavel again and said in a deep voice: "I said it, I will stand trial. Jeanne Bequ is not allowed to make any noise in the court; since you said that these are all gifts from His Majesty the King, we will investigate in the future, but... Regarding the records on the last page of the account, you have to do it again What's the excuse?" The assistant judge also quickly turned to the last page of the account and shouted at the top of his lungs: "On December 20, 1770, four million livres were transferred for Madame Du Barry to purchase a house. Set of jewelry, note: There is insufficient idle funds in the internal treasury account, and this amount is borrowed from the winter subsidy fund account."
"On January 14, 1771, an income of seven million livres was obtained, from donations by Laurence Bonaparte and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, for the payment of the winter allowance of 1771."
"On January 17, 1771, seven million livres were transferred. Note: According to Madame Du Barry's request, this amount was transferred from the winter subsidy fund account to the internal treasury account." Along with the reading of the last three records came out, the entire scene fell into a brief silence.
Madame Du Barry was stunned on the spot, her face turned pale, her eyes were fixed on the accounts in the hands of the assistant judge, and she could not utter a single word.
She had no idea where that last record came from. She hadn't even seen that damn Supervisor Jona these days, so it was impossible for her to make such a ridiculous request, saying that she would divert the 7 million bailout funds again.
After a brief daze, the people in the audience finally understood what the last three records meant: this meant that all the rumors about Madame Du Barry these days had been completely confirmed.
It was this woman, not anyone else, who shamelessly and tragically embezzled two bailout funds in a row.
Thinking of the miserable lives of the poor at the bottom described in the newspapers this winter, and the frozen corpses found on the street corners every morning, including their wives and children, the citizens responded to the woman on the stage. The hatred reached a new climax in an instant: in the next moment, the curses were like a violent storm, sweeping to the trial stand from all directions: "Hypocritical bitch!"
"Confess your crime, you bitch!"
"You're wasting our time every second you're alive!"
"Hang her, hang her!"... Madame Du Barry stood helplessly in the center of the storm. No matter which direction she looked, her eyes met the citizens who wanted to eat them alive. The fierce eyes of flesh and blood.
She took two steps back in horror, and shouted with a trembling voice, "No, I didn't! That account was forged! I didn't touch the seven million livres, are you all fools?! Moppe, you despicable bastard!" Madame Du Barry yelled in collapse, trying to make the crowd around her understand that it was impossible and she did not dare to touch the seven million livres.
That was a donation from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. No matter how stupid Madame Du Barry was, she would not get involved with this amount of money.
However, no one would listen to the defense of a hateful sinner. Justice Maupp also looked at Madame Du Barry with cold eyes, quietly waiting for the abuse to subside, and then said: "Jeanne Bequ, this account is It comes from the palace, and every record has a seal stamped on it. You say this is forged, but do you have any evidence?"
"I...you...!" Madame Du Barry was trembling and couldn't say a word. Of course, she couldn't prove that the last record was forged. After all, she only learned about it three minutes ago. There is such a record.
Justice Maupp just looked at Madame Du Barry's ugly appearance, and continued after a moment: "If you have no reasonable doubts, the evidence in this court is valid. Do you have any explanation for these records?"
"I... didn't..." Madame Du Barry lowered her head in despair. The most important of the hundreds of records were the last three, or rather the last one, and she was able to correct a forged record. What excuse can be made?
Justice Mopp nodded slightly, took the accounts back from the assistant judge calmly, and then looked around at the fifty-two voting judges sitting on both sides.
The voting judges also looked at Justice Mopp and nodded unanimously. Although the final decision moment had not yet come, the judges all knew how to cast their votes.
Madame Du Barry lowered her head and said nothing. She just hoped that this disgusting trial could end as soon as possible and leave as soon as possible from the thousands of bloody mobs surrounding her.
Regardless of whether she is imprisoned or under house arrest, as long as His Majesty the King learns of her whereabouts, Madame Du Barry will have the confidence to stand up immediately with Louis XV's love for her, and backhand the pretentious Maupe and Bonaparte who dared to send someone to kidnap him was strangled to death.
However, Justice Maupp did not immediately hold a vote. He picked up the quill and made some notes on the file, then looked at Madame Du Barry again and said: "Well, Jeanne Bequ, this is the end of the discussion about your first crime, and you will be next. The second charge, but before that..." Madame Du Barry was stunned again. She couldn't imagine what else Justice Maupp could do besides misappropriating subsidy funds.
Justice Maupp ignored Madame Du Barry's doubts. He gently put down his quill, looked at the sea of people in the audience, and said in a deep voice: "Call the witnesses, Jean Du Barry comes in!"
