Chapter 1476: 1382: Swindlers and Heroes

Capítulo 1476: Chapter 1382: Swindlers and Heroes

In the upscale residence not far from the Palace of Versailles, a slightly chubby middle-aged man looked at the headline of the Paris Commercial News and stood up, exclaiming: “Quick, we must go too, or all the benefits will go to Tangji!”

The newspaper published an interview with the “hero who unified Bern” conducted by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Cambareres. The occasion was grand beyond compare.

Moreover, the Deputy Minister confirmed in front of all the journalists that the Crown Prince would bestow the title of Hereditary Baron upon Tangji.

Another paper reported that Tangji was invited to attend a banquet at the Palace of Versailles.

The blonde man looked at Fuer Jie anxiously, saying, “We should have a share of that title too; we can’t delay any longer.”

Previously, for the sake of caution, Fuer Jie didn’t allow Tangji to mention the other three of them, and now it seemed that the least significant member of the gang was about to snatch the title.

Fuer Jie went over all the details repeatedly, finding no suspicious points, and finally nodded: “We’ll go to the Palace of Versailles early tomorrow morning as well.”

Things went unexpectedly smoothly, and they received a grand reception.

The Director of the French Police Bureau accompanied them throughout, praising their wisdom after hearing about their “chance encounter” with Count Erlach.

“The Crown Prince will receive you all the day after tomorrow,” a court official came to inform them, “You must decide who will receive the title before then. If you change the nominee again, His Highness will be very troubled.”

Fuer Jie placed a hand over his chest in salutation, “It is I, noble sir, and it won’t change again.”

A hereditary title is exceedingly precious and naturally there is only one, and no one in the gang dared compete with their leader for it.

As soon as Viscount Besancon left the room, he immediately instructed his subordinate, “It should be him; proceed with the next step.”

“Send someone to watch them; if anyone tries to leave, stall them with an interview or banquet.”

“Yes, sir!”

The next day, as the court official was instructing the four on the etiquette of meeting the Crown Prince, the Director of Police suddenly knocked and whispered in his ear.

The court official was greatly shocked, “This sort of situation has occurred? I must inform His Highness immediately.”

Fuer Jie frowned at Besancon, “What happened?”

The latter hesitated for a moment and said, “Two people just claimed it was they who brought the Bern Senator to France. We need to verify who is lying.”

“These damned imposters!” Fuer Jie was furious; it was obvious someone was trying to claim his title and had come over to impersonate him, “Please allow me to expose them!”

“I’m afraid not; right now, there are many journalists interviewing them.”

Soon, the court official returned to inform Fuer Jie that the ennoblement ceremony was postponed until the matter was cleared up.

Unexpectedly for Fuer Jie, there were more and more impersonators, and by the afternoon of the next day, three groups had come to “claim credit” for defrauding the Bern Senator.

In fact, these people were all secret agents arranged by Joseph from the Security Bureau, with the purpose of diluting public attention on Fuer Jie, and he wouldn’t have to truly ennoble an imposter.

Fuer Jie’s instinct as a fraudster told him something seemed amiss.

However, when he tried to leave the luxurious accommodation, a group of servants politely stopped him, indicating that the Crown Prince might summon the “honored guest” at any time, so he could not go out.

Fortunately, Viscount Besancon soon shared some good news with him, saying that the Palace of Versailles had invited Count Erlach to come to Paris to publicly confirm who the genuine “hero of unification” was.

Thus, the fraudster gang waited nearly half a month longer, until they finally received notification of a meeting with the Bern Senator.

At noon the next day, in the main hall of the Police Bureau, Fuer Jie and others, along with four other gangs claiming credit, found themselves surrounded by dozens of journalists. Outside, several hundred citizens had gathered to watch the scene.

Fuer Jie glared bitterly at the “impostors” beside him, saying in a deep voice, “Fools, you will soon be exposed and then arrested for ‘fraud’! By then, I’ll come ‘visit’ you in prison.”

Those “impostors,” however, remained calm, retorting loudly even as they faced disaster, “You’re the real fakes!”

“We will soon be summoned by the Crown Prince!”

“Just you wait, you damned frauds…”

Soon, Count Erlach and Baron Fred walked into the hall.

Viscount Besancon first gave a brief introduction to the crowd, then pointed to the impostors and said to the People of Swiss, “So, please tell us, who among them was the one in Baden who engaged with you back then?”

Count Erlach’s gaze swept over the three closest individuals before shaking his head, “Not them.”

Fred and others also shook their heads.

Fuer Jie quickly stepped forward with an air of confidence, “It’s an honor to meet you again, Count.”

But Count Erlach frowned in puzzlement, “Who are you? I don’t know you at all.”

Fuer Jie was stunned, suddenly remembering that it wasn’t he who had posed as “Viscount Nobert” at the time. He hurriedly gestured to the blond youth, “Esprit, come over here!”

However, looking at the blond youth’s face, neither Erlach nor the others could stop shaking their heads, “No, it’s definitely not him.”

“We’ve never seen them at all.”

Even the Swiss servants claimed they hadn’t seen Fuer Jie and his group.

When Count Erlach looked toward the next group of impostors, Fuer Jie’s face turned pale.

Without confirmation from the People of Swiss, he was not the “hero of unification” but an imposter guilty of fraudulently claiming a title!

In a frenzy, he grabbed the back of Erlach’s collar, shouting, “Take a good look at me! He told you at Karlsruhe Palace that he could get you a French title, and your mistress was there too!”

“What are you doing? Stop it!” Viscount Besancon forcefully pulled him away. A group of policemen immediately surged forward to restrain Fuer Jie and his gang.

Over ten minutes later, after Count Erlach identified all those claiming to be the “hero of unification,” he announced to all the journalists, “They are all impostors; I have never met them.”

Indeed, that was Joseph’s complete plan.

He had promised to pardon those who defrauded the Bern Senator and to award them a title, and he certainly intended to do so.

The reputation of the Royal Family could not be compromised.

But for the impostors claiming false credit, they could only be handed over to the Police Bureau.

And after that, all newspapers would focus on the group of “claimants” arranged by the Security Bureau, and Fuer Jie and his associates would soon be forgotten by all.

As for why the “hero of unification” never appeared?

That was truly a pity.

Two days later.

Palace of Versailles.

Joseph was in conversation with Archbishop Beaumont and several other high-ranking church officials when Eman gently knocked on the door and approached, whispering a few words to him.

Joseph instantly smiled, “Very good. Use the money to buy dozens of sets of steam irrigation machines and send them to the village of Bern.”

Eman had just informed him that the fraudsters, after being sent to the General Prison, had quickly revealed under “strict interrogation” the whereabouts of the defrauded 340,000 francs —there were still 327,000 francs remaining.

And Count Erlach insisted on gifting this sum to the great and wise Crown Prince.