January 15, 1771, three days had passed since Lawrence held a charity auction at the Comedy Theater in Paris.

Starting from the past two days, the temperature in the areas around Paris has been below freezing for about two-thirds of the day.

Although there are no signs of intensification of wind, frost, rain and snow, citizens with rich life experience can also feel from the sudden drop in temperature that this year's cold wave is coming soon.

In the afternoon, in the slums of the southern part of Paris, there is a shabby pub located deep in the alley.

This is indeed a rather dilapidated tavern. The dilapidated house is like a broken bird's nest, which makes people feel that the builders took all the materials they could find and glued them together to build it.

A stinking ditch outside the tavern seemed to be on purpose, winding around the tavern, so that the drinkers inside could smell the stench of rotten water at any time.

As for the tavern's sign, it was better than nothing. It was just a thin piece of wood hung on a long wooden pole, with a simple drawing of a glass of beer on it using white lime.

It is conceivable that only poor people who are extremely strapped for money would patronize such a tavern.

However, in the slums of the South City district of Paris, the most indispensable thing is the poor people. From early morning to midnight, this pub is almost never deserted.

In this cold winter, most poor people do not come here just to numb themselves with alcohol. After all, they do not have the financial resources at all.

The reason why they were willing to sit in this smelly tavern all day was simply because there was free firewood for heating.

As long as they go to the bar and order a glass of whiskey that is obviously watered down, say a few nice words to the fierce bartender, and hand over a tip of two copper coins, they can stay in the warm tavern all day.

It’s much more cost-effective to burn firewood at home.

This can be regarded as one of the survival experiences passed down from generation to generation by the poor at the bottom.

Of course, these poor people will not just sleep to pass the long winter. The tavern is always filled with the bragging and chatter of the drinkers.

Today, the most discussed topic in this tavern is the seven million livres that have not yet been distributed to them:

"What date has it been? Why is there still no movement in that donation?"

"Who knows what we people can do except wait."

"Oh, if it had been a few days later, I would have been frozen into an ice sculpture, and the subsidy would have been thrown into my coffin and buried with me."

"Oh, I don't see that you still have money to buy a coffin."

"I'm just saying something casually. If there was a coffin in front of me, the first thing I would do would be to chop it up and use it as firewood."

The two drinkers complained loudly and sipped the strong wine in their glasses very carefully, not daring to take more than one sip.

After all, they don't have the money to buy a second glass. If the glass is empty, unless they pay for a refill, the damn bartender will drive them outside into the ice and snow.

The drinkers at other tables also joined their conversation. After all, the winter subsidy is what they, the lower-class people, are most concerned about:

"Hey! Do you think this money is just a gimmick? Those big shots have no intention of sending this money to us."

"Hiss... It's hard to say, it's really hard to say. Anyway, I don't really believe the people above. I dare say that even the devils in hell must be wearing dresses and chaps."

"But that's a promise made by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself, so there won't be any problems, right?"

"Who knows, if there is really no problem, the money will be delivered to us today. But what happened? We don't know any news now, and there is no mention of the money in today's newspapers.

.”

"Well, we can only wait a little longer. Maybe there are some procedures to go through. As you know, the red tape for the big shots above is not ordinary."

"Damn it, it's all the damn Du Barry bitch's fault. If she hadn't misappropriated the subsidy money at the beginning, how could we have been in such a miserable state now!"

"That's right! Damn Du Barry bitch!"

This heated topic evolved to the end, whether it was the cynical drinkers or the citizens who still had faith in the royal family and the government, they finally unanimously pointed the finger at the initiator of all this - Madame Du Barry.

If this woman hadn't misappropriated the funds at the beginning, there wouldn't have been a lot of things that happened later, and they wouldn't have had to huddle in this smelly and crowded tavern to keep warm in the middle of January.

At the beginning, the drinkers were still counting Madame Du Barry's sins one by one with reasonable evidence. By the end, they were just using the most vicious and obscene curses to curse this vicious woman who took human life lightly.

And just when the tavern was filled with these vulgar insults, the weak wooden door entering the tavern was suddenly pushed open.

There were three people who entered the tavern in the biting winter wind. They were none other than Lawrence and Grosso and Yaan who were serving as bodyguards.

However, the three of them were all covered in thick sable robes, covering up all obvious physical features, and their heads were completely covered by pure black hoods. Only the outline of the three people's faces could be vaguely seen.

The tavern instantly became quiet, and everyone looked cautiously at Lawrence and his party at the door.

The people who gather in this tavern are basically residents living nearby. There are very few unfamiliar faces, let alone three mysterious people dressed in strange clothes.

However, even though the drinkers knew nothing about the identities of these three people, they could also see that the mink robes worn by the three people were not something that poor people were qualified to wear. They were definitely three wealthy owners.

.

For a time, dozens of pairs of fiery eyes focused on the three Lawrences.

Lawrence calmly glanced around the smelly tavern, winked at Grosso, and closed the wooden door behind him.

Grosso also took a step forward with understanding, cleared his throat, and asked loudly:

"We are here to find a man, his name is Oga Kumas, and we will be paid ten livres to take us to him."

I heard that they would be paid ten livres for showing the way, and the drinkers confirmed that these must be wealthy patrons.

However, they had never heard of the name Grosso mentioned. The drinkers looked at each other, but found that no one had heard of a man named Oga Koumas in the vicinity.

"It doesn't look like it's around here." Grosso glanced at the confused drinkers and whispered to Lawrence.

Lawrence frowned slightly, stroked his chin and said:

"Ask more, it should be nearby."

"Okay, but I don't think it's necessary for you to take action personally for such a small matter." Grosso shrugged and said casually:

"He's just the leader of a big gang. It's not enough to just send a random person to contact him."

"This is not a trivial matter, Grosso, it is related to my entire overall plan; and I don't want too many people to know about it, otherwise I will directly ask Lieutenant General Philip to bring that man to me.

.”

Lawrence smiled bitterly and shook his head:

"In addition, I have met that Oga Kumas. Only if I come in person can I make him willing to do an important thing for me that is very difficult to do."

"That's it..."

Grosso nodded slowly, then glanced at the drinkers who still had no reaction, and said with a little disappointment:

"It seems these people really don't know. Let's go and ask somewhere else."

Just as the three Lawrences were about to leave the tavern to conduct further investigation, they suddenly heard a powerful and deep voice coming from an inconspicuous corner of the tavern:

"Are you looking for Oga Kumas? I can show you the way."

The person who stood up following the voice was a strong man nearly six feet tall.

He is not as sallow and malnourished as other poor people. This man's face is full of flesh. He wears a raw wolf skin for warmth on his shoulders, and there are a few frightening blood streaks hanging from the end of the fur.

There is also an unsheathed short knife on his waist. Judging from the dense dents on the short knife, this knife is not a decoration used to bluff people.

Judging from this man's appearance and dress, he almost has his identity as a robber and gangster written on his face.

Sure enough, as the robber stood up, there was no sound of chatter in the tavern. The drinkers all looked at the strong man in awe, and at the same time obediently closed their mouths.

It can be seen that this strong man is quite respected around here. Everyone knows that he is a fierce and extremely difficult character, and he has more than one life in his hands.

Lawrence narrowed his eyes and looked at the robber, nodded and said:

"Very well. Please lead the way, sir; Grosso, pay him ten livres."

Grosso frowned and wanted to say something, but still did not question Lawrence's decision. He took out ten silver coins from his wallet and slapped them on the table in front of him.

The robber drank the last sip of whiskey in the glass with an expressionless expression, swept the silver coins off the table, and then left the tavern with Lawrence and the other three, shaking his head.

Others in the tavern looked at the backs of the three Lawrences, and couldn't help but cast sympathetic and pitiful glances, acknowledging that there would be three more nameless corpses on the streets nearby tonight.

...

The four of them walked through the intricate alleys in silence.

And when the four of them turned into a lonely alley, Lawrence suddenly ordered Grosso in Italian:

"Tie this man up."

The robber walking at the forefront subconsciously turned his head, and what caught his eye was Grosso's casserole-sized fist.

"Ahhhhh!"

Suddenly, he received a heavy punch on his forehead. The robber screamed, covered his forehead and staggered backwards.

Grosso stepped forward and pushed him face down on the ground. At the same time, he pressed his legs with his knees to prevent him from getting up. Finally, he neatly tied the robber's hands behind his back.

behind.

After a series of smooth operations, the strong man immediately lost any ability to move and could only twist and struggle on the ground in panic.

Lawrence sighed slightly, squatted in front of him and asked:

"You do know Oga Kumas, right?"

"You! How dare you attack me?!" the robber roared with a ferocious face. He originally wanted to lead these three innocent and foolish sheep into the trap, but he didn't expect that he would become their prey instead.

Lawrence was too lazy to talk nonsense and said to Ya'an neatly:

"gun."
To be continued...