From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Water leaking from the top is quite vivid." Paulie laughed twice, although the laughter was more helpless:

"But dear Lawrence, I'm just a captain, I can't repair the ship."

Lawrence is in hot pursuit. He must persuade Paulie to prepare for the worst as soon as possible. Even if Congress vetoes the proposal to withdraw troops, he must be prepared to force it:

"No, Governor, you can, the Corsican army will not obey the orders of the Parliament, as long as you"

"By the way, Lawrence, this is your first time having lunch at the Governor's Mansion. The grilled seabass here is very good. Remember to try it. Turn right when you go out of the restaurant. We'll see you in the afternoon."

Paulie stood up, interrupted Lawrence, and walked out of the auditorium without looking back.

Lawrence sat on his seat and watched Paulie's back disappear through the door, but he was not discouraged.

Lawrence could tell from Paulie's reaction that his words had definitely touched him, but not to the extent of making up his mind.

Anyway, there is still a long meeting in the afternoon, and Lawrence is not in a hurry to convince Pauly in the short two hours in the middle.

"Forget it, let's go try the grilled seabass that Paulie mentioned. I hope there's still some left."

Lawrence stood up and stretched his muscles. After sitting all morning, his bones felt like they were falling apart, and then walked out of the auditorium door.

As soon as Lawrence walked out of the door, he saw a waiter in a vest next to him, who seemed to be waiting for him.

Sure enough, seeing Lawrence going out, the waiter hurriedly came forward and said:

"Sir, you have been invited to the garden for a chat."

"Garden?" Lawrence couldn't help frowning and asked, "Is it Carlo?"

Lawrence didn't think it would be any young lady who invited him. Besides, the only woman in the auditorium just now was the sturdy farmer aunt.

"No, it's not Congressman Carlo, it's another Congressman, the one who is dressed a little inappropriately." The waiter lowered his head and replied.

Indecently dressed congressman?

Lawrence immediately thought of the congressman from Xicheng District who behaved weirdly and arrogantly. It's just that I don't know him, so why would he send someone to invite him?

"But, coming from Xicheng District. Could it be related to the union." Lawrence touched his chin, and after thinking about it, he could only think of this reason.

In a chaotic place like Xicheng District, the only people with the ability to support a council member are trade unions. However, what always puzzled Lawrence was that as a puppet, the Xicheng District Councilor acted too arrogantly.

Moreover, the cold sense of danger in him is really not something ordinary people can have.

Standing here guessing for a whole day would lead to no results, so Lawrence decided to go to the garden to find out.

This is the Governor's Mansion, and the union people wouldn't dare to attack Lawrence here even if they had ten guts.

Lawrence nodded to the waiter, and then led the way to the private garden of the Governor's Palace.

Although the Mediterranean Sea is quite cold in January, there are still hundreds of flowers blooming in the garden, including countless herbs and orchids. There are also a few larks deliberately kept in the area, and their calls are euphemistic and beautiful.

However, Lawrence was not in the mood to appreciate and identify these flowers and plants. After stepping over rows of neatly trimmed shrubs, Lawrence finally found the person he wanted to invite deep in the garden.

Sure enough, it was the councilman from Xicheng District.

"Mr. Laurence Bonaparte, I have long admired your name."

The congressman turned around, stared at Lawrence expressionlessly and said, while extending his right hand.

"We don't know each other."

Lawrence stood there, not shaking hands with him, but frowning and said.

Seeing that Lawrence didn't reach out, the other party was neither angry nor embarrassed. He slowly put his hand down and looked at Lawrence carefully.

This look is like that of a sculptor inspecting his work.

"No, actually we all know each other's names." The congressman suddenly said:

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Ciro Russell, the chief of the longshoremen's union."

Ciro Russell? ! Chief Ciro of the union? !

That elusive shadow that makes One Eye tremble?

Lawrence frowned and took a step back subconsciously.

If this wasn't the Governor's Palace, Lawrence would have drawn his gun directly after hearing this.

With his brain thinking rapidly, Lawrence took a deep breath and calmed down, knowing that no matter what, Silla would not attack him here.

If the person in front of him is Silla, then combined with One-Eye's description, it can be matched with those weird behaviors in the morning.

Ciro Russell is probably the only one who can be elected as a member of Parliament in Xicheng District.

"What's the matter, Mr. Bonaparte? We have no grievances. How come we are so hostile?"

Silla asked pretending to be confused. From his expression to his tone, he looked like a really innocent ordinary congressman.

"No vengeance? One Eye is from your union, right? He wants to chop me into a stick and throw me into the sea." Lawrence snorted coldly and said with a stern expression.

"Ah, so that's what happened. I'm sorry that I mismanaged the union."

Silla said regretfully:

"The union will fully support the patrol and the subsequent court's treatment of One Eye, and is willing to compensate Mr. Bonaparte for your losses."

Lawrence didn’t speak, he still didn’t know what trick this Silla was playing.

Seeing Lawrence was silent, Silla continued:

"Other than that, there is no conflict between us. As for the members executed by Mr. Bonaparte, they all deserved their crimes, and the union also supports this."

Silla's words were so sincere that even Lawrence felt for a moment that Silla was like a poor person who was apologizing for the mistakes of his subordinates.

But after thinking about it for a while, Lawrence immediately threw this idea out of his head. It is impossible for Ciro not to avenge One Eye and those union members, otherwise his unshakable position in the union will inevitably be challenged.

"Of course, I have also heard rumors from the outside that there is already incompatibility between the patrol and the union. I am really sad about this scandal. Mr. Bonaparte, let us shake hands and make peace."

Silla's tone became excited, and she stretched out her right hand again, wanting to shake hands with Lawrence and make peace.

"I'm sorry, Chief Ciro, there's not much time left in the halftime period. I haven't had lunch yet. Please forgive me."

Lawrence ignored Silla, turned around and left directly after leaving these words.

Whether logically or formally, Lawrence did not believe that Ciro was sincerely seeking peace. If he really wanted to live in peace with Lawrence, he would have said this in the auditorium just now, before the MPs left, instead of in this quiet garden.

As for his purpose, it was just to let himself relax his guard. No matter how good Cilla's acting skills are, Lawrence will not be fooled by such low-level tricks.

Just a few minutes after Lawrence left, the waiter just walked into the garden, came to Silla, and asked:

"Lord Silla, what's wrong?"

Silla took out another cigar, trimmed it, lit it, held it in his mouth, and said nonchalantly:

"Anyway, it's just a test. If he agrees, it can only mean that he is a fool without a brain, although there are many such fools who believe whatever others say."

"Then, he didn't agree?" the subordinate asked.

"Yes." Silla took a deep breath from the cigar, blew out a smoke ring, and said:

"It seems that I still have some brains. This will at least be more interesting. I don't want to plot for a long time only to find out that I have plotted against a fool."

The subordinate nodded and continued to ask: "Then what is our next step?"

"Hmph" Silla snorted disdainfully, stubbed out the cigar, threw it on the ground, and said:

"I have submitted a proposal to the parliament. If he doesn't like giving out money, let him give out more. If he doesn't like to win over the masses, let him win over more."

In the second half of the afternoon, the parliament seemed to be restless.