The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 108

Chapter 108: The Famous Painting The Blessed Son of God

Ronan Damien never imagined that, as the royal court chef to the Crown Prince of France, he would one day be cooking food for commoners on the streets of Paris.

However, this was the Crown Prince's command, and along with him, there were 14 other royal chefs sharing the same fate.

Ronan Damien fixed the peeled potatoes with a specially designed fork, holding a knife in his right hand. With dazzling skill, he began to slice them.

Next, he skewered the potato slices onto a metal skewer, evenly spacing them out. The potatoes transformed into curling spiral shapes.

He then lowered the "spirals" into the hot oil, frying them for a while before taking them out, seasoning them with various spices, and inserting them onto a nearby wooden board with holes.

His assistant immediately raised his head and loudly proclaimed to the passersby, "The most popular royal court delicacy—spiral potato towers! The merciful Crown Prince invites everyone to taste them for free."

The cooking tent was surrounded by a crowd of people, all desperately inhaling the tempting aroma of the "spiral potato towers," yet no one dared to approach and take the food.

After all, these were the "devils of the underworld," food that could cause lung disease or leprosy if consumed!

After some time, a filthy little boy with hair clumped together like a matted mass approached, staring hungrily at the potato skewers while swallowing saliva.

Finally, urged on by hunger, he grabbed a skewer and bit into it with all his might.

Delicious!

The little street urchin's eyes widened. This tasted even better than the bread with brown sauce the kind-hearted woman had given him at Christmas.

Ignoring the pitying looks from the crowd, he ate three skewers in one go. Fearing he would be scolded, he reluctantly turned away and left.

Soon after, several other dirty children arrived and finished off the remaining spiral potato towers.

The onlookers shook their heads, sighing, as if these children would drop dead at any moment.

"Extra! Get your news!" a newsboy shouted from the street corner, waving the latest Paris Commercial Gazette in his hand. "Get your papers here! Two sous a copy. Latest novel: an adventurer crosses the Caribbean, winning wealth and beauty!"

Someone bought a newspaper, first reading the latest Breaking the Heavens, then flipping to page three, immediately drawn to a new story.

It was about an adventurer nicknamed "Popeye," who captained a fast ship called the Black Pearl and explored the Caribbean.

The most enticing part of the story was that this "Popeye" possessed a unique physical trait—whenever he ate a potato, he became immensely strong and was able to easily solve all his problems...

Versailles Palace.

Under the personal supervision of Bishop Brienne, the plan to promote potato cultivation was completed in less than three days.

Joseph, early in the morning, took the plan to the Petit Trianon Palace along with Bishop Brienne.

In the garden outside the Queen's chamber, Queen Marie warmly embraced her son, appearing very happy. "My dear Joseph, I was just about to send someone to Paris to bring you back."

She turned to Countess Debonynac and said, "Please have Madame Le Brun come here, and make sure she brings the painting."

Joseph recognized the name and knew Madame Le Brun was a famous court painter, the one responsible for many of the royal portraits of the King and Queen.

He looked at his mother with confusion. "Mother, why do you need Madame Le Brun?"

The Queen smiled. "Madame Le Brun has conceived a wonderful painting of you. It’s called The Blessed Son of God. Oh, I’m sure you’ll love it when you see it."

"Oh, well..." Joseph had an ominous premonition for some reason but quickly switched to the topic at hand. "By the way, Mother, Archbishop Brienne and I have something important to discuss with you."

"Oh? What is it?"

Bishop Brienne immediately handed the plan to the Queen, saying, "Your Majesty, according to the analysis of Count Lamarck and several other scholars, there will likely be a drought this year, and it could be more severe than ever before."

The Queen immediately looked worried. "Do you have a good solution?"

Bishop Brienne quickly replied, "It was His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince's idea. We can promote the cultivation of potatoes nationwide, using the crop’s extremely high yield to reduce the possibility of famine."

After hearing him explain the potato plan in detail, the Queen nodded. "In Austria, people use potatoes to combat famine. Joseph must have carefully studied the systems of many nations and cleverly applied the beneficial parts to France."

She took a pen from a nearby maid and signed the document, murmuring with a smile, "Just as Madame Le Brun’s painting depicts, my Joseph is exceptionally gifted and must surely be blessed by the Lord."

Joseph was surprised at how smoothly everything was going. Had he known, he would have asked for the Queen’s signature three days ago, without waiting for the detailed plan to be completed.

The thing was, there was barely more than a month left before wheat would be sown, and once farmers planted wheat, they couldn’t easily uproot it to plant potatoes.

Transporting potatoes from the northeast of France to the southern provinces might just take a month at best, so time was tight.

The Queen handed the document back to Bishop Brienne just as a poised middle-aged woman approached, curtsying first to the Queen, then to Joseph and Bishop Brienne.

The Queen smiled and nodded, then instructed, "Madame Le Brun, quickly show your painting to His Royal Highness. I can’t wait to see it."

"Yes," Madame Le Brun immediately signaled to her assistants. A few young people carefully brought in a large painting frame almost as tall as a person and uncovered the dust cloth covering it.

The moment Joseph saw the painting, he froze—at the top of the painting, God was floating in the air, holding a lamb in one arm, and a mysterious book in the other. A radiant light surrounded Him.

At God’s feet, there was a young man dressed in splendid clothes, his hands in a prayer position, his face full of devotion, gazing upward to listen to the divine teaching.

And that young man’s face... it was himself!

Joseph felt his toes curling up in embarrassment. How had Madame Le Brun created such an awkward painting?!

The Queen, however, beamed and said, "Joseph, this painting is a gift from me to you. You can hang it in your parlor."

Ah! No! Joseph’s heart twisted in dread. If he had to look at this thing every day, he’d surely catch "secondhand embarrassment"!

Madame Le Brun spoke, "Your Majesty, I’m afraid the painting isn’t finished yet. I still need to perfect a few details."

Joseph felt a slight relief. "Please, take your time to perfect it. Don’t worry about the deadline."

Bishop Brienne, admiring the painting, nodded and said, "Madame Le Brun, your artistic skills are simply superb! I can already feel the holy aura of the Blessed Son of God from this painting. The Blessed Son of God will surely be praised by all mankind!"

Feel the holy aura? Joseph suddenly had an epiphany. Of course! People in this era loved to use oil paintings to promote religion, and in the minds of people, what was depicted in an oil painting was almost seen as a real event.

That’s why the Queen was so concerned and so appreciative of this painting.

Perhaps this was the best way to break the French people's superstitions about potatoes!

A vision of the solution almost immediately appeared in his mind.

Joseph crossed himself with a reflex—he had become so accustomed to this action after crossing over—and silently thought, God, it looks like I’ll need your help to speak on behalf of this potato.

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