Joseph followed Armand into the courtyard of his house and walked up the steps. He noticed that this small building of Armand's house was a typical rococo-style building. The walls were decorated with carvings of various shapes and decorated with gold paint and various other colors of paint. Such a small building must have been full of pomp and show in those days, but today, the gold and other colors of paint are all weathered and peeling, and the walls are blotchy.

Armand noticed Joseph looking at the walls and said, "This house is some years old, should have been repaired, but my father, like me, is an incorrigible playboy, simply can not care about these. So, the house is ．．．．．． What should I say?

Armand frowned.

"I think it's not so bad," Joseph said in a serious aria-like tone, "It has a special beauty. It's like an open scroll of time, full of the weight of history. When you see it, you see impermanence, you see destiny ．．．．．．"

"Joseph, you say this ．．．．．． I'll take that as a real compliment." Armand said, "Anyway, you know, one of my greatest strengths is this. Besides ．．．．．．"

Armand paused and raised his head, looking closely at the mottled wall: "Joseph, you're right about one thing, it's impermanence, it's destiny. The loneliness and despair beneath the splendor, this is the true meaning of Rococo!

"oFortuna, velutLunastatuvariabilis, sempercrescisautdecrescis; vitadetestabilisnuncobduratettunccuratludomentisaciem, egestatem, potes tatemdissolvitutglacie," Joseph chanted in a low voice from the side. ｛This is a verse from the Latin word "Bran Psalms", "Fate - Queen of the World". It reads, "Oh fate, like the moon, is unpredictable, full and empty; the abominable life intertwines misery and happiness; both the poor and the rich melt and die like ice.}

"Damn it! You wrote a poem in Latin right away!" Armand feigned anger, "You've already crushed me in natural science, and now ．．．．．． You've already crushed me in natural science, and now you're doing it again!

"I didn't write it." Joseph shook his head, "I don't know who wrote it, maybe an unknown poet from the eighth century or earlier. Well, as I told you, my godfather was a bishop, and this is from a scrap of a scroll I saw in his church.

"The terrible Middle Ages buried many talented poets. Armand shook his head and said, "Well, let's not stand on the steps talking all the time. Let's go in."

The two of them entered the door, Joseph looked inside, there is a crystal chandelier in the living room, more than ten candles on it to light up the hall at nightfall. There were a few chairs on either side of the hall, and in the middle, there was the dance floor. The floor was covered with marble, but because of its age, the marble floor had become dull and had lost its former glory.

There was no one on the sofa in the hall, Armand said to Joseph: "We didn't invite too many people this time, only a few friends, so they are all in the small living room.

Follow Armand and turn to the right, then you will reach the small living room. Just like Armand said, everyone was in the small living room.

Armand led Joseph in, then raised his hand and slapped it twice, so that all the people talking in the chairs in the parlor stopped and turned their faces to look at them.

"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you my friend, the future great scientist of France - Mr. Joseph Bonaparte ．．．．．． A Viscount of Italy, let us welcome him."

"Welcome, Monsieur Bonaparte." A man of about forty stood up and greeted Joseph.

"Joseph, this is my father, the Viscount Charles de Lavoisier. Armand introduced him with a straight face.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Joseph bowed in return.

"Come on, Armand, what's with all the formality?" Viscount Charles shook his head at Armand and said, "It's just a casual family gathering.

Then he turned to Joseph and pointed to a high-backed chair and said, "Monsieur Bonaparte, please sit here.

"Thank you." Joseph said, "I'm a friend of Armand's, you can call me Joseph.

Armand continued to introduce the rest of the family.

"This is my mother, the Vicomtesse de Lavoisier.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, madam." Joseph nodded hastily in greeting.

"I like to see you, young people, too." It always reminds me of the good old days when I was young," replied the viscountess.

"You're young, too, Mother," Armand said. Armand said.

"This is my cousin Samuel de Fermat. He is good at fencing and shooting, has fought in North America with the Marquis de Lafayette, and is a wonderful man. Armand introduced Joseph to another short man sitting here. Joseph noticed a long scar under his right ear that ran under his lip. Perhaps to conceal the scar, he had a beard in the style of Captain Haddock in later comics, which made it difficult to determine his age.

"Hello." Samuel nodded as he stood up.

"Nice to meet you," Joseph responded in kind.

Armand then introduced Joseph to a few more people, mostly relatives of the family or something. Finally, Armand led Joseph to a girl in a pale yellow dress.

"This is our family's most precious pearl, my sister Fanny," Armand said. Armand said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Joseph said hastily. Joseph hurriedly said.

"So am I." The girl responded by bowing her head slightly and bending her knees slightly with her hands on the corners of her skirt. Then she looked up again, opened her big turquoise eyes, and glanced at Joseph, then lowered her eyelids and said, "I've heard a lot about you from my brother, and I heard that your thesis won a prize from the Academy of Science. Not only that, but my uncle said that you have created a lot of important things in mathematics. And you have been recommended for a teaching position at the Ecole Militaire in Paris soon. You are not yet twenty years old, and you have received such a recommendation.

"It is not as difficult as you think, Miss. Joseph smiled and replied, "I just have better luck.

"My brother says that luck only comes to those who are ready. Lily whispered with a smile.

"All right, everybody sits down. Don't stand up and talk." Viscount Charles de Lavoisier said.

So Joseph sat down in a chair next to Armand. A servant brought a cup of tea and placed it on the small coffee table next to Joseph.

Then we talked.

"What was everyone talking about?" Joseph asked. Joseph asked.

"Before I went out, we were talking about the recent production of The Marriage of Figaro," Armand replied. Armand replied.

The Marriage of Figaro is a production by Beaumarchais. But for later generations, are more familiar with the operatic version by the musician Mozart. But the opera version of The Marriage of Figaro was not completed until 1786, and the most recent production is not the opera more familiar to future generations, but the play The Marriage of Figaro.

"Mr. Beaumarchais' satire in this play is so biting and ironic. Amazingly, he has the guts to do that," Armand said. Armand said.

"If you ask me, it's not Mr. Beaumarchais, it's the comedians who have the guts to change the plot and satirize Her Majesty the Queen. That's the real guts!" Baron de Lavoisier said.

"Isn't it?" Fanny also smiled and whispered, "They let Count Almaviva say something like that. That's very bold. They don't worry about the queen, she won't think it's sarcasm, maybe she'll think what Count Almaviva said was a compliment to her! Armand laughed with contempt.

Queen Marie-Antoinette was a lavish spender, with countless expensive gems and fashions gathered in her palace, and the luxury of fashion swept through the aristocratic circles of France under her leadership. She was happiest when she invited the nobles she got along with to all-night gambling, orgies, and dances.

Legend has it that whenever a whimsical new idea for spending money came up, she would whine and cry like a child, forcing her husband to make it happen for her. As a result, the royal family spent more and more and the deficit became more and more serious. Queen Mary was nicknamed the "Deficit Queen" by the people.

"Armand, what did Count Almaviva say?" Joseph asked. Joseph asked.

"The Count said, "What is spending money? It's nothing if we run a deficit and have to go to the Jews for loans. You know how many kings from ancient times would have thrown away their kingdoms for the smile of a beautiful woman, and how many husbands would have gone bankrupt so that their wives could wear the shining gems they liked. Armand replied.

"Armand, you think too little of the queen. The queen, in any case, is from the Habsburg family and must have been well educated. She could understand this simple metaphor perfectly. So it takes guts for the writers of the comedy group to make such changes. But frankly, the risk they took was not as great as they thought. Because even if they saw the irony, the king and queen probably wouldn't care," Joseph said. Joseph said.

"How could they not care when someone is accusing them in public?" Samuel interjected. Samuel interjected.

"Well, that's the question. Let me give you an analogy... Well, you fought in North America. I heard that some of the Indians in North America sided with the British and fought against you. The Indians were said to have cursed you with their witchcraft. So, Mr. Fermat, do you care about their curses? Joseph smiled and asked in return.

"Of course, I don't care, because I know that their superstitions are of no use. You know, there is no witchcraft that a bullet can't solve," Samuel replied. Samuel replied.

"If one doesn't solve it, then another one will." Joseph laughed.

"You're right, Mr. Bonaparte." Samuel laughed along with him, "But generally speaking, against the Indians, only one bullet is needed.

"To the king and queen, such an accusation was no different from an Indian curse. They don't care."