"Thank you very much!" Joseph was overjoyed. He broke free from the old mathematician's hands, bowed to him, and rushed out the door.
Lagrange was about to give a speech when he discovered that the person had run away.
He paused for a moment, then quickly chased after him, saying urgently:
"How did Your Highness come to the idea of differentiable functions? Please tell me your thought process!"
The boys in the classroom looked at each other in bewilderment. After a long while, one of them hesitantly asked, "Can anyone tell me, has the Crown Prince graduated?"
"That seems to be the case."
"But he only arrived today..."
The boy with slanted eyes stared at Joseph's retreating figure and said resentfully, "No, he must have cheated!"
Andrei gave him a subtle, disdainful look, then presented him with the Lagrange Sun problem:
"The question was set by the professor on short notice, and His Highness's proof is a completely new mathematical discovery. If Duke Chartres thinks that cheating can achieve these things, perhaps he can try it himself."
Duke Chartres stared at the incomprehensible formulas, feeling as if struck by lightning. He had always considered himself the best among the younger generation of the royal family, yet now he couldn't even understand the proofs written by others...
Was Joseph's previous incompetence all an act, just to embarrass himself?
He clenched his fists tightly. "Joseph, you wait, I'll make you grovel at my feet sooner or later!"
Joseph naturally couldn't hear their conversation, but even if he did, he wouldn't care. It was just kids making noise. All he could think about now was how to reform France now that he could finally participate in politics and prevent a major upheaval from happening and getting his head chopped off.
Lagrange, panting, caught up with him and bombarded him with questions for a while. Suddenly, he felt he had grasped something from the crown prince's testimony and muttered to himself:
"What if f(a) is not equal to f(b)..."
He muttered to himself a few times, his expression turning serious. He hurriedly said goodbye to Joseph and returned directly to his office at the university.
Joseph watched him walk away and said softly:
"If f(a)≠f(b), then that's your Lagrange Mean Value Theorem. Good luck, and I hope you can prove it a few years from now."
After the old mathematician disappeared from sight, he waved to the attendant who had been following him:
"Emanuele, where is Her Majesty the Queen now?"
The tall, blond young man bowed and said, "Your Highness, Her Majesty the Queen is in her tea room."
Joseph nodded to him, then turned and ran towards the end of the wide corridor. The strenuous exercise caused him to cough, and he then remembered that his pneumonia was still not cured—the original owner of this body was very weak, and this pneumonia had lasted for more than a month with no signs of recovery.
He waved to Emmanuel who approached him to indicate that he was alright, and after wandering around for another hundred meters or so, he finally saw the door to the Queen's Tea Room.
From this day forward, he could finally put his skills to use and begin to save himself! He took a deep breath and strode in through the door between the guards on either side.
In the warm and elegantly decorated tea room, Queen Marie Antoinette, with her hair styled in a high, elaborate bun, fair skin, and beautiful light blue eyes, sat back in an oriental-style armchair, holding documents in one hand and a cup of red tea in the other, listening attentively to the minister beside her. It seemed she was handling state affairs—Louis XVI spent all his time in the lock-making workshop, so the Queen usually handled the government.
Joseph sighed inwardly. Louis XVI was actually a rare benevolent ruler in French history, but he inherited a France riddled with problems. In addition, he was not good at governing the country and was obsessed with making locks, which eventually led to the people's suffering and the outbreak of the Great Depression.
In a peaceful and prosperous era, King Sixteen would most likely be a beloved and good king. In fact, Joseph had a fairly good impression of him and, if possible, would very much like to save his life.
A voice from the master of ceremonies came from the side: "The Crown Prince has arrived—"
Following court etiquette, Joseph faced Queen Mary, took a half-step back with his right foot, bowed deeply with his hand on his chest, and then returned the bows to each of the ministers in the room. Only then did he excitedly step forward and say to the Queen:
"Mother, I passed my university mathematics graduation exam!"
Queen Mary's eyes lit up with delight. She put down the documents and took his hand with joy.
"Joseph, you are truly the pride of me and your father!"
She had previously sent someone to verify the Crown Prince's coursework and confirmed that he had passed all subjects with excellent grades except for mathematics, which meant that he had already completed his studies at the University of Paris!
She looked at her son with a complicated expression: "Why did you secretly study on your own without telling me and your father? I mean, you could have studied with a famous teacher."
To explain his sudden transformation into a top student, Joseph could only make up an excuse, saying that he had been studying on his own for many years.
"Because…" Joseph said, forcing himself to speak, "I want to give you a surprise."
"This is such a wonderful surprise!" The Queen picked up a piece of pudding with strawberries and put it in his mouth, then affectionately stroked his slightly curly hair. "How did you manage to fill your little head with so much knowledge?"
A tall, thin man with a cold gaze, dressed in a dark blue patterned collared suit with a sapphire ring around the neckline, frowned and asked the minister beside him in a low voice:
"Bishop Brian, the Crown Prince just said that he has completed university-level mathematics?"
The latter nodded: "It seems so."
"How is this possible?"
"I was also very shocked."
Behind them, the Queen's trusted secretary whispered:
"Not only mathematics, Your Highness has also completed more than ten courses at the University of Paris, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, geometry, and English."
Upon hearing this, the surrounding ministers widened their eyes in astonishment: "How is this possible?!"
"I remember, the crown prince was only 13 years old, wasn't he?!"
"This is absolutely incredible!"
"Yes," the scribe sighed. "Those teachers who once taught His Highness all called him 'the son of God.'"
"A chosen one of God? Haha, with such a talented crown prince, France will surely shine even brighter!"
"God bless France!"
Joseph ignored the ministers' flattery, broke free from the Queen's grasp, and said to her somewhat urgently:
"Your Majesty, according to the agreement, am I now entitled to participate in politics?"
Queen Marie Antoinette nodded indulgently: "Indeed, my brilliant son. Oh, by the way, I suggest you go to the Paris City Hall first and gain some experience."
Joseph frowned. He was here to reform France! To fundamentally prevent enraged citizens from massacring the entire royal family! What could he possibly do at the city hall? Improve urban traffic? Or treat sewage?
He had watched many documentaries about the French Grand Duchess and knew that the most critical problem in France was its finances—the collapse of the bureaucracy, the inability to provide disaster relief, and the dissent of the nobility were all caused by the collapse of the finances.
Therefore, to reform France, we must first reform its finances!
Joseph looked at the Queen and tentatively said, "I think perhaps the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be a better fit for me."
Queen Marie Antoinette smiled kindly upon hearing this. France's financial problems were a chronic issue. Since Louis XVI's ascension to the throne, almost all the energy of the government and the public had been devoted to solving the financial crisis, but they had been unable to find a solution.
How could a thirteen-year-old boy, even if he were a "chosen one of the gods," possibly bear such a heavy burden?
She stopped smiling, thought for a moment, and said, "Joseph, if you are interested in finance, you can go to the Paris tax office first."
Joseph knew this showed a lack of confidence in his abilities, but that was understandable, given that his body was only that of a thirteen-year-old. He had no choice but to settle for second best:
"Then let me be the Chancellor of the Exchequer's assistant?"
At this point, the assistant was actually the deputy finance minister, the second-in-command in terms of finance.