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Chapter 1395: This is How a Crown Prince Should Live

No wonder they reacted that way.

In this era, women were expected to ride sidesaddle, with both legs draped over the left side of the horse, all while wearing cumbersome skirts.

Yet, the Crown Princess was now wearing trousers and straddling her horse "like a man!"

Still, her elegant and flowing figure drew immense envy and jealousy from the noblewomen.

One young lady in a light yellow gown, her inherent French aristocratic arrogance flaring, hid her mouth behind a fan and murmured, "The Crown Princess seems a bit too carried away..."

Before she could finish, several others nervously took a half step back, putting distance between themselves and her.

This Russian princess was no pushover.

It was rumored that just last week, when the Count of Provence sought Queen Mary's mercy to waive the remaining fines of the late Duke of Chartres, the Crown Princess, who happened to be at Petit Trianon, heard him. She immediately launched into such a scathing barrage of sarcasm that the Count of Provence fled in disarray.

None of them believed they held more power than the King's brother.

Miss Ariane casually interjected, "I recall the Crown Prince recently signed an edict allowing us to study at medical and art academies. Seen that way, riding astride doesn't seem like such a big deal, does it?"

Immediately, several people nodded in agreement beside her.

In truth, Joseph intended to open up university education for women more broadly. However, given the stubborn views of the era, where a woman's primary duty was seen as becoming a good wife and mother, he decided, based on the advice of Roland and Monge, to test the waters with two medical specialties – nursing and obstetrics – as well as art universities.

Once the industrial age began, the increase in research power that women could contribute would be absolutely vital.

Even now, there were many female scholars like Madame Lavoisier. With early policy support, France might even produce several Madame Curies ahead of schedule.

To that end, he even arranged for Madame Lavoisier to join the Royal Engineering Design Institute, and the King himself granted her an audience.

In the distant wilderness, Joseph gazed at the dust swirling hundreds of meters away. It was caused by a herd of wild boars stampeding. He then turned to Antoine and instructed, "You take eight men and cut them off from the south."

Joseph waved to both sides. "Form a skirmish line, twenty paces apart! Pay attention to the thicket on the west side.

"Count of Artois, you take five men and form the second rank."

He had formally studied "Cavalry Command" and earned an A-grade, and had also observed cavalry legions in battle for extended periods. Commanding these few dozen men was no problem at all for him.

"Yes, Your Highness." The two groups immediately dispersed.

Even the stubborn and self-willed Count of Artois obediently followed orders in front of his nephew. After all, his nephew was a legitimate powerhouse who had led armies and beaten half of Europe.

Joseph, too, was uncharacteristically relaxed, enjoying the warm breeze on his face, galloping through the wild grass to the "tap-tap-tap" of hooves.

Alexandra beside him occasionally let out excited gasps, and even Charles temporarily cast aside his worries, fully immersing himself in the thrilling hunt.

Soon, Joseph could make out the silhouettes of the wild boars. The hunting dogs ahead barked excitedly, signaling that they had engaged the boars.

A few minutes later, gunshots echoed from the southwest.

Clauzel reported to Joseph, "Your Highness, the Count of Marne has reached the interception point."

The Count of Marne was Louis Antoine.

Startled, the wild boars immediately turned and fled, but Joseph's cavalry skirmish line had already spread out, forming a crescent-shaped encirclement nearly 200 meters wide.

By the time the leading boar realized something was wrong and tried to turn, it was already too late.

Its wild nature erupted instantly. It let out a roar, its bloodshot eyes fixed, and charged directly at the hunters. The dozen or so boars behind it immediately followed.

With the wild boars' furious charge, even a pride of lions would struggle to stop them.

Clauzel heard the dull thud of hooves hitting the ground and instinctively shielded the Crown Prince.

Joseph raised a hand and called out, "Halt your advance! Converge towards the center!" Then, pushing aside his bodyguard captain, he raised his hunting rifle. "Prepare—"

The leading boar, like a gray-black meteorite, charged almost instantly to within 60 meters of Joseph, the ground trembling slightly with its powerful stride.

The Count of Artois had never hunted like this before. Seeing no hundreds of servants and dozens of hunting dogs to assist them as usual, his face had even gone pale.

He then remembered that if any mishap befell the Crown Prince, he too would not escape responsibility, so he hastily cried out, "Your Highness, get out of the way!"

Joseph, however, calmly gave the order, "Aim—"

He had faced a hail of cannon fire and the frantic charges of thousands of Russian soldiers at Karlsruhe without fear, let alone a mere dozen or so wild boars.

Joseph narrowed his eyes, aimed at the leading boar, and decisively pulled the trigger. "Bang—"

The wild boar immediately stumbled, and under the momentum of its charge, it tumbled forward for a dozen rotations.

Joseph silently marveled at the immense power of the rifle. He blew away the gunpowder smoke from its muzzle and hung it on his saddle.

Alexandra watched, her eyes sparkling with admiration, imagining that the Crown Prince facing tens of thousands of enemy troops on the battlefield would surely be ten times more handsome than he was now!

It wasn't until she heard the wild boar's piercing squeal that she remembered she was also there to hunt. Hastily raising her rifle to aim, she saw the enormous boar, covered in blood, struggle a few times and then amazingly get back on its feet!

She took a deep breath, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

"Click—"

The percussion cap had failed to ignite.

"Damn it!"

She fumbled to replace the percussion cap, but by the time she aimed again, the boar had already collapsed back to the ground.

Joseph gazed at the boar, now barely ten meters away, and its sharp tusks, finally letting out a long breath. This was a level of realism and shock that could never be experienced while playing games in the future!

Yet, despite being the Crown Prince for over a decade, he had only now finally found the time to experience it.

Alexandra immediately held her breath, aimed at a boar further back, and decisively pulled the trigger.

As a proper Russian princess, her marksmanship was excellent; the boar's neck erupted with blood, and it promptly tumbled over.

Charles also fired simultaneously, but due to nervousness, he only hit another boar in the shoulder.

The wounded boar ran another ten meters or so before a bodyguard soldier beside it fired.

The boar died instantly.

Indeed, with the strength of the Crown Prince's bodyguards, even twice as many wild boars wouldn't have been able to get close to them. This hunt was, in fact, entirely safe.

The few wild boars that hadn't been shot fled in panic towards the west.

Four soldiers dismounted and together carried the enormous boar before the Crown Prince.

One of them exclaimed excitedly, "Your Highness, this fellow weighs a full 150 kilograms!"

Two court painters, sweating profusely, spurred their horses forward and began setting up their easels beneath a nearby tree.