Schulmeister, l'espion de l'Empereur

Savary, aide-de-camp to the First Consul, prepares for his boss's visit to Strasbourg. The police arrest Joliet, a courier for the émigrés, who confesses the purpose of his mission: to make contact in the city with a certain “schoolmaster.” The problem is that there are 150 Schulmeisters (schoolmasters) in Strasbourg. One of them is a suspect because he is a former smuggler. The courier Joliet recognizes him in order to save the real one, but he proclaims himself a Bonapartist and offers to find the real culprits himself. Savary agrees and organizes a fake escape. With Hammel, one of his friends, Schulmeister infiltrates the heart of the conspiracy and recognizes the man giving the orders: his own cousin, Neubacher, the real “schoolmaster.”

Schulmeister's first official mission: to find a valuable agent in England whose life is believed to be in danger and bring her back to France: the Countess of Fréville. Schulmeister's wife, Suzel, is less than enthusiastic and finds that her husband, who had always been a quiet man, is embarking on a very strange undertaking. In fact, the adventure gets off to a bad start. Instead of kidnapping the real countess, Schulmeister is duped and brings back to Paris a certain Arabella, known as “Petit Matelot,” a French woman who has gone over to the service of the émigrés. The real countess is taken to the Tower of London and sentenced to death. Unmasked, Arabella flees, and Fouché, who is fighting against Savary's parallel police force, scores a point. Arabella has infiltrated the empress's laundresses at La Malmaison and is sending messages to her leaders. How can they be intercepted? It is Schulmeister's wife who one day has the idea of taking a closer look at Arabella's embroidery...

Schulmeister, accompanied by General Savary, meets his friend Hammel to carry out a mission with the French armies occupying Austria. An uprising is feared, supported by a secret society known as the “Tugenbund.” Schulmeister infiltrates the conspirators and attends one of their meetings, while Hammel impersonates him among the Austrians. The noble families of Westphalia also wish to drive out the French. The Tugenbund plans an attack on the imperial commissioner, but Schulmeister manages to thwart it while gaining the trust of the society’s members. Betrayed, he is arrested by Westphalian officers, who reveal a plan to unite with the Tugenbund to overthrow King Jérôme, Napoleon’s brother. The plot fails, and the situation in Westphalia calms down.

Schulmeister and his friend Hammel travel to Holland to rebuild the support network for King Louis, Napoleon’s brother, who is threatened by the English counter‑espionage services. He meets General Monnet and King Louis himself, but the latter refuses to commit the Dutch army to bloody battles. Using the king’s signature, he drafts a forged message ordering the troops to repel the English landing. After the victory, he receives King Louis’s pardon.

Led by the Count of Beaumont and supported by England, an uprising against Emperor Napoleon is being prepared in Normandy. Weapons are hidden throughout the province, buried beneath clusters of white lilies. Schulmeister and his friend Hammel are tasked with uncovering them and thwarting the plot.

Paris awakens in a climate of unease: a lightning‑fast rumor announces Napoleon’s death. Seizing the chaos, General Malet launches a daring coup, armed with forged decrees and an icy composure. As the authorities waver, Schulmeister catches the scent of deception and plunges into a tense pursuit, where every clue could tip the Empire into ruin. In this night of confusion, he must unmask the conspirators before the fraud becomes irreversible.

In Ulm, General Mack prepares a decisive move to crush Napoleon’s army. In the shadows, Schulmeister adopts a new identity and slips into the heart of the Austrian command. Meanwhile, a small band of daring soldiers led by Lieutenant Hammel poses as the vanguard of the Grande Armée, and a quiet tension begins to rise: rumors, deception, and secret maneuvers turn this “insignificant village” into a powder keg.

Schulmeister and his wife settle in the Château du Piple, a gift from the Emperor in gratitude for his services. Behind the wall of a cellar, he discovers the corpse of an unknown man, deliberately placed there to trigger an investigation by Schulmeister and his friend Hammel. They uncover a scheme orchestrated by the Prussian envoy, intended to disrupt the secret negotiations between Fouché and Sir Horace, the representative of England.

A revolutionary prototype sparks a scramble among rival spies, dragging Hammel into a whirlwind of clashing ambitions and spectacular misfires. Between crafty schemes, blunders, and unexpected twists, the mission spirals into delightful chaos. An adventure full of bold intentions… and a target no one quite manages to hit.

Emperor Napoleon is preparing the Russian campaign. To equip his army, he needs to have 32,000 copies of the Russian Empire’s military maps produced as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the Tsar has sent a spy, Tchernitcheff, to France to uncover the plans of the French military operations. Schulmeister makes him a proposal approved by the Emperor: the Russian maps in exchange for the French plans, which Schulmeister has personally stolen from the Ministry of War. Tchernitcheff accepts. The exchange takes place, but the plans provided have been altered in order to mislead the Tsar about Napoleon’s future troop movements.

Louis XVIII is in power in France. Schulmeister has gone to see Napoleon on the Island of Elba. Fouché has him arrested upon his return and asks him not to encourage the Emperor to come back to France, as he himself wishes to bring the Duke of Reichstadt to power and become Regent. However, Sir Horace Mills for England, Tchernitcheff for Russia, and Grüner for Prussia secretly agree to manipulate Napoleon’s entourage and urge him to return to France in order to destroy him more effectively. The trap is set.

In a Europe reshaped by the fall of the Empire, Schulmeister must face the consequences of fifteen years spent in Napoleon’s shadow. As the victors move to dismantle the last remnants of the imperial networks, the former master spy fights to protect his freedom and those close to him. Between pursuits, shifting loyalties, and fragile alliances, this final chapter closes the series on a tense yet deeply human note, where every decision carries weight.