I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 260 Gift to the King

When the queen, the attendants, the female officials and a group of people came to this chapel, it was after noon prayers. Because this chapel received the queen's favor, although it is small, there are as many stained windows and canopies as the altar. The holy artifact of gold and silver was thus placed on the snow-white linen, showing a beautiful and erratic sheen in the brilliant and changing light, and a lady dressed in black was kneeling on a kneeling stool - but when the door was heard After the sound of opening, she stood up and curtseyed calmly and gracefully to the queen.

  The queen's lips were immediately pursed. Although she kept telling herself and her children that she was satisfied with the respect of the king, wouldn't the wife who loved her husband wish to monopolize her husband? And the meaning of the queen is different from other noble girls. Every boy in her has the right of inheritance, and the girls are the best candidates for marriage. It can be said that in the whole of France or Europa, only the queen cannot cheat.

But when Teresa was a Spanish princess, she knew that she could not be compared with others in terms of appearance or talent, not to mention the carefully selected royal ladies to be chosen, but no matter which one it was, the Duke of Orleans recommended it. , or Prince Conti, or the Queen Mother, is not as threatening as the lady in front of her... more threatening.

Louis XIV was not a womanizer, he ruled for twenty years, and there was only one public and two private ladies of the royal family, compared to the "Happy King" Charles II across the sea (his fourteen). Not all illegitimate children are born to one mother), this king is called pure heart and few desires - the lover of the three kings, the queen has seen, Marie Mancini has a round face and a lovely little chin, fluffy deep Curly hair, rosy cheeks and lips, made her look like an unmarried girl even when her son was almost of age; even Mrs. Milady, who had no surname, had a depraved voluptuousness. And wanton, like the warbler you can often see on dark street corners, or the vicious she-wolf, who instigates will fall on you; Madame Lavalier, although she is inclined to the male face is not It is in line with the French recognition of beauty, but no one can deny that her hair is as beautiful as a waterfall, and always has a pitiful temperament, and the king once talked to the queen, Lavalier Mrs. Er's face has a unique and special charm.

And this Marquise of Montespan, her beauty... is full of danger, and it is not a desire for pity or conquest that makes people choose to retreat and escape in fear, but at the same time, they will also be stunned by the beauty And the face without any regrets, the posture and the voice are caught, not only can't escape according to the rational call, but also dragged into the mud by the fiery tentacles.

Fortunately, there was always a priest by the queen's side - the priest of Elarius. He had seen such a scene and had the ability to resist. He stepped forward, stretched out the cross, and made a threatening gesture. Mrs. Montespan smiled slightly. Slowly got up, took a step back, and the weird atmosphere that wrapped around, or covered people, disappeared.

The queen touched the rose rosary on her wrist. The feeling just now was not comfortable. It was like walking into a glass greenhouse in summer. The humid and sultry air was everywhere, and the clothes were tightly wrapped. Hold your arms and feet, you are like walking in the stomach of a monster, although she is a gentle person, she can't help but bring a reproach in her eyes.

   "I think I must beg your pardon, Her Majesty," said Madame Montespan, bowing her knee again.

"I'm now wondering if you really want to get the position of the royal lady," the queen's eyes turned to look: "The Grand Princess (Duchess of Montpensier) can say that I recommended you with all her might, but You did such a rash and reckless act."

   "What kind of behavior?" asked Mrs. Montespan without hesitation.

"My clergyman should be able to answer you," said the queen. If Madame Montespan's two fathers were not Vesalius, the imperial physician, and the Duke of Mortmar—these two ministers who were being used by the king, the queen would not be at all. won't mess with her.

   "If you're saying you've just been offended by a strange force," said Mrs. Montespan, "that's exactly what I need to let you know."

The queen looked at the priest beside her, he waved his hand gently, and the queen looked at the female official and the maid: "You can retire." Of course, she will not bring those noble ladies who intend to become royal ladies today. Here is her. After they left, there were only two priests beside the queen, and two witches who accompanied the queen in the name of maids—if there was no one else here, they would be able to deal with one—

   "Descendants of the Awakened," said the maid.

   "Absolutely not." The priest said: "She must not be a royal lady, Her Majesty, she must not be allowed to go to the king's side."

   "Then who should I go to?" Madame Montespan said at once: "Who is more qualified to have me than His Majesty the King?"

   "Your husband, maybe?" Another maid next to the queen said immediately, "According to the laws of the inner world..."

"Awakened people should not serve mortal people," Madame Montespan said. "It's a pity that this commandment has long since become a dead letter, because my mother is the Duchess of Mortmar, how? You dare not treat the king's favored servants Point fingers, but dare to interfere in the king's private affairs?"

   "The Duke of Mortmar is only a courtier," said the priest, "and His Majesty is the Majesty of France."

   "Because your majesty is the majesty of France, you should offer the best to him," Madame Montespan said, "and I am only a descendant of the Awakened."

   "Then we should probably bring an Awakened to the King's Majesty," said the maid.

   "Can someone tell me what an Awakened is?" the Queen couldn't help asking.

"This is about some lunatics in the inner world," the priest said before the witch, obviously, there was a bit of contempt in his words: "They are either for a long life, or for the charm of confusing others, and Or just to pursue the magic of magic, marry some magical creature or devil, and their offspring will inherit some inhuman qualities - but then they find that this does not give them what they want, and as Wizards have moved into the inner world on a large scale, and their relationship with magical creatures has also become tense, and such **** has gradually become less, but in their families, there are occasionally throwbacks who have inherited magical creatures across generations. You must know that magical creatures that can be selected by wizards generally have strong abilities."

  The Queen looked quickly at Mrs. Montespan: "Then she is..."

   "Water nymphs, or sirens," said the priest.

"How dare you!" the queen shouted angrily, speaking in such a high voice was very rude in her current position, but even if she was not as knowledgeable as the king, she had seen the temptation of Hylas with the water demon, and Odysseus. The painting of the ship resisting the temptation of the sirens, and the thought of the Duchess of Montpensier recommending such a person to her to present to the king made her eyes go black.

"Where are the swords that are not sharp enough, where are the flames that are not hot enough?" Madame Montespan replied without flinching: "Just look at whose hands they are, do you think that in three consecutive years you can conquer the whole King of the Lowlands, but fearing a little Awakened descendant?"

   "It is impossible for me to leave such a dangerous being at court," said the queen.

   "Even if your Majesty has already done this?" Madam Montespan asked back, "It's a pity that those two are still a pair of idiots that are beyond words!"

"I entreat you to come here," continued Madame Montespan, "not to impress you with supplications and sweet words, Her Majesty, but I ask you to be a messenger to bring my gifts to the king, He will know who is the best option."

   "I don't think so," insisted the queen, but she was still here, showing that she was already shaking: "You are that dangerous."

"Not more dangerous than my mother, the Duke of Mortmar still serves the king." Madame Montespan said: "I have no intention of concealing my speciality, not threatening you, but like those noble ladies, let you, let the king select me."

   "You confuse me when you say that."

   "You will soon know that I am not full of lies," said Madame Montespan, and then showed the Queen three things, a brass letterbox, a small bottle of sparkling powder, and an ivory key.

   "Your Majesty the Queen, I have read the Bible, the Old Testament, the Book of Esther." (Note 1)

   "I also read, ma'am, that was a chaste and wise saint."

   "Then you should know that my favorite thing is that every time she meets the king, she brings gifts for the king."

   "Many people ask the king for gifts, but very few give gifts to the king."

"Yes, so this is my gift to the king. Maybe you don't understand, but it doesn't matter. Allow me to say the same to you. They are exactly what I got with my weapons." Mrs. Montespan Say. "First of all, there are two letters, you can open them, but I can tell you first, they are all letters stolen from the great nobles of Poland, and one is a reply to Leopold I, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire." Said At this point, the lady paused for a while. Although the queen was surprised that a witch would be involved in the political behavior of mortals, she still nodded: "They can listen."

"King of Poland Michal Kribut Vishnevitsky has little time to live," Madame Montespan said rudely: "Leopold I is preparing to support Lorraine with the Polish nobles The Duke is the King of Poland, of course, not the Duke of Lorraine who happily moved from Lorraine to Paris, but the eldest son of the older brother of the original Duke of Lorraine."

This sentence immediately made the queen look dignified. Lorraine was the first territory that Louis took back after he took the lead. The Duke of Lorraine died a few years ago in return for returning the territory. Until his death, Lorraine's taxes completely belonged to He, for his splurge in Paris or Versailles, and the Richelieu House, which had been renovated by the king, he was the first man after the royal family to have bathrooms and sanitary facilities.

But on the contrary, he was usurped by his younger brother as the heir, the title and the territory, and in the war to regain the territory, because of the intervention of Louis XIV, he failed, and finally died with a grudge, the real Duke of Lorraine will not be against His Majesty the King. What a good impression, his eldest son has never given up the idea of ​​retaking Lorraine. He has been growing up under the protection of Habsburg for more than ten years. Although he cannot shake Louis's rule, this enemy seems to be hidden in As disgusting as the viper in the quagmire—the Duke of Orleans may have been responsible for the plague he encountered in Lorraine, and he was not very old at the time.

He may be twenty now, a strong, determined, and ambitious age, and remembering the Polish aristocracy's tradition of electing a foreigner to be king, supported by Leopold I, being king of Poland is not Impossible, although Poland-Lithuania is separated from France by the Holy Roman Empire, it is adjacent to Sweden. As an ally of Sweden, it is impossible for Louis to ignore this, and this enemy, if not for Madame Montespan's warning, may be When the dust settles, Louis will know that he has such a dangerous enemy.

   "What about the second letter?" asked the queen.

   "The second letter is the proposal of several other nobles," said Mrs. Montespan, "and they intend to make Prince Condé king of Poland."

   "Is the Prince Kongdai you're talking about the same Prince Kongdai we think?" the priest couldn't help but interjected and asked.

"Yes."

"How I wish I had a negative answer," murmured the queen, knowing that people have been discussing when the king will put Prince Kongdai behind bars, not to mention Prince Kongdai's involvement in the two slinger campaigns. Ambiguous attitude, just for the second time, his younger brother, Prince Conti, did clearly announce that he wanted to make his brother the regent king - only the last step to the throne - after the battle of Dunkirk, Louis not only forgave After taking the captured Prince Kongdai and letting him continue to lead the army to fight for him, some people have said that the king is as merciful as a saint.

In fact, in the battle against Flanders and the Netherlands, some people persuaded Prince Condé to give up his military power and return to Paris or his castle Chantilly, but Prince Condé did not agree. He won the two wars. After a great feat, it is no wonder that people are worried that the king will feel threatened. After all, Louis XIV claimed to be the sun king. How can there be two suns in the sky?

   This news is a little worse than the previous news.

  No one can deny that Prince Kongdai, as a general who can conquer and fight well, is much more terrifying than the unknown Mr. Lorraine.

Note 1: Esther is the heroine in "Bible, Old Testament, Book of Esther". She is the queen of ancient Persia in the middle of the fifth century BC. She is a beautiful and kind Jewish heroine. The lives of the Jews in Persia, using their own wisdom, exposed the conspiracy of the Persian prime minister Haman in front of the king of Persia at that time, so that Haman was hanged (Note: This gallows was hanged by Haman for the conspiracy. Made by the adoptive father of Ster.), smashed Haman's sinful plan to destroy the Jews in Persia.

   In the legend, Esther was originally just one of many concubines, but unlike other concubines, she would bring a gift every time she served the king, instead of asking for a gift from the king, so it attracted the attention of the king. This is what Mrs. Montespan said.

   (end of this chapter)