I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 290 The Amazing Journey of Anna Maria Luisa De Medici (4)

The misfortune suffered by the eldest princess of Leopold I was like a dark cloud passing over a clear sky. In order to remove its shadow as soon as possible, Anna of the Medici received permission to see the king that afternoon. The nobles are envious and jealous of all the favors of the Duke of Colonna - everyone knows that Princess Anna is allowed to live in the Louvre as a royal family member of the Orleans family, but look at the Montmartre. Margaret, the king, the queen dowager and even the queen rejected her audience, and it is conceivable that she could only spend the years in solitude in the monastery.

Princess Anna was treated differently by the king, but it was because she had a marriage contract with the Duke of Colonna. Even if the Duke of Colonna returned to Italy, his fiancée could still enjoy the treatment second only to the grand princess. People whispered, Because the king called all the royal family members to welcome this future bride.

Princess Anna was only a child, but the child also knew that it was a privilege to be granted an audience at once, without spending the night in the Parisian mansion that the Grand Duke of Tuscany had purchased—in Paris or Versailles waited for days, weeks, and months without seeing the king.

   "Even so," Anna's wet nurse complained reluctantly, "Can't you wait a few days? A day or two is fine. We... the princess has just arrived in Paris and needs a good rest."

"Stop talking," Anna's female official quickly took off Princess Anna's clothes. "We will see you at three o'clock in the afternoon. We need to be ready at eleven o'clock. Now it is," She glanced at the clock by the wall hastily. , at seven o'clock in the morning: "We only have four hours, so we can't just let the princess go to see the king. Fortunately, there is a bathroom here, but there is something missing, Mrs. Barbie, please come and bathe the princess, I'll go..." She Looking around for a while, "Go find a friend and see if you can get some help."

"Your friend, why didn't I know you had friends in Paris?" Mrs. Barbie muttered in a low voice, walked over slowly, and reluctantly took Princess Anna wrapped in a fluffy cotton bath towel, as she said. , it is not impossible to simply wipe it, but... from the bottom of my heart, she does not dare to refute the words of this female official, even if she comes from a humble background, there is always a kind of majesty that people can't ignore, even if she used to be The Grand Duchess didn't dare to go crazy with her - or the Grand Duke's mother had a daughter-like relationship with her.

"The hair should also be washed." Before leaving, the female official also instructed this, in exchange for more inexplicable complaints. After all, the washed hair needs to be dried with a drying cloth again and again, even if there is such a kind of loop weaving in Paris. a towel that absorbs as much water as dry sand - given that women at this time almost never cut their hair, and Princess Anna's hair was knee-length, washing and drying it was not an easy task, so the nurse called out to the maid Come to help, while carrying the princess into the bathroom.

Long before Anna was born, the Grand Duke of Tuscany remodeled his palace according to the Richelieu House in Paris, so the wet nurse is no stranger to those toilet facilities, just the large white porcelain that can accommodate two people. The bathtub still made her slap her tongue slightly, and there were countless bath creams, balms, ointments, etc. She only knew a little French, but Princess Anna recognized every word on it, which was packed in colorful glass bottles. Things, each has a different effect, and a different smell.

The wet nurse was not stupid enough to make the little princess smell mixed. She carefully selected several bottles of rose-scented bath cream and balsam. When the little princess fell asleep in the warm bath water and fragrant fragrance, the female official Come back, she didn't come back alone, she was followed by many delivery merchants, as well as some people with servants, but they didn't look like nobles, they made the princess's maid feel inexplicable, especially the last one, He was holding a walking stick, with black curly hair (wig) and a cape, with a cute little boy on the left and right holding a huge multi-layered box.

  He was so arrogant that he didn't want to talk to the doubtful-eyed maids, and drove straight in until the wet nurse hurried out of the bathroom: "God," she cried, "who is this?"

"He is M. Champagne," said the maid, and as soon as the name was uttered, the nurse's expression changed, from nervousness and vigilance to flattery and flattery. Speaking of M. Champagne, even a lady of Florence They are also eager to be served by him once. Unfortunately, his family was originally the royal barber of the French royal family. When he fully revealed his talent under the protection of His Majesty the King, even the ladies of France were already lined up. A year or two later, let alone foreigners, on the premise that he only accepts viscountess and above.

Not to mention how Madame Barbie wondered how a female official who was as unfamiliar as her had invited M. Champagne, who had already directed his servants like an officer to move him around in the princess' bedroom. It's just that his soldiers are glittering pins, hairpins, golden or black wigs, lifelike velvet flowers and dewy real flowers, hidden hair ties and hair ties, etc. …

"Please take out the princess' clothes for today." He said, and then stared at the suit for a long while thoughtfully. After a long sigh, he nodded to the female officer, indicating that it was probably okay. , and then he looked at the princess' jewels. If at first, there were maids who couldn't believe that this unremarkable middle-aged man was the famous Champagne, then seeing him casually taking from that seemingly inexhaustible She took out the hair accessories that matched the jewelry—whether it was diamonds, emeralds, rubies or topaz, or even coal essence... Some hair accessories were even better than the princess' jewelry, and Champagne just waved his hand indifferently. "The gemstones on hair accessories are very small," he explained, "so it's normal to be a little bit better than other gemstones."

Madame Barbie didn't know how much the lady officer spent to invite Mr. Champagne. After all, this gentleman's fee was as high as several hundred livres 20 years ago, but I have to say that it is worth the money. The center of the Renaissance, but as Italy fell apart again and again and changed hands, all its glory was gone forever. And fashion is often closely related to the power and wealth of a country or even a region.

   Now the crown belongs to Paris.

Monsieur Champagne is no longer the little apprentice who timidly held a poker to curl Miss Marie Mancini's hair. He has spent a quarter of his life in balm, jewels, and silky satin, he has touched more hair than any dude, and has seen snow-white shoulders and plump arms, even the sultans of Ottoman Turkey. Incomparable - but it's not the most important thing, the most important thing is that as a hairdresser, the last step he performs is the most critical, so all the little tricks played by the ladies can't avoid his eyes - he is The person who knows the most about fashion trends across Paris, even the tiniest of changes.

   So as long as this gentleman is invited, Princess Anna will not make any mistakes in dressing up.

When Princess Anne returned to the bedroom, all the curtains and curtains in the bedroom had been pulled high. The room was bright and clean, with only the sweet aroma of roses. M. Champagne sniffed and said sincerely: " Very good." He bent down and said to the little princess, "It is the king's favorite flavor."

   "Really?" Princess Anna asked with wide eyes.

"Of course, I'm not going to lie, especially to you, you are like a shining star," said Champagne, who was also looking carefully at the Medici princess, who Parisians have for the Medici. Chi Ke is no stranger, not to mention other things, the French royal family has two queens from the Medici - but from time to time, the current French king will not continue to choose a weak prince's daughter as his wife, but to say Cologne Duke Na, the king's favor is well known to everyone, and the only thing left to do is to legally recognize the illegitimate child—the king didn't recognize him, not because he didn't love him, but because he loved him too much.

Princess Anne is still young and very cute, but she can roughly see what she will look like in the future, especially for Champagne, a barber who has seen countless noble girls, his sharp eyes estimate the appearance of this princess when she grows up— She has abundant hair and thick eyebrows. She can be seen as a healthy child. Her skin, like any noble girl, has been developed into a white and thin appearance. You can see the veins hidden under the skin. Speaking French, there are still some restraints in manners, but thinking about Mr. Eugene in the palace, the Duke of Enghien, he must be taught soon.

Although there are many words in the description, it is only a matter of seconds for M. Champagne, after making the judgment, he quickly dresses up Princess Anna and even makes some suggestions for the princess' dress and jewelry: "The King I don't really approve of children dressing like adults," he said. "Minimize cumbersome lace and jewelry as much as possible." He instructed the tailor to quickly subtract the princess' clothes, saying with great interest: "This is not Italy. , it's not Spanish, it's the latest in Paris," he asked seemingly casually, "who's suggestion?"

   "It belongs to Madame Aubigne." The maid on the side said casually,

"Oh," M. Champagne looked around and saw that Mme. Aubignet had left at some point, and he thought of the lady. Although she looked pale, how could M. Champagne not see that A beauty that was deliberately hidden? But also, the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany was much more chaotic than the court of France, and the daughter of the Duke of Gaston did nothing but amass money and steal treasures (collections of the Medici family). Q, the grand duke's mother also paid more attention to power than the peace of a family. This lady was first the maid of the grand duke's eldest son, and then the maid of the eldest daughter. Her beauty can only attract endless rumors and terrible threats, whether it comes from Women are still men.

When Princess Anna boarded the carriage sent by the Louvre, it was very different from when she came to Paris. Her black curly hair was simply rolled up, she wore a gardenia flower crown, and her jewelry was only a string hanging around her neck. Pearl necklace, the royal blue satin skirt on the body was originally decorated with a lot of lace and lace. Now it has been dismantled by the tailor instructed by Mr. Champagne, but a lot of pearls have been added (removed from another necklace) , so not only does she not look shabby, but it makes her fair-skinned and cute.

  Mr. Champagne watched her leave, and left with a group of servants. Before Princess Anna arrived at the Louvre, the information about her and the people around her had already been placed on the king's table.

   After reading the information, Louis looked at his younger brother: "Do you know who introduced Champagne for that Madame Aubigne?"

   "It's Mrs. Montespan." Philip showed an unbelievable look: "Although I can't believe it, but brother, could it be that the power behind Mrs. Montespan is..."

   "The Church of Rome." Louis finished the sentence for him.

   The recent transition is a bit sloppy, sorry.

   (end of this chapter)