I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 303 A Burlesque (3)

   "Does she want money?" said the Duke of Orleans, guessing the girl's identity.

"I don't know," said the Marquis of Lois with mixed feelings, because he couldn't believe his eyes when he read the transcripts of the interrogation - how the Mr. Bonnard had left such an important document on the lady There, to put it simply, as the Count of D'Artagnan often encountered, he only occasionally encountered a Venus messenger in the tavern, the girl in the tavern, whether she was a maid, or The owner's sister or daughter, who often does it, is a short-lived love story - if it weren't for Mr. Bonnard's forgot a bag on her bed.

It is also possible that this girl stole it, but the next time, it was easy to deal with, a daughter of a commoner, either buy it with money, or use prison and torture to intimidate, not to mention Lois or D'Artagnan. , even Colbert has hundreds of ways to get her to hand over the document obediently - but when things develop here, both the Duchess of Bouillon and M. Bonnard are stupid again, and they go to find the priest again , because they felt that they were able to find the document precisely because the priest had prayed fervently for them.

   "What is the name of that priest?" The Duke of Orleans could not help but ask when he heard this, "Is it St. Francis or St. Peter?"

"Don't mention this, this priest is called Lesage, and he has a helper called Lavazin. They went to Bordeaux not long ago and used a three-inch tongue to persuade a lot of foolish people and foolish women. , and even attracted a lot of powerful people, and the Duchess of Bouillon also did mass in their church," said the Marquis of Lois dryly: "In short, the priest gave them another set of The priest, tell them that he will curse the girl if she insists on not returning that important document to them."

   "Is it related to the fact that the Duke of Luxembourg was accused of witchcraft?" Louis asked, although priests also act as wizards in many cases, and the Mass is not necessarily for blessing and gratitude, but once it is confirmed, the evidence is basically conclusive.

"Not this," the Marquis of Lois paused, because Bontang was bringing him a glass of wine, he bowed slightly to the king to thank the king, took the wine and drank it, his mouth was indeed dry. Dry, "If it's this, God, it's nothing, because this priest only curses this girl and will lose her love."

This time, even Bang Tang couldn't help showing a slight surprise. This is really rare for Bang Tang. He is the closest person to the king besides the queen, queen mother, royal wife and children. It can even be said, He knows some things that even the queen and the queen dowager may not know, regardless of the inner palace or the outer court.

Except for the time when the king had to enter the inner world alone after the assassination of Dunkirk, Bontang never left the king's side. He had seen and heard more than ten thousand mortals. He has long practiced the ability of Taishan to collapse in front of the front and not to the side. To put it more bluntly, he is professional and trained, so...unless he encounters something really funny.

   Others don't think so, but Louis can feel the movement of Bontang taking back the cup for the Marquis of Lois, and the speed at which he walked slowly out of the room.

  The king and the Duke of Orleans just laughed and sighed. The Duke of Orleans glanced at his brother: "I think I have to apologize to you," he said: "I didn't understand why you needed so many schools at that time..."

  The Marquis of Lois nodded earnestly on the side. He was also thinking at that time, even if it is a boy, why should a girl be enrolled together? But when he thought of his future daughter-in-law, his granddaughter-in-law might be another Duchess of Bouillon, he shivered with fear. This is an idiot who can completely bury the struggle of a surname for hundreds of years in one breath.

   "So, has that girl lost her love?" asked the Duke of Orleans.

   "I don't know if she lost her love," said the Marquis of Lois, "but it's true that she never lacks company on her bed."

"The Duchess of Bouillon and Bonnard," he continued, "felt deceived, and the priest, Lesage said, because they had encountered a dangerous witch, a devil who tempted men to fall, He raised his hand and rubbed his forehead: "So they took the girl out of the tavern, took it to the church, and performed a black mass."

   Even the Duke of Orleans began to frown.

"They... killed the girl in the church, and cut her into pieces and threw her into the river, but the priests seem to be less good at removing traces, dealing with the body, and The barrel was caught by the patrols all at once," said the Marquis of Lois, looking at the king. Louis knew what he meant, and since Louis came to power, he set out to change France's seemingly unified, but actually divided situation - in terms of faith , he took the appointment of bishops from the Roman church; in terms of money, he abolished the system of tax collectors; in terms of local strength, those soldiers who were wounded or retired in the war were all sent out by the king, Together with the king's supervisor, they took over the power and responsibility of local security. If a goose is just lost, or someone fails to pay a debt, they will not take care of this kind of thing, but it involves human life, no matter what. Whether it was suicide, homicide, or accident, they all had to sort out a list and submit it to Versailles.

Especially in Bordeaux, because it used to be a stronghold against the king, the supervisor was even more careful, and he should have had the mind of the king, so he detained all the people involved in this matter, except for The Duchess of Bouillon, who is under house arrest in her castle.

   "And how was the Duke of Luxembourg involved?" Louis asked.

"Even though they killed the girl, they still couldn't get the document, so... under the pressure of the priest, Mr. Bonnard used the trust of the Duke of Luxembourg to get a new letter of appointment. , in addition to the positions and candidates previously agreed upon by the Duke of Luxembourg and the Duchess of Bouillon, there is a blank space between the duke's signature and the text, and they wrote a few lines on it... This is what you see, also The so-called evidence held by those two priests."

  Louis opened it and looked: "The handwriting is wrong," he said.

   "It doesn't matter anymore," said the Duke of Orleans. "What they want is your attitude."

The custodians, the police, the judges of the high court, as long as the king nods, they will immediately put the Duchess of Bouillon and the Duke of Luxembourg on trial. Ludwig I of Poland can't say anything. The king can not only take back a duchy, but also take the opportunity to invade Luxembourg...

   "Where's the Duke of Luxembourg?" asked the king.

  ————

The warden of the Bastille used to be the chief supervisor of the Bastille castle for thirty years, but in these thirty years, he has not seen as many dignitaries as he has seen in the past few years-Louis XIV was a dictator King, young, strong and decisive, a standing army of 150,000 ensures that all his enemies are a tragedy, both outside and within France.

Especially after the king's triumphant return from Holland and Flanders, the guests of the Bastille became more and more distinguished. Just over a year ago, even the Duke of York from England was a guest here. The warden is proud, especially when he hears that the Bastille has been compared to the Tower of London - although he thinks that one day the Bastille will be more famous than the Tower of London.

Just as he was considering whether he should keep some animals in the Bastille (there are ravens in the Tower of London), a guard came in and said that a respectable nobleman came to visit him, and the warden was surprised, He quickly put on his hat, put on his boots, and hurried out to greet him.

The man was in his prime, with an ugly face and plain clothes, but when the warden glanced through the window, he saw him riding a horse worth fifteen hundred livres—his son was also the king’s musketeer—he was It can be estimated at a glance.

The gentleman saw the warden, standing upright, but took off his hat, which had simply a white feather on it, as any officer would, rather than exaggerated ostrich feathers, he looked towards The warden's eyes were cold and stern, as if he was about to draw a rapier at any time to give him a cold heart. When the warden saw the guard let him out of the way, he almost clinged to the wall.

   The warden watched the gentleman, his face felt familiar to him, and he remembered where he had seen this man, hoping it wasn't a wanted portrait, but then he remembered...

   "I am François-Henri de Montmorency-Boutville," he said. "I have come to ask you for a room, sir."

  ——

Back forty-five years ago, there was also a Francois-Henri de Montmorency whose name appeared in the streets of Paris, but unfortunately, the reason was not an affair or other trivial matter , people talked about him with great relish because he even fought another gentleman to the death after Cardinal Richelieu promulgated the "law against one-on-one duels". Under the window of Bishop Richelieu.

This kind of behavior, which can be called provocation, of course made the bishop of Richelieu furious, and he almost did not hesitate to sentence the Count of Boutville to death. It is said that the Count went to death calmly, worrying only about himself. That beautiful beard was cut off ahead of time because he needed to be tortured. No, when his head fell off his shoulders, the beard stayed well on his neck.

At that time, our Duke of Luxembourg was still a fetus in his mother's womb, only six months old. After he was born, his weak mother handed him over to his aunt, that is, Mrs. Prince Condé to raise him, so he and Prince Condé raised him. The relationship between them is incomparable to ordinary brothers and friends.

He had to admit that he did prefer Prince Condé to the throne rather than Louis XIV, but what made his mood even more complicated was that Condé could be another Louis XIII, or even Louis IX, but he was forever Can't be Louis XIV. At least when it comes to exercising the power of a monarch and bearing the same amount of suffering, Condé's performance is nowhere near that of Louis XIV - who always seemed to be able to see far, far, far, even they imagined For the place where he can't reach, for this reason, his eyes won't even fall on his feet, let alone the past.

This is what Condé said to the Duke of Luxembourg, before he became Ludwig I, but the Duke of Luxembourg only thought that although Louis XIV's eyes were always looking further afield, this His Majesty stepped on a small stone When it happens, will it be kicked off at will?

What is in front of the Sun King now is such a small pebble, which is full of conspiracy smells, but... This is too beneficial for the king, the Duke of Luxembourg thought, even if the person who sent this gift has ulterior motives, what can he do to the king? What about damage? He was now like a whale torn apart, and the king's sharks swam beside him, and if the king nodded, they would come and bite wildly.

This feeling of completely entrusting one's fate to another person's conscience is too painful and torturous. The Duke of Luxembourg, who knew about it, did not flee back to Luxembourg or Bordeaux as the informant thought. , or Spain and England, he sat in the room thinking for a while, took out the medals and ribbons that Louis XIV had awarded him, placed them on the table, and looked at them again and again.

   Before dawn, he left Versailles, went to Paris, and knocked on the door of the Bastille.

  ————

  Louis was a little amused when he heard that the Duke of Luxembourg had left for Paris long before the Marquis of Lois came to see him with papers, and had found a room in the Bastille, where he had stayed quietly.

   "Looks like we're going to go," he said.

"Do you want to go in person?" asked the Marquis of Lois, the expression on his face was a little... maybe jealous. If Louis XIV decided to go with the flow and convicted the Duke of Luxembourg, the Marquis of Lois might have to die, but Louis now Deciding to go to the Bastille - certainly not to execute the second François-Henri de Montmorency, only to absolve the duke of Luxembourg himself, he became jealous again.

Of course, the Duke of Orleans would follow. He liked to watch lively when he was still wearing a small skirt, and now it has worsened, but when he arrived at the Bastille, he stayed outside the room with the Marquis of Lois and the warden. .

As I said before, the warden of the Bastille has decided to defeat the Tower of London, so he also prepared comfortable rooms for those noble prisoners, and the Duke of Luxembourg was in one of them, even a small suite, he sat in On a chair, staring at the candle in a daze.

   When he saw Louis XIV, he knew that Prince Condé had won.

   (end of this chapter)