I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 371 A little episode

Three hundred years later, people can see a pointer in the historical pavilion of Versailles. It is made of ash wood and wrapped with black silk thread at the handle. Other than that, there is no decoration, and it is different from the other exhibits in the pavilion. There is a world of difference. If it were not placed in a glass cabinet with a constant temperature and humidity, some people might think it was a tool that the commentator placed in the corner.

Undoubtedly, it has aroused the curiosity of many people. People who don't understand why such a thing is so cherished and preserved can't help but look at the commentary next to it. After a few minutes, their faces almost There is always a smile of understanding that emerges—especially for parents with many children.

   It is really just an ordinary ash wood pointer, the key is that it has slapped the **** of several distinguished people.

  ——

When the Duke of Orleans ran down, the situation was already under control. Of course the defeated Spaniards were furious, but as Ferdinand said, this is Versailles, not Madrid or Toledo, and the Duke of Orleans promised to give them a reply , they can't force these Frenchmen to pay the price right away - they're not entirely on the right side either, Carlos II's squires were making a fuss, and any time a group of men should keep abreast of a young lady Respect and tolerance are.

When Carlos II returned to the room, he was still a little absent-minded. His mind was full of what the Archbishop of Toledo and Patinho had instilled in him. The majesty that a king should have, the archbishop used some despicable methods that are hard to be praised, which made him not care about those attendants at all - only Alberoni and Jose Patinho were barely able to be regarded by him. Look at it alone - he went straight back to his dormitory, and began to concentrate on rummaging in his luggage. What kind of gift should he give the grand princess?

And the two attendants he relied on, Father Albert and Patinho, had already assumed the responsibility to appease the other Spanish attendants. Patinho severely reprimanded the unwilling young people, because in the multi-person duel, the French People did not use any despicable or shameless means, their companions were killed and four wounded because they underestimated the enemy, and in addition, they should keep in mind that their mission was not to fight the French, but to fight the French. To bring back a noble and rich bride for their king.

   Of course, now add beauty and health.

Father Albert said that he would pray for the dead colleague. Fortunately, the French will never allow the second dead to appear, and the wounds left by the rapier will not make them crippled. This is their misfortune, But it can also be used as a bargaining chip in the negotiation, in which case they were wounded and lost their lives at Versailles.

  It took them a long time to get rid of their indignant Spanish companions—people who didn't deserve a room at Versailles.

"Do you think... the King of France will make concessions at the negotiating table because of this?" Patinho asked, Father Albert who was a few years older than him and the heir appointed by the Archbishop of Toledo. The clergyman still held some respect.

   "I would prefer that we have a chance to negotiate." Father Albert said: "France is not the France of 20 years."

   "Your Majesty is the King of Spain," Patinho said.

"Perhaps the biggest problem is also here," Father Albert recalled what the Archbishop of Toledo had said to him, deeply concerned, and only hoped that this secret would not be the same as the previous one (referring to the card before receiving the dark wizard treatment Carlos II was infertile) was leaked - for Louis XIV, Spain was not obtained through the marriage of Carlos II to the Grand Duke, or it was in France's best interest not to have this marriage .

   Now they can only pray that the nobles and ministers of France can, as last time, for the sake of the country and their own interests, send the grand county master to the altar of the Spaniards.

  ———

Not to mention how delusional the Spaniards were, Louis XIV was not as hesitant as Patinho and Father Albert had expected, if not Jose Patinho, but Juan Patty Neo is here, he will not easily believe the words of the Duke of Orleans - there are many things that will never be answered without immediate answers. The Duke of Orleans has the right to make judgments and decisions immediately, but he does not, It means he doesn't really care about it at all.

Under the leadership of the Duke of Orleans, the group of teenagers did not seem to have made a mistake, but walked into the king's drawing room with their heads held high as if they had made a contribution. Louis XIV leaned against the desk, seemingly casually. Looking through a document, he only smiled at them when the Duke of Orleans saluted him, leaned on his shoulder and whispered what had just happened.

   "Mary," he called by the name of the Grand Princess, "you take your maids back to your room first."

  The Grand Princess bowed her knees, she already felt something was wrong, and when she turned around, she seized the opportunity to throw a warning look at Frederick, making the boys more cautious.

  God knows what the eldest son and heir of the Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia is thinking - he winks back at the grand county lord.

  The Grand County Lord rolled his eyes to the sky, and it seemed that he could only resign himself to fate.

   "I know what you just did," said Louis XIV, and the boys turned their eyes away from the moving figures and looked at the ground respectfully.

   "And please forgive our recklessness, Your Majesty," Frederick stepped forward and said, "But then..."

Louis waved his hand, "I know the virtues of those Spaniards," he said lightly: "No, I'm not blaming you, why should I blame you, whether it's the king of France or the grand dame uncle."

"And me, as a father, I should thank you." The Duke of Orleans also said with a smile: "Your thoughts coincide with mine, and I have always wanted to beat these Spaniards. —Maybe a lot."

   "You are a good father," Ferdinand said, thinking that perhaps all the fathers of the Bourbon royal family were so concerned about their children.

"I can only say that I will definitely do my best to make my children happy." The Duke of Orleans looked at them. Besides Carlos II, there were also two strong competitors here, one was the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. , One is the eldest son of the Elector of Brandenburg, but for those greedy nobles, Tuscany and Brandenburg are absolutely impossible to compare with Spain. As for whether the appearance of Carlos II is ugly, Whether the sudden recovery has an inside story, and how complicated and dangerous the situation in Spain is, are not in their consideration. When a princess married in a foreign country, she has always suffered, and sometimes her life is in danger. People are accustomed to this.

   "Therefore," said Louis XIV, "not only will we not punish you, but we will reward you, good gentlemen."

When Louis XIV officially gave the reward for the first time, the targets were Viscount Turenne and General Schumberg. At that time, he was too shy and could only reward them with his own accessories. Of course, the current Sun King will not. With this apprehension, the seven boys, Frederick, Ferdinand, Anwar, and several young officers, including the young Duke of Enghien, who was only eight years old, cheered the others loudly during the duel, each Everyone got a gilt musket, and ten gold louis, which the king used to reward brave soldiers in battle - these gold louis are not the head of the king, but the Roman **** of war Mars holding a spear. profile.

This made the boys who were a little nervous at first excited and proud. Just as they blushed with excitement and looked at the king's reward, the Duke of Orleans coughed a few times and pulled back their Attention: "Well, in that case," he said, "with us, things come to an end. Next," he said, "I think Her Majesty the Queen may want to talk to you, gentlemen."

   When Anver and the others were still a little unclear, Frederick and Ferdinand's expressions suddenly changed.

There is an ancient tradition involved here, from the Middle Ages on, princes, and even kings, would send their sons to the castles of their lords (yes, one king could also be a vassal of another) to receive how The orthodox education to become a knight, in addition to martial arts, the education of these boys in etiquette, music and art, is entrusted to the hostess of the castle.

Ferdinand and Frederick, and Anwar and the Duke of Enghien, and the young officers—their fathers were both generals and ministers of Louis XIV, or vassals, all Royal Military Academy students, and have their own room in Versailles, that is to say - they are protected by Louis XIV and Queen Teresa, and they are also taught by them, standing in the position of a soldier and a king, the king and the The Dukes of Orleans would only applaud their actions, but from the queen's standpoint, as masters and half masters, it was a great disrespect to confront the guests and should be punished.

Frederick finally knew what the glance of the Grand County Lord meant to him before he left, but it was too late... The king and the Duke of Orleans had already walked out of the room quickly, while the queen was holding a smile with a helpless smile. The ash pointer came in.

   "Okay," she waved the pointer with satisfaction, listening to it whizzing in the air: "Boys," she said, "Take your pants off and lift your ass."

  ——

This pointer, collected by the sometimes nasty Monsieur Bontang, spanked two kings, a grand duke and a duke, and these four were also famous in history, but at this time they didn't know there would be How many people come to look at this pointer that spanked four respectable buttocks, Queen Teresa is not a strong man, and rarely punishes servants and maids, but it seems that all mothers have experience on how to spank their children, she is fair Treated everyone honestly, making sure they were in terrifying pain without any real harm—except for their tiny, fragile hearts.

Few people know about this matter. The reply from the Spaniards only said that the perpetrator was indeed punished, but there was nothing they could do. Their king Carlos II did not want the grand county master to think that he was too aggressive, and killed a The Spaniard is the son of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and he is not French, and the entanglement is even more difficult to sort out.

That night, poor Ferdinand slowly moved back to his room--he felt as if he was sitting by mistake on a pot of burning coals, but fortunately their room was not far from the king's suite, A wizard and a doctor awaited the little lord in his room, and he drank the potion. "I still feel the pain," he muttered.

   "This potion is only to ensure that you will not have a fever." The wizard said plainly: "It is not for pain relief."

   "Aren't there any painkillers?" Ferdinand asked.

   The wizard grinned, "No."

Ferdinand wailed, he knew that this must be the will of the king or the queen, they really... did it a little bit. Although the Spaniards were rude, it was not impossible for him to deal with it. Carlos II was seeing the big The attitude of the county master became very gentle, but this gentleness stabbed their eyes and hearts, and they certainly knew why the Spanish king came.

   In the hearts of teenagers, of course, intrigue and profit are nothing compared to appearance and a healthy body.

   He sighed. He didn't like or love the eldest daughter of the Duke of Orleans as much as the others.

   But if you don't handle it well, you will be beaten by her...

   "You think I'll beat you up?"

The sudden sound from the darkness almost made Ferdinand jump up, but he fell down immediately - because the other side slapped him where he was injured, the hand was cold and rough, and the two made contact. The sound is clear and loud.

Ferdinand was about to faint—to make sure his swollen buttocks wouldn’t get more painful and hotter from rubbing against the blankets, so his servants made him lie down on the bed bare-bones, that is, He's only wearing a shirt now... "Eva?"

"it's me."

   Eva sat beside his bed and looked at him through the dark blue sky, as if looking at some rare animal: "I thought you were just joking, or polite."

   "Why do you think so?" Ferdinand said: "You are beautiful."

   "I'm just the daughter of a privateer captain," Eva said. "I also had a husband and children."

   "Love can't see these, love can only see you." Ferdinand said.

There was a long silence after   , and he heard the other party laugh: "...you're right," Eva said softly, "it's just love."

   She held out her hand.

  ——

  The next day, Louis XIV specially asked Mr. Bontang to see the children. They were all recovering well. Only Ferdinand's injury aggravated for unknown reasons.

   It's too late today, so there's more to add, we'll continue tomorrow.

   (end of this chapter)