I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 422 Hell on Earth (Part 2)

  Queen Antonia, an Austrian princess, how could she know about such a secret place and Bella of the Molillo family?

   of course because of Carlos II.

Even when she was married and suffered like that, Antonia still had a little ridiculous fantasy. She knew that her face was ugly, and she also knew that Carlos II once wanted the grand princess of France, the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, to be the queen. Go to Paris yourself. She has also seen the small portrait of the princess. Even if it is a small portrait, the beautiful face is still enough to make people feel fascinated, and judging from the works passed on by the poets, this great princess is not an empty shell. puppet.

Not to mention, she still had a large dowry, and when she was about to get married, Leopold I was still lamenting that he did not have a suitable marriage partner, and the Prussians were cheap. He allowed the marriage (and at the same time agreed to the request for the promotion of the Duchy of Brandenburg to the Kingdom of Prussia), because the Archduke of Brandenburg promised that if the marriage was successful, he could move a part of the dowry of the Grand Duchy for the benefit of Opold I settles war debts due to the Great War.

   A princess' dowry is enough to solve an emperor's troubles, but one can imagine how full her dowry box is. It is impossible to say that she is not envious. As for Antonia, all her father's assets are negative numbers, and she needs to use tax rights and domestic iron ore to repay her debts. Her dowry is naturally very... not impressive. It is normal for Carlos II to hate her. - She thought so at the time.

   But she soon learned that a normal person, yes, doesn't even need to be a good person, he wouldn't treat an innocent person like this.

   Carlos II is a wise beast.

There is nothing more terrifying than this. When a person is wise, God will definitely want him to use his wisdom to create beauty and goodness. What God does not know is that there are some people whose wisdom is also related to beauty and goodness. , but not to create, but to destroy.

Along the way, from the dormitory to the corridor, from the square to the alley, going down the stairs from the open iron gate, Carlos II has been holding the queen's hand tightly, and when he enters the mausoleum where the sun cannot be seen, she is simply being dragged away.

The servants and maids of Carlos II and the queen were all left outside. There are only two kinds of villains who help the emperor, one is the priest of the Spanish Inquisition, and the other is the black from Flanders or other places. Wizards, it is ridiculous that the original intention of the Inquisition was to arrest wizards, but they did not expect that hundreds of years later they began to work for a king, although they still tried to center on the king as much as possible, sitting or standing against each other.

   It is best to turn this ancient underground tomb into a prison and interrogation room. This kind of mausoleum was originally ventilated - after all, although this place is for the dead, there are always people entering to see off or mourn, that is, the wind passing through the soil and rocks is always a little colder, but it doesn't matter, torches are used here for lighting and heating, There are also charcoal fire trays that last day and night, so that the executioners can burn red irons and other torture instruments at any time.

When Carlos II brought the queen for the first time, he also said that he wanted to watch a performance with her. Antonia also looked forward to it - Louis XIV often brought the queen in public places, and she was ashamed and dared not ask for it. The love of Carlos II, then at least you can get a little respect, even if it's just outside the bedroom.

   Then she saw Bella, Bella of Molillo.

  The girl wearing only a linen robe shivered, not knowing what she was about to face. Carlos II was the accuser, the judge, and the executioner—he complained that the shameless witch bit his hand and kicked him between his legs when he was in bed with him— The important thing is that the latter, Carlos II was naturally furious, and the priests who acted like tigers began to question Bella if this was the case.

  Antonia, in retrospect, was nothing but a sickening conspiracy. Innocent Bella is still arguing that the king forced her, she has a lover outside the palace, and she has agreed to get married next year or the year after, she is sorry for her hurting the king, but if she can, she Hope to get the king's forgiveness.

   Little did they know that the priests were waiting.

   Maybe it's no use if she doesn't say a word, but with this word, they can deal with her as they do witches and sinners.

   They first ripped off Bella's linen robe. The poor girl still had contrasting bruises and scars on her skin. When the priests saw it, they said that it was the mark left by the devil. She must be a witch. Then they used pure water to re-verify that she had made a deal with the devil—there could be no river in the execution chamber, so they brought the bucket full of water.

The shame and pain made Bella cry out - some days later, when Antonia pretended to be pregnant and gave birth, she thought, maybe this is the punishment God gave herself, and she was so scared that she couldn't even say a word. .

  When Bella spit water from her mouth, the teachers claimed that she was the wife of the devil and could not accept pure water, so she expelled it without a drop. The accusation of the witch was irrefutable, and the next step was the execution.

  As Antonia said, if Carlos II caught the brave lady, she would have to face far more terrible than burning her hands or gouging out her internal organs.

   They tied the poor girl to a big cross fixed on the ground. Carlos II personally acted as the executioner, and he burned the girl's body with a red-hot iron.

   Antonia and Bella screamed together.

The Queen    remembered clearly that the priest behind her held her shoulders firmly, and she wanted to close her eyes but couldn't.

   There was only a little bit of blood. I don't know if it was drugged or not, Bella was always conscious. Antonia even fainted and woke up again, with tears streaming down her face like Bella.

   Carlos II was very happy. He watched the priests finish their work, and perhaps he felt that it was not enough, or that Antonia's intense emotions aroused his dissatisfaction, and he asked the queen to come and judge sinners like him.

   He gave Bella the hanging.

   How gracious that sounds! But the Spanish hanging is not like France or other countries, where a rope is placed at a high place, and the sinner's neck is put on it, and then the footstep is removed or he is allowed to jump. The rope loop is wrapped around the neck and the characteristic back of the chair. The executioner puts an iron rod through the rope loop, turns the iron rod, tightens the rope loop, and finally hangs the person.

This kind of hanging has nothing to praise except that it makes the executioner more laborious and the victim more painful (it takes a long time to hang the sinner because the force is spread over the whole rope), so when the rope is placed in On Bella's neck, Antonia held an iron rod—she was just a child, how could she have the strength to hang Bella at once?

The ropes loosened and loosened, Bella groaned in pain, and Antonia was about to collapse: "Please, God," she prayed: "Mother, please, let her die , let her die..." At this time, the unbearable thing finally happened - Bella actually prayed with her, God, if there is a person here, even if he or she is dead, he or she will not allow this. things happen.

  It is a pity that there are only a group of real devils here. They crawled out of purgatory and deeply hated this beautiful world. When they saw this scene, they laughed out loud. Carlos II even asked for wine and drank it.

  Antonia thought she must be crazy at that time, she threw the iron bar at Carlos II, but she had no strength, so it seemed that the iron bar just fell from her hand.

   "You are so disappointing," said Carlos II contemptuously.

Antonia thought he would continue, or let someone else hang Bella, but Carlos II had a new idea, Bella and Antonia were taken to another interrogation room, where only one iron statue stood - Iron The virgin, another terrifying torture device that breaks the hearts of sinners. When Bella was put in, she immediately let out a scream of pain, and the blood flowed down her back, her legs, and her toes. Unlike people imagined, the sinner is standing in the iron maiden. At the beginning, The Iron Maiden is tilted or laid flat, and long iron nails pierce the sinner's body from outside the statue. When the Iron Maiden is erected, the prisoner inside is "hanged".

   The "door" was not closed immediately, and the priest was still adjusting his eyes, the iron nails at the heart and the liver, so as not to immediately execute the sinners inside and make the king unhappy.

  Antonia still has a hard time believing that she even rushed over without thinking, using all her strength, and slammed into the "door".

After    a suppressed scream, she was immediately pulled open and the door opened, but it was too late, and three fatal nails pierced Bella's eyes, heart and abdomen deeply.

   She was still smiling slightly.

Antonia was beaten more than a dozen times because of this. Of course, what she said to the queen mother was that the queen went to the monastery, and after being inspired by the saints, she voluntarily received the "bitter whip" - Carlos II seemed to be sensible at that time. kill her. She slept groggyly in the heat for a long time, a pale and smiling face floating forever in the darkness.

   Maybe at that time, she decided to watch Carlos II die.

   She admitted that she was a selfish coward, but she also thought that if in the end, the Spaniards did not want their king to go to God or go to hell, then let her come.

  ——————

Now that Mrs. Milady has the key word Santo Domingo, the next thing to do is much simpler. The only trouble is that now this monastery belongs to the Toledo Inquisition, and those who are in harmony with Carlos II The clergy of Spain were extremely vigilant that anyone approaching would arouse their suspicion, and everyone knew that the Spanish Inquisition did not need evidence to arrest sinners.

   "But they must miss the era of the Two Kings," said Mrs. Milady.

Everyone present knew what he meant. The king and queen of the double king era, as well as the Inquisition, were the same raccoon dog. They sheltered and supported each other. It's not an exaggeration, but since the two kings passed away one after another, the subsequent kings and queens have to be much more careful. Maybe they also found that the knife of the Inquisition was too sharp.

The priests of the    Inquisition probably had the idea of ​​seeking political rights for a long time. They catered to Carlos II indefinitely and condoned his madness. Maybe they planned to use this period of time to switch from religion to court, from behind the scenes to the front.

  There is a reason for them to be extra vigilant. After all, they have to fight against an entire Spanish court.

Others might be embarrassed, but Mrs. Milady soon invited two helpers, and yes, the priests in the Inquisition were once sorcerers, so that neither mortal nor ordinary priest could pretend to be them, but Louis XIV also had real priests of the Inquisition.

   Mrs. Milady doesn't need them to do anything, just go and see.

  They went, and when they came back they were pale, and when they were telling their situation, almost all of them, except Mrs. Milady, ran out and vomited.

Milady was peaceful. Fortunately, this group of young people did not go through the reign of the Queen Dowager Medici-although the nominal king at that time was her three sons, but it was either the Italian Queen Dowager or Richet who presided over government affairs. stay bishop.

  These two are out-and-out political enemies, and they agree on one thing: their hatred of the Huguenots.

  The most well-known is the massacre. What they don't know is that in the prison of the Inquisition, most of them are Protestants who can't survive or die.

  The wisdom and patience of human beings in how to torture their own kind is far more than how to cook food. The torture instruments that were placed in front of Mrs. Milady are more abundant than the king's banquet dishes. She has suffered some of them and used more.

   After Louis XIV came to power, he gradually banned some cruel punishments. These young people may have heard of it, but they may have seen only empty cages.

  Mrs. Milady considered whether this was her own omission, and looked around the crowd to see if there were any people who were afraid of it and made a mistake. Fortunately, these young people did not need to hide in Toledo for a long time.

   When this matter is over, Toledo will only keep a few of the most reliable people.

   After all…

  Toledo would be plunged into a chaos of unparalleled proportions.

   (end of this chapter)