I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 466 Scarlet City (Part 2)

  Some people wanted to take advantage of the fire, but others thought it was a good opportunity to flatter the enemy. They met in the square of the chapel and immediately fought.

   When the Duke of Orleans was considering whether to take the opportunity to escape, Gemma moved. This time it was her turn to hold the Duke, and the Duke did not know how she did it. He only felt that he was empty, and the whole person flipped and fell - a short distance, without injury, Gemma fell on his side, the Duke held the dagger and looked up, the gap between the stone bricks above showed silk The wisps of light changed from dark to bright. It seemed that the battle outside the door had come to an end. The victors were coming to the altar with torches. They may not be familiar with the chapel, but it was only a matter of time before they found them.

But Gemma pulled the Duke and took the lead to climb forward. This tunnel was narrow before, but it became wider after ten feet. Gemma pulled out a candle and a match from nowhere. She put the candle After lighting the fire, the duke suddenly found that the secret path under the altar should be connected to an underground corridor. This type of underground corridor is very common in churches, and it is usually connected to the mausoleum. Sure enough, when they can walk forward quickly with their heads lowered, one side of the corridor can be seen. A vast mausoleum lined with dry bones appeared.

Like many areas in southern Europa, Roussillon is hot and rainy, and because it is high on a cliff, there is no need to worry about water accumulation or torrents. The air here is particularly hot and turbid, and the corpses wrapped in linen or satin are glistening with darkness. The phosphorescence - where the candle's light couldn't cast it, but it also pointed them in the direction - the duke could feel them going down, down, and at last he heard the sound of the water, and the air began to get wet and bare The skin outside was also uneven due to the bouts of cold.

They took off their boots and stepped into the water, it's hard to imagine that there is an underground river here, the duke is not sure if it's artificial or natural, all he can say is that the water here is chilly, that Catalan woman She kept walking forward, as if she was not afraid of whether the duke would do anything against her out of anger or fear - if the duke of Orleans hadn't been surrounded by so many women like snakes, lions or falcons. , he may really be angry, anyway, from the gender, birth and wealth given by God, the Duke and this woman are undoubtedly worlds apart, and in the eyes of people at this time, the superior has a natural Power rewards or punishes beings who are lower than him.

   After trudging through the water and darkness for a few minutes, they finally saw a dim blue sky.

   The Duke let out a long sigh. Fresh air had never been so precious to him. "Where have we been?" he asked.

Gemma raised her hand to wipe the dirt and water off her face. The duke noticed that her hand was trembling so desperately that she couldn't even complete this small movement. It turned out that she would still be afraid. Indeed, he You can't expect the world to be full of wicked women like Mrs. Milady or Mrs. Montespan that men fear.

  Gemma stretched out her hand and pointed upwards. As soon as the duke looked up, he saw Roussillon’s gray-black red city wall in the night because it was colored with ochre.

   "We are in the outer city."

The duke said that he knew what the outer city meant, and so did Paris. Outside the city walls, there would be a large hut of shacks and even mud dens for the migrants, who were doing jobs that the humblest Parisians would not do. The commoners in Paris are like mice. They are the bed bugs that everyone hates. There are an astonishing number of them, and their origins are very confusing and difficult to ask. Anyway, when he was rectifying Paris for his brother, the outer city was a big problem.

   Gemma nodded.

   "Won't they follow me?"

  Gemma smiled and shook his head, very sure, the duke thought, the priest must have arranged something there, maybe that was a way out for him.

   "Where are we going now?"

Gemma pointed in another direction. Although the Duke could see things clearly at night, in this strange place, he probably couldn't figure out what Gemma was talking about, but they soon set off in the bright night, Duke Occasionally, when he turned back, he could see that the sky in Roussillon was turning red, a red he was familiar with, and it seemed that every riot was accompanied by arson.

   Maybe they were far away, and they didn't hear any shouting and crying.

They walked through the grass and gravel to the middle of the sky. The duke saw the path - which meant that there must be a village or a town not far away. He put his hand on the musket again and looked around vigilantly. He waved his hand, as if asking him not to worry, but the duke had already seen two large poplar trees, and hanging from the poplars was a sight that is now hard to see in Paris - three or four people who were hanged.

   "It does seem better to hang a man from a gas lamppost than a tree," murmured the Duke, "at least not so crowded. "He was a little less wary, because these unfortunate people were already skeletons, and they were even scattered all over the ground, and they had been hanging here for at least several months.

With such a scene, it's no wonder that there is no anger outside the village, but when they entered the village, the duke realized that the inside was more desolate than the outside. This was a village that was about to be abandoned. They walked all the way, everywhere. It is a house that was burned or collapsed. Although the houses inhabited by the commoners are not as strong as the nobles, it can be seen that there have been one or many disasters here.

   One or two heads stick out, and under the unkempt hair is a numb face, wrinkled, and for a moment, the duke can't tell the difference between them and the corpses in the mausoleum.

Gemma was familiar with the place, and she led the duke into a barely tidy house, like the commoner house the duke had about to forget. The out-of-bed bed (but still on the shelf) was mixed with straw and soil, and Gemma dug out the clay pot from the corner of the house." Pointing to his lips, the duke guessed that she was going to fetch water, and he was thirsty too. .

When Gemma brought the water back, the duke poured a little water purification medicine into the clay pot. This was the ration of the army. He thought it would not be used, but it seems... his brother and the king are very interested in these Catalans. There are indeed reasons why the Nians do not hold out much hope.

Gemma stared at the duke, seeing the water in the pot from being slightly turbid to clean, her eyes lit up slightly, when the duke felt enough, she walked out with the pot, and the duke stood outside the door , seeing that she was pouring water for the old man who didn't know when, some of them could still find wooden bowls or spoons, and some of them just drank directly with their hands.

Roussillon is known as the red city, but it is not so safe after the wealth of beautiful legends and pigment ores. The water here has a faint metallic smell. Gemma called There are also colors. People here are afraid that they have not been able to drink clean water for a long time.

  After all, clean water is also a kind of wealth. Haven’t read the novels of knights or long songs to mention that the master gives “clean water” to priests or guests?

   "Are you from this village?" asked the duke, sitting on a stone that might have been used to tie a horse.

Originally, he thought that Gemma would take him to a chaotic area in the outer city, which could indeed delay the time to be traced, but more people also means more eyes and ears, maybe when the Spanish soldiers shouted, It will be remembered that there is indeed such a misfit suddenly appearing beside them; but Gemma brought him here, this is a village obviously abandoned, and these old people are not here because they are nostalgic for their hometown or anything else. The reason is because he can't walk anymore. He has seen such old people in Lorraine, Germain-en-Laye, and Versailles. Sometimes it's amazing, and he doesn't know how they survived.

   Gemma ignored him.

   "They are going to fail," said the Duke.

   Gemma turned her head and looked at him. Although she couldn't speak, she could see that she had doubts.

"That's my secret," said the duke. "There are too many people who know me." His brother said that two people's secrets are not secrets, and then he got a grand reception in Roussillon... He really didn't know What are these people thinking, who can control the mind of another, no one, how can they be sure that no one will be bought by the Spaniards? Given that the Governor is not very stupid.

   He bid farewell to his daughter early, but got such a ridiculous ending.

Even the arrival of the Duke of Orleans can be sold by them, and the riots of the Catalans should also be seen in front of the governor. It only depends on whether the Spanish governor can really control his soldiers and mercenaries. , If it can, this riot will end before it begins.

   Father Clarice, who came to the village alone the next day, gave him the answer.

   "We have not failed," said the priest.

   "But it's about to fail." The Duke said simply, based on the riots he had experienced: "You failed to take the fort, what about the city?"

   "Neither." said the priest embarrassedly: "But we surrounded the outer city."

   "Your numbers and equipment are incomparable with the regular army," said the duke. "When the reinforcements arrive in Roussillon, you will be attacked on both sides."

   "There will be no reinforcements," said the priest proudly. "What you see is not all."

That is to say, the insurrection was not only in the city of Roussillon, but in the whole region of Roussillon. "Then it is a good thing to say that you will fight as an army," said the duke: "I remember that M. Tamarit told us Buy artillery and guns."

   "Yes," said the priest, "listen, that is the roar of artillery."

  ———

The Duke of Orleans wondered if he should thank the priest at least for remembering that he didn't bring anyone else this time. He told the Duke, please be patient, they haven't been able to clear out the traitors in the ranks... Let Tamarit and him both Surprisingly, there are quite a few Catalans who oppose Louis XIV and support Leopold I... and the Duke of Orleans can only be speechless at their innocence.

As for the conditions, the duke has always been pampered, but we all know that a soldier must have enough perseverance to become a soldier. He also lived a difficult life on the battlefield. The priest brought some cheese, bread and wine. Support for a few days is no problem.

   But he avoided some of the questions raised by the duke, apparently still not ready to let him meddle in Catalan affairs.

In this unfamiliar and turbulent place, the priest is not worried that the duke will escape. With all the Spaniards everywhere, even if they don't know the true identity of the duke, they will definitely not let a stranger who looks very different, let alone a stranger. The governor must have reported that the Duke of Orleans came to Roussillon. In view of the ambiguous attitude between Madrid and the court of Toledo, the situation of the Duke of Orleans is not optimistic.

  The duke was not as noisy or dissatisfied as the priest had feared, but he just walked around the village and seemed very happy and safe.

"...you say little Gemma. Poor little Gemma, her father and fiancé were both accused of being part of the riot, so she was hanged, and her brother was taken to hard labor—a rower on a boat. You know Yes, that kind of oarsmen are fixed under the deck with shackles, and the ship sank... Her mother became a wandering girl to support the remaining children, that kind of cheap..." The old man tilted his head: " Then she got sick and died, and then she took over her mother's job, and she didn't want to marry anyone anyway - where a Castilian soldier cut her throat."

   "Why?" asked the Duke of Orleans, continuing to stuff the old man with a piece of cheese. Could it be because he heard some secret? But very few people would say something to the wandering girl in that kind of place, and even if there were, it would be of little use, like the king's Mrs. Milady and the little birds-they were either expensive "names", or Disguised as a noble girl with a volatile temperament, it is possible to get in touch with valuable information and people.

The old man smiled: "Sir," he quickly shoved the cheese into his toothless mouth: "Is there any reason why the soldiers of Castile want to do something in a place like that? He also Lost money, lost a silver peso."

The duke was speechless, he knew that not every monarch in this world would have the same compassion for lowly commoners as his brother, let alone those in newly occupied territories that might have been enemies (and perhaps still are), things like that It would have happened in Paris or Lorraine decades ago, but I couldn't help feeling shocked when I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears.

   "The priest should have helped her," said the duke, showing the old man the bread in his pocket: "Where are her brothers and sisters?"

"Father... ah, yes, it's a pity that he came a little late." The old man smiled mysteriously: "No one dares to buy a woman who is dying, and the children are sick again." In the case of insufficient food, the children are It is easy to fall ill, and once sick, death may come to visit at any time - "But..." He reached out and took out the bread.

   Duke's intuition told him that the next sentence was the most important. "I still have a bottle of wine."

   "So Gemma killed them."

   (end of this chapter)