I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 492 The King's Third Royal Expedition (2)

  The Duke of Luxembourg is destined to fail to receive the Duke of Orleans.

Although there are wizards' ravens that can be used, ravens, like all birds, can fly at night, but the speed of flight cannot exceed people's common sense. There are also wizards and Louis XIV who said that in ancient alchemy There are mirrors that allow people to communicate freely - but this mirror is like the mirror in fairy tales, both parties must be wizards, and one party cannot be mortal.

There is also a method that Mary showed the king. The wizard can use the raven's eyes to project what he sees into a crystal ball, and mortals can watch it, but this method can be said to be condescending. The scrutiny and scrutiny of Louis XIV is not even willing to impose it on his trusted minister, let alone his younger brother, the loyal Duke of Orleans? What's more, when the Duke of Orleans arrives in Catalonia, the Catalan nobles may not have one or two credible priests. Given the inextricable and subtle connection between priests and wizards, if they are found to have a pair of eyes. Looking at them nonstop, would they think it was a conspiracy?

Prince Theoderic also assured that the "cat boy" he gave to the king could send back some stronger emotional messages. If the duke was attacked, the cat boy would at least guarantee to run away with him and tell him what they were doing. place.

And because, although the Duke of Orleans is cautious enough in politics and on the battlefield, when he is with his brother, he may be the only one who will not be stabbed or dazed by the sun king's rays. It was agreed to return to Versailles by sea to witness the wedding of his nephew in time for the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin - but instead of leaving at the appointed time, he moved a day earlier.

This is because the ship that the duke is about to take arrived in Barcelona two days in advance. According to the captain, they encountered the pirates of the Ottoman Turks when they were approaching the Gulf of Tunis. Like the British, the navy of the Ottoman Turks is also based on pirates and sailors. As the main force or striker, these businessmen did not just get a new ship and escaped quickly, so they were about to be looted. Therefore, they did not go to Malta according to the scheduled route, but returned directly to Barcelona.

Another nephew of the Duke of Orléans was in Naples. He listened to the merchant and immediately asked him to tell more about the pirates in more detail. In addition to the return of his heart, his scheduled departure date was changed from the original August 1st. Changed to July 31st.

  ———

  The duke stuffed the cat in his pocket, and at the same time he boarded the three-masted ship with his attendants, a dark blue raven was flying over the mountains and threw itself into the city of Barcelona.

But it couldn't find its owner. The wizard had already boarded the ship with the duke. The raven called twice at the window and paced a few steps uneasily. When it was about to fly again to find its owner, the window suddenly opened. , stretched out a hand from the darkness, pinched the raven's neck accurately, and as soon as he tried hard, the poor bird tilted its head and died.

   "Those wizards will find out," said a voice.

   "So what if they found out? They've set sail," said the owner of the hand.

  ———

The ship the Duke of Orléans was on was called the Escudo, to put it simply - the Spanish gold coin was called the Escudo, and for a long time it was circulated as Europa currency until Louis XIV. After the relocation of the world financial center of the Netherlands to Paris, it was gradually replaced by King Louis.

The Escudo was a sizable three-masted galley, with high sails, white as snow, and because it was a new ship, there was a lovely smell of wood and gum everywhere, and the sailors were all lean, and the captain Experienced and French, there is nothing to blame anywhere, they respectfully welcomed the duke and his party aboard, and put the duke in the best cabin, which is often said stern room.

This is a large room that can accommodate dozens of people and can also divide the bedroom and the living room, but although the windows are open to ventilate and the spices are burning, there seems to be a lingering smell of tobacco and alcohol. And the smell of grease, this is because the stern room generally belongs to the captain, but during the day, it will be used as a restaurant, even if not everyone is eligible to dine here, but there are several batches before and after, and tobacco, The smells of rum and bacon tend to penetrate the wood the most.

  The Duke didn't care about this. On the battlefield, he had slept in tents, woods and swamps, and had seen mud melted by flesh and blood. What was the smell of tobacco? He stared at the decoration on the wall with interest. The Escudo was not a pirate ship, but there must be weapons such as machetes and short guns hanging on the wall in the captain's room. "Are these weapons usable?" asked the Duke.

The captain glanced at the musket, "Daggers are fine, knives are fine, but sir, muskets are old-fashioned and can't be fired right away. Flint, gunpowder, and projectiles are all in the drawer below." If it was someone else, he wouldn't say anything. , the reason why he only hangs old-fashioned muskets is to prevent his sailors from clashing with him here, which happens to have sharp weapons readily available.

The Duke    nodded: "Although old things may not be usable, they look beautiful."

  The captain hesitated, wondering if he should take off the ivory-handled pistol and give it to the duke, but who is this, the richest and most powerful man in France! With all but the king bowing to him, would he fancy such a worthless (for a duke) gadget? It might be regarded as a humiliation, but after hesitating, the Duke has already walked in.

A wooden door inlaid with iron bars separates the inner and outer areas. The captain's room has always been the most likely place to arouse people's imagination. In later generations, some ancient hotels will still call the best room the captain's room, but it is different from what people imagine. Different, any cabin, especially this kind of sea ship, can't have too many burdens and decorations, because together with the storm, anything that is not fixed in the room will become deadly bullets and knives, so in this small In the cabin, there is only a small single bed, a hammock, a wooden barrel - for night defecation, this is the captain's prerogative - the ordinary crew can only go to the position of the bow, where there will be an extended section A pointed beak, used for the placement of the head of the boat and as a public toilet. Part of the deck there was an empty grille—with ropes hanging from it, and often novices fell into the sea because they didn't catch the ropes as they stumbled up to solve personal problems.

  Captain needn't worry about this, someone will take care of the filth in the barrel for him, even if he gives the room to the Duke.

   There is also a candlestick fixed to the bulkhead next to the small bed, with a candle fixed on it. The crew's large cabin uses kerosene lamps that may be knocked over and broken at any time. It is obviously not so safe, but cheap.

  The captain also tricked out a small box under the cot, and took out flint, tinder, rum and dried dates, dried meat and the like.

   "You don't need matches?" asked the duke.

"No," the captain said, "that's fine, but it gets wet too easily." In addition to this small chest, there were several large chests that were supposed to contain the captain's treasures—like sugar, gold coins, spices, and clothes. , accessories, etc., but since the Duke of Orleans lives here, the captain didn't think he would like these things, so he stayed in the original room, and now there are several boxes stacked on top of these boxes, which contain the Duke's clothes. , cosmetics and weapons.

  There is also a large mirror hanging behind the door, which the Duke uses for dressing up every morning.

   "We will be back in France in just one day and one night," said the captain. "The wind is just right."

The duke sighed in relief: "Yes," he glanced sideways, and saw the captain of the long-term Ai: "Okay, you can go back to Versailles with me, and I will ask my attendants to arrange one for you on Queen's Road. window."

The captain was overjoyed and bowed again and again. He needed this, not only to see the crown prince and his bride up close, but because he was able to get a window at the Duke's arrangement, which undoubtedly proved that he had climbed on it. This golden branch may soar to prosperity at any time. Next, he made up his mind to make the duke happy during this short journey, so before the duke went to bed, he was even offered a vat of hot bath water.

  The Duke asked the attendants to open the windows—this is also a privilege reserved for the most honorable people on the ship. The cabins of the ordinary crew are all below the deck. In order to prevent water from entering, there are no portholes in the cabins. It is pitch black and the air is turbid.

The silver-blue moonlight poured in from the small window, and the sea breeze carried the moist fresh air over the duke's exposed skin, blowing away the steam, the duke shivered comfortably, and from here he could even see the fading away. Barcelona, ​​Barcelona is not like Paris, there are no street lamps lit all night, and there is only a black shadow at night, like a sleeping monster under the indigo sky.

Small foam kept pouring into the room, the water in the tub was undulating, and the duke inside was like a baby shaken in his mother's arms. He closed his eyes slightly - it was July and August, and he was on the southern side of the Mediterranean. , the temperature has been raised to the point where the bath water can be guaranteed to be warm for a long time, and he asked the attendant to bring him a glass of wine, no wine, rum is also OK - the captain's wine has been opened, he will not will drink. Although the captain proudly declared that the bottle of rum was his collection of white rum - the kind that could be ignited.

"I don't know what my brother is doing now." The Duke muttered. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the candle lit before bathing had been shortened by a thumb's length, but the attendant had not returned, so he whispered twice The attendant who should be guarding outside the door did not reply.

   He stood up from the tub, walked quietly to the bed with bare feet, and put out the candle with a damp towel. The moon should be brighter in the dark, but it was the opposite. The duke leaned down and quietly opened the small box, dumping the rum into the small wooden barrel used for pooping, while taking out a tinder pistol—a tinder-like pistol—from his coat hanging by the bed. Box and tinder box amalgamation, but better. Better than flint and matches.

   At this time, he looked out the window again, and what he saw was a thick fog, as if it had fallen into milk.

The Duke stood in the shadows, motionless, the water in the tub exuded the last heat, perhaps because of this, a group of small black shadows that suddenly rushed in from the window failed to find their prey, and plunged into the water— They let out irritable and high-pitched shouts, collided with each other, mixed with a large crackling sound, and when they were about to fly out of the tub again, they hit a raging fire head-on!

It was lit rum - thankfully the captain didn't brag too much, it was indeed high white rum, possibly with a refinement, the duke was almost sure by a sniff, it burned in the air like a A bright curtain made the Duke see what was coming.

   A group of tiny moths.

Some of them were on fire, some were soaked in water, but most of them were still able to vibrate their wings and drop dust-like scales that were so dense that the mortal Duke could see it. He was restrained by the ground, and he waved his wet long underwear and rushed towards the door.

Those scales and powder fell on him, and the skin suddenly felt a pain like being burned by charcoal. The Duke patted his long underwear behind him and knocked down several moths in a row - although he didn't know what it was, the other hand Pick up the empty wine bottle and knock **** the mirror behind the door!

An icy aura spewed out from the broken mirror, rolled towards the moths, mixed with scales and powder, and drowned the entire room, almost at the same moment when the mirror shattered. I don't know why the room could never be opened. The door leaned forward—opened, and the duke fell out of the room, so to speak, and all of a sudden, his eardrums were about to burst—it was a myriad of thin, high-pitched noises, like moths in a tub But it was many times bigger than the one that came out of it. As soon as the duke lowered his head, he couldn't help but vomit. He tasted the smell of blood, and his ears and eyes were sticky. to his servant.

  The young man fell among a pile of cables, holding a musket in one hand and a dagger in the other. Good young man, he is still resisting resolutely at the last moment. What about his enemy? The duke didn't see it, and with a little light leaking from the fog—probably an unextinguished kerosene lamp, he saw the squire's face and hands, densely covered with moths.

The duke couldn't understand how he saw it. Those moths were no different from the gray-black moths he usually saw, with long and short fingers, fluffy all over, and white scales on their wings. They had larger abdomens than butterflies. It is rapidly expanding, showing a ruby-like color.

   (end of this chapter)