I Am Louis XIV

After being summoned by Leopold I, Prince Conti went to see Milady with mixed feelings. This beautiful lady sat at the window with a needle and thread on her knee, unlike any woman he had seen before. There is no difference, but it is she who manipulated nearly a handful of monarchs in the palm of her hand, and designed an unprecedented big scam, involving hundreds of thousands of people.

"You shouldn't see me again," said Milady; "but never mind, I'm leaving Austria soon."

Prince Conti sat down in front of her upright, and nodded respectfully: "I understand that this move is indeed a bit reckless, but I have too many questions in my heart, and if I don't get answers, I will be like the one who can't crack the Sphinx." Toss and turn like the enigmatic King Laios of Thebes."

"Okay," Milady smiled, "You can ask whatever you want, and I will definitely answer everything."

"What happened to Count Eusebius in Mostar?"

"Meet a bunch of crooks," said Milady bluntly.

Prince Conti's pupils dilated visibly for a moment. "How is that possible?" Dutiful fool, if he gets to Mostar, he should know how to find the Governor of Bosnia and get the real news from him."

"As the saying goes, a hundred lies or a hundred truths are not worth a lie out of ninety-nine truths," said Milady, "except for the Governor of Bosnia whom he met, Your Highness, everything else is true." Yes, although those Ottoman Turks only know that they are playing with a stupid Austrian, they don't know why the count came, but his identity is enough for them to be willing to cooperate with the liars to put on a good show on the stage, Of course, the jingling of gold coins is a must, and maybe someone will report it to the Governor of Bosnia, but whether he is aware of the wind or not, the best course of action is to allow this scam to end perfectly."

Prince Conti put himself in his shoes and thought about it. If he were the governor of Bosnia, when he was questioned by the Sudanese envoy, the stupid mistakes and jokes made by an Austrian would be better than any excuse.

"Who are those liars?"

"The little-known little people, it must be said, they often play the role of monarchs and ministers on the stage."

"You let a group of criminals do this?"

"Not only criminals," in fact, the main actor is Mr. Molière, who is now well-known in Paris, and the dancing girl is his lover Julie Beyard. Half of the other performers are from prisons. Usually from theater groups.

Prince Conti shook his head: "How do you have such confidence that you can hide the truth from a close minister around the emperor?"

"As an envoy, Earl Eusebius has been sent to Rome, Florence, Holland and Spain. His ability is beyond doubt, but in this matter," Milady patiently explained: "He has a fatal To be specific, he is one of the rare Austrian courtiers who doesn’t know much about Ottoman Turkey, or in other words, his knowledge of Ottoman Turkey is limited to books and intelligence, like many people, in the In his mind, the governor of Ottoman Turkey has a fixed image of greed, arrogance, gluttony, prostitution, barbarism... Just like in the preaching of priests and the whispering of court ladies, men tacitly As in ridicule and envy, a beast surrounded by countless luxuries, if you put the real Governor of Bosnia in front of him and let him see a good man who is not inferior to any monarch, he will be happy Doubt."

"He didn't even ask for proof..."

"How to prove it?" Milady said: "Through the mouth of the governor's close associates, he already knew that the governor's wife was the grand maid sent out of the palace by Sultan Mehmed IV of Ottoman Turkey. This is an honor. But it is also eyes and ears. This secret will not last long, and the decision he makes is likely to be within a few days.

"Well, you are forcing Leopold I to make a decision as soon as possible."

"It is difficult for people to think rationally when time is tight, and they can only act according to their instincts, and no king can refuse the possibility of expanding the territory. Our king can't, and the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire certainly can't." M. Laidi put away her needle and thread: "The next thing is up to you. Before, His Majesty the King only exchanged the inheritance rights of Spain in exchange for Leopold I's neutrality to Flanders. Now Bosnia is added, and it can even be said that If the whole of Slovenia is handled properly, Austria will no longer have only one or two pitiful ports, and it can also have a place in the subsequent battle for sea power."

"Then the decision I can make is His Majesty the King's concession on the Bosnian issue."

"Not only that, the price offered by the 'governor' is thirty knights' lands, a duke's title, and gold and silver worth one million livres. De I can give it, but this money, when he became the Holy Roman Emperor, his father bribed all the electors for this, and he just married the Spanish Princess Margaret not long ago, because Marguerite did not swear to renounce her right of inheritance, so her dowry is not rich, so now he has nothing in his pocket." Milady stared at Prince Conti sharply: "Now the only place where he can get a big income right away Only France."

"One million livres..." Prince Conti hesitated.

"Oh," Milady's smile suddenly burst into full bloom, and even Prince Conti couldn't help being startled: "My dear Highness," said Milady, "we only need to obtain a document with the emperor's signature and seal." Now, as long as there is this document, the emperor will never dare to intervene in the affairs of Flanders, nor will he dare to ask our majesty the king to fulfill any content of this document—once it is leaked..." She didn't go on.

Prince Conti trembled slightly, because he suddenly realized that his danger may not be before the signing of the paperwork, but after the signing of the paperwork.

"Well," said Milady at last, "I'm going, and your mission is at a critical juncture—it's all up to you."

The wide silk skirt gently brushed against Prince Conti's knees, and when the prince turned his head, he could no longer find Milady.

———————

"Witch!" Prince Conti cursed angrily, and he is now on the run.

As Milady expected, although the possibility of Bosnia being included in the Austrian bag caused Leopold I to lose his calm judgment, so that the Austrians and Prince Conti switched positions in the negotiations—it was originally the French At a disadvantage, now the Austrians are at a disadvantage, or in other words, whoever is at a disadvantage only depends on who needs others. Leopold I is not willing to reach a contract with Louis XIV to carve up Spain and its territories, at least it should not fall on paper. On the surface, Louis is also a king. In politics, deception or betrayal is commonplace, not to mention that Leopold I is also the brother-in-law of King Carlos of Spain. It is not without reason that he wants to intervene in Flanders. .

The secret negotiations between Prince Conti and the emperor's close officials lasted for three days and two nights. They never slept, and the smell of coffee and tobacco lingered in the room with the curtains all the time. In the end, everyone's eyes were red and their skin was blue and white. It was a ghoul that had just crawled out of the grave, and Prince Conti's heart was hanging high. He had no doubts that if Leopold knew that the so-called Bosnian Governor's intention to sell his territory was just a hoax, Maybe he will ask someone to drag him out and hang him immediately, even his blood and identity can't save him, but after the document signed and sealed by Leopold I is sent out, he almost wants to Laughing——if it wasn't for Milady's reminder, he might have relaxed immediately, but he knew that this was the most dangerous time.

According to the results of the negotiations, Austria must remain neutral and silent on the matter of Flanders, and not pursue the ownership of Flanders because of the inheritance rights owned by Princess Margaret. As a price, France will pay the price Five hundred thousand livres of gold and silver, renunciation of the right to inherit the Spanish throne-the matter of Bosnia is not reflected in this document, after all, it has nothing to do with this matter, although Leopold signed this document, but He was still a little hesitant, and he stipulated in the document that this document should be kept as a permanent secret, and only the monarchs of the two countries and related people have the right to know, and this document will not be kept in Austria, nor It will not be kept in France, it will be kept in a reliquary and given to the Grand Duke of Tuscany for safekeeping. To open the box in safety and ensure that the contents are not damaged, two keys are needed, one in LeBron. In the hands of Opold I, one in the hands of Louis XIV.

Now the little box is in Prince Conti's arms. As soon as he left the Hofburg, he saw torches lit in the night behind him. Maybe Leopold regretted it, maybe he realized that it was just a hoax, In any case, the emperor obviously wanted to recover the document, and it would be better if the French were not surprised when they heard about it.

The result is now that Prince Conti and his guards are being chased by a group of "people" who first rode on horseback, and when they left Vienna and entered the Innsbruck area, they began to jump off their horses and chase them on four legs. , to be correct, the werewolf was chasing after him. Prince Conti remembered that during the first Fronde riot, because of the conflict between Bishop Mazarin and the French royal family and the Roman Church, the church deliberately removed the chief judge of the Paris Inquisition. The very young king almost died at the mouth of the werewolf. He didn't expect that he would encounter such a thing—he cursed Milady's crow's mouth while nervously watching the situation behind the carriage—those who were killed The soldiers he hired either fled or died, and the loss of the guards given to him by the king and the Prince of Conti was equally heartbreaking. Die these dark creatures.

He had thought about buying these werewolves before, but the monk beside him resolutely dispelled his stupid idea. The monk looked at the fur color and appearance of those werewolves from a distance, and said that it was probably because The werewolf in Innsbruck, Innsbruck is the place where the Habsburg royal family lived for generations. It is said that there are still several portraits of werewolves hanging in Ambras Castle-as devout believers, they do this, and the church Don't pursue it, the only possibility is that werewolves did appear in their family, but they don't know whether it is foreign blood or ancestral blood that suddenly appeared. Anyway, it is impossible to buy these werewolves.

"I still prefer Europa more than ten years ago." To put it mildly, Prince Conti always felt that since his majesty the king returned to Paris, the inhuman creatures they saw—wizards, werewolves, and vampires—had become more and more More and more, the king played with these monsters that should be cursed to hell for 10,000 years or more like chess pieces, and put them where he thought fit. Unexpectedly, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire also opened that A taboo door——Prince Conti couldn't help but shudder when he thought of this, he seemed to have seen that the high walls standing between the inner world and the outer world were gradually collapsing, and the momentum was unstoppable. Yes, this is a vicious circle. As long as one monarch uses dark creatures, the monarchs in other places will be forced to use them, just like wizards and monks around the king.

Originally, the church might be able to contain one or two things, but as Rome became more and more decayed and depraved, the authority and power of the church were rapidly diminishing like frost in the sun. Now it is difficult for the church to protect itself, let alone intervene in the affairs of various countries.

"We're coming to the Brenner Pass!" cried a musketeer who rode up to the carriage. The Brenner Pass is the lowest and most important mountain pass from Austria to Italy. As long as they pass here, they will be in Italy. That is to say, at least they will not be so blatantly assassinated.

"Great!" said Prince Conti, "but what about the assassins?"

Yes, I don’t know when those werewolves suddenly disappeared, but Prince Conti didn’t think they would die like this at all, and the monks around him were still vigilant. At this moment, a smelly wind blew When he came over, the musketeer's head flew out of his neck with a hint of bewilderment, and blood flew into the air and the prince's face. He was dragged into the carriage, but the werewolves had already surrounded him from the dense forest on both sides.

"Perhaps I should say a prayer, or confess," the Prince gasped.

"Do it, Your Highness." The monk said, "The situation is not good."

"I would like to hear a rebuttal," said Prince Conti. "Brother monks!"

The monk didn't answer, and he didn't have the energy or time to answer. He and his other brother fought against three times as many werewolves as they were, and more werewolves were attacking the musketeers. If equipped with the previous That kind of musket, the musketeers may not be able to pose a threat to werewolves, but now they are equipped with almost all new guns developed by bachelors and craftsmen. They do not need to be ignited and can be fired in bursts, especially bursts. The special holy silver (use Silver cross or silver holy vessel smelted) bullets continuously hit the werewolf's body, not only can peel off the fur, but also make blood and flesh splatter, exposing the bones and the soft internal organs under the bones, even if the werewolf's recovery ability is very weak Strong, but no matter how strong the recovery ability of a dead werewolf is, it is useless.

In this way, these musketeers held back the most werewolves. After the monk retreated to the prince again, we will go first! "He said.

When Prince Conti wanted to object, the carriage had already galloped away, but the distance may have only been a few hundred feet, and the narrow road was blocked by a giant tree that fell down.

The gray-black beast showed its figure, and Prince Conti sighed. Although the king reminded that these monks might look down on mortals because of their extraordinaryness, he did not expect that he, with the dignity of a prince, would even say no. There is no chance, this is a good time, he glanced at the faces of the monks, they were not afraid, but he didn't want to go to see God so soon.

Then, as if God finally heard the prayer of this not-so-pious believer, and so on, maybe the devil answered him or maybe-the werewolf who suddenly appeared was biting together with some other werewolves , even the monks couldn't help being dumbfounded - but then the prince saw the one in black cavalry... "Madame La Vallière?" He asked in surprise, although he also knew that the royal lady was not Not only is the king's lover, but seeing her suddenly appearing in such a remote place is really surprising. Even if Milady appeared here, Prince Conti would not care too much, after all, the one who used to be The secret agent, and this Mrs. La Vallière, was originally a maid beside Princess Henrietta, and later became a lady of the Queen Mother. Although she later became a royal lady, her face is not worthy of people's praise, although the Prince It is impossible to speculate too much on the king's preferences, but in terms of appearance, this lady is indeed lackluster, and the impression she left on the prince is a gloomy and indifferent shadow.

Now this shadow suddenly became thicker, the kind of depth and depression that almost swallowed people alive, so that Prince Conti didn't even dare to talk to her for a while, but luckily he didn't, because the royal lady suddenly jumped from the horse And then, when he was in the air, he tore off the neckline, and when the pearl necklace fell to the ground, he turned into a big silver-white wolf, and ran towards the bloody battlefield.

Prince Conti suddenly turned his head to look at the two monks, but the two monks just made a look of disgust, and did not intend to stop or kill the giant wolf incarnated by Lavalier Meaning, Prince Conti suddenly became weak, "God," he complained, "Can you tell me these terrible things one by one?" There is actually a werewolf beside the king! Still a female werewolf! She is still a royal lady! Now he can understand why Mrs. La Vallière has been rumored to be pregnant all these years, but she has never had a child. The king will never allow herself to have a werewolf descendant, but as a royal wife, she always Not being pregnant would also be a laughingstock or a crime to blame, because at this time it was believed that a man's inability to impregnate a woman, and a woman's inability to conceive, was due to an unforgivable sin, which Louis already had. Two sons, he is the king again, so if Mrs. La Vallière does not want people to question herself, she can only keep getting pregnant and then lose the fetus.

"I said," but Prince Conti couldn't help asking: "Do you also know?"

"We advised."

"The king also said a confession mass."

When the monk said this, Prince Conti could only make a grimace, and at the same time he slowly relaxed his finger on the trigger—the short-handled musket given to him by the king was smaller and more powerful than the guns equipped by the musketeers. Even bigger, the distance between him and the monks, its bullets are enough to penetrate the steel plate, the body of these monks should not be as hard as the steel plate, he can confirm this, because the claws of werewolves can only twist the sword, but cannot destroy the steel, but he tried However, the bullets of this gun can.

Uh, but looking back, their king would not leave such a big mistake to him, or to these monks, Prince Conti sighed, leaning on the carriage of the carriage, listening to the outside The sound, and the bodies of the monks gradually relaxing, he knew that he had passed another fatal crisis.

After a while, he saw Mrs. La Vallière walking back slowly, holding a huge werewolf head in her hand. Obviously, the werewolves on Mrs. La Vallière's side won a big victory ——Just looking at Mrs. Lavallière who has changed into a simple casual dress and described it as a bit haggard, and the strong bloody smell that followed, Prince Conti complained that his king is not a real knight ——Even if Madame La Vallière is more a handsome man than a lady, she is still "she", and the king's posture is simply treating her as a vulgar mercenary... Prince Conti The thoughts that spread out came to an abrupt end when the lady opened the car door suddenly, so it seems that the king may not be wrong, he said in his heart while looking at the royal lady.

"Give me the papers," said Madame Lavallière, "and I will take it to the Grand Duke of Tuscany."

The prince looked at her for a while, and then suddenly smiled: "Who asked you to come to me to get the paperwork?" He asked: "It's not His Majesty, is it Milady?"

Madame Lavallière frowned, "It's Madame Milady."

"Oh, then, I am sorry that your news was delayed," said Prince Conti. "When I left Vienna, the Duchess of Colonna, Marie Mancini, had obtained the king's permission to take from me With the clerk gone, she is probably in Florence now."

He just watched Madame Lavarière's expression become dangerous. In recent years, everyone knows that the king's new love and old love have been fighting endlessly for the king's love, but he didn't expect that the women would not only Showing charm between the bed curtains, and drawing swords on the battlefield in order to win the favor of the king-the king has really raised the standards and requirements of the royal wife a lot, at least Leopold I did not have a witch Or the royal lady of the werewolf, should he say that his king is really audacious?

Fortunately, Madame La Vallière just stopped for a while, and threw the werewolf's head at the prince's feet as if to vent her anger, then turned and left.

—————

"Prince Conti has arrived in Florence." Louis said, sitting a few steps away from him were the generals who were going to show off their talents in the upcoming Battle of Flanders-Prince Conte, Viscount Turenne , Captain Vauban, and... the Duke of Orleans, the Duke of Orleans sits closest to the king, almost knee-to-knee, and the prince of Condé is the farthest from the king. Since he received the king's pardon and forgiveness, he has been like As if he couldn’t decide how to face the king, he seldom gets alone with the king, and even if he does, it’s to report on official business, and he leaves after speaking. If the king invites him to have dinner with him, he will definitely suffer for several nights after returning , It is said that it was because of gastrointestinal discomfort, so the king no longer made such invitations, and he did not intend to torture Prince Condé.

When the king said this, Prince Condé was the first to relax. Although this younger brother also troubled him, a younger brother was a younger brother. It was impossible for Prince Condé to be indifferent to his safety.

"The biggest problem has been solved," said the king, "then the next thing is..."

He smiled and looked at everyone: "War!"

Give away 2500 words and continue tomorrow.