I Am Louis XIV

The Bastille was once the Bastille Castle, and it did not serve as a prison for a long time. The square in front of the castle is still a place where people like to gather today. It is more suitable for actors and dancers than Queen Boulevard, and their performances are easy to flow. It is vulgar, but definitely not boring, and can even make people laugh. The people gathered in a circle, either applauding or whistling. Anna of the Medici saw a Bohemian woman training a group of white mice to drill. Fire rings, climbing rope ladders, it was almost impossible to move. The Duke of Colonna stood beside her, took off his hat, and waved to a window, because he knew that his mother would always stand at the window that could see the Louvre, hoping to see her king and husband.

Anna realized what mistake she had made after watching the whole play. She apologized uneasily to Duke Colonna, but Duke Colonna just shook his head, "I will take you to see someone." He said: "A right person." I’m an important person.”

What the Duke of Colonna said made the Medici princess a little curious. As she followed the Duke, she kept hearing the sound of someone leaving with heavy footsteps. She must have been deliberately distracted. Now, the priest in black walked in front of them, with his hands in his sleeves - priests can be said to be a necessary configuration of the palace, or an indispensable part. They are not only the lords of the Roman church, but also the king's ministers, but this A priest who seemed very amiable, even the Duke of Colonna showed enough respect and caution to him - was he also a member of the Bourbon family? Or has an unspeakable noble identity? Princess Anna guessed this, not noticing that her pace was slowing down. Duke Colonna glanced at her and remembered that Anna was just a child. Mary Mancini's room was at the highest point. In order to guard against enemy attacks, the castle The spiral staircases are often deliberately made to have different heights, so that the enemy will suffer a disadvantage in the unfamiliar environment (of course we are familiar with and accustomed to it in advance) - even an adult male will be out of breath when climbing up to the highest room, and even more Not to mention a child.

So he whispered "I'm sorry", lifted Anna up and put her on his shoulders.

Duke Colonna inherited Louis' height, and with Anna, he almost touched the bottom of the upper stairs. Anna had to lower her head and hug Duke Colonna's head. This was also a new experience for her. Cosimo III was a good father, but he was frail and rarely held any of his children.

They continued to climb for more than ten minutes before they came to a corridor. The priest took out the key and opened the door. Only then did Princess Anna see that there was actually a suite inside. The curtains leading to the bedroom were hanging, and the blue-gray stone tiles were hanging down. It was covered with a thick wool carpet. Although there was no fire lit in the fireplace, thick soot could be seen, indicating that it was used very frequently. The furniture in the small hall was complete, including a triangular cupboard and a sloping writing desk. , a small round table with three or four chairs, and a man wearing a velvet mask was standing in front of the window, "watching" them.

The Duke of Colonna put the princess down, stepped forward quickly, took the man's hand and kissed it. The man reached out and lovingly stroked the Duke's curly hair, shoulders and back. He spoke, not in French but in Italian. Speaking in a Siena accent, Princess Anna looked at them in surprise. She really couldn't guess what kind of relationship this man had with the Duke.

Their guide today, the priest in black, waited until the Duke finally took a step back, then stepped forward - the princess couldn't see how he moved, maybe it was just as simple as taking off the velvet mask. Down, under the mask - the princess thought she would see a face belonging to a young or old gentleman, but no, hidden behind the mask turned out to be a woman, possibly the same as Anna's current female officer, Madame Aubigne About the same age, she looked at Anna with joy and a little surprise, "Is this the Duke's fiancée?" she asked Duke Colonna, who coughed in embarrassment.

"That's probably true." Ellario said. He also looked at Mary. Maybe he thought he would see unwillingness and regret in this Mancini, but let him say, the Duchess of Colonna The situation seemed better than when she was in Calais or Versailles - he hoped she had really woken up and not had other unpleasant thoughts.

Mary took two steps, and Princess Anna's eyes were full of curiosity - the church would tell people that as long as a witch would wear men's trousers, this crime was even written on the verdict of Joan of Arc - but this was not the case. Wrong calculation, because Mary Mancini is indeed a witch.

Mary took a deep breath first. Although the mask was a magical product and did not hinder her sight, breathing, eating, etc., it was still a shackles. It would be a good thing to be able to get rid of it for a short time, she thought. He was about to walk towards Anna and look at her carefully, but then he seemed to have thought of something. He picked up an apple from the round table on one side, put it on the silver plate, and tapped it with his fingertips. The apple automatically fell into pieces and turned into The peeled little rabbit--the ears of the apple peel are still trembling.

"Wow!" Princess Anna exclaimed uncontrollably: "Thank you," she shyly bowed her knees to this...Mrs. Although she didn't know the other party's identity yet, Duke Colonna had already set an example.

"This is my mother," said the Duke of Colonna. "The Duchess of Colonna."

"The Duchess of Colonna has rested in a mausoleum in Rome, and now I am just an unknown prisoner," Mary said. When she saw a trace of confusion in the girl's eyes, she smiled: "Don't think too much, child. "Just think that today's visit is just a strange dream." She sighed softly and turned to Elario, "Please thank Your Majesty for me."

"Your Majesty said there is no need to thank you," Elario said: "When he made such arrangements for the Duke of Colonna, he decided that he must let you see the Duke's future wife with your own eyes."

Mary suddenly turned her head. Even though she could only see her back, she knew that she had taken deep breaths several times to calm down her emotions. The three people at the end of the room tacitly agreed not to disturb her. After a few minutes, Mary turned around When he arrived, his expression was as usual: "Can I let them sit with me?"

"Of course," said Elario, "you have the afternoon."

For Anna of the Medici, this afternoon was indeed like a wonderful dream. She and the Duke of Colonna were in a high-security prison, in a gorgeous cell, sharing a lot with a noble lady in masquerade. Magic, sweets, and jokes, the little princess dozed off in the twilight. She was carried down by the silent Duke of Colonna, and before getting into the carriage, she was awakened and drank a small bottle of potion.

This bottle of potion will blur her previous memories. She will only remember that the Duke of Colonna took her to visit half of Paris and returned home happily. Maybe one day she will remember what happened today, but when the time comes, this will not be the case. What a crucial matter.

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After Princess Anna woke up, it was already noon the next day. Her wet nurse, Mrs. Barbie, complained that the Parisians were too...indulgent, while serving the princess a rich breakfast. The king would summon them this afternoon. "Your Majesty hopes that you, the eldest princess, and the eldest princess can receive guidance from the teachers."

"But I already have Madame Aubigne." Anna said. Madame Aubigne is Anna's teacher and is responsible for several courses at the same time, from needlework to French.

"It's different from this," Madame Aubigne walked in at this moment and said, "This is a girls' school opened by the Duchess of Orleans. You will have more teachers and classmates."

"This is a bit inappropriate," Mrs. Barbie muttered. After all, most of the ladies of this era were educated in monasteries or at home, rather than sitting with a group of strange girls in a "school" to learn. It's a bit ridiculous that only men care about something.

"I think that would be a good thing," said Madame Aubigne, her voice soft, but on the contrary, she had a pair of sharp and determined eyes: "I think that would be a good thing."

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"What do the Parisians think?" Louis asked.

"They thought it was a bit ridiculous," said the Duke of Orleans. "You have courses like that - if children from six to ten years old are only learning drawing, reading and writing, and some simple calculations they can still understand - the things that older girls learn are almost as good as those in college. Professor Li’s things are even.”

"In other words, there are many people who refuse to enroll?"

“On the contrary,” said the Duke of Orleans: “They came in droves, and now one quota is probably equivalent to a vineyard—it’s still a price but no market.”

"Is anyone transferring it?"

"No one has ever done such a stupid thing, brother Wang," the Duke of Orleans said: "Everyone knows that you personally made the list."

Louis nodded. Indeed, he was not so anxious that he thought he could get it done overnight. In this girls' school, there are no men - from students to teachers. Not to mention students, there have always been many scandals between teachers and students - he had read the collection of letters between Father Abelard and Herolis. The priest was the teacher of the girl Herolis. , Louis XIV never tests human nature easily.

Not only that, the students in the school have also been selected to prevent them from being taken advantage of by people with malicious intentions. Louis is fearless, but what he is worried about is that his educational project cannot be carried out.

It's not that he couldn't prepare schools only for boys, but the reason why the Huguenots sent boys and girls to school together was not precisely because they found that in order for a group to develop healthily and stably, the education of both Are they all indispensable? After all, in addition to the father, the mother also plays an important role in the family. It can even be said that before the age of six, children's first concepts and beliefs come from the mother with whom they are closest.

In addition, he asked the Duchess of Orleans to preside over the matter, hoping that she could get rid of the shadow of being almost murdered by her brother.

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Although Parisians are talking a lot about this girls' school, there are many reasons why they still flock to it. For example, this school is located on the Ile de la Cité in the Seine River. Notre Dame Cathedral and the Chapel are located on this island, and the school is located opposite the Louvre. Although the king now lives more in the Palace of Versailles, he will still live in the Louvre for a few weeks every once in a while, and his court and court will also move to the Louvre.

There is also the king's list. The people on that list include princes, dukes, and military officers and officials. Without exception, they are all trusted ministers of the king. They have not made great achievements for the king. , having served the king for many years without slacking off, they almost sent their daughter to the king's school without any hesitation - even if those who responded astutely offered a good price that was almost impossible to refuse.

These undercurrents surging in the crowd changed and became even more intense after the Duchess of Orleans made it clear that only girls on the list could enroll. Not to mention, those lucky girls were in their own classes with great astonishment and ecstasy. The news of seeing the eldest princess and the eldest princess spread throughout Paris in the blink of an eye.

In fact, this girls' school currently only has more than a hundred students and a dozen teachers - there is no way, there may be more students, but there are too few women who can take on the responsibility of teachers. Most of the teachers here come from The French Academy of Sciences, simply put, are the wives and daughters of bachelors and professors who are fortunate enough to have a lot of free time and books, and they are not like other women who only know how to deal with the living room, bedroom and kitchen. between.

There are also some teachers who come from the aristocratic class-ladies whose talents are like pearls and cannot be obscured by dust and sand are eager to try.

For example, the female companion of the Duchess of Montpensier, Ms. Lafayette, who was once humiliated by Felipe Jules Mancini, got rid of his magic after the death of the former and went to the countryside to recuperate. After a few years, the Duchess of Montpensier was pardoned and returned to Paris. She was invited to accompany the duchess. Although her youth had passed away, her charm originally came from her knowledge and talent. In the court, she was He is still well cared for by nobles such as the Queen Mother.

It was only the Duchess of Montpensier who did not expect that the Duchess of Orleans showed her intention to recruit female teachers, and Madame Lafayette immediately recommended herself.

Mrs. Lafayette had completed two novels at this time and taught classical literature in the school. She was responsible for the upper class students, girls aged ten to fourteen, and the lower class students were led by another outsider. The teacher, Madame Françoise Aubigne, is in charge. It is said that this lady was originally French, but later went to Italy. Some people said that she was from a humble background, but Madame Lafayette had tea and chatted with her. , thinking that this lady is not inferior to herself or other teachers.

I can only say that there are too many people who love to spread rumors and slander others.