I Am Louis XIV

Mrs. Prince Condé walked out of the room and met the Duchess of Longueville in the corridor. The two women looked at each other in the dim light-they were once enemies who hated each other. When Bishop Richelieu was in power, they were still The Duke of Enghien's Prince Condé has a crush on a woman, and even the Duchess of Longueville regards her as her future sibling. Although Clara Clémence's sudden insertion was not her original intention, it is essentially a woman. The humiliation of the entire Condé family, the Duchess of Longueville's unfortunate marriage made her deeply jealous of Clara in addition to disgust, the Prince of Condé was indifferent and mean to his wife, the Duchess of Longueville Not only did they not try to persuade them, but they even added fuel to the flames.

But at this time, the two noble women had the same purpose. Maybe Prince Condé would also be surprised. Instead of fighting with their eyes and tongues as usual, they turned their eyes away and passed by calmly. The seed was planted, and the Duchess of Longueville was to find ways to make it flourish.

No one knows what happened in this room for the time being, but those who are interested can still guess one or two of them. After Queen Mother Anne ordered her attendants to put the Duchess of Montpensier under house arrest, she talked with Bishop Mazarin for a whole year. afternoon.

"You mean they want to arrest the Prince of Condé," said Louis.

"Yes." Marie Mancini said, "There are also Prince Conti and the Duke of Longueville." She looked at Louis worriedly, because the king's expression was not good-looking at all.

"Did they say what to do after arresting the Prince?" Louis asked.

Mary frowned and shook her head, but she immediately said, "Shall I listen again?"

"No." Louis said, "Now...even if I know...it's useless." Could he still warn Prince Condé and tell him to run away? He dared to swear that as soon as the Prince of Condé left Paris, he would immediately raise the banner of anti-royalty.

Mary, like many girls, is politically insensitive, but she can clearly sense the king's depression: "Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked tentatively.

"It's nothing." Then there was only waiting: "If you have to do something," Louis said, "you can organize your small bag and important luggage."

"Why? Do you wish to leave Paris?"

"I don't want to," the king said with a wry smile, "but obviously, it's not something I can decide." He looked at his hands and felt that time was passing so slowly for the first time.

———————

The king felt that time was slow, but the Duke of La Rochefoucauld felt that time flew as fast as quicksand. He followed Prince Condé back to his residence in Paris. Two or three days passed in a blink of an eye, and Prince Condé was still hesitant. , he is a warrior on the battlefield, but he is like a weak woman in the political situation. If no one pushes him away, he would rather stand still, but if you say he is willing to do this... Ha! He wouldn't be full of complaints about the royal family, chattering endlessly, and completely thinking about what rewards he could get. Does this make him the Prime Minister, or the Regent King? If so, what is the difference from open rebellion?

No, there may still be a difference, probably because he can still maintain a good reputation, but acting in such a secretive way makes Duke La Rochefoucauld difficult.

He has been worried for the past few days, and even if the Duchess of Longueville left her husband who was still recuperating and came to him to comfort him, it was of no avail. At dusk, a stranger sent him a letter, and the Duke His eyebrows almost never stretched again. But no matter how reluctant he was, he still wanted to attend the appointment, so after seeing off the Duchess of Longueville, he took care of himself, put on a black casual suit, put on a cloak, and rode away alone The mansion, this really shouldn’t be for a gentleman of status, he doesn’t even bring a servant, it’s really inappropriate, but if someone sees his whereabouts, he will immediately show a smile of understanding—because The duke was going to the Bois de Boulogne.

The Bois de Boulogne is located on the left side of Paris and belongs to the royal family. The king often leads his nobles and important officials to hunt and ride horses in it to kill time. Over time, it is like Versailles and Fontainebleau, surrounding this emerald green paradise. There are some hotels and theaters, some are purely for the food and living of the nobles, and some are for meeting another kind of needs - interestingly, because it is closer to Paris, the latter is inhumane The transaction developed violently without knowing it, completely surpassing people's original intentions, but in view of the amazing profits it brought them, two consecutive prime ministers, namely Richelieu and Mazarin, charged Huge tax bills also remained silent.

People in the whole of Paris and even half of France know that the "famous sisters" in the Bois de Boulogne are of high quality, authentic service, and the fees are expensive but fair, where men like to go, even ordinary citizens Or small businessmen, some husbands even embezzled their wives' dowry, or forced their wives to do the same disgusting things to get money to take care of these girls' business. The horses flowed endlessly, coming and going. Even if the whole of Paris was in riots before, there were no traces of soldiers, butchers or judges here. In other words, it is precisely because of the uneasy situation that people need to be paralyzed and appeased. Even more profligate impulse, after all, in this era, even the king does not know whether he can see the sun of tomorrow.

Therefore, neither the Duchess of the Duke of La Rochefoucaud (and his cousin who already had several children), nor the Duchess of Longueville, who also had an illegitimate child with him, has no right to interfere with his work here. No one will be curious about his whereabouts. What else can men do in the Bois de Boulogne?

The Duke of La Rochefoucauld rode his horse and arrived at Boulogne before sunset. The place he was going was a temple of love hidden between the swamp and the woods. It's very strange, because it not only surrounds the continuous promenade outside the room, but also extends into the square courtyard, dividing the courtyard into four parts. They are tall trees, whose branches and leaves cover the sky and the sun. It can be imagined that in the midsummer season, when the red sun is scorching, even if a person does not wear a hat or an umbrella, he will not be harmed by the sun.

When the Duke entered here, a grand banquet had just begun. Someone took off his cloak, someone helped him put away his hat and gloves, and someone brought a brass basin of rose water for him to wash his hands. As soon as you enter the room, you will be greeted by the hot air and the rich aroma of wine.

"Who is ruling here today?" asked the Duke of La Rochefoucauld.

"Bacchus, God of Dionysus." Someone replied, this is a trick played by famous women in order to keep people's freshness to them. Nass.

So the duke put on the Roman cross-lace-up shoes, put on a loose linen robe, and a crown of ivy and grape branches, and a young man with bare arms poured him wine, He took the wine glass and drank it down—this was almost a hint. He followed the young man to the depths of the courtyard, and every room he passed was full of spring. The Duke thought, if someone is going to be a holy referee, Instead of letting him walk on the red-hot twelve-handled iron plow, let him walk here. If he can stop any desire, then he is no different from a saint, and of course he will not be guilty.

Such thoughts didn't dissipate until the end of the long corridor. As soon as the Duke's guide stretched out his hand, he pushed open the heavy copper door. Such a lot of strength.

Inside are several rooms that are connected together and only separated by curtains. In every corner, there are young men and women sitting or lying down, drinking and having fun, letting the scarlet wine pour on the expensive silk carpet—— The last curtain is thick blue-purple velvet, embellished with long-forgotten tattoos. The boy stopped here, and the Duke of La Rochefoucauld held his breath with a respectful attitude that he had never shown to the king or the Prince of Condé. He waited angrily until he was called, then lowered his head and walked in step by step.