I Am Louis XIV

The Duchess of Montpensier turned her back to Count Luozeng, the blush on her face was still there, but her eyes were covered with frost. As the leader of the noble ladies, she was even more accustomed to and good at intrigues than the Queen and the Queen Mother. After all, The first two were protected by the Sun King, but she was not. In other words, her status was not at the forefront. She looked at the moonlight casting on the floor, smiled, and even her breathing did not become rapid: "You are talking nonsense. What are you talking about? My dear."

Earl Luozeng gently took her arm, turned her around, and asked her to face him, "It is indeed just a rumor." He said hypocritically and sweetly: "I was surprised at first, but Madam, there have been rumors in the court in recent years. They say that Mary Mancini is a witch. When the king was injured at Dunkirk, he almost died. She made a deal with the devil - no, It should be said that it is the king and the devil..."

"That's enough," said the Duchess, pressing her fingers to his lips, and those who knew the Duchess of Montpensier at all would have shut up at once if they had seen her do this. But Count Luozin - he has always believed that the Duchess of Montpensier is a short-sighted and weak-minded person like the women he has played with before. This may be true, because the Duchess of Montpensier's Her father, the Duke of Gaston, has always disliked this daughter, and of course he would not care about her and teach her that although she spent her childhood in the court of the Louvre, Louis XIII and Queen Anne would not treat her like their own. To educate her seriously like a child, it is no exaggeration to say that the Duchess of Montpensier even acquired much of her knowledge after taking classes with Louis XIV's eldest princess and eldest princess.

But it would be wrong to say that she is useless in politics. She is ambitious and courageous. When she finds that something cannot be done, she makes a decision faster than anyone else - just like the king in the first When she returned to Paris during the Fronde riots, she didn't care that the other party was a married woman. She went back and forth with Prince Condé and was so affectionate that she even betrayed her father for Prince Condé, but Condé didn't. Once the acting prince no longer had the possibility of ascending to the throne, she did not hesitate to turn to her father again; after the Duke of Gaston lost power, Louis XIV sent Count d'Artagnan as an envoy to expose the Duke of Gaston's In view of the evil deeds of enriching herself while managing the territory for her, she severed the relationship with her father and returned to the Louvre. Even after the death of the Duke of Gaston, she used the name of "Daughter of Orleans" as the "Daughter of Orleans". The new Duke Philip of Orleans laid a solid foundation and eliminated many troubles and obstacles.

Therefore, this duchess is at least a person who is quite aware of current affairs. But Count Luozin did not realize this. It was also the Duchess's attitude and feelings that confused him. Whether the Duchess of Montpensier was moved by this young man, of course she was. On how to make women happy, Luozeng was very knowledgeable. Count Zeng is far better than any of her previous lovers. She has even thought about finding a position for Count Luozin and giving him a large sum of money and a castle. As the richest lady in France, she will never be here. On the one hand, she treated Count Luozeng badly, but: "Okay," she held his neck and scolded softly: "The tuberose blooms so beautifully tonight, sir, the moonlight is like silver, we should be on the bed Talk about love, not discuss government affairs."

If Count Lauzon stops here, the Duchess of Montpensier will remain silent afterwards. At most, she will find him a sinecure far away from Paris and less important. However, Count Lauzon does not think so: "It is just for love. , Madam." He stroked the duchess's long, fluffy hair and said. It must be said that the tightly combed or raised buns are no longer popular in the palace. Noble ladies and female officials have begun to resemble those in the Middle Ages. Like early French women, they let their hair down, then wore hairbands, small crowns, or combed their hair into one or many braids - these were all because the suites in the Palace of Versailles had bathing facilities, although they were still Some doctors stubbornly believed that frequent bathing would damage the barrier layer on the skin. However, as the authority of the Sun King became stronger day by day, his every move became a fashion followed by people.

Because the king is very clean, anyone who appears in front of him will definitely take care of himself, just like the original kind of tall hair that was greased and sprinkled with flour. Once it is combed, there will be tall hair that cannot be removed for several days. Buns have always been a gathering place for fleas, bedbugs, dust and dirt. A noble lady from out of town made this mistake when she came to have an audience - the lice jumping on her head made Louis XIV change his face and retreat.

Needless to say, jokes about the lady were running around the court that night - it was said that she was far more powerful than the Dutch fleet or the Spanish cannon, both of which failed to make the sun shine. The king retreated, but she did it - the lady fled back to her territory overnight, but from then on, whenever possible, even if she had to pay a large sum of money every day to the servants and the boiler officer who managed the steam boiler, People in Versailles also had to bathe and wash their hair every morning.

So gradually, fluffy and refreshing hair gradually replaced the huge bun. The priests also approved of this behavior because this hairstyle was much simpler and more natural than the previous bun. They always thought that men and women were too A passion for beautifying oneself is an act bordering on depravity.

Thinking of this, Count Luozeng couldn't help but smile sarcastically. Although France is still a Catholic king, in the words of Henry VIII of England - this is French Catholicism, not Roman Catholicism. Down to a small deacon, all clergymen are appointed by the king, not the pope, and the Roman Church has long existed in name only in the hearts of the French.

We really can't blame the red princes in Rome and the dying old man for making such a crazy decision. Their authority on earth is already pitiful. Once France is removed, they still have What? A divided Italy? And without France, which was on par with the Holy Roman Empire, it was hard to say whether the Habsburg masters would still be as supportive of each other as they are now.

Count Luo Zeng lowered his head absently and buried it in the thick long hair. He must say that hair that is washed frequently does smell much better than hair that has been rubbed with grease and flour, and the duchess will do it during and after the bath. Use rose water.

"Finish it, my dear," the duchess pushed him: "Tell me, how does this have anything to do with our love?"

"Because the king will definitely not agree to your marriage to me." Count Luo Zeng said this with some real anger.

The Duchess hesitated slightly... Of course, Count Luo Zeng had proposed to her before, but who was she? She is the Duchess of Montpensier, one of the women with the highest status in Europe. She is not that naive yet. Even if the king and ministers agree, she will not hand herself over easily, so at that time she just tried to prevaricate. In the past, but now - was she the one who gave Count Luo Zeng such an illusion? Or is she not the innocent one? But Count Luozeng?

"I have evidence." Count Luo Zeng said.

"So you are planning to use this to threaten His Majesty?" the duchess asked curiously.

"I don't want to embarrass you," Earl Luozeng said. "If I were present, I might just embarrass your majesty - so your highness, as long as you talk to him alone about this matter. Of course," he added hurriedly : "If he is willing to fulfill us and readily agrees, we can never mention that matter."

"Oh, I understand." said the Duchess. That's it. If it was Count Luozin who said this, such a villain who couldn't even enter Versailles without her, not many people would believe him, but if it was Montpant, The Duchess of Siey, the king's cousin, a childhood sweetheart with the king, and a person who almost became the Queen of France, said this, people will definitely believe it or half-believe it, and then someone will definitely add fuel to the flames and add fuel to the fire, Louis Even if Fourteen can handle the matter, she will definitely be troubled for a while - as for whether she will make a noise, there is no doubt that those people think that she will, because the king will never allow her to have a fight with Count Luo Zeng. marriage.

The Duchess of Montpensier's territory and wealth were already large enough. After the death of Duke Gaston, the King's High Court awarded her most of the chattels. The King lent her money during the war, and later made more than 100 loans to her. Several times the interest was returned together, and she was even given a small port next to Amsterdam. Such wealth is enough to shake a country.

"Okay," the duchess touched her young lover's face affectionately: "I will ask Louis when he comes back from Slovenia."

After hearing this, Earl Luozeng fell asleep contentedly.

When he woke up the next day, he was already in the Bastille.

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We have said before that the warden of the Bastille also had ambitions. His ambition was that the Bastille could become as daunting a prison and execution place as the Tower of London - how could the Tower of London be so famous? Isn't it because many dignitaries have been imprisoned and executed in its tower, including a king, a royal brother, two queens, several dukes... He has been looking forward to it - there was also a York last time Is the Duke imprisoned here? It was a pity that he could not be executed, but he would very much like to be the executioner.

When the first royal lady, Madame Montespan, and the first noblewoman, the Duchess of Montpensier, came hand in hand to bring him a prisoner, the warden was filled with joy, but as soon as he knew the identity of the other party, his face changed. It was immediately and subtly elongated - Count Luozeng, who doesn't know? He is just the lover of the duchess. Although he has always claimed that he will marry the duchess as long as he wants, everyone knows that this is impossible. The king will not allow the duchess to marry such a person.

Now it looks like, oh well, something might be wrong with this gentleman.

If Count Luozeng was still the king's musketeer, then to imprison and interrogate him would need to go through the court or the king's permission, but now he has no identity and is being held secretly. No one will care where he goes - There are many people like this in Versailles.

"Do you need help?"

"No need." Duchess Montpensier said with a smile: "Our servants are very strong."

Madame Montespan waved her hand, and the warden immediately withdrew obediently. The servants beside Madame de Montespan immediately grabbed Count Rozin and poured cold water on his head.

Although it was the hottest month, the basement of the Bastille was still extremely cold. Count Rozen woke up immediately. When he saw the Duchess of Montpensier, he smiled blankly. Maybe he thought This was still a little joke between lovers, but when he saw Madame Montespan, his expression suddenly changed.

"It seems you know me," said Madame de Montespan.

"Of course I know you." Count Luo Zeng gasped. He rolled his eyes and finally saw clearly where he was under the burning torch. He looked at Madame Montespan in panic: "You betrayed us!"

"Great," said Madame Montespan, unmoved, "it seems we can ask fewer questions."

"The only one who can threaten Louis with this is the church." Duchess Montpensier said, "People change, my dear." She nodded to Madame Montespan, and Madame Montespan said: "let's start."

"No, no, no! You can't do this to me, madam, you can't do this to me! I am the Pope's messenger!"

"If you are a legate of the Pope, then you should have proof. Where are your documents?" Madame Montespan said wearily: "Forget it, stop shouting, Clement X will not give you any documents, lest you Betrayed by you - you should know this better than me, sir, answer me now, who else but the church?"

"who?"

"Unfortunately, that's the wrong answer." Mrs. Montespan took a step back. "But it doesn't matter, sir. We don't have to get the answer."

Before Count Luozeng could understand what she meant, he was lifted up by two strong and powerful servants. They skillfully stripped off the count's clothes, leaving him standing naked like a plucked rooster waiting to be slaughtered. On the ground, and then grabbed him while the count shouted, forcing him to look at all the torture instruments in this room.

People today may not know what this behavior represents. In fact, in France, torture also requires a grand ceremony. The victim must first be stripped naked, then look at the torture instruments in the room one by one, and then follow the instructions The crimes were ordered from small to large, from light to serious, and the punishments were imposed one by one.

Of course Count Luozin knew what would happen to him next. He begged and howled incoherently, but Mrs. Montespan kept listening. After a while, she shook her head and said, "It's no use."

The Duchess of Montpensier smiled and said, "Just what I wanted." She pointed to a torture device and said, "Let's start with this."