I Am Louis XIV

The servant yelled like this because the upper body of Gaston, the Duke of Orleans, was almost submerged in blood and blood clots. His pillow and bed sheets were covered with sticky and smelly black-red semi-solidified things, and his nose gurgled. Bubbling from an indescribable black pudding-like thing, it was here that the painful gasp came from, but it was Duke Gaston's protruding eyes that made him scream uncontrollably. The eye sockets are precarious, like long-ripe grapes, about to fall from the branches at any moment. Even the brave knight can't help but tremble when seeing such a scene.

This servant is not the previous personal servant of the Duke of Gaston. To be precise, since he came to Blois, his personal servant has changed four times in a row, and each of them either suddenly died of a serious illness for no reason, or died in the After resigning from office, various accidents happened. Now standing by the duke’s bed is a bold janitor. Since he can get a gold louis every day here, he came bravely and sticks to it until now, but in addition There is a problem, that is, this kind of person can't help but be a bit dull, for example, he only knows how to stand by the bed and scream after he notices the duke's strangeness.

Fortunately, the bedroom of Duke Gaston's second wife, Mrs. Marguerite de Lorraine, whom he loved and relied on, was only separated from the Duke's room by a wall. She quickly put on her cloak and rushed into the room. The whole process did not take more than a minute—the lady had never taken off her coat in bed since the Duke was seriously ill, and she slapped the servant to stop. No more yelling, while ordering her personal maid to bring hot water and cotton cloth, and loudly telling the servant who was woken by her to wake up the others, the Duke's confessor, the priest, the doctor and her and the Duke's three daughters .

A few minutes later, the hot water and cotton cloth came. At this time, the sheets on the Duke’s body were pulled away and thrown away, and they were piled up under the bed. The Duchess wrung the cotton cloth half dry from the copper basin, and gently covered the Duke’s face. , and slowly wiped away the dried blood—the black pudding-like blood clots had been wiped off with a bed sheet, and the duchess’s terrible eyes were also closed by the duchess, and a velvet mask was put on him, so that people I couldn’t see his terrifying appearance now—except for the eyeballs that were about to fall out, the swollen tongue, dense bruises and blisters all over the cheeks and neck.

Within half an hour, the confessor and priest, the doctor, and the duke's daughters all came. Their oldest was thirteen years old, and their youngest was ten years old. Originally they had an eight-year-old brother and a six-year-old sister, but They died six years ago and two years ago respectively, and now the Duke has no male heir, only an illegitimate son who is eighteen years old.

As long as people hear the sound of breathing, people can know how painful Mr. Duke is-his breathing is irregular, sometimes long, sometimes short, thick and heavy like a blacksmith's bellows, and clear and shallow like a bellows. Butterflies are flapping their wings, and his groans are like ghouls coming from the soil nine feet below. Die the moaning man, don't let him continue to suffer like this.

But after that doctor—that strange, stooped guy who always wore a crow's mouth mask and poured a cup of potion that looked like boiling mud to the Duke, the Duke survived again, holding his hand From that clasped hand came his thoughts to the Duchess's heart, and he was really tormented, but he didn't want to die, at least not now, he had no male heir, wait for him If he dies, the only one who inherits the territory and title is Philip, the younger brother of King Louis of France. That is to say, not only has he lost to his enemy, but everything he seeks will also become a delicacy in the mouth of the enemy. He can't accept this anyway. The result—but his serious illness was not a disguise, as it was supposed, he was indeed ill, almost terminally ill.

When he realized that the duke might not need them, the confessor priest and the priest withdrew under the duchess' signal. Before leaving the room, the confessor priest saw a set of triptych altarpieces hanging in the duke's bedroom— — what he saw made him involuntarily cross himself.

The Duchess gazed at the gigantic woodblock print, from Flanders, by Hieronymus Bosch, as wide as three men with outstretched arms, and as tall as one, the grotesque and wicked The painter used his most vicious imagination in this painting dedicated to the women's convent, although the theme is still a common religious theme.

God gave Eve to Adam, the joy in the world, the pain in hell... But since the Garden of Eden (God and Adam, Eve), there have been many strange plants and animals on the screen, like huge buildings. flowers, thorny fruits that burst and stick out their tongues, fish with wings, birds with three heads, etc.; Moreover, there are more mutated and distorted scenes, owls hatched from pomegranates with many legs, mermaids wearing iron helmets, women riding cats, what is even more strange is that the skin color of those humans changed from blue to gray From white to red, and then there are those that are so black that the eyebrows, eyes and limbs cannot be distinguished, it looks like an upright shadow in the shape of a human.

Once in hell, the artist’s imagination is completely let go. What you see here are animals ruling humans. There is no flame, no magma in hell, and no pain can be seen on human faces, but they are all created. It has become all kinds of furniture and musical instruments, either being pierced, crushed, or carrying heavy loads, unable to straighten up. The strange thing is that people will say it is ridiculous when they see it, but they can’t move their eyes. When you look at them Sometimes, it's like being able to hear all kinds of noises coming from the screen, from grunting, crying to roaring, or pleading.

The painting should have been destroyed, but for some unknown reason, the bishop of the women's convent hid it, and then Duke Gaston insisted on going to see it after hearing about it, and then paid a thousand livres to buy it. It bought it.

"It's an honor that you love my little work so much." The doctor laughed, seeing the Duchess's gaze fixed again, like a frightened cat's.

"Mr. Bosch," Duke Gaston didn't take off his mask, but he seemed to be able to see the picture through the deep black velvet: "How long can I live?"

"You should have died a long time ago," Hieronymus Bosch, who should have died a hundred years ago but was still able to walk in the world as if nothing had happened, picked it up from the bed sheet that hadn't been thrown away. One thing, hold it up to the Duke before the candle, "Look, sir, these are your lungs."

"Is there no hope?"

"there is none left."

"If I could have another son," whispered the Duke (who also didn't have enough strength), "I could still sleep with women... My wife would arrange for me, ten or twenty, their There is always a son in my belly, I will let Margaret recognize him, he will be my legal heir..."

"That's impossible, Mr. Duke, you are rotting from the inside of your body, that is to say, even if you can...well, get up, your two shriveled balls cannot produce seeds, you are destined to Lost your territory and title, but it doesn't matter, you will be dead at that time, buried in the ground, you will no longer have any consciousness."

These words made the Duke fly into a rage, but all he could do was tear off his mask, and even so, he was still panting with exhaustion, and the Duchess took his head in her arms without disgust, letting him Lying on his knees, even though the Duke's head was like a rotten plum, after a moment of excitement, the Duke suddenly calmed down again, and he stretched out his hand to push his eyeballs to let them go back a little, although he He can hardly see what is in front of him now, but as long as he has a mind functioning, and he has a loyal wife and subjects, he will...

"Well," he said calmly, "if I want someone to be buried with me..."

"who?"

"Louis XIV, King of France."

This answer kept Mr. Bosch silent for a while, and then he asked, "Return?"

"All the money I left behind, and a hundred blank identification papers."

"Where's your wife?"

"She has her own dowry."

"Where's your daughter?"

"They have all been engaged and have their own dowries." Here, the Duke of Gaston did not mention his eldest daughter, the Duchess of Montpensier at all. If the Duchess of Montpensier returned to the court Before, Duke Gaston had the impression that she was an incompetent waste, a lowly traitor, so after she used the income from the territory in exchange for the king's forgiveness to her instead of her father, she was Gaston. The Duke of the East is an out-and-out enemy.

He didn't let her die, not because of his father's kindness, but because the Duke's current power is very meager and needs to be used in the most critical places.

"Where's your... son?"

"He's the only blood I have left, and I'll send him to Spain."

"And what about Philip, Duke of Anjou?"

"I want to leave a Bourbon king for France, and if I make such a request, you will never agree."

"Indeed, Mr. Duke," Bosch said, taking off his mask, revealing red eyes and sharp fangs: "But we have promised Prince Theoderic of Vanjo that we will not harm the members of the royal family." Anyone, so I regret to be your intermediary."

"My reward should be able to impress many people."

"It is true, and that His Majesty," said Bosch, "has indeed done some things that have displeased many people recently."