I Am Louis XIV

The small banquet was held in the queen dowager's suite. There were fewer people qualified to participate, and the atmosphere was more active. The king sat next to the queen dowager and hardly spoke. Nowadays, few people can need the king to force themselves, but when the queen dowager When talking, Louis still listened carefully, and he still maintained a heart of gratitude and love for his mother, but when he heard what the Queen Mother said, he was still surprised: "Oh, ’ said he, ‘of course I would love to have a nephew, but the problem is, I have an important matter to say to Henrietta next.’

"Is there anything she needs to do?"

"Yes," Louis said, "you know, I'm going to continue to march north." If it is possible, it is not impossible to take the Netherlands in one fell swoop. "So I need Henrietta to go back to England. Charles II makes a covenant."

"I'm afraid it's not easy." The queen mother said, Charles II is also a king after all, although the battles between England and the Netherlands are constant, but—to put it bluntly, when Dunkirk was sold to France, maybe Charles II is regretting it, and if France gets the Netherlands, the enemies Britain will face will only become more difficult. For Britain, the way to get the most benefit is to aid the Netherlands, and then drag France in In the dirty mud—just because of the setbacks suffered by the British navy in the previous two battles, the parliament and the king rarely reached an agreement that the Netherlands must be the enemy of Britain.

But France is not a friend of the UK either.

In this way, in the early morning of the next day, the Duke of Orleans and his wife, Henrietta, had the honor of having breakfast with the king, although the people in the court agreed that the king had favored his brother too much—"They Just jealous," Philip told Henrietta, who smiled back.

The place where the king had breakfast was in the small drawing room of the king's suite. Looking through the huge glass windows, one could see the pale golden sunlight shining on the dark green holly, and a fountain surrounded by vines was covered with creaking flowers. The chirping birds, the water droplets reflected brilliant and delicate rainbows in the air-but those who know the inside story will be dumbfounded. The reason why the king chose this place is because the Palace of Versailles was not completed at all, except for the grand gallery, main hall and Except for the suites of the king and the queen mother and a few rooms, other places even have exposed concrete and wooden beams. The garden can only be seen from the courtyard opposite the grand gallery and the holly labyrinth on both sides. In fact, the project in Versailles is completely over. After that, the suites of the King and Queen Mother will be moved again.

The victory banquet held in Versailles at night is also to block those sharp sights. After all, in the dark night, under the mutual reflection of torches, candles and fireworks, it is difficult for anyone to notice that in this new palace, there is only one layer of curtains. , the statues are pitiful, and the wainscoting and the gilded picture frame are fixed - because there is no wainscoting behind the portrait... The king's suite is the most well-prepared, and it is also because the king's configuration is originally The most complete, on the battlefield, he also has his own brass bathtub - in the bathroom on the side of the suite, the king's bathtub is still silver, only a few people know its origin, but after it spreads, people are even more Think of Versailles as the sultan's treasury, or a gift from God.

But because the king has his own glass workshop, of course, you can also call it a huge factory. With the coexistence of technology and magic, it can manufacture glass with a length and width of more than nine feet. These glasses were first used In Versailles, without the frame, the people sitting in the room seem to be sitting in the courtyard, enjoying the uncompromising beauty-and the meal on the table seems to be compared with these gorgeous scenes. A bit shabby.

"Vettel passed out after the banquet last night." The king and Philip explained that the doctor said that Vettel could be woken up, but considering Vettel's fear of the king, let alone nervousness, he was busy with work. Even if he dies, he will die in the king's kitchen. Thinking of this, the king simply asked the doctor to feed the head chef some strong wine to let him have a good rest-yesterday's banquet was not just about the hall Those in the city, the bread in the town of Versailles and on the road, and the light wine are all responsible for Vatel. Any inconspicuous things, as long as the quantity arrives, are unimaginably heavy burdens for ordinary people, but Vatel can achieve beyond the king's expectations. The achievement, which satisfies the king very much.

The king's breakfast was always rich, but ordinary. He didn't like to drink alcohol in the morning, and he didn't like to eat something too greasy. But Philip saw that the food here was not the kind commonly used by the king.

Huge bread wrapped in butter and sugar, marinated pork fat, chili soup mixed with offal, the only thing Philip felt familiar was the steaming hot tea in the gold-rimmed porcelain pot.

"A little secret," Louis said, holding Philip's hand, "don't tell anyone."

"But how can you eat the same food as those civilians?" Philip also whispered.

"Occasionally, occasionally," Louis made a grimace, and let his younger brother sit beside him: "Do you still remember what we ate at the Red Boy Market and the Saint-Germain Market? The food of the common people is not so unreasonable." Swallow." He kindly stretched out his hand again, and led Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, to her seat. Henrietta also found these foods that should not appear on the king's menu. "Vettel will be scared to death," she said.

"I'm just a little curious about what he provided to those civilians." Louis said. After sitting down, he tasted the bread first, then scooped up a little chili offal soup, and then ate the bacon with the bread slowly. After a meal, it can only be said that Vettel really understood his intentions. These breads were added with salt, a lot of sugar and butter, so that they were not fermented well, but they were fluffy, and the marinated pork was even more so. The fattest piece is like solidified pork. The chili offal soup contains a lot of offal, and chili and ginger are put in it at any cost. Of course, it is also very salty.

Louis's refreshing and light taste directly affected the whole court. Philip even used a small part and couldn't eat anymore. He didn't need to hide it in front of his brother. Tang had already prepared, and new tea would be delivered in the next moment. Henrietta liked chili offal soup unexpectedly—maybe she also realized that, besides the king’s wife, Queen Teresa, the king had already realized that, besides the king’s wife, Queen Teresa, Apart from the prince and princess, and the occasional Mrs. La Vallière, there is only the younger brother Philip. It is obvious that the king needs her to serve because she has won such an honor today.

It would be a lie to say that Henrietta had no expectations of the Queen's position, and that the King is indeed a gentle and humble man, indeed, as haughty as the Duc d'Orleans (except for his brother, who rarely It is almost impossible for him to consider his wife’s feelings. Only when the king repeatedly reminds her can she get enough respect from the Duke of Orleans—the Duke of Orleans has been fighting and supervising the king for the past few years. In Lorraine and Alsace, she also received a lot of indirect favors from the king in the court - although in order to avoid suspicion, the king rarely communicated with her directly.

After the meal, the king really told her about the work that would be entrusted to her. There was no reason for this. After all, the king was willing to accept this sister-in-law who had almost no dowry other than thirty Calais ships. It was to reach a covenant with Charles II, but the king glanced at the Duke of Orleans: "Your previous plan may not be carried out until Henrietta returns. Philip," he said: "During this time, I hope You can rest well, Paris or Versailles, I will not start a war against Holland until Henrietta returns."

The Duke of Orleans immediately straightened his back. What he was worried about was that the king would take him back to Paris, and then leave him in Paris. Of course, the Louvre is more comfortable than the battlefield, but after such an outstanding victory in Flanders, The soul belonging to a warrior has awakened in the body of Brother Wang. Although he still likes to wear makeup, dress in fancy clothes, and wear weapons inlaid with jewels, these do not prevent him from galloping recklessly on the battlefield.

With the king's guarantee, the Duchess of Orleans set foot on the road to London in three days, saying that the car was easy, and the simple thing was her luggage, just like an ordinary court lady (Monpensier The Duchess said so), but when it comes to the accompanying attendants and guards, there are not a lot of them. In addition to the wizards of Gajola Island, there are also monks from Elliott. Facing the current king, Eralio is even more Be more docile when facing Bishop Mazarin—the king ordered him to send an envoy to Rome. It is said that when he intended to show his favor to the new Pope, Eralio's lovely face was about to crack—France could be said to be He repeatedly slapped the Church of Rome several times, and almost repeated the Alvignon incident. Although the current Pope and the previous Alexander VII hold different opinions, they have one thing in common, that is, to the increasingly powerful France. Fear and hatred.

And Louis XIV, the young king, acted as if nothing had happened before—although the congratulatory letter was quite colorful, but other than this, there were only empty promises. How can you treat a Pope like this? Oh, no, the previous Alexander VII seemed to be a bit more miserable, but the new pope now... seems to be more willing to get close to Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire. too easy.

There is a reason why Louis XIV asked Eralio to send monks instead of directly sending Cardinal Larivier, or other bishops, and ambassadors to Rome. If the current Pope can change his mind, there is no doubt that It is better to catch Leopold I by surprise instead of letting him predict it, but this depends on the Pope's balance. If the new Pope still decides to suppress France, then he will definitely make Louis XIV intentions to reveal to his enemies.

This is why Princess Henrietta has the same vigilance scale as a king traveling. Since there will be a dark wizard who dares to attack the king, if someone notices the Duchess of Orleans who is going out at this critical moment, then she must also Will be sniped - after all, anyone can guess why she left Paris - no one even knows that she is in charge of this important business, the word is that the Duchess of Orleans is unwell, so she is recuperating in Fontainebleau went.

When Henrietta boarded the ship from Dunkirk to London one dawn, Charles II had already woken up from his bed.

—————

Charles II received a letter from Louis XIV a few days ago, and now their correspondence is faster and more secretive than before. Charles II deeply admires the courage of Louis XIV. It can be said that he was in Louis XIV's Under the influence of the British, he began to contact the inner world of Britain, and began to try to recruit more wizards—not the kind that were decorated in the palace.

To say that British wizards, in the world, are more ancient and orthodox than France. Don’t forget that King Arthur was born in Britain, and the "Merlin" that every wizard will call is the former teacher and minister of King Arthur. Because of this, in the UK, wizards have more room to move than other places, but since Protestantism replaced the original church, the situation of wizards has become worse-if facing the original church, they only need to Be wary of the tribunals and bishops, and when facing Protestants, they must be wary of every believer. Protestants will even expel and execute Catholics, and the wizards who fall into their hands have no way out.

As for the wizards that are usually around the king, it can be said that they are always under the supervision of the parliament. There are also some people who have proposed that these devil believers should be driven away, beheaded and hanged—fortunately, Charles II used Charles I's The tragedy refuted them. If the wizard around Charles I hadn't left the court due to the pressure of the parliament, Charles I could at least escape from the mob. Now they want to drive away the wizard. Do they want to put him on the execution platform?

He was a hidden wizard before, and now he is one of his attendants. He handed him a secret letter from the King of France. The content of the secret letter is very simple and has no legal or moral effect, but the promise inside is very satisfying. Charles II was heartbroken.

Only before Henrietta, his dear sister, came back, he had to receive the messenger from Holland.

This envoy from the Netherlands is not the first, and I am afraid that he will not be the last. This is not surprising. After embezzling most of Flanders and the situation is settled, the French army There are still 45,000 people guarding Brussels and other places, which means it is self-evident.