I Am Louis XIV

Patinho staggered to his feet while pressing the wound, and ran to the door. He saw Duke Don Juan and heard him yelling for action. The Duke's attendant raised the familiar pistol, but He didn’t dare to shoot for a long time——Pattinho knew his concerns. The reason why Duke Don Juan didn’t dare to shoot himself was because of his special status. If he killed the king, if someone wanted to take the opportunity to attack him, he would die without burial. land, but his attendant, it should be said, resembles the master, and is obviously not loyal enough.

He heard wailing behind him, followed by heavy breathing, and Carlos II was right behind him.

The scythe of death seemed to have strangled his neck, and Patinho heard the Duke issue a second urgent order!

But the cowardly young man even closed his eyes, his fingers trembling and unable to exert force, and Patinho uttered a sigh, regretting that he had not brought his musket, but just as he turned away desperately—at least to stay When a person in Spain who can still speak –…

There was a roar.

Carlos II's body is much shorter and smaller than Patinho's. It's hard to imagine how he could rely on this body to cause such terrible consequences... The bullet pushed him back, and he fell on his back Falling to the ground, the short sword came out of his hands. Because the velvet pajamas were dark red and the room was dimly lit, it took a while for Patinho to see a place on the pajamas that was slowly turning black.

Duke Don Juan swallowed. At first, he failed to recognize the young man who snatched the gun and fired it in time. Later, the face somewhat similar to a certain unfortunate girl brought him back his memory.

"What did you do?" Patinho couldn't hold it anymore. He knelt on the ground, supported by the young officer, and leaned on him.

"I didn't do anything." The young officer replied calmly. "This is a criminal, isn't he?"

Patinho took a deep breath, not only because of the pain from the wound, but also because of his mistake - he really shouldn't be selfish, nor should he speculate on other people's minds, he can't even control his own nephew ...

"The doctor is here."

The useless Duke Don Juan yelled, in fact, not only doctors but also wizards came here. In the past, Patinho’s injury might not be healed, but with wizards, maybe the archbishop and the queen dowager have both. A little hope, it's just that he is too sensitive at this time, and he dare not use the term wizard.

The wizard and the doctor checked the people in the room, and found that two female officials, an attendant, and the queen mother died... It seems that they will hold two extremely grand funerals, and the archbishop's mental blow may be more serious than his physical one. , Patinho also survived by chance, and what is surprising is that Carlos II is still alive.

Not only was he alive, but he also tenaciously persisted for ten days without treatment, care, food or water when everyone remained indifferent and silent, making people have to believe what the queen mother said, There is a devil in this noble body.

Because the oil has been wiped off, no one cares about Carlos II. All the people, no matter whether they have pity or hate him before, are waiting for him to die with an indifferent attitude. Carlos II So many days of tenacious persistence--it was tiresome. Previously a squire was ordered to guard and observe him, but later, as can be seen from the records of Cardinal Alberoni, it was he who was then a boy in charge.

Cardinal Alberoni is an amazing figure not because of his humble origins. Since the Reformation, there have been many people of mediocre origins but outstanding talents in the Roman Church. What is curious about him is that he The teacher who had betrayed him, the archbishop of Toledo at the time - he stood at the head of the anti-royal, correctly speaking, anti-Habsburg riots that started in Toledo and spread throughout Spain. In the ranks, not on the side of kings, bishops and ministers.

For another person, his ending is either executed or imprisoned. At best, he is sent by the archbishop to an island far away from the secular world to be an ascetic for a lifetime, but look at the official records and his own memoirs. , he returned to the old palace in the few days when the riots in Toledo had just subsided, when the queen mother had gone to see the merciful God, Duke Don Juan also released the news that the king was sick in bed because of grief, and the archbishop announced To do a penance to pray for the blessing of Spain, there is Patinho, the Secretary of the Navy, who made no secret of being wounded in the riots and needed to recuperate.

Bishop Alberoni wrote straightforwardly in his memoirs: At that time (after the negotiations were over), some kind-hearted people wanted to help me escape, at least leave Spain, lest I be hanged by the king and the bishop, Or sent to some monastery, but José found me before they did.

As soon as he saw Jose, Alberoni knew that things might not go as he thought. Jose is equivalent to his accomplice, if Jose has been free to walk outside, then his guilt may be exonerated, although he feels that he can accept whatever the archbishop wants to do to him, because in a certain way , he did live up to the expectations of this eminent person, yes.

But his nervousness quickly turned to worry.

Jose told him that the archbishop was unfortunately injured, but this matter cannot be announced to the public, and he can only pass the curious eyes behind closed doors. It is enough that the scandal does not become the talk of ordinary people after dinner.

The archbishop's injuries are very serious. The ears and cheeks are not fatal injuries. The problem is that these places are prone to infection, and the archbishop's cheeks are almost gone, and at least two-thirds of the teeth are exposed, and there is no muscle. Can't chew, can't suck, he can only be fed hot soup and porridge until he recovers, which is not good for his recovery.

Duke Don Juan brought the latest medicine he got from the French. The white powder can prevent the archbishop's wound from festering, but it will take some time before it gets better. expression), or Patinho, or the intact Duke Don Juan, did not agree to let the original religious leader Nitard, a Jesuit, replace the position of archbishop. First of all, although Nitard became a Spanish citizen , but still an Austrian, and secondly, Nittad is a supporter of the Queen Mother Maria, and the results of his ruling with the Queen Mother are well known.

As a result, Alberoni, who was not yet a priest, was quickly promoted to the position of the archbishop's spokesperson-the funny thing is that the archbishop expressed his relief and was willing to trust his former disciple, because Alberoni has proved that he is a man with a heart. Compassionate people are not too enthusiastic about power.

After all, the archbishop has to avoid people's sight for a long time. During this period of time, it is easy to form a power vacuum or transfer. If you don't put someone here who can make you feel at ease, the archbishop will insist on wearing a mask to come out Presided over the mass - Patinho also agreed, Duke Don Juan was originally a French faction, and he was aware of Alberoni's tendency, and he still wanted to take this boat with the wind, the Queen Mother might object, but she already dead.

After Alberoni was busy with the Queen Mother's funeral, he took over the task of caring for King Carlos II.

There was nothing commendable about the writing of the later Cardinal, but it was such a straightforward narration that made the person who discovered this manuscript horrified—he recorded the last time of Carlos II in detail, Eleven days in a row.

Before Alberoni returned to the old palace, Carlos II was placed in his bedroom and anointed with holy oil because of "serious illness". It stands to reason that the king's physician should try his best to surround him until the last moment, But it was unanimously said that His Majesty refused any treatment, saying that his time had come, that he should go to God, and that he needed no one to serve him.

Since he is so devout, people can only do what he wants.

On the king's body, writes Alberoni, there were many festering sores, the largest being on the chest, and others on the shoulders, head and legs, though these sores were because it was winter and the room was cold. , did not rot too quickly, attracting mosquitoes, but began to appear a strange liquefaction phenomenon-the king's sores, the skin was shiny and swollen, and it was full of accumulated water. After the water was released, the skin was close to the muscles , turned dry off-white, and rolled inwards.

Although the sores did not fester, they did not intend to heal either. They were like hungry mouths, releasing tiny heat into the air. These heat attracted mice. Jumped off the fireplace and ran around the king's body.

Alberoni then did not say whether he drove the rats away, but posterity has it that he must have done so, and perhaps had his attendants search for them to prevent them from entering the king's chamber again—these It is taken for granted that a good man cannot allow even a lowly prisoner to be bitten by rats.

Bishop Alberoni averted his eyes after writing the mouse, and he wrote that the king awoke from a sweet dream, moaning, his eyes wide open to see what was going on around him, he called his squires, he called his ministers, Called the Archbishop of Toledo, called the Queen, called the Queen Mother, and even called the Duke Don Juan who had a bad relationship with him-of course, these people either had important things to do, or they died, or There are other irreproachable reasons.

Anyway, Alberoni talked to him seriously.

The king suddenly became angry, Bishop Alberoni wrote, with a touch of unbelievable indifference, and he speculated that the king must have become so irritable because he was mourning his own powerlessness. It was an eventful time, but he could only lie on the bed and do nothing.

It is also possible that he was mourning excessively. The queen mother died, but the queen "leaved" Spain. When Carlos II woke up, she had already arrived in Rome and obtained the asylum of Pope Innocent XI. Still a virgin, the marriage contract failed to complete the last step as a reason to ask the Pope to declare her marriage to Carlos II invalid. Of course, this appeal also represents that Carlos II's only son is now an illegitimate child, and he contemptuously Like Duke Don Juan, he was not eligible to inherit the Spanish throne.

Therefore, Carlos II is about to die, but the person who inherits his throne may be the second son of Louis XIV that he hates the most, Charles Bourbon.

Although it is not good to say this kind of thing to a patient who is about to die, Bishop Alberoni is a saint revered by countless people (he was indeed canonized after his death). Your lord is a little too straightforward.

In Alberoni's description, he used the word "despair" without any concealment. Carlos II lamented: "This is the empire that God gave me and took away." It's worth it."

It is an illusion to say that there is a sense of schadenfreude in Bishop Alberoni's account here. Alberoni, a saint, has for decades spread mercy throughout Spain, especially How could those poor people treat their king like this.

Alberoni said that after hearing that his country would be handed over to the son of Louis XIV, Carlos II hardly had a moment of peace. He kept asking to see this and that, but those people did come. Sometimes, he passed out because of the high fever. Sometimes he may be awake, but because of the torture of illness, he can't maintain his proper posture and reason, and he can't say any usable will.

"The king was in great pain. He said that his back was like a man being chained and chained," Bishop Alberoni specifically explained here. The frame is to stretch the person until the limbs are dislocated, and the restraint is to force the person to curl up - from hours to days, the back is the first to feel pain.

Then there was suffocation, that is, difficulty in breathing. Carlos II complained that his chest seemed to be pressed by a huge stone.

His limbs started to turn black from the tips of his nails a few days later, when his sores finally began to rot and smell foul. He needed to open his mouth as wide as he could, otherwise he couldn't take in enough air. whimpers and cries, unfortunately, writes Alberoni - no one can help him.

Even so, the king still insisted on living. The dirty smell in the room had long overshadowed the aroma of holy oil and myrrh. Alberoni held up a candle and carefully observed the "breathing corpse". , or "buried for days," he added.

Finally the king began to vomit black blood, and then pieces of viscera, the largest sore on his chest showing bones and a faintly visible heart underneath.

The heart was dug out after the king endured more than ten days of torture, placed in a glass bottle, soaked in spirits, and stored in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Toledo.

—————

Alberoni wrote the last sentence on the parchment, finishing with a dot, before inserting the quill back into the inkwell.

"There is indeed a heart in the sacristy," Jose asked delicately, "but are you sure it belongs to Carlos II?"

"Of course not," said Alberoni. "That's not a human heart. In order to avoid any accidents, they entrusted me to dispose of it."

"deal with?"

"Whatever you want," said Alberoni.

"Whose heart is that?"

"It belonged to a man who was pure and perfectly entitled to be revered," said Alberoni. "Another reason is that Her Majesty entrusted me with the care of it."

"Your Majesty the Queen..." Jose sighed: "If the Pope decides that her engagement to Carlos II is invalid, she will not be our Queen. She really shouldn't do this—I'm not saying she shouldn't run away from Carlos Second, I mean, her father must be very angry, because her actions undoubtedly support the legitimacy of Bourbon of France's claim to the Spanish throne."

Alberoni remained silent, and Antonia's behavior could be said to be desperate, and had great after-effects—she was eager to get rid of the shadow brought on her by this marriage, but forgot that even if the engagement was invalid, her The guardianship will also return from the Spanish royal family to Leopold I. Leopold I is not the kind of person who will be soft-hearted to his children, so why can't he do something more terrible?