King's Landing in France

Chapter 23 and the deficit queen go head to head

After the carriage stopped, An Ning opened the door and got out of the car, then turned around and held Christina's hand, helping her get out of the car.

Christina: "You are quite familiar with this set of etiquette."

An Ning: "There is a proverb in my hometown that even if you have never eaten pork, you have seen pigs running. For example, if you have not experienced it yourself, you will have heard it."

"What a strange proverb." Christina laughed.

At this time, the guards of the palace came forward: "May I ask who you two are..."

Christina: "I am the daughter of Duke Tollesterne, and this is my dance partner."

An Ning introduced herself: "I am Andy Frost, the son of a Caen cobbler."

When the guard heard An Ning's self-report, he looked at him in surprise: "This... this is the royal ball, do you have an invitation card?"

A cobbler's son certainly couldn't get an invitation to a royal ball.

Christina took a step forward: "Frost is my savior, and he also won the Legion Medal of Honor on the German battlefield."

Guard: "So you are a war hero, I'm sorry. But I don't seem to see you wearing a medal..."

An Ning: "Because my medal has not been awarded to me, but General Carnegie has indeed applied for me."

Guard: "That's right. Then there's no problem. Please come this way, the two of you. The ball is being held in the palace garden."

The guards began to lead the way.

Christina naturally took An Ning's arm.

The evening dress Christina wore had a low placket unique to this era. She held An Ning's arms in such a way that An Ning's entire left field of vision was filled with white.

Christina pulled An Ning and followed the guards into the palace garden.The lights here are brightly lit, and amidst the sound of music, the ladies are like blooming roses on the dance floor.

At this time, a gentleman stepped forward to greet Christina: "Hey, isn't this Christina? And this one, is it the civilian swordsman who won the duel this afternoon?"

An Ning: "Uh, I did win a duel this afternoon, I don't know if you are..."

"He is Viscount Raphael, the son of Earl Lane." Christina said and stretched out her hand, so Viscount Raphael respectfully kissed his hand.

"Oh Christina," Raphael recited a poem, "your arrival makes the whole ball more gorgeous."

Christina smiled and said, "Don't say that, the queen will be upset if she hears it."

"What's wrong with me?" Came a pretending majestic voice.

An Ning followed the prestige and saw a graceful and luxurious woman walking towards her.

The woman's appearance made An Ning think for a moment that she saw the goddess Audrey Hepburn, and she was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth from ear to ear.

Christina let go of An Ning's arm, pinched the corner of her skirt and saluted the woman: "His Royal Highness, good evening."

It was Mary the Deficit Queen herself!
An Ning hurriedly followed Raphael's example and saluted the queen.

The queen looked at An Ning: "Are you the son of the cobbler who won the duel this afternoon?"

An Ning: "Yes."

"Some people say that you are the son of a fallen noble, so you have learned swordsmanship." The queen stepped forward, ignoring Christina next to her, "Is that so?"

"No, I am indeed the son of a cobbler."

"But you beat the best swordsman in Paris."

An Ning raised her eyebrows: "That means that Reginald is not as powerful as he is."

"But he won three duels."

"It means that the person who dueled with him before is worse than him." An Ning shrugged.

At this time, Christina forcibly intervened: "Andy saved me on the battlefield. No one who has seen the cruelty of the battlefield is comparable to a son like Reginald."

The queen glanced at Christina, and did not hide her dissatisfaction with her interruption at all: "Christina, I heard that you went to the battlefield disguised as a man?"

Christina nodded: "Yes, I did."

The queen glanced at her breasts, and said with a smile, "How did you do it? It must take a lot of effort for you to have the same figure as a man."

An Ning echoed silently in her heart: Indeed.

Christina: "There is nothing impossible. The girl Joan of Arc of Orleans could do it back then, so naturally I can do it too."

An Ning: "Joan of Arc didn't disguise herself as a man, did she? And she's not from Orleans, she was born in Champagne..."

Christina stared at An Ning, with an expression on her face that seemed to be asking "Which side are you from?".

The queen smiled and said: "It seems that your knowledge is quite broad, no wonder everyone will say that you are the heir of a declining noble family."

An Ning: "If a person has knowledge, everyone will say that he is a fallen noble or something. This is wrong. Common people can also have knowledge."

Queen: "As expected of being the servant of the Duke of Orleans, the Duke is about to praise the commoners to heaven."

A woman behind the queen immediately interjected: "It's a pity that this is France, and commoners are only the third class, subjects."

An Ning glanced at the woman speaking, and asked suspiciously, "Who are you?"

Female: "Oh quietly, 'Who are you', Mary, look, this commoner doesn't know anything about ball etiquette."

Hearing the woman call Queen Mary directly, An Ning probably guessed the woman's identity. She should be the queen's best friend, Mrs. Lamballe.

An Ning's guess was immediately confirmed by Christina: "Andy, this is Madame Lamballe, a good friend of Her Royal Highness the Queen."

Mrs. Lamballe snorted: "Yesterday I heard that Reginald was challenged by a commoner, and I wanted to go to see the fun today, but after thinking about it, I think that the commoner will definitely be instantly killed by the experienced Reginald." , I didn’t go.”

An Ning: "So you missed my wonderful performance today."

Mrs. Lamballe rolled her eyes: "Although I didn't look at it, I can guess that it must be because Reginald underestimated the enemy. But are you so leisurely? Reginald's father, the Marquis Richard, is very precious." As for this son, I guess when the news reaches his territory, he should come to Paris to ask you to ask for your punishment."

An Ning raised her eyebrows: "I thought the nobles lived in Paris."

In this era, many French nobles did not stay in the territory, but bought real estate in Paris to live permanently, and handed over their territories to housekeepers and agents.

Many French farmers in this era have never seen their lords since they were born. They only know that the lord's housekeeper will come to collect taxes.

The organizers of life in the French countryside have long since changed from lords to priests everywhere.

The rule of feudal lords over their subjects has long since existed in name only.

But there are always exceptions.

These nobles who still lived in the countryside were sent to lampposts by the peasants after the outbreak of the Great Revolution.

Madame Lamballe looked at An Ning proudly: "The Marquis Lichar likes his castle, he just sent his precious son to study in Paris. Now that his precious son is killed by you, the Marquis will definitely throw it away. Go down to the castle and come over aggressively to question the teacher, just wait, there will be a good show! You'd better find yourself a good lawyer!"

Queen Mary looked at An Ning and said loudly, "You can ask the Duke to find a lawyer for you, but I don't know if the lawyers in Paris will sue a shoemaker's son."

An Ning corrected with a smile: "My father is a cobbler, which is different from a shoemaker. Of course he also makes shoes, but his main job is leather products."

The queen and best friend seemed to be amused by An Ning's correction.

"Listen, Mary, leather goods! He said that as if it were something of great value!"

"I heard my dear, for common people, leather products may indeed be valuables!"

An Ning: "I'm sorry, I forgot that this is the imperial palace. In the imperial palace, locks are the most valuable items."

Christina: "Pfft!"

Christina, who accidentally laughed out loud, quickly put on a straight face.

The queen stared at An Ning viciously, it was obvious that An Ning's words hit her sorely.

Her husband, King Louis XVI of France, was an excellent locksmith, and he was much more interested in playing with locks than his queen.

"Do you know?" The queen said to An Ning through gritted teeth, "If it was in the past, the words just now would have been enough to get you hanged."

An Ning shrugged: "Unfortunately, now that there is the Supreme Court of Paris, the royal family can no longer hang people casually. Even the son of a cobbler like me."

The French Supreme Court during this time period was actually an institution used by the nobles and the emerging bourgeoisie to limit the imperial power. The court would not only prevent the king from executing people casually, but also prevent some of the king's policies.

Later, why the Pope convened a three-level parliament, one of the reasons was that the Supreme Court said that if you want to increase taxes, you must convene a three-level parliament, otherwise you will not be allowed to increase.

Queen Mary's dissatisfaction with An Ning was written all over her face. At this moment, Christina suddenly cleared her throat: "Well, the royal family still owes my father..."

"You two, please enjoy the ball to the fullest." The queen showed her amazing talent for changing faces.

An Ning couldn't help saying: "The royal family owes so much debt, is it okay to hold such a luxurious ball?"

Christina lightly kicked An Ning's shoes.

The queen and her girlfriends pretended not to hear An Ning's complaints, and left with their heads held high.

Christina pulled An Ning: "Come on, let me introduce my friends to you. Everyone must really want to meet the commoner swordsman who defeated the Paris Duel King."

(End of this chapter)