I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 120 Firstborn and Queen (2)

  This letter surprised Teresa, and she was a little overwhelmed with joy. She never thought that her fiancé-in-law would write to her—what exactly was written in it? When she opened the letter, she saw lines of neat and powerful handwriting. She couldn't help comparing them with other people's handwritten letters that she had seen before. His fingers could even feel the indents where the metal nib pierced the parchment. There was only a faint smell of myrrh on the letter paper. Presumably it was not intentionally sprinkled with perfume, but the balm hand rubbed on the parchment and left behind. of.

After swiping the letter paper roughly like this, Her Royal Highness carefully read the letter word by word. The letter was not written in Latin, which is now admired by nobles, but in French. It was a bit difficult for Teresa to read, but fortunately the content was very simple. The king expressed his attitude towards the marriage in the letter. He said that although they were united by the will of God and the country, he hoped that between them It is still possible to have a sincere relationship instead of hating each other or being indifferent - seeing this, Teresa can't help but smile, Louis is the same age as her, but as she estimates, boys are always older than The girl matures later. She knows that her appearance is mediocre, so she never expects love, and she values ​​her husband's respect and piety more than illusory emotions. The former will not embarrass her, and the latter will not hurt her. And her children - as for love, there is a tradition of "Lady Royale" in the French court, and her father also has many lovers, as for other monarchs, no, it should be said that the husband, their eyes almost never fall on their wives body, or if they did, it would be unconventional and ridiculous.

   Besides, as the maids said, if Louis was half as handsome as the portrait, she would not expect her husband to be loyal to her. Even if he was not a king, there would be countless lovely girls who would follow him.

   But if Louis XIV was as gentle as people say, she could look forward to being his friend. Theresa thought, and then read on, and then some advice from Louis XIV. For example, he hoped that she would consolidate her study of French, especially the spoken language, because in the French court, people used French more and more. Not Latin, but in an unfamiliar environment, it is very important to be able to ensure that she does not become deaf and dumb, after all she is from Spain - here Louis put it kindly, his mother, the Queen Mother of France Anne is also from Spain. She was tortured for more than 20 years before she gave birth to Louis. The inability to communicate with others in French has become one of her biggest mistakes. After all, whether it is a good thing or a bad thing , you can't understand and can't speak, you don't know whether to accept or reject, and you can't even put on an appropriate look.

Given the months of negotiations between Spain and France, Teresa calculated that she could still do it with a targeted attack—she needed a French teacher, oh wait, at the king In her letter, it was also mentioned that if she needed a French teacher, then Prince Condé should have the honor to serve as this post. Although such Spanish courtiers would definitely be dissatisfied, but... Teresa rarely dared to think that she would go to France. It's not them, it's her. Of course she can refuse Louis XIV's suggestion, but as a wife, it's disrespectful to her husband, and it also fails the kindness of a king. Husband is bored of himself...

Also, Teresa has the idea that she might be able to find an ally for herself before she sets foot in Paris, just as the Queen Mother of the Medici once allied with Bishop Richelieu, and then Austria (Spain) The Queen Mother of Queen Anne is allied with the Bishop of Mazarin, so that she is not alone in the French court, but has the king of France thought of this? Perhaps, she folded the parchment into tiny pieces, hid it in her reliquary, and told her maid to see if His Majesty had time to see her so she could make her request.

Although Philip IV was dissatisfied with his daughter's preference for the French before she got married, considering the current situation, he still agreed, or he also tried to see if he could bring Prince Condé back to the Spanish army. …

  ———

The months passed so quickly, after the signing of a formal peace treaty - the Pyrenean Peace Treaty, Spain ceded the established territory to France, and then there was an orderly wedding process, the wedding of the king and the princess and its It is a grand feast, but rather a continuation of the peace treaty. The whole process is like an extremely solemn handover ceremony-according to tradition and etiquette, as well as the terms of the peace treaty, King Louis XIV of France is going to leave. Faisan Island in the Bidasoa River, as did King Philip IV of Spain, whose Royal Highness the Princess would meet her husband for the first time in the company of Philip IV and the entire Spanish court, who would then be handed over by Philip IV louis.

The same is true for Louis. He wants to take the entire French court to the Isle of Faisan. His younger brother is bound to accompany him, and the Queen Mother Anne stays in Paris. This kind of event makes the whole Paris vaguely boil. It is said that the fabrics and perfumes All doubled, and the musketeers, dragoons, and guards, who might have accompanied the king to the frontier, were constantly going in and out of tailors, blacksmiths, and jewellers, dressing themselves as brightly as they could, without knowing it. Before I knew it, there were even more ladies on Durery Avenue, all of whom came to see these dignified young people.

The king's ministers and relatives inevitably spent a lot of money to ensure that they were as magnificent as peacocks, so as not to lose their dignity in front of the Spaniards, but the most proud of them was the familiar Cole. Bell, after Fouquet was arrested and imprisoned, everyone knew he was going to be the new Treasurer--he was invited by Bontang himself into the King's study, and the King told him that he would be privileged to witness it. A glorious marriage.

   This kind of honor made Colbert both honored and terrified. He was so happy for a while, and he was so worried that his father thought he had fallen into evil.

However, there are quite a few cases like Colbert. The people in the court and the court have either participated in the rebellion of the Prince of Condé or the Duke of Gaston, or worked for the Cardinal of Mazarin, the king forgives Prince Condé did not pursue the subordinates of Gaston and Bishop Mazarin, but they did not have much confidence in whether they could gain the king's trust. Appearing in front of the king, whether it is flattery or doing things, Louis' recent decrees are indeed quicker and easier to implement.

  His Royal Highness, Duke Philip finally got rid of those muddy sewers, and finally he could dress up and appear in front of his brother.

   "Is there anything urgent?" Louis glanced at the clock, it was almost twelve o'clock in the evening, and there were no dances and gambling, so Philip still hadn't gone back to rest? "We're leaving early in the morning, Philip, are you going to nap in my carriage again?"

"I only came when I saw your window lighted down below." Philip said confidently, obviously, what he meant was... don't laugh at a hundred paces, he can still doze in the carriage, and Louis But to let people see his face, those who sent off the king would be very disappointed if they didn't see the king - of course the king could not care about their opinion, but Philip knew that Louis would not do that.

   "I just received a message." Louis said, pressing his forehead.

   "Can I know?"

   "There's nothing that can't be said," Louis put a parchment on the candle and lit it: "Mary's situation is not very good recently, and the child in her belly has been determined to be a boy."

   "Wizard's means?"

   "Wizard's way," said Louie.

"Then he..." Philip didn't even mention Marie. It can be said that Marie grew up with them. Philip didn't hate her, but the affection he had accumulated when he was young was already because of her coercion to Louis. And the wear and tear is gone, Philip will always remember what the king said before killing Felipe, yes, they can love anyone, no matter male or female, noble or old, but only if they are willing, not forced , Louis would never ever accept that his brother was being manipulated, and neither would Philip.

"If he is a healthy child, I will give him a title, whether it is in the inner world or the outer world." Louis said tiredly, Mary wanted to see him, but Louis... At least now, he will not enter the inner world, A world he has absolutely no control over.

Philip nodded, this was the treatment of the king's illegitimate child, and Mary may have realized that she had been deceived - by Louis and her family, but it was also her own choice, and Louis had been very clear with her from the beginning. Said that she can only be a "Lady of the Royal Family", not a queen, no, it should be said that Mary is better than other royal ladies, because at least in the world, her engagement with Louis is recognized.

   Her child with Louis would be Duke of Colonna. Become the link between Louis and the inner world, or a sharp blade for the French king to cut into the inner world.

  ——

The French king's motorcade left Paris and headed for the Bidasoa River. The Bidasoa River was on the new frontier, an uncompromising boundary river. In a place where the water was gentle, there was a small strip in the middle of the river. This island is Faisan Island. The amazing thing is that the distance between this island and Spain or France is almost equal. Two bridges were built, and the armies of the two kings arrived first, standing with their flags and drums on the banks of the river, and then the king, surrounded by messengers, ministers, and royal nobles.

In the hall of the palace, an exquisite small table has been set up. On the table are two identical contracts. The French cardinal-La Riviere, and the Spanish cardinal, who is also the prime minister, serve as witnesses. Standing behind the two kings, behind Philip IV is Her Royal Highness Princess Marie Theresa, and behind Louis is his younger brother Philip. Louis today is wearing an extraordinarily luxurious, scarlet coat, feathers on his hat and exquisite gold-trimmed sleeves. , even the garter belt was embellished with fluffy lace, and he and Philip IV shook hands happily after signing the peace treaty, which was quite consistent with the hypocritical expression on Weng's son-in-law's face.

The younger brother Philip was looking at his future sister-in-law calmly. Today's Princess Teresa is wearing an ivory white satin dress, like a lady in the French court. Neat, and then issued with beautiful diamonds.

Afterwards, the ceremony was only for young people. With the help of the Spanish ladies, Princess Teresa unloaded everything that belonged to Spain on her body-except her body, which was as small as a pin and as large as a robe. On the territory of Spain, the ladies of the French court put on a set of French clothes for her, and the king prepared a set of jewelry for her to wear. This is not a humiliation, but a necessary procedure. Although Teresa knows, But she was still tortured. She had to be naked for several minutes. Although there was a fireplace in the room, it was still too cold in November, and there were those eyes on her.

A lady known as the Grand Princess - Teresa knew that she was the Duchess of Montpensier, and in the process wrapped her a large cloak, which fell from her shoulders to her ankles. She felt a lot better. Her Royal Highness had also proposed marriage with Louis XIV, but it failed, which made Teresa even more grateful. The Duchess of Montpensier was not so kind, she was only entrusted by Louis. , not to make the poor bride too embarrassed.

Such a vulgar Louis has long thought of abolishing it, but his energy and time are still more critical, let alone Teresa, even when he is waiting outside, he finds it weird and makes him even more unacceptable. The thing is that there is a public consummation ceremony after the wedding. Yes, they have to do husband and wife affairs in the eyes of the witnesses, which is completely unacceptable to Louis, so with the help of the Queen Mother and Cardinal La Riviere Next, they held their wedding directly in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a small town just a few miles from Faisan Island, and then went straight to the next procedure. Cardinal El insisted that he, along with Prince Condé and his younger brother Philippe, were witnesses to the ceremony.

   Although in fact they saw nothing.

   (end of this chapter)