I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 206 The Triumph of Louis XIV (6)

This appetizer soup is tomato and beef soup. Since the advent of potatoes, the French have become accustomed to their king constantly bringing in all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables from the colony. Tomato is the most popular one because it can be used as a fruit. , can also be used as a vegetable, and can also be used as a seasoning. This sweet and sour soup is the best for appetizers, followed by another soup with a milder taste, mushroom cream pigeon soup, pigeons only use pigeon minced meat, It tastes sweet and refreshing.

After the two soups were used up and the plates were removed, the servants walked back and forth like shuttles in silk threads, changing the tableware for the king and the guests, and bringing warm towels to wipe their fingers. The second dish was a few minutes. The result of planting two meals in one - a palm-sized pie, brioche and sausage, with a little honey preserve, and the third course is a rich lamb, in which the chefs fill the belly of the lamb with oranges , lemons and olives, as well as potatoes, oranges and lemons can dissolve the strange taste of mutton, and potatoes absorb the fat of mutton, and the taste is not inferior to mutton at all.

Then came the fried quail. The meat of the quail was marinated and put in rosemary and parsley, just like the cumin in the mutton before. These spices did not overwhelm the guest, but played a very good auxiliary role. Everyone saw it. The king, when he picked up a quail's leg and chewed it, everyone did it--Louis didn't know it at the time, but his momentary indiscretion made him, for hundreds of years, From France to the whole of Europa, people eat quail with their hands, and it is called orthodox. When a tourist walks into a restaurant and orders fried quail, the waiter will promptly take away the tableware and send it warm. The handkerchief of the handkerchief - about this tradition, some people have carefully studied the mystery of it, thinking that this is the first time the Sun King displayed his authority at Versailles...

   But as an inexplicable tourist said on his online account: Maybe the Sun King at that time just thought it tasted better this way.

He was right, Louis XIV was a clean freak, and many dishes should use a spoon and fork, but certainly not fried quail, first of all the dish was too small, and second of deep fried The result of pickling again was that it was still slippery, and finally the king had wiped his hands.

I must say what it means, probably because Louis no longer needs to suppress himself too much. He once meekly accepted the arrangements of the bishop and the queen mother, but he also complained that the minister was too concerned about his privacy and his indulgence towards himself. , is moving forward step by step according to all his rights, and frying quail may be the smallest of them all—when he sits in his new palace, overlooking the nobles, even the slightest movement will When someone speculates and imitates, he certainly doesn't care about the way he enjoys the quail - what's more, it is a great sin to put the charred and tender quail for even a minute.

But when he noticed that the crown prince, princess, and the lord of the county were also carefully dealing with the quail, he tore the quail for his own prince, princess and lord, and then... Little Colonna The Duke, the little Duke of Colonna, as a special guest, was at the top of the long table closest to the king. As long as he looked up, he could see the king. When the attendant replaced a plate with a torn quail, The Duke was even a little surprised when he got the quail plate from before.

The people present were unaware of this. Although the little Duke of Colonna said that he was a minister, many people knew his true identity. Even if some people were not very clear, just look at the faces of the crown prince and the little Duke of Colonna. , their ages are too similar, even if one has black hair and the other is blond, there are still many similarities. When the prince grows up, if he is like Louis and Philip, his hair color gradually turns from light gold to golden brown. Or dark brown, then probably no one would doubt their kinship.

The crown prince was also looking at the little Duke of Colonna. When the duke got up to thank him and had no time to look back, their eyes met each other. Even Molière or Corneille couldn't describe the complexity of it. Luciano Slightly longer than Little Louis, it is impossible to say that they are as innocent and innocent as their peers in later generations. The amazing thing is that both Luciano and Little Louis felt a little jealous and hugged each other at the same time. With a sympathetic attitude, Luciano is of course jealous of the identity of little Louis, and what little Louis is jealous of is Louis' guilt towards Luciano, but on the contrary, Luciano pity little Louis for not being able to obtain the purest and complete love of his father. , Little Louis pity Luciano can never reveal his true identity in front of the world.

But this fried quail will save a lot of trouble for the little Duke of Colonna. As an Italian, he is a foreigner in the French court, but now, even if he is not the king's illegitimate son, the king's love for him is beyond words. There is only one person left who can embarrass him in the future, and that is the Queen Mother, but he is also Louis's son. How could Queen Anne embarrass him?

Some people also went to peep at Queen Teresa's expression. The queen was poised, not to mention France, which has the tradition of a royal lady. Every king is without a lover and an illegitimate child. Louis respects her enough, that's enough - but the queen Noticing that Madame Lavalier, who was with the last seat, seemed to be unable to eat, thinking that she had only lost a child before, she could not help but soften her heart. When the fish soup came up later, Lavalier Madam has a lot here.

Madame Lavalier knew that she should express her gratitude to the queen. In the palace, there were many royal ladies who jumped directly above the queen by virtue of the king's favor, but Louis hated that kind of person the most, and speaking of The king's love, may only have the Duchess of Colonna who stayed in Calais, Marie Mancini. She knew that she couldn't show an ugly face at the king's first banquet in Versailles, but when she saw the little Duke of Colonna, her heart was full of soreness. Marie Mancini did not live up to her name at all, she only used One sentence destroyed Madame Lavalier's hope. The king was unwilling to let Madame Lavalier bear true children for him. Although she did not hesitate to reward him, Madame Lavalier could only say that those who used to be False words can't even deceive her clan - she and the king, no, her affection for the king is no longer bound by a contract.

At this moment, she even had an extremely sinful thought. It would be great if Marie and Marie Mancini's child could disappear. Fortunately, this thought was only fleeting, after the cold dishes, that is, the vegetables came up , she had suppressed the ill will—after the cold cuts, fruit and desserts, which were brought to the table in a folded basket—apples, grapes, oranges and peaches, fresh or pickled, There are also cakes, marzipan and the Queen's favourite chocolate.

The king took a chocolate wrapped in rum to the queen, and the queen smiled back. Then, under the gaze of the people, the king put some other chocolates on a plate, and the attendant brought it to Lavalier Mrs.

Madame Lavalier made a mistake at this time. She did not immediately thank the king. You can say it is a kind of arrogant behavior. It is very common among royal ladies, but more people can see that Lavalier The lady was disrespectful. There must be rumors in the palace in the next few days. The Duke of Orleans immediately extended a plate to the king like a gag. The king gave him a sideways glance and put some peas in the plate. The Duke of Orleans immediately revealed With a grumpy look on his face, the thing he didn't like the most was vegetables. Even beans are the same.

This move came very timely, and people's attention was immediately distracted by the younger brother Wang. They wrote down this interesting incident in their hearts and prepared to mention it at a later salon or banquet, so that they could brag about them to people without being so abrupt. It was also a guest of the king. This was the first banquet in Versailles, so the number of guests was so large. If you want to dine with the king again, I hope it will not be so big.

Prince Conti watched this good show with great interest, which might be even more fascinating than the drama arranged by the king after the banquet. He was not worried at all about whether there was still a chance to dine with the king, although he was not as good as his elder brother Conte. The prince is so brave and good at fighting, but he has done well in the two important tasks that the king has given him. It is clear from what he has done today. When he looked back, the Duke of Mortmar on the opposite side aroused his concern. Note that this Duke gentleman is also quite famous in the court, mainly because he married a woman who had no title, no surname, and no dowry, and even used his merits to seek permission from the king, but this Mo The Duchess of Temar has never appeared at the court, but her heir to the Duke of Mortemar is already the best friend of Prince Louis - people say that the woman is a witch who makes the duke faint with her beauty Head, Prince Conti must say he is curious too, but given the sacrifices the Duke of Mortmar has made for this lady, if he asks to see her, the Duke of Mortmar will surely throw a duel book in his face .

It’s better to avoid this. Prince Conti, who believes that he is better at playing the flute or dancing than swords or muskets, thinks so. What’s more, it is said that the three daughters that the lady had brought earlier, that is, Mott The second grant that the Duke of Mar got from the king. After they obtained the surname of the Duke of Mortmar, they also received a dowry. The eldest daughter seems to have become the wife of a marquis.

The Prince of Conti is curious about the expression of the Duke of Mortmar. He has been looking at the king, but unlike the others, it is not admiration, not love, not fear, not longing - longing for the power of the king to bring him The interests of the others, but another more subtle kind... like the kind that was taken away by the king, but could not speak.

Even Louis probably didn't know that the eldest daughter of that lady, the eldest daughter of Varo Vesalius, the Duke of Mortemal was troubled by, she was now the Marquise of Montespan, but this Marriage is not out of love or worldly pressure. In fact, the reason why this daring lady accepted this marriage was to go to the king's side, replace Madame Lavalier and become the king's royal wife, Mo. Duke Temar couldn't help being stunned - yes, his wife's color has not diminished for more than ten years, and she has become more beautiful and attractive because of her pampering, and her daughter seems to have inherited her beauty and charm. The Marquis of Montespan, although he knew that the duke's daughter was not worthy of her name, still succumbed to her skirt as soon as he saw her, and was willing to be her slave.

This time the king returned to Paris, if it wasn't for Madame Montespan's big belly - after the duke's persuasion, she agreed to give birth to an heir for her husband first. She wouldn't be allowed to bump hundreds of miles to Versailles, and she wouldn't want the king to see her bloated - otherwise, in today's court, people's attention would never be only on Madame Lavalier or the queen. .

No one knows the distress of the Duke of Mortmar. When Prince Conti went to watch the open-air drama together, he even tried a few words, but how could the Duke let him ask questions so easily—he did not agree with Madame Montespan’s idea Yes, although Mrs. Montespan was not his biological daughter, and the time between the two of them was not very long (all three daughters grew up in a convent), his wife loved her dearly, and he did not at all. I hope she is worried about her daughter.

But he really wasn't sure to convince Mrs. Montespan that she had been a very assertive and thoughtful child since she was a child. He had read the letter from Roy Vesalius. Although there was no lack of instigation from the Count of D'Artagnan, that letter, literally, was to let Varro Vesalius die.

   This is because the Duke of Mortmar is only willing to admit them and give them a dowry, but he has never been able to love Wujiwu and accept them from his heart, especially the eldest daughter.

  ———

Louis did not notice what happened to the Duke of Mortmar, and also said something coolly. He has nothing to do with the Duke of Mortmar recently, and of course he doesn't care about him too much. After the banquet, it was Molière. A tragicomedy with Corneille, performed in the open air, with a higher position than everyone else, with curtains on both sides and back, Louis simply closed his eyes, slept comfortably, and took the next step. There is still a dance to be held here, and there will be a small feast after the dance. After the small feast (interspersed with gambling and games), he can put down his tired body and take a good rest.

   (end of this chapter)