I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 249 The end of the war, the beginning of the war (5)

   "Probably because your mother never had a bitter relationship," said Mrs. Milady with a smile.

It was the young Duke of Colonna who was walking with her in the moonlight, and Madame Milady was also considered one of the king's couch-loving guests, but as far as the Duke of Colonna had seen in the past few years, this witch She also seems to be more interested in her career than begging for a love from her father - this is also an important reason why the Duke of Colonna is willing to confide in her troubles and seek solutions. Milady stopped and sighed, thinking that now she can't caress the little duke's head casually. First, the Duke of Colonna will be despised, and secondly, she should keep a distance from the king's son - speaking Milady has also been in Gayola for more than ten years. Compared with Mary, who is not so good at intrigue, she is half of the Duke of Colonna's teacher in terms of governance and management. Teach by example.

   The little Duke of Colonna was not spoiled by his mother to the point where Louis had to give up on him, and Milady was a big part of it.

   "Can you be more specific?" Duke Colonna asked annoyed.

   "Let's go up again," said Madame Milady, and they went around the Holly Labyrinth, and walked along the outer perimeter of the palace to the lift that could reach the highest point.

As I said before, the Palace of Versailles is a Latin cross in plan, and then you can say that it is a three-story building, or you can say that it has five floors, because it also has a basement and a half, almost the same area as the hall above. Large, the hall on the first floor, Bacchus Hall and Neptune Hall on the left, Venus Hall and Mars Hall on the right, Victory Goddess Hall in the middle, Victory Gallery in front, and Jupiter in the back The Hall and the Juno Hall are the places where the king worked and discussed matters. The second and third floors are suites of different sizes. Only a small part of them are occupied. Among them, the king specially reserved them for Viscount Turenne and Luxembourg. The rooms of the Duke and Captain Vauban and other generals, as well as the rooms of the Chancellor of the Exchequer Colbert, the father of the Marquis of Lois, the current Minister of War, as well as the rooms of the Minister of the Navy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and others, such as the Duke of Lorraine who are willing to bow their knees to the king. There are also rooms for them, and some envoys also have rooms, but this room is only reserved for them during the celebration banquet, but only the members of the Bourbon royal family are on the third floor. That is to say, there is a beautiful large domed pavilion at the criss-cross place. The top of the pavilion is a gilt statue of Apollo, similar to the size of an adult male. At the top of the guardrail around the platform, at intervals stand muse holding a musical instrument. Marble statue, about one-third the size of Apollo.

The platform is specially set up with two hydraulic lifts for guests to get on and off, so that guests do not have to wait long in the stairs and corridors before and after watching the fireworks - this strange and novel machine also comes from the king's. Bachelor of Science, a man named Carles Pascal, of course, he just proposed the law that fluid can transmit pressure at first, and applied it to water pressure gauges and syringes. This is a 53-year thing, that At that time, the king was instructing Descartes and Colbert to build the Royal Academy of France. Pascal was also invited, so he came with his family. The king was always very generous to these scholars and rarely interfered with their research, so Pascal The most primitive hydraulic lifts were quickly brought out - powered by a steam engine, the machine and lift passages were wrapped in oak and marble, and looked like a lovely little room from the outside and inside.

To us, this device is undoubtedly very primitive, but to the people of the seventeenth century, it is a kind of magic - but Milady and the Duke of Colonna know that it is not, at most a kind of alchemy, The people had already dispersed by this time, and when they reached the terrace, there was only silence with them, the evening wind carried a slight chill, and Mrs. Milady stretched out her hand, and the invisible cloak gently shrouded them.

"You know that I have no good background, even a little bad," said Mrs. Milady, "although a large part of it is caused by my frivolity and stupidity - I naively regarded a bishop in real power as a The men I met before, I thought it was easy to play with them, I was wrong, the price to pay was going to prison, you may not understand the concept of a mortal prison, because the wizards in the world The worst is a hundred times better than a mortal man, Mr. Duke, it's a living hell, you can never imagine how much you have to pay to live, to breathe, to eat, to see the sun... yes When you couldn't afford it, and I was lucky, I was young and beautiful, but every night I watched the last ray of light disappear and I thought I was going to go crazy the next day."

She paused: "Where you can see and hear, feel all the evil in the world, everyone is struggling to survive, no morals, no thinking," she shook her head, " Only instinct."

If another person said that, the Duke of Colonna would definitely say something comforting, but he knew that Mrs. Milady would never tell him these things for no reason. He looked at Mrs. Milady, who smiled and asked. Raising one eyebrow: "The problem you want to talk about is that your mother always has many unrealistic dreams for His Majesty..."

"Hey..." The Duke of Colonna hesitated for a while, but nodded. He is already twelve years old. Maybe in two or three years, he will also sign a marriage contract with the noble girl selected by the king for him. At his age, he still couldn't understand his mother's obsession. Her wayward actions in the Venus Hall not only made it difficult for His Majesty to handle, but also put Madame Lavalier in an embarrassing situation. Fortunately, Orleans The duke came over immediately, invited Madame Lavalier to dance the minuet, and took the hand that the other party had already stretched out, otherwise Madame Lavalier would be the biggest joke of the night.

"I thought she was able to accept the existence of Madame Lavalier." The Duke of Colonna said dryly. In fact, Marie Mancini was not only incapable of being compared with Queen Teresa in terms of identity, but also It cannot be compared with Madame Lavalier, who is after all the first royal lady recognized by the court, and even Madame Milady is more easily accepted by the people in the Paris court than she is, but on the other hand, Marie also had places that the Queen and Madame Lavalier could not reach, for example, in Cayola and Calais, Marie was the only mistress.

"That's why I say, your mother, that the Duchess of Colonna has never suffered," said Madame Milady leisurely: "if she has ever been in a desperate situation, she understands and understands herself. You are in this situation.” She said: “You too, you are very lucky, you were born to be the son of a king, and His Majesty is willing to admit you, and has given you a distinguished and innocent identity, and a bright future, it is difficult for you to understand - Mrs. Colonna I should have told you about the relationship between the king and her, so you know that your father has not always been smooth sailing. He ascended the throne at the age of five, and all government affairs were performed by Cardinal Mazarin and the Queen Mother - in his hands even No power at all, and when he was ten years old, the riots of the Fronds even forced him to flee Paris overnight, from his capital, from his people—not once, but twice , the second time was his blood relatives, led by Prince Condé and Prince Conti, and his uncle, the Duke of Gaston, who deliberately waited for them to lose both, and then stole the crown from them. His Majesty fled from Paris to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and then from Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Germain Enlai fled to Hertaire, and at the most embarrassing time, he needed the Queen Mother to sell clothes in exchange for food and necessary expenses..."

   "I've heard some."

"But you are more concerned with your majesty's present splendor," Madame Milady made a gesture, "although taking me as an example is too condescending, even blasphemous, I must say that at that time the king was The threat to life is no less than that of a prisoner in a prison, but my little highness, one thing is the same, it is difficult for people who support hard under such pressure to have any charming thoughts— Even if he is relieved, his reason will always be above his emotions because of this experience, he may need comfort, but he will definitely want help and support more than empty words."

   "Mother has done what he said." Duke Colonna murmured.

   "Not enough," said Mrs. Milady, "and she should think in your father's shoes, and think like a ruler."

   "Perhaps I shouldn't have made that request," said the Duke of Colonna.

"It is not a matter of whether you have asked," said Mrs. Milady, "you must make the Duchess of Colonna understand that love is a very extravagant thing that must be sacrificed before Possession, including power and responsibility, but the problem is that once they are lost, the flower of love will be ravaged by the storm - so, if she wants to get the king's love, she must let His Majesty remove all worries..."

   "How is this possible?"

   "Then that's for the most part," said Mrs. Milady, "or to put it back ten thousand steps, don't add any more troubles to Your Majesty."

"I can probably understand what you mean," said the Duke of Colonna, "just as when you were in prison, in order to survive, you didn't care about getting love at all, and my father, the king of France, Until he stops fighting, he will not put love in an important position..."

   "That's right," Mrs. Milady clapped her hands. "You finally understand what I mean. You're going to tell your mother what you're doing—she's about to grow up too."

   "I wish I could," said the Duke of Colonna hopelessly. "She's too stubborn."

   "My Majesty has something to say," said Mrs. Milady. "He's too indecisive in this regard."

  ———

The indecisive His Majesty the King was in Madame Lavalier's room when Madame Millais tried to persuade the Duke of Colonna. The room of the first royal lady was second only to the suite of the queen and the king's brother. There were seven rooms. The maids are already asleep. Because of today's events, the king specially came to accompany Madame Lavalier. What he did not expect was that Madame Lavalier did not feel sad: "Because seeing her, it was like I saw another me, Your Majesty," she smiled palely: "You should have told me earlier, Your Majesty, I am so ugly, it is natural that you don't love me, who can love someone like that."

   "You didn't do anything wrong," Louis said calmly, "I can't repay your love."

"Because that is not what you need," said Madame Lavalier, "but let us love you, Your Majesty, we cannot love anyone else." She followed the King's gaze out of the window. , From the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the holly labyrinth, as well as thousands of large and small fountains inlaid in blue patterns, each with a brass gilt or marble sculpture. Purton (the Roman **** of the sea) to Diana (the hunter and the moon), to Hercules, and monsters and spirits, some of which can set fire in the abdominal wall, some can make a chirping sound, and some can shoot from arrows in their hands Arrows, bulging lips and pouring water bottles pouring out crystal water jets - it is the Versailles Grand Canal that provides pressure and water for these landscapes, and you can see it from the foot of Versailles when you walk to the bedroom on the other side. Extending between heaven and earth, this Grand Canal not only exists for this palace, but also solves the problem of drinking water and water for nearly 100,000 residents of Versailles.

   She was suddenly relieved, yes, Mary and she are both losers, because there is no one who can be more worthy of your Majesty's love than this country.

   "Your Majesty..."

"what?"

   "No, it's nothing." Madame Lavalier turned around: "It's time to rest, Your Majesty, you have a lot to do tomorrow."

  ———

The little Duke of Colonna was persuaded or analyzed by Madame Milady. Although his heart was still heavy, he had at least thought of a way to comfort his mother. Before becoming an unshakable and powerful country, Louis XIV's eyes would never stop on Marie Mancini or anyone else. There were so many things he had to take on that he didn't even have time to take care of. For personal love, his mother either continued to wait silently, or, like Madame Milady, became an indispensable wing and minion of the king—even if she couldn't get love, she could get the trust of His Majesty.

He thought so, but before he could knock on the Duchess's door, the heavy oak door slammed open, and Madame Colonna stood behind it, her eyes red: "She's pregnant! Lucy! , she has Louie's child!"

   (end of this chapter)