I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 31 The hesitant Prince Kongdai and his messengers

Prince Condé quickly learned the news that the Duchess of Montpensier was under house arrest in his room, and he didn't care at all. The grand princess and him can only be said to be using each other, or because women Due to his own weakness, the Duchess of Montpensier may indeed have real feelings for him, but for any man with identity and moral requirements, what really happens to a woman who has not yet entered into marriage, It is a detestable thing, and if he is not married, he can use marriage to cover up the prevarication, but Prince Condé married very early, although he did not like his wife at all, the niece of Cardinal Richelieu .

Clara Clemence, this poor woman, was only thirteen years old when she married Prince Condé, and now she has given birth to a son of Prince Condé, seven years old, but this son unfortunately inherited Her short stature and hunchback made Prince Condé turn from ignoring her to hating her. On the contrary, her love for Prince Condé became stronger and deeper. The inheritance she inherited from Bishop Richelieu, Whether it was money or connections, it was used on Prince Kongdai, and she also inherited another legacy of Richelieu, that is, a vicious heart and keen insight.

Today's Prince Condé's face is cloudy. Whether it is the prince's mother (people call her the old lady) or his brother-in-law, the Duke of Longueville, they all think that this is because of the assassination. The prince and the two dukes Although Ping An, one of his favorite servants and the most loyal, died because he had to run to the king and his party to ask for help brought him here.

"His Royal Highness," as Mrs. Prince Clara called her husband, and sometimes Mr. him, because he never wanted to be too intimate with her in any public or private setting: "you are worried that the faithful will remain Your wife and child?"

   "I am very relieved to leave this matter to you." Prince Kongdai said, "I am not worried about this."

"If it's not for the dead," said the Prince's wife, "then it's for the living, then I will tell you that I have arranged for the two officers you brought, and they live closest to here. In the inn where my servants will give them a large ecuary every day to prepare meals for them, they are each rewarded with twenty gold louis, for which they are very grateful in your name."

Prince Condé's face, which seemed to cover the thick clouds, finally showed a bright smile: "Oh," he said, "my lady, this is much more than the king promised, and he only gave them five A gold louis."

"That's right," said the Princess, "they're not the king's officers, but yours, and I just saw the light maroon shoulder strap and decided to give them so much, otherwise I'd rather have them Go and ask the king for a reward."

   "That's not good, ma'am," said the Prince of Condé, "whatever the colour of their shoulder-straps, they were brave men, and they saved my life. Twenty louis is not much."

   "I think loyalty is more valuable than courage," said the Prince's wife. "You can choose a brave person out of a hundred people, but you may not be able to choose a loyal person out of 10,000 people."

   Then she saw her husband's face darken again: "Yes," the prince murmured: "You are right, ma'am, loyalty is a more precious quality than bravery, and it is rarer."

The prince's wife observed her husband's expression: "You look haggard, Your Royal Highness, but I believe that the little fight in Turbig Street will not shake you. Come on, if you have any trouble, please tell me I, I may not have anything to help you, but you can tell me even the most terrible things, and I can swear by the cross that I will keep my mouth shut."

   "Well," said the Prince, "isn't it the matter of the two officers?"

   "Aren't they your officers, aren't they loyal to you?"

"That's the problem," said the Prince, "you see, my lady, one of them is the one I ordered him to come to Paris, because he designed a good fortification in the battle of Lorraine, And he did a great job in the war in Champagne, so I decided to give him a reward myself and give him the status of a full-service officer."

   "That's a good thing."

"But as soon as the king called him, he ran to the king and obeyed his orders." The prince said distressedly: "Although he was willing to do it, there may be part of my reason - he and his friends brought The King and the King's Musketeers crossed paths known only to them, found us in one fell swoop, and took down three assassins with me."

   "Yes." To the prince's surprise, his wife was very calm: "He is still willing to be loyal to you."

   "That's right."

   "But in his heart, the king's weight is more important than yours."

"obviously."

   "That's it," said the prince's wife, "this is the key point, Your Highness, do you think your strength will be inferior to that of His Majesty the King at this time?"

"how can that be?"

   "And what about his achievements on the battlefield? Can he compare to you?"

   "No, he's still a kid."

   "So in the study and conference hall, did he perform better than you?"

   "Of course not," said the prince, "he is not allowed to touch government affairs." He glanced at his wife: "What are you going to say, ma'am?"

   "You still don't understand," the princess said with a smile, "Your Highness, I mean, compared with His Majesty the King, the only thing you lack is a name."

This sentence made Prince Condé jump out of his chair, and he glared at his wife, as if she suddenly took off her human skin, and showed her true face of the devil in front of him: "What are you talking about? !" he exclaimed, "Tell me, you don't know what you're talking about!"

"On the contrary," said the Prince's wife, "I know exactly what I'm talking about, and so do you, Your Highness, you're just blinded by the so-called loyalty, like that young officer, can't you? Do you see it? Now in Paris, and even the whole French people, they are more willing to obey your will than to submit under the robe of a priest and the skirt of a foreign woman, I have seen this from the day you entered Paris Come out, otherwise, you let our king lead 800 soldiers, no, even if it is 8000 soldiers to face a hundred thousand mob, can he win as easily as you do?

   Your Highness, if he can do it, then he will not be driven out by the people of Paris! "

   "God!" cried the Prince of Condé: "You are encouraging me to do a sinful thing! Just like Lady Macbeth, you are manipulating your husband to rob him of what was not his!"

"That's a big mistake," said the Prince's wife, standing in front of the fireplace, with the red fire in the background, and her face almost completely immersed in thick shadows, "Macbeth was only a minister, and your ancestors in 1601 You have been the presumptive heir to the throne years ago, and your grandfather, your father and you, have always been the first prince of the royal family, and you have always been one step away from the throne..."

   "I will never take a step forward." Prince Kongdai said: "I will never become a despicable traitor."

"Then this will happen again and again, and it will happen in three places," the prince's wife said from the darkness. "He will take everything from you, Your Highness, he is the king." She took a step forward, and the prince took a step back. , fell into the chair: "Although you can now contradict the bishop, laugh at the queen mother, and ignore the king, that is because this lion is still very young, but one day it will grow into a giant, and then you need to beg him. , it is you who seek a little mercy."

   (end of this chapter)