I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 332 Versailles (3)

The witch hunt has only been around for more than 100 years. Although there may not be many real guys among these wizards, objectively speaking, when a young girl instead of an old woman is accused, the audience must be extraordinarily large, and the judge will also Excited, human beings have an unparalleled talent for both creating and destroying beauty.

If the Count of Lauzin could satisfy the Duchess of Montpensier both in the hall and on the bed, he was destined not to be a charismatic guy, although it could not be compared with the works created by the artists of the French Academy of Sculpture and Painting. The torso is lean and the limbs are slender. His skin is as pale as a wall because of fear or the absence of the sun. His legs are weak, and he can't stand up. He needs two executioners to support him.

Alas, when you see this, don't think that Earl of Lozen is cowardly by nature. Although he is a villain, being able to become the king's musketeer shows that he is not useless. He may be able to fight without fear of wounds on the battlefield. Even death, but no one will not be afraid of the torture instruments pointed out by the Duchess-although Louis XIV has abolished some tortures in secret after he came to power, and only retained five kinds of corpses, burning, boiling water, beheading and hanging. He was punished, but the instruments of torture carried from the Château de Vincennes to the Bastille were never shelved—the kings of France had too many enemies, and death did not deter everyone.

If a person is to be severely tortured, most of them will adopt a step-by-step method, but like the Duchess, it is not impossible to directly destroy the enemy's will with terrible torture. The warden of the Bastille will not refuse the request of the Duchess. Incessantly praying and shouting "God, God!", Count Luo Zeng rode on a "horse", of course, not a living horse, but a wooden block with a regular triangle in cross section and a length similar to a horse , It was erected, and the height exceeded the distance that the feet of ordinary people could touch the ground. Earl Luozeng's hands were tied and hung from the beam of the roof, and the sharp corners of the wooden wedges cut between his legs. Two executioners tied lead blocks to his feet.

"Hurry up," the duchess said, so the executioner added a few more pieces of lead, so that the weight of Count Lautzen, plus the weight of the lead, dragged his entire body down. Generally, men would occasionally hit their lower body. It would be too painful to cry out, but now the count's most important male characteristic is being slowly crushed, and his eyes are slowly protruding just like his balls.

Maybe it was the happy look on the Duchess's face, or maybe the executioner was trying to show his ability in front of the two noble ladies. They grabbed the rope hanging from the end of the roof beam and pulled it up one after the other, almost tearing the room apart. In the screams, it was like the earl who was "galloping" on the horse's back was blurred with blood in a short while, no matter what, no matter what, men and women, there were the most vulnerable, the blood flowed down the sides of the triangle, and in the Black and shiny in the candlelight, his feet swayed in the air, with the lead underneath.

   For the count, perhaps centuries as long as a few seconds passed, he wriggled forward in despair, his head dropped, and he passed out.

The warden kept his eyes wide open, and before the count passed out, he skillfully held a jug with a long spout and handed it to the executioner, letting the count put it in his mouth, "This is with honey added. , pressed tablets, lemon and salt wine." He said, "Look, wake up now."

The Count    was indeed awake at once: "Forgive me," he said breathlessly as soon as he opened his eyes: "Forgive me, Virgin, forgive me."

The Duchess of Montpensier looked at him indifferently: "You can fool me, deceive me," she said: "but you shouldn't..." She thought for a moment here, because the Count of Lauzin could not threaten Louis XIV , her cousin, the Sun King of France: "You are just a viper hiding in the dark, but I cannot forgive any rebellion, including my father, of course you are no exception, dear, but you can choose, is to endure To die in vain after days of torture? Or to say everything and have the executioner slit your throat or break your neck?"

The words of the duchess made the count show a look of despair. At first, he really thought that he could persuade the duchess and pray for her mercy, so as to escape the disaster, but the duchess behaved so calmly—without even shouting, It meant that she had passed her most emotional and easily swayed moments, and perhaps she had thought about it before sending him to the Bastille.

   "I can say everything," said the earl, "but I wish to die with dignity as the Duke of Clarence."

George, Duke of Clarence, was the younger brother of King Edward IV of England. He once rebelled against the king. Edward IV drowned him in wine just like the Romans did. The Duchess of Montpensier glanced at the Marquise of Montespan beside him. , Montespan pondered for a while, and then agreed: "You still have a doctor and a priest," otherwise the blood loss and pain alone will kill him: "But you can think, Monsieur Count, when you are in the dark Tortured in your room, waiting for death to come, those who instigated you can still enjoy their glory and wealth."

Madame Montespan's voice fell, and the Duchess of Montpensier saw that the count's eyes burst with hatred that was deeper than before, no matter what those people promised the count to make him have the courage to push this deal. At the same time, against the conspiracy of the Duchess and Her Majesty the King, now he will definitely not get the slightest bit, and even suffer so much humiliation and pain - Madame Montespan turned sideways and said something to the Duchess of Montpensier, and the Duchess turned her head. Go: "Don't you know that I'm ready to give you a castle, some title deeds, and a nice job?"

Earl Luo Zeng has been relieved, and there is a mess between his legs. Specifically, he is like a smashed sheep's kidney pudding. It is only because the warden keeps drinking for him that he can barely stay awake. Hearing this, he felt even more regretful.

The Duchess walked out without saying anything. Madame Montespan followed after a few minutes. Unlike the Duchess who was wearing a frosty face, this lady still had a face like a peach and plum, and her eyes were as bright as the morning stars. Inside, I couldn't help but hesitate for a while—Mrs. Montespan was as beautiful as a second Freeney. The ancient Greek socialite Frini was brought to the Athenian court on charges of blasphemy, a charge that could have killed her, but her defender only stripped off her robe, exposing her beautiful body to the In front of everyone—there were five hundred and one judges in the courtroom, who agreed that it would be blasphemous to let such beauty disappear.

The same is true of the current Madame de Montespan, even if the Duchess Montpensier is a woman, she cannot feel jealous when she is facing her, even if she knows that Madame Montespan is still the king's dagger - in the court Many people in her family knew that this lady was a ruthless person, but the pity that came from her heart still led the Duchess to invite her to return to Versailles in the same carriage with her.

"How is August?" asked the Duchess of Montpensier on the way back. Auguste was the son of Madame de Montespan for Louis XIV. The Duke is different. His Majesty the King is very cold and harsh towards this child, and even went to the expedition without even seeing him. When the two dukes were born, the small celebration held in the palace did not fall on this child. The king's attitude It is the beacon of ministers and nobles, who tacitly ignore the king's newborn son, as if Madame Montespan was only on a vacation to Fontainebleau, and even the Queen Mother never mentioned it, Auguste The name was given by Mrs. Montespan herself.

   "He's very good, Your Highness." Mrs. Montespan said that she thought she had got everything she wanted, but after the birth of the child, an unspeakable hatred still swept her mind and body, why? She is no worse than Marie Mancini or Madame Lavarière! From appearance, figure to help to the king, she is far more than them! But Louis XIV stood on their side without hesitation. Madame Montespan was not so stupid that she could not see Louis' intentions. Louis XIV deliberately suppressed the child, just to be wary that she would use the power in her hand to make trouble.

"It will be good when Your Majesty returns from Slovenia." The Duchess of Montpensier reassured: "I have a manor in Giverny." She originally wanted to give it to the Count of Lauzen: "I will give it to you. ," she said softly. "You can take August with you for a while, and the scenery is beautiful."

"Thank you so much," Madame Montespan said, "it's a pity that it probably won't be possible until His Majesty comes back, Your Highness, if it's not necessary," she opened her fan, covering half of her face, while looking out the window: "You Don't leave Versailles recently, and if you want to go anywhere else, don't come to Paris."

It looked as though Paris was about to start another bloodbath, the Duchess sighed, that unlike Versailles, the people of Paris—as Louis put it, a half-hearted and ungrateful thug who might never be satisfied, she Knowing that there have been complaints that the king would rather use foreigners (Schaumberg) and countrymen (Versailles) than Parisians, they seem to have completely forgotten that they had two armed uprisings to drive the king out of Paris.

Ask her to say that Louis has been as just as possible, that although Paris has lost its original political position, it has also won the crown from the Netherlands - before Louis XIV destroyed Amsterdam in the Netherlands and rebuilt another financial institution in Paris The actions of the Centre have sent hordes of merchants who did not want to see their securities and bills of exchange void, and as the stock exchange and the new central bank opened its doors, gold and silver all over Europa seemed to be there. Flowing towards Paris.

At the same time, the four art academies opened by the king in Paris, in one fell swoop, established Paris as the fashion king of the entire Europa and even the wider region (colonies, Ottoman Turkey, Russia, etc.), and some people even say that the cause of the Italian Renaissance Has been inherited by Paris, France.

  Sometimes it is difficult for the Duchess to understand what these people are thinking. Maybe after the warden and executioner of the Bastille are busy, they will start to miss the peaceful life at this time.

  ———

When Louis XIV received the message from the raven, he didn't care much. Although there were no ill-conceived people infiltrating the side of the crown prince, little Louis, but when he was busy with the academy, he did have some thoughts. Malicious people approached him, but as a father, Louis has always been cautious, and they did not find a chance to sow discord, so they mentioned to little Louis that Louis had almost become a wizard - maybe they thought that little Louis would be afraid of himself. Father, in turn alienation and smoke.

But Louis never planned to make little Louis a devout believer from the very beginning, and Queen Teresa was not a fool. Rather than fear, little Louis was more curious. He was still thinking about whether he would become a wizard for a while. , "Of course not," Louie said. "There's a reason for that."

   At that time, he was not yet in power, and Dunkirk was his first battle. He was far away from Paris and Versailles, away from the bishop and the Queen Mother, and there were not many credible people around him. The injuries at that time were not curable by ordinary doctors.

   "What's that feeling?" Little Louis couldn't help asking.

"A, wonderful feeling," said Louie, "not bad, my dear, it's another feeling that seems to be above everyone - they're all mortals, you're a wizard, you can do them Things you can never do, you can fly, you can set fire with your fingers, and you can control animals and monsters—if I wasn't king, if I were Philip and Philip was me, I think I'd stay in the world. But not Not because of power or anything...if Philip is king, then I'll try to conquer that strange place for him."

   "Like uncle, and what Duke Colonna is doing now?"

"Well," said Louis XIV, "for when a nation is divided, terrible things happen—like the dismemberment of a beast, no matter how strong its mind and will, without a body it is in vain Howling, even gradually weakened by rotting wounds, and eventually falling—all, all divisions, no matter how subtle, or necessary, or for some high-sounding reason— Like belief, race, or region, wealth, status, etc..."

"So," said Louis, "I can forgive any enemy, even if he has tried to kill me, or has killed someone I love, but I, and you in the future, there is only one sin that is absolutely Unforgivable, that is anyone who dares to cut France, for whatever reason."

   I have been feeling unwell these few days, and I haven’t updated it yet. Sorry, I will make up for everyone with more than a thousand words per chapter next month. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, nine fish bow…

   (end of this chapter)