I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 355 Lively Rebellion (7)

This birthday party is of great significance not only to Louis XIV's youngest son, but also to his third illegitimate son, His Royal Highness Auguste, who was born to him by Madame Montespan. Powerful control both inside and outside of France - when the king is on an expedition abroad, it is usually when his political enemies or foreign enemies are playing with despicable methods. There are not a few kings who suffer and suffer in this regard, and because this imperial expedition is to support another Catholic The country, against the Ottoman Turks of 250,000 people, Louis XIV also transferred part of the garrison in the occupied area, which made some people think that they had found an opportunity, and they couldn't wait to jump on the ground and make ugly appearances - if they were willing to sacrifice themselves, It may be a bit too much to say this, but the problem is that the hype and high-sounding what they say will only push others to the gallows or the beheading stage. Are they themselves, even at the worst level, can still get out of the body .

When these people saw the king hastily changed his itinerary and returned to Versailles early from Florence, they still laughed inwardly, thinking that they had finally grasped the weakness of His Majesty. They did not know that their conspiracy would not make the current Louis X. Four troubles, he just found a good opportunity to return to France as soon as possible - with the scholars he collected and some other valuable people - how to say, you think he really only collected Spinoza and others three people?

Although Italy has fallen, it is the birthplace of the Renaissance after all. If you dig a little or two, countless treasures will fall into the bag. Even if they are now dull in color and full of rust, as long as they are polished a little, they will be fine. Can give off a dazzling luster.

   Now they are both French and Louis XIV.

Louis's satisfaction came from the heart, his victory in Florence was far better than the victory over the Ottoman Turks, but unfortunately he could not announce it to the public, and this excitement and joy was finally poured out by him in Auguste's At the birthday banquet - the scale of the banquet was the same as that of the previous two little dukes, all members of the royal family were present, and the king even made Auguste Duke of Montreal on the spot.

As soon as he heard this name, the eyes of the guests flew all over, and Madame Montespan's face lost its blood, and the joy in her eyes was replaced by loss and shame - now everyone knows that the king's illegitimate son has titles, often closely related to the fiefs the king granted them, like the Duke of Colonna, who from the very beginning had the king's intention for him to seek the throne of Naples and even further, the Duke of Hallepur, along with the title of his mother's Duchess of Brussels, It was to prepare for him to become the Grand Duke of Flanders in the future.

   So, where is Montreal? In France's largest colony, but also the most remote and cold colony, north of America, in the cold Quebec region, there is a St. Lawrence River, an island in the river and the surrounding land is called Montreal.

This undoubtedly means that Madame Montespan's son not only cannot stay in France, but also does not even have a place for Europa. When he becomes an adult, he will be sent to a distant colony - Quebec at this time is not for hundreds of years. After the Quebec, its output is almost only fur and fish. For today's French, it is a desolate and uninteresting place. The local residents are only natives, criminals and exiles, and they do not receive any taxes at all...

   It seems that this child really does not please the king.

   Queen Teresa looked at Madame Montespan, touched the king's hand, and Louis gave her a comforting look, "I'll talk to her."

For Louis XIV, America is far more valuable than Africa, or, in the future, it will develop and change more. Its current barrenness and desolation are entirely due to the fact that it is too far from the mainland of France, and France itself is underpopulated. The reason, but the Duke of Montreal is still a baby who is shaking while walking, and it is impossible for his mother Madame Montespan to leave Versailles and Paris to manage the territory for him, so the colony will be entrusted to him, and when he grows up, just France's population is also in a state of expansion, which can provide him with enough immigrants and relieve pressure at home, and the new recruit in the army will also be sharpened in the following campaign - just to bring him to Quebec.

Mrs. Montespan pulled the necklace around her neck angrily. She was a little hesitant before the banquet began. It was the one supplied to her by the king. According to tradition, all wives who have children for their husbands should receive a necklace after giving birth. A gift, Mrs. Montespan's gift is a very Ottoman Turkish style necklace of feathers and flowers, Istanbul craftsmen have a special skill, first set the gems on the silver base, and then wrap the silver with gold, so from From the outside, the gemstone base is integrated and very beautiful; or the king returned to Versailles and spent the first night with her, and sent a necklace of rubies and pearls. This is also a tradition. After the king and his wife spent the night together, There must be a gift.

  The former is very meaningful, the latter can show the king's favor for her, Mrs. Montespan hesitated, and finally chose the feather flower necklace. For nothing else, just because today is the day the King canonized August, and she wants everything to be perfect on this day - and it is His Majesty the King who finally breaks this.

   She was so angry that she almost refused the king's invitation to dance, but when she took the king's arm, the king leaned over and said a few words to her, and she became bright again.

   "The king really played Madame Montespan on his palm." Prince Conti said half sarcastically and half admiringly.

   "What's so strange about this," said Colbert, who was standing beside him: "She has everything from the king."

   "No, I mean," said Prince Conte, "she was not so stupid when she was fooling and blackmailing the whole of Paris."

"She's a smart person and a vicious person," Colbell said. "But she has a problem. She places too much importance on power. In the face of power, she can let go of everything, including dignity and wisdom. Dog, when facing the master, even if the master wants to beat her to death, skin her, eat her meat, she will wag her tail, not to mention the king gave at least one son, her end is the worst. It's not going anywhere."

   "I don't think so. I used to think the Duchess of Colonna and the Duchess of Brussels were bad enough. I didn't expect the King to find something worse."

   "She is the daughter of the Duke of Mortmar, French, and beautiful," Colbert squinted at Prince Conti: "I thought this was the person you expected."

Prince Conti was about to speak, but suddenly coughed twice. Colbert also closed his mouth alertly. It turned out to be the king's physician, and Varo Vesalius was walking behind them. As we all know, Montespan Madame and her sisters are not the blood of the Duke of Mortmar, they are the little crows in the house and the black. The wife of the Duke of Mortmar died three years ago - that is, Vesalius' ex-wife.

The origin of this person, Varo Vesalius, is also impossible to find out. He may be similar to the "astrologers" and "alchemists" around the king. In a certain way, his marriage contract with his wife is not recognized, so The Duke of Mortmar begged His Majesty for mercy and admitted the possibility of his marriage contract with someone else's wife... Anyway, this matter is really messed up.

   Madame Montespan didn't care. According to the maids by her side, she even wrote to the Duke of Mortmar and Vesalius at the same time, calling their father and asking them to help her speak well in front of the king.

It was said that the devil was coming, and here they mentioned the two fathers of Madame Montespan, the doctor of Vesalius came from behind Colbert, and then the Duke of Mortmar also came from behind Prince Conti. - The place they passed was subtly quieted down, everyone looked at them from the corner of their eyes, and the ladies were still a little excited.

   This was the first time they met in public.

The Duke of Mortmar looked at Vesalius, and Vesalius looked at the Duke of Mortmar, and Vesalius had watched his enemies fester and die in pain countless times in nightmares—and the Duke had countless fantasies. The sword in the middle pierced the throat of "his", but the one in the nightmare always had a bright face, while the one in the fantasy had a blurred face.

   They approached calmly, the Duke of Mortmar leaned slightly, raised his hand to press the brim of his hat, and Vesalius bowed.

   "Today's banquet was really lively," said the Duke of Mortmar.

   "Yes," Vesalius said, "it's just that there are too many people, and the air here becomes cloudy."

   "The doctor said I can't stay too long in a place where the air is cloudy, sir, can you accompany me for a walk?" said the Duke of Mortmar.

"I'd love to," Vesalius said, and the two walked out side by side--the banquet was held in the Venus Hall, and outside the hall was the famous Holly Labyrinth, which was not only large, but also branched and closed. There are many dead ends, and there is always a pair of symmetrical seats at the end of the dead end, so that the exhausted person can sit down and rest, and Vesalius and the Duke of Mortmar have walked for a long time, promising not to accidentally "run into anyone". ', and sat down in a dead corner.

   "You came here today," the Duke of Mortmar was the first to speak: "Is it because of Madame Montespan's invitation?"

   "Yes," Vesalius showed a look of pity and sarcasm: "She said, I didn't attend her mother's funeral, at least I should attend her grandson's birthday party."

   Duke Mortmar also smiled: "When Malena was dying, she told me that she was going to see you."

   "Did she never know?"

"I don't want her to know," said the Duke of Mortmar, frankly, "I am a mean little person, and I would even frame you in order to take her away. I want you to die, so that she can be completely belong to me."

   "So do you still love her now?"

"It is strange to say that love left me the moment she died," said the Duke of Mortmar; "she is like a charcoal fire that will never burn out, and by her side my blood is forever It was boiling and tumbling, but when she died, my heart became a heap of ashes, not only cold, but never hot again."

   "Since when did you know she was a witch?"

   "It's very early."

   "Have you ever doubted her?"

"You have to ask me if I am aware of myself," said the Duke of Mortmar; "yes, I used to think I wasn't that crazy. I've had wives and lovers, but no one can compare to them. She's going to drive me so crazy." He looked at the dark black holly bushes: "But not all, sir, she's a lovely good woman, nothing to blame but too fragile and naive... I don't know. My love for her is partly real and partly false, but I think our lives are peaceful and happy."

"Peace and happiness..." Vesalius chewed the adjective bitterly: "Your words remind me of the last letter that Artenais wrote to me, I am speaking of Artenais, Your Excellency , I've always wanted to know, did this letter come from her idea, or did you manage to polish it?"

"This letter to your heart is ashes," said the Duke of Mortmar: "I had it written by me, because Malena loves her daughters so much that it is impossible to sever ties with them, if they still miss you , then Malena will not forget you - of course, she still did not forget you, she just thought you were dead, but at that time I planned to cut off all relations between you."

"You say that your love for Malena has been laid to rest six feet with her," Vesalius said. "It doesn't seem so now--if it weren't for Mrs. Montespan's later letter to me, I would have almost Trust you—Artenais," he paused slightly, "she at least knew, but she wasn't a... such a child, I was too stupid and too arrogant to let her, Her sister and Malena suffered too much...it's just so irreversible."

   "I must admit that you are right," Duke Mortmar looked at Vesalius: "But there is also a part of it, completely out of her nature."

He looked at Vesalius: "Although I was born to be high, but I have seen many people like Mrs. Montespan, they are like an insatiable viper, when he can get food from you, They'll be very docile, and if you can't satisfy them, they'll jump high and bite your throat."

   Vesalius let out a long, sad sigh.

   "Do you know what kind of result His Majesty will give her?"

   "I don't know," said the Duke of Mortmar, "but this is the last time I will answer her prayer."

   He looked at Vesalius: "How about you?"

Vesalius pursed his lips: "I'm just a royal doctor," as if to explain, he continued slowly: "The king has given her enough power, and if these are not enough, then there is nothing I can do. Help her." Speaking of which, he seemed to have put down a great burden: "I used to hate you, Duke, you took everything from me."

"I'm sorry, if this is what you want to hear, I'm willing to compensate you, but you probably don't need any compensation." The Duke of Mortmar is not a smart person, and he has no outstanding talent. , but the advantage is that he follows the king (even if not so willingly) very early, and he does things in a structured way, and he is not very keen on power. Let's say he is a very good and suitable assistant. Don't think of it as an assistant It's easy to find the right person, and there are not many people who can face up to their own shortcomings and admit that they are mediocre.

But compared to Varo Vesalius, yes, on the bright side, Vesalius is just a royal doctor. The status of the imperial doctor in the Palace of Versailles is not too high, but someone like Varo can serve the king at any time. The imperial doctor is different, otherwise why are those dignitaries scrambling to live in Versailles, and even willing to stoop to be the king's attendant? Although Louis XIV did not say it clearly, everyone knows that when a person makes a choice under similar conditions, he will inevitably choose people or things he is familiar with, such as those who accompanied him from his youth to the present. People, which one has not achieved great success?

And as a person who was accepted by the top of the pyramid, the Duke of Mortmar also vaguely heard that Vesalius led a group of wizards and scholars, and some key parts and formulas in important machinery and medicines can only be produced by wizards-like New dyes that have been popular in Istanbul twenty years ago, so far, other countries have not been able to crack the formula of those dyes, they bring a lot of real money to France every year.

"I accept your apology, Your Excellency," Vesalius sat upright in his chair, looking up at the sky. Only the moon and the sun seemed to last forever in this world. "You almost destroyed me." He He still said in that unhurried tone: "But it's been so long, no," he lowered his head: "It should be said that in my life, there are no longer only Malena, Artenais and mine. The other two daughters."

   "Your other two daughters..."

"I know, I want to thank you, you found a good marriage for them, something a poor potionist can't do," Vesari said calmly: "But I don't think I will appear in front of them, They live very peacefully, as long as they have a father like you."

"You and I are of the same opinion," said the Duke of Mortmar. "You are now in a position of great importance, and the attention given to you will not do them any good. They are not Artenais, and they will not feel hapiness."

   "You're right," Vesalius stood up, "then let's shake hands and say goodbye."

"It's a great honor, sir." The Duke of Mortmar stood up, he didn't want to deceive himself, but he climbed out of the prison with empty hands, without any capital or identity, and could only rely on his own talent and wisdom to take a step Climbing up step by step, the man who finally stood face to face with him was full of admiration. He had seen people like Artenais, but not like Vesalius. The latter was more than the former. Rarely, he took off his gloves and shook hands with Vesalius.

   Then they said goodbye to each other and returned to the banquet hall and their own rooms respectively.

The Duke of Mortmar was the one who had to return to the banquet hall. After all, his identity was different from that of the imperial physician. He looked at Artenais, who was sitting at the foot of the king. She hugged the Duke of Montreal, her brows and cheeks were high. Scarlet.

   This was probably her most unforgettable day.

   (end of this chapter)