I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 555 Farewell, Mrs. Montespan (Part 1)

  Barras was very emotional.

When he left Paris 30 years ago at the invitation and inducement of the Pope, he did not hesitate. After all, he had been operating in Paris for many years. Louis XIV was still a fragile young king at the time, and Mazarin, who ruled for him. But the bishop was a decisive man—he was unable to move an inch in Rome later, because those who had bought him backed away and did not keep their promises, and because the bishop of Mazarin was determined to teach him a lesson.

  Barras is indeed as Bishop Mazarin said, he has endured hardships in Rome for many years. If Louis XIV hadn't sent Erael to Rome, he might not be able to come back. What would he do if he had nowhere to go? It will be reduced to become the dark wizard or ascetic he has always looked down on.

Fortunately, Louis XIV was at a time when he was short of manpower. The Inquisition was what he used to contain wizards. Of course he would not hand them over to wizards, and Barras, except for Louis XIV, had almost no one. Will need him again, he has no way out. Not to mention, how much favor did Elaly receive from this majesty? Not only was Barras remorseful, but even his clan thought he had made a wrong choice.

In order to seize the last chance, Ballas has been even more diligent and cautious than the previous Erael in recent years. The king gave him the post of Archbishop of Lyon, and he did not complain; let him run the Inquisition, but did not He also recognizes the right to judge and judge. In short, he has been sincere and sincere for more than ten years. Even when the king was on a personal expedition, the messenger of the Roman church came to cast a rich bait, but he was not moved.

   Even Cardinal Larivière, who has long since given up, had a lot of good things to say about him.

  The king once asked him jokingly if he wanted to go back to Rome. Barras refused without any hesitation, just like he left Paris when he left, or even worse, don't joke, why did he betray in the first place? Wasn't it because France at that time seemed to have collapsed and there was no room for recovery? Twenty years later, the incorrigible became the Roman Church. With the establishment of the Italian Federal Kingdom, even the Duke of Colonna, the future King of Italy, has always been courteous to the red prince and the Pope in Rome, but Requests to the Vatican to preserve Rome's independence have been delayed or ignored.

  If the Vatican can't even keep its own holy land and palace above, why would he go back to Rome? perish together?

   He failed to leave even the slightest fond memory in Rome.

Barras has been able to calmly accept any arrangement from the king. After his clan left from the island of Jilie, the king instructed the Duke of Colonna to give them a new place to live-because the island of Jilie has become a new place for the Crusaders and the Ottomans. The most violent place in Turkey.

Old men and children stayed in new homes, young men entered the army of dukes, they all said that kings and dukes were fairer than bishops, and though the merits of sorcerers were not public, their treatment and rank But not discounted, their families became rich quickly with the army, but sometimes they still envied the priests of Gaiola, because they were Elarius, they were in the service of the Sun King of.

But no matter how he regretted it, Ballas had nothing to do, especially as the king's power became stronger and stronger, he could do less and less things for Louis XIV, and he made a mistake once - which led to Marie Manche When Nee died, he panicked for a long time, lest His Majesty would take anger... But Louis XIV never mentioned it or treated them harshly. Maybe some people thought it was because Marie Mancini was no longer accepted. The king was fond of, but Balas, who knew his majesty better, felt that this should be a kind of fear - sometimes, people will deliberately ignore things related to the dead to escape him \ she has passed away and will never return fact.

   is like the apartment on the top floor of the Bastille that is permanently enclosed by cement and bricks.

  Because this room was once a prison where wizards and priests jointly set up a magic-forbidding formation, and it was once lived in by a noble lady who had a common child with Louis XIV—she was also a witch. So when another witch and royal lady was arrested for violating taboos and laws, someone in the Inquisition suggested that the heavily guarded, yet comfortable and luxurious suite should be opened to fit the identity of Mrs. Montespan. .

   Thinking of this, Ballas sneered and ordered that this subordinate who was most likely to be the minister under Mrs. Montespan's skirt was deprived of power and imprisoned - how can Mrs. Montespan compare with that lady? The king imprisoned Marie Mancini. In addition to being annoyed that she had hurt the Duke of Colonna and threatened the queen and the crown prince, he was also worried that she had made an unforgivable mistake on impulse, so that she lost the possibility of turning around.

   Not to mention why the lady died, mortals don't know, as the Grand Judge of the Inquisition, how could Barras not know? She died for His Majesty the King. She didn't need to make such a sacrifice. The enemy's conspiracy was in line with her desire, but her love for the King finally overwhelmed her selfish desires. It's not surprising that she has such a strong and enthusiastic feeling. A prominent figure like the Sun King also becomes vulnerable in the face of her death.

Sure enough, when Ballas went to ask the king where to keep Madame de Montespan, (is it necessary to set up a new room in Bastille where witches can be imprisoned?) His Majesty said that there should be something against witches in the Inquisition. prison.

Of course, Barras doesn't know if Elarius invited the king to visit there, but if the prison of mortals is a muddy hell, a nest of worms, and a paradise of plagues, then the prison of the Inquisition is one where even the devil asks for mercy, A place of despair where saints also wailing. There are more torture tools than noble ladies’ jewelry, wood, metal, even clay and bricks, handed down from ancient Rome, and the latest steam machinery. — Although it was later banned mercilessly by His Majesty the King.

The cell here is very clean, because bugs can be used by wizards in many places, but it has no windows. There is only a small movable window on the thick wooden door that only allows plates to pass through. It is usually closed. There are no candles and no torches in the cell. , The quiet is terrible, and most people will go crazy after going in for a few days.

   "You should be honored," Ballas said sincerely when he met Mrs. Montespan: "You are the highest criminal in the court."

   Mrs. Montespan screamed. Barras just twisted his ears gently. He had seen too many criminals. When the wizard was still the devil's entourage, he tried no less than three or four hundred people here. Later, under the order of the king, only crimes were committed. After the only wizards were arrested by the Inquisition, the prisoners here did not decrease but actually increased - because the original jurisdiction of Ballas was only in the Paris Basin, but now it is the whole of France.

   His Majesty the King drives wizards and is wary of wizards. After all, they have the most direct difference from mortals from the root of their thinking. While pulling wizards into the world, he also puts imperceptible shackles on their necks.

   "I want to see the king!" cried Madame Montespan, "I am the royal lady!"

"Yeah," said Ballas, "so it's a secret trial. And," he turned in the dark corridor, "you'll see your majesty soon. Although, I think, you should Hope not to see him." Then he saw a look of fear in Madame Montespan's eyes, and it seemed that she also understood that if the king was not present, then the trial might be someone else's conspiracy , but if... then this trial was arranged at the behest of the king.

To Barras's surprise, Mrs. Montespan suddenly calmed down after being terrified for a while. She stood there, straightening her curls, letting them fall well over her shoulders, and tore off her sleeves. , wiped the smudges and blood from her snow-white skin—not her blood, but the fallen priest who had sprinkled it on her during the black mass.

   "Okay," she said, looking up, "I'll explain it to Your Majesty."

   Ballas was curious, "Do you think Your Majesty will listen to your explanation? Madam?"

"So what if the evidence was conclusive? I didn't kill anyone, and I didn't break the law—there's nothing in the king's law that doesn't allow black masses, and I didn't even do it to kill anyone. Mrs. Montespan even showed a smile. "Your Majesty is a just person. He will not destroy his moral code because of me."

  Barras shook his head, and I have to say, what Mrs. Montespan said...is right.

The    trial is held in an exquisite small hall. Although it is a secret trial, it does not have to be held in a dark and damp underground, right? In the small hall, there are also no railings, the trial bench, the defendant's bench, and the plaintiff's bench. There is only a small platform with a high-back chair on the platform, where Louis XIV is sitting.

   There were some people sitting and standing under the platform, and Mrs. Montespan forced herself not to look at them with hatred as much as possible—among them were two of Mrs. Montespan's fathers. It was also last night that they led the musketeers and the priests of the Inquisition to surround the cemetery, capturing Mrs. Montespan, who was holding a black mass at the cemetery, and the priests and deacon who had been bribed and tempted by her.

   "Your Majesty..." cried Mrs. Montespan.

   "I'm sorry." Louis said without looking up, he was looking at some information in his hand - "It seems that I also made some mistakes." He said.

   "I'm all for you," argued Mrs. Montespan, "I just want to have another child with you."

"And then?" Louis raised his eyes to look at her, "that's not a reason, ma'am, I said that even if Auguste was going to Montreal when he was an adult, you could stay at Versailles, your current title, Salary, room, property can all be kept, you can go wherever you want..."

   "I just wish I could come to your heart."

   "You said you don't want this," Louis put down the materials, "perhaps because you thought that with my heart, you could satisfy your insatiable appetite."

   "You don't believe I love you," said Mrs. Montespan, "but I have done nothing against you."

   "Because you can't do it," said Louis mercilessly, and Madame Montespan's face suddenly paled, and then a blush of embarrassment rose again.

"We've been watching you," said the Duke of Mortmar. He knew that his wife was not only a witch, but also a witch very close to the devil in people's conception. Her power is not immune to even wizards, but she His nature is not bad, and he gave birth to an heir, so even if he realized... his abnormal emotions, he endured it and took good care of her daughters.

But his willingness to take care of her and her daughter does not mean that he is defenseless against the especially ambitious "eldest daughter". Although his "eldest daughter" is indeed very suitable to be a royal lady, not only does he not want to Instead, she got married early, and her husband took her directly to the fief rather than Versailles or Paris.

  Who knew that Mrs. Montespan did not give up her original ambition even if she had children.

   He can say without guilt that he has done his best, just like his former enemy and now friend Varo Vesalius.

It was a bit embarrassing to say, he thought that Varo Vesalius would never die with him, but when they really got along in a palace, he found that things were not as irreversible as he imagined—compared to He and his wife, Vesalius may hate himself the most - he has been repenting of his faults, thinking that he has brought misfortune to his wife and children, and he is really a naive and good person.

Vesalius felt a little guilty towards this daughter, Mrs. Montespan, but no matter how deep her emotions were, her ruthlessness and sympathy could not help but wear it away, not to mention coming as a daughter. She said that many of the actions of Madame Montespan were chilling - otherwise the Duke of Mortmar would not have sent her to the monastery.

   “First of all, the crimes that Mrs. Montespan and Father Anselmo committed together—holding black masses, stealing and murdering pregnant women and children,” said Ballas, who temporarily acted as prosecutor.

   Hearing this charge, Mrs. Montespan's expression became unpleasant, she looked at the king timidly, but soon became calm again.

   "You deny guilt." Ballas asked.

"I plead not guilty," said Madame Montespan confidently. "There is no such thing as a black mass in the French code." She went on: "The king's hair and clothes were occasionally left here with me. How can it be said to be stealing, as for pregnant women and babies, it is even more nonsense, I have only seen Father Anselmo."

   "Don't you know that the ashes of pregnant women and the blood of babies are used in Black Mass?"

   "My God," Mrs. Montespan laughed arrogantly, "Do I still care how a servant cleans the courtyard or makes wine and cooks, what does it have to do with me if he kills someone?"

The Duke of Mortemal glanced at the king, and it seemed that Mrs. Montespan had understood that she was not favored by the king. Now she admitted the black mass, but claimed that she did not know the inside story. Everyone knew that she was lying, but even if Even her accomplices couldn't prove that she knew the inside story.

Louis sighed wearily. Fortunately, after the incident with Marie, Barras's supervision of the world in Paris became more and more strict. The Father Anselmo couldn't get fresh flesh, so he could only manage to buy one that died in childbirth. corpse.

   (end of this chapter)