At the end of July 1499, in the middle of summer in Blois, the climate was hot and dry, and Anne, Duchess of Brittany (who retained the title by agreement), had been pregnant for nearly seven months, and her belly had swelled so much that she looked a little worrisome—many ministers, both Brittany and French, had recommended doctors and wizards to treat pregnant women and fetuses to make sure they were safe.

It's not that the French care much about their queen, in addition to the fact that Brittany must not be separated from France, there is also the fact that King Louis XII of France personally led a total of 6,000 cavalry and 17,000 infantry to Italy again after recruiting troops in Lyon in mid-July—according to custom and tradition, Louis XII, who did not have a direct heir, should not have left France, but Louis XII confidently pointed to the queen's stomach and said, "Isn't my heir here?" ”

Now that the King of France and his army have encamped on the plains of the Po River, the French have to pray that their king will be victorious and that their queen will give birth to a healthy prince in peace, but as far as people can see, too many political affairs and miscellaneous affairs have taken up the queen's rest time, and her belly is getting bigger, and she is getting thinner, though she is still in good spirits—many important ministers and noblewomen are whispering in secret, and the child is afraid that he will die in his mother's belly again.

This time, however, they were all wrong, as the good news of King Louis XII of France, who had easily taken Alexandria, and then allowed his army and mercenaries to burn, kill, and plunder in the city that dared to resist him (it is said that the flames they lit almost turned night into day, and countless people wailed and shed blood in the purgatory-like city); The tragedy caused by these cattle-like and devil-like people not only frightened several small neighboring towns, but even made the Duke of Milan, Ludovico. Sforza felt threatened, and on 2 September, he left his city and army behind and fled. At the end of September, an envoy from the Milanese came to Louis XII and presented a surrender, calling him King of the Franks, Grand Duke of Milan.

This did so to the favor of Louis XII, who assured the Milanese that not a single Milanese would be harassed or harmed, and that the former officials and nobles would be promoted and reused—and that night he wrote a letter to show off this great feat to his queen Anne, who galloped day and night, but as soon as he arrived in Blois, he was almost hit by the procession of the people, and he quickly jumped off his horse to inquire, only to know that the queen was about to give birth.

He led the horse (for the road in front of the castle was blocked to rid), and with great difficulty squeezed to the drawbridge, where he heard the people shouting almost in a boiling voice, for the queen appeared on the wall with the support of two maids-in-waiting, so that all the people could see her bulging belly. This is also one of the traditions, she only showed her side slightly, and was carried down and sent to a ready delivery room in a corner of the palace to give birth.

At this time, the courtyard, the corridors, and the adjacent rooms were full of royal family members and important ministers, and the messenger, who was allowed to stay outside for the king's confidant status and the good news, waited for the queen to give birth, and he saw Cardinal Georges (who was a close friend of Louis XII), François, Duke of Valois (a boy of only five years old), and several important ministers and noblewomen entering the maternity room—the door was closed tightly as soon as it was opened, but even if it had been open for a longer time, It was also difficult for people from the outside to see anything - as in the case of Giulio's birth, the maternity room had not only closed all the windows, but also hung tapestries, the fireplace was lit because the heat prevented the queen from getting sick, the floor was covered with herbs for the same reason, and in order to ensure that the production process went smoothly, the cabinet doors had to be opened, the hairpins had to be pulled out, the braids and buttons had to be unbuttoned, and no knots were always allowed.

The cardinals and ministers sat down in their chairs, sweating profusely, but they stared at the curtain for a moment.

The Duchess of Brittany was biting a piece of cork in her mouth, a credible female officer sat next to her and grabbed her hand, and Madame Kindness took on the duties of a midwife - she would never allow those filthy witches to touch the duchess's noble body, and she was accompanied by two noble ladies from the French court, but they were more watching, making sure that the future king of France was indeed born by the queen herself, you know, even after a hundred years, there are still queens who are accused of false pregnancies, and the babies born are bought from outside, Teleport to the delivery room through a dark compartment.

Just as the young Duke of Valois, François, was about to faint, he heard one cheer after another, followed by a loud cry, and the door opened, and the Duke rejoiced that he was finally able to go out, unaware that he had just lost his position as first heir to the French throne.

Duchess Anne spat out the wooden block, and as a tenacious woman, she insisted on supporting her body: "Let me ...... Let me see him......"

The Duchess's vision was blurred and she could not see anything but at her friend, and Mrs. Kindness immediately attached to her ear and said, "He is healthy and whole." ”

The duchess suddenly relaxed, fell on the pillow, and fell asleep.

Madame Kindness busied herself with bathing the baby and washing the body of the Duchess, and then, despite the obstruction of the French lady, insisted on sending the mother and the baby to a clean room with fresh air, and when the baby fell asleep with a frowning brow and a muttering mouth leaning against her mother's arms, she collapsed into her chair with exhaustion.

They had been worried. Although the Duchess also hoped that the child would be born later, in order to avoid the suspicion of the French, when he arrived two weeks late, both the Duchess and the Good Lady could not help but become agitated, they had heard that the child had not yet been born when it was supposed to be born, and most likely meant that the child might have died in the mother's womb, which was even more terrible than an unfortunate miscarriage, and the midwife would take pliers and scissors to dismember the fetus and pull it out of the mother's belly piece by piece.

The Duchess had always been fearless, and she did not regret that she had four abortions at the behest of the devil for the sake of Brittany, but Madame Kindness also knew that Anne often knelt all night before the icon, prayed for her children, before and now, and she never even repented, knowing that she was going to go to hell, and that she might be able to pay for her sins with those unfortunate children.

"But please forgive your brother." Mrs. Kindness cried out in her heart: "Purgatory, or hell, wherever you want, count it as my share!" But let your brother be born in peace, for Brittany! ”

At that time, the only thing that could comfort them was that the fetus had regular and strong fetal movements.

Now he was born, healthy, strong, and as soon as he was born, he was destined to become the master of France and Brittany, the ruler of a vast empire.

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"Mass?"

Julio's fingers trembled slightly, and a little burning tear dripped from the candle he was holding, leaving white spots on his black regular robe.

"To celebrate the birth of the first heir to the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Brittany, and to pray for the blessing of all saints in his good health...... The Duchess of Brittany gave three Masses in Francia, Brittany, and Rome, and one Mass in each of the 100 cathedrals......" The priest shook his head and said with envy: "This is a very devout benefactor, I have only heard of a duke who once offered twenty Masses at a time, in order to avert the sin of disrespect to the Holy See." ”

"Indeed," said Giulio, calmly inserting the candle back into the candlestick, "it was a pious lady. ”

He knew it was Anne, the Duchess of Brittany, who was informing him that their son had been born safely—and she couldn't even wait for the news to spread, or she wouldn't let him know it from anyone else.

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At the same time, King Louis XII of France also received the good news from the messenger.

Not enough belongings were scavenged from Sforzasco Castle (Ludovico. Sforza apparently did not flee in a hurry) and looked gloomy, and the depressed King of France, swept away his previous depression, stood up sharply with his parchment in his hand, and waved his arms in the air, "My son! He cried out, "This is my son!" Brittany is French! ”

His joy was twofold, firstly, as he said, Brittany was finally fully incorporated into the territory of the King of France in the hands of his son, and secondly, he was also thirty-seven years old, and his previous marriage to Jeanne did not give him an heir, and Anne and Charles VIII of Brittany had no surviving children, and now Anne had given birth to a healthy son for him, does this mean that he was a man who was favored by God and destined to become a great king?

Compared to Louis XII, Caesar. Borgia's expression was much more unpredictable, and Louis XII noticed it, so he stepped down from his throne and put his hand on Borgia's shoulder affectionately: "You're a little worse than me," he said, for Princess Charlotte had not yet been able to get the news of her pregnancy, "but I may be able to please you, as I am now—I will give you four thousand infantry, one thousand eight hundred horsemen." ”