But the Duchess tried her best to keep it up, Giulio. The relationship between the Medici and Francis was fragile like a spider's thread in the wind, well, Anne thought to herself, she might indeed be a little too greedy, because she was only willing to give a small portrait and had the intention of crossing the decade-long time, but what could she do? The French were able to allow her to take Francis out of Blois at their limit, and it was impossible for her to put Francis in the hands of a merchant's son, even though he was already the Prince of the Church, Francis was the eldest son and Duke of Orleans, and he was going to be a king, not a bishop.

While the duchess was chewing on the bitter and sour taste repeatedly, the maids knocked on the door.

"I said I wanted to be alone for a while." Anne said.

"But Your Highness, it's getting dark, the wind is blowing again, and looking at the shape of the clouds, the rainstorm may follow, and you should go back."

When Madame Kindness said this, the Duchess looked out, and sure enough, the sky was completely dark, and the clouds were heavy, and they were propelled by the wind, and they rushed to the castle of Brest, whose spires were like the masts of ships.

Anne was in the small room at the top of the Clock Tower, and she hurried downstairs surrounded by the maids, and as she passed through the courtyard they were already obliged to light candles—the glass lampshades from Florence swayed in the wind, stubbornly ensuring that this precious light would not be taken away by the wind, and that the slender branches of the trees had been broken and the gravel on the ground had been rolled up against the bare faces and necks of the women.

"Let's go." Lady Kindness shouted, but fortunately the courtyard surrounded the vaulted promenade, and they were not threatened by the rainstorm except for the wind.

But when they reached the main building, the storm was still one step ahead, and the short distance between the main building and the corridor made the duchess and her maids look like a group of banshees coming out of the lake, their hair curled and wet over their shoulders, their clothes clinging to their bodies, their veils gone, and their dignified demeanor remaining two or three points.

What made Madame Kindness most angry was that in addition to those credible people in the main building at this time, there was also the Duke of Valois, François, François was only seventeen years old this year, but his tall body and thick beard, as well as his dark brown coat and padded trouser pockets made him look several years older than his real age - this was his intention, compared to Louis XII, who was becoming more and more old after returning from defeat, and the Duke of Orleans, who was still immature, The teenager, who is still among the heirs to the throne, is clearly more to the taste of the legitimate Lanceians.

According to etiquette and the most basic morality, he should immediately bow his head and avoid the queen when he sees her, especially the queen who is drenched and like a bath, but this bold and shameless fellow, instead of retreating, boldly stepped forward, and Madame Kindness immediately stood in front of the duchess.

"Why are you here?" Anne's indifferent gaze swept over the Duke of Valois's outstretched hand, and there was no hint of giving him a kiss with her own hand: "Shouldn't you be in your room?" ”

"The King has summoned me," the Duke of Valois smiled flirtatiously, "business, Your Highness. ”

"Then you should go back now."

"I'm afraid...... No," said the Duke of Valois, "the king wants me to stay here, and he cannot do without me for a moment." ”

Speaking of this, he deliberately glanced at the people around him: "There are too many Bretons here. ”

"This is Brittany, and of course there will be many Bretons." Anne was not as angry as he thought, and was only ...... for his distrust of Louis XII, King of China, for her and her people A breeze swept through her ears, "Since Your Majesty said so," she looked at the female officer beside her, "Julie, prepare the room and necessary supplies for the Duke and his entourage." ”

With that, she nodded to the Duke of Valois and left.

As soon as she left the sight and ears of the Duke of Valois and his retinue, she said to Madame Kindness, "Go and find out, what has the king said to him?" ”

Madame Kindness took the order, and a lady-in-waiting hurried away from the procession, and they returned to the Duchess's room—the same but different from the custom, the Duchess and Louis XII, though husband and wife, had their rooms not only separated, but also far away, from one end of the corridor to the other, and although this left the real master's room unoccupied, it was for them the best.

At least it's safe to sleep at night.

Madame Kindness quickly unloaded all the jewels of the duchess, then the collar, the coat, the skirt and the underwear, and by this time the steaming bath water was ready, and the expensive silk was spread in the tub so as not to puncture the nobleman's smooth and delicate skin: "It is said that white porcelain bathtubs are already sold in Florence," said Madame Kindness as she brought Anne hot coffee, "I have already ordered it, but it will take some time to get it here." ”

"It's not bad to slow down," Anne sighed softly, "Don't let the creditors see it." ”

"That's your money."

"But for those Frenchmen, the wife's money is the husband's." Anne took a large sip of coffee, which was filled with so much sugar and cream that it warmed her up at once, and when Mrs. Kindness helped her to pull her hair up, she reached out and grabbed her friend's arm, and found it as cold as if it were cast of iron.

"Come in too." Anne warmly invited: "The water is still hot. ”

"Stop messing around." Mrs. Kindness said quietly, "Do you know that there are erotic stories about you and me going on outside, and don't give those pamphlets any more topics." ”

"Whatever they say, is the tongue sharper than the sword?"

"Who knows?" Madame Kindness would never do such an impudent thing: "You have seen the end of Borgia, who also had no regard for their reputation, thinking that violence could conquer everything, but when the edifice topples, even if anyone is willing to stick out a little finger, Caesar. Borgia wouldn't have died so silently. ”

The duchess knew that she could not persuade Madame Kind, so she had to let her go: "Then at least wipe it, don't get wet like this, it's two months, it's a hell of a life, there was no such storm in Brest before." ”

"When you're done, we'll sort ourselves out next door," said Mrs. Kindness, "and there is a charcoal fire and hot water, so don't worry, we won't leave you alone." "Whether it was for Louis XII, the Duke of Valois or the Duchess of Brittany herself.

Anne immediately quieted down when she heard this, and let the lady and the maid arrange themselves first, and when she was in the warm blanket, they went to the next room to bathe and change clothes.

"By the way," said the duchess, to one of the maids who had put herself in order, "go and see Francis, who must still be in his room." ”

The maid took the order, and after a few minutes she hurried back to the room: "Your Highness is not here. She tried to control herself, but her voice was still a little shaky, but Anne pressed her hand into the void to calm her down: "Don't be afraid, this is Brest in Brittany, not Blois, he should be somewhere else—I'm just afraid he's in a torrential rain." ”

Before the maid could say something, she heard a loud bang—the sound of the heavy door being slammed against the wall, and then the screams and dissuasion of the maids, and Anne had barely time to put a cashmere shawl over her shoulder, and Crown Prince Francis rushed into his mother's bedchamber, and his face turned red at the sight of the bathtub and linen that had not yet been removed from the room—he almost ran into his mother bathing, and he almost subconsciously turned and walked out, or Anne motioned for the maids to stop him.

"You must have met with something very important," said Anne, "perhaps an unsolvable problem, or you would not be so reckless, and I did not teach you so, my child, my dear Francis." The duchess beckoned to her child, "Come, sit down beside me, and tell me not to hide it." ”

Just as the Duke of Valois almost loved and obeyed his mother madly, Crown Prince Francis loved and respected his mother deeply, not only from the point of view of a child, but also from the point of view of a courtier and a subject, although he did not always kneel and talk to his mother like the Duke of Valois, but if Anne ordered it, he would obey.

He walked over to Anne's bed and sat down beside her, and now Anne could see more clearly—Francis had cried, his eyes were red, his sapphire eyes were tinged with pain, the corners of his mouth were cracked, and there was blood under his nose that had not yet been wiped clean.

"What happened?" Anne asked in a low voice.

Francis looked around at the maids, Anne gestured, and they all retreated outside the room.

"I just want to hear the truth," said Francis, who was still a child, but in this sentence there was a sense of adult coldness and firmness: "Am I ...... Isn't it, isn't it a father's child? ”

The room fell into a deathly silence, the burning of the candles became silent, and the light of the fire, which used to jump every now and then, seemed to freeze.

"It doesn't matter who scatters the seeds." Anne said, "All you have to know is that you fell from between my legs." ”

Anne's words were not so much to change the subject as to admit it, and Francis's face suddenly took on an ominous red as if it had been smeared with cinnabar, and suddenly turned a terrible grayish white, and Anne took his hand, which did not have a trace of water, but it was colder than the previous Lady of Kindness.

"Calm." Anne said, "Again, it doesn't matter—who said such things to you?" ”

Francis seemed to smile, but he didn't know that his face had been distorted so that Anne could barely look at it: "It's father...... Mother, it was the king, it was Louis XII, he called me to go, looked carefully at my face, and then ...... Then he suddenly became angry and he said, I am not his child, I am a ...... Sin, I am ......"

Anne's fingers suddenly tightened, but Francis didn't feel the slightest pain: "He hit me and swore that he would kill me...... And also...... You. ”

The mother's radiance quickly faded from Anne's face, followed by the cruelty that belonged to the Duchess of Brittany: "How did you get out?" ”

"He fainted." Francis said.

"Did anyone hear you?"

"I don't know," said Francis, "he let the servants out." ”

"The eyes and ears of the court are everywhere." Anne said, "Fortunately this is Brittany, so you have been seen entering the king's chambers?" ”

"Yes, I'm not sure."

“…… All right. Anne looked at him: "Good boy, don't be afraid. She said, even smiling: "Your Majesty is just a little ...... Gaffe, pathetic, he's driven mad by the princes and lords who are always pressing to pay their debts, so he's just babbling, he doesn't know what he's talking about—or maybe it's the devil who has possessed him and made him tell those abominable lies...... It's too bad, then, Francis, you're going to have a good rest, rest for a while, and wait until tomorrow, and everything will be fine, and now you're going to go and rest first—wait, don't go back to your room, it's here. ”

She backhanded Francis against the bed and picked up a cup of goat's milk that had been placed on the suitcase, "Why is there no honey in it?" After a sip, she muttered to herself, "Someone must be lazy, I'm going to add some honey to you so you can have a good dream." She said, taking a small bottle of potion from her makeup case, quickly pouring it into goat's milk, and giving it to Francis—poppy milk and belladonna were so effective that Francis fell asleep a few minutes later.

The Duchess stood up with a blank face, threw away the small bottle, and while summoning the maids in, helping her to change into a black dress, and summoning the ministers of the Brittany line, headed by Orange, as Anne had said before, it was not Blois after all, but Brest, and the Bretons soon arrived, and they bowed to their queen and asked her in person what she commanded.

"The Duke of Valois is here," whispered Anne, "my dear Orange, take the men and take them all. ”

Prince Orange's temples were already frosty white, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows like snow herons, but he didn't say anything, didn't ask, only bowed, and said he obeyed.

Anne looked at the others, and gave one order after another, and it happened suddenly, but the Bretons who were present suddenly realized that the timing had never been better.

Why did Louis XII appear in Brest? It was precisely because he owed too many debts, and there were constantly princes and lords, as well as merchants and bishops, who repeatedly demanded extortion in the name of an audience, that he could not bear it, so he fled from Blois, but he chose Brest because the Bretons here hated the French, and secondly, in order to ease his relationship with the Duchess of Brittany, his wife Anne, and to see if he could get any more money from her—not to pay off his debts, but to support Cardinal George, who was far away in Rome.

It was only after arriving in Brest that Louis XII, as a king who was not loved and respected by his people, and a husband who was not loved and obeyed by his wife, or a father who was not trusted and adored by his son, Louis XII's mood was always dark and low, he quarreled with Anne, and beat each other, but today...... Anne wasn't sure if he really thought so, or if the Duke of Valois had said something or even produced any evidence, but the denials and threats of a king and father were fatal to a crown prince and a son.

Louis XII made a big mistake.