Jeromenis Bosch's triptych has reached the last one, the small painting on the right, and the second, the main picture, has been completed, with Rubens adding golden brilliance, birds and flowers, the picture is so cruel, and everyone's face is so joyful, especially Saint-Denis, who can almost be said to be dancing- The last sketch had already been drawn and needed no elaboration, and certainly not how the saint manifested the miracle that ordinary people would have depicted and seen, and Rubens felt a little bewildered as the heads of the three men rested on their shoulders.

"It's going to fall when it's time to drop. Bosch said this, sitting at the canvas and staring at the main picture for a long time before he began to color the third painting—"How beautiful, how brilliant, how glorious." ”

——————

Captain Vauban did not feel tired after sending the king back to the palace, partly because he was still young, and partly because of the stimulus given by the coming great battle, and he knew that this would not be good for the battle to-morrow, or for a longer battle, so he went back to his tent and ordered his attendants to find him an empty tent, and he should take a bath.

After the king expressed his strict requirements for cleanliness, his ministers and generals were also accustomed to immersing themselves in warm water, but on the battlefield, the only one who could carry a bathtub with him was probably the king, and it was easy to vacate a tent, but it was not easy to find a suitable bath - But the dexterous children soon brought a horse trough, and if it was in the daytime, it would be nice to bask in the sun to ensure that the water temperature was right, but fortunately the meal preparation was over, the fire had not been completely extinguished, and it was not difficult to boil a few tin buckets of water.

In the rising mist, Vauban lay down comfortably, the wooden thorns at the bottom of the sink made him laugh involuntarily, but he did not want to reproach his squire, his skin was not delicate enough to lay silk, but suddenly the thorns were gone, and were replaced by a velvety touch—the King's captain, the Captain, had sunk his hand under the water—where he had dropped a dagger, which he had laughed at at his sensitivity before, had come in handy.

"I have no ill will, sir. "A man came out of the shadows of the tent, and Louis had seen wizards come out of the fire, out of the water, out of the sea of flowers, and the Bohemian witches were not far behind, but they could only move through the shadows and the mire, and they gave a much worse impression.

In addition to this, Manette was still a somewhat attractive woman, unlike the ladies that Vauban was familiar with, her eyes sparkled in the firelight, aggressive, and the bohemians liked to wear tassels on the neckline and cuffs, or tear the edges into strips, and Manit was no exception, this ragged outfit allowed her to show off her smooth light brown skin, waist, thighs and arms, which made people want to explore it in the looming.

"I'm not in a good position to host a lady. Vauban said, his hands moving over the water. He wasn't qualified to know the inner and outer worlds, but he had heard about them, especially the Bohemian women—the soldiers said they could perform witchcraft, and many of them were healed by their witchcraft, but some were grateful, and many more whispered to the priest to see if their bodies were controlled and cursed by witches— Because of this war, the king sent many doctors, but as you know, in the seventeenth century, there was not much difference between doctors and monks, and there were not many crazy people like André Vesalius.

"Just some little wooden thorns. Manit said, turning his fingers, "No need to make a fuss, sir. ”

"It feels like velvet. Vauban said.

"A little spell," Manit walked behind Vauban and saw the man's shoulder muscles tense visibly, she slowly put her hands on him, sliding over her skin, Vauban had no lighter skin than witches, he liked the battlefield more than any nobleman, and he could lead in training and combat, "We sometimes use it when we want to sit. ”

"Are you witches?" asked Vauban .

"Wizard. "You should be aware of it, but we're not hiding it," Manit said. ”

Vauban subconsciously wanted to ask the king if he knew, but he immediately answered the question in his heart, how could the king not know, he would never put an uncertain factor in his army, "Do you have any orders?

Manit smiled, she took Vauban's shoulders and slowly pushed the tangled muscles away: "I think you need to relax," she said, "I have a better way than hot water." ”

"I'm not going to act rashly until the price is set. Vauban said, and at the same time a little breather, although the army will inevitably be followed by the "famous sister" that people talk about, but he has been single-mindedly on the heavy task entrusted by the king these days, and he has not had this mind at all, and now—he has also read the book "Hammer of the Witches", although he scoffs, but now he has to admit that some of the contents in it are really right-when witches want to seduce a man, it is difficult for men to get rid of and refuse.

"I can give you gold. Vauban took the hand that was moving underwater.

"I don't want gold. Manit said.

"Do you want me to marry you?" asked Vauban playfully.

"I don't want a husband like you," Manit's other hand also fell below the surface, her breath close to her ear, her curls soaked with steam, and a soft touch came from Vauban bareback: "Your loyalty belongs to your king, not to a woman." ”

"No doubt," whispered Vauban "so you can say, what more do you want if you don't want gold? Is there something more ridiculous and ridiculous waiting for me than our marriage?"

"A trifle. Manit said, "When do you think this war will end?"

——

"When will this war end?" Louis took a sip of his coffee, which was always made with only milk and no sugar, a habit that leaned towards the Puritans—the coffee that Bontang brought to Captain Vauban was next to a plate of neatly stacked sugar cubes, so Captain Vauban calmly poured them all into his coffee, "I don't know what she wants to do, Your Majesty." ”

Louie held up a piece of parchment and looked down with his eyes from above: "Looks like you had a good night last night." ”

"It's very nice. Vauban said, "But I have not uttered a word until I have your permission." ”

"Then I can tell you," said the king, "that she only wants to test my thoughts by your mouth." "These Bohemian witches must have been disappointed, they thought that after nearly a hundred years of abandoning the royal family, the king of Bourbon would be eager to welcome them back to the court, but this was simply their imagination and self-consolation, just as they always described their life of exile as "free" - but for Louis, a group of unscrupulous and unscrupulous wizards could not even compare with a group of outcasts, who could be governed, educated, and shackled by law and faith, but what about witches? To put it mildly, if something, someone, or words upset them, the most likely thing they will do is to vent hysterically and then run away.

They had even preemptively refused, i.e., they had guessed that the king might let them fight against the dark wizards—and that they would not be able to face the terrible ones if they were willing to submit to a mortal—and if they knew the time limit of the war, they could also deduce the king's intentions if things changed.

But how could Louis put his life in the hands of this group of untrustworthy women, so although the king still ordered them to serve, and gave a considerable number, he also promised not to let them appear on the battlefield of the inner world- The establishment of military doctors and nurses in the army was Louis's plan for a long time, but in this era, people's moral concepts are really strange, married men and women can find their own pleasures as they like, but unmarried women, even if they just take a step beyond the thunder pool, will be covered with dirt that cannot be washed away- Especially in the military, the people have acquiesced that the soldiers are all women who make money, so there will be no girls from good families with the soldiers, let alone look at their bodies, bind their wounds, wipe them and deal with more intimate issues.

To say that there are not many such women in the army, and they do wear many hats, but the problem is that there are too few of them and they are too scattered.

The use of witches is just an attempt, and if it is not possible to place them here, then Louis will have to try to find another, or rather, final way of dealing with it.

Unexpectedly, the witches did a good job, but Manit, Louis thought in his heart, as he had thought before, even if these witches were available, the members of the Witch Order would still have to be purged, just like pulling out the bones in the body of a stewed chicken, without the master and the leader, the rest would be at the mercy of the rest- Louis unconsciously fiddled with the quill in his hand, the feathers on it were blue, with a metallic luster, people only thought that it was a feather plucked from the body of a great raven, in fact it came from the inner world, a bird on the island of Gayola, it never chirped, it only had three such feathers on its body, and the three feathers plucked from the same bird were divided among the three wizards, and no matter who had an accident, as long as it broke, the other two would also be broken, which was a gift from the little Duke of Colonna to his fatherBut Louis kept these Bohemian witches to ensure that the court would not be completely overrun by the wizards of Gayora.

"I hope these bohemians can change people's minds a little bit. Louis said, "Captain Vauban you have also seen that the presence of paramedics is sometimes even more than that of doctors," At this time, the doctors on the battlefield are best at amputation, although it is true that amputation can prevent the injured person from dying of high fever after infection, but the blood loss and pain still make the mortality rate during and after the operation remain high, not to mention that some doctors resolutely do not wash their hands (which wastes a lot of time) to do surgery, and the killing of three people in one operation has also happened (here is to say, there is a doctor who did an amputation for a patient, and as a result, the knife used for amputation first cut off the patient's leg, then injured the assistant's arm, and finally landed on the doctor's foot, causing a wound infection that killed them all at once), so when the soldiers saw the doctorIt's like a lamb seeing a butcher.

But women act as caregivers, and when you think you are about to fall into hell, when you open your eyes, you see clean tents and rooms, young girls in white aprons (this is the king's request) looking at you with a smile and a moan, holding hot soup or milk in their hands, their voices are so pleasant, their gestures are so light, even if you wash your wounds with salt water and spirits, and let the lovely girl do it, it doesn't seem so painful.

"But those, Your Majesty, they are not mortal. ”

"Can't mortals do what I have said?" said the king, "I have brought these Bohemian women here to serve my soldiers, to let them know that not all women in the army are despicable and despised, and that is the most important thing, and that it is only when they have this knowledge that it is possible to recruit the daughters of ordinary people." Otherwise, even if someone were willing to let their sisters, daughters, and wives do things, the rudeness of the soldiers would frighten them, make them feel humiliated, and refuse to continue to work for them.

It's also a helpless thing, it's too difficult to change people's minds overnight, not to mention others, even Bohemian witches, there are people who have to marry a soldier, and then take care of their husbands, their brothers, and their friends.

"Speaking of which. The king asked, "How is it working?"

"Very good. "There are some bastards who are so envious that they want to get hurt," said Vauban said. ”

The king laughed, "yes," he said, "you don't have to answer Manit's question, but if she asks again, tell him that the king has not changed his mind, and that's it." ”

————————

Manit did not inquire about Vauban again, perhaps the king's reaction spoke for itself, and a third of the witches were left in Lille along with the wounded, and the king did not call them elsewhere, but she was still often uneasy.

But there was not much she could do in this war, and at about ten o'clock the next day, the siege of Brussels began.