After Madame de Montespan left, Louis also felt a deep exhaustion—the lady had a very clever opportunity to cut in, or rather, to choose a very clever opportunity, at this time, when France seemed to have won a great victory, but in fact could not afford to afford a third war—the soldiers had been away from their homeland for more than three years, and the vast new territory needed to be consolidated, and the gains were incomparably rich, but they needed to be digested slowly.

The news brought by Madame de Montespan, perhaps after a while, Louis will also be able to learn from the Duke of Orleans or Madame de Milady's spies, but the problem is that Madame de Montespan can get a head start on them, which means that her ability is stronger than theirs, and in these delicate and crucial years, if Louis wants to get a strong arm instead of a dangerous enemy, then it is better to accept Madame de Montespan's surrender- Of course, this would be unpleasant and coercive for any king, but Louis believed that he would always have a choice.

As for some moral people, they may think that Madame de Montespan is too wicked and cruel, she ruthlessly abandoned her father when she was a child, and killed her husband without a trace of hesitation after having two children of her own, and if she were a different person, she would surely tremble before her, let alone share a bed with her, but Louis's first de facto lover was a witch, and the first royal lady was a werewolf, and now even intimacy with a devil does not seem to be difficult.

And Louis now needed a ruthless character like Madame de Montespan, because in the next few years, France will be in a period of "stability", in which you can treat any enemy at will, but after the war is over, you have to be cautious of those who are neither French nor French (Flanders and the Netherlands), after all, they are not farmers and hunters in Lorraine and Alsace, and even if you lose them, you can relocate some loyal people from France.

What about Flanders? Its value lies in wool, a trade that requires a great deal of experience and skill, which cannot be done by just anyone—Louis intends to break this monopoly by establishing as many technical schools as possible in the near future, but this is unlikely for at least a few years, and it will be difficult for these people to teach their students willingly—the so-called apprenticeships and trade unions of this era prevail because of the monopoly of knowledge by the various classes, and these are the things on which they depend, yes.

For example, the forceps that were applied to the Duchess of Orleans not long ago, the Chambolance family fled France, half because of faith, half to hide the secret, and when the Chambolance took out the forceps, Louis found that this kind of forceps had not only been invented a long time ago, but also had various models, and the development was quite mature, but if it were not for Monsieur de Chamborence who was moved by Monsieur Lom's selfless act (cowpox) at the end, the women of France and even the whole of Europa would have to endure the threat of pain and death for decades or even hundreds of years。

If this is true of doctors whose duty is to save lives, how can the leaders and masters of the woolen industry be willing to easily reveal secrets worth thousands of dollars?

It was not impossible to use strong means against them, but Louis wanted not only Flanders and the Netherlands, but also to make them a province of France completely, completely, and he could not allow hatred to be passed on from generation to generation— He even thought about pardoning Fouquet and asking him to do it, but the cunning former Chancellor of the Exchequer would see through the king's trap at a glance, and this was not something that could be solved by being thrown away, and if he did, the end result would be to be beheaded by the king to appease the anger of the Flemish populace.

The king was not without credible people, the question was, these people Louis was not willing to give up any of them, they were all pearls he had picked out of the gravel, and they had not yet shown their glory, how could the king let them fall into the mire?

Not to mention the Netherlands, where some of the Dutch parliamentarians who narrowly escaped Amsterdam still stubbornly established a government-in-exile, and their intention was the same as that of the previous parliamentarians, that is, to re-establish a republic in the colonies, and then to amass capital, recruit soldiers, and look for opportunities to retake the Netherlands - although they may have to face a pack of hungry wolves, Louis divided almost all the Dutch colonies (except New Amsterdam and the Hudson River), especially the richest ones, presumably England, Spain, The fleets of Sweden and Austria were already closing in on their new prey on the seas.

But in addition to these stubborn, or nowhere to go, the owners of the more than 10,000 merchant ships in the Netherlands were not all obstinate, and at the victory banquet on the 15th of Versailles, although Louis refused to meet the so-called Dutch officials, the Dutch still crowded the hotels of Paris and Versailles, and they were also anxious to find a person to talk to from the king's side, but under the king's authority, the only person who had the courage was the Duke of Orleans, but the Duke of Orleans was with the king wherever he lived, and it was not easy to meet him。

Under such circumstances, it was only natural for a long-sleeved and dancing royal lady to come forward and do something that Louis and the feather-loving man were unwilling to do.

Not to mention, whether or not the rebellion on Gayola was motivated by Madame de Montespan, just as Louis no longer needed the Serbian werewolves, and the Mancini family gradually became a constraint for the little Duke of Colonna, the king had indeed set an end for them, but now it seemed that it didn't hurt to advance a little earlier - just the wizards of Calais and Orleans, who should be handed over to have to be observed and weighed.

Louis also wondered if this was also in Madame Montespan's consideration, and after a while he smiled, why bother? Just as Madame Montespan said, she wanted to be in control of her own destiny and that of others, she longed for power, money, and pleasure, she was such a naked wicked person, and Louis needed such a wicked person.

————

Queen Teresa was not surprised to hear this answer, she had also seen such women in the Spanish court - they were generally not of high birth, but because of their humble status, they had nothing to lose, and in order to get what they wanted, even if it was a dress or a box of rouge, they would do terrible things - like the mother of her father's illegitimate son, Don Juan.

Duke Don Juan is almost her shadow, don't think that this kind of person is easy to deal with, their danger is that there is no moral and empathetic constraints, just like the Habsburg princess, Philip IV's second wife, Queen Anna, is almost powerless in front of Don Juan, and the nobles of the French court are probably not the opponent of Madame de Montespan.

"If she's done anything disturbing, you can always tell me. The king said, and then he paused slightly, "But Queen, Madame de Montespan must be a wise man." ”

The queen immediately understood what Louis meant.

Madame de Montespan, though she seemed to have gained more power, probably received the least trust and love from the king, but she was willing to accept the arrangement.

"I'll treat her well, Your Majesty. The queen said.

So at the King's Birthday Banquet, Madame de Montespan, as the Queen's maid, appeared in the Palace of Verles for the first time, although everyone only knew that this was a process, but they could not help frowning at her dress, because her dress had obviously exceeded the specifications of a lady-in-waiting, second only to the Queen Mother, the King, the Queen, The Duke of Orleans, even the Duchess of Orleans was overshadowed in front of her, and because of the age of the Queen Mother, both the King and the Duke of Orleans were male, and the Queen was not good-looking, and she could almost be called the first of the ladies of the court......

The people whispered, but did not dare to show a look of disgust, for she followed the queen closely, and before all the maids-in-waiting, she was almost the only one who could claim that she was the only person to be the royal lady.

The King's Physician, Varo Vesali, was lucky, for no one would notice him at such a grand feast, but Madame de Montespan's stepfather, the Duke of Motmar, could not escape the strange scrutiny of the people, and his face was pale, and his demeanor was stiff, and he was not glad that his stepdaughter was about to become the Lady of the Royal Family— Louis was a little sympathetic to him, and in the war against Flanders and the Netherlands, Louis used all credible people, and the Duke of Motmar was no exception, he might be sent by the king to Flanders as administrator, and the future was bright, and there was really no need for his stepdaughter to repay the previous "kindness" in this way.

But when the King and Queen had danced the first dance, and then with the Queen Mother and the Duchess of Orléans, and the ball had entered its second phase, and the music had become lively and lively, the King went up to Madame de Montespan and stretched out his hand.

In fact, apart from her dissatisfaction with Madame de Montespan's overly ostentatious conduct, there was nothing to blame at the court for the king's second official, recognized royal lady, who was first of all French, and secondly her husband was French, and finally, she had a prominent status - the daughter of a duke, a marquise, better than a cardinal's merchant niece or an officer's daughter.

What's more, Madame de Montespan's beauty can answer most people's doubts, even if she has hardly been seen in Paris or Versailles before.

Louis was dressed to-day in a tunic full of gold thread, as brilliant as his title, the Duke of Orleans had chosen silver as always, the Queen Mother was brown, the Queen was crimson, and Madame de Montespan wore a long dress full of gold thread, the chest and cleft sleeves were all layered with lace, like a floating cloud that half-concealed her snow-white arms and chest, and under the long skirt was a pair of feet as dexterous as birds, wrapped in silk and precious stones, and perhaps to show off her flawless skin, Madame de Montespan wore only a pearl necklace around her neck, but in the fluffy light blonde curls are interspersed with sparkling diamonds.

Her eyes were grayish-blue in the sunlight and violet in candlelight. The lips were the most vivid and rich crimson, like cherries hanging heavily from the blue leaves, and Louis thought of this, as if he heard what was in his heart, and as the two intertwined, Madame de Montespan whispered, "Do you know how cherries are the sweetest?"

Louis cast an inquiring look.

"Pull the branch directly with your lips, Your Majesty. ”

——————

"I thought you were ...... tonight," said Prince Condé, who was already comfortable facing his failures. Even if he was fifty years old, he could not have left a stunner like Madame de Montespan and gone to the council chamber to meet ministers and conduct business—but Louis XIV could.

"There's no hurry. Louis said that, though he would not refuse Madame de Montespan between beds, he would not seek pleasure from her as unbridled as a reckless young man—and now he even thought the old face of the Prince of Condé was lovelier.

Louis did not say much, and handed over to the Prince of Condé the letter that Madame de Montespan had intercepted, which had been written by a Polish nobleman to another great nobleman.

The Prince of Condé thought it was a letter that might be related to the Netherlands, England or Austria, but he saw his name after reading only a few lines, and when he finally understood the meaning of the letter, the prince and the generalissimo trembled uncontrollably, and although he had been half-bowing his head, Louis could still see his brow bones rising and falling rapidly, his shoulders tensed, his arms propped up as if to tear the letter apart, tear it to pieces, his breathing from faint to inaudible until it was clearly discernible- After a pause, he finally put down the letter with difficulty, stood up, came to Louis, and bent down deeply.

"I have no intention of doing so, Your Majesty!"

Louis may have been silent for a few seconds, but in those few seconds the Prince of Condé had already thought about what kind of room he would have in the Bastille, and even thought that he might be the second Man in the Iron Mask, if the king did not want to be seen as unkind, but he immediately heard the king's chuckle.

"No, no, no, my good sir," said the king cheerfully, "I wish you so." ”

————

Needless to say, what choice Prince Condé would make, he was once only one step away from the throne of France, of course, Poland was also a powerful country, but it is not an easy thing to become a true king, Prince Condé is also in the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, if he decides to accept this throne, then he may have to fight until the last day, until he is called by God.