Barras didn't wait long, he was still a papal envoy after all - on the surface, Louis XIV of France was still quite a devout believer, didn't he see that he only marched in Rome and did not invite the then pope to Paris or the Alvernon for permanent residence?

It was only different from the king that Frederick had seen, that Barras had met the king in the splendid and solemn Jupiter Room, and in this hall almost everyone who was entitled to a room in Versailles arrived, and even Madame de Montespan, who had just given birth to the king's third son, insisted on being there, and she was lavishly dressed and heavily dressed, reclining on the king's throne, and the fan in her hand was opened and closed from time to time, sometimes against her chin, sometimes against her breast, and she tried to appear as safe and sound, but the more so, the more strange it was to those who knew her。

The man who was closer to the king than Madame de Montspan was the Duke of Orleans, who today wore a crimson jacquard coat adorned with ribbons and precious stones, but today he was not as dazzling as his royal brother, and Louis XIV wore today a quilted royal blue velvet robe, the quilting of the robe was silver, and at every intersection was a round pearl that would make any lady unable to refuse— Before the new cut of diamonds came out, pearls were the top jewels in the hearts of Europa's aristocracy, after all, it was too difficult to get a perfect round pearl, and when Columbus went out to sea in search of the New World, the then Queen of Castile asked him to bring back pearls - but after Louis ordered jewelers to develop new diamond cuts that would make them shine as bright as the stars, diamonds became the target of people's pursuit...... Then, around each pearl, a circle of tiny diamonds is encircled, and the fire of the diamonds and the soft light of the pearls reflect each other, setting off the king like a mortal god.

Louis XIV did not wear any more jewelry, but pinned a pin to his scarf, which was set with a diamond the size of an apricot.

Barras must admit that he was full of jealousy and remorse, and he did not hesitate to abandon his duties and obligations, for Louis XIV was just a wretched man who would be expelled from the Louvre and even Paris by a mob of pitchforks and sticks, and it was thought that Gaston, Duke of Orleans, would become king of France, and later that Condé, who had achieved great military prowes, and that no one thought that— In addition to the Queen Mother and Bishop Mazarin, the young man would step by step, not only trampling under the feet of his former enemies, such as Gaston and Grand Condé, but also defeating the Spaniards, Austrians and Dutch, and marching on Rome, making the whole Church tremble.

Not to mention that the power of the surface world cannot affect the inner world, no matter how arrogant the wizards and monks are, as long as they still rely on the outside world and have communication, they cannot ignore such a powerful ruler - although they have magic and talents that mortals cannot match, if wizards, vampires and werewolves can fight against humans, it will not be them who retreat to the inner world in the first place, but mortals.

It wasn't that Barras didn't expect that he would still have to bow his knee to the King of France, what he didn't expect was that he would bow to Louis XIV, whom he had abandoned and despised...... A child without a father saluted. When he bent down deeply, even though his face was expressionless and he was muttering beautiful words, Louis could still guess what he was thinking, and any gambler who lost his bet, Barras would not repent of his greed and malice, but would only hate Louis and Philip for not dying.

Of course, if it had been Gaston sitting here today, Barras would have been treated better, since it was this ambitious guy who had colluded with the Church of Rome in the first place.

——————

Just a few days ago, Madame de Montespan's request to ask the papal envoy to baptize her newborn son was rejected, and the person who baptized the newborn would have an inseparable bond with the newborn, which Eleho had reminded the king of a long time ago, so every child of Louis was baptized by Cardinal La Rivière, a timid cardinal who loved food and gold Louis, Louis could guarantee that he could hold him firmly, but Ballas? Even if he asked Elelius to baptize Louis, he would not let him approach his child.

"You know, ma'am," Louis said kindly to his royal lady, "I am not ignorant of where you came from, and you have shown me your powers, and I will naturally trace them to the ......source," he paused, for Madame de Montespan had at his feet at once, "Forgive me, please protect me," she cried out with her sideburns disheveled and pale, though Louis knew very well that no one could compare with Madame de Montespan in terms of selfishness and affection— When she was only seven years old, she was determined to stab her own father in the heart, but in the same way, if Madame de Montespan wanted to ask for someone's love and forgiveness, she did so to the extreme...... This act of exposing its belly, similar to the submission of a beautiful and fierce beast, can melt even the hardest stones.

Louis had wondered how his physician, Valo Vesalius, could be willing to forgive his eldest daughter, and how the Duke of Motmar could consider her like a true father...... Now he understood at last, for he was hesitating: "Stand up, ma'am," he said, "since I have not asked the judge to judge you, and your chamber is in Versailles, not in the Bastille," he said meaningfully, "you should know that I will not punish you for your previous deceit." ”

"A plant sprouts in the wrong place," said Madame de Montespan, "but it will certainly be sunny, and I have blossomed and borne fruit, Your Majesty." ”

"That's why I can tolerate you...... Accept you," said Louie, "and in fact it is very unfair to another person, who is being punished while you are still at large." ”

Madame de Montespan tightened her grip on the hem of her dress, she knew who the king meant, she had to do it, Marie Mancini had a very special place in the king's heart, unless she committed a mistake that could not be forgiven—even a small mistake, she would not have been taken seriously by the king, though she now regretted it—she should not have been so impatient, no, it should be said, she was wrong from her husband, for he was working for the Marquis de Lois, and his death was likely to be investigated...... Unbeknownst to others, her father, Varo Vesali, knew that he had been poisoned by a wizard's poison with a glance.

What she could not have imagined was that her master, Clement X, had lost control of Rome, and that the cardinal chief had not only disapproved of his actions, but even opposed them, so much so that he sent Madame d'Aubigne, and at once lifted the last fig leaf for her—she now relied on not many things, except for her children, her two fathers, and the power that belonged to Clement X.

"Tell me, then, what role does Ballas play in this conspiracy?" asked Louis.

"He?" said Madame de Montespan, who could barely hide her contempt, "you know the islands of the Sun," Louis nodded—the islands of the islands of the Suns were separated from the islands of Gayola by an Italian distance, and she continued, "The monks of the Church of Rome are not all from one world," This Louis also knew that because Ballas had taken his men with him when he had left, Elarius was able to quickly and easily take over the power of the Inquisition in Paris, and later he brought out many of his people from the island of Gayola to fill the void left by Barras: "He sold the islands of the Sun to Clement X, the whole. Madame Montespan said.

"Sold to Clement X?" Louis mused, "is that what I thought I meant?"

"Obviously, Clement X has the same idea as you, "If it were Charles II, or Leopold I, though he knew the existence of the inner world, he would not have allowed wizards to appear outside the veil - wizards have been silent in the shadows for hundreds of years since Merlin, so to speak, if it were not for the appearance of Louis XIV, who had no faith at all and no scruples, this situation might have continued until mortal science was able to overcome the magic of wizards— But Louis XIV's indulgence and use of wizards not only stimulated the kings, but also the clergy of Rome, and when it comes to the use of wizards, Louis XIV would not have been as skilled as them.

With the help of the Mancini, Louis XIV had already received Gayola, and the other monarchs were likely to follow suit, and the Church of Rome certainly did not give up - this power was probably the last thing that belonged to them, and Ballas had been depressed in Rome, and in Lorraine, he had been defeated at the hands of his former pupil Elelius- Of course, he would do whatever it took to get what the Church had promised him, but Louis learned from Madame de Montespan that Barras was even more crazy than the Mancini family, and even Marie Mancini, and that he had given Clement X the "key" to the Caspian of the Rijpelago for the sake of an undiocesan bishop.

Seriously, if wizards were like that, it's no wonder that there hasn't been a second Merlin—no, Louis thought that even Merlin's fate when he was imprisoned in a monolith by his own disciples and lovers was debatable, and in any case, it would be too hard to convince him that a man who had turned an illegitimate son into a holy king could be tricked by a woman like an alcoholic butcher.

"There are Judas everywhere," Louis shook his head, "tell me how much you know about Baras." ”

Of course, Madame Montespan doesn't have much to do with Ballas, but a large number of the wizards and monks under her command are actually from the Japanese Islands, and since they heard about what Ballas did, almost all of them have reversed Madame Montespan, except for some wizards who can't give up their families and clans— They were right to make this decision, for it was not only the courtiers who thought that such an impeccable beauty as Madame de Montspan must be favored by the king, but Montspan did not know Ballas, but they certainly did, and several of them had followed Ballas all the way from Paris to Rome.

After learning more about what kind of person Barras was, there is today's extravagant, gorgeous, dazzling and stressful audience ceremony.

After such intimidation and cold treatment, Barras brought with him the edicts of Clement X, which, of course, could be seen as a joke – the trials (against those whom Clement X considered blasphemous and witchcraft, such as the Duke of Luxembourg), the restoration of the old canons, i.e., the refusal to pay the poll tax, the demand that the king allow the exodus of gold and silver (the fees paid by the clergy to the Church), and so on, and the tithes levied by the Church on the common people...... Because the tax had never been known, and had not been received by the Church for centuries anyway, and because Louis had made it clear that he would not give up the right to appoint and dismiss the bishops of the Church, Louis XIV took the so-called Pope's own letter and threw it on the table at will, and Barras moved his lips, but finally could not speak.

"Perhaps I ought to speak to the true leader," said Louis, "Ballas, your master." ”

Barras's face flushed sharply, and he raised his head and glared at the king, but the two monks beside him forced him to bow his head again with more indifferent looks.

"As for the expectations of the church," Louis said slowly, "I will fulfill the duties of a pious monarch—the reasonable part." As he spoke, he stretched his shoulders, and after a few years of silence he was about to go on his expedition again—the head of the cardinals was much clearer than the foolish babblings of Clement X, and in his letter he said several things to Louis in a deliberative tone, the first of which was the threat of the Ottoman Turks to Austria.

Although Poland had the Grand Condé, Ludwig I, and Sobieski, the Ottoman Turks canonized Tkej Imre, a Hungarian nobleman who had lost his father and many relatives to rebel against Habsburg rule, as Grand Duke of Transylvania, in order to be able to attack Austria through Trasivania if necessary.

Hungary was divided into three parts by Habsburg, Transylvania and Ottoman Turkey, upper, middle and lower, Tkey Imre fought all the way to Upper Hungary, which was equivalent to opening a road to heaven, although Ludwig I and Sobieski were also trying their best to intercept the Ottoman Turks, but it was clear that they could not pass through the territory of the Grand Duke of Transylvania, so whether France was willing to lend a hand became an extremely critical point.

Although Louis was willing to watch Leopold I die, as a Catholic League, he could not sit idly by, so he had to send troops - this expedition was also necessary, otherwise if Leopold I became the commander of the coalition (which was almost inevitable), his generals would be very passive, and Louis would not even use Schaumberg this time, although Marshal Schaumberg had taken the initiative to ask for help.

But Ballas, he's definitely going to take it.