The Tower of London is littered with ravens.

The Duke of York briefly raised his eyes and scanned the white tower against the black shadows flying up and down, which looked even more strange against the gray twilight background - this white tower with a height of about 100 feet was the main building of a fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and then thirteen buildings were built around the White Tower, which was once used as a military fortress, a royal palace, an armory, an observatory, a mint, a treasury, a prison and a place of execution...... And what made the Duke of York feel a chill was that when he looked at the building, he thought of another Duke of York.

This involved a long and famous war and a despicable thief, after the end of the War of the Roses, it was Edward IV who won the victory, he had two sons, the eldest son was named the Prince of Wales according to tradition, and the second son was named the Duke of York, which is why the kings of England made the second son the Duke of York, the problem is that Edward IV died too early, his eldest son Edward was only thirteen years old when he ascended the throne, and his younger brother was only ten years old, they were not luckier than Louis and Philip, at that time they were not surrounded by strong supporters, only ambitious uncles- Edward IV had two younger brothers, one of whom was executed by death for being held hostage by Edward IV's opponents and lost his right to inheritance, and the other, the Duke of Graros, who later became Richard III, secretly sent a priest to declare that Edward IV had been married to a woman before he married the Queen, and that the woman was still alive, and that the Queen's marriage to Edward IV was therefore unlawful, and his two children became illegitimate children, and Edward V and the Duke of York were thus imprisoned in the Tower of London— Although at that time the Tower of London was still a royal palace.

But since then, no one has ever seen the two unfortunate princes again, no one knows whether they are dead or alive, and they have disappeared without a trace, even if Richard III was later defeated by Henry Tudor, and they still did not make a sound, but considering that Henry Tudor was married to Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV, even if they were lucky enough to be alive, it would be better for them and others to be dead.

For the sake of this crown, the Duke of York thought in his heart how many noble men had wasted their blood, their heads, and their dignity.

Such a memory weighed on the heart of the thirty-seven-year-old duke, who was younger than his brother, but who had grown his sideburns, but whose ambition had been nurtured from his youth was like a wild vine, not withering with the passage of time, but growing stronger and more vigorous, almost covering his eyes and ears— But just as his carriage turned to Whitehall Palace, on a small stage by the roadside, a strangely dressed fellow was chanting aloud a work by Shakespeare from a chapter of Richard II, in which he said: "For God's sake, let us sit on the floor and tell sad stories of the deaths of kings—some deposed, some killed in battle, some haunted by the spirits of those they deposed, some poisoned by wives, some killed in their sleep, none of them died well." for within this empty crown encircles the king's flesh and mortal womb......"

To the Duke of York, who believed in astrology with any member of the royal family before, the voice of this ignorant man pierced his heart like a sharp awl, and without thinking he put his hand out of the window, and the attendant who rode with him immediately rushed over, and bowed down to his command, and the Duke whispered a few words, and the attendant immediately turned his horse's head and galloped away, and after about half an hour, when the Duke of York was already walking in the corridor to meet the King, the attendant had returned, and his sword had been wiped, The blood of the "criminal" did not leave a trace on the sharp blade of the snow.

The death of a man, even for the Duke's retinue, was a trivial matter, and the annoyance of the Duke of York came from the bad omen it brings, especially when the King summoned him, and outside the King's chamber he unexpectedly met the King's astronomer and astrologer, Mr. Franstide, who was dressed in a blue robe, and looked solemn and a little unhappy, and the Duke of York greeted him kindly, and could not help but inquire curiously: "Is there anything that bothers you?" He asked, thinking that if it was just money or official matters, he could try to give some help so that the astrologer could see for himself the future...... Will he be able to go one step further......

"The matter has been settled. The astrologer said, "You know, our observatory is on the White Tower, and for some reason, there have been a lot of crows there lately, and their droppings and feathers have been contaminating and damaging our stargazing equipment, so I have come to ask the king if I can have people drive away or kill these abominable birds, but Your Majesty is not willing." At this point, the astrologer looked puzzled, they had never encountered such a situation before: "But the king has moved us to Greenwich, maybe it will be better there." He shrugged his shoulders: "What about you, Your Highness, have you also come to meet the king?"

"Brother Wang has summoned me," said the Duke of York, "but I too would like to see my dearest brother." ”

"Then I won't bother you anymore," said the astrologer, "goodbye, Your Highness, may God bless you." ”

"May God bless us. The Duke of York said that he watched the astrologer turn the corridor before motioning for the attendant outside the door to come and report it.

When the Duke of York entered the room, Charles II was staring out the window, and the early autumn scenery cut by a small black lattice one foot square was not very pleasant, and he also saw ravens, if these ravens were ordinary birds, of course he would meet the expectations of the astrologer, but these birds are the servants and eyeliner of the wizards, and it is clear who he chooses, after all, wizards can do what astrologers can do, but astrologers can't do what wizards can.

The Duke of York was unaware of this, and although he was a member of the world that had the right to know about the existence of the world, there were some powers that were exclusive to the king, and at least until Charles II completely lost his authority, wizards did not actively favor the Duke of York, especially the English wizards, who were as rigid and strict as the ordinary Englishmen.

Charles II would not have trusted this brother as much as Louis had in Philip, and Henrietta's words had taken root in him like the seed of a poisonous weed, and the wizards of England had at first rejected the king's request (and to be honest, they were all quite surprised), but after some hesitation, they agreed, and let the king have a natural heir with the help of potions— From the bottom of my heart, if Charles II was still the Duke of Cornwall, he could not get Louis's help, then the journey of his return and the experience between him may make him choose to give up the struggle with Parliament, but it is precisely because of Louis in front, in terms of age and seniority, Charles II, who is far better than Louis, will of course be competitive, when Charles I was beheaded, he was nineteen years old, even if he ascended the throne directly, there is nothing to say, and when he accompanied his father, he was even more exposed to many political opinions and means- Unlike Louis XIV, who had little memory of Louis XIII, his teachers were all arranged by the Queen Mother and Monsieur Bishop.

Although Charles I was beheaded, Charles II was exiled, and Louis XIV fled Paris three times in disarray, so why couldn't Charles II do what Louis XIV could do?

In addition, there are some things that he only learned after he decided to take over the inner world of England - more and more people in the inner world have entered the world passively or actively, and perhaps one day, the legends and stories he has read will really, barely, appear in front of people's eyes...... His actions cannot be said to be a betrayal of the faith, on the contrary, preparing in advance is what a pious warrior should do.

Charles II finally made up his mind four months ago, with the help of the wizards, the queen is pregnant, and now it has not been officially revealed to the public, and the wizards have even replaced the work of the royal doctors, I have to say that their medicines and treatment methods are more trustworthy than Charles II's royal doctors, and the queen did not appear in the process of conception There are no devils or ominous signs, to Charles II's questions, the wizards explained that unless one of the two husband and wife loses the ability to have children, there is no need to use sacrifice, Charles II has fourteen illegitimate children, of course the problem is not with him, then it is the queen, and the queen is not infertile, she is just ...... Ran into some minor issues......

If Charles II had no illegitimate children, he might have been suspicious, but he had children, and it was only natural that he and the queen should have children as long as the queen's problem was solved—just a week ago, the sorcerer had done a divination for him, and the child was a sturdy boy, and Charles II had an heir! Charles II decided to carry forward Henrietta's plan with him, and he summoned his brother in order to drop the bait and persuade him to side in the future war with the Netherlands.

"Let's take a look at this. Charles II said kindly.

The Duke of York walked by[c1], and among the portraits placed in front of the window stood a girl of a long figure and a beautiful face, standing in front of the window, with a heavy crimson curtain behind her, which made her skin white and flawless, and her eyes bright and beautiful.

"María Beatrice Anna Margarita Isabella d'Este," Charles II said a long string of syllables, and then flicked his tongue that was almost numb: "Twelve years old, the eldest child of the Duke of Monaco, her younger brother inherited her father's title in '62, but now her mother is regent, she is her mother's most beloved child, not even one of them, and it is said that if she were a son, then Francesco II should have been her and not her brother." ”

"The eldest son was supposed to inherit everything from his father. The Duke of York said respectfully.

However, Italy does not seem to have fully followed the Sackley law (i.e., the law of primogeniture). "Her brother was born in 60 and is now only ten years old." He was less surprised to see the Duke of York's eyes brighten a little more, "and her dowry ......"

"How much dowry does she have?"

"No less than the Queen of France, Theresa of the Habsburgs. Charles II said, and then he said, half-jokingly, "Maybe I'll have to borrow from you." ”

The Duke of York did not speak, but he stepped forward and stroked the man in the portrait, and as Charles II said, the maiden was as delicate as a budding rose, and her dowry covered her with a brilliant light.

"How?" said Charles II, "the messengers of the Duke of Monaco are in the palace, and if you are willing to do my will, I will call them and sign the contract." He paused: "But maybe there's one more thing you want to know." ”

"Please, brother. The Duke of York said.

"The Duchess of Monaco has a request," said Charles II, "that she will not marry her daughter to a Calvinist," he said, "that her daughter's husband must be a Catholic." ”

"It's ridiculous!" The Duke of York almost blurted out that he knew very well that he did have many supporters in the court and army, but these supporters were Protestants, and they would never allow a Catholic to become their king, and Bloody Mary taught them a deep enough lesson (Mary I was the eldest daughter of Henry VIII, and in the process of restoring the Catholic faith, she had launched a cruel revenge on the Protestants, from which the name of Bloody Mary derived), and once he promised the king, it was probably more serious than if he was on the king's side and went to war against the Netherlands without passing the parliament。

Charles II reacted violently to him with only a smile, and he took his brother's arm intimately and led him to the window.

"See?" said Charles II, "it is the Thames." ”

"See. "The Duke of York was reluctant to see the river, for it had not long been a disgrace to the British navy, and the Dutchman's Admiral Reut had driven his ships down the Thames into London, and although their shells did not pose a mortal threat to London, the pride of the Londoners had all collapsed in the battle.

"It will bring enemies, that's right," Charles II said calmly, "but Mr. Duke, it will also bring friends." ”

“...... What kind of treaty did you make with Louis XIV?" asked the Duke of York, who was not a fool either, after a moment of silence.

"Not only Louis XIV, but also the Roman Church," said Charles II, "they helped us to regain power, we gave them a king who believed in God." ”