What does the king want to do?

Of course it's what he's always wanted and has been doing.

Make hay.

Although it is also to soothe the little witch who always stands by his side, it can't be said that one thing can only achieve one purpose, right?

The king's royal barber can also be said to be half a royal doctor, well, after all, in this era, people are keen to use bloodletting to treat all diseases, from mental depression to hemorrhoids, from dysentery to syphilis, which is a panacea, a wonderful countermeasure, and a great comfort for the sick.

So when Louis resolutely refused—fortunately, when he began to fall ill, he was already able to speak freely and be respected, and his royal barber was very frustrated, and he did not understand why the king would reject this wonderful universal cure, for them, and for most people, bloodletting was only one of the most common treatments, not to mention the sick, even some healthy people, would often do it to ensure that their blood, black bile, yellow bile, and mucus, the four important components of bodily fluids, would not be out of balance— Like a certain lord, he would regularly have his favorite children bleed for himself, and he would release nearly one pint of blood (nearly 500 milliliters) a month.

Only the barbers on the streets, who were higher than the slaughterers, and only below the doctors, and it was the doctors' unwillingness to do such vile and dirty work that allowed them to meddle in such a noble profession, and there would not be a window in a barbershop's shop in Paris where there were no bowls of blood to attract customers— Even if the king's bidding, which was always surrounded by flies and rats, was banned, they wrapped blood-stained gauze around the doorposts to tell the guests how good their skills were, and how busy their business was.

And the customers always happily went into the shady shop, cut their hair, manicured their nails, pulled out the broken teeth (pressing fresh teeth from the mouths of the poor), and bled out. Of course, a skilled barber, in addition to bloodletting, will also be able to amputate limbs, cupping (also a way of bloodletting), grasshoppers (the same as the former), and cutting open abscesses...... Sometimes the blood, stool, and urine are tasted at the doctor's or client's request to see if the person has other medical conditions (sometimes the more responsible doctor will do this himself).

But the king did not, except for cutting his hair and manicures, he did not allow his royal barber to touch him a penny.

The royal barber has dressed himself as much as the king likes— Mostly clean, his hands were clean, and he was always smeared with almond cream and olive oil to make sure it was soft as cotton and scented, he sprayed perfume on his body (of course), and risked typhoid fever to bathe the day before the king summoned him, but the king did not seem to care how much preparation he had done, and his chamberlain and first attendant Bontang stood by his side while he was giving him a haircut, watching his every move, and secretly warning him that if the king had even a single cut of his skin, someone would come and cut off his hands。

Even he was not allowed to bring his own scissors, nail clippers, to be prepared by the king.

Barbers can be aggrieved.

But today it seemed different, the king's retinue asked him to bring all his tools, and then his apprentices, he had two sons and apprentices, and he took them with them, and they carried the boxes for their father and master, and boarded the carriage, and when they arrived at the palace, they were fresh and panicked, and the eldest one even stumbled and almost fell, and Bontang looked coldly, but the youngest was calm, and looking at those flexible eyes, he was not frightened or at a loss.

They were the first to be brought before the king, and to the barber's strange surprise, there was also a beautiful maiden with long black hair and creamy skin, which did not match the pale blonde hair and pale skin which was now in vogue at the court, and she looked a little uneasy, but the king took her hand, and the barber immediately guessed that this might be Miss Marie Mancini, who was said to be the king's favorite, and he hurriedly and respectfully saluted, and his sons did the same.

"Today I want you to come. The king said, "I want you to do something for me." ”

"My honor, my expectation, Your Majesty, I beseech your command, and I will do my best. ”

"I hope you will be able to do what I ask," Louis reached out and stroked Marley's hair, "make a delicate hairstyle for this young lady." ”

This request made the middle-aged man in his forties hesitate for a moment, as it had been said before, barbers were only for men, but he had had enough of the king's cold treatment, so he agreed without hesitation.

The first thing he did was to curl Miss Mary's black hair, which dates back to ancient Egypt, when women curled their hair on wooden sticks and coated with alkaline mud containing a lot of borax, dried it in the hot sun, knocked off the mud and washed off the attached dust, and their men used soldering irons to give their hair and beards an enviable curl, and the ancient Greeks also used strips of cloth to bend their hair, and the wealthy people of the ancient Romans curled their hair with an empty copper cylinder with a hot metal rod inserted in the middle。

Of course, the king prefers to be able to use cold perms to treat curly hair, but unfortunately the most basic chemical solution has not been invented, and the most commonly used by people at this time is a lighter, but the lighter is also very dangerous, but the way of the ancient Romans is worth applying, so the king asked his royal barber to use the method of curling the hair on a hollow letter and inserting a hot metal rod into it- It was slow but safe, and Mary sat in front of the sunny window, strands of her hair wrapped around the letterbox, unable to move, and it lasted for a long time, but Louis was beside her to read the papers, to talk to her, and to give her from time to time with honey water, preserves, or whatever snack the girl liked, so that the long "punishment" was not only not painful, but even too short because it was too happy.

When Mary's hair had turned into beautiful curls from the shoulders down, the king asked the barber to comb them, but all the curls were to be fluffy and neat, and then between the garland-like curls and the tight hair, a diamond hair needle was allowed to be inserted, and here the barber found himself clumsy as never before, for he was too afraid to touch the hair of the king's lover, and Mary was so nervous that her back was arched, her shoulders were shrugged, and her neck was unnaturally straightened, and the barber tried several times without success, and almost ruined the curls that had been so hard to make- He was sweating profusely, and he did not know where to put his hand when he saw the king frowning in displeasure, and he wanted his eldest son to take his place, but his eldest son shook his head desperately with the wooden box in his arms, and then it was his younger son who stepped forward and asked clearly, "May you let me come, father?"

The royal barber hesitated, he had no intention of letting his youngest son get started, his youngest son was only twelve years old this year, and although he had been studying with him for some time, he was a noble man! The king was by her side, and he could not afford to make mistakes.

"Come on. Louie said.

So the youngest son of the royal barber took his father's place, his hands were small and soft, and because he was only twelve years old, barely a child, Marie's body slowly relaxed.

It was just that he tried several times to fulfill the king's request, but fortunately the boy was careful and conscientious, so that only one or two of the hair curls were messed up, and a little tidying was enough, and when all the hair was tied up, the king took out a row of diamond pins— It had been put together by dismantling a few of Louis XIII's coats, and he had carefully inserted the twelve pins above the curls, and then the lace and satin flowers, and Marie now looked like a fairy coming out of the woods, with garlands on her head, and the diamonds in the garlands were glittering dew.