When the queen and her attendants, ladies and others came to this chapel, it was after the noon prayers, because the chapel had received the queen's favor, so though it was small, but there were as many flower windows and canopies as the altar, and the holy vessels of gold and silver were placed on snow-white linen, showing a beautiful luster that wandered in the brilliant and varied light, and a lady dressed in black was kneeling on a kneeling stool—but when she heard the sound of the door being opened, she stood up and curtsied to the queen calmly and gracefully.

The queen's lips immediately pursed, and though she kept telling herself, and to her children, that she was content to have the respect of the king, the wife who loved her husband would not wish to have her husband to herself, and the queen had a different meaning than other noblewomen, for each of her boys had the right to inherit, and the girls were the best candidates for marriage, so to speak, in all of France or Europa, only the queen could not cheat.

But when Teresa was a Spanish princess, she knew that she could not compare with others in terms of appearance or talent, not to mention those carefully selected royal ladies to be selected, but no matter which one it was, recommended by the Duke of Orleans, or Prince Conte, or the Queen Mother, it was not as good as the lady in front of her...... More threatening.

Louis XIV was not a womanizer, he ruled for twenty years, and there was only one public, two undisclosed royal wives, compared to the "happy king" Charles II across the sea (not all of his fourteen illegitimate children were born to a mother), this king can be called pure and has few desires- The lovers of the three kings, the queen, had seen Marie Mancini, with her round face and lovely little chin, fluffy dark curls, and rosy cheeks and lips, which made her look like an unmarried maiden even when her sons were almost adults; Madame Milady, who had no surname, had a depraving charm and wantonness, like a warbler that you can often see on a dark street corner, or a vicious she-wolf that would pounce on you at your beheavals; Madame Lavallière, whose masculine face did not conform to the French recognition of beauty, could not deny the beauty of her hair, and always with a pitiful temperament, and the king once talked to the queen about the peculiar charm of Madame de Lavallière's countenance.

And this Marquise of Montespan, her beauty ...... Filled with danger, people will not be born of pity or a desire to conquer - they will choose to retreat and flee in fear, but at the same time, they will be grabbed by the beautiful and unmistakable face, posture and voice, not only will they not be able to escape according to the cry of reason, but they will be dragged into the mire by the fiery tentacles.

Fortunately, the queen always had a priest by her side, the priest of Elelius, who had seen such a scene, and who had the ability to resist, and he stepped forward, stretched out his cross, and made a threatening gesture, and Madame de Montespan smiled slightly, and slowly got up, and took a step back, so that the strange atmosphere that had been entangled, or rather overridden, over the people was gone.

The queen touched the rosary on her wrist, the feeling just now was not pleasant, it was like walking into a glass room in the summer, the humid and sultry air was everywhere, the clothes were tightly wrapped around the arms and feet, you were like walking in the stomach pouch of a monster, although she was a gentle person, her eyes could not help but carry a reproach.

"I think I must beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty. Madame Montespan said, curtling her knees again.

"I now wonder if you really want to get the position of Lady of the Royal Family," the queen's eyes turned to scrutiny, "the Grand Lord (Duchess of Montpensier) may say that he did everything he could to think that I had recommended you, but you had acted so rashly and recklessly. ”

"What kind of behavior?" asked Madame Montespan without hesitation.

"The priest by my side should be able to answer you. The queen said that if Madame de Montespan's two fathers were not the royal physician Vesalius and the Duke of Motmar, these two ministers who were being used by the king, the queen would not have bothered her at all.

"If you mean that you have just been offended by a strange force," said Mrs. Montespan, "that is what I need you to know." ”

The queen looked at the priest beside her, he waved his hand slightly, and the queen looked at the female officials and maids, "You can stand down." "Of course she won't bring with her those noble ladies who would become royal ladies today, these are all her henchmen, and after they leave, the queen will have only two priests by her side, two witches who accompany the queen in the name of handmaidens - if there is no one else here, they can deal with one -

"Descendants of the Awakened. The maid said.

"Absolutely not. The priest said, "She must not be a royal lady, Her Majesty the Queen, and she must not be allowed to go to the king." ”

"Who, then, shall I go to?" said Madame de Montespan at once, "who could be more entitled to have me than His Majesty?"

"Your husband, perhaps?" said the other lady-in-waiting beside the queen at once, "according to the laws of the inner world......

"The Awakened should not serve the mortal," said Madame de Montespan, "but it is a pity that this precept has long since become a dead letter, for my mother is none other than the Duchess of Motmar, and how can you dare to meddle in the king's private affairs while you dare to point fingers at the king's favored courtiers?"

"The Duke of Motmar is only a courtier," said the priest, "and His Majesty is His Majesty of France." ”

"Precisely because Your Majesty is the Majesty of France, you ought to offer the best before Him," said Madame de Montespan, "and I am only a descendant of the Awakened." ”

"Then perhaps we should bring an awakened one to His Majesty. The maid said.

"Can someone tell me what the Awakened are?" the queen couldn't help but ask.

"This is to say that some madmen of the inner world," the priest said before the witch, and it was evident that there was a little contempt in his words, "whether for the sake of a long life, or to confuse the charms of others, or simply to pursue the mysteries of magic, they have become married to some magical creatures or devils, and their offspring will inherit some inhuman qualities— But then they found out that it didn't give them what they wanted, and as wizards moved into the inner world on a large scale, the relationship with magical creatures became strained, and there were fewer such **, but in their family, there were occasional atavists, and they inherited the abilities of magical creatures from generation to generation, you know, the magical creatures that can be chosen by wizards generally have strong abilities. ”

The queen looked at Madame de Montspan quickly: "Then she is ......"

"The Water Demon, or the Siren. The priest said.

"How dare you!" cried the queen angrily, for it was rude for her to speak so loudly for her present status, but even if she was not as knowledgeable as the king, she had seen paintings of the temptation of the water demon by Hüras, and of Odysseus' ships resisting the temptation of the sirens, and her eyes darkened at the thought that the Duchess of Montpensier had recommended such a man to her and present her to the king.

"Where are not sharp enough swords, where are not enough scorching flames?" replied Madame Montespan without flinching, "but in whose hands they are, do you think that a king who has been able to conquer the whole of the Low Countries in three years in a row should fear a small descendant of the Awoken?"

"There is no way I can leave such a dangerous being in the court. The queen said.

"Even if your Majesty has already done so?" asked Madame Montespan rhetorically, "but it's a pity that those two are still a couple after all, and they are simply speechless fools!"

"I beseech you to come here," continued Madame de Montespan, "not to impress you with supplications and beautiful words, but I ask you only to be a messenger to bring my gift to the king, and he will know who is the best choice." ”

"I don't think so," insisted the queen, but the fact that she was still here showed that she was already wavering: "You are so dangerous. ”

"No more dangerous than my mother, the Duke of Motmar still serves the king. Madame de Montspan said, "I have no intention of concealing my peculiarity, not to threaten you, but to let you, the king, choose me, as those noble ladies do." ”

"You confuse me by saying that. ”

"You'll soon learn that I'm not telling a lie. Madame de Montespan said, and then showed the queen three things, a brass letterhead, a vial of shiny powder, and an ivory key.

"Your Majesty, I have read the Book of Esther in the Old Testament. (note 1)

"I have read it, ma'am, that is a chaste and wise saint. ”

"Then you should know that what I like most is that she brings gifts to the king every time she meets him. ”

"There are many people who ask for gifts from the king, but few people who offer gifts to the king. ”

"Yes, so this is my gift to the king, and you may not understand it, but it is all right, please allow me to say to you the same thing, they are exactly what I have received with my own weapon. Mrs. Montespan said. "First of all, there are two letters, which you can open and see, but I can tell you first that they are all stolen letters from the great Polish nobles, and one is addressed to Leopold I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. At this, the lady paused slightly, and although the queen was surprised that a witch could be involved in the political acts of mortals, she still nodded: "They can listen." ”

"King Michal Koribut Vishniewitsky of Poland has little time to live," said Madame de Montespan, somewhat rudely, "Leopold I is preparing to join the Polish nobility in supporting the Duke of Lorraine as King of Poland, not the Duke of Lorraine, who happily moved from Lorraine to Paris, but the eldest son of the brother of the former Duke of Lorraine." ”

This sentence immediately made the queen's expression solemn, Lorraine was the first territory recovered after Louis's pro-government, the Duke of Lorraine died a few years ago, as a reward for his return of the territory, until his death, Lorraine's taxes belonged to him completely, for him to squander as he pleased, and the Richelieu mansion, which was renovated by the king, he was the first nobleman to use bathrooms and sanitary facilities after members of the royal family.

But on the contrary, he was usurped by his younger brother to take the position of heir, title and territory, and in the war to regain the territory, because of the intervention of Louis XIV and failed, and finally died with hatred, the real Duke of Lorraine will not have a good impression of His Majesty, his eldest son has never given up the idea of retaking Lorraine, he has been growing up under the protection of the Habsburgs for more than ten years, although he cannot shake Louis's rule, but this enemy is as disgusting as a poisonous snake hidden in the mire- The plague that the Duke of Orleans encountered in Lorraine may have been his hand, and he was not very old at the time.

Now he may be twenty years old, the age of physical strength, determination, and ambition, and remembering the tradition of the Polish nobility who loved to elect a foreigner as king, and with the support of Leopold I, it was not impossible to become the king of Poland, and Poland-Lithuania, although separated from France by a Holy Roman Empire, was next to Sweden, and as an ally of Sweden, Louis could not have ignored it, and this enemy, had it not been for Madame de Montespan's warning, perhaps until the dust had settled, that Louis would not have known that he had such a dangerous enemy。

"What about the second letter?" asked the Queen.

"The second letter was the proposal of several other nobles," said Madame de Montespan, "who intended to make Prince Condé king of Poland." ”

"Is the Prince of Condé you are talking about the Prince of Condé whom we think?" the priest interjected.

"Yes. ”

"How I wish I had a negative answer. The queen muttered, you know, there has always been a discussion about when the king would put Prince Condé in prison, not to mention Prince Condé's ambiguous attitude in the two slinger movements, but the second time alone, his brother Prince Conte did clearly announce that he wanted his brother to become regent - and there was only one last step left before ascending to the throne - After the Battle of Dunkirk, Louis not only spared the captured Prince Condé, but also allowed him to continue to lead the army to fight for him, and it has been said that the king is as merciful as a saint.

In fact, in the battle against Flanders and the Netherlands, there were also people who persuaded the Prince of Condé to give up his military power and return to Paris or his castle Chandíil, but the Prince of Condé did not agree, he won great merits in the two wars, no wonder people were worried that the king would feel threatened, after all, Louis XIV called himself the Sun King, how could there be two suns in the sky?

This news is simply a little worse than the previous one.

No one can deny that the Prince of Condé, as a general who can fight well, is much more terrible than the unknown Monsieur Lorraine.