Philip, Duke of Orleans, the king's most trusted and dear brother, stood in front of the castle window and sighed deeply.

The castle of Forlerville, which was rebuilt to keep him and his soldiers safe, to defend against the guns and arrows of traitors and thugs, who knows, the first thing it resisted was the plague.

The first people who cried out found that it was not the plague, but the witch, because a child died, and his grief-stricken mother insisted that an old witch had killed him and consecrated him to the devil, and this so-called witch was just a lonely old woman, as later generations imagined, the burning of witches was more frequent in the countryside than in the cities, perhaps because the peasants and serfs could hardly think for themselves, and in the midst of a life of poverty and hardship, they needed entertainment and anger, and in order to appease a mad and irascible mother, a lonely old woman who no one would even say a word for her, of course, became the culprit as a matter of course.

The Duke of Orleans was completely sympathetic, and most of the witch trials at this time were in fact tried by secular courts in many cases, and only those real dangers would lead to the Inquisition, so the Duke asked the men to carry the child's body to him, and his brother once recommended him a book, a so-called forbidden book, written by André Vesalius, and Philip knew that the king's original decision to keep Varro Vesalius was because he had such an ancestor, so with curiosity and horror, he read the whole book- After reading this, the Duke of Orleans must say that it was not out of nothing that this Mr. Vesalian had been condemned by the Church, and that in fact, if he had been born fifty years later, Philip would have advised the king to hang him.

But there was much more to be learned from this book than from books in the church or the royal palace, and the Duke of Orleans felt that if it could be determined that the child had died of an accident or disease, in addition to avoiding the execution of an innocent person, the unease would be calmed. But what he didn't expect was that when the little boy was carried before the crowd and undressed for wounds, they saw large and small, bulging lumps, some of which were festering, especially in the groin.

The last time the Black Death broke out, Lorraine's casualties were not serious, perhaps because of the mountainous terrain and sparse population, but anyone who has read "Seven Days" knows what the Black Death was like, they screamed and retreated frantically, the mother seemed to say something, but as soon as she stood up, she suddenly fell, she fell on her stomach and began to vomit, and the noise of the people became louder - the Duke of Orleans immediately pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it on his face, "Cover your mouth and nose, let's go at once!"

Fortunately, the Duke's soldiers and retinue did not bother to do those inferior things— Whether it was blackmailing or beating the inferior people present, and not touching the corpse, so no one approached the woman and her children, they were all people who had fought with the Duke of Orleans in several battles, and did not hesitate to take the duke's orders, immediately tore off the silk shirt in his coat and covered his face, turned on his horse, and left the dangerous place with his master before the people could react, and ordered the village to be sealed off by the Duke of Le Ma at the junction, and if necessary, everything here could be burned.

But it was too late, and even before the Duke left, the epidemic sealed off the whole of Nancy before the Duke ordered it - the child was only discovered by the Duke, and the real source of the disaster had long since left the village and gone somewhere else.

In a place that people did not know, there lay a merchant from England, he did not expect that he would be infected with the plague at first, he got off the ship in Calais, and began to have a little headache and fever, but he was not the kind of big businessman, he could lie down and rest just because he was not feeling well, he persisted for two or three days, and finally died not far from a village because he could not resist the pain caused by the high heat, and the rats in the field ate his corpses, and died one after another, but before they died, they had brought the plague to the people of that village, and unfortunately, the messenger of that village was preparing to go to Lorraine, and he took the letters, day and night, died abruptly in an inn in Lorraine, and the innkeeper secretly buried the guest he thought was just a cold death, for fear of causing trouble.

So, before the child died, the tentacles of the plague had reached directly from Calais to France, and when the bad news continued to come from Artois, Verdun, Tours, etc., the people and ministers of Paris were only glad that His Majesty, who often met with the Duke of Cologna in Calais, was not in Calais this time, but in Paris—but judging from the clear traces on the map, the Duke of Orleans' way had been blocked.

"Your Highness," said the Duke's personal attendant softly, "Monsieur Pierre is back. ”

Pierre, cousin of the Count of d'Artagnan, was an honest and reliable man, so the king sent him when he needed someone to assist the fragile Monsieur Varro Vesalius in the exploration of the mineral deposits, and of course he was more than willing to accept the commission, and in any case, although he had a good relationship with d'Artagnan, D'Artagnan rose to prominence, and when he was only a musketeer, Monsieur Pierre could not help but feel a little melancholy—when Lorraine became the king's domain and the Duke of Orleans was transferred here. He also stayed with Monsieur Vesalius, whom Philip also trusted Montesquieu - he had sent him out to negotiate with the border lords of the Holy Roman Empire to see if he could take refuge with him for a while.

But as soon as he saw the faces of his attendants, the Duke of Orleans knew that no, the plague had spread, and even he could not blame the prince who had rejected them - not to mention that France and the Holy Roman Empire were obviously vaguely enemies, even if they were friends, if they switched sides, the Duke of Orleans would not hesitate to refuse each other - this was the Black Death, and it was no wonder that everyone was perverted.

According to Mr. Pierre, the period from his departure to his return. The plague of Nancy had begun to spread to the east and north, and on the west and south sides, he did not dare to say that he seemed to see the rising smoke and fire from a long distance, that perhaps the people were burning the villages and towns where the plague had appeared, and he did not know, nor did he dare to go anywhere, for he did not know that he was still not healthy.

There were already fallen people on the side of the road, some dead, some dying, and before Pierre returned to the castle, he had washed the moat, and he and his horses, their clothes had been thrown directly into the fire and burned, and he had been in the hut outside the city gate for three days before he was allowed to appear before the duke, who did not blame him, but only said a few words, and let him go—the castle was still lush and luxuriant, and people came and went, and although their faces were gloomy, there was no confusion or noise.

This is thanks to this castle, because he lived with his royal brother since he was a child, and his royal brother Philip did not suffer when the royal family was at its most embarrassed, and the good income he enjoyed ensured that he could set up a comfortable nest for himself wherever he went, of course, Fowlerville was a big nest, because at the same time it was also a military fortress, so the food reserves in it were enough for the people here to enjoy the first half of the year, cloth and fur were also available, especially the water supply, the castle originally had an underground well, just below the main building, which was dedicated to ensuring the castle's water, and not far from it was the Meerte RiverThe Duke of Orleans brought water from the river to ensure cleanliness and hygiene in the castle.

Now that the Duke no longer allows people to draw water from the canals, the groundwater has to be treated and boiled, and the castle has a lot of coal stored for the geothermal heat – and because the Duke of Orleans used to clean Paris for the King – the baths are still jokingly called the Orleans Room, and given that he may pass through some filthy and messy places, the King has reminded his brother to keep away from rats, wild cats, dogs, and commoners...... This is also a helpless thing, and it is precisely because of this that in this newly built castle, not only are there almost no rats, but even the bedbugs and fleas that people are used to are very few-as the so-called upper and lower effect, the king and the royal brother like to be clean, and there will be no such lazy people around them to clean up themselves.

This kept not a single person in the castle who might have contracted the plague, and before the people around them could find out, the drawbridge of the castle was pulled up and the gates were closed, but since a few days ago, people have been crossing the moat, trying to climb the walls, or knocking on the gates to pray for containment— But no one dared to let them in, even if these people looked healthy, and there were many nobles and nobles among them, but who knew if there was a man among them who carried the seeds of the plague, and if there was a slight negligence, this still vibrant castle could be transformed into a dead tomb in ten days.

"Your Majesty......" the duke's attendant said subconsciously, but then he suddenly shut his mouth, because he also realized that the king would not come here, and so would his army and ministers, they could only wait here in silence, until the plague took the lives of everyone around them, and until the rain and the scorching sun withered the seeds of the plague, they could come out of the castle and return to Paris, and before that, even if they could, the king's army would not allow it...... All roads to Paris should have been blocked by now.

They knew that no one was more important than the king, but they still had a little hope...... After all, Brother Wang is still here.

The people in the castle thought so, and so did the people outside the castle, and the people of Lorraine and Alsace were not so reluctant to be ruled by the French—the Duke of Lorraine had come a little incorrectly, his dukedom had been usurped from his brother, and in Lorraine, his brother's supporters were still quite numerous, and now, in addition to the careerists who had been on the move, there were also some people who had no way out of the plague, and their vicious nature had erupted, "Brother Philippe is in Nancy!" they cried. Go to Fowlerville!"

They said so, and they did, and they knew that the Duke of Orleans, the royal brother Philippe, was to the King of France not only his dearest brother, but also his most trusted courtier, but also the descendant of the French royal family, and that there were only two men from the throne, such a man, if they had taken him and hung him in front of the ranks, they would not have feared that the king's army would not get out of the way—they would leave Lorraine, and escape from the plague! Even if they can't get rid of the scythe of death in the end, then at least one noble person will fall into the abyss of death like them!

Ironically, the order issued by the soldiers sent out by the Duke of Orleans— There were no books on how to fight the plague, no one wanted to listen to them, and the foolish people were convinced, and at first they were just the lord's army, the merchants' guards, the mercenaries, and then the countless peasants and slaves wielding flails (really used to threh wheat) and pitchforks, or sticks, followed them, forming a mighty army, and although this army was mixed and chaotic, the leader did not expect them to do anything— When they reached the castle, some of the people who had begun to heat up rushed to the moat, and the soldiers threw arrows or stones, and their corpses fell into the moat - it was when Lorraine gradually became damp and muggy, and the corpses soon began to decompose, although the people in the castle did not have to rely on the moat for water, but when the strong stench spread from outside the walls, it still made people feel that death was imminent.

The people outside the castle were indeed very vicious, while inciting the civilians to attack the castle, while constantly spreading the news that there was still a pure land in Nancy, and people who could not go to the Holy Roman Empire, and could not enter the heart of France, of course, would only flee here, and the arrows of the castle were quickly consumed, and the houses that could be demolished were also demolished, and even the sculptures that the Duke of Orleans liked were moved to the walls and smashed into pieces, and were thrown as stones at the enemies outside— These fellows, who were not soldiers at all, seemed to have lost their minds, and desperately tried to enter the castle - they saw it all! The people in the castle were indeed alive and well, and they still had the strength to carry stones and swing their weapons! There was no Black Death in it!

They don't think at all, they're already feverish, Muscle pain, weakness and black spots and pustules, once they enter the castle, they will not be cured, they will only infect more people, and then they will die together in pain, or they think, but some priests and bishops say that in this castle, in the hands of the Duke of Orleans, there is a holy relic from the Virgin Mary, which blesses the people in the castle, protects them from the plague, and as long as they enter the castle, they can also enjoy this great blessing.

Think about it, every day, no, every moment, there are people around you who fall and die, and you have heard the death knell ringing - do you still fear pain, fear death? Or, if you stay here, you will die, but if you can enter the castle, you may live?

Such thoughts made people rush to the city gates like a tidal wave, they were bare-handed, they had no training, they were killed and wounded, but these could not neutralize their desire for life, and the soldiers on the walls would have been terrified if they had not been through several battles, and even so, it was still difficult for them to continue to strengthen their will—people kept pouring in, and they had only themselves, no reinforcements, and no hope.