The King's intentions were so clear that Monsieur Cole would not have been foolish enough to speak of Louis XIV's actions, and he sat upright in his seat, as if he had not thought of it, but turned his head and continued to listen to the Duke of Luxembourg's description.

The Duke of Luxembourg not only met the Duke of Don Juan in Toledo, but was also received by King Carlos II of Spain in the following days, and in fact the person who wanted to see the Duke of Luxembourg was the Queen Mother of Spain, the princess of Austria, who was only twenty-nine years old, but who looked older than a woman of forty, and who had suffered in addition to the torture she had endured in the short months since her husband's death, and whose ill-fated fate had been her in addition to the torture she had suffered in the short months following her husband's death.

If anyone is willing to look through the history books, he will see in the history of Europa countless unfortunate women, who are destined to become a property, a certificate or a collateral almost from birth, their personal preferences, ideas and beliefs are involuntary, it is entirely up to her father and husband to arrange, although the Church has always been very strict about marriage, but in fact, in order to achieve an alliance between nations, princesses do not talk about love, even their marriage, often becomes a disgusting joke.

For example, Henry VIII, who was less than a hundred years away from the people, is often talked about that he married six queens, one was imprisoned to death, two were beheaded, two had puerperal fever, and only the last one died well, and the person who was imprisoned until death was Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, the Spanish princess was once the wife of Henry's brother Arthur, and they were both infected with cold when they were less than a month old, Arthur died, and Catherine survived, but if she knew what was going on, she must have hoped that she would not come back to life- King Henry VII's eldest son and heir died, but he still wanted to maintain an alliance with Spain, so he even wanted to marry his own daughter-in-law, but the Spaniards refused, and then Henry married his brother's wife - but after marriage, Catherine gave birth to five children, four of whom died young, and only one daughter survived, the better known as Bloody Mary, which made Henry VIII furious, especially as he watched himself get older, but still did not have a son. In England, where Salik's law was enforced, this meant that the Tudor dynasty was about to die after just two kings.

When he shouted at Catherine, "A brother who marries a brother and sister-in-law will have no offspring!" (the Bible says)", Catherine must have been heartbroken, and this marriage contract may not be her willing, but what say can she have in her own fate? This was true when she was married to Arthur, and so she was when she almost became Henry VII's wife, and it is the same now, even though the Pope did not approve of Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine, she was expelled from the court and died in obscurity in a monastery, and her only daughter, because Henry VIII denied the marriage, became an illegitimate daughter, even to serve her half-sister.

And a hundred years later, Maria of Habsburg also encountered this problem, yes, her original husband was Philip IV's crown prince Balthasar, that is, the eldest son of Philip IV and Princess Elizabeth of Bourbon, unfortunately, the marriage was decided, the crown prince contracted smallpox, followed in the footsteps of his deceased mother, after three years of hesitation and consultation, Philip IV, who had no heir, became Maria's new husband, when they got married, Mary was fourteen years old, Philip IV was forty-four years old, and the huge age difference of thirty years made this young girl who was still in the age of cardamom go directly to hell or the grave。

The Queen Mother whom the Duke of Luxembourg saw was like this, and she was even more gloomy and thin than the other Habsburg princess, that is, the Queen Mother Anne of France, and she was not even as transparent as Queen Teresa in the court. The queen can still get the love of her husband, Philip IV to this little wife, in addition to maintaining an alliance with Spain for him, is to hope that she can give birth to children as soon as possible, they married in 49, Philip IV died in 65, the last child is Carlos I was born in 61, in this short decade, Maria gave birth to a total of five children, almost no respite, frequent childbirth destroyed her health, but also robbed the maiden of the last trace of fantasy.

Sitting beside Carlos, holding his hand tightly, as if holding the power of Spain, Maria, dressed in a black mourning dress, with a pendant of portrait of Philip IV hanging from her chest, and a snow-white veil draped in dark velvet on the neckline and cuffs, was in the same mind as the Duke of Don Juan, and had come to seek the support and help of France...... She showed much more sincerity than Duke Don Juan, and to put it simply, she gave Carlos II a marriage contract.

"But I don't have a daughter yet. Louis said that Queen Theresa had not been pregnant again in those three years, nor had Madame Lavallière, and that illegitimate daughters could not be made public.

"The Duke of Orleans has, Your Highness. Said the Duke of Luxembourg.

The Duke of Orleans and Princess Henrietta did not long after marrying the king and went to Lorraine, but before that, Princess Henrietta was pregnant, and in 62, she added a little princess to the French royal family, because the Duke of Orleans went to Lorraine, and Queen Mother Anne was not worried that Princess Henrietta lived alone in Orleans, or the Château de Saint-Cloud, which was bought by Philippe in 58 as his new residence with Princess Henrietta.

The Château de Saint-Cloud is located in the upper reaches of the Seine, only a centimeter or two from the Louvre, even so, the Queen Mother and the King still insisted that Princess Henrietta and her daughter live in the Louvre, everyone knows that the King and the Queen Mother love the house and Wu, and extend their love for the royal brother Philippe to his daughter, Louis bowed his head and was silent, and the room suddenly fell silent, of course, the Europa, who are still ignorant of the dangers of consanguineous marriage, will not understand the King's concerns, and for them, this is indeed a good thing- Spain used to be an incomparably powerful empire, and before, the two successive queens of France were still from Spain, and now, the king of Spain must even bow to the daughter of a duke, just like the king of England must also salute the king of France, and the ambassador of France has the right to walk in front of the ambassadors of other countries, and many other vain names, which can not help but make them secretly rejoice.

Louis was thinking about something else entirely, for France, whether it was Spain, or England, or the Holy Roman Empire...... Or the Netherlands, as it is said, the best enemy is the dead enemy, and he has to say that the best enemy country is the chaotic and weak enemy country, but on the part of Spain, he has more things to consider, after all, Spain is closely connected to the Holy Roman Empire, and Cole guessed correctly, the reason why the king did not pursue the dowry that disappeared inexplicably in the most embarrassing situation was still out of consideration for inheritance- Even if the marriage of a king is like a bargain at this time, one party can break the contract, and the other party can justifiably claim his power.

It now appears that Maria of Austria, though she had a painful married life, was clearly more politically sensitive than the Queen Mother of France, and she offered conditions that the French could not refuse, more credible and more attractive than the verbal cheques of Don Juan.

The only thing to worry about was the health of Carlos II, the French would certainly like to see a stupid waste sitting on the throne of Spain, but once he married the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, then he would naturally become a witness to the Franco-Spanish Covenant, and once he died, the tug-of-war between the two countries would not only have to start again, but the Duke of Orleans's petty lord would become a hostage, and if the king or his ministers were not willing to pay a sufficient price, the only thing that awaited the petty lord was a desolate abbey.

"Even if you talk about marriage, you won't have to wait until five or six years later. Louis concluded: "Tell Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Spain that I would like to make this marriage, but not now, even if it is only an engagement – I think she will." ”

The ministers looked at each other clearly, yes, don't think that only the French want to delay, the situation between countries is always changing rapidly, no one knows what France or Spain will be like in a year, now the Queen Mother of Spain is just upset because of Duke Don Juan's aggressiveness, and has to make concessions, whether this marriage contract will be re-mentioned in two or three years, it still depends on the situation of the two countries, and ...... His Majesty Carlos II's physical condition - although Louis could sacrifice for his country, as did his royal brother Philip, Louis felt that he probably could not do anything to marry his niece who had grown up to a dying man.

After this discussion, the king's afternoon work came to an end, and the king got up first and walked to the gate, followed by the ministers, and sometimes the king would appoint one or two lucky ones to stay, most of them in connection with the important business of the afternoon or the day before, and they would talk a little more about the work of tomorrow, and then, depending on the situation of the day, the king would invite them to dinner, which was an encouragement and a compliment, but such opportunities were rare, and when the Duke of Orleans returned from Lorraine to Paris, the honor must have belonged to him。

Today the king left no one behind, he went straight to the west wing where the Queen Mother lived, and Princess Henrietta and her daughter were also there, and in order to avoid some unbearable rumors, the king seldom went to see Princess Henrietta in person, who had been interested in himself, or the King of France, but today since they had discussed the matter of the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, the King had to go and talk to the Duchess himself— Every wall in the court has ears, every sculpture speaks, and if he doesn't, then the gossip of the next day will surely drive the mother crazy.

Louis, the crown prince, was the first to run out to meet the king, as Miledi said, Louis Jr. inherited the black hair of the Habsburgs, but judging from the facial contours and eyebrows, he had a great resemblance to Louis, what once worried Louis, the Habsburg big chin did not show signs in this child, his chin was round and small, very cute - until the age of three, he always wore a similar little dress, but from the time he began to be gender-conscious, Louis held a "hanging pants ceremony" for him , so now he's dressed like a little knight.

On the kneeling stool at the feet of the Queen Mother sat obediently from the Dauphin Louis to the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, and their little lords, all the nobles gathered around her, and as soon as they saw the king enter, they immediately bowed their heads and curtsied, and the room was suddenly covered with a wave of silk and velvet, and the colors that the king could see were more bright and varied than those of a few years ago— Now almost all the wizards provided by the Mancini family are working for the king, and a large part of them are refining and configuring the dyes that the king needs, before they can be produced on a large scale, the price of dyes is still quite expensive compared to later generations, some colors such as royal blue or snail purple still need to be priced in gold, but those who can gather around the queen mother will not be shy.

The king even saw pink velvet, which was bright and delicate, and it depended on the luck of the wizard - some wizards who were too black were very difficult to call up once in a hundred times, even if they had a deep study of potions and were skillful in their techniques, and even if they succeeded this time, it would be difficult to say the next time— He found out that it was the princess Henrietta, because the Duke of Orleans was in Lorraine, and in order to ensure that the secret of the dye did not go wrong, the king entrusted the matter to his brother, and one might ask, Lorraine and Arthas were not quiet, and what if anyone was bent on destroying or exposing it...... But this is why the king put them in Lorraine, and apart from the mountains and forests of Lorraine, the people of Lorraine and Alsace knew very well that they were different to the king of France from the people of Paris or Orleans or Lyon, and they were probably similar to the Brittany or Provençals, if I must say, so that the semi-military administration of Lorraine and Alsace was more acceptable to the local population than elsewhere.

Not only were they Spaniards before, but since the French have been rioting and fleeing, it is understandable that they have been treated more harshly.

At the signal of the Queen Mother, the nobles retreated one after another, and when the Duchess of Orleans was about to take her daughter away, she was stopped by the king's sight, "Take your little sister to play." Louis said to the Dauphin.

After the two children went out, Louis told the Duchess of Orleans about the news brought by the Duke of Luxembourg, and the Duchess looked very unsightly, and she held the arm of the chair as if to draw courage from it—there would be many people looking forward to this marriage, but she also knew very well that Carlos II was either Don Juan of Spain or Maria Anna of Austria, and both countries were enemies of France, and the little princess would have to face more complicated and worse in the future than the situation that happened to Queen Mother Anne and Queen Theresa.

"Don't worry too much," said the king gently, "I assure you, dear brother and sister, that I will not nod my head in this marriage if you do not want to." ”

The Duchess of Orleans only smiled with difficulty, not that she did not believe Louis, but she was afraid that she would not be able to say what she did not want to say when the time came.