I Am Louis XIV

How could Queen Antonia, an Austrian princess, know of such a secret place, of Bella of the Molilo family?

Because of Carlos II, of course.

Even when she was married, after suffering like that, Antonia still had some ridiculous fantasies. She knew that she had an ugly face, and she also knew that Carlos II wanted the princess of France, the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, to be his queen. Go to Paris in person. She has also seen a small portrait of the princess, even if it is a small portrait, the beautiful face is still enough to make people yearn for, and judging from the works passed down by the poet, the princess is not just a hollow shell puppet.

Not to mention, she still has a large dowry. When she was about to get married, Leopold I was still lamenting that he didn't have a suitable marriage partner, and that he was cheap for the Prussians-Antonia also knew that the reason why her father He raised his hand to allow the marriage (and at the same time agreed to the request of the Principality of Brandenburg to be promoted to the Kingdom of Prussia) because the Grand Duke of Brandenburg promised that if the marriage was successful, he could move part of the princess's dowry for Leopold I settles war debts due to the Great War.

The dowry of a princess is enough to solve the troubles of an emperor. It is conceivable how full her dowry box is. It is impossible to say that she is not envious. As for Antonia, all her father's assets are in negative numbers, and she needs to use tax rights and domestic iron mines to repay the debts. Naturally, her dowry is very...not impressive, and it is human nature for Carlos II to hate her. Common sense—she thought so at the time.

But she soon learned that a normal person, yes, didn't even need to be a good person, he wouldn't treat an innocent person like this.

Carlos II is an intelligent beast.

The scariest thing is this. When a person is wise, God will definitely want him to use his wisdom to create beauty and goodness. What God doesn’t know is that there are some people whose wisdom is also related to beauty and goodness. , but not to create, but to destroy.

Along the way, from the dormitory to the corridor, from the square to the alley, and down the steps from the open iron gate, Carlos II has been holding the queen's hand tightly, and when she entered the dark tomb, she was simply trapped Dragging away.

The servants and maids of Carlos II and the queen were left outside. There are only two kinds of villains who help the evil, one is the priest of the Spanish Inquisition, and the other is the black man from Flanders or other places. Wizards, the ridiculous thing is that the original intention of the Inquisition was to arrest wizards. Unexpectedly, they began to serve a king hundreds of years later, although they still centered on the king as much as possible, sitting or standing opposite each other.

It would be best to turn this ancient underground mausoleum into a prison and interrogation room. This kind of mausoleum was originally ventilated—after all, although this place is for the dead to rest, there are always people entering to see off or mourn, but the wind passing through the soil and rocks is always a bit colder, but it doesn’t matter, torches are used for lighting and heating here , There is also a charcoal fire plate that is not resting day and night, so that the executioner can roast the red iron and other instruments of torture at any time.

When Carlos II brought the queen for the first time, he also said that he would watch a show with her. Antonia was looking forward to it——Louis XIV often took the queen to appear in public. She was ashamed and dared not ask for it. If you want the love of Carlos II, then at least you can ask for a little respect, even if it is only outside the dormitory.

And then she saw Bella, Bella of Moliro.

The girl in only a linen robe shivered, completely unaware of what she was about to face. Carlos II was the plaintiff, the judge, and the executioner - he accused the shameless witch of biting his hand and kicking him between his legs while sharing his bed ——The important thing is the latter, Carlos II was naturally furious, and the priests who were helping the tiger began to question Bella if this was the case.

In retrospect Antonia thought it was nothing more than a disgusting plot. The naive Bella is still rebutting that the king forced her. She has a lover outside the palace and has agreed to get married next year or the year after. She is sorry for hurting the king, but if she can, she Hope to get the king's forgiveness.

Little did they know that the priests were waiting for this sentence.

Perhaps her silence was of little use, but with it they could do to her what they had to do to witches and sinners.

They first tore off the linen robe on Bella's body. The poor girl's skin still had contrasting bruises and scars. When the priests saw it, they said that it was the marks left by the devil, and she must be a witch. Then, they had to use pure water to verify again whether she had made a deal with the devil - there can be no river in the execution chamber, so they brought full buckets.

The shame and pain made Bella yell out loud - some time later, when Antonia pretended to be pregnant and gave birth, she was thinking, maybe this is the punishment God gave herself, punishing herself for being so scared that she couldn't even say a word come out.

When Bella spat water from her mouth, the teachers claimed that she was the wife of the devil and could not accept pure water, so she discharged every drop.

As Antonia said, if Carlos II caught that brave lady, what she would have to face would be far more terrifying than burning her hands or pulling out her internal organs.

They tied the poor girl to a large cross fixed to the ground, and Carlos II himself acted as the executioner. He burned the girl's body with a red-hot iron.

Antonia and Bella screamed together.

The queen clearly remembered that the priest behind her held her shoulder firmly, and she wanted to close her eyes but couldn't.

There was only a small amount of blood, and it was unknown if she had been drugged, but Bella was still conscious. Antonia passed out and was woken again, crying like Bella.

Carlos II was very happy. He watched the priests finish their work, maybe he felt that it was not enough, or Antonia's fierce emotion caused his dissatisfaction, and he asked the queen to judge the sinners in person, just like him.

He gave Bella the hanging.

How kind that sounds! But the hanging in Spain is not like France or other countries, where a rope is set at a high place, put around the neck of the criminal, and then the step is removed or he jumps off by himself. The hanging in Spain is to let the sinner sit on a chair, The rope loop is put on the neck and the special chair back, and the executioner puts an iron rod through the rope loop, turns the iron rod, tightens the rope loop, and finally hangs the person to death.

This kind of hanging has nothing to praise except that it makes the executioner more strenuous and the victim more painful (because the force is distributed on the whole rope, so it takes a long time to hang the sinner), so when the rope is caught On Bella's neck, Antonia held an iron rod—she was just a child anyway, how could she have the strength to hang Bella at once?

The rope loosened and tightened, Bella groaned in pain, and Antonia was about to collapse: "Please, God," she prayed: "Holy Mother, please, let her die quickly." , let her die..." At this time, something unbearable finally happened - Bella prayed with her, my God, if there is someone here, even if he or she dies, it will not Allow this to happen.

It's a pity that there are only a group of real devils here. They climbed out of purgatory and hated this beautiful world deeply. When they saw this scene, they laughed out loud. Carlos II even asked for wine and drank heavily.

Antonia thought she must have gone crazy at that time, she threw the iron rod at Carlos II, but she had no strength, so it seemed that the iron rod just fell from her hand.

"You are such a disappointment." Carlos II said contemptuously.

Antonia thought he would continue, or let someone else hang Bella, but Carlos II had a new idea, and Bella and Antonia were taken to another interrogation room, where only an iron statue stood—— The Iron Maiden, another terrifying instrument of torture that can tear the sinners' hearts apart. When Bella was put in, she immediately cried out in pain. Blood flowed down her back, legs and toes. Unlike people imagined, the sinner was standing among the iron maidens. At the beginning, The Iron Maiden was tilted or laid flat, and long iron nails pierced the sinner's body from the outside of the statue. When the Iron Maiden was erected, the prisoner inside was "hanged".

The "door" was not closed immediately, and the priest was still adjusting the eyes, the iron nails on the heart and the liver, so as not to execute the sinner inside at once, which would displease the king.

Antonia is still hard to believe until now—she rushed over without thinking, exhausted all her strength, and slammed into the "door".

After a suppressed scream, she was immediately pulled away, and the door opened, but it was too late, and three fatal nails pierced Bella's eyes, heart and abdomen deeply.

She actually smiled slightly.

Antonia was whipped more than a dozen times because of this. Of course, the explanation to the queen mother was that the queen went to the monastery, and after being inspired by the saint, she voluntarily received the "bitter whip"-Carlos II seemed to be sane at that time, Did not kill her. She fell asleep in a high fever for a long time, and there was always a pale and smiling face floating in the darkness.

Perhaps at that time, she decided to watch Carlos II die.

She admitted that she was a selfish coward, but she also thought that if, at the end of the day, the Spaniards didn't want their king to go to God or go to hell, then let her.

———————————

Now that Mrs. Milady has got the key word of Santo Domingo, the next thing to do is much simpler. The only trouble is that this monastery now belongs to the Toledo Inquisition, and those who are in cahoots with Carlos II The clergy were extremely vigilant, aroused suspicion at any approach, and it was well known that the Spanish Inquisition did not require evidence to arrest criminals.

"But they must be nostalgic for the days of the Two Kings," said Lady Milady.

Everyone present knew what he meant. In the era of two kings, the king and queen, as well as the Inquisition, were of the same species. They sheltered and supported each other, and gained a lot of wealth from persecution and extortion. It is said that the foundation of Spain was laid by this. It's not an exaggeration, but since the two kings passed away one after another, the subsequent kings and queens have to be much more careful. Maybe they also found that the knife of the Inquisition is too sharp.

The priests of the tribunal probably had the idea of ​​seeking political rights a long time ago. They catered to Carlos II infinitely and indulged his madness. Perhaps they planned to take this time to turn from religion to the court, and from behind the scenes to the front.

There is a reason for them to be extra vigilant, after all, there is an entire Spanish court they have to fight against.

It might be embarrassing for other people, but Mrs. Milady quickly invited two helpers. Yes, the priests in the Inquisition were once wizards, so that neither mortals nor ordinary priests could pretend to be them, but There are also real court priests under Louis XIV.

Lady Milady didn't need them to do anything, just go and see.

They went, and when they came back they were pale, and when they described the situation, almost all of them except Mrs. Milady ran out and vomited.

Milady was calm. Fortunately, this group of young people did not go through the period when the Medici Queen Mother was in power. Although her three sons were the king in name at that time, it was either the Italian Queen Mother or Lebanon who presided over the government affairs. Bishop Seleu.

These two were out-and-out political enemies, but they had one thing in common, and that was their hatred of the Huguenots.

What people know best is the massacre. What they don't know is that in the prisons of the Inquisition, there are many Protestants who can't live but can't die.

The wisdom and patience of human beings in how to torture the same kind is far greater than how to cook food. The instruments of torture that were placed in front of Mrs. Milady were more abundant than the king's banquet dishes. She has learned some of them and used more of them.

After Louis XIV came to power, he gradually banned some cruel punishments. These young people may have heard of them, but what they have seen with their own eyes may only be empty cages.

Mrs. Milady considered whether this was her own negligence, while looking around at the crowd to see if there were any people who felt intimidated and made mistakes. Fortunately, these young people did not need to hide in Toledo for a long time.

When this matter is over, Toledo will only leave behind a few of the most reliable people.

After all...

Toledo would be in a mess like no other.