I Am Louis XIV

Father Clarice sighed.

"And one more thing," said the priest: "My lord, we should have prepared a valet for you, but in Roussillon a young and strong Catalonian may be drafted into the army at any moment, Such a person will not only be unable to serve you to the fullest, but will attract unnecessary attention—so we can only arrange a maid for you."

The Duke of Orléans has always been pampered except for the time when the Fronde rioted. However, a man who has been on the battlefield will not be picky when necessary. He even came to Roussillon alone and incognito. Would he still care about serving? Is the person male or female?

But the priest still had to apologize, after all, for the nobles, maids should stay in the kitchen and laundry room where no one could see, and only male servants were allowed to enter and leave the hall.

The maid entered the room after the priest left. She was a young girl in her twenties. After the Duke glanced at her, he looked sideways for a while—because the other's attitude was a bit unexpected. We all know that King Louis XIV of France is as dazzling as his title, the Sun King. And his younger brother, the Duke of Orleans, was called Bright Moon by people, and he was more beautiful than his elder brother. People were more afraid of his elder brother, but they all admired this younger brother.

If it was an ordinary person, being able to serve the duke up close would be considered a great fortune. If the duke wanted to get close, no one would be able to resist.

But this girl named Gemma looked at him like she was looking at a piece of furniture or a utensil, without admiration, fear, or even curiosity.

"Gemma," said the Duke.

She came over, bowed her knees and saluted without speaking.

"Why don't you speak? Do you speak French?" Near the Pyrenees, there are not many Catalans who can speak French. After all, their businessmen have long been doing business with the French in Provence: "Or should I speak Spanish?"

Gemma smiled, but this smile did not come from the heart, it was just a kind of polite or mechanical feedback. She raised her hand, lifted the scarf, and showed the Duke a knife scar on her neck. It was crawling on the girl's delicate skin like an ugly bug. As soon as the Duke saw it, he knew that the wound under the scar might have hurt the other party's throat. He had seen such a lucky guy on the battlefield——he was injured to the vitals but Not dead, but there are not a few people who lose their voice due to broken vocal cords.

"What can you do for me?" asked the duke, also testing the sincerity of those Catalans towards France.

Gemma pointed to her lips, pulled up her clothes again, looked at the bed, and took out an embroidered money bag.

"I see." The Duke gave her a silver peso. The silver peso is the currency of the Spanish, and it is not impossible for a young girl like Gemma to appear.

She took the duke's reward, and went on to her own business—boiling water, cheese in a wooden box, a crude cloak, some linen, a felt rug, all of which would not cause There are too many daily necessities, but everything is extremely clean and fresh-it seems that the Catalans have also carefully understood the Duke's preferences.

When the Duke went to the copper basin, soaked a linen cloth in warm water and began to wipe his face and neck, Gemma stepped back quietly, clutching the silver peso tightly in her hand.

———————

In an underground wine cellar not far from the chapel, the leaders of the rebel army in Roussillon gathered together.

Apart from Tamalite, the most powerful speaker here is Father Clarice. When Gemma came to the door, he was arguing with everyone about two issues: whether to let the Duke of Orleans intervene in the subsequent riots; and whether they should Continue with their original plan.

The subsequent plan can be shelved for the time being. After all, Roussillon is still in the hands of the Spaniards. They have to take the first step before they can take the second step. However, some people say that at least they should have more respect for the Duke.

The priest was silent for a while: "That gentleman is not a person who cares about such trivial matters."

"There are many good girls in Roussillon," said a dark-skinned middle-aged man. "Why should a devil accompany a nobleman? If he knows... those things, he might think it's a shame."

"You mean the guilt of Gemma," said the priest, "but it is for this reason that Gemma is the most suitable."

He stared at each other: "There are indeed many good girls in Roussillon, but the problem is, you have also seen the Duke of Orleans, tell me, gentlemen, if such a beautiful nobleman from Paris and Versailles is willing to condescend to show affection , and even made a promise—a promise that is very likely to be fulfilled. After all, we all know that the Duke’s assets even exceed the treasury of France, can your good girl restrain herself from defecting?" He gave a strange laugh: "Maybe that's what you want?"

Several people avoided the priest's gaze, and the people here are all nobles in Catalonia, but how do the nobles in Catalonia compare with the nobles in Madrid, Toledo, and the nobles in Versailles? Thoughts did come to mind... especially considering what happened after the expulsion of the Castilians from Catalonia...

"Get rid of those redundant thoughts," the priest said, "if you want, we can think about it after we succeed." He had to come to appease these restless colleagues first: "Isn't a legitimate marriage better than a sneaky marriage?" A good relationship?" He said patiently: "If you have such an idea, Gemma is also the most suitable person, not to mention the duke, would she have such unrealistic expectations?"

"How can we know what a devil thinks," someone murmured, "She is under your protection. Some people say that you treat her like a daughter, so it is hard to guarantee that she will not have any weird thoughts."

"I promise not." The priest said calmly, "She had Gaul's disease before. In order to avoid festering and infection, we had to use a soldering iron. She is no longer qualified to be a woman."

Everyone in the room couldn't help but let out a soft groan.

So when Gemma came in, most of the people uncharacteristically did not show disgust or hatred in their eyes, just as if she didn't exist-some people looked at the priest, they thought that the priest took Gemma in because he was too merciful, But now it seems...

Gemma gestured to tell the priest that the Duke of Orleans had been settled. The priest looked normal, and after simply affirming her behavior, he told her to serve this venerable gentleman "cautiously" and "spontaneously" , if there is any change, you must tell the few "nails" they arranged to avoid accidents. It is less than a week since they started the incident. In these few days, they can neither let the Duke be discovered by the Spaniards, nor let him privately " Leave", let alone let him intervene in the internal affairs of the Catalans.

It's no wonder that some people objected to the priest's arrangement of Gemma next to the Duke. Catalans are rebellious by nature, but their views on women are no different from those of Spaniards or Englishmen and Frenchmen. One direction, how can a woman do such an important thing well?

Gemma didn't seem to notice their weird expressions. She took the priest's order and quickly returned to the Duke. At this time, the Duke had already fallen asleep, and she was lying on the floor beside the bed.

—————

Without Gemma, or other servants, it is almost impossible for the Duke to spend these few days in peace.

When he looked out through the small window at the top of the church with a telescope, he realized that there were indeed not many young or prime Catalans walking outside on the streets of the city, as if in the minds of the Spaniards. It has been appointed that Catalan men should be in the queue of convicts if they are not in the army. The Spanish patrol guards are constantly stepping on the road in front of the church. Every soldier has a tired but arrogant look. They can Interrogate any Catalan who passes in front of them as they like. No, it should be said that as long as they want, they can even break into any house to search or humiliate and blackmail the owner of the house.

Outsiders are bound to be checked in detail.

Outsiders are easy to identify - Catalonia is not pure Europa, their blood is very complicated - their ancestors include Phoenicians from Greece, Romans and Carthage from Italy People, there are also some Celts, and the most recognized product of the integration of the Alans and Visigoths in the northern foot of the Caucasus who were defeated and expelled by the Huns.

Therefore, the skin of the Catalans is definitely not as fair as that of the Europeans in other places. Many people have dark hair, their facial features are not deep enough, and their facial contours are very soft. This is why, even if they were fighting against the Moors. China has always stood at the forefront, famous for being brave and fearless, and has become rich and prosperous because of monopolizing the business in the Western Mediterranean. The Spanish forces dominated by Castilians still call them "bad people" contemptuously, and Declare that they should not enjoy God's blessing and should go to hell as soon as possible.

For example, the governor of Roussillon is the best of this kind of power. Perhaps the Archbishop of Toledo or the Queen Mother worried that sending a benevolent governor would neglect the monitoring and suppression of the Catalans, so they especially A greedy and violent fellow was carefully selected, like a hungry hound unleashed, to exploit the Catalans of Roussillon as the Archbishop wished, and to feed them private pocket.

The Spaniards' taxes and labor on the Catalans were already very heavy, plus the third plunder...you can imagine how miserable and desperate it is.

The Duke only has three small windows, but the atrocities he has seen in the past two days have exceeded the number of fingers on two hands.

Some outsiders may have a charter from the governor of Roussillon, so they can keep their freedom. Other unfortunate people will be imprisoned or hanged. What.

But those merchants and pilgrims could choose to stay away from what is now Roussillon anyway, but the Roussillons could not.

The jackal-like governor of Roussillon is not so stupid for the Duke to see. While he kept taking away young people from Roussillon and the surrounding area, he was also placing his own people and recruiting mercenaries. These people from Italy The familiar scoundrels and low-handed mercenaries, their raids made Roussillon even worse.

So one night, when the people of Roussillon suddenly sang a Catalan ballad, the riots began.

The Duke has been paying attention to the movement outside, and when the firelight illuminates the window, he immediately got up - when he was in Roussillon, he couldn't be as wanton as he was in the Palace of Versailles - he grabbed his coat as soon as he raised his hand: " We want to leave here." He said to Gemma: "No matter what the priest ordered you, and what preparations you have made, we must move to other places immediately."

Gemma looked at him indifferently.

"I know you have your responsibilities, but it is precisely because of your responsibilities that I ask you to take me out of here." The Duke methodically inserted the dagger, musket and short sword back to their proper positions , while saying: "The riots and subsequent suppression will inevitably bring chaos, and in the chaos people can or can do a lot of things they usually can't do, we can bet Gemma, someone will come soon Looking for us."

Gemma stood up, and she led the Duke out of the room, but did not let him leave the chapel, but took him to the altar. When the Duke was considering whether to kill Gemma, Gemma lifted the linen, Removing a stone brick on the side of the altar revealed a small opening, into which they immediately hid.

The Duke was a little hesitant at first, after all, the inside of the altar is so small, there is no hope of escape once found, but a few seconds later, the door of the church was immediately opened, and a group of people rushed in, one of them ran familiarly Went up the stairs to the top, but the man was not the priest, he came down quickly, and whispered to another man, "They're not here!"

Immediately the other man let out a curse, and the duke heard him whisper "Gemma" and Gemma moved, but the duke held her arm, luckily Gemma could only make a low hiss , such a small and muddy voice could not be heard by the people outside who were separated by the thick stone bricks. Those people hesitated for a while, as if they were thinking about whether to stay here, and one of the leaders shook his head: "No time. Alright, let's go!"

The altar was dark and stuffy, the Duke of Orleans thought to himself, it seems that, as he expected, there are different forces among the Catalans. The people who are here will definitely take this opportunity to try to hijack him, as for what happens next...

He pressed his body against the cold stone wall, listening to the movement outside. The messy footsteps seemed to indicate that those people were leaving, but the gunshots, shouts, and sword clashes that seemed to come here in an instant indicated that they might have encountered an enemy.

"Traitor!" someone shouted!

The Duke took a deep breath, which is another reason... No matter when and where, the profession passed down from Judas never seems to disappear.