I Am Louis XIV

Mrs. Montespan was proud that she knew the king very well, and she denied all the charges read by Barras. However, Father Anselmo did not have any real evidence to prove that she knew the entire ceremony well-even if the latter was fact. However, even if she admitted that she knew the content of the mass, the charges she received would not lead to her death. As mentioned before, the mass was presided over by the priest. In order to ensure a sense of mystery and gain the trust of the noble lady, he deliberately made this process The rendering was extremely complicated, mysterious and unpredictable, and all the materials were prepared by him and the deacon together.

Fortunately, Paris now has patrols and spies in both the outer world and the inner world. Compared to the outer world, the police and soldiers in the inner world are more vigilant and more tired, because compared to the outer world, thugs only target people's pockets. If the wizards commit crimes, a person may not have much left. Please note, the whole person, not a person's "body".

However, the king has never been stingy with his money and power in this regard. The wizards in the other world can even confront Novel with his support, not to mention the dark wizards who have empty pockets and no fixed residence. In the ten years after the king took office, the inner world of Paris was completely cleared. In addition, the slums were also banned, the street lights were always bright, and everyone (including tourists) had to register their identity as soon as they entered Paris. Guarantors are still needed, and the rampant crimes in the past have gradually disappeared, so that today's young people, hearing their parents say that people in the past would eagerly hide in their homes as soon as the sun goes down to avoid being killed, are Feel amazing.

Under such a severe crackdown, even doctors can no longer privately purchase corpses for medical research from others. Although their original intentions are good, there are always people who take risks for money, especially the fresher the corpse, the more valuable it is. Under the circumstances, no one knows whether a corpse with a broken head and a strangled neck actually fell or killed itself in pain and despair.

So even Father Anselmo has only three crimes to bear: desecration of corpses, invasion of private properties (cemeteries), and theft and contamination of other people's belongings (both the cross and the altar were stolen from the church). These three crimes Even if the charges were added together, it would not be enough for him to die - Madame Montespan was right, there was no article in the King's Code that it was illegal to hold a Black Mass.

When Father Anselmo heard the verdict, he fell to the ground, not in fear, but in joy - he was going to serve ten years of hard labor in the mines of Lorraine. This was also one of the usual punishments for these inhumans. After all, Lorraine Lin may be the area with the highest density of wizards after several port cities such as Paris, Versailles, and Calais. There is a group of wizards who don't like fighting who stay there and work with the scholars to add to the king's inner treasury and let them There's no better place to police wizards, werewolves, and vampire criminals.

The physique of wizards has always been higher than that of ordinary people, and so has their life span. Father Anselmo is only forty or fifty years old now. After serving ten years of hard labor, he can still find a quiet small village to spend the rest of his years - to be honest, if he hadn't come here The person looking for him was Mrs. Montespan. He might not make such a big bet. France is the most friendly country to wizards.

Father Anselmo's servants and deacons were also sentenced to varying degrees. They all showed happy expressions. When they finally looked at each other, they all saw comfort in each other's eyes. How lucky they were to arrive. In the end, no one had the courage to kill, otherwise they would definitely...

When several people looked at Mrs. Montespan again, they couldn't help but feel a little pity. Mrs. Montespan sneered and didn't even look at them. Of course, what she wanted was not just another child, but the Black Mass. People from outside rushed in before it got to the end. For this reason, they didn't know - even if they knew, they didn't have proof.

"The evidence of your crime is conclusive," Barras said: "Even if you know nothing about the Black Mass, madam, the place where you lie is the family cemetery of Prince Conti and His Majesty Ludwig I. "The best place to hold a Black Mass is the Saint-Denis Cathedral where the royal cemetery is located. The problem is that Saint-Denis Cathedral now has more than a dozen Elario clansmen. They are grateful for the king's care of the family, so they naturally do their best. Not to mention there are a few ascetics inside.

So Mrs. Montespan had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and change it to the territory of the Condé family... The surname Bourbon came from Prince Condé (Henry IV was originally Prince Condé, and later married into Valloupe) The Condé family dates back to 1487, so the history of this cemetery is older than that of Bourbon in Paris.

Even if Prince Conti was ridiculous, he would not be willing to let Mrs. Montespan go to her family's cemetery and chapel to hold a black mass, so this must be a crime.

And because the baby's blood was taken out under Madame Montespan's watch, she could not escape the desecration of the body. Madame Montespan nodded expressionlessly and admitted it, but what does it matter? She is the daughter of a duke. , such a crime can be redeemed with a ransom.

"Next, madam," Barras glanced at the file again, as if this could ensure that what he saw was true: "You are accused of trying to murder the Duke of Vendôme and Miss Angelique Lucelle. "

Madame Montespan raised her chin slightly: "I don't know what you are talking about. Why should I murder them? The Duke of Vendôme is my old friend. We get along very well. We often walk and talk in the courtyard of Versailles. , and that...Angelique, I don't know her at all."

"Because the Duke of Vendôme wants to recommend a new person to the king." Prince Conti said. He is the Bourbon, second only to the Duke of Orleans, and the person closest to the king. He is also a master of flowers, no matter what. Even if people exclude him, he will not be forgotten. When he knew that someone was poisoning the Duke of Vendôme, he felt frightened. Originally, he was the one to play the role of the Duke of Vendôme, but who asked him to go too far? After all, they sincerely wanted to choose a flawless lady for His Majesty. "She is the daughter of Count Lucele, one of the targets of your murder."

Madame Montespan rolled her eyes, not her neck or body - looking at him, Prince Conti couldn't help but shuddered, "Didn't the king reject her?" she said, "Why should I still be right? Did she start?"

"That is such a young girl." A voice sounded, and people couldn't help being surprised when they looked over. It turned out that this person was Varro Vesalius, the king's physician, although Mrs. Montespan was very fond of him. He has done very cruel things, but as a father, he has never complained or held a grudge - he has always given as much as possible.

He had treated and saved many people around the king, so when Mrs. Montespan came to the king, many people (guards and servants) reciprocated the favor, but Mrs. Montespan always believed that this It was due to my own charm and I never took it to heart.

But everyone else knew that Vesalius loved his daughter very much.

"How young she is," Varro said, his eyes full of pain: "You may still be beautiful, child, but you are old, your soul has become old in vanity and frivolity, and this oldness has come from your body. It seeps deep, and this cannot be undone by any medicine or magic. I have seen how you stared at those young girls, how you humiliated them, tortured them, and drove them away from the king, even though you knew that His Majesty They won't be wanted - but Angelique is different. She was officially pushed to the king, with the support of the Bourbons behind her, and even the queen has agreed to let her become her lady-in-waiting..."

He lowered his head slightly: "His Majesty did refuse once, but does that mean he won't accept it? We will believe it, but you won't. You are trembling with fear and trembling with hatred... You..."

"So you include the Duke of Vendôme," Duke Mortemar said tiredly: "Although you know that the Duke is just a representative, you can't restrain your hatred."

"You are so smart," Vesalius continued: "My daughter, if it weren't for this crime, I wouldn't have known you had inherited my talent."

Louis' eyes couldn't help but fall on the information in his hand - Mrs. Montespan had never shown any talent for potions or interest in medicine, but now it seems that her talents are not inferior to those of her abandoned father. , when she poisoned the Duke of Vendôme and Angelique, she used a material that was neither in the inner world nor new in the outer world - nicotine.

Nicotine is a toxin extracted from tobacco, and tobacco was first cultivated by the Indians. Immigrants and adventurers learned to smoke pipes from the Indians, and it was only in the past ten years that they brought tobacco back to Europe. Smoking tobacco in a pipe will not be fatal, nor will it even be chewed in the mouth. Vesalius was surprised how Mrs. Montespan could find an accomplice to murder from such a seemingly harmless thing.

He didn't even know about nicotine, but since the hunt at Fontainebleau, Madame Montespan had been stared at by hundreds of pairs of eyes. No matter what she did, she would never succeed - but knowing this After taking the things, people still couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

The Duke of Vendôme's nightcap was spiked with three ounces of nicotine, and Mademoiselle Angelique's cream was spiked with at least five ounces - judging from the remaining drugs in the bottles found on the attendants' possession, Nicotine is an almost translucent oily liquid with almost no odor or taste. Even if it does, Duke Vendôme's nightcap is rum with honey added, and its strong sweetness is enough to cover up any odor.

Since Angelique was expected by her family to become the king's lover early on, she certainly spent a lot of money on caring for her skin, and nicotine can be absorbed through the skin. Vesalius conducted experiments and found that just one ounce of nicotine was fatal. Its symptoms are headache, vomiting and confusion. The Duke of Vendôme drank alcohol before going to bed, and Mademoiselle Angelique had to apply cream all over her body before going to bed. There was almost no possibility of recovery. It was just to find out whether they were sick or poisoned. All take a long time.

When Mrs. Montespan heard that both of them were fine, she couldn't help showing a ferocious look, but it passed quickly, and she smiled again: "I don't understand what you are talking about, I don't know what nicotine is, maybe someone You want to testify against me, but Your Majesty." She looked at Louis XIV provocatively: "You can ask them, did I say this was poison and let them become murderers?"

"No," Louis replied calmly.

Madame Montespan was not her mother, and her charm was not great enough for people to sacrifice their lives for her. She told those people that these were just some potions that would make people go to bed early and have red rashes all over their bodies - the former To the Duke of Vendôme, the latter to Mademoiselle Angelique, because she wanted to win back the heart of His Majesty the King that night and was worried about being disturbed.

Firstly, those people were greedy for the huge reward that Madame Montespan had promised, and secondly, they also tried the medicine - they didn't even think about the fact that the effect of the medicine is closely related to the dose. They saw the animals used for the test. Just being drowsy, they agreed.

But now they lost their most important testimony. Like Father Anselmo, they could not prove that Mrs. Montespan knew that nicotine was fatal.

Mrs. Montespan smiled triumphantly: "You must be fair, Your Majesty, it was just a little joke. If you insist, I am willing to apologize to them."

She knew that she would never be able to return to Versailles, so she became so arrogant, as if she could make Louis XIV angry and she would be happy, but the king just looked at Duke Mortemar, who bowed silently and walked to the door. As she walked out, Mrs. Montespan felt a bit of uneasiness in her heart. She encouraged herself that it was okay, it was okay, she was very careful not to leave any evidence.

Duke Mortemar came back soon. The jailer helped him move a skeletal corpse and placed it on a table that had just been moved. Vesalius stepped forward and lifted the covering of the corpse. Linen cloth, and then pouring a bottle of medicine on it, purple-red smoke suddenly rose and spread from top to bottom - clearly from the mouth to the throat, then to the stomach and intestines, and finally spread to the whole body.

"It's easier to be sure once you know what it is," Vesalius said, not looking at Madame Montespan's sinister eyes.

"This is your husband, the Marquis of Montespan." Louis said. "We didn't notice it at the time - the time of his death was so coincidental."

"...Evidence..." Mrs. Montespan said after a moment of silence.

"There is no proof that you killed him," Louis said, before Madame Montespan laughed. "But we have witnesses."

"They saw you put poison in your husband's cup."