London, England, these days, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, stayed here on the grounds of taking care of her family's food business. In fact, she and her husband usually lived in the fief Salisbury, and neither Henry VII nor her husband allowed her to come to London casually.
This time, her husband was ordered to visit Scotland, and there was no one to take charge of the family affairs, so she went to London temporarily to take care of the food import affairs.
But unexpectedly, a mysterious businessman from the Netherlands gave her a secret letter, telling him that his brother Edward, Earl of Warwick, who had been imprisoned for many years, might be executed by Henry VII at the end of November. Moreover, in the secret letter, a wonderful plan for rescuing Edward was also provided. Not only that, but the other party also agreed that Margaret would not pay part of the grain payment so that it could be used to buy a certain bishop.
Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, was immediately tempted. Over the years, she was also very worried about her brother who had been locked up in the Tower of London. Not long ago, she had used up her only once-a-year prison visit to visit her poor brother.
Because of being locked up in the tower for a long time, her younger brother Edward is now morbidly pale and looks very unhealthy, which makes her very worried. However, she couldn't do anything about it. Because the Tower of London is one of the most heavily guarded places in the UK. It was very, very difficult to rescue her brother. What's more, her husband, Richard Ball, is a member of Henry VII, and often monitors her actions. Being watched by the person next to her pillow gave her no chance to plan to rescue her brother.
However, this secret letter from a mysterious person pointed him in the right direction. No matter how tightly guarded the Tower of London was, no one would have thought that someone would use such a clever method to replace the prisoners.
The most critical part of the matter is actually how to find a boy who is very similar to his brother...
Perhaps it was God's will, when Countess Margaret was out with a group of ladies on the outskirts of London this spring, she really found a boy who looked very much like her younger brother. This made her look at the boy a few more times, and happened to remember the village. The boy's body seems to be not in good condition, and his face is sickly pale...
Thinking of this, Countess Margaret immediately disguised herself as a maid in the city, left London with her cronies through the back door, and came to the village discovered by Spring...
After not seeing each other for half a year, Countess Margaret was surprised to find that the already impoverished boy's family became even more impoverished.
It turned out that the boy suffered from a strange disease. There seemed to be a problem with his lungs, which could not be cured. Because of this disease, the family has a huge burden on the medical expenses alone. Originally, this was a passable family of self-cultivating farmers. However, because of the boy's illness, he basically spent all the savings in the family...
Of course, there was only such a son in this family before, so they naturally tried their best to treat him. But, in the autumn, the mistress gave birth to a little son. This changed the attitude of the peasant couple, and even began to dislike the cumbersome eldest son...
When Margaret saw this young man named Bert again, because of being rejected by his family, Bert's eyes were no longer bright, and it was obvious that he had nothing to love. As for Countess Margaret's younger brother, because he has been imprisoned for many years, his expression is basically the same as that of Bert. The only difference is that Earl Edward's body is still healthy, but his skin looks sickly white because he hasn't seen the sun all year round, which is very similar to Bert's skin.
In the end, Margaret offered a "scary" price of 1,000 gold coins, which shocked the farmer's family. Under the huge sum of money, plus the eldest son, it is impossible to cure him. After a fierce ideological struggle, Bert's parents chose to agree.
And Burt himself, after his parents made a choice, gave up completely and agreed to let Countess Margaret go. Of course, he didn't know what he was going to do, but guessing from Countess Margaret's tone, it probably wasn't a good thing. But he didn't care, the doctor concluded that he wouldn't survive this winter. So, why not make one last contribution to the family...
After arriving in London, Countess Margaret told Bert that all he had to do was pretend to be Earl Edward. To this end, Burt also needs to go through simple etiquette training. Otherwise, if the acting is not good, it will be exposed...
Countess Margaret did not tell Bert that this could lead to a fatal disaster. So, Burt just thought he was going to go to jail instead of Earl Edward...
Because he often recuperated in bed at home, Bert didn't feel much about living in one room for many years. In addition, Countess Margaret deliberately downplayed the pain of being imprisoned, and Burt, a young man who had never been in prison, readily agreed and received serious training in aristocratic etiquette.
After that, Margaret set out to find an auxiliary bishop named Frith at Westminster Abbey in London. Frith is a very greedy priest, facing gold coins, intervening in desperation. Margaret also inquired about this person and knew that he was a guy who did all kinds of evil for money. In private, this auxiliary bishop wearing holy clothes is actually an important loan shark in the poor areas of London, and he even has a group of thugs...
After passing through an intermediary and sending the group of "strange men and strangers" brought by Kohler to kidnap the only illegitimate son of the auxiliary bishop of Fries, Fries had to meet with Countess Margaret to discuss the "substitution".
Even though his son was kidnapped, the Auxiliary Bishop of Fries still refused to budge on the reward. In the end, Countess Margaret bid as much as 30,000 gold coins, and Frith nodded in agreement.
Margaret had no displeasure at Frith's greed. On the contrary, she was more at ease when she opened her mouth to the Frisian lion. Because Frisken asked for a high price, which proved that he really paid attention to this matter. If you don't want anything, Margaret is still worried that he will inform you...
On November 23, the Frenchman Warbeck who pretended to be Charles, Duke of York, was hanged by Henry VII. After that, Henry VII seemed to be addicted to killing, and decided to execute Edward, Earl of Warwick a few days later, so as to clear the last obstacle.
At this critical moment, on the evening of November 27, the evening before Edward, Earl of Warwick was executed, Fries, the auxiliary bishop of Westminster Abbey, suddenly asked Henry VII to let him go to Warwick. Earl Edward's last look, "redemption" of his soul...
For Frith's request, Henry VII thought about it and didn't feel anything, so he agreed. Because Western prisoners do have the habit of asking priests to save them before they are executed. It's just that Henry VII felt a little strange that the auxiliary bishop of Fries volunteered. Because, generally, this matter is arranged by the government, and no pastor has asked for it.
So, at a later time, when the sky was darker, while the guards were eating dinner, Bishop Fries entered London in robes and with a little attendant in black who liked to bow his head. The room where Edward was held in the tower...
A prayer, and Frith's long speech, made the guards in charge of surveillance drowsy...
Taking advantage of the opportunity of the watching guards going to the toilet, Bert, who was arranged to replace Edward, quickly took off his black robe, and changed places with the astonished Earl of Warwick. And the auxiliary bishop of Fries quickly put the black robe on Earl Edward, and told him to lower his head and follow him out for a while...
Before coming, Countess Margaret had already dressed Burt in the same silk clothes as Earl Edward. Therefore, Bert just needs to sit in Edward's seat, bow his head and say nothing. As for Earl Edward, he only needs to put on a black robe over his clothes, put on a hood, and follow the auxiliary bishop of Ferris to leave the Tower of London with his head down...
In this way, taking advantage of dinner time, the auxiliary bishop of Fries completed the substitution. Then, Margaret quickly took Prince Edward to a secret stronghold, and then got Earl Edward some tokens of the York family to prove his identity. Afterwards, Princess Margaret let Edward go through the gondola overnight, dive down the walls of London, arrive at the Thames River, and board a boat bound for France...
That night, Bert, who had already been fed poison by Countess Margaret, died of the poison and died in the Tower of London.
On the same night, after redeeming his son, the auxiliary bishop of Fries also died in his mistress' house that night, also from poison...
In this way, Edward, Earl of Warwick, Henry VII's only legitimate rival to the throne, was quietly replaced and sent to France. Also, because Bert and Fries are both dead, Countess Margaret is also picked out. Because, the only auxiliary bishop of Fries who had contact with him also died. Moreover, the Bert family was also sent to live in Ireland by Marin's men...
As for the future of Edward, Earl of Warwick, Marin was not worried at all. He knew very well that neither France nor Scotland wanted the British to be better off. Therefore, as long as Edward arrives in France, he will be safe, and he will even be regarded as a guest of honor by France. Then, the French and the Scots will contribute money and efforts to help him fight Henry VII... The more chaotic Britain is, the happier France and Scotland will be... A fake Richard and they still strongly support it, let alone the authentic Earl of Warwick Where is Edward
The reason why people were sent to France instead of Scotland was that France was strong enough to protect Edward. If it is sent to Scotland, although the Scots don't want the UK to have a better life, Scotland's national strength is weak and it is easy for Henry VII to find an excuse to invade. Therefore, sending to France is the best choice.
As for Marin himself, he took it out completely. Even afterwards, the group of "strange men and strangers" from West Frisia were poisoned to death by the most loyal subordinates of the Kohler faction under Marin's instructions. In this way, the British will not be able to find Marin at all...