The atmosphere suddenly became weird.
The most honorable person in the empire and the most powerful person in the empire stood face to face, angrily confronting each other. When Dalton spoke without thinking, something that had been deliberately avoided was exposed in the air.
The queen's slender fingers tightly grasped the clean white cotton cloth on the table.
Dalton stood upright, his eyes fell on the void, as if there was something worthy of his attention, but his slightly twitching lips revealed what was struggling violently under his cold face... It's not worth it, he is a new god sect The leader of the army is the new Marshal of the Empire, he shouldn't say so easily about participating in the battle...
Did he really think of himself as a foolish knight
He felt the queen's eyes searching his face for something.
According to the story of the romantic poet, at this moment he should go over and kneel on one knee, kiss the queen's hand, and swear that he will wipe out all enemies for her—Gods on earth, even the nobles have already abandoned their vows in the stinky gutter today, where is it? To get a commoner to act as some kind of knight...
So, according to the story of cruel history, it is time for him to apologize for his impulsiveness at this moment, and tell the Queen that she is doing well, and continue to let the prince of the Root Empire fall head over heels for her.
He said nothing and did not move.
Adele looked away, took a step back, and sat back on the chair.
"Well said."
Adele grabbed the hair that had just fallen loose with her hand, and pushed it back from her head.
Dalton didn't want to look at her, but the light reflected from the ring on her hand made his eyes move with it. She let out a strand of hair, just hanging by her ear, swaying gently, like its owner, beautiful, stubborn and unpredictable.
"Tell me about the Yager Kingdom."
Adele's voice was still dry after a quarrel, which made her look a little fragile. She soon realized this herself, and reached for the black currants from the crystal dish on the table.
The maids have carefully washed these small purple-black fruits, and each of them has a particularly attractive color in the crystal plate. The black currants, ripe in August, are delicious, and Mrs. Kelly kindly ices them.
A gooseberry or two was exceptionally sweet.
Adele's fingers paused, she glanced at Dalton, and continued to pick up the gooseberries on the plate with her fingertips and put them in her mouth as if nothing had happened.
Dalton didn't notice her strangeness.
"The Yager fleet is docked in the Bay of Heaven. The king of the Tuva dynasty has passed away. Emperor Root supports his cousin to seize the throne. When the alliance is formally determined, John VI will have to transfer the fleet—if he does not want to be regarded as If the Duchy of Tuva, which is in the bag, falls into the mouth of the Lute Empire."
His gaze moved from the missing lock of hair to the Queen's lips.
When she thinks and restrains her emotions, she will unconsciously bite her lips with her teeth, and the "ravaged" lips will often become more beautiful and plump because of this. This little habit seems to have been preserved since she was a child, making her look less indestructible.
The black currant juice stained the queen's lips, adding a witch-like mystery to the petal-soft lips. Dalton watched her bring a small fruit to her lips... Their breaths had blended together in front of the statue's colonnade that day.
When Dalton realized that he was thinking of the bloody kiss, he looked away from the Queen's lips with a jerk, like a sharp thorn.
"The Principality of Tuva..."
The queen frowned, thinking about something.
despair.
The berries fell from the queen's hands and fell to the ground.
Dalton turned his head and saw that the queen's eyes were in a state of dilated pupils in the sunlight.
A terrible premonition came, and Dalton rushed to the Queen's side and grabbed the Queen's hand.
The queen's body temperature was rising rapidly, her breathing was rapid like a cat, and her cheeks were abnormally red. Sweat soaked Dalton's shirt in an instant. He pinched the queen's jaw with one hand, forcing her to open her mouth, and pressed her back that was also soaked in cold sweat with the other.
"Spit it out!"
cried Dalton, who never knew he could make such frightened and flustered sounds.
"Quick! Spit it all out!"
Prince Arthur... The Old Gods...
In dizziness, Adele was thinking about these words while making sure that she heard the chaotic footsteps, and then she lost consciousness in Dalton's yelling.
After just a few minutes, the entire summer palace was boiling.
…………………
Heinrich quickly led several doctors carrying heavy boxes through the corridors of the palace.
The head of the noble family, who has always been difficult to peek at his anger, was sweating on his forehead, his upper and lower teeth were clenched tightly, and every line of his face was tense. The doctors following him almost had to run to keep up with him. But no doctor dared to speak out and complain.
Dalton's musketeers had completely sealed off the entire summer palace. Even if a fly tried to break out at this moment, it would be smashed to pieces by hundreds of bullets at the same time.
The nobles who stayed in the palace stayed nervously in their rooms, no one dared to act rashly, and could only anxiously wait for further news to come. Or tension, or fear, or excitement... The palace conspiracy is set off again.
The dangerous vortex swept everyone with a new round of storm.
Just now, the first queen of the Roland Empire, Adele Roland, encountered another fatal danger.
"hurry up!"
Heinrich slammed open the door, rudely urging the doctors to be brought in.
The doctors saw the Queen lying on the bed at a glance. Her hair was drenched in cold sweat, strands clinging to her forehead and neck. The high temperature made her pale cheeks turn extremely abnormally bright red, and her shortness of breath made everyone's heart skip a beat. On a high note—the young queen could be taken by death at any moment.
"It's belladonna."
The experienced doctors whispered.
belladonna.
The word was confirmed by the doctors, and all the faces in the room lost their color.
Belladonna is a fruit that looks very similar to black currant, but if the latter is a gift from the gods to the world, then the former is a gift from the devil to the witch. The time of flowering and fruiting of the two plants is similar, and even the appearance of the fruits is very similar, both are purple-black berries.
But it only takes two tiny belladonnas to kill a lively child, and a grown-up needs a little more, but not too much.
Belladonna has long been a favorite of conspirators. A whole plate of black currants mixed with some belladonna, it is difficult for people to distinguish them, but it can easily solve stubborn political enemies. Adele is not the first person to be threatened by the "devil" fruit of belladonna, and she will never be the last.
"Belladonna...gooseberry...no!"
Mrs. Kelly trembled, she seemed to think of something, let out a shrill and angry wail, and rushed towards the door.
"Bly! Bly! It's him!"
Bligh, Mrs. Kelly's husband, he is in charge of the daily life of the summer palace.
The guards at the door crossed their spears, trying to stop Mrs. Kelly, but she seemed to be trapped in extreme fear and anger, and the strength she erupted was terrifying. She broke free from the guards, and let the blade of the iron gun cut a big gash on her shoulder, and blood gushed out, she didn't realize it.
"Follow her."
Dalton snapped an order.
With cold sweat on their foreheads, the doctors quickly started a series of first aid measures.
Dalton stood beside the queen's bed, watching their every movement closely. If the god of death really appeared in front of the queen's bed at this moment, he would definitely draw out his gun without hesitation.
"How is this going?"
Heinrich was nearly mad with rage.
listen! Belladonna!
The students taught by the two-headed snake family fell in front of the little belladonna? He had just been her tutor, and the first lesson he took was how to distinguish belladonna from gooseberries. Could it be that she was not as clever as she was when she was eight years old
Hasn't she always never made a mistake a second time
etc…
Heinrich turned abruptly to a maid and asked, "Who are the gooseberries for?"
"Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness."
The maid trembled and answered.
……………
"I just said, she is an unknown! A woman of disaster!"
The envoys of the Root Empire suffered the same as the nobles of Roland, and they were all imprisoned in their own rooms. When the news came that the queen had been poisoned by belladonna, Earl Root was terrified to death and couldn't help cursing loudly in the room.
You know, in the afternoon, Prince Arthur and Queen Roland stayed together, and the belladonna was clearly prepared for these two respected people. Think about it! In case Prince Arthur was poisoned in Roland, the furious emperor and queen mother would definitely not let him go easily!
"The ominous person with red eyes..." the earl cursed endlessly in the room, "If you want me to say that she is exactly like her mother, the Roland Empire should really put her on the stake! Your Majesty shouldn't marry this kind of witch, Lute The empire should not form an alliance with Roland like this!"
The earl's attendant had a bitter face and was frightened, hoping that no official from Roland would come to inspect by chance.
Roland's officials didn't come, but the prince's door was opened.
A rapier was thrown out and brushed past the earl's neck.
"Say one more word?"
Prince Arthur stood in the doorway in his shirt-sleeves, another rapier in his hand.
The earl's voice stopped abruptly.
At the same time, in the church, a monk hurried to Archbishop Rodri who was copying scriptures, and whispered a few words.
The next moment, the monk was shocked to see the solemn and steady archbishop knock over the candlestick.
The Archbishop stood up and took a few steps outside subconsciously, only then remembered that the Summer Palace at this moment could not let him in. For a moment, he regretted why he was living in his own room in the Summer Palace.
New gods, old gods...
Whatever god he is, protect Roland's queen.
The author has something to say: Remarks: Belladonna is so toxic that an intake of two berries can kill a child, and 10-20 berries can kill an adult. Everyone, be careful in your daily life~ Don't eat unfamiliar berries, Jiujiu.
Some explanations about the content of Chapter 9 and the recent marriage plot are a bit long, so you can ignore them.
Regarding "The Roland Congress hopes that the queen will get married as soon as possible, so that the Roland Empire will have a real king. It is hoped that marriage will not only return the country to the natural order ruled by men, but also enable the Roland Empire to have a legal heir to the throne as soon as possible." In fact, it is not a bug, but refers to the tradition and aristocratic social order of the Middle Ages and even the Renaissance.
First of all, we must go back to that era to understand the discrimination against women in the gender society at that time.
From the viewpoint of masculinity, women are considered to be capricious, emotional, weak and indecisive animals, unsuitable for ruling and incapable of leading government affairs[1], women's nerves are fragile, and women's wisdom is not good enough. complete. Therefore, for quite a long period of time, as the scholar Teresa Ellenfe said at that time, there was such a tradition that "a man who marries a queen will automatically share the ruling right of his wife's kingdom" [emphasis] As the historian Gianna Bianchini wrote of Queen Berengaria, "women, even those who were clearly entitled to the throne, were seldom accepted as sovereigns if they were not married."
Against this background, it has become a very incredible thing for the queen to rule and women to take power. At a time when male domination of the world was considered a natural thing, queens generally ruled in the name of their husbands only if the king himself appointed the queen and had the ability to impose his own choices on his subjects. Isabella, the more famous warrior queen in history, ascended the throne before her husband after the death of her king's brother. After hearing the news, Ferdinand angrily declared to the chronicler Palencia, "I have never heard of it. There are women who usurp the privileges of men”[2], and the reason why Isabella was able to achieve the rule of two kings is very important because of the agreement they signed before their marriage. Consort not king. It is this clause that opened the unprecedented "Spanish double kings". However, even under such circumstances, Ferdinand became the king of Spain.
This social situation was accompanied by the frequent "marriage diplomacy" in European society at that time.
In the Middle Ages, European international exchanges were frequent, various duchies and counties were dotted around, feudal separatism was severe, and land and money could be inherited and transferred through marriage relationships. Marriage diplomacy was used to the greatest extent. A typical example is Burgundy in the late Middle Ages. Marriage diplomacy expands abroad, and relies on marriage to gather many territories, developing from a duchy to one of the most powerful forces in Europe. [3]
However, under the tradition that "a man who marries a queen will automatically share in the rulership of his wife's kingdom", the queen's marriage will make her marriage hot. In 1554, Mary Tudor married the King of Spain, which resulted in England becoming a vassal of Spain. And until the time of Elizabeth I, "the kings and princes all over Europe are eyeing the queen and her kingdom, hoping to get her, and then get a kingdom." And, "marriage with any European country will inevitably be To deprive Britain of its independence would draw it into that country's European policy." [4]
Nevertheless, gender bias and social customs still make the queen's marriage an important issue. After the coronation of Elizabeth I, the Spanish ambassador, Duke Felicia, still naturally believed that the queen would marry. Because at that time it was hard to imagine that a woman wanted to be in power alone, without the guidance and protection of a man, and she also needed a father to ensure the continuation of the dynasty and the future of the kingship. Elizabeth's mentor, William Cecil, prayed "God, please give the queen a husband and a son, so that our descendants can have a male to lead them" [5]. He hoped that the queen could marry and be bound by the mission of inheriting the family, so that the country could return to the natural order of male dominance.
At the same time, the queen's marriage also means "rightful heir to the throne". In an era of endless strife, war, and riots, no heir to the throne means that when the monarch dies, the country will immediately fall into chaos. This was one of the reasons why the Queen's marriage was considered necessary at the time. Only when the queen gets married and gives birth to an heir to the country can the government and society be maintained in a stable order. However, this means danger to the queen herself—once she has an heir, her enemies are likely to plot the heir to overthrow her, and her own life will be threatened more than ever.
Thank you for your reading and companionship.
[1] Alison Weir; Translated by Dong Yanting. Queen Elizabeth [M]. Beijing: Social Science Literature Publishing House. 2014.
[2] Written by Kirsten Downey; Translated by Lu Dapeng. Isabella Warrior Queen [M]. Beijing: Social Science Literature Publishing House. 2016.
[3] Dong Yang. On Elizabeth I's "marriage diplomacy" [D]. Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2017.
[4] Sun Xuemei. The Influence of People’s Mentality on Queen Elizabeth I’s Marriage Foreign Policy[J]. Journal of Harbin University, 2012
[5] Alison Weir; Translated by Dong Yanting. Queen Elizabeth [M]. Beijing: Social Science Literature Publishing House. 2014.
The following is the list of those who have contributed to the Queen's Road to Glory. Congratulations on receiving the 13th Roland Medal. Applause!