monarch

Edward leaned on the back of the seat, with one arm on the armrest, and leaned leaning against the outer wall of the carriage, seemingly admiring the rapidly receding scenery outside the window, but in fact his peripheral vision was always It fell on Philip of Spain, who sat opposite.

In all fairness, the King of Naples had an unremarkable appearance.The Habsburg family comes from Germany, but after two generations of intermarriage with people from the Iberian Peninsula, Philip's appearance already looks like a typical Spanish face, only the iconic big chin reminds others that he is Habsburg. A member of the Boothsburg family.He is only 25 years old now, but his face with a bushy beard is already showing signs of aging, and the hairline on his forehead has also receded all the way, like a tidal flat after the sea water recedes at low tide.Those swollen eyes looked extremely indifferent, and it was said that only when religious issues were mentioned, those eyes would glow with fanaticism, just like an extinct volcano that had been sleeping for many years suddenly started to emit smoke one day.

Like Princess Mary, Philip of Spain is also a devout Catholic.Heir to Emperor Charles V, protector of the Catholic world, the young king's well-known long-cherished wish was to spread the light of Catholicism throughout the world.And England is the most powerful Protestant country today, and her king also enjoys a high status among Protestants in continental Europe. Many Protestants hope that England will free them from the shackles of the Catholic power.

Such two people are now forced to squeeze into the same carriage. This embarrassing scene undoubtedly makes people have to lament the impermanence of the world.The uncomfortable silence, like the iron-gray sky in a gloomy winter day, enveloped the entire carriage, making the two passengers in the carriage feel a little breathless.The low neighing of the horses pulling the cart, the creaking of the wheels against the paving stones, and the slight creaking of the axles of the cart at the joints of the wood of the siding of the carriage, these sounds now echo in the It was too loud in the not-so-spacious compartment.

This silence lasted for nearly 10 minutes. Seeing that Philip obviously had no intention of speaking, Edward, the host, had to take the lead in breaking the awkward silence.

"I hope your journey goes well?" The king said a standard polite sentence in Spanish.

Philip's body shook violently, as if he didn't react.He looked at Edward in a daze, as if he didn't expect the other party to speak.After a few seconds, he finally spoke, "Blessed by God, the sea was calm and windless after leaving the Netherlands. The whole journey was very pleasant." He crossed himself on his chest, and Edward followed He looked with his fingers and noticed that there was a small golden cross hanging on his chest, which looked like a priest, "All this is the grace of God, praise God." He whispered, intentionally or unconsciously He glanced at Edward cautiously.

The king frowned slightly, obviously noticing the meaningful eyes of the other party.However, he did not follow the other party's words, but changed the subject.

"What do you think of England? I hope our country will not disappoint you too much. After all, your father ruled all over Europe, and I heard that you have set foot in most of them. For a man like you To the well-informed traveller, our islands may appear too dull."

"Your kingdom is very beautiful, and I have seen many sights that I have never seen before." Philip seemed to have finally raised some interest, "The Netherlands, Milan, Naples or the land of Germany, all have their own charm. , your kingdom is the same, but for me, Spain is always better than the rest of the world." He paused for a moment, "I am very happy to be in your kingdom, and I am very happy to be called your brother .”

"I also have the same feeling." Edward nodded, "I have great expectations for this marriage, one of which is naturally because this marriage is of great diplomatic significance, symbolizing the relationship between our two countries. Reconciliation; as for the second, this marriage involves the lifelong happiness of one of my sisters. Although we have different political views, I still hope that she will spend the rest of her life happily. I hope you can be the one who gave her misfortune One who brings happiness in life.”

Philip raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I admire Your Majesty's mind." He replied dryly, sounding dubious.

"I think you must have seen that my sister has feelings for you." Edward's eyes were fixed on the other's eyes, "I think it's not entirely about your feelings, but more about The affection of your family and country—in her unfortunate youth, your father and Spain have always been the foreign aid she relied on." He looked at Philip's face, "What I want to know is, what kind of feelings do you have for her? What about your relationship? For you, this is just a political marriage. You don’t care who your wife is, you just do your own duty. Or maybe you, like your fiancée, hold this the expectation of happiness in a marriage?"

Philip twisted a few times on the seat unnaturally, "I am deeply honored by Princess Mary's affection for me, and I am willing to fulfill my responsibilities as a husband." He hesitated for a moment, and lowered his voice slightly Some, "If possible, I also hope that this marriage will bring happiness to both of us."

Edward nodded, and stopped talking. These words seemed to put a stop to the conversation, and the carriage fell into complete silence again.

The two turned their gazes out of the window at the same time again, as if they were very interested in the ordinary rural scenery outside.Now that the two parties have fulfilled their obligation to be courteous to each other, they can finally keep silent with peace of mind.

The king's carriage ran fifteen miles an hour, but the journey took more than an hour.When the carriage arrived at the palace next to the city hall where the two kings stayed, the sun hanging high in the sky had already slanted westward, and the sunlight gradually changed from bright white to somewhat yellowish.

"At seven o'clock tonight, the mayor of Winchester will hold a banquet at the city hall to welcome you." When the carriage drove through the gate, the king finally spoke again.

"I thank you and Your Excellency the Mayor for your kindness. I will be very honored to attend." Philip bowed slightly, obviously not interested at all, and had to attend just because of etiquette.

The carriage stopped in front of the palace gate, and the door opened from the outside. Edward leaned out of the carriage without waiting for a moment, stretched out his hand to hold Robert's arm who had already arrived in front of the carriage, and quickly stepped off the pedal.

Philip of Spain stepped out of the carriage after the king, and looked round the scene as if looking for something.

"You must be exhausted from the long journey. The servants will take you to your room, where you can rest and change clothes." Edward greeted.

He waved to the servants at the door, and one of the servants rushed to Philip of Spain and said courteously, "Your Majesty, please allow me to guide you."

Philip didn't even look at the servant, he still looked at King Edward, "Thank you for your kindness, but if you don't mind, I have more important things to do than rest."

Edward was a little puzzled, "What are you going to do?"

Philip did not directly respond to Edward's words, but instead asked, "Is there a chapel in this palace? I have been looking for it just now, but I couldn't find the chapel."

"Unfortunately, this is just a palace, so no such facilities have been prepared. I am very sorry." Edward replied, in fact, this palace was designed with a chapel attached, but at the king's request, it should have been a church A beautiful little Italian-style garden was built there.Edward VI's lack of zeal for religion was notorious, and even the king's attendance at the weekly weekend services of the entire court was a fiction.Although this point has attracted a lot of discussion, for a country torn apart by religious conflicts, a monarch who is not interested in religion is better than a monarch who is passionate about religion, at least the former can balance various religions interests, try to be impartial.

"It's a pity, you know, in Spain, all the royal palaces are built around the chapel. In our opinion, religion should be the center of people's daily life." Philip glanced at Edward intentionally or unintentionally, "especially For a monarch, if he is not willing to communicate with God, how can he carry out God's will in the world?"

"Your piety is really touching." Edward said with a half-smile. "If you really must go and communicate with your God now, there is a Catholic community two miles away, and there should be Catholics there." The chapel, but you may have to trouble yourself to line up with the nearby civilians, the residents there are mainly workers from the nearby textile factory, and they have just changed shifts at this time, so I think it will be more crowded." He pointed to the already westward Sun, "If you don't mind, I'll excuse you first, please do what you want." After he finished speaking, he walked into the gate of the palace without looking back, and Robert followed him, leaving Philip standing alone His face turned blue and white.

Philip looked around viciously at the servant who seemed to be struggling to hold back his laughter. He stood there awkwardly, in a dilemma.At this moment, Princess Mary's carriage also appeared at the gate of the yard, so Philip had to go into the palace immediately, so as not to meet his fiancée alone.

Two floors above him, Edward had just entered his room, and with a weary wave of his hand he motioned for everyone except Robert to get out of the room.

When there were only the two of them left in the room, Edward immediately shook his arms irritably, "This is really a torture, and it is even more unbearable than the worst situation I expected. I thought Mary was pious before." It's so over the top that she's a rebel now compared to her husband. I've never met such a boring person, and frankly I don't know what to talk to him about. "

"Fortunately, he won't stay for too long." Robert said, "It's just two or three months, and he will leave after Christmas." According to the marriage contract between the two parties, Princess Mary will still be in England after marriage. Live, while Philip of Spain will tour the huge Habsburg territory to gain the support of the local authorities and prepare for his future succession to his father Charles V.On this point, neither side has any objection—Princess Mary is naturally unwilling to give up the huge power she has cultivated in England, and Philip has no interest in this marriage, but is just fulfilling his political marriage obligations.

"It seems that we will spend Christmas with a Jesuit. I hope he won't be like those lunatics, kneeling on the ground in the middle of the banquet hall to pray, or taking off his shirt and whipping himself." Edward sneered. speak.He took off his gloves irritably, crumpled them into a ball, and threw them into the corner, "If Mary hadn't insisted, I would have lost interest in this marriage."

"I don't understand why Her Royal Highness Princess Mary is so insisting on this marriage," Robert asked with some doubts, "In terms of age, she is completely mismatched with her cousin; if considering the political influence, she is even more Should she marry a great nobleman in England, and many of her henchmen think so, does she really expect the Spaniards to help her one day?"

"As long as the emperor is still alive, she doesn't have to count on the Spaniards." Edward snorted softly. "The emperor might have done some thankless things for religion or honor when he was young, but he won't do it now." He paused For a moment, "But his son is hard to say... If I die suddenly, he may not be able to resist the urge to get an extra crown for the Habsburg family through his wife."

"Don't say such things." Robert's face became a little gloomy.

Edward was taken aback by his tone, "Okay, okay, it's just a joke, what's the matter with you?"

Robert shook his head, "I can't imagine that kind of thing.".

Edward smiled and changed the subject, "I think for Mary, Spain is no longer just her mother's mother country... When she was abandoned by the whole world, only the old ambassador of the emperor, Eusta Cavaliers is still running for him, the only one she can trust, and I think part of her affection for the old man was transferred to Spain, or rather to Philip."

"If she had a son, would you make that child your heir?" Robert leaned into the king's ear and asked in a low voice.

"I don't know." Edward's voice was softer than Robert's, "If there is such a day, this child will not only be the heir to my throne, but also the heir to the huge territory of the Habsburg family. It's just an ordinary one among the huge series of titles owned by the Habsburg family, like Burgundy, Milan or Naples, becoming a vassal of Spain..." He looked into Robert's eyes, "If she has Two children, I may choose the second child to succeed me, so the independence of the island is guaranteed... However, considering her age, I am afraid that she will not even have a child Prince Carlos, born to Philip of Spain and his ex-wife, is weak and sick, and suffers from serious mental problems. Many doctors have concluded that he will not live to adulthood. Therefore, the eldest son of Philip and Princess Mary will most likely become the head of the huge Spanish empire. heir.However, Princess Mary has turned [-] this year. For her, childbearing is not only sad, but the probability is low. This is the point that Spain is most hesitant about marrying Princess Mary. It is also the emperor's attempt to change the marriage partner from Princess Mary. The main reason for changing to Princess Elizabeth, even though the latter has always shown herself as a devout Protestant.

"Then the throne will eventually fall to Princess Elizabeth and her future children," Robert said with a glance at the king, "if you are childless, of course."

"If this happens, Mary will definitely not let it go." The king seemed to have not noticed the second part of Robert's sentence, "In the face of such interests, no one will back down."

"So you have to live well. You are the only remaining line of defense between this country and the civil war." Robert reached out and held the king's hand. Edward trembled all over, but he didn't take his hand out, " You will live a long life, when you really want to choose an heir, it will be decades later, by then I believe you have resolved all threats, your will is the law." There was a kind of tone in his tone A passion that was foreign to Edward.

"Thank you for your confidence in me, and I hope so too." Edward smiled at Robert. His figure was bathed in the sunlight coming in from the window. Robert felt a little glaring for a while, but he couldn't tell whether the dazzling light was bright. Sunshine, or the smile on the king's face.

"I have no doubts about it." He stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked his thirsty lips, feeling a fire burning in his chest, making his mouth dry.

"It's not long before the evening banquet," he heard himself say in a hoarse voice, "I won't disturb your rest anymore, and I will call the servant to change your clothes in an hour."

"If you have no other orders, I will take my leave first." He said and was about to leave.

"Where are you going?" Edward's eyes were wide open, like a deer, making Robert's heart start beating again, "You can also rest here, when the time comes, we will dress up and go to the banquet together .”

"I still have some things to arrange when I go back. I'm sorry that I can only decline your invitation." Robert bowed deeply, as if running away, ignoring Edward's suspicious eyes behind him, and strode out of the room until he walked into the corridor outside Only then did he calm down, but the picture of Edward staring at him with wide-eyed eyes lingered in his mind.

"I'm so mad," he whispered, pounding the wall with his fist.