monarch

After lingering at Hampton Court Palace for several days, His Majesty King Edward finally returned to his capital on the last day of July.

The high road along which the king's coach passed was lined with cheering townspeople, sensitive Londoners keenly aware that chaos and civil war were over and a victor had emerged.Therefore, contrary to their previous indifference to the Chief Minister and Princess Mary, they braved the scorching heat and took to the streets to welcome His Majesty King Edward who returned in triumph with all their enthusiasm.

The Imperial Guards were deployed on both sides of the road passed by the king's convoy. However, because the road was too long, this line of defense was like a dam made of sand in front of the raging crowds. From time to time, overly enthusiastic spectators rushed to the middle of the road from the gaps. Go, there was a roar from the officer in charge of maintaining order.

With [-] cavalry as the lead, the king's convoy drove onto the streets of the capital. The cavalry were fully armed, and their armor and sharp blades reflected a frightening cold light. It seemed that what His Majesty had entered was not his loyal capital, but a city that had just been destroyed. Conquered still hostile towns.

From the direction of Westminster Abbey in the distance, there was the sound of thunderous rumbling salutes, countless flowers were thrown from the balconies on both sides of the road like raindrops, and thousands of hands waved them in the air towards the king's carriage. The handkerchief in his hand, but the curtain of His Majesty's carriage has never been opened.

As the carriage passed London Bridge, the curtains that had been hanging over the windows were parted a little, but were quickly drawn down again.A few swore that they had seen His Majesty's face, and that the King looked impassive, but the crowd largely laughed off the nonsense.These townspeople have no doubt that a day of high-spirited performances will wash away the spiteful and angry image they have left in the king's mind for years.The capital is like a flirtatious courtesan, showing off to the king. If His Majesty does not forgive the citizens for everything they have done before, it will seem too unreasonable to the citizens.

His Majesty's carriage drove into the corridor at the entrance to Parliament, and he alighted, followed by Robert Dudley and a troop of heavily armed soldiers, their hands resting on swords wrapped with golden ribbons symbolizing kingship handle.

The King walked through the crowded corridors of the Houses of Parliament, nobles and wives, officers and merchants, local representatives and clergymen in their best robes, lined up in order of rank from the gates to the chambers.The king looked directly at the people on both sides, and only when he saw a few people who had consistently stood on the side of the royal power in the previous turmoil, he would show them a smile that was as fleeting as the frost on an early autumn morning .

In the meeting hall, in order to welcome His Majesty, the speaker read out an overly enthusiastic speech that could almost be called flattering. In the history of this long-established legislature, no speaker has ever been so servile to the monarch.And now, the surviving MPs who were able to sit in this hall all gave the most enthusiastic cheers for such a speech, as if they wanted to use it to wash away the stains on their silk collars and dress laces due to betrayal. stain.They are much luckier than their colleagues who are either imprisoned now or have been buried under nine feet. After all, they barely saved their lives and part of their property, and only their dignity was completely discarded.

The king used a harsh tone to criticize the behavior of both ends of the parliamentary leaders. If it is justifiable to succumb to the rebels once, it is really unforgivable to follow the thief for the second time.He once again uncovered the bloody scars on the hearts of every member of parliament: this parliament was first forced by the deterrence of the first minister, put the succession behind it, and declared Jane Gray as the Queen of Britain.It was not long before the institution succumbed to greater violence at the hands of Princess Mary, delivering the crown to her.In the midst of the terrible storm sweeping the country, Parliament behaved like a lump of plasticine, rounded and flattened, with all the authority it once had thrown into the gutters of the streets.

At the end of the king's speech he declared that this council had lost both the crown and the confidence of the people, and would be dissolved with immediate effect.The audience in the hall noticed that the king did not mention when a new parliament would meet - probably never.The rubber-stamped Parliament was swept into the dust of history, and a new era of absolute monarchy began.

Like a doctor, the king pronounced the death of parliamentarism.After signing the death certificate, His Majesty, like a qualified doctor should do, left the room before everyone could react from the shock, leaving the MPs to mourn them in this hall The era and the passing of power.

The king's carriage left the Houses of Parliament, but the convoy did not return directly to Hampton Court Palace, but made a detour and headed towards the Tower of London.

As usual, Sir Gadget, the governor of the Tower of London, has been waiting for His Majesty in the courtyard. For 20 years, kings, nobles and prisoners have come and gone, and the blood of countless people has made the green grass on the tower hill grow extraordinarily It is lush and vigorous, but Sir Gadget is still the chief of the castle. In fact, he has become a part of the castle. The new wrinkles and age spots on his face are like new creepers and moss on the quaint tower. Similarly, it is not so much a symbol of aging as a trace left by history.

A person's name was written on the list of prisoners in the Tower of London, which can be regarded as issuing a death certificate.The thick walls of this castle are still standing after hundreds of years of testing. If those stones were conscious, they would definitely choose the sentence on the gate of hell described by Dante, "Those who enter must give up all hope" as your motto.

England's kings have spent the eve of their coronation in the King's Suite at the Tower of London, and members of the royal family have used the majestic fortress as their refuge when the city is threatened by enemy forces.The suites where the monarchs live in the castle are located in the center of the White Tower.

Passing through three armed guard posts, Sir Gadge ushered His Majesty King Edward into the same chamber where he had slept the night before his coronation.

Seven years have passed since the coronation of King Edward VI, and this room, which was once carefully furnished, has also been washed away by the torrent of time.Those improvised furniture have been sleeping in the underground storage room for many years. The wood of the doors and windows lost their elasticity due to thermal expansion and contraction, and they could no longer be closed as tightly as they used to be. The cold wind and summer heat poured into the room through these ubiquitous gaps, reminding people that all this is just the shadow of an era that is about to pass away.

The weak light from the oil lamp emitting choking smoke barely illuminated the room that was too empty due to insufficient furnishings. King Edward looked around, and he felt as if he had entered a huge stone box.

Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII, Princess Infanta of England, Dauphine of Spain, and Queen of Naples sat on an ottoman covered with animal skins.There was no blood on her face, and that expressionless face looked as if it was made of white glaze, exuding only a cold and hollow atmosphere.The princess's hair naturally fell to the ground along the back of the chair, and the silver strands mixed in the black hair could no longer be ignored. She was tired and weak, just like the summer outside was coming to an end, she was no longer young up.

The king reached out and wiped the beads of sweat that had gathered on his brow.Although the room was still hot and stuffy, the loyal servants who remained beside Princess Mary still lit a fire in the fireplace, so the king was already dripping with sweat, while Princess Mary in the easy chair was still trembling slightly.

The king walked up to Princess Mary silently and cast a stern look at her.However, although Princess Mary still had her eyes open, she looked at him dully like a frozen river in winter, making Edward secretly feel that his sister's soul and sanity had dissipated along with that non-existent child Like smoke.

"Have you found a doctor for my sister?" said the King in a melancholy tone.

"I found a dozen of the best doctors in the city for Your Highness, but they all said they could do nothing... Your Highness is not crazy like some people. In fact, she is awake for several hours a day, but those who are sober Time was a torture to her," said Sir Gadge.

"The doctors believe that Her Royal Highness's insanity is a kind of self-protection. Her sanity is aware of the pain she has caused her master, so she made her own decision and closed herself up, allowing Her Royal Highness to spend the rest of the day. I spent the next twenty hours in the arms of Murphyus, God of Dreams. In my opinion, this is a kind of luck, Your Majesty." Sir Gadge raised his eyelids slightly, watching the king's reaction .

The expression on His Majesty's face remained unchanged, like the surface of calm water on a windless summer's day, he just glanced at Sir Gadge, beckoning him to explain what he said.

"Your sister once had everything and now she has everything, power, love and children, all swept away in a whirlwind, from the golden palace with chandeliers and ornate crystal mirrors, fell into this room. A place worthy of nothing more than a temporary place to spend the night... What used to surround her with endless admiration and flattery was now hostile and angry, and at best sympathetic politeness as I displayed it. Losing sanity also means that you will no longer feel pain, Your Majesty, that pain is like a sharp claw that will tear even the most tenacious mortal soul to pieces."

"Have you always felt such sympathy for these guests of yours?" said the king quietly, not offended by Sir Gadge's bluntness, "when the whole world deserted them, you still gave Their 'compassionate politeness'."

"Not often, Your Majesty." Sir Gadge smiled wryly. "This job has made me more or less a hard-hearted person. I'm afraid this is also a way for my sanity to protect myself. If I let Sir John Judge would have been shocked when I was 20. The last time I felt that way for a guest was the day before Katherine Howard's execution."

"Katherine Howard is indeed guilty."

"Yes, Your Majesty, but the giant hand of fate has given her far more than the punishment she deserved. And His Majesty the former king made her experience the punishment of the world after that, which is extremely cruel. Yours The same is true for my sister, Your Majesty, fate has punished her mercilessly, and left her with a mocking smile at the end. She has redeemed her sins, and now only God is left to judge her, and that day has been done for her. Not far off: she has one foot on the hearse."

The king cast a stern look at Sir Gadge, "Would you say the same to my father if he were here on Catherine Howard's death eve?"

"I dare not, Sire. I was not old enough then, and Your Majesty was not like you."

The king did not answer his words.

At this moment, Princess Mary seemed to have finally heard the conversation happening around her. She turned her head slightly and looked at the king with her eyes that were red and swollen due to inflammation.

Edward noticed that the flame of sanity seemed to be flickering in the wide-open pupils.

"Do you recognize me?" He bent down and asked softly.

Princess Mary nodded emphatically, and the king was surprised to see a flush of joy creeping up her cheeks.The redness that floated on the surface made that haggard face seem to be coated with a thick layer of inferior rouge, which was about to start to agglomerate and collapse at any moment.

"Philip?" Princess Mary whispered to her younger brother with a trembling voice.

The expression on the king's face is very complex, and it seems to be a mixture of emotions, like a painter who accidentally spilled the colors of his palette on the canvas.His lips were slightly opened, and it seemed that there were countless words to be uttered from that mouth, but those thousands of words finally converged into a soft sigh, and this sigh was the best footnote to Princess Mary's life.

"Have you seen our son?" said Princess Mary eagerly. "Look how beautiful he is. Have you ever seen a prettier child...A healthy son, are you happy?" She held out her hand, Grabbing the king's arm, "Do you like your son?"

"I'm very happy." The king hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

"I have thought of the name of the child...add yours to my father's: Philipp-Henrique von Habsburg, His Royal Highness Prince of Spain, Britain and the Netherlands, future King... Do you feel good?" Princess Mary asked eagerly, shaking Edward's arm.

"Excellent." The king reached out and took Princess Mary's hand. He felt as if he was holding a piece of ice.

The smile in Princess Mary's reddened eyes deepened.

"Thank you." She looked as if the big stone in her heart had finally dropped, "I don't have any more to ask for...Think of my poor mother, I have already got too much."

Edward looked at Princess Mary with a complicated expression. He compared her with the poor queen from Spain in his heart, and found that what the mother did not get, neither did the daughter; Also did not get.

Princess Mary seemed to have exhausted all her strength by the words just now, she fell back on the back of the chair weakly, and fell asleep again, her lifeless face looked completely tired of the whole life Only the slight smile left at the corner of her mouth reminded the king of what a wonderful dream she was indulging in just now.In that dream, this heart, scarred by decades of successive blows, was finally able to throw away all the filth of the world, and danced and swayed happily.

Edward gently took his sister's hand, lowered his head and kissed that hand, and then gently placed that cold hand on the armrest of the easy chair.

"Bring some good candles." He looked around the room. "Such light is harmful to the eyes of anyone who lives in this room...and those damned windows, put them Turn them all on, and the smell of smoke in this room is stronger than that in the blacksmith's shop."

"There is still some furniture needed here, and you have all the furniture you need brought from Whitehall or Hampton Court," ordered the king. The painting is finished, the furniture is ready, let the princess live first, and her Spanish maids, if the princess is willing to be served by them, then let them continue to do their own work, there is no need to arrange other people."

Sir Gadge bowed deeply, "I think this is what His Majesty has arranged for Her Royal Highness, she will live here for a long time, right?"

He said 'Long live' with an accent.

The king shook his head, "It won't be long."

"She is the daughter of the Spanish princess and the wife of the Spanish crown prince. She will be sent back to Spain... Maybe that should be her real hometown."

Sir Jage bowed deeply again, "Your Majesty, rest assured, we will take good care of the princess before she leaves."

The king nodded silently.

His Majesty looked in the direction of Princess Mary for the last time, took off his hat, and solemnly saluted Princess Mary who was still unconscious.

"Farewell, my sister," he said in Spanish, "if the God you believe in exists, may he forgive you for what you have done, and if you have never felt happy in this life, may he be able to A little happiness is left for you in the kingdom of heaven."

He turned around and walked towards the door without looking back.