monarch

On the same day and at the same time as the above conversation, a local wedding reception was being held in a hotel on Church Street.According to the tradition of the era where the story happened, the couple usually entered the church at dusk, and the wedding banquet was held after the religious ceremony was over. Therefore, when the guests of the banquet arrived one after another, it was already close to [-] o'clock in the evening.

Those who participated in the wedding were not some prominent figures in the city, but ordinary citizens, clerks, lawyers, small businessmen and old people living on pensions. They gathered in the spacious hall on the second floor of the "Golden Star Hotel", walking around Walking around in front of the burning fireplace in the hall, while drinking the fruit wine in the glass-although winter is coming to an end, the weather at this time is far from warm.

After 08:30 in the evening, the two protagonists of the wedding finally came to the hotel from the church where the wedding was held. The groom is a young paralegal Rene Leopold. He is a tall young man who is somewhat shy. At this moment He was holding the arm of his new wife, Miss Stephanie Monique, who should be called Mrs. Stephanie Leopold today, and her face was flushed like sunset from the combination of excitement and heat.

Behind the two newlyweds are their parents. These four red-faced old men are dressed in brightly colored taffeta. From a distance, they can be seen as imported British goods. Both held a hardwood cane, and the two mothers who were wiping tears also wore identical red silk corsages on their chests.

Amid the applause of everyone, the groom touched his nose in embarrassment, and raised his arms to signal everyone to sit down, while his newly married wife lowered her head shyly, and tightly pulled her husband's cuffs with her hands.

A sumptuous feast has been set on the table, Antwerp is a port, so there are various kinds of seafood on the silver plates, the most attractive of which is a beautiful Ostend oyster.It's past oyster season, but in the eyes of proud Antwerpians, no respectable wedding reception will be complete without the country's most famous delicacy.And all around these salty sea candies are glistening lobsters and clawed crayfish, and juicy poultry that spread their wings on the plate as if they were about to take flight. .

Time passed by every minute and every second, and under the influence of alcohol, the atmosphere of the banquet became more and more high.The restaurant owner who planned the wedding reception, who had previously worried that the atmosphere would not be lively enough, now had to worry about whether it was going too far.The current situation is turbulent, but in the eyes of the people of Antwerp who are naturally fond of excitement, neither the Spanish government nor the League of the Netherlands, the cold wind in winter or the scorching sun in summer can prevent a happy feast.Since the love of newlyweds is blessed by God, their wedding feast is naturally sacred, and no one can try to take this joy away from the guests.

In the midst of all this merriment, no one noticed the noise and shouts in the street, and the muffled noise from the stairs, like thunder on the horizon before an earthquake, was heard by the joyful guests. intentionally or unintentionally ignored.

The heavy oak door of the hall was knocked vigorously, and there were several shouts in Spanish outside the door. This strange sound attracted the attention of a few guests who were closest to the door, but more people paid no attention at all. It turns out that they are still talking and laughing with the people around them ecstatically, although most of them can't hear what their talking partners are saying, but just follow their own train of thought.

After more than ten seconds, there was a shocking loud noise from the door, and then there was the creaking sound of broken hinges. The heavy door fell to the ground, and countless dust floated in the air.

The hall finally fell silent, and the noisy guests in the room finally noticed the disturbing movement.

A group of Spanish soldiers in armor walked into the room. The leader of the corporal was wearing a shoulder strap of invisible color, followed by a dozen soldiers.Their armor seemed to be rusted, and it was covered with thick stains. When they walked to the middle of the room, some sharp-eyed guests noticed that these stains seemed to be flowing downward. If their eyes were sharp enough , you will find that the stain is actually still steaming blood.

The terrified guests seemed to have finally realized something. Their eyes turned to the spears and swords held by the Spanish soldiers. Drops of black blood were falling from the tips of the weapons onto the carpet, leaving a trail behind the soldiers. A long string of black marks, like a pack of cats that came in from the mud and just had fun on the carpet.

Several wives opened their mouths, as if they were about to scream, but before they could make a sound, their husbands covered their mouths.

The Spanish corporal in the lead was about forty years old, with a big dirty beard, and his girdle and pockets gleamed with gold, obviously stuffed with gold coins.

"What a red (wedding) feast in Geno," he said in broken Dutch, eliciting a wild laugh from his subordinates behind him.

Under the watchful eyes of the terrified guests, the corporal went straight to the bride, with a ferocious smile on his face, and saw that in front of the trembling bride was an image of an ogre depicted in a fairy tale.

"What a (beautiful) bearded (beautiful) girl." He squinted at the bride's face, his disgusting eyes following the bride's chin and neck all the way down.

The unbearable groom pushed the chair back, stood up, looked at the Spaniard opposite with dissatisfaction, and said in fluent Spanish mastered by a lawyer: "This is my wife, sir, please pay attention... "

Before he could finish his sentence, the corporal punched him on the nose, and the poor young man fell to the ground, with blood gushing out from his broken nose like a fountain.

The groom's mother screamed and fell into her husband's arms.

Seeing this, an old man sitting on the left of the groom stood up, his small gray eyes fixed on the corporal opposite him, "What are you going crazy about? Get out immediately, or I will let you The mayor knows!"

"Mayor?" The Spanish corporal had a funny look on his face, "Do you know the mayor?"

"I am the attorney for the mayor." The old man straightened his thin chest. As the groom's boss and mentor, he was the most respected guest at the wedding banquet. At this time, he felt that he had an obligation to stand up and maintain order , "I am Maurice van Kluge, president of the Antwerp Lawyers' Association, and I guarantee on my honor that if you and your subordinates do not get out of here within a minute, the mayor will do so tomorrow morning." I know your atrocities! I will ask the commander of your garrison to court you!"

The corporal opened his unshaven mouth again, laughing as if he had heard some funny joke, and waved to the soldier standing at the door of the room.

The soldier came forward knowingly, knotted the sack across his shoulders, and handed it to the corporal commander.

The Spanish corporal untied the bag, stretched out his right hand to touch the bag, and then threw the contents of the bag towards the attorney.

The attorney-at-law subconsciously caught the spherical object, and the sticky discomfort came from his hands. He lowered his head in bewilderment, and his gaze happened to meet the eyes of the head he was holding in his arms. .

The mayor of Antwerp's blue head was covered with blood, from his forehead to his chin, there were bloodstains and wounds everywhere, and a large piece of the mayor's hair was torn off, exposing the bloodshot purple-black scalp underneath.One of his eyes was wide open, and the other was gone, leaving only a dark hole, from which the black blood that had flowed out had congealed.

"This guy has gold teeth." The Spanish ogre stepped forward, noting with satisfaction that the attorney before him trembled like a reed in a storm. "We can't get it out of his house." , I can only take it back first and then find someone to knock it down."

"How old are you this year? Mr. Attorney-at-Law." The corporal grabbed the collar of the Attorney-at-Law who was about to collapse on the ground, "At your age, your teeth must be bad...Maybe you also have gold teeth?"

The attorney frantically shook his head, and the Spaniard raised his eyebrows. He grabbed the attorney's head and slammed it into the corner of the table.

Amidst the horrified shouts of the crowd, he opened the mouth of the attorney ad litem who collapsed on the ground, whose life and death were unknown, looked inside by the candlelight, and then sighed in disappointment, "Sure enough, not."

The chief corporal, who found nothing, easily twisted the attorney's neck as if he was slaughtering poultry.

"All Protestants go to hell!" He spat on the cooling corpse on the ground.

The guests in the room shouted frantically, as if the plague had broken out in the room, they rushed towards the door like a wave, but the soldiers who had already blocked the door blocked their way like a strong dam On the way, the blade and the spear mercilessly pierced the chest of the person in front.

The corporal then turned his eyes to the bride who was cowering in her mother's arms. He looked like a beast smelling blood, and there was an expression of excitement on his ugly face, and anyone could see the meaning. .

"Come on, sir!" The bride's father clasped his hands and begged to stand in front of the corporal, "We are not Protestants, we are devout Catholics, and we are Catholics who obey the Virgin Mary. Catholics who say the Rosary!"

"Oh?" There was a hint of interest in the corporal's voice. "You swear you're Catholic?"

"Yes, yes!" The father breathed a sigh of relief because of the attitude of the other party, his face was full of joy after the disaster, "We are the most ardent Catholics, our parish priest can guarantee us, We go to mass every week, and not only that, we..."

His words were never finished.

The bride and her mother covered their mouths with their hands and looked at the scene in disbelief: the spear in the corporal's hand pierced the heads of their father and husband, so that the head was like a It fell to the ground and shattered like a crushed pomegranate, and red blood and white brains gushed out uncontrollably from all over the head.

When they understood what was happening in front of them, they immediately screamed hysterically.

The brave father fell to the ground dully like ballast being thrown into the bottom tank.

The bride's mother yelled and rushed towards the murderer, as if she wanted to use her long nails to penetrate deep into the flesh of the murderer's face, "You madman, murderer! Murderer! You..."

The corporal waved his arm lightly, and the dagger in his hand slashed the old woman's throat, and the blood sprayed on his hands and face, but he didn't care at all, instead he stuck out his tongue Drops of blood rolled into his mouth, with an intoxicated expression on his face.

A burst of dense gunshots came from the direction of the entrance of the hall, and the glass windows in the room were shattered by lead bullets.

The corporal grabbed the bride roughly by her skirt and pulled her from under the table where she was hiding.She desperately turned to her husband for help, but the groom not far away had already turned into a corpse with wide-eyed eyes, holding a piece of taffeta stained with blood in his hand, which was from the same fallen place. It was ripped off the sleeve of one of the parents around him.

The bride was roughly pressed against the window sill, and the broken glass cut her face, but she didn't feel anything.When the corporal leader tore her skirt from behind, she pressed her hand on the window sill and pushed it violently, and then fell headfirst from the window.

The corporal let out a wild roar of disappointment, and he looked out of the window. The whole city was on fire, and the blood-red flames mixed with the silver moonlight in the sky enveloped the ruined city.

He looked down at the street below, black blood was spreading from the bride's twisted corpse, and the surrounding mud was stained much darker than other places.

The corporal left his men behind, collected the belongings at the scene, "remember to burn everything here after the work is done." And he himself walked downstairs.

When he came downstairs, the streets were already crowded with excited Spanish soldiers, their faces were covered with blood, the blood of Catholics and Protestants was so mixed that even God himself would not be able to tell whether the owner of these bloodstains was holding the blood. what kind of faith.Their bodies are full of gold coins, silver plates and golden candlesticks. Yesterday they were penniless, but today they look rich like Crassus and Luculus.Mixed with the uncouth laughter of the soldiers are the cries of women from the back alleys. These Spaniards have become a group of crazy and cruel beasts. What drives them to act at this moment is only the deep rooted in the human heart. The bestiality here.

At the other end of Church Street soldiers had surrounded a mansion, that of a banker, and it was needless to say that many of the Spaniards who surrounded it were more or less related to it. The banker has had business dealings, and the IOUs signed by them have also contributed to the banker's coffers. Tonight, they will use their own methods to write off these arrears.

The huge iron gate fell to the ground, and soldiers poured into the mansion, and then there was the sound of weapons clashing and shouting from the gate.Crackling gunshots sounded in all directions, and lead bullets were flying around the streets like dragonflies after a spring rain.

Holding his sword tightly, the corporal walked through the gate of the mansion and into the front yard. A man's body was lying in the middle of the yard, his face buried in a pool of his own blood.

From the mansion came the wild laughter of the soldiers, the cries of men and women, and the sound of those valuable oriental porcelain being smashed.These heavy and fragile treasures could not be moved, so the soldiers, already intoxicated with the thrill of killing and destroying, smashed them to pieces.The precious tapestries were smeared with blood spots from the blood of their original owners, greatly diminishing their value.

A window was pushed open from the inside, revealing a laughing Spanish soldier's face, he stretched out his hand and scattered countless pieces of paper towards the window.Pieces of white paper were floating in the air, like a heavy snowfall of documents.

The corporal picked up a fallen document from the mud. Although it was covered with muddy water, it could still be seen that it was an IOU.Obviously, the debt between the soldiers and their creditors has been written off.

The gunfire in the streets grew thicker every minute like raindrops falling on the ground during a summer thunderstorm, and the horrific noise and screams hung over the city like ominous clouds.Thick smoke and fire were spreading everywhere, and excited Spanish soldiers could be seen everywhere in the streets of the city, dragging the corpses of the city's dignitaries who were still invincible during the day.Every street and every square in the city was littered with dead bodies, stripped of their clothes and stripped of anything of value by the greedy Spaniards.And in those buildings with thick smoke, there are more corpses than outside. These buildings have become the cemetery of their former occupants, or more vividly, like the ancient Greeks when they held cremation ceremonies. The pyre, until tomorrow morning, all that can be found among the ruins are a few burnt black bones.

From the still sounding window, a hideous corpse would fall out from time to time, some were complete, but most of what was thrown out was only a part of the corpse.Whether noble or rich, humble or poor, every citizen of Antwerp can hardly escape the bad luck that befalls them.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt smoke and the famous Antwerp Grand Place, perhaps one of the most famous commercial centers in all of Western Europe, was now completely destroyed.The City Hall, Antwerp Cathedral, and the five exquisite Chamber of Commerce buildings are all ablaze.These luxurious buildings were built with huge sums of money by the citizens of Antwerp who love to compare, but now, bright flames are dancing on their roofs, and those expensive woods have turned into fly ash floating in the air, turning the center of the square The white marble of the fountain was stained gray-black.

There are more than 300 statues of the Virgin Mary on the large square and the surrounding buildings. Under the watchful eyes of the Virgin Mary, countless corpses were thrown into the fountain of the fountain in the center of the square, and the water in the pool was soon turned into blood. It was cloudy.Flames poked their heads out of every window and scurried along the walls.

The destroyers of the city, these Goths and Vandals of the new age, rejoice at the destruction of the city, and their bodies are covered with blood-stained gold and silver, which they gave to Spain. A huge wealth that the king could not get after 20 years of service.

Amid the cheers of the Spanish, the pillars and walls of the cathedral deformed visibly, like a drunken man. The towering tower first swayed from side to side a few times before collapsing.The cross on the top of the tower fell down, pulling out a long ravine in the square like a plow, rushing to the front of the fountain before stopping.With the collapse of the church, the soaring smoke and dust finally completely obscured the brilliance of the moon. This famous city, known as the "Pearl of the Netherlands", was completely reduced to hell on earth under the witness of [-] statues of the Virgin Mary.