monarch

When Joao III woke up again, the sun had already set on the horizon, and the remaining light was diffused by the thick glass windows, and what finally managed to enter the room was just a faint halo, like Like the extinguishing light of consciousness of the king lying in bed.

Joao III felt that his throat was so dry that it was about to catch fire. The high fever made his body weak and sore, as if someone had stabbed his stomach with a sword, and the vitality was flowing out from that hole. with.Illness is like a rising tide, and after one wave recedes, the king is given a little chance to breathe, and then another wave of more intense pain is about to hit, one wave after another, one wave higher than the other, until the fateful The time has come for Joao III to be freed from such pain.

The king raised his right hand with difficulty, trying to pick up the silver bell that he had just placed on the pillow next to him, but his fingers were weak and covered with sweat, and the bell slipped from his hand again and again.After four tries, he finally got the bell to ring in his hand.

There was a sound of crisp footsteps outside the door, accompanied by the rustling sound of the hem of the skirt rubbing against the ground.

This sound made King Joao III suddenly have such a picture in his mind: a black beast hides its whereabouts with the help of bushes, its fur and claws rub against the branches and leaves of the bushes, issuing commands A little disturbed sound of bewildered prey.

Things were very unreasonable: Judging from the voice alone, the visitor looked like a woman, but logically speaking, all the servants who served the king personally should be male servants.

The king's head was almost melted into a puddle of paste due to the high fever, but the instinctive uneasiness still persisted. When the hinge of the door slowly turned, the king's gaze towards the door had changed. Be vigilant and restless.

With the help of a little light from outside the door, the king saw a vague shadow enter the room, and the air was filled with the faint fragrance that the shadow brought into the room.

He opened his eyes wide, trying to identify the man, "Spain... Ambassador, is he here?"

"He will arrive in a while." The familiar voice made Joao III feel cold.

There was a crisp laughter in the darkness, and Joao III felt as if someone had poked his hand into his chest, and then grabbed his heart that was beating weaker and weaker and squeezed it violently.

The man clapped his hands lightly, and two attendants walked into the room and lit a dozen candles that had been prepared in the room.

Princess Elizabeth stood at the head of the bed, looking down at her father-in-law, "It's really dark in this room, Your Majesty, I'll ask someone to light a lamp for you."

"You...you..." Joao III understood everything at once, a hoarse voice came out of his throat, and his vocal cords rubbed against each other like two pieces of dry sandpaper.

"Your Majesty rang the bell just now. Do you want water to be brought?" Elizabeth walked across the room, picked up the kettle on the small walnut table opposite, and poured a full glass of water into the crystal glass next to it.

She took the cup and walked to the king's bed, but Joao III just stared at him coldly, his mouth was tightly closed as if it was sewn, and he had no intention of drinking the liquid in the cup .

Elizabeth smiled knowingly, she put the cup to her lips, and took a big sip.

"You should be at ease now, right?" She put the cup to the king's mouth again, "There is nothing in it, just the clear mountain spring water collected this morning, which is very suitable for a patient like you to drink."

Joao III hesitated for a moment, and finally began to suck the clear water in the cup with her hand. He drank very quickly, and the water that he didn't have time to swallow flowed from the corner of his mouth, leaving two dark patches of water on the quilt stains.

"Didn't you come to kill me?" Joao III drank half a glass of water, his breathing calmed down a lot, "Why didn't you poison the water? You've done it so many times, it must be very important to me. This kind of thing has been very experienced.”

"As you said, I've done such things too many times, and I'm so bored... Always using poison, I really lack creativity." Princess Elizabeth sighed artificially, "Besides, you are already alone, why should I be sneaky if I want to finish you?"

"At the moment I tend to use pillows." Her slender hands brushed the surface of another pillow next to the king's head, feeling the smoothness of the silk pillowcase, "So smooth and soft, as white as an angel's." Like a feather. Emperor Tiberius was killed on his sickbed by his head of the Praetorian Guards, and such a death is not particularly disgraceful to you, is it?"

"Don't forget, Emperor Tiberius came to the throne after Caligula, look... what happened to him!" the king said to Princess Elizabeth in a cursed tone.

"His fate is his business, and mine will be decided by myself." Princess Elizabeth raised her head proudly, "But no matter what happens to me, one thing is certain: at least you won't see that day gone."

"Your accomplice...is the Duke of Braganza." The king finally understood everything, he felt the smell of blood in his throat, "You have launched a coup...this is your world now... someone betrayed me!"

"Your guess is pretty good, Your Majesty." Elizabeth nodded, showing a creepy sneer, "Your captain of the guard, Mr. de Marinet, was unfortunately caught by the Duke of Braganza in order to make him less visible. His little secret remains forever in the shadows, and he opened the gates of the palace for us."

"You mean about his same-sex lover?" Joao III coughed violently, and a trace of blood emerged from the corner of his mouth, "I know it very well, this reason can't threaten him at all. He is willing to help you, It is nothing more than because I am going to die, just like other people who have taken refuge in you, I want to find a way out for myself... Your threats are just to make it easier for him to convince himself. When a ship is about to sink The mice on the boat are always the fastest!"

"No matter what his motives are, he has shown his attitude with practical actions." Princess Elizabeth said indifferently, "We won and you lost. This is the final result, and the process is completely irrelevant."

"'We' won?" Joao III let out a burst of laughter that made his frail body tremble, and he laughed for a long time until he was interrupted by a cough caused by lack of oxygen, "With all due respect, I Dear 'daughter', I can see that the Duke of Braganza has won a great victory, but unfortunately, it was his own victory, and you don't look like a winner at all."

"The two of us have come to an agreement to share the title of Regent."

"The title is not the foundation of power, it is just the decoration of power. The winners wear laurel crowns on their heads, but it is not the laurel crowns that make them winners." Joao III began to pant again, "Power The size of the regent does not depend on the level of the title, but on how many people you can make obey your orders. You only need to compare the number of people who obey you and obey him, and you will know who is the real regent. The nobles are more willing to Listen to him, not a foreigner with a bad reputation like you... He will be the real master of this country. If he is in a good mood, he may reward you with some sweets, but it is just the leftovers of his disdain. .”

"That's better than nothing." Elizabeth said, "If I don't cooperate with him, then I have to accept your arrangement and go to live in seclusion... I think, by then, maybe all I want to live in seclusion will become A luxury, isn't it? You want my life as much as I want yours now."

Joao III supported the bed with his hands and sat up with difficulty, "You have committed a heinous crime! You have thrown my family's honor into the mud pit on the side of the road and let others trample on it! I do intend to give you Some of the sweet poison you used, for that's what a Medea-like poisonous woman like you deserves!"

"Did you talk about my sin?" Elizabeth's face suddenly became sharp, and under the dim light, she looked like a green-faced, fang-toothed ghost, "My only sin is being a woman, with my legs There's just something missing in the world! If I were a man, I'd be King of Britain by now, and I wouldn't have to deal with you unappetizing fellows in this poor country!"

"God ordained me to be a woman, so if I want to have power, I can only rely on my husband and children. I have nothing, do you understand? Just like morning glory can only see the sun when it climbs a big tree, I can only taste the taste of power if I commit myself to a useless piece of trash like your son. Do you think I don't know what the Duke of Braganza is planning? But I have no choice, you don't recognize the child in my womb , when you want to deprive your son of his inheritance, I have no choice. At least by cooperating with him, I can still keep myself at the poker table!"

"But how long can you sit at the card table?" John III wiped the bloody foam from the corner of his mouth with his cuff, "You don't have any cards left to play, maybe this one is left." He He pointed to Elizabeth's belly.

"The Duke of Braganza thinks so too, but I assure you, the time I can stay at the poker table must be much longer than he expected." Elizabeth gently stroked her stomach, " Although I only have one card, it is a king of hearts. As long as I play well, it may not be impossible to come back. I can accept losing all my chips and rolling off the table, but never when I still have cards in my hand Throw in the towel. It's a long time, as the old saying goes, whoever laughs last laughs best."

She grabbed the pillow at hand, "It's time to say goodbye, Your Majesty, but before that, we have one last thing to settle: where did you put your will?"

"My will?" John III repeated.

"That's right, it's the will you made a few days ago." Elizabeth stretched out her other hand, palm facing upwards, "tell me where it is, and I'll help you out of this pain...I think this kind of The pain must be unbearable, tell me, and it will be over, and you may rest."

"Your voice is like the song of a siren, bringing nothing but destruction and death!" The king spat bloody saliva on Elizabeth, but she easily avoided it, "I really regret letting you marry Mann." Nuel!"

"It's too late to say this now, Your Majesty!" Princess Elizabeth was gradually losing her patience, "If you really don't want to say it, I can have someone turn this room upside down, and you can always find the one you want to hand over. The will of the Spanish ambassador. But I assure you that your death will not be so peaceful and peaceful until then... I will cover your mouth and nose with a pillow, but I will give you a chance to breathe , I'm going to make this seem like an eternity until you drop all your dignity and beg me to set you free. Now I'm the cat and you're the canary and I'm just having fun , you have the right to die."

"Even if you demolish this house, you won't be able to find that will." Joao III showed no fear of death on his face, but smiled triumphantly, "It was just covered with a palace a few days ago." He was sent to Madrid on a fast horse, counting the time... By now he should have already crossed the border and arrived in Salamanca or Avila. When the sun rises tomorrow, the document will be ready. will be on the desk of King Philip II."

Elizabeth's whole body shook violently, as if someone had hit her temple hard with a big hammer, causing her eyes to stare.She turned paler than the dying king on his bed.

"Do you think I will keep that will with me until the last moment?" The blood on Joao III's mouth became more and more, and the blood foam that flowed out gradually changed from light red to deep red, until now It has begun to turn black, "Perhaps many kings did this before they were dying. After all, before death, everyone tends to leave a way for themselves. But they forget that with the increase of their vitality As time goes by, their power will melt like an iceberg in the sun, and before they run out of fuel, the last power will completely evaporate. A dying king is incapable of realizing his will, everyone is Seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, everyone will turn to the heir to power, just like what happened today...I feel so lucky that I didn't leave any escape route for myself!"

"Are you so determined to deprive your son of his birthright?" Elizabeth's voice became extremely sharp because of her excitement, almost shattering the thick window panes.

"There is no birthright in this world." Joao III's voice became weaker and weaker, "The so-called divine right of kings is just a joke used to fool those fools. This ridiculous myth can be maintained until today. Because the majority of the world are fools who don't have the ability to think. Don't you think that by putting holy anointing on Manuel's forehead, he becomes the blessed 'King of Portugal and the Algarve' The crown is too heavy for him, it will crush the poor boy's skull into powder, if I make him king I will really kill him. He will be a careerist like you fighting for power all his life tools, if I had to choose again, I would still make the same choice.”

"Maybe you have already regarded my kingdom as your own, so please go and fight those wild beasts. You can bite each other wantonly. Whoever survives in the end will belong to the crown of Portugal!"

He made the sign of the cross on his chest, "Now please do what you want, but I swear by God and my ancestors, I will never beg mercy from people like you... You are a annoying plague , is the messenger of hell, like a mouse carrying the plague, wherever your skirt appears, you will suffer disaster!"

The king lay on the bed with his hands spread out, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, like a saint waiting to be martyred.