monarch

If a person has done something shameless, he will inevitably deny it with double shamelessness.

- Shakespeare, "The Winter's Tale"

Cambridgeshire, Peterborough Cathedral.

The weather was gloomy, not many guests came to the funeral, and most of them left in a hurry as if the black death had broken out as soon as the ceremony was over.The funeral of the former Queen of England, now the "Prince and Widow of Wales", the Princess of Spain, Catherine of Aragon, was even more bleak than the current Queen expected.After all, even her daughter, Princess Mary in the past, and now the king's illegitimate daughter, Ms. Mary Tudor, is forbidden by her father to participate. Who else is willing to join in the trouble?The only guests of any standing were the Spanish diplomatic corps, and the conscientious ambassador, Chevalier Eustace, had personally arranged the funeral, but that was all the king of Spain could do for his poor aunt. up.

When the last guests had left, Sir Eustace took leave of the priest.It is very difficult to find Catholic priests in England nowadays. Those priests who dared to oppose King Henry's "Supreme Act" were deprived of their priesthood, and even went to the guillotine like Bishop Fisher or Sir Moore. Now he only A clergyman could be found from among the Spanish missions to officiate, when the funeral of an English queen should have been officiated by someone like the Archbishop of Canterbury.But now in this country, King Henry is God, and everything can only run according to his wishes, and even the witch beside him...

The witch, Anne Boleyn, was told in courts all over the continent how she used her witchcraft to control King Henry, and even the Pope declared her a witch.The King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V manipulated the Holy See to reject the divorce case between King Henry and his aunt, but King Henry broke with the Holy See because of her and fell into the arms of Protestant heresy. Writing pamphlets denouncing these heresies, he was evidently possessed by some terrible witchcraft of this woman.Fortunately, the king seems to be getting better now, although this is at the cost of him falling in love with another woman, coupled with the new news from the court today, I think Miss Mary will be happy... Mr. Ambassador's gloomy mood After a little improvement, he boarded the carriage and drove on the muddy road in the English countryside...

Hensden House, Hensden Village, Hertfordshire.

Not many people came to visit Lady Mary Tudor. In fact, her state was no different from isolation, so the Spanish ambassador was ushered into Lady Mary's drawing room immediately after his arrival.The mansion, which might have been luxurious for a country gentleman, was an insult to the princess of England, granddaughter of the great Spanish King, to live there, but Lady Mary was unaware of it.She was influenced by her own mother to believe in Catholicism, especially after her mother was abolished, she almost completely relied on religion.At this moment, she was sitting in a simple armchair.She was dressed in black, with her mother's favorite Spanish hood on her head, and held a rosary in her hand.She had always been very serious since she was a child, and in recent years she has become more serious, and she will only show other expressions in front of a few people she trusts, and Ambassador Eustace is one of them.

Seeing the ambassador saluting respectfully to her, Madam Mary showed a faint smile on her serious face: "Dear Sir Eustace, it's a pleasure to see you again. I hope my poor mother's funeral goes well?"

The ambassador sighed: "We tried our best to do our best, but unfortunately we still can't give His Majesty a funeral that suits our status."

Ms. Mary was still smiling, but there was no element of happiness in it, only full of sarcasm: "Your Majesty even refused my request to attend the funeral, what else would I expect? There is no doubt that the witch also Played some disgusting role, and my father was completely obsessed with her, even after she gave birth to Elizabeth..."

"I think I must interrupt you, madam, but there is some new news from London on this matter." Sir Eustace smiled, and what he had heard about the farce at Whitehall Palace He repeated it, and by the time he had finished, Lady Mary's eyes were ablaze with madness.She stood up suddenly, went to the statue of the Virgin, knelt down, and began to pray.

"Sure enough, God is merciful! Revenge is up to me, and I will repay!"

……

London, Palace of Whitehall.

Lord Cromwell held a silver wine glass inlaid with precious stones, and looked at the decoration in the Duke of Suffolk's suite with some envy.Although he was born in a poor family, he has accumulated considerable wealth as an important minister of the king, but his mansion still seems to be lacking in class. Although the nobles who come to visit lack the huge power that he possesses, they can always get rich from their birth. find superiority.Although his aristocratic allies tried their best to cover up, he was good at observing words and expressions, and he could always see the contempt hidden under the politeness, such as the man opposite him at this moment.

Although Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, is over fifty years old, he is still considered suave and suave, far better than his young friend King Henry, who is a few years younger than himself, and formed a perfect relationship with the ugly Mr. Cromwell. A stark contrast.He gracefully drank the Bordeaux wine in the glass, and said in his charming voice that had fascinated many noble ladies in his youth: "It's really unexpected. I thought the queen's child must be lost."

"Yeah, it's a miracle in a way."

"A disgusting miracle that completely disrupted our plans. After all, the doctor you called earlier assured us that the queen's body would not be able to bear children after so many miscarriages."

Cromwell's face was a little ugly, but he still maintained the right flattering tone: "Your Excellency, I don't think there is any need to stop our plan. I have arranged all the witnesses. They are willing to..."

"Oh, my dear Mr. Cromwell." Still with the same deliberately polite tone that Cromwell loathed, "I don't think it necessary for us to terminate the plan at all. All I want is to do a little work on the plan. Minor revision."

"I am at your mercy," said Cromwell obsequiously.

"I don't think it's a good idea for Lady Rocheford to sue her husband for adultery with his sister, the queen, after all, it might detract from the legitimacy of the child in the queen's womb, Henry always wanted a male heir, if the child was a boy , but there are some embarrassing rumors circulating that he will absolutely rage, and we as the source of the rumors will obviously face Henry's anger directly. In fact, I intend to drop all charges of adultery, leaving only treason, after all, old Bo Lin spent so long as an ambassador in the French court, and their family has a very good relationship with King François, a small group of French spies around the queen will obviously be very convincing."

"But this will only make the queen detested, not completely finished."

"No, my dear Mr. Cromwell, when the queen's family is ruined and the king's favor is over, she has no influence in politics any more, and as to who sits at the king's side at the ceremony, I will Don't care a bit. Maybe the Seymours dream of Queen Anne's life, but what does it matter to us? No one in my family wants to climb into the king's bed. Don't you, a commoner, expect to put yourself Send your daughter to the king?" The Duke of Suffolk couldn't help but make a malicious joke.

There was still no anger on Cromwell's face: "So what if the queen gave birth to a prince? A future king, with hatred for us, don't you feel afraid, Your Excellency."

The Duke of Suffolk still kept smiling: "Even if Queen Anne is lucky enough to give birth to the Prince of Wales, he will not be able to reach adulthood until 16 years later, and the Queen's body is already so unsuitable for pregnancy. I don't expect the future Prince of Wales to be very strong. , wouldn't this be the perfect situation for a future Lord Regent?" He finished his drink and looked up at Cromwell with a half-smile.

Cromwell's expression changed a few times, and finally he left without saying anything.The Duke of Suffolk still sat there with a half-smile for a long time before he stretched out his hand and rang the bell to call the servant: "Take that cup and throw it away." He pointed at the silver cup that Cromwell had used, expressionlessly explain.

……

The spring of 1536 was unforgettable for everyone in the English court. First, Queen Anne almost had a miscarriage after a quarrel with the king, and then Ms. Jane Seymour began to enter and leave the king's bedroom grandly.The Seymours quickly took the place of the Boleyns at the King's side, and now the King's favorite young courtier was no longer George Boleyn, Viscount Rocheford, brother of the Queen, but Edward Seymour, brother of Lady Jane Sir.As time went by, the storm not only showed no signs of subsiding, but became more turbulent.Finally, in early April, the Queen's musician, Mark Smeaton, was imprisoned in the Tower of London, accused of having some kind of "evil relationship" with the Queen's brother.And George Pauline's wife, the Viscountess of Rochford, testified against her husband and father-in-law for treason, pushing the drama to a climax.On the eve of the trial, the queen went to the king's suite to plead with her six-month-old stomach, but the king took Ms. Jane to Richmond Palace for vacation before that, leaving the queen alone in London.At the next day's trial, all the judges voted to declare Pauline and his son guilty, and it was the Duke of Norfolk, the uncle of the Queen's siblings, who presided over the trial.

On May 1536, 5, the queen's father and brother were executed in the Tower of London.

……

The queen's body was obviously weakened, and the doctors asserted that she would not survive the winter. King Henry searched for famous doctors for her, but it was obvious that he only cared about the children.When doctors advised the Queen to leave London for the country to recuperate, Henry immediately ordered the court to move to Hampton Court Palace for the summer.At this time, Miss Seymour was already choosing a wedding dress, and the king had promised to marry Queen Anne as soon as she died.

……

Hampton Palace by the River Thames is an elegant dark red building. This palace built by Cardinal Wolsey, who was in power at the time, is famous in Europe for its elegant gardens.Queen Anne once loved the palace whose former owner was defeated by herself, but today she just sits lazily in her living room.The breeze from the river brought through the open windows the scent of roses in the garden and the laughter of young men and women, but the queen did not notice it.Her complexion was already yellowish, but now she looked like a wax figure. The once beautiful face was now so thin and out of shape.The eight-and-a-half-month-old belly is already very obvious, but combined with her haggard face, there is an indescribable weirdness.She just sat there all afternoon, like a zombie.Her handmaidens, the few women who had survived the terrible storm before and were willing to stay, were now gazing at their needlework, trying to hide as little of the embarrassment as possible.

The queen's chief attendant, Mrs. Norris, finally felt that she had to do something. She stood up and walked to the queen and bowed her knees: "Will your majesty go for a walk in the garden?" with his own servant.Mrs. Norris's husband, Sir Norris, lost his life in the May storm, and she was visibly weakened, and even had white hair that could not be concealed on her head, but she still stayed here, and her sister, Then he ran back to his manor as soon as he smelled something wrong, and he didn't even want to go back to London to collect the bodies of his father and younger brother... The queen raised her head and looked out the window. It was sunny outside, and a group of dressed Splendid men and women, the two leaders... needless to say, the king and the woman from Seymour's family.The queen smiled mockingly, but her disfigured face made the smile look extremely distorted: "Go to the garden, Mrs. Norris? But I really don't have much interest in appreciating farce."

Mrs. Norris sighed: "Your Majesty, you are still a queen after all."

Anne Boleyn gave another similar smile, more twisted than the previous one: "I assure you, madam, Lady Jane will have her wish before this autumn."

Mrs. Norris tried to comfort the Queen: "Your Majesty, if you give birth to a prince and fulfill His Majesty's long-cherished wish, your status will be unshakable..."

"However, I know very well that I will survive childbirth, madam," said the Queen coldly. "The difference is that if I give birth to a prince, the king will be very happy, immediately make him Prince of Wales, and then use a battle Bury me with a big funeral and even proclaim me the love of his heart and he will marry Lady Jane a month later. If I don't have a baby or a girl then he proclaims me and his right away The marriage is invalid, use this as a bargaining chip to restore relations between Rome and Madrid, my daughter Elizabeth will also become an illegitimate daughter like Miss Mary, and the king will also marry Lady Jane in a month. I just want to wish her good luck, after all Henry's queen is not so easy to be." The queen turned her head and looked out of the window with no expression on her face, and the sound of playing in the garden did not stop.