monarch

Luxurious carriages, adorned with the coats of arms of the cabinet members, drove into the narrow courtyard of Hampton Court Palace.The news of a cabinet meeting had come in the middle of the previous night by a royal servant embroidered with Tudor roses, along with the latest news from Scotland.The Earl of Hertford has successfully occupied Edinburgh. Depending on the spread of the entire Scottish lowlands, the rebellion of the highland clans is expected to be extinguished soon. However, the Queen of Scotland managed to leave the city before the fall of Edinburgh. It is said that she has boarded the French. The warship went to the mainland.Obviously, the king's plan to forcefully bring the Queen of Scots to London to marry his son has gone bankrupt. The question is what to do next?

The small anteroom at the door of the Cabinet Room has always been considered an embarrassing place, especially when all the grown-ups are crammed into the tiny room.The dozen or so people in the room wanted to tear each other into pieces, but were forced to greet each other with fake smiles.And after a short exchange, they immediately gathered into small groups according to the factions they belonged to. Each group occupied a corner of the room. In fact, every minister was an excellent student of Euclid's geometry—they always Find the locations that are farthest from each other.

Standing at the entrance, as it is today, is the Marquess of Dorset and his party, or rather that of his wife, the Duchess of Suffolk.Leaning against the hearth was the party of the Earl of Hertford, and now that the Earl was in Edinburgh, the leader of the party was, of course, his younger brother, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Seymour. Somewhat apprehensive, and the fact that most of them had had a sleepless night, the Earl of Hertford's failure to capture the Queen of Scots had thrown his entire faction into the limelight.

And Bishop Gardner, who was standing directly opposite, seemed to be in high spirits.These religious conservatives scoffed at the Earl of Hertford's "lack of morality" fickle pragmatism. Now that the other side has revealed such a big trick, the bishops naturally have to make good use of it.Therefore, most of these people stayed up all night last night. However, unlike their opponents, each of them looked radiant under the nourishment of dreams, as if they had just returned from a vacation in the country.

In the last corner of the room stood the Duke of Norfolk and his son, the Earl of Surrey, alone.A few years ago, the scandal of Queen Catherine Howard made the former king's first favorite fall into a slump.He had indeed survived the downfall of Queen Anne Boleyn, but no one would be so naive as to think that such good fortune could be repeated.The Duke of Norfolk is now completely disliked by the king. Although he is the prince's uncle, he also deeply offended the future king when he ruthlessly abandoned the prince's mother.Now this experienced veteran is still standing here, but no one knows how long he can stand.

The Duke of Norfolk's palms were slightly sweaty, and the sticky feeling made him frown.Over the past few years, he watched the power and wealth that he once held in his hands melt away like snow in spring. Although the king did not express anything when he saw him, his obvious indifference let the whole court know that he was not He who is not popular, and who is not popular with the king, is not popular with anyone.He once tried to sell to the prince, but the damn kid pretended not to understand him, obviously still guarding against his mother's affairs.What a wise man, and what a good son of his father!For the duke who is completely marginalized today, such a cabinet meeting is undoubtedly a kind of torture, but every time he has some kind of expectation in his heart, maybe the king will forgive him, or some red man will be killed by accident. The king hates it, and he can take advantage of it.The Earl of Hertford's news last night doubled his expectations for the latter possibility, which also made him feel a little nervous involuntarily.

"Father." The Duke turned his face away. His son held a handkerchief in his hand. "Wipe your hands, you look a little nervous." said the young Earl of Surrey.

"Thank you." The Duke took the handkerchief and looked at his son.If he had any consolation, it was that his son was still worthy of the Sacred Heart.The king admired his skills in knightly tournaments, and the prince admired him because of the earl's proficiency in Greek and Latin.Perhaps his son is the key to the Howard family's future comeback.

"Yes, I am indeed a little nervous." The Duke lowered his voice, "Maybe today will be the day to reshuffle the cards."

The count smiled slightly. His father always hoped that maybe the next cabinet meeting would be different, and he was disappointed every time, and this time would be no exception.

"Yes, maybe you are right." But he is an old man after all, there is no need to argue, is there?

"You don't believe it," said the Duke.

His son didn't answer.

"You're always like this." The Duke was a little disappointed, "You seem to think we're done..."

"His Majesty the King is here! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here!" The shout of the guards at the door interrupted the Duke, and he hurriedly bowed to salute, which prevented him from hearing his son's whispers.

"I don't think so, father."

……

The king, escorted into the room by his servants, looked out of sorts, whether it was the news from Scotland, or the wound on his leg which had opened again, or perhaps both.Prince Edward followed behind him. Since last year, the little crown prince has been attending cabinet meetings. Although he is studying as a bystander, he occasionally puts forward some suggestions that satisfy the king.King Henry was indeed a good father, at least for his son, he only gave him unlimited pampering, but such pampering brought him not a spoiled son, but a smart and keen The heir, which made the king even more overjoyed.

"Get up, my lords." The king stretched out his hand as he said, and pulled his son into the conference hall. The ministers followed the king and filed in.

The King sat on his throne, and Crown Prince Edward sat beside him.The first on the left was Bishop Gardiner, while the first on the right, which should have been occupied by the Earl of Hertford, was now vacant.

"Everyone should know about Scotland." The king's voice was very low.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" said Sir Thomas Seymour first, "permit me to congratulate Your Majesty! Your army and navy have achieved a splendid victory! The news of the capture of Edinburgh is heartening."

The king smiled slightly, "Naturally." He picked up the cup on the table and took a sip.

"Permit me to remind your Majesty," began the Bishop Gardiner, "that the Earl of Hertford's victory, as exciting as it was, has lost his most valuable spoil. The Queen of Scots has fled Edinburgh, and may well be gone now." This war is futile!" He looked at Sir Thomas gloomily, his huge hooked nose made him look a little scary, "Such behavior is obviously a serious dereliction of duty! It can even be said to be treason!"

"Your Majesty." Sir Thomas quickly argued, "I want to protest! This is simply a groundless accusation!" The king's face remained expressionless, and Sir Thomas couldn't help feeling a little guilty. In fact, he had already expected that the other party would attack. The problem was that What on earth was the king thinking.

But the king did not speak, and an attendant entered the room, holding in his hand a letter on a silver tray.With the whole cabinet watching, he walked across the hall, came up to the king, bowed, and handed the letter to the king.

The King tore the seal from the envelope with his knife, took out the paper, and began to read.The whole room fell silent, and a needle could be heard.

After an unknown amount of time, the king finally put down the letter paper in his hand, "Queen Mary has arrived in France," his voice was deeper than usual, which was a sign that the king was about to get angry, "She and the French king and grandson have held an engagement ceremony, They didn't even have time to get back to Paris, and they held a ceremony in the church in Rouen!" The king's face flushed, "Damn it, I spared their country and kindly introduced their queen into my family, and My son is engaged and I treat her as my own daughter." He grabbed the Venetian stained glass cup he was holding and shattered it, "This is what I got in return!"

"Your Majesty, as I said, the Earl of Hertford is to blame!" Bishop Gardiner looked proudly at Sir Thomas, who had lost any trace of blood on his face. "Your Majesty, please hold the Earl accountable!"

The king gasped, and he gave Sir Thomas a savage look, but said nothing.

"I think my royal father is interested in more pressing issues now." The prince's crisp child's voice broke the tension in the room, "What should we do with the Scots now?" The prince seemed unmoved by the news, Many found him terribly calm, at all times, "not like a child", and everyone in the cabinet room today reinforced that impression.

The king's complexion improved a lot, and he touched his son's golden head, "You are right, my good son." He smiled gratifiedly, "It's a pity that you can't marry that little queen, but she is also worthy Not on you."

I don't want to marry her at all, Edward thought, but he didn't show it. "Don't worry, father."

The king turned back to the terrified courtiers, "You heard what the prince said. We won the last war and it was useless. I don't want to do it again."

"Perhaps we can ask Scotland to cede a few counties on the border?" said the Duke of Norfolk. An awkward silence.

"I don't think it's a good idea." The prince spoke again, met with many surprised eyes.The prince has seldom illustrated at cabinet meetings, and today is the second time.But the king seems to be happy with this, and many people have raised the importance of the prince in their hearts.

"We have completely defeated Scotland, their monarch has fled, and the country has completely fallen into anarchy." Edward went on to say that he does not often interfere in state affairs. After all, as a prince, too much interference in politics is likely to attract the king's suspicion. However, today's issue is too important. Scotland and England became a commonwealth in 1603 in history, and the two countries will not be fully merged until 1707. Now he has the opportunity to advance all this by more than [-] years, not to mention that he will never Need to marry someone for the throne of Scotland...

"Just ceding a few counties will help us very little. The Queen of Scots has now fully embraced France, and Scotland will become the bridgehead of the French on the British Isle in the future." The prince continued, "We cannot allow this to happen. Scotland can only be a friend, not an enemy."

"So you're going to... depose Queen Mary," said the King. "That's an interesting idea. A Scottish monarch friendly to us, rather than a puppet of the French, is interesting..." He pondered for a few seconds, " Then who should be the king?"

"I have an idea about that," began the Marquess of Dorset. "What do you think of the Earl of Lennox?"

"Lord Lennox?"

"He is also a member of the Scottish Regency Council, but he has always been a pro-British faction. He has political differences with the Earl of Allen and the Queen Mother. He was born in an offshoot of the royal family and is also a member of the Stuart family. More importantly, he is also your nephew. said the Marquis, "it must be very suitable for him to be king."

"Then how to operate all this?" The king turned to the judge beside him.

"First, the Scottish Parliament will pass a resolution to depose the current Queen, and then the Parliament will pass a bill inviting a candidate to take over as King of Scotland."

"Sounds simple."

"Yes Your Majesty, their MPs are always very obedient, especially when our cannons are aimed at the Parliament." Laughter broke out in the room.

"Sounds like a good idea." The king turned to his son. "Another king, a good idea, Edward."

"It was not my idea," said the Prince, "I don't think the Earl of Lennox is a suitable candidate." He turned to the Lord Chancellor, "You said that the Parliament will decide to invite a candidate, is that true? ?”

"Indeed, Your Highness."

"In other words, the question is entirely up to us, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't say it so...bluntly, but yes, Your Highness."

"In that case," the prince turned to the king, "why can't they give you the crown?"

"Give it to me?" The king was indeed surprised.

"Your Majesty the King of England, Scotland and Ireland, Alfred the Great's dream, now has the opportunity to come true in your hands. No one has unified the entire British Isles, and now you have a chance." The prince's voice was like The siren who tempted the sailors, the light in the king's eyes became more and more intense, and desire and greed began to gain the upper hand.

"What you say... makes sense." The king turned to the justice. "Is this legal?"

"Yes, indeed, Your Majesty." The justice said, "Please allow me to congratulate Your Majesty on obtaining another kingdom!" His reaction was extremely fast.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" The cabinet members stood up, "Her Majesty Henry VIII, King of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, long live!"

The king laughed. He picked up his son and kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks to you, my good boy."

"Go and send a letter to the Earl of Hertford, asking him to make sure that the answerers of the Scottish Parliament hand me their crowns respectfully!" said the King to his ministers. "Gentlemen, I think you can start Pack your bags, we're going on a short trip to Edinburgh soon!"