monarch

Edward repeated the steps of the following ceremony in his mind. He raised his head and looked at the altar. The consecration ceremony had come to an end, and the archbishop was anointing the king's forehead with holy oil.

"May God bless you." The archbishop bowed deeply to the king, looking unusually obedient, which was quite different from his demeanor half a month ago.

"Your Highness, it's almost time." The attendant next to the prince leaned into his ear and whispered.

Edward nodded slightly, he stood up, left his seat, and walked to the side corridor, preparing for the ceremony to enshrine him as the Duke of Argyll.

Coming to the side corridor, there was a sudden sound of footsteps ahead, and the figure of Robert Dudley emerged from the shadow of the pillar.

"Your Highness, there is an emergency." Robert stepped forward, leaned into Edward's ear, and whispered a few words.

The prince's eyes widened suddenly, "Are you sure?"

"At least the suspicion is great now." Robert said, "Earl Lennox definitely has a problem."

"I think you understand the meaning of this ceremony," Edward's voice was very serious, and Robert felt that he had never spoken like this before, "Your Majesty cannot stop because of some possibility, and you know what consequences it will lead to." The King of England because Some unfounded threat fleeing like a rabbit from the cathedral would end all hope of restoring stability to Scotland - the monarch's public exposure of his weakness was sheer political suicide.

"Yes, I totally understand."

"So I want to know, what do you think?" Edward looked into Robert's eyes. "I need you to tell me, do you think we are in imminent danger if we stay in the church?"

Robert looked into the prince's blue eyes, and he felt breathless—what he said next would determine not only his own fate, his family's, but the fate of the man in front of him.He bit his lip hard, the smell of blood and the pain in his mouth made him calm down slightly, he looked into the prince's eyes: "I'm sure, Your Highness."

"Okay." The prince nodded, "Leave it to me, Your Majesty, and you go to deal with Earl Lennox." He turned around and walked in the opposite direction with his attendants.

Robert stood motionless at the same spot. Edward was a little overjoyed that he had taken such a big risk because of his words, but he was more panicked—if he messed up everything...he shook his head ferociously , strode away.

……

Edward walked back to his original position, and Ms. Mary looked at him in surprise.She is wearing a long red dress today, decorated with Spanish pomegranates, and still wears the Catholic crucifix on her chest-this kind of blatant rebellion that the king has seen her in recent years. "Edward, why are you back?" She frowned, "Your ceremony is about to..."

"It's an emergency." Edward interrupted her, "Please take Princess Elizabeth out of the church immediately, the guards have already received orders and will take you out." Princess Elizabeth on the other side was startled, timidly Grabbed the hem of her sister's skirt.On the other hand, Queen Catherine Pearl opened her mouth in surprise, as if she had been choked, which seemed a little funny.Ms. Mary reached out and took her sister's hand. "What's the matter?" she asked softly.

"It seems that someone is going to rebel. It's very dangerous here." Edward said to her, and Princess Elizabeth seemed to cry out, but Ms. Mary's stern look made her shut up immediately. "You must leave immediately." The prince looked at his half-sister.

"Then what do you do?" Ms. Mary looked at her younger brother.

"I will inform His Majesty."

"But you are the crown prince. If something happens to the king and the crown prince at the same time... I can inform him." Although Ms. Mary hated her father, she didn't want him to die. "Or the queen can do it too." She looked at the sixth queen expressionlessly. The queen's face was a little pale, and she stood there without saying a word.

"You understand why." The crown prince looked at his sister. They all knew the king's suspicious character. It was impossible to persuade the king to escape from this crucial ceremony by sending only one guard. In fact, he didn't completely trust the queen.Besides, if the crown prince leaves before him, even his own son will inevitably be suspected by him. "I'm different from my father." He grabbed his sister's arm. "I don't think a woman inheriting the throne will bring disaster. England is an island. If something happens, the fate of Mary of Burgundy will not be yours." Destiny." He stared into Lady Mary's eyes, "You'd be a good queen, you'd have a will of steel, if only you'd be more tolerant... Now do as I tell you."

Lady Mary looked at her brother as if seeing him for the first time.Suddenly, she bent down and curtseyed, "Follow your order, Your Highness." She pulled Princess Elizabeth away from her seat, and the queen followed closely behind them, like a chick afraid of being abandoned by a hen Usually follow his stepdaughter.

Edward watched them disappear into the side corridor. He walked into the shadows not far from the altar. On the other side of the hall, Robert Dudley was standing there with a group of soldiers. Edward nodded to him .He looked at the altar, and the Earl of Lennox was already kneeling on the ground. He was holding the Scottish crown in his hand, and was about to hand it to the archbishop, who would put it on the king's head. There was some old rust on the crown. It looked like it was stained with blood.Behind him came three representatives of the first, second and third estates - a bishop from Aberdeen, a head of a Highland clan and a cloth merchant from Edinburgh.Earl Lennox half-kneeled on the ground, reading the petition in his hand with a mechanical voice. "In the 540th year of our Lord's birth, the Scottish Parliament respectfully presents this crown to His Majesty Henry Tudor, the greatest and most merciful, may he be merciful to his people and may God bless his reign Long and long." There was no emotion in his voice, he looked like a puppet in a puppet show, the king frowned slightly dissatisfied, "I am willing to accept this crown and swear to serve the welfare of the Scottish people."

Archbishop David Beaton stretched out his hand and was about to take the crown, when suddenly the Earl of Lennox in front of him was roughly pressed to the ground, and the crown fell from his hand.His heart was like falling into an ice cave, everything was over, and the king knew it.

However, the king beside him looked inexplicably astonished. He watched his favorite, the Earl of Hertford, and his son's favorite, Viscount Rosyth, Robert Dudley, leading several soldiers, in front of him. Knock down the Speaker of the Scottish Parliament.His first reaction was—this is a coup d'etat, and an assassin will rush forward and stab him in the chest with a dagger or a long sword. He took a step back, but his foot stepped on the heavy cloak He staggered, almost falling to the ground.Just then, however, Robert Dudley reached out and grabbed his arm, saving the king from falling in public.The king looked at him in amazement, the whole church was silent, and everyone was shocked by the sudden change.

Edward stepped forward, picked up the crown on the ground, and ignored the stunned archbishop.He walked up to the king, knelt down on one knee, handed the crown to the king, and winked at the king.

Henry VIII was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood what his son meant. He reached out to take the crown and put it on his head himself.

"Long live Henry VIII and King I!" cried Edward, the new title of king, in England he was Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland, and in Scotland he was Henry I, King of Scots.

"Henry VIII and King I, long live!" The crowd also reacted and shouted kindly.

……

The last grain of sand in the hourglass fell, and Brother Sturgeon raised his head and looked at the dark ceiling of the cellar. Even in the underground, the cheers were still very clear.A morbid smile appeared on his pale face, he picked up the oily cotton thread at hand, put it on the oil lamp, and the thread immediately started to burn.He got down on his knees again and began to pray.

……

Edward leaned into the king's ear, "Your Majesty, there is danger, we must go." The cheers were deafening, making sure that no one else could hear what he was saying. "The Scots are going to rebel, and the Earl of Lennox is an accomplice, and possibly Norfolk and his son. We must leave immediately." The king looked a little confused, as if he couldn't understand what he meant for a while.Edward gave Robert a wink, and Robert and the Earl of Hertford rushed forward, each with the King's arm, and rushed like the gate, with the Prince following them.

The crowd on both sides watched in horror as the king fled out of the cathedral in a hurry. After a while, the terrified crowd rushed towards the gate like a tide. The ladies screamed. Flip over the seat back.

The Earl of Hertford first loaded the king into His Majesty's carriage, and then himself got into the carriage with the prince in his arms. "Go to the castle!" He pointed to Edinburgh Castle, which is the highest point in the city not far away, and shouted at the coachman.The frightened coachman swung his whip fiercely, and the carriage pulled by six horses rushed forward under the horrified gaze of the crowd in front of the church.Robert Dudley was on horseback, followed closely by a troop of cavalry.

……

The French battleship Bourges Merchant was moored in the dense fog of the Firth of Forth, which was only a mile away from Edinburgh. The traces of the French warships were perfectly covered.

Baron de Eppenelle stands on the poop of the carrack, holding a splinter of wood, part of the 25-gun battleship's broken mizzenmast.He looked not far away, and the remaining five ships of this small fleet all looked dilapidated.When they left Le Havre they were a fleet of 22 ships, most of them sunk after a storm in the North Sea, and fragments of these ships drifted from the Dutch coast to Norway.Such a big storm made the well-equipped English fleet return to the port for shelter, which gave them a chance to arrive here, but the price paid was shocking.

"Everything is ready, Your Excellency." His adjutant came to him.

"Counting the crew, there are only a little over 1000 people left." The baron patted the adjutant on the shoulder, "I expected losses, you know, I can even accept the loss of half of the 4000 people. But now this situation . . . " He sighed. "Frankly, Charlie, I don't think we have much of a chance."

"It's not your fault," said the adjutant, "and as long as those Scots do what they promise, our chances are good."

"I hope so." The Baron sighed again. "If we fail, what will His Majesty say?"

"Your Majesty knows that this is a gamble, and there are winners and losers in gambling." The adjutant said in relief, "Your Majesty will not be furious because of the chips of 4000 people. France can still afford to lose this." He looked at the Baron's With a pale face, he added a rebellious sentence, "After all, he lost all his pants in Padua back then.

The baron gave his subordinate a warning look, and the other party immediately shut up.The baron turned his head and looked in the direction of Edinburgh City, "What if nothing happened?" He muttered to himself, "If those Scots didn't succeed, what should we do, should we go back the same way?" He looked With this broken fleet, these damaged ships will never be able to make another long voyage to the North Sea. In addition, as the weather improves, the English patrol boats will go to sea again. If they are intercepted, they may have to go directly to the sea. The white flag is hoisted... "I really don't know how we're going to get back to France."

"I think we must land," said the adjutant. "These boats are no different from floating garbage."

"Are we alone against the English?" The baron smiled mockingly. "I admire your courage, my friend."

"I only said that we must land." The adjutant smiled, "As for what to do after landing, you have the absolute right to decide."

The baron looked at his adjutant coldly, but he finally said nothing.

"May the Scots succeed," said the adjutant.

The baron nodded, "I hope so." He stared motionlessly in the direction of Edinburgh. Over their heads, the thick fog had begun to lift slowly, and the sun seemed to be coming out.

……

Young Brother Sturgeon stared feverishly at the burning fuse—the long wire had burned out, and the twenty-odd thin wires it connected to had burned almost to the end.He remembered the story of David and Goliath, a mortal man defeating a mighty giant.Now, this scene is happening again, and this time David is not a shepherd, but a weak monk, and these thin fuses are his catapults.With a light touch, the giant of the Kingdom of England was wiped out, he laughed, and maybe he will be worshiped by people in thousands of years, just like David.He thought of the famous statue in Florence, of which there was an etching in the archives of the monastery, bought from Prague.What a wicked work!It is the embodiment of lust and guilt.He still remembered that when he saw it for the first time, he almost ran out of the archives in horror, but this sin followed him, and he was thinking about what was drawn in that painting all the time, even in his dreams, which made him wake up. When he came, his face was red and his ears were red.He whipped himself like crazy in the snow, trying to atone for his sins, but in the end he stole the etching out of the archives and did something...crime with it.Maybe today he will be able to atone for his sins?However, a thought popped into his mind—how would an artist describe himself thousands of years later?Could it be that some people think that he is that... sinful?Would someone even use those works to do the same thing?This thought plunged him into boundless fear.

Then he fell on his knees again, and began to say the Rosary even louder.