monarch

A person's life is only a few decades, but a building made of marble can exist for hundreds of years.If there is a sense of self in Whitehall, then the ancient building that has seen countless tragedies and comedies must also be bored by the same drama that has been staged countless times in recent years in the Queen's Bedchamber.

For the sixth time in more than a decade, the queen's chambers have once again looked like a tomb.This house seemed to have been cursed, and it seemed that everyone who lived in it would have a hard time dying. When they moved in, they were immersed in happiness, full of ambition, and proud of the king's love for them and their good luck; Going out with a discredited reputation, or a cold corpse: Catherine of Aragon faded and fell in love; Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour died on the delivery bed to give birth to a son for the king; Cliffs Anne left in embarrassment, discredited; Catherine Howard was beheaded in the Tower of London.The current owner of the house, Catherine Parr, also seems to be coming to her curtain call, and it doesn't look like she will do so in a decent way.

There are only about half of the queen's maids left, and the rest have resigned or taken long vacations for various reasons.The downfall of a queen is like the sinking of a large ship, which creates a huge eddy on the surface of the sea, and if the drowning person does not swim far enough, they will be sucked down together.And now it looks like it's time to jump off the boat and do whatever it takes to keep yourself alive.

In the center of the room, the queen sits with her remaining ladies-in-waiting, listening to her sister, Lady Herbert, read, which was one of the favorite activities of the learned queen, and she often reads with them, Then have a discussion and make a note of the points she finds meaningful.However, the queen, who has been fond of religious and philosophical books recently, is no longer willing to discuss such books, but has replaced all the books in the reading meeting with poetry collections and story books that no one can find fault with.

It was a sunny summer afternoon, and the bright sunlight streamed into the room through the windows, making the whole room look warm.The house has been completely redecorated since the Queen moved in, with the ornate, frivolous decorations of the Catherine Howard era removed and replaced with pale wood paneling and shelves filled with rare books There is also a simple marble fireplace.Those richly decorated gold armchairs imported from France were put into the storeroom and replaced by sofas and chairs upholstered in plain brocade.The white roses that were plucked in the morning in the flower room were placed in a blue Chinese vase, which looked serene and elegant, just like the queen's personality, or to be more accurate, just like her personality displayed in public—— A learned woman, all the more graceful with age.

"The fields are white with the heavy ears of corn without fallow, the rivers flow with milk and the nectar that the gods drink, and the golden honey flows from the holm oak trees." Mrs. Herbert finished reading Ovid's "Metamorphoses" ", she took a breath, looked up at her sister, and found that she was so distracted that she didn't even notice the disappearance of the reading aloud.

"Your Majesty?" Mrs. Herbert called softly.

The queen turned her head to look at her, her eyes were a little dazed, she seemed to have forgotten where she was, after a while she seemed to finally come to her senses, with a stiff smile on her face, "Ah, a beautiful poem, thank you Your reading, my dear sister."

Mrs. Herbert looked at the queen worriedly, and she waved her hand to the other maids. They stood up as if they had been pardoned, saluted the queen, and then ran out the door.

Only the queen and her sister were left in the room, and the queen sighed self-deprecatingly, "I feel like a leper now, and everyone avoids me."

Mrs. Herbert stood up, sat next to the queen, and held her sister's hand, "The matter has not reached that point yet," she comforted the queen, "Your Majesty just seems to want to give you a warning."

"I think Catherine Howard thought the same way back then." The Queen sneered.She turned her head to look at her sister, Mrs. Herbert was taken aback by her look - the queen's face was pale, her eyes were like a pool of stagnant water, and had lost all vitality.

"You are different from Catherine Howard." Mrs. Herbert's voice hesitated, "You have done nothing wrong in Scotland. The king cannot govern in a chaotic situation, and the queen's regent has no legal problems. Besides, you were at that time Didn't do anything... everything was arranged by the Crown Prince."

"Law?" The queen looked at her sister, "I broke the same law as Catherine Howard - we both made the king unhappy. In this country, your majesty's likes and dislikes are the highest law." She looked at The bookshelf is full of books, "he gave these books to me. When the king is happy, he is willing to discuss religious issues with me. When he is not happy, it becomes my sin!" Filled with tears, Mrs. Herbert quickly handed over her handkerchief, and the queen wiped the corners of her eyes, "Hertford is right, he just wants to find a nanny for himself, and it's just a matter of discussing the problem with me." Just trying to amuse myself, my views and opinions don't matter at all! What a fool I was to think I could actually do something with that influence."

"It's all Gardner's tricks," the queen controlled her emotions, she grabbed the handkerchief in her hand fiercely, almost tore the poor piece of silk, "in order to be regent, he colluded with Mary Princess, you want to restore Catholicism, so you will use me as a breakthrough, and then it will be the Earl of Hertford's turn, maybe he still wants to support Princess Mary as queen!"

Mrs. Herbert glanced at the closed door, leaned close to the Queen's ear and whispered, "The Earl of Hertford told me that he is willing to try his best to help you out of trouble."

"Help me? He is helping himself." The queen sneered, "Her wife has met with that Anne Asker much more than I do. If I fall, do you think he can dig himself out of the quagmire? ?”

"The Earl of Hertford seems to be suggesting to me that he has something to do with Bishop Gardiner."

"Even so, he won't use that thing on me, he will just wait for the best opportunity to knock Gardner down in one fell swoop, he doesn't care about my life or death. In order to get the position of regent, he won't care Anyone's life or death." The queen stared bitterly at the portrait of the king on the opposite wall, "These people are all devils!"

There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Herbert hurriedly flirted with the queen.

The queen wiped her reddened eye sockets, stretched out her hand to straighten her hair, and sat up straight. "Please come in." She raised her head and looked towards the door.

The door opened, and another maid walked into the room, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry, but someone is looking for Mrs. Herbert outside." She seemed a bit hesitant to speak.

"Looking for me?" Mrs. Herbert was a little surprised, "I didn't make an appointment with anyone today?"

"What does this mean?" The queen was also very surprised. "Mrs. Herbert is talking to me. What is more important than my affairs as a queen?"

"It's Sir Ritchie, he's..."

"I know who he is, Bishop Gardner's dog," said the Queen coldly, as if talking of some disgusting reptile.

The maid didn't dare to look at the queen, she clasped her hands together nervously, and looked at Mrs. Herbert like a frightened animal, "Ma'am, he said...he came to arrest you."

"Arrest me?" The blood on Mrs. Herbert's face disappeared instantly, her mouth was opened wide, and she even looked a little funny, "What did I do?" She stared blankly at the queen, as if she had completely lost her ability to think.

The queen's face turned red all of a sudden, and she stood up abruptly, "This is too much!" The queen always tried to look amiable, and this was the first time she lost her composure in front of outsiders, "This is really against me!" Insult, I will never allow it." She raised her skirt and rushed towards the door like a warship sailing.

In the outer drawing room, the maids huddled together in horror and hid in the corner, watching Sir Rich order the guards to search the room.The door of the cabinet was opened roughly, the contents inside were left on the ground, the drawers were turned over in a mess, and the Queen's books were the hardest hit, many of them were torn to pieces by the rude guards, even those precious manuscripts None are spared.

"What are you doing!" Seeing this scene, the queen could no longer suppress her emotions, "I order you to stop immediately!"

Sir Rich walked up to the queen, "Your Majesty, I have received an order to search your bedroom." He waved his hand, and several guards bypassed the queen and went straight into the queen's living room.

"How dare you! Whose order is this?" the queen asked sternly.

"It's an order from the Privy Council, and His Majesty has already approved it."

"It's too much." The queen seemed to have been punched in the chest, she panted violently, "I don't know what is worth searching in my room!"

"You have been accused of possessing prohibited books."

"It's slander! You can't break into a queen's chambers on that ground."

"I am sorry, Your Majesty, but there is nothing I can do." Sir Rich was unmoved, and he turned to Mrs. Herbert behind the queen, "Madam, I am sorry, but I have received orders. Arrest you in name." Two guards stepped forward and grabbed Mrs. Herbert's arm.

"No, you can't!" Mrs. Herbert struggled violently. "I didn't do anything! Why?"

"Someone has seen that you have seen the heresy propagandist Anne Asker who has been executed. We need to investigate you."

"This is so absurd!" roared the Queen. "Being arrested for seeing someone is unheard of! It is completely illegal and I will sue Your Majesty!"

Sir Rich sneered, and he took out a document from his pocket, "This is the arrest warrant, Your Majesty, and you will find His Majesty's signature under it."

The queen's hand was shaking, she held the document tightly, the edges of the document were a little cracked, "No, I don't believe it! This document is forged!" She looked at Sir Rich fiercely, "I'm going to See Your Majesty!"

"I think you will find that His Majesty will not be visiting today." Sir Rich snatched the document from her, folded it and stuffed it back into his pocket, "You don't want to rush over and disturb His Majesty's rest, do you?" ? That won't do you any good."

A guard came out of the Queen's living room, "Sir, I found this on the bookshelf." He handed Sir Rich a small book with a red cover.

Sir Rich opened the book and read a few pages, with a smile on his face, "The Bible? The English version of the Bible?"

"Is there something wrong?" The queen raised her head higher than usual.

"Parliament has already passed a bill prohibiting the translation of the Bible into English, and prohibiting anyone from possessing an English translation!" Sir Rich said coldly, "Why are there such prohibited books on your bookshelf, Your Majesty?"

"His Majesty the King knows this!" The Queen shouted angrily, "I even showed him this book! Your Majesty also said that the translation of this book is very good!" She stretched out her hand to grab the book, However, Sir Rich took the lead to take a few steps back, leaving the queen in the air.

"This is just your one-sided opinion." Sir Rich called a guard, "Keep this book away carefully." He bowed to the queen, "If you have no other orders, I will leave first, and I will leave now." Going to report to His Majesty." He waved his hand, and two guards pulled Mrs. Herbert out.

"Your Majesty! Help me, I didn't do anything!" Mrs. Herbert cried, and she struggled violently, but her two arms were firmly grasped by the guards' iron-like hands.

"Stop!" The queen grabbed Sir Rich's arm, "Ask me if I have any other orders? I have! Let go of my sister immediately!"

"Unfortunately, ma'am, this cannot be done. But I am willing to do what I can for you." Sir Rich broke the queen's fingers from his arm.

"You are disobeying your queen's orders?"

"I am sorry, but my allegiance is first and foremost to His Majesty the King, and I am sorry, Ma'am." He saluted the Queen again and exited the room.

Mrs. Herbert's cries echoed in the corridor, grew farther and farther away, and finally died away.

The queen watched Sir Ritchie disappear behind the gate, and she looked as if she was going to catch up, but her feet were as motionless as if they were nailed to the ground.The blood on her face gradually disappeared, she became pale, and then turned gray again, and then suddenly her legs went limp, and she passed out on the ground.The golden crown on the top of the head slipped from the hair and landed on the marble floor, making a crisp sound.