monarch

Dr. Hoyt walked carefully to the queen's bed, bent down, and took a breath of the queen.He turned around with a look of horror on his face, "Madam passed away!"

The dignitaries in the room looked at each other with the same horror on their faces.The deathbed confessions of the first and second queens were like dropping a bomb in the house, making their thoughts extremely confused, as if they were wrapped in a leaden veil.The whole room was as quiet as a tomb, there was no moonlight outside the window, and the candles in the room were flickering eeriely, reminiscent of the abnormal silence before a disaster in nature.

Gradually, as the audience in the room came to their senses one by one, their eyes turned to the Lord Protector himself.He looked pale, obviously overwhelmed by the magnitude of the blow.His eyes were bloodshot, and he stared blankly at the body of the first queen on the bed, which was gradually getting colder.

"Your Excellency, Lord Protector." After more than twenty seconds, the king's voice broke the deadly silence first, "How do you respond to this horrific accusation?"

The protector wiped the sweat dripping from his pale forehead with his hand, he didn't say a word, looking like a wounded beast that fell into a trap.

Bishop Gardner already had a solemn expression on his face at this time, and he couldn't wait to put the last nail in the coffin of his old enemy, "Dear Lord Protector, are these appalling accusations all true?" Is it true? It was you who murdered His Majesty the late king. It was because of his holy family that you jumped from an ordinary nobleman to the chief minister of the kingdom; Together, killed your sister-in-law? Are these accusations made by the first queen all true? Please answer!"

After a brief absence, the Protector finally regained control of his emotions, and once again put on a haughty look on his face. Some people would interpret this look as righteous indignation after being offended, but more people would take this look See it as a bluff.He didn't even look at Bishop Gardner, but looked at the king and knelt on one knee, "Your Majesty, this ridiculous and vicious accusation is undoubtedly a conspiracy planned by my enemy."

At this point, he finally cast a timely glance at Bishop Gardner.

"This kind of ugly behavior is not only an insult to my reputation, but also a blasphemy to His Majesty the late king... I request His Majesty to severely punish the mastermind behind all this, and find out the identity of this enemy who hides in the shadows and dare not see the light. And what exactly does he intend to do?"

The king picked up the small bottle handed to him by the first queen and shook it at the Duke Protector, the liquid in the bottle rolled up into a small vortex, "The first queen provided evidence before she died, do you have any evidence? "

"I've never seen this bottle, and it has nothing to do with me!" the Duke Protector replied stiffly.

"Dr. Hoyt." The king turned to the doctor at the side. At this moment, he was trying to shrink into the floor like a groundhog, "Is the description of this medicine and its efficacy by the previous queen true? Can you prove that the previous king Did your Majesty and Lady Herbert, and your Majesty the Queen, die from the effects of this poison?"

"Your Majesty and Mrs. Herbert died of strychnine-induced poisoning. I am willing to swear this in any court." Dr. Hoyt paused for a few seconds, "I have participated in His Majesty's previous work. As for the treatment after a stroke, I must say that I did not consider the possibility of poisoning at the time...but now I recall His Majesty's symptoms, which are indeed quite consistent with the effects of this drug."

The Duke Protector's face was ashen, "This is not enough to accuse the chief minister of the kingdom."

At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside the door, there were men's scolding, and women's crying.

The door opened, and two guards dragged a young woman in a maid's attire into the room.As soon as they let go, the woman fell to the ground, covered her face with her hands, and sobbed softly.

"What's the matter?" asked the king in astonishment.

The leading guard bowed, "Your Majesty, this woman tried to escape from the manor, and we found this on her." He unfolded a small dirty package in his left hand, and dozens of gold coins rolled out of it Come out and land on the ground with a tinkling sound reminiscent of a wind chime hanging on a verandah.

"Who is she?" The king looked at the butler standing at the door of the room. The poor old man stood there bewildered since seeing the first queen died.

The old butler walked up to the young woman like a puppet, "She is the cook of the kitchen, Your Majesty, Evelyn Button."

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please be merciful." The woman suddenly raised her head and crawled towards the king, trying to hug the king's leg.The guards standing on both sides of her quickly pulled her back.

"If you want me to be merciful," said the king, his face livid and obviously very displeased, "please explain your behavior. Why did you run away from the manor, and where did these gold coins come from? The money is worthy of Your income for several lifetimes."

The woman flinched and looked at the Duke Protector beside her, with a begging look in her eyes.

The Duke Protector took half a step back, with an expression of avoidance on his face, as if the woman was some kind of dirty trash.

"My lord, I beg you, please help me!" The woman suddenly changed her target, crawled to the Duke Hu's side, and hugged the Duke Hu's calf, who was too late to get out of the way, "Tell me, what's wrong with me?" There will be no, you must have a way to save me, please!"

The Duke Protector kicked the woman away, she let out a wail, knelt on the ground clutching her stomach, sobbing.

"Your Majesty." The Duke Protector sneered, "I think you must be able to see that this is another shameless conspiracy plotted by my enemy!" He was trembling all over, it was hard to tell whether it was out of anger or fear, "I have never seen I have passed this woman, and I have never said a word to her!"

"Why do you say that!" The woman suddenly yelled loudly, her face flushed strangely, "Didn't you call me with your brother and let me go..." At this moment, she seemed to finally realize What, with a look of terror on his face, he covered his mouth with both hands.

"Speak, girl!" Bishop Gardiner jumped out quickly, "What do they want you to do? Tell me quickly! God is merciful, and he will consider your repentance, and I believe His Majesty will do the same." He glanced at the king as he spoke.

The king shrugged noncommittally.

"Your Majesty, I will say anything, please spare my life, Your Majesty!" The woman cried again at Edward.

"If your testimony is valuable, I think the court can handle it at its discretion." The king said coldly.

"I have been Sir Thomas' lover for the past two years." The woman began to speak without hesitation, and her bluntness made many people frown, "Half a month ago, Sir Thomas asked me to wait at the servant's exit of the house at night. Him, it's happened many times. He'll pick me up there in a buggy, and we'll go to the nearby village, where he bought a farmhouse, and we'll..." The redness on her face more and more obvious.

"What to do?" Bishop Gardner would never let go of any opportunity to embarrass the Seymours. "Is it adultery?"

The woman nodded shyly, and she continued: "That day was the same as before. I came out through the small door of the servants at midnight, and a black carriage with no decorations was already waiting there as usual. I boarded carriage, Sir Thomas, he began to . . . tear my clothes eagerly."

Many in the room coughed slightly to hide their embarrassment.

"When he had finished, he said to me that he would take me to see a man. Our carriage drove into the village and stopped at the farmhouse we used to go to. Sir Thomas wrapped himself tightly in a black cloak , and then he threw me the same cloak."

"When we entered the room, I saw the Lord Protector sitting in an armchair in the living room... I recognized him because I had seen his face at the wedding of the first queen."

"Sir Thomas told me they knew my plight... My father was a gambler, I had two sisters and a brother to support, and my mother was consumptive, I really needed money and he would give it to me Money, if I do one thing for him..." She was trembling like a dandelion blowing in the wind, she reached into her underwear pocket with one hand, and took out a small bottle, the red liquid inside had bottomed out "Let me find an opportunity to add three drops of the liquid in this bottle to the diet or drinks of the first and second queens three times."

The king looked at Dr. Hoyt. Dr. Hoyt stepped forward, took the bottle, opened the bottle cap and sniffed it carefully.He put a few drops of the remaining liquid in a bottle of clean water, and added a few drops of pansy juice that had been prepared in the kitchen.

The liquid in the bottle underwent a familiar change, and the emerald color left no doubt that the liquid in the bottle was strychnine.

"I was horrified and was about to refuse, but Sir Thomas told me that if I refused he would lose me my job at the estate, and not only that, he would make sure that I would never find another place in a respectable home. My only destination is to be a laundress and even sell my body...I really need this job...I have no other choice." She collapsed on the ground and sobbed.

"What's next? Did you do what they said?" Bishop Gardner had fully entered the role of interrogator at this moment, and took the initiative to assume the responsibility of interrogation.

The woman nodded, "Yes, sir... I work in the kitchen and have easy access to the queen's diet, so I add three drops to my drink every other day, the first time is in lemonade, the second time Once in wine, and third in orange juice."

"However, after these three times, although the first queen was sick in bed, she was still alive. Sir Thomas lost his patience. He felt that I had betrayed him and threatened to make my whole family pay the price... I begged hard, and he Agreeing to give me one more chance...he asked me to drain the liquid from the bottle in one go."

"At this moment, the personnel arrangement in the kitchen changed. I was transferred to be in charge of cleaning the tableware, and I was no longer in charge of the food. This also made me lose the opportunity to put this liquid into the queen's diet...I was very anxious , but there is really no other way.”

"One day, while I was washing my glasses, a thought came into my mind; since I had no way of touching food and drink, I might as well do it on the tableware. I found some of the most beautiful Venetian crystal glasses that the queen used, Spread the liquid in the bottle on the wall of the cup layer by layer and let it dry." A strange smile suddenly appeared on her face, and the blue blood vessels on her face looked like spider webs, which looked like hell in the eyes of others The ghost crawled out, "The next day, Mrs. Herbert suddenly ordered to bring wine to the queen's room. I immediately took three such glasses and gave them to the attendant who was looking for wine."

"Not long after, news came from upstairs that Mrs. Herbert had died, and the first queen was about to give birth... I knew I made a big mistake. I poisoned the wrong person. Sir Thomas and his brother will definitely not let go mine."

"Sir Thomas gave me a sum of money as a deposit, and we agreed to pay another sum after the business. I have been hiding these gold coins in my bedside table, so I intend to take these gold coins tonight when there is confusion. Fleeing, I didn't expect to take it..."

She was suddenly speechless.The poor maid held her throat with both hands, as if to let go of the invisible hand that was strangling her throat, and the look of horror on her face was even more terrifying than before.

Her body fell backward stiffly, making a dull sound when it collided with the ground, as if someone had thrown a sack into the warehouse.

Dr. Hoyt rushed to her, looked down for a few seconds, and shouted, "She's poisoned!"

There was a gasp of horror from the crowd, and their eyes looked at the twitching woman on the ground for a while, then at the livid-faced Lord Protector, and then at the expressionless king.Their minds have been completely confused by the series of events that have unfolded tonight.

"How did she get poisoned? What kind of poison?" The king finally broke the silence.

"I think...it's the same poison, Your Majesty, strychnine." Dr. Hoyt stood up, and the woman stopped convulsing and lay quietly on the ground. "She's dead."

"How did she get poisoned?" The king asked again, and everyone looked at the doctor curiously.

The doctor leaned down again and examined the woman's hands and mouth, and then he began to examine the woman's clothes and her belongings.

When the doctor picked up a gold coin, her expression suddenly changed.He carefully wrapped the gold coin in a handkerchief, took it to the bedside table, put it into another bottle of clean water, soaked it for a while, and then dripped pansy juice into it.

The liquid in the bottle turned green again.

"Someone put poison on the gold coins," said the doctor. "She must have touched those gold coins when she packed them just now. I noticed just now that she covered her face and mouth with her hands. She must have ingested the poison at that time."

Everyone took a few steps back in tacit understanding, away from the corpse and the pile of gold next to it.That alluring gleam of gold was now seen as the cold gleam of Death's red eyes, which made one shudder.

After a while, the king finally spoke, "In view of the current situation, I think it is necessary to form a special court to investigate the role played by His Excellency the Lord Protector in this series of unfortunate events." His tone was very Calm, as if discussing today's weather, but this calm voice is more dizzying to many people's ears than the rumble of cannons.

The Lord Protector looked like a wild beast that had fallen into a trap. Although his fangs were still baring ferociously, there was clearly despair in his eyes.He tightly held the hilt of the sword with his hand, and looked at the door restlessly with his eyes, as if weighing the probability of escape.

The guards drew their swords one after another and surrounded the Duke Protector in a circle.

"Please don't do anything irrational." Robert also drew out his sword, and the sharp edge of the sword gleamed coldly.

A look of despair finally completely filled the face of Duke Protector.He drew his sword and threw it on the ground.

"I think Bishop Gardner is the right person to preside over this investigation." The king looked at the bishop beside him, and the joy on the bishop's face could no longer be suppressed.

"I thank Your Majesty for your trust." The beaming bishop bowed sincerely.

The Duke Protector's face turned from livid to gray.In politics, the truth is always meaningless. Whether the Lord Protector committed this heinous crime or not, the king's appointment of Bishop Gardner, the Lord Protector's sworn enemy, to investigate one thing: he wanted the Lord Protector to be convicted. Proved guilty.No matter from his personal political views or from the perspective of pleasing the king, Bishop Gardner will convict the Lord Protector at all costs.

"As the first step in the investigation, I would like to ask His Majesty to allow me to arrest Sir Thomas Seymour." Bishop Gardiner glanced at the Lord Protector triumphantly, "As a key person in this case, he must provide many important information information."

The king nodded, and the Lord Protector turned even paler: his younger brother was never known for his determination.

"Send a message to the sheriffs of all counties across the country to put them into a state of martial law, especially Somerset County." The king ordered, Somerset County is the fief of the Lord Protector, and the king's approach obviously has deep meaning .He looked at Robert again, "Let the Guards take over the defense of various important locations in London." The Guards are just a prototype now, but they are enough to deter some Xiaoxiao who want to take the opportunity to make trouble.

"Before the matter is clarified, you have wronged His Excellency the Lord Protector to stay in the Tower of London for a while. I will instruct the chief of the Tower of London to give you the most comfortable treatment. You are not a prisoner, but his guest." The king looked Lord Protector, added.

"I will work day and night to ensure your honor is restored as soon as possible." Bishop Gardner smiled like a crocodile with its mouth wide open.

The Lord Protector did not look at the bishop, he silently bowed slightly to the king, and left the room surrounded by guards.

After the Lord Protector, the King also left the room, followed by his favorite Robert.

The rest of the people in the house couldn't wait to escape from the house visited by the god of death, but when they passed the three corpses in the house, these dignitaries and dignitaries were all cautious, for fear that their movements would be too big, attracting people who might still be alive. The attention of the god of death who wanders in this room.