monarch

The sun had already sunk below the horizon, the silver light of a full moon illuminated the blue sky, and the Milky Way flickered in the sky, as if it seemed to be within reach.

Somerset House, the stately residence of the Lord Protector, became the natural property of the King after his downfall, when the building was still a gigantic building site.His Majesty the King took up the unfinished work, completed the building at his own expense, made it the headquarters of the Praetorian Guard, and built the barracks of the Praetorian Guard around it.

The last trace of heat from the day has subsided. On the long table under the pergola in the garden, the servants have prepared a sumptuous buffet dinner. Except for the guests attending the ball, all soldiers of the Praetorian Guard can come to the garden Enjoy the delicacies cooked by the royal chef, and the generous expenses are all paid by the generous majesty-the "Financial Modernization Act" passed three years ago stipulates that the king can levy special taxes without the consent of the parliament, but the collection of special taxes The tax period must not exceed 24 months.For today's well-funded royal family, such an expenditure is not a big expenditure that hurts muscles and bones.

The floor-to-ceiling windows of the palace in the middle of the garden are wide open, and the sound of music flows out of the windows, making the passers-by around the bedside flower beds stop curiously; and the air with the fragrance of flowers in the garden also pours into the room from the windows, Give the parched lungs of the room a breather.

The hall was quite stuffy. On the wall of the room, there was a jar filled with ice a few steps away. The sweaty guests who were dancing on the dance floor gathered on the ice cubes during their breaks. Beside, breathing the cool air contentedly.

The ballroom was full of people. Compared with the nobles who pretended to be reserved, although the guests from the commoner class seemed shy on weekdays, they quickly entered the state.An hour later, under the influence of alcohol and music, many people had turned into wild bees and butterflies, flying wantonly on the dance floor.

Most of the nobles huddled together in small groups, covering their mouths and whispering.Although some nobles walked into the dance floor to dance, and even some libertines were happy to invite beautiful women from commoner backgrounds to dance together, but for most nobles, this occasion was undoubtedly extremely embarrassing.They huddled in the corners of the hall like pins and needles, anxiously looking at the wall clock, wondering when it would not be an offense to the king to leave.

His Majesty was sitting on the throne at this time, did he speak a few words to Robert who was standing beside him.His Majesty opened with two dances, one of which was with the daughter of an East End retailer, and the poor girl passed out from excitement before the end of the song and had to be carried Go out into the garden for some fresh air.

Edward picked up the small gold cup on the small table next to him, and drank the wine in the cup.Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his fair face flushed a little. It was unknown whether it was because the room was too stuffy or because he drank too much wine at the banquet just now.

"It's a real pain." The king narrowed his eyes slightly, and slightly loosened the loose collar around his neck. "The collar is so tight that I can't breathe." He waved his hand towards Robert, looking like a A lazy cat is waving its paw.

Robert's face also turned red, but in this stuffy environment, everyone looked rosy from the heat, so the king didn't feel anything unusual.

"You got the collar crooked," Robert heard himself whisper, and he went around behind the king and lightly straightened the complicated collar.When his fingers inadvertently touched the skin on the back of the king's white neck, his fingertips felt a burning sensation as if touching a flame, which made him immediately withdraw his hand.

Robert refastened the collar. "I loosened it a little, so no one would have noticed it," he said, walking back to where he was, hiding his hand behind his back.He heard his heart pounding in his chest.

Five years later, this pair of former friends now looks no different from countless pairs of monarchs and favorites that have appeared in history.From the point of view of the court, as the king grew more and more mature, it was only natural that His Majesty's childhood companions should start to pay attention to the difference between monarch and subject in front of the king, just like the previous king and the Duke of Suffolk.Those words spoken in the past, those childhood memories became the tacit secret of two people.For Robert, it has been a long time since he had such close contact with the king.

As Edward grew older, he looked more and more like a king, and even his closest friends had difficulty seeing what the king really thought.All Europe called him the "Sphinx of Whitehall," and no one knew what he was thinking.Some people think that the King of England is scheming and jealous of him; others think that he is playing tricks and scoff at it.

However, as far as Robert is concerned, as a servant of the king, he has no right to make any demands on His Majesty.When their relationship inevitably came to that seemingly destined end, all he could do was go with the flow.In their relationship, the king will always be the party who takes the initiative. If His Majesty feels that what happened before is just a child's play, then he can only accept it.

The sound of footsteps interrupted Robert's contemplation. He raised his head and found a pair of young men and women walking up to the king arm in arm and saluting His Majesty.

"My brother, Sir Guilford Dudley," Robert quickly pointed to the young man, "You remember, Your Majesty."

"Ah, yes, the heir to the Duke of Northumberland. We haven't seen each other for a long time." The king extended his hand and shook hands with the young man. "You are a rare guest in the palace."

"I prefer country life." The future Duke of Northumberland smiled shyly. "Besides, one politician from our generation is enough." He looked at his younger brother with that handsome face With a sincere smile on his face.

"And Miss Jane Gray." The king looked at the young woman again, "I haven't had time to congratulate the two on their happy engagement."

Miss Jane Gray smiled sweetly. Now she has shed the innocence of a young girl, and gradually has the charm of an adult woman. Coupled with the temperament of reading poetry and books, her beauty is elegant and not gaudy, just like A lily blooms by the stream. "Thank you, Your Majesty." She looked at her fiancé affectionately, and the other party returned the same enthusiastic gaze, as if they were the only two left in the hall, "I feel very happy, even too happy... ...to the point where I fear God will think I've got too much and take it away from me."

"If you are happy, I am happy," said the king. "When will your wedding be held?"

"October, Your Majesty, just after Princess Mary's wedding." Guilford Dudley bent slightly again, "We sincerely hope that Your Majesty will visit."

"I feel very honored."

Lord Guilford quickly thanked, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" He took his fiancée's hand and glanced at his younger brother. After seeing the expression of approval on Robert's face, he seemed relieved and took his own The fiancee resigned.

The king looked at the backs of the couple bouncing like a pair of little orioles, and couldn't help laughing, "It seems that you are his brother." He said to Robert.

"Gilford, like my other brothers, had little interest in politics."

"But it doesn't matter, I have you, Dudley, enough." The king said casually, completely oblivious to the fact that Robert's ears were already red as if stung by a bee.

"It's a good story for a political marriage to have such a perfect ending." The king sighed, "Your brother is really a happy man."

Like other aristocratic marriages, the marriage between Guilford Dudley and Miss Jane Gray naturally has nothing to do with love.Originally, the Duchess of Suffolk wanted to send her daughter Jane Gray to the king. For this reason, she took the way of Queen Catherine Parr and let Miss Jane Gray live with Princess Elizabeth in Hatfield palace for education.However, the scandal five years ago caused the duchess to lose her wife and lose her army. Not only did she not get her daughter favored by the king, but she was involved in a palace secret, so Miss Jane Grey's The price plummeted immediately.

Since her daughter could not be queen, the duchess had no choice but to find another way out. In the end, she reached an agreement with the chief minister, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, to marry her daughter to the Duke's eldest son, Guilford. After that, Miss Jane Gray was the future Duchess.For the Duchess of Suffolk, this is undoubtedly a decent marriage, and it also saved her face.In the Duke's opinion, although Miss Jane Gray's reputation has been damaged, she is still the third heir to the throne. Letting his son marry her will undoubtedly make his grandson a potential candidate for the throne, and it is naturally a huge profit. business.

Two years ago, under the arrangement of both parents, the two young people were sent to live together in a manor in Northumberland to cultivate their relationship.After the initial indifference and embarrassment, this pair of shy young people unexpectedly sparked a spark of love, and now they are about to enter the palace of marriage together.

"Your brother is very lucky," said the king softly.

"Yeah, he's really enviable." Robert's voice sounded a little low.

The king raised his head and looked at Robert in surprise. He heard the abnormal tone of the other party. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the noise from the other end of the hall.

A woman's shrill curses came from the other end of the room, mixed with the cries of girls and the shouts of men.The sound reached the king's ears, and His Majesty frowned in displeasure.

"Go and see what's going on." The king waved to the servants standing not far away.

The servant hastily put down the tray in his hand and trotted all the way to the other end of the room. After about 5 minutes, he appeared in front of the king again out of breath.

"It is the Baroness of Maldon, Your Majesty."

The king looked at Robert with some doubts, "Who is this?"

"Wife of Lord Maldon of Devonshire, your Majesty, you remember that beer-bellied, red-haired fellow?"

"Ah, it's his wife?" The king clapped his hands, "I remember now."

"This baroness is a distant relative of the Duke of Norfolk," the servant said hastily, and his courage was strengthened when he saw that the king was not angry. "His husband was only a brewer before he was knighted. The widow's shabby household is just to raise his own social status."

The king nodded. "So what happened to her?"

"Just now, Baron Malton took advantage of his wife's absence to invite the younger sister of a Guards officer to dance. The girl is not outstanding, so no one invited her all night, and she looked like she was about to cry."

"So she said yes?"

"Exactly. But within 20 seconds of the dance, she screamed that the Baron had groped her breasts."

"Baron Malton was ashamed and angry, and at this moment his wife came back, and she was a famous tigress!" .”

The king had a look of disgust on his face, "And then?"

"Then Baroness Maldon beat the girl indiscriminately and called her a slut... I dare not repeat those words, lest I disturb His Majesty's hearing."

"When the girl's brother heard the news, he and his friends rushed over immediately. A group of officers of the Imperial Guard naturally refused to let it go. Now it seems that things are going to make a big fuss!"

The king patted the armrest of the chair angrily, "There is never a moment of leisure!"

"Let me deal with it, Your Majesty." Robert said quickly.

"No, I'll go in person." Edward waved his hands and stood up, "I want to see who dares to act wild at my birthday party." His voice sounded quite annoyed.

The two walked one after the other through the crowd that automatically parted ways, and walked towards the center of the whole farce.

In the middle of the crowd at the place where the incident happened, a girl was sobbing against the shoulder of a young man wearing a Janissary uniform, and there was a clear slap print on her face.The young man kept comforting the young girl. Beside them, a group of strong men in military uniforms were glaring at a gorgeously dressed middle-aged woman on the opposite side.

The middle-aged woman was wearing a long bright red dress. Her figure was quite impressive, and the huge bustle increased her size several times, making her look like a stranded female whale.The fat face was as plump as a grapefruit, and a lot of blush was applied on the cheeks, which seemed to be allergic.

Seeing the king coming, the officers of the Imperial Guard quickly saluted the king, and the sobbing girl quickly stopped crying, wiped the tears from her face, and curtseyed.

There was a mocking smile on the lady's face. She looked triumphantly at the girl who was holding back her tears for a few seconds, then turned around, as if she had just noticed the king's arrival, and curtseyed. Her skirt collapsed to the ground, making her look like a pudding that had been slapped flat on the ground.

"Your Majesty." There was a mouth-shaped gap in the spherical face, which looked like a preying crocodile showing its fangs to its prey.

"You must be Baroness Maldon." The king took a step back, obviously not enjoying her appearance.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the baroness said in a pretentious voice as if being strangled, "I am overjoyed that you still remember me." The voice made many people around turn around disgusted. Open your head.

The king turned to the group of Praetorians on the opposite side again. He glanced at them coldly, and these strong men lowered their heads involuntarily.

He walked up to the girl who was still half kneeling on the ground, and stretched out a hand to her.

The maiden looked up at the king in amazement.Her appearance is not outstanding, she has some unkempt brown hair, it can be seen that she has taken care of it before, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.Her skin was fair, but it also made the freckles more obvious, which also explained why no one invited her to dance all night.

The young man who had just hugged her coughed a few times, and the girl finally came to her senses, grabbed the king's hand awkwardly, and stood up.

"What is your name, madam?" asked the King.

"Susan Stanley, Your Majesty." Miss Stanley's face flushed red.

"You must be Miss Stanley's brother." The king turned to the young man again.

"Your Majesty, William Stanley, Lieutenant of the Imperial Guard." The young man hurriedly knelt down on one knee, "I am willing to serve Your Majesty."

"These must be your colleagues."

Those strong men hurriedly reported their families, and all four of them were officers of the Imperial Guard.

"Now, please tell me, what happened? Who dared to cause trouble at my birthday party?" The king's words made everyone around him shudder—it sounded like His Majesty wanted to make a fuss about it .

"Your Majesty, it's shocking!" Baroness Malton quickly yelled, "I just went to the sofa next to me to rest for a while, and when I came back, I saw this slut leaning against my husband. rubbing his chest against his hand... such behavior is really a stain on the honor of the royal family!"

Miss Stanley covered her face, and wept again.

"This is a vicious slander!" The veins on William Stanley's neck burst out. "My sister is a lady. She is very timid and would never do such a thing! Obviously it is the damned The fat beer barrel teased her! Now someone wants to turn black and white just because he is a nobleman!" He glared at the baroness.

"Your Majesty, please be aware!" Miss Stanley stammered, sobbing, "I just...wanted to come with my brother...to see the world. I waited for a long time, but no one came I dance..." She pointed to Baron Malton who was hiding behind her wife, "Only he invited me, I was very happy at the time, but he started to move his hands and feet as soon as the dance music started. I was scared and pushed him away, I yelled loudly... at this moment that terrible woman appeared and knocked me down without saying anything...I swear what I said is true..."

The king nodded to him reassuringly, "Okay, miss, please calm down first." He looked at Baron Malton, "Mr. Baron, it's your turn. What's your explanation for this matter?"

Baron Malton moved out from behind his wife step by step, looking like a huge snail crawling on the floor.There was no trace of blood on his fat face, and beads of sweat dripped down the fat folds on his chin.

Baron Malden glanced at his wife's warning eyes. He turned his head and looked at the king. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out of that big mouth.

"Are you going to say it or not?" the king became impatient.

"I..." Baron Malton had just had time to say this word, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, he rolled his eyes and passed out on the ground.

Many people covered their mouths and tried not to laugh. Even Robert couldn't help smiling.The face of the baroness next to her had been distorted into a weird shape due to embarrassment, her nostrils were wide open, and she was panting heavily.Presumably, if it weren't for the attention of everyone, she would have rushed forward and trampled on the fat on the belly of her husband who fell to the ground with the soles of her shoes.

"It seems that Baron Malton is not suitable for this kind of occasion." Contrary to the others, the king did not smile at all, "Send the baron and the baroness home."

Baroness Malden's face suddenly turned pale, and she was about to speak when the king spoke again:

"There is no need to invite them to such occasions in the future."

The guards hurried forward, and before the baroness could say anything, she and her husband were dragged out of the hall together.

The crowd whispered, because of a word from a commoner woman, an order was given to expel a nobleman, and even shut the gate of the palace to them forever. This kind of thing is really unheard of.Many people are secretly wondering whether the king's move is sending a signal to the aristocrats, warning them that their life, death, honor and disgrace are all on the king's mind?

Before the crowd calmed down, the king looked at Miss Stanley again and dropped another bombshell, "You said that no one invited you to dance, so let me do it." He held out his hand again, "Would you like to dance with me?" Shall I dance, Miss Stanley?"

Miss Stanley felt her mind go blank, completely oblivious to the surprised gasps of the people around her.It wasn't until her brother pushed her back that she woke up like a dream, "Of course, Your Majesty." She made a clumsy curtsey and took His Majesty's hand.

The king took Miss Stanley's slightly trembling hand, and under the surprised eyes of everyone, the two walked onto the dance floor, and the dance music sounded again, dragging them into the vortex aroused by the music.