Versailles is worse than being queen

◎You are not afraid, what am I afraid of? ◎

"...Your Highness Antania?!" Archbishop Fann blurted out in disbelief.

The chaos at the scene seemed to be suddenly choked by the throat.

Many people took a breath and lowered their voices and asked, "Your Highness? Which Highness?"

For most of the people present, no one knew which His Highness this was.But seeing that she is not more than ten years old, people do a little calculation and know that she is probably one of the children of the emperor and his wife.

Still the youngest ones.

"Guys, I've been vaccinated against cowpox."

The princess didn't seem to hear the cardinal's words, but she just untied the cloak expressionlessly, handed it to the stunned guards, and glanced at the crowd just a few feet away.

She was obviously just a young girl, but people turned their eyes away when they came into contact with those light blue eyes.

"I, Grand Duchess Maria Antonia of Austria, will take part in the public trials of the smallpox vaccine."

The princess spoke slowly, her voice was still immature, but it seemed to have an irresistible authority. "Doctor Sweeten, please vaccinate me against smallpox."

"It's the queen's will."

Hearing this, a layer of cold sweat immediately appeared on Dr. Sweeten's forehead.

His Majesty's will?

This……

Can the Queen really do this?

The little princess secretly asked Dr. Sweeten to vaccinate herself with vaccinia. He first reported to the queen, and only after getting permission did she inoculate her with vaccinia.

That's because vaccination with vaccinia is not dangerous.

Inoculatable smallpox is another matter entirely.

Although Antania has recovered from the vaccinia she had been vaccinated with, theoretically speaking, she should never get smallpox again—but she is the princess of Austria after all!

In case anything goes wrong...

Dr. Sweeten looked over subconsciously, and met Antanya's calm eyes.

Those bright and beautiful blue eyes seemed to capture his soul: "Dr. Sweeten, I don't think you should keep everyone waiting too long."

Sweeten, who was almost dragged to be burned to death by the excited crowd just now, shuddered.

At this time, the doubts and curses in the crowd disappeared completely.

The whole place was dead silent.

An Austrian princess, is she really going to participate in a public experiment in person?

before the masses?

To prove to people the effectiveness of the vaccine?

unprecedented.

Everyone couldn't help stretching their necks.

Dr. Sweeten felt that his hand was almost not his own. It seemed that he had relied on the instinct of practicing medicine for so many years. He picked up the small silver knife dipped in a little smallpox pulp, and landed on the little princess's white arm.

Many people in the crowd swallowed nervously.

Everyone watched this scene without daring to blink - a noble princess, the queen's own daughter, was vaccinated against smallpox in front of everyone.

In fact, they did not see the little princess vaccinated. Strictly speaking, this was not a complete public experiment.

But at the moment, no one raised any doubts.

After all, everyone knew exactly what a terrible disease smallpox was.

The little princess has a fair and smooth face, without a single scar on her body, and has obviously never been infected with smallpox.

Such a small, pure, and weak body is vulnerable to the huge and heavy horror image of smallpox in people's minds for centuries.

Some people even had the urge to break through the blocking of the royal guards for a moment and ask the doctor to stop——

But when the silver knife cut through the skin as delicate as cream, and bright red blood oozed out, the princess's clear and beautiful face was calm, and she didn't even frown.

Only the eyelashes fluttered slightly.

"His Royal Highness Antania? She, which princess is she?" Someone asked in a low voice.

"...is the youngest princess." Someone replied with a trembling voice.

Amidst the whispers gradually rising like bubbles in the crowd, the always silent young boy from Eastern Europe was also vaccinated against smallpox.

Nicholas calmly watched the silver knife cut his skin, and sighed silently in his heart, in the [-]th century when the level of science and technology was insufficient, such a crude and crude method was used for vaccination.

This is also impossible.

After all, the production of medical injection needles requires extremely high-precision steel plate rolling, cutting, welding, fine grinding and other technologies, which are far beyond what the current industrial level can accomplish.

He recalled the scene when he was summoned by the queen last night.

The wise and well-known monarch in Austrian history looked at him condescendingly, and unhurriedly revealed his real name, family background, and even the fact that he was assassinated in the Winter Palace and used the Austrian princess to escape from St. Petersburg. to Vienna.

As expected of the ruler of Austria, he has fully grasped the origin of his identity.

"I heard that you have been inoculated with cowpox and recovered." The queen looked down at him, her voice slow and oppressive.

Nicholas nodded, not nervous at all: "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Tomorrow's public experiment, if there are any problems with those two volunteers, please replace them."

"Of course, I never force others. If you want, I will arrange a suitable status for you."

The queen's hand wearing a huge ruby ​​ring gently caressed the golden handle on the throne, her tone was calm and gentle, but chilling.

"—If you don't want to, I'll just send you back to St. Petersburg."

Nicholas thought that he was assassinated in the Russian imperial palace because of his identity as soon as he traveled to this era, and was then threatened by the Queen of Austria, so he couldn't help but shook his head amusedly.

Young master Nicholas, your life is really wonderful.

It's a pity to think that I can't use this legendary experience of my own to laugh at my old friend who wrote time-travel novels.

He resisted the urge to shrug disrespectfully in front of the queen.

In the center of Maria Theresa Square, guards stopped a few people who wanted to rush up to take a closer look not far away, and stood in front of them.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Nicholas turned his head and winked at Antanya, who had stopped bleeding beside him: "Are you afraid?"

The princess glanced at him and snorted slightly: "You are not afraid, what am I afraid of? The worst thing is to die together - you are so young, you definitely don't want to die."

Nicholas almost laughed and shook his head: "Unfortunately, I'm afraid I lack the reverence I should have for death."

After all, he had already died once.

However, he himself did not hesitate to agree to the queen's deal, because he had the common sense centuries later to know that cowpox did prevent smallpox.

But she doesn't know it.

Is it just because of the trust in his desire to survive?

What a reckless and willful little princess.

Hearing his words, Antanya turned her head and stared at him for a few seconds.

Then, she smiled slightly: "coincidentally, me too."

The little princess had a smile on her face, but there was no light in her lowered eyes.

In Vienna at the moment, the emperor was embarrassed by it, the queen was annoyed by it, but everyone regarded the protest of the Viennese people as an unseemly but innocuous thing.

After all, even the kings of the French Bourbon royal family who intend to create a superior image often face embarrassing situations where the people rush to Versailles to express their dissatisfaction; the Habsburg royal family has always been known for being friendly and easy-going, and this is not the first time see you.

She was the only one who could glimpse a storm that would have appeared on the European continent 30 years later from this turbulent crowd, a storm that was deliberately stirred up and exploited.

That storm will devour countless lives and will also overturn the entire world.

With a "ding dong", the silver knife collided with the silver plate.

Dr. Sweeton finally finished all the work.A crisp sound suddenly pulled his mind back, and only then did he realize that the clothes on his back were soaked.

At this moment, Antanya stood up and faced the crowd: "Everyone saw it."

Her small figure was surrounded by thousands of people, her voice was not loud, but it struck people's hearts like an angel's bell, with an unimaginable holiness and majesty.

"Both of us were vaccinated, so we didn't grow horns, and we didn't turn into cows."

"We've also been vaccinated against smallpox, but we'll survive."

indeed.

Standing in front of everyone, these two children seemed to attract the gentlest sunshine in Vienna.Not only did they not turn into cows, but they were so beautiful and spotless, as if they were angels who did not belong to the world.

It made people almost unable to hold back the tears, and sincerely wanted to bow their heads and draw the sign of the cross on their chests, thanking God for bestowing such a beautiful hope on the world.

"Did you really see hope?" Someone couldn't help but mutter to himself.

hope.

Smallpox is like the god of death that comes every cold winter as scheduled. People can only tremble in fear under its hands, repent for the sins they have committed, and pray to God to save themselves.

One in four people who contracted smallpox died, and the remaining three were also disfigured most of the time by the scars left by herpes.

But people still survived with such difficulty, one century, two centuries, 1000 years...

No matter how long the darkness is, as long as you are alive, there is hope.

"Doctor Sweeten!" A thin voice suddenly sounded from the edge of the crowd, "Can you please vaccinate my son..."

It was a middle-aged woman in shabby clothes. The scarf wrapped around her head had been squeezed a little loose, but she didn't bother to tidy it up. She just desperately dragged a little boy about six or seven years old in front of her to squeeze forward.

"Our street is already empty because of the smallpox... My man is dead, and my eldest daughter and son are also dead. I beg you to save my youngest son..."

Doctor Sweeten was taken aback.

With this woman at the beginning, the crowd froze for a second, and then began to squeeze forward frantically: "I want it too!"

"Doctor, please help me!"

"I want to be vaccinated!"

It is well known that princesses living in a well-guarded palace are naturally much less dangerous than they are from smallpox.

Since the noble princesses were all vaccinated, and the queen used unparalleled courage and courage to let her own daughter demonstrate the effectiveness of this preventive method to the public, then the vaccinia vaccine must be life-saving!

In a blink of an eye, the crowd who were still angrily yelling that the royal family disregarded human life and wanted to spread the curse of the devil with cowpox among the people boiled again, but they were scrambling to get the cowpox vaccine.

The royal guards had to quickly put up a posture to stop the frantically crowding crowd and prevent people from being trampled.

"Line up! Line up! Come one by one!"

At this moment, an angry voice exploded in the square: "This is depravity! Betrayal! Have you all been bewitched by the devil!"

Everyone was startled, and turned their heads to see Archbishop Fann, whose face was flushed with anger.

"What kind of vaccine... This is the apple that the devil placed in the world to lure you! This is against God's will, and those who are vaccinated will go to hell sooner or later!"

Seeing the venerable archbishop get angry, the surrounding crowd subconsciously took a few steps back.

The Holy Roman Empire is a Catholic country, and even the queen is a devout believer.At this moment, when the cardinal said such words, people couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Although they want to live, they also fear that their souls will go to hell after death.

The priests in black who followed the archbishop lowered their heads and crossed themselves: "God bless."

After all, this is the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Holy See has supreme power here——

"God's will?" A clear voice suddenly sounded from behind them.

It was the young princess who spoke.

There was no fear on her face, and there was even a trace of sarcasm that didn't match her age, "Master Bishop, I think the merciful God should be happy to see his children survive the terrible disease."

Archbishop Fann's expression changed.

He never expected that the young princess would dare to refute him in public.

He immediately remembered that the princess had just said that it was the queen's will to let her participate in the public experiment, and his face became even more gloomy.

——Is the Austrian royal family ready to confront the church?

"The reason why people get sick is because of their sins." The cardinal said, gritting his teeth, "Only God can decide who can survive the terrible smallpox. Human beings have no right to interfere with God's creation."

He looked down at the young princess condescendingly.

Others don't know, but he knows it very well.Antania is just the queen's youngest child, and she has almost no sense of presence in the entire royal family.

Such a child could not have had the courage to openly rebel against the authority of the gods.

Antanya looked at him quietly for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

The look in that look made the cardinal startled, and he felt the hairs on his back—no, this must be an illusion.He has lived for more than 50 years, and as a respected religious leader, it is absolutely impossible for him to be frightened by a child.

"My lord bishop, as far as I know, you have noble virtues and have never suffered from smallpox." The little princess said with a smile.

For some reason, Archbishop Fann's scalp was tense, but he didn't say a word.

But the priests beside him nodded and answered for him: "Of course. We have witnessed the deeds of Archbishop Fann, and he will definitely become a saint in the future—"

"Since you said so," Antanya interrupted them bluntly, "Dr. Sweden just happens to have smallpox patients' pox here—you might as well plant some of them now."

She returned from the deepest part of hell, no longer fearing the devil, nor revering the gods.

What's more, the cardinal whose child molestation scandal broke out decades later?

The well-behaved little princess seemed to think of something suddenly, and she smiled even brighter: "I believe God will definitely see your virtue in his eyes, and will never let you have any accidents."

Archbishop Fann's face suddenly became more colorful than the garden of Schönbrunn Palace in spring.

The veins on his face were bulging, and his hands were shaking under the sleeves of his robe: "You, you dare to disobey the bishop in public... You will regret your actions, Your Highness."

This vulgar, uneducated, and godless princess will definitely be punished as she deserves!

However, a timid voice suddenly came from the side: "My lord, Your Highness, she is still young, don't be angry, she...is just here to save us."

The crowd immediately scrambled to be the first to echo, "That's right!"

"The princess has a noble status, why would she need to participate in the experiment by herself? Isn't it because Her Majesty the Queen saw that the rumors in the city were too arrogant, and couldn't bear to see us being deceived by people with malicious intentions..."

The people who cowered under the sudden anger of the archbishop just now have come to their senses.

It's not what it was centuries ago.Russia in the north converted to the Orthodox Church, and Germany in the west also tore up the indulgences and turned to Protestantism.

Although Austria is still an orthodox Catholic country, people have learned from the incident of indulgences that the interpretation of the church may not necessarily be the true will of God.

To speak impiously, the threat of death from smallpox was probably more effective than the promise of the bishop.

Seeing that the surrounding crowd began to defend the brave little princess one after another, the cardinal's face became more and more ugly.

At this moment, the long hissing of horses suddenly tore apart the oppressive atmosphere in the square.

A steed with black hair galloped from the direction of the Hofburg Palace, and then a golden carriage appeared not far away.

Crown Prince Joseph, who was wearing a red court dress, reined in his horse by the side of the square. Then he saw the little princess in the center of the confrontation and quickly got off his horse.

When he rushed into the square, the royal guards guarding the edge made way for him one after another.

Joseph rushed straight to Antanya's side, and grabbed her anxiously and angrily: "Antanya! How dare you... How dare you sneak out of the palace and do such a terrible thing?! "

It's over, it's over, it's over... He looked at the surrounding situation, and his sister seemed to have planted smallpox.

How could she be so bold? !

"Your Highness?!"

Although the crown prince tried his best to lower his voice, the chief guard who was closest to them still heard this sentence.

——This little princess came here secretly by herself?Isn't this the queen's will?

Joseph was young and energetic, and worried about his sister. After scolding her, he realized that he should not scold his sister in public like this.

Anyway, she is also the biological daughter of the Queen of Austria, a noble princess.

No way, even the Queen stood up from the throne angrily after receiving the report from the head of the guard, and then asked him to ride here first, and she also got into the carriage immediately.

Fortunately, he tried his best to lower his voice, and all he heard were guards and priests.

Joseph took a deep breath, and regained the calm and majestic posture of the crown prince: "Mother will be here soon!"

"Oh? Her Majesty will be here soon?"

Archbishop Fann repeated it meaningfully, and looked at the golden carriage that slowly stopped at the edge of the square.

Turning around, he could hardly suppress the corners of his lips: "Very well, then let us wait for His Majesty's ruling."

He knew it.

Such deviant things would definitely not be the work of a pious queen.She would go to church to pray every day, and would confess to him in detail the political means she had done for this country.

His eyes fell on the little girl who lowered her head, and there was a trace of mocking pity in the unstoppable complacency.

This little princess who was not favored in the first place might not only be severely punished by the queen, but also her status in the hearts of the people would plummet.

I don't know which barbaric and poor principality will be married to in the future?

The author says:

Antanya: Guess what?