I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 89 How the King Rewarded Marie Mancini (middle)

   What does the king want to do?

   is of course what he has always wanted and has been doing.

make money.

   Although it is also to comfort the little witch who always stands by his side, but it cannot be said that one thing can only achieve one purpose, right?

The king's royal barber can also be said to be half a royal doctor. Well, after all, in this era, people are keen to use bloodletting to treat all diseases, from mental depression to hemorrhoids, from dysentery to syphilis. This is a panacea. , is a wonderful countermeasure, but also the best comfort to the patient.

So when Louis resolutely refused - fortunately when he started to get sick, he could speak freely and be respected, his royal barber was very frustrated, and he had no idea why the king rejected this wonderful all-purpose cure, for them , and for most people, bloodletting is only one of the most common treatment methods, not to mention patients, even some healthy people will often bleed to ensure that their blood, black bile, yellow bile, and mucus are the four The vital fluid components are not out of balance - like a lord who regularly asks his favorite sons and daughters to bleed himself, nearly a pint of blood (nearly five hundred milliliters) per month.

Only the barbers on the street, whose status is higher than the butchers and only lower than the doctors, and it is the doctors who are unwilling to do such despicable and dirty work, they can enter this noble profession, in Paris In the barber's shop, there will not be a window without a bowl of blood to attract customers - even if later at the request of the king, this advertisement that is always surrounded by flies and mice is banned, and they are in the door post. Put on blood-stained gauze to tell the guests how good their skills are and how busy business is.

   And the guests are always happy to go into the dark shop, get their hair cut, manicures, have their broken teeth pulled out (press fresh ones from the mouths of the poor), and bled. Of course, a skilled barber, in addition to bloodletting, will also be able to amputate, cupping (which is also a way of bloodletting), leech (same as the former), and cut abscesses...sometimes according to the doctor or the client's instructions Ask, taste blood, feces and urine to see if the person suffers from other diseases (sometimes the more responsible doctor will do this himself).

   But the king did not, except for cutting his hair and manicures, he would not allow his royal barber to touch him a penny.

The Queen's Barber had dressed himself as best he could to the king's liking-mostly clean, his hands were clean, and always rubbed with almond cream and olive oil to make sure it was soft as cotton and fragrant, he was Sprayed with perfume (of course) and risked typhoid fever to take a bath the day before the king called him, but the king didn't seem to care how much preparation he had done, and his chamberlain and first valet, Bontang, were in his presence for the king. He stood beside him during the haircut, watched his every move, and warned him secretly that someone would cut off the king's hands if he had only been scratched to the skin.

   Even he was not allowed to bring his own scissors and nail clippers, which were prepared by the king.

  The barber can be wronged.

But it seems to be different today, the king's entourage asked him to bring all his tools, and then his apprentice, he had two sons and apprentices, and he brought them both, who carried boxes for their father and their master, and boarded When they got into the carriage and waited for the palace, they were both fresh and panic. The older one even stumbled and almost fell. Bontang watched with cold eyes, but the youngest was calm and looked at those flexible eyes. , he wasn't petrified or at a loss.

They were the first to be brought before the king, and to the barber's surprise, there was also a beautiful maiden with long black hair and cream-colored skin, matching the pale blond color that is now fashionable in the court. She looked a little uneasy, but the king held her hand, so the barber immediately guessed that this might be Miss Marie Mancini, who was said to be the king's favorite, and he hurriedly greeted her. He bowed respectfully forward, and his sons did the same.

   "I want you to come today." The king said, "I want you to do something for me."

   "My honor, my expectation, Your Majesty, please order, and I will do my best."

   "I hope you can follow my request," Louis reached out and touched Mary's hair: "Make a delicate hairstyle for this lady."

   This request made the middle-aged man in his forties hesitate for a while. As I said before, barbers only belong to men, but he had already had enough of the king's cold treatment, so he agreed without hesitation.

The first thing he did was to curl Miss Mary's black hair, which can be traced back to ancient Egypt, when women curled their hair on a wooden stick and then applied an alkaline solution containing a lot of borax. Mud, after drying in the hot sun, knocking off the mud and washing off the attached dust, the hair will show a wonderful curl, and their men also use a soldering iron to give their hair and beard an enviable look. The ancient Greeks also used the cloth wrapping method to bend their hair; the wealthy ancient Romans used an empty copper cylinder with a heated metal rod inserted in the middle to curl their hair.

Of course, the king prefers to be able to use cold perm to deal with curly hair. Unfortunately, the most basic chemical solution has not been invented. At this time, the most commonly used torch is the torch, but the torch is also very dangerous, but the ancient Romans The way deserves a second or two, so what the king asked his royal barber to use was the method of curling the hair around a hollow letterbox and inserting a hot metal rod in it - slow, but safe, Mary sitting in full sun In front of the window, strands of hair were wrapped around the letterbox, unable to move, and they had to maintain the same posture for a long time. However, Louis was reading documents by her side, talking to her, and occasionally feeding her honey water, candied fruit, or any other snack that girls like, making this long "sentence" not only painless, but even appearing to be too happy. too short.

When Mary's hair had turned into beautiful curls from the shoulders down, the king asked the barber to comb them, but all the curls should be fluffy and neat, and then in the crown-like curls and tightness. Diamond hairpins were also allowed to be inserted in the middle of his hair, and when he got here, the barber found himself more awkward than ever, because he really did not dare to touch the hair of the king's lover, and Mary was also nervous, her back arched, His shoulders shrugged, his neck straightened unnaturally, the barber tried unsuccessfully several times, and almost ruined the curls he had managed to make—he was sweating profusely, and when he saw the king's displeased When he frowned, he didn't know where to put his hands. He wanted his eldest son to replace him, but his eldest son shook his head desperately while holding the wooden box. At this time, his younger son stepped forward and asked clearly. Said: "Can you let me come, father?"

  The royal barber hesitated. He didn't plan to let his younger son get started. His younger son is only twelve years old this year. Although he has been studying with him for a while, he is a noble man! The king was by her side, and there was no room for error.

   "Come on," said Louis.

   So the youngest son of the royal barber took his father's place. His hands were small and soft, and because he was only twelve years old and barely a child, Mary's body slowly relaxed.

Just to meet the king's request, he still tried several times. Fortunately, this young man was careful and serious, so the curls were only messed up once or two. , the king took out a row of diamond hairpins - which he had put together after dismantling several Louis XIII coats, and carefully inserted these twelve hairpins above the curls, then made of lace and satin The flowers, Mary now looks like a fairy walking out of the jungle, wearing a gorgeous wreath, the diamonds in the wreath are sparkling dew.

   (end of this chapter)