Mary Su Stuart

In January 1570, London had a rare snowfall.

The icy cold wave swept across the whole city, making the New Year at Whitehall Palace even more miserable.

The sound of the death knell broke many hearts.First, the Queen of England, delivered a stillborn child prematurely—without opening her eyes, without a single cry, a child that did not survive.After that, a woman over 36 years old had a fatal hemorrhage.The best physicians in all Britain assembled and tried their best, but could not save her.

"It's really unpredictable." Bacon, the elderly Minister of the Great Seal, stomped his feet and gasped. "Who would have thought that Her Majesty Elizabeth would die suddenly..."

"Yes." Thurro Morton, the former finance minister, rushed back to see her off. "In this way, the once illustrious Tudor dynasty has come to an end..."

Lord Norris, with a heavy heart, wrapped in his cloak, walked behind with the Earl of Derby. "Your Majesty used to trust Cecil so much. At about this time, he was only negotiating with the Duke of Norfolk and a few others... After all, the Regent has always valued him... Tsk, he is really a guy who has both ways."

The Earl of Derby shrugged. "No way. Although, if counting from the list of Henry VIII's successors, it is the turn of the Protestant Lady Catherine Gray; but the queen has always disliked her, along with her son. Until not long ago, she Just came out of the Tower of London, and even her husband's family won't recognize her."

Lord Norris sighed. "Yes, in this way...with Ms. Jane Gray's lessons learned, who would dare to support her more mediocre and clumsy younger sister so easily."

The Earl of Derby looked up at the cloudy sky. "After all, His Majesty himself has also recognized the legal succession status of the regent in the Treaty of Edinburgh..."

Compared with the sad-faced Protestant supporters mentioned above, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Catholic leaders regretted the sudden death of the Queen, but they were more relieved when they thought of the new monarch.

"There is no doubt that after the regent ascends the throne, England will return to the embrace of the Holy See, and it will be just around the corner."

Old believers, such as the Duke of Norfolk, were not as optimistic as the bishops.They held many meetings and repeatedly discussed: "What actions are the other members of the Privy Council?" "A consensus must be reached as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams." Migration", "Be sure to stabilize the situation first"...

The sudden death of the Queen of England was a huge earthquake in the political circles of Western Europe—although Elizabeth has had very little real power in recent years, she is the king of a country with many variables.The big and small dignitaries in England gathered as quickly as possible in London, the epicenter, to discuss national affairs.It's a pity that the regent, the focus of their discussion, will not be able to return for a while, or even for a long time.

Later, Mary, who received the news of her greatest opponent's sudden death, had mixed feelings.

As the queen of the foreign religion, she was able to gain a firm foothold in the political arena in England, where there is no lack of national sentiment and religious antagonism, mostly based on the rough misfortune of this cousin-personal efforts accounted for only a small part.

Ever since she crossed, Elizabeth seemed to have been plagued by bad luck-in fact, accidents only happened at two important nodes.But of those two accidents, one unceremoniously pushed the Queen of England into the abyss of powerlessness; the other really and directly put her to death.

It seems that God specially wanted to make Mary Stuart.

The first time, it caused Mary's entry into the house and regent England; the second time, she simply threw the crown of England into her arms.

However, Mary does not intend to go to London in the short term to accept this gift from God.

In the eyes of the attendants of the Queen of France and Queen of Scots, these days, the hostess seems to be sitting on the Diaoyutai.In fact, Mary is calm on the surface, but she knows in her heart that her succession to the throne is not foolproof.

The Privy Council of England is by no means monolithic, and Mary Stuart's status has not yet reached the expectations of the public.There is also Spain watching from the sidelines-without the in-law relationship of Queen Elizabeth de Valois, they will inevitably be wary of obstacles to the possible merger of France and England.

But so what?No matter how much Mary covets the throne of England, protecting her body is not as important as protecting her body—although she is currently in a stable period and feels good; but before Elizabeth died, she did not dare to relax in her pregnancy management.

"So, until the baby is born safely, I will never move again." Mary swore to Francois.

With his wife's caring assurance, the French king's expression eased a lot. "Fontainbleau Palace is a good place. I, Charlie and the others were all born here. This is the blessed place of the Valois royal family, and I will definitely bless you."

Seeing his pale face, Mary also raised her eyebrows.Just at this time, the maid notified the secretary, Melville, to come to see him.After thinking for a moment, Mary stopped avoiding Francois and asked Melville to report directly.

She first praised the dusty Melville. "Come here in a hurry from London. It's been a hard journey... Please tell me what's going on there."

"Uh, when the previous secretary came back, he has reported the main information to you..."

For a long time, Melville's main task was to help Mary deal with various private matters - he often traveled around Europe under the name of a diplomat, collecting, mastering, and using some disgraceful information to make profits for his master .He rarely exchanged messages with the Queen in front of the King of France.Now, suddenly there was a special audience in the room, so he hesitated a little in his words.

"Please explain what you see and think to your heart's content." Mary tilted her head with a smile, looked at Francois, and then began to praise Melville. "A lot of details, I think, must go through your observations to restore the original appearance of things."

Encouraged by the Queen's kind eyes, Melville was quite calm. "Queen Elizabeth passed away suddenly, and the Duke of Clarence was extremely unfortunate. The 'wife-killing' scandal some time ago had already caused him to be devastated; He was born prematurely and died, and it is recommended that he be held accountable."

"But the Archbishop of Canterbury advocated peace and no more trials. 'He has suffered a heavy blow and accepted the condemnation of conscience. What he needs is to repent for the past.'The Lord Seal also agreed to deal with it in a low-key manner.' Anyway, Dudley is now If you lose your support and your status plummets, you shouldn't kill them all.'”

Melville focused on Cecil: "The Secretary of State appealed that since Dudley can no longer make waves, for the reputation of Elizabeth I and the royal family, this matter should not be delved into too much."

Mary said with emotion: "He is indeed affectionate and righteous, and tried his best to protect her...the Queen of England's Protestantism."

Cecil aside.In fact, for Robert Dudley, Mary only thought he was in the way, and didn't have much hatred for him.For Dudley, the so-called murder charges nine or ten years ago are actually very difficult to determine.Before, the Duke of Norfolk and others pursued fiercely, and public opinion built momentum. The ultimate goal was to deprive Dudley's descendants of the legal succession to the throne.Today, Elizabeth has passed away, and the royal heir has not survived——

"Hey, the dead are gone, so let the Duke of Clarence follow... be quiet and quiet."

Melville nodded. "What you mean, the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Pembroke have long understood. They agreed that you have always been magnanimous, and you must be willing to take care of the overall situation."

There was some pity in his tone. "When I left London, there were rumors that the duke was on the verge of collapse and hadn't eaten much for several days. His sister, Mrs. Sidney, also went to the bedroom to cry. Even the head maid said that the palace of Winehall was gloomy. ..."

"Poor 'sister'." There was an indescribable feeling in Mary's heart; it was not known whether the tears that fell were crocodile tears. "Tolerant, just ask Dudley to go back to his hometown to recuperate. It is best not to deduct or omit the due allowance. I remember that Her Majesty Elizabeth once designated the amount of the Duke Protector's pension."

"Your Majesty is truly merciful." Melville complimented the taciturn Francois with a sneaky glance. "England is looking forward to your return..."

"In any case, I can't leave during this time, I'm afraid I will disappoint them." Mary shook her head and held Francois by the hand. "By the way, it is said that when the Queen of England was dying... the courtiers and attendants heard her call 'Mary'?"

Melville nodded. "Yes. They wondered at first, which one... Your Majesty."

"Ok?"

At the last moment of Elizabeth's life, was the name that Elizabeth uttered out of her mouth once passed on to her sister, or the Prince Regent whom she had been wary of for many years?

Melville mentions the former first. "Her cousin, Lord Norris, explained that a long time ago, Queen Elizabeth mentioned that she would like to leave an open space next to her half-sister as a place for her to be buried after her death."

Mary lowered her head slightly, thoughtful.

Rumor has it that Elizabeth had complicated feelings for Bloody Mary.Her third mother, Anne Boleyn, abruptly squeezed out Henry VIII's first wife; she also sent Mary, the only daughter of Catherine of Aragon, as a maid to take care of the young Elizabeth.But it didn't take long for Anne to become an illegitimate daughter because she couldn't give birth to a son and was taken over by the maid Jane Seymour as the "little four".After that, Miss Mary Tudor and Miss Elizabeth Tudor (they were not allowed to be called princesses), who were 17 years apart in age, had long-term embarrassing status and could be described as sympathetic.

They were all hated by their powerful fathers, and they all experienced neglect and neglect, and occasionally they could feel a little care and love from a certain stepmother (four years in total).Because of the hatred between their two mothers for the throne and the irreconcilable contradictions of religious beliefs, Elizabeth and Bloody Mary never hugged each other for warmth.However, Henry VIII's blood was thin, which made the two of them, who had higher inheritance rights and pending marriage, had to depend on each other in a sense.

Bloody Mary has resentment, vigilance, repulsion, pride and conceit when facing Elizabeth—she once specially invited her sister to watch her childbirth (actually a false pregnancy)—and after her sister pretended to convert to the old religion, she was helpless entrusted the crown of England.And Elizabeth, who was imprisoned by her sister in the Tower of London, almost became a death row prisoner, and finally survived to ascend the throne because of her tenacity and forbearance... Experienced the ups and downs caused by her sister, learned the lessons of her marriage, and was also troubled by the problem of children, her pain for Bloody Mary Unfortunately, there is a bit of sentiment and resonance; I also miss the "thin" family relationship between them...

The above are all Mary's guesses—she knew that in the original history, Elizabeth I was indeed buried with her half-sister.In the future, the consequences will be deduced from the causes, and it will probably not be too wrong.

"However," Melville interrupted Mary's thoughts, "Afterwards, the Secretary of State and the Minister of the Great Seal jointly declared that this should be Her Majesty Elizabeth's behest, which means to ask the Regent to take the throne."

"What?" Mary felt that it was necessary to confirm whether her hearing was normal.

Melville glanced at the French king who seemed calmer than his wife, and said: "After discussing with the three bishops and the Duke of Norfolk, they are willing to announce this matter and express their support for Your Majesty as the new monarch of England."

Francois raised his eyebrows and said, "That is to say, the Privy Council has reached an agreement?"

"Generally, so."

"Really, a sophisticated and decisive decision." A smile slowly bloomed on Mary's face. "Send such a signal, and the Privy Council will send people over soon. Look at them, what kind of conditions will they give me?"