Ha ha

It was already late at night when Bai Qi returned to Katie's apartment.Her house is on the second floor, and there is an elevator in the apartment, so it is convenient to go up and down.He had confessed before that he would come back very late, and he also took the spare key.But when he opened the door, he saw that the light was on in the living room, and Katie was lying on the sofa half covered with a thin blanket and watching TV.

"Are you waiting for me?" Bai Qi steered the wheelchair through the door, "I'm sorry to trouble you."

"No, there is a show I like tonight." Katie smiled and stretched, "Is the traffic on the road okay?" She got up and went around to lock the door behind Bai Qi, and was stunned when she saw him clearly.The clothes and pants on Bai Qi's body were all crumpled, clearly messy.

Visiting friends?

Katie glanced at him and said nothing, but the fleeting teasing smile on her face did not escape Bai Qi's eyes.

"Well, it went well." Bai Qi replied calmly, without any intention of defending. Katie couldn't help laughing when she saw his face "it's just as you think".Then she suddenly remembered something: "You said you would introduce Chris to me later"

"Yes, if there is a chance."

Since it will be introduced to family members, it is not just for fun. Katie's smile deepened: "Invite him to my house for dinner some night, I will be very happy to see him."

"Okay, I asked him if he had time."

Bai Qi went towards the bathroom. Katie looked at the back of his wheelchair and said suddenly, "Qi, I'm so happy for you."

There was a mix of sadness and concern in her voice, like a comforting mother.Bai Qi turned his head to the side and hesitated for a while, as if he didn't know how to respond to this warm feeling.

Eventually he just nodded. "Thank you, Katie."

"You are a good boy and deserve happiness. I believe Shuying will be happy for you too."

……

"Good night." Bai Qi said softly and left.

The warm atmosphere just now dissipated without a trace, and Katie, who was frozen in place, sighed.After so long, and already started a new relationship, that name is still taboo.

She participated in Bai Qi's growth as both a mother and a friend, and it can be said that she entered this person's heart more deeply than anyone else.Even so, she still couldn't say she understood him.

At least there is a glimmer of hope, she thought optimistically.

******

It was dark.A few wisps of feeble sunset light leaked through the gaps in the blue and black clouds, and the night seemed to be forcibly lowered in advance.In the distance where the sky and the earth meet, there is a faint sound of thunder falling, rolling in the stuffy air.

Richelieu was standing at the window, opening an urgent message in the dim light.He casually threw the envelope aside, and the little black cat at his feet immediately pounced on it, stretching out its paws to fiddle with the crimson seal that had been stamped with seals.

The bishop quickly finished reading the letter, his face livid, and he crumpled it up as if venting his anger.When the urgent report was handed into his hands, the soldier who rushed to deliver it said a word: "The British are coming."

The door behind him opened slowly, and the tall and thin priest came out and closed the door soundlessly with his backhand.Richelieu turned around abruptly and asked in a low voice, "How is it?"

"It's hard to say." Joseph's face was serious, but his voice was still unhurried, "Although it hasn't gotten worse, the imperial doctor said that if the fever doesn't subside tonight, maybe..."

Richelieu raised his hand and rubbed the center of his brows: "I'll go to pray after the meeting."

"You should sleep for a while." Joseph said, bowing his head, "By the way, it's better to take the potatoes away, so that people can see you standing outside the king's ward with the black cat, and there will be a new chapter in the legend of the devil. .”

He leaned over to pick up the kitten, and the potato wriggled to keep him from touching it.Joseph picked up the envelope under the cat's paw: "What is this?"

"The British are coming." Richelieu threw the crumpled stationery to him. "The battle report just received shows that Le Island has fallen. Buckingham is one step ahead."

Louis XIII aggressively drove himself to La Rochelle, but he fell ill on the way two days after his departure.While France pointed the finger at La Rochelle, Britain immediately attacked the Ile de Re.The Duke of Buckingham led an army of [-] people across the strait, landed directly on the Isle of Ley and launched a surprise attack, which caught the [-] French defenders by surprise.

The French army was forced to retreat to the St. Martin's Fort, and Buckingham immediately led his troops to surround the fort layer by layer, apparently intending to consume them to death inside.

In this way, the Protestants in La Rochelle saw the hope of freedom again, and many even left the city to join Buckingham.The city government stood still and waited and watched, negotiating terms with France and the United Kingdom, greedily asking for the maximum benefit.

Richelieu strode towards his temporary study, and a guard behind him trotted to catch up with him: "Your Excellency, La Rochelle has sent representatives to negotiate again!"

"Ask if they still insist on demolishing Fort Louis."

"Already asked and they said it was one of the conditions."

"Then there is nothing to talk about." The purpose of sending troops to La Rochelle was to suppress the Protestants who were trying to become independent.

"Your Excellency, they have already received news of the fall of Lei Island. They said that if they do not get the guarantee from here, they will open the city gate to Britain..." The guards broke out in cold sweat.He is not deaf, and during this period of time spent here, there have been bad rumors in his ears.

The teacher was unfavorable, the people were panicked, and the treasury was full of holes.

Now that Lei Island is trapped, it will definitely need assistance, troops and supplies, and the country may not be able to spend a penny.

What was even more frightening was that in the past few days he had been hearing his servants whispering that the bedridden King seemed to be dying.If the king falls, won't the whole country fall into civil strife again?The unpopular prime minister in front of him may be the first to step down, so how can he deal with Britain?

Richelieu stopped suddenly, and the guard who was chasing him almost bumped into him, and hurriedly stopped.

The bishop turned his head and said word by word: "You tell the representative that the king has not fallen. The Isle of Ray is ours, and so is La Rochelle. Loyalty will be rewarded, and betrayal will be paid. We must weigh before making a decision." clear."

"...Yes." The guard watched the bishop go away, trying not to show frustration.A big shot is a big shot, and even at such a juncture, they can still speak harshly.He wanted to pass on the aura of the bishop when he sent the message, but under the current situation, no matter how he felt, he lacked confidence...

The night has enveloped the four fields, and the big raindrops hit the windows.Richelieu closed the door of the study, lit an oil lamp, and picked up a pen to skillfully write the IOU.He has borrowed 150 million livres on his personal credit, but this amount is far from enough to support France, which has been weak for a long time, to fight a protracted war.

Richelieu's writing was fast and steady, as if the dead bodies lying on the Isle of Ray, the king whose life was hanging by a thread in another room, and the pressure exerted by the nobles in Paris could not shake his nib at all.

Taking advantage of the darkness, several soldiers rode fast horses, carrying letters containing different deployments, and rushed into the rain separately.

The bishop did not visit the king in the bedroom of Louis XIII, but turned to the prayer room next to the bedroom.The king is surrounded by an imperial doctor, and no news at this moment is the best news.

The black cat, Potato, was fed by the priest, and slipped silently through the crack of the door into the prayer room, spinning around beside the kneeling man, as if asking for caress.However, the man remained motionless with his eyes closed, as if he had frozen into a part of the room.

Potato played with his tail for a while, and then circled around a few times, but the man remained motionless.It yawned boredly, curled up in a corner and gradually fell asleep.

The golden cross on the wall reflects the faint firelight, solemn and silent forever.

The rain stopped and fell, and the night faded inch by inch.When the sky was blue, the door of the prayer room was pushed open.Joseph, who was leaning against the door, looked at the bishop who had been kneeling all night inside and said, "There are two pieces of news."

"Listen first." Richelieu didn't lift his head.

"The king has a fever."

The bishop slowly turned his head, and slowly tried to stand up, but his legs had already lost feeling.The priest hurried over and set him up.

"What about the bad ones?"

Joseph smiled: "La Rochelle opened fire on the French army."

Volume III He Guang