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When the crowd in the room dissipated and only the governor, the Prince of Orange and the Baron de Matisse were left in the room, the governor stood up and paced the room restlessly, her two Arms twisted together.

"I don't understand what's going on." The female governor continued like a broken dam, "Everyone can see my father's preferential treatment for you. After you inherit your cousin O Didn't my father open the door to you with regard to the title of Prince Lange? Didn't he give you a super promotion from a very young age? Don't you remember all these things?"

She did not give the Prince of Orange a chance to answer, and continued:

"When my father abdicated, didn't my younger brother Philip continue to favor you? He appointed you as the governor of the three provinces of the Netherlands, Zeeland and Utrecht, let you attend the state council, and gave you a lot of gifts Honor and money, aren't these facts?"

"Indeed, what you said is true, Your Highness." Prince Orange nodded, "I will always remember the two Your Majesties' Long En."

"Oh!" the female governor exclaimed exaggeratedly, "You mean that the way you keep in mind is to repay kindness with revenge, just like Judas betrayed Jesus, he betrayed his benefactor, isn't that true?"

"As I said before, I made a direct remonstrance with Yan, completely considering His Majesty's interests, and I was doing my duty as a loyal servant."

"Enough, enough!" cried the Governor-General contemptuously. "Please stop talking about such high-sounding nonsense... We all know the real reason. You ambitious man saw the flames engulfing the whole country, so you just wanted Thinking that maybe you can find a few pieces of gold in the ashes left by the fire. The title of prince and the seat of the council of state are no longer enough for you. What you want is to be king of the Netherlands. In order to achieve this goal, you You don't hesitate to form an alliance with the devil, burn this country to ruins, and then reign on top of these ruins! You say you are a nobleman, you say you are a loyal servant... On the contrary, you are a treacherous villain, you He is a traitor who betrays his master and seeks glory!"

She clenched her fists and rushed towards the Prince of Orange, as if to strangle him with her own hands.

"Madam, Madam, please..." Baron de Matisse quickly grabbed the sleeve of the female governor, "Today is not the time to do this."

The Prince of Orange looked like a plaster statue of a silent god, standing motionless on the spot, not even a muscle in his face twitched, only the icy sword-like light in his eyes revealed the anger in his heart meaning.

Baron de Matisse helped the governor to sit back in the armchair. When the governor finally calmed down, Baron de Matisse turned to the Prince of Orange and began to talk to the prince instead of her.

"Your Highness, I want you to believe that Her Majesty the Viceroy is not targeting you or doubting your loyalty. What she said just now is entirely out of enthusiasm for the peace and stability of the Netherlands... I think You don't want a civil war, do you?"

"I would give my life to make sure of that." The Prince of Orange nodded.

"That's good, that's good..." Baron de Mathis kept nodding his head, "Then I hope you can give us some advice to avoid this storm. If you are in the position of Her Majesty the Governor, you How will it be done?"

The Prince of Orange glanced at the female governor, and the female governor nodded reluctantly.

"If I were in the position of His Highness, I would suggest that His Majesty agree to these conditions as soon as possible. Dark clouds and lightning have appeared on the horizon, and it is still too late to turn the ship around, but if the delay continues, I cannot guarantee how the situation will develop. Already!"

The female governor's eyes widened. Those beautiful eyeballs seemed to burst out of their sockets. The pomegranate-like bright red on her lips had completely receded, and her white lips were trembling with anger, "This is really true!" It’s too much! Am I still the female governor? Is your majesty still the master of the Netherlands? Don’t I have friends and guards? Are the 15 Flemish legions stationed in the Netherlands just for display? Propose such a suggestion to His Majesty, no, no, I can't do it!" Her face showed a threatening expression, "I would rather strangle myself to death with both hands!"

Seeing that the atmosphere of the conversation was about to get out of control again, Baron de Matisse quickly stood between the female governor and the Prince of Orange.

"Your Highness, I fully understand the dissatisfaction of the nobles of the Netherlands." The baron sighed, "This edict is indeed too radical, and it is expected that the nobles will be dissatisfied with it, but As a member of the State Council, you have a clear understanding of the financial situation of the Kingdom government, and you must be able to understand that His Majesty actually has no other choice."

"When I was in Madrid, I pointed out to His Majesty the other road he could choose, and that was to make peace with the French." The Prince of Orange replied, "The French are as exhausted as we are, and their civil war between Catholics and Protestants is on the verge of breaking out. King Henry II's financial situation is not much better than your Majesty's, they need peace as much as we do. 15 troops in the Netherlands, 5 in Italy, and [-] in Navarre, we cannot afford such troops How long has it been since we got up, we need time to recuperate."

"The issue of war and peace, let your majesty consider it." Seeing that the topic of conversation gradually became a bit rebellious, Baron de Mathis quickly stopped this trend, "The problem now is that the nobles of the Netherlands The request made, these clauses are a bit excessive, right? If the nobles only want to abolish the taxation decree on October [-]th, then Her Majesty the Governor can also speak to His Majesty the King and ask him to suspend the taxation Measures... But the terms you and your friends proposed today are really important. I don't think His Majesty the King will agree even if His Majesty the Viceroy suggests that His Majesty the King accept it. You have just returned from Madrid, the late Emperor please Your Majesty regards you as his brother, and you know Your Majesty better than I do, and I think you will agree with me."

"The current situation is different. His Majesty asked for my opinion before the promulgation of the taxation decree on October [-]th. I made it clear to him that this would lead to serious consequences. The current situation proves that I am right. "

"Yes, yes, you have said it, you have foreseen it, and it is us short-sighted people who refuse to listen to the wise prophecy of your chattering Cassandra, and the disaster has come to us Come on!" The impatient female governor sarcastically said.

"Very well, madam, you now finally see the coming storm, you finally understand that disaster is coming, as Socrates said, 'know yourself', now that you understand this, then Presumably you can also understand that when a fire breaks out, it is impossible to put it out without any cost."

"Concessions are imperative if Your Majesty and Your Highness are to avoid civil war."

"What if I don't give in? You mean, if I don't give in, civil war is about to break out?" The female governor picked up the petition on the table and threw it at the Prince of Orange's face. The prince turned his head and dodged the scroll flying towards him, "This is not a petition, it is a threat, an ultimatum!"

"As far as I know, unfortunately, that's the case." The Prince of Orange picked up the petition from the carpet. "My friends seem to be on the verge of running out of patience."

"Please don't use your friends as a shield." The female governor sneered, "Everything is your friend's opinion, but you are our loyal servant, try your best to mediate between the two parties, this is you Are you going to play the role? With all due respect, your performance is extremely poor, even disgusting! If you have any sense of honor, if you are a nobleman of noble blood, as you claim to be, please give me Be honest in front of you!"

"Madam, oh, what's the matter with you!" Baron de Matisse pulled up the sleeve of the female governor again, and at the same time persuaded the female governor in Spanish, trying to calm her down.

The female governor flicked her sleeves and shook Baron de Matisse's hand away, "Your Highness Prince of Orange, you have always called yourself our loyal servant, and we have always regarded you as a loyal friend of our family. If my father Brother and brother to take care of you, you still remember a little bit of words, please tell me, which side are you on now? Would you like to be a loyal servant and a loyal friend should do in this situation matter?"

"I don't understand what Your Highness means." Prince Orange shook his head, "What does Your Highness want me to do?"

"I want you to tell the nobles waiting outside and use your influence to get them to withdraw this treacherous proposal. For those Protestants and rebels who want independence, you must know their names... No, don't Deny, I know you know who these people are! I want you to exercise your authority and arrest them all. Then you will have my forgiveness, and you will have His Majesty's forgiveness, and we will give you The same benefits as before and more! You may not have caused this storm, but you stood by and watched it grow from a few tiny black clouds to what it is now, now You are the only one who can calm this storm, and would you like to do so?"

"I think you have mistakenly overestimated my ability or influence." The Prince of Orange replied coldly, "What you ask me to do is not what I can or should do, but your government's business."

"No, it's not the government's business, it's you, and only you should do it!" The female governor took a few steps forward and grabbed the Prince of Orange's arm, the long nails on her fingers pierced deeply into his skin Here, the Prince of Orange subconsciously jumped back a step and broke free from her sharp claws.

Before the situation got completely out of control, Baron de Matisse finally managed to break into the topic: "His Royal Highness, Your Royal Highness, please calm down, both of you!" He once again used his body as a firewall between the two .

Seeing that the female governor was calmer, Baron de Matisse turned to the Prince of Orange again: "Your Highness, although the female governor's words just now were a bit impatient, they are not unreasonable. This petition does look more like An ultimatum. It is too much to ask a king to accept all the terms proposed by his subjects. It is also a humiliation to His Majesty. It is impossible for any ruler with real power to accept such an ultimatum. "

Seeing that the Prince of Orange did not refute, Baron de Matisse went on to say: "Is there any room for negotiation on the terms of this document? I think Her Majesty the Viceroy can suggest that Your Majesty accept some of the terms, and you A few requirements have also been subtracted from it, and everyone has made some concessions, what do you think? For example, suggest that His Majesty suspend the taxation decree promulgated on October [-]?"

"No, Your Excellency the Baron, it is not a suspension, but a cancellation." The Prince of Orange replied firmly, "This edict must be completely abolished."

The Viceroy let out a piercing sneer.

Baron de Matisse kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hands, "Okay, okay... We suggest that His Majesty cancel this edict, so you and your friends should be satisfied, right?"

"We can suspend other clauses for the time being." Prince of Orange said, "However, there are two requirements that we must insist on His Majesty's consent: the three-level conference must be held to prepare for the subsequent election of the Netherlands Parliament; at the same time, the Inquisition and the The Jesuits must leave the land of the Netherlands, and freedom of belief must be guaranteed."

"You say you want to protect the freedom of belief, but you also demand that the activities of the Jesuits be banned. This is unreasonable." Baron de Matisse retorted, "They are just a group of passionate Catholics who are committed to spreading the gospel of God."

"Their enthusiasm is a bit excessive. These fanatics have unconditional allegiance to the Pope and are willing to carry out any order given to them by the Catholic Church. They are a group of dangerous extremists, and the Netherlands does not welcome them."

"It's hard for me to imagine that His Majesty will accept such a request." Baron de Matisse looked at the Prince of Orange meaningfully. "Or is this what you want? An excuse to start a civil war?"

"I have stated many times that I do not want a civil war to break out." The Prince of Orange tapped the heel of his shoe on the carpet, "but if all our efforts come to nothing, then we must also accept this cruel reality."

"Okay, then we will suggest to His Majesty to accept these three opinions, and you are responsible for appeasing your friends, calming them down, and accepting this compromise, is that okay?"

The Prince of Orange looked at the female governor, with tears rolling in her eyes, and nodded weakly.

"Your Highness." The Prince of Orange bowed to the female governor again, "Your Highness mistook our suggestion as resistance, and the subjects of the Netherlands have deep respect for the Habsburg royal family. What they resent is definitely not His Majesty or Your Highness, but the tyranny imposed on them by some incompetent servants. What they want is only to cancel these tyranny, not to seek independence or overthrow the dynasty. As long as Your Majesty will return their legal rights to them, and the people will live a peaceful life under your rule with peace of mind."

"Okay, okay." The female governor waved her hands weakly, "You got what you wanted, now please go back to your friends, I think if I stay with you for a while, they will I came in with a sword to rescue you. Go back, and let me be quiet for a while, I am too tired."

"If Your Highness still needs me, I'll be ready to be summoned at any time."

"I hope not." The female governor waved her hand again, and the Prince of Orange left the room.

"Okay, okay, damned traitor." The female governor stared viciously at the closed gate behind the Prince of Orange, "This cup of bitter wine you poured for me today, one day I will let you Taste it too."

Baron de Matisse stepped forward and tried to comfort her, but the governor just walked out through the door on the other side of the hall as if he didn't exist.