Chapter 88

When the Queen of England, far away in London, learned that the wedding was about to take place, she was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

In the original history, the Huguenot leader Coligny had a close relationship with King Charles IX of France. In order to make Protestantism one of the orthodox faiths in France, he had been encouraging the French king to wrest power back from his mother.

Queen Catherine the Great, having held power for a long time, could not tolerate such a thing happening. So she contacted Coligny's archenemy, the Duke of Guise, who represented Catholicism, and together they took advantage of the fact that the wedding had brought together the important Huguenot figures in Paris to quickly assassinate them all. Then, they launched a storm of massacres of Huguenots throughout Paris, following the white crosses that had been drawn in front of the Huguenots' homes.

Perhaps Queen Catherine the Queen Mother wanted to quickly settle the situation, which is why she used the simple and brutal method of assassination to deal with the enemy. But whatever her intentions, the subsequent developments certainly exceeded her expectations.

This blood-soaked wedding unveiled a false peace, completely exposing the conflict between the Huguenots and the Catholics, plunging France into a vortex of religious war for the next decade or so, and even causing it to show signs of disintegration.

In the current timeline, due to the butterfly storm, Mary is unsure whether this massacre will break out again.

Her uncle, the Duke of Guise, did not die from the assassination attempt a few years ago, but because of her, the Queen of England's niece, he was even more out of favor within the French court than in his previous life, and might not receive another invitation from the Queen Mother Catherine.

Even if Queen Catherine the Queen Mother invited him to participate in the assassination, the old Duke of Guise, mature and steady, having lived for so long in the court filled with intrigue and power struggles, might not have made the massacre as brutal as it has been in history.

As for the original Duke of Giuseppe, her cousin, he should still be living his carefree life as a young master, having a romantic relationship with Princess Margaret, without the burden of avenging his father's death, and without a deep hatred for Admiral Collini.

Clutching the letter from Ambassador Melville to France, Marie was caught in a fierce internal struggle.

From a purely self-interested perspective, she should have stood by and watched, or even sent people to France to instigate conflict between Catholics and Huguenots to ensure the massacre occurred. This way, France would be preoccupied with the Netherlands and wouldn't be able to continue fighting Britain on the border.

But if she acted on her personal conscience, she couldn't just stand by and watch those innocent civilians lose their lives...

After a long while, Mary let out a soft sigh and finally decided to follow her heart.

The St. Bartholomew's massacre killed nearly 100,000 people. In Paris, from elderly people with gray hair to pregnant women and young children, anyone who believed in the Huguenots could not escape death, even if they had not done anything wrong. How innocent those common people were, yet they became innocent victims of the struggle between the royal family and the nobility.

After sitting quietly in her study for a while and making up her mind, Marie rang the bell, summoning the messenger who was responsible for delivering messages to the royal family. She ordered him to immediately go to Paris, France, to give the latest instructions to the ambassador to France, Melville:

—Visit the Duke of Guise and tell him to temporarily cease the struggle against the Huguenots, especially around the time of Princess Margaret's wedding, and to be sure not to clash with Admiral Coligny, so as to avoid causing great turmoil in France due to religious conflict.

— Concealing his name, he secretly sent letters to the high-ranking Huguenots, warning them to be wary of assassination attempts.

—Always keep a close eye on the situation in Paris. If one day he discovers many white chalk crosses in the city, he should immediately spread rumors throughout the streets and alleys to warn Huguenots to take refuge. However, he should be careful to maintain his identity when doing these things so as not to be discovered by the French royal family, lest it backfire.

She was far away in Britain and couldn't intervene much, so she could only remotely direct the actions of the diplomatic ambassadors and try her best to prevent the massacre from happening.

"Hopefully we can stop it..." Mary muttered to herself after the messenger left, but at the same time a thought popped into her mind: what if we can't stop it?

If the St. Bartholomew's massacre could not be stopped, then this would be a good opportunity for Britain to advance into France.

Mary heard the cold voice of reason within her own mind speak.

...

On August 18, 1572, a wedding was taking place inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Marguerite de Valois, dressed in a jewel-encrusted corset, listened calmly as the bishop recited his marriage vows, her expression cold, her eyes red and swollen, refusing to look at her husband beside her.

The young French princess truly lived up to her nickname, the Pearl of Valois. Her exquisite and beautiful appearance was as stunning as a blooming rose. Whenever a banquet was held, she captivated half of the court's nobles with her smile and whispers, just like the Queen of Scots many years before her.

Now, on the most important day of her life, she showed no joy whatsoever, unlike a typical bride who would be shy and expectant.

Several years ago, when she was just beginning to experience romantic feelings, she fell in love with her childhood friend and heir to the Duke of Guise, Henry I de Lorraine. However, due to political reasons, she was separated from her by her brother and mother, and Henry I was forced to marry another woman.

It is already painful to be unable to marry the person she loves, but what is even more painful is that she is now to marry a worldly "enemy" in order to ease the increasingly sharp religious conflicts in France in recent years.

In terms of secular power, she was a princess of the Valois dynasty, but her husband was born into the Bourbon family and was the Valois's most powerful rival for the throne. In terms of religious faith, she was a Catholic, but the court she would one day rule and her husband were both Huguenots. In terms of personal relationships, she had no romantic relationship other than with her childhood sweetheart, the Duke of Guise, but her future husband already had a multitude of mistresses...

After the bishop on the high platform finished reciting the wedding vows, he began to ask the two newlyweds if they were willing to become husband and wife to each other. After receiving King Navarre's answer, he then looked at the princess.

"Your Highness Margaret, would you be willing to marry King Henry IV of Navarre and become his wife?" the bishop asked with a smile.

The bride, dressed in her finest attire, remained expressionless and refused to answer the question for a long time, which caused a murmur among the nobles in attendance and made Henry IV, who was standing to the side, begin to look displeased.

Behind Princess Margaret, Duke Henry of Anjou's expression changed. To ensure the wedding proceeded smoothly, he forcibly pressed down his sister's head.

“Agree quickly, Margot, now is not the time to throw a tantrum,” Henry whispered in her ear.

“…” Margaret said in a flat tone, “Yes, I do.”

That's it. What other chance is there for my life? I'm just caught in a tug-of-war between my husband, brother, and mother, a pawn representing peace... Margaret said to herself.

Royal weddings are very elaborate. After the ceremonies in the church, there are celebrations that last for several days. Nobles revel day and night in the palace to celebrate the union of the newlyweds.

As she and her husband attended these celebrations with polite smiles, Margaret's gaze wandered through the crowd, finally landing on the young Duke of Gisele, whom she longed to see.

He looked utterly dejected and dejected, yet also seemed unusually energetic and invigorated. He stared intently at Margaret, his eyes burning with a fiery passion and boiling with an abyss. Then, he silently mouthed to the newly appointed Queen Navarre.

“Wait for me…” said Duke Giss.

Once I've wiped out all those damned Huguenots...

Under the bright sunlight, Margaret, arm in arm with her husband Henry IV, suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation.

...

On the third night of the wedding, as the church bells rang, the young Duke of Guise led his soldiers into the residence of Huguenot leader Collini, personally piercing his throat with a spear, and then throwing Collini's body onto the lawn of the Louvre's gardens for the court to see.

Meanwhile, the entire city of Paris was engulfed in a bloody massacre.

In the streets and alleys, Catholics, wearing white crosses symbolizing their identity, frantically hunted down Huguenot Protestants as if they had lost their minds. The Huguenots trembled and hid everywhere, but were eventually dragged out like rats. The Catholics laughed and slit their throats before throwing them into the Seine, shouting "Long live the King! Long live God!"

"Long live the King! Long live God!"

In Paris, the bells of Saint-Germain-des-Prés echoed along with these shouts.