Chapter 94 Extra 3
Time flows by at a leisurely pace.
As the Queen of England's health gradually recovered and she resumed handling state affairs as usual, the undercurrents within Whitehall Palace gradually subsided, and those with ulterior motives, such as the Countess Lennox, disappeared without a trace. By the following spring, everything was back to normal.
After the funeral, the Duke of Somerset was gradually forgotten.
The man was already dead, and even his fiancée, Miss Catherine Howard, after a good cry, quickly found another suitable husband, the Earl of Manchester.
Since Seton insisted on not marrying, Mary made her the Countess of Richmond, which made her an instant favorite at court.
The hottest topic in the British royal court right now is—when will Her Majesty the Queen get married? Who will she marry? When will she give birth to a prince?
Starting with Henry VIII, who spent his entire life agonizing over the issue of his sons, English kings seemed cursed when it came to offspring, each one less capable than the last.
Edward VI was in poor health from a young age and died at the age of sixteen, without having any children.
Mary I remained unmarried due to her father's influence until she ascended the throne in her thirties, when she married the King of Spain. Due to her advanced age, she had difficulty conceiving and even caused two laughable incidents of faking pregnancy. That's all.
Elizabeth I, who followed, was only twenty-five when she ascended the throne. She was in the prime of her youth, at the healthiest and most suitable age for a woman to conceive, yet she was unwilling to even get married. Although Her Majesty the Queen claimed that she was making such a sacrifice for England, any discerning person could see that her father's murder of his wife had left a deep scar on his daughter...
There's no need to dwell on the past.
People were speculating that now that Her Majesty Mary of the Stuart dynasty was queen, she should get married and have children soon, adding to the royal family and leaving behind several heirs and backup heirs.
Unfortunately, Her Majesty Mary was also indifferent to important matters such as marriage and having children, focusing only on strengthening the country. In the early years, there were rumors that she would choose a husband, but in recent years even those rumors have disappeared.
Initially, the nobles in the court were not in a hurry. Her Majesty was young and beautiful, so why would she worry about not finding a husband or having children? Could she really bear the loneliness of being alone? But as the Queen passed the age of thirty, people suddenly realized that Her Majesty was no longer young!
Cecil was one of the most worried about this important matter.
God is my witness, Lord Darnley was simply not fit to be a monarch!
“You should decide on your husband as soon as possible, Your Majesty. The longer you delay, the more difficult it will be to have children,” Cecil advised the Queen privately.
Mary remained noncommittal, saying, "Once Lord Daenley's eldest son is born, I will bring the child to the court to raise him."
Cecil was startled and asked incredulously, "Are you really going to hand over this glorious kingdom, which you have worked so hard to create, to the bloodline of Count Lennox?"
"It's just to prepare for any eventuality," Mary said casually.
"Besides that, I have another matter to discuss with you. A merchant ship from the Ottoman Empire has arrived in Plymouth, and a blond man who claims to be the Duke of Somerset has disembarked. He has already been received by the local officials."
"The officials there came to inform me that they strongly suspected this man was a fraud... Although the body was never found, the Duke of Somerset was seriously injured at the time, and it is said that he was hit in the chest by a stray bullet. He had almost no chance of survival, let alone the possibility of traveling to the Ottoman Empire and back alone."
“I also think that man is a reckless and greedy swindler, but this is a serious matter, so I have come to ask for your instructions. Your Majesty, would you like to summon that man who claims to be the Duke of Somerset to London for a look?” Cecil said with difficulty.
Cecil did not notice that, as he spoke, the Queen of England had unconsciously risen from her chair.
Mary closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again. Her mask-like calm expression shattered and reformed in an instant before she spoke in her usual manner: "...Have the local officials bring that man to London as quickly as possible. I want to verify his identity myself."
...
At the Queen's command, no one dared to delay.
Officials in Plymouth arranged for the fastest carriage to travel day and night, bringing the blond man to London, where he met the Queen before meeting all of the Duke of Somerset's acquaintances.
In the minutes leading up to their formal meeting, the Queen of England and Theton waited together in the garden.
“What would you do if that person were an imposter, Your Majesty?” Seton asked.
She had little hope of finding out who the man was, and she hadn't forgotten the serious illness the Queen had suffered last winter.
“Execute that imposter who’s posing as a hero, then go back and continue discussing the mint reforms with the Chancellor of the Exchequer…” Mary paused, then said, “…Don’t worry about me, Seton, life goes on.”
Fortunately, the worst guess did not come true. A few minutes later, the blond man walking against the light was indeed the real Duke of Somerset.
"Your Majesty, I'm back," Albert said with a smile, his eyes shining brightly as if reflecting the sunlight.
Seton gasped, covering his mouth in disbelief, his eyes unconsciously filling with tears.
She quietly left the garden, leaving the Queen and the Duke of Somerset alone.
She believed that God truly had mercy on humanity at that moment and had sent down a miracle.
...
Albert slowly recounted his experiences to Mary.
He was rescued by a Frenchman who was secretly working as a slave trader, but because Britain and France were at war at the time, he dared not reveal his identity. He also slept for a few days due to his injuries. When he regained consciousness, he was already on a slave ship that had been sold to the Ottoman Empire.
That was a truly terrible and embarrassing experience, and Albert doesn't want to think about what happened again.
Fortunately, his injuries had almost healed, so he took advantage of the night to kidnap the slave trader and release the slaves. He and several others then fled to the seaside, where they bribed the captain with the gold they had stolen from the slave owners, and finally obtained a ticket to England.
Mary stared at him for a moment, lost in thought.
Having survived this ordeal, the blond youth looked more weathered. His face was still incredibly handsome, but a few gray hairs had appeared at his temples.
“I came over here thinking you would be pleasantly surprised to see me,” Albert said, suppressing a slight disappointment.
“If you had come back last winter, I would have been much more excited,” Mary said.
It wasn't that she was unhappy, it's just that her emotions were once again suppressed.
"And you, Your Majesty, how are you doing?" Albert asked.
She looked much thinner, and her face was pale, as if she had been seriously ill.
“I’m fine,” Mary said simply.
"...Your Majesty, do you know what I was thinking when I fell into the river that day and waited to die?" Albert suddenly asked.
"What are you thinking about?" Mary asked cooperatively.
“I was thinking…” Albert said, slowly smiling, “...I wasn’t thinking about anything. In that instant when the river water choked my lungs and I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think of anything. All I could see was your image.”
She used to tell me to get married and have children, and to live what she called a happy life.
He had already given up and was planning to do that.
But in the moment before he died, he suddenly thought, "Life is short, so why should we ignore our true feelings for the sake of worldly happiness?"
Why not do what you truly want to do?
She doesn't love him.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make her fall in love with him, and he accepted that fact.
But it is an undeniable fact that he loves the queen in front of him.
"Your Majesty, like you, I have few family ties and few friends. In the moment before I die, I can't find anyone to care about except you."
“I still love you, so I will not marry or have children with other women. It would be unfair to both of us.”
“I can continue to serve in the court, dance with you at banquets, chat with you in my spare time, and discuss military affairs with you… It doesn’t matter if you don’t love me. Life is short, and I don’t demand anything in return,” Albert said.
At this point, Albert lowered his head and took out a charred wooden cross broken in two from his pocket, placing it in the Queen's palm.
That was a gift she gave him when he was injured in Ireland.
On the night of the Paris riots, a stray bullet, from who knows where, struck him but was stopped by this cross, preventing him from dying on the spot.
Mary listened quietly and attentively to Albert's words, without showing the slightest impatience. After a while, she turned to look at the garden.
Spring has arrived.
Bathed in the shimmering pale golden light, the lush roses grew freely and vibrantly in the garden, exuding a passionate and magnificent beauty.
“A man who marries the Queen will automatically gain the right to be regent and the title of king. I will not trust a husband who can naturally diminish my power.”
"Therefore, any man who marries me will not gain any power other than the empty title of His Majesty, not even the lowest-ranking official position."
“If he crosses this line, I will treat him like an enemy.”
“Albert…” Mary called his name softly.
“You now have two paths. The first is to continue as the Duke of Somerset and a Field Marshal of the British Army, just like Cecil, enjoying a power and status rarely seen in the whole of Britain. The second is, as I just said, to marry me and spend the rest of your life as a puppet king in name only… Don’t rush into a decision. This will be a turning point in your life. You can go back and think about it for a few days before telling me,” Mary said.
How long can love last?
She didn't want Albert to regret his rash actions for the rest of his life.
Albert's expression changed several times as Mary spoke, finally freezing in disbelief. He stared intently at the Queen of England, almost doubting that he had misheard, before realizing what had happened after a few seconds.
"Your Majesty, are you proposing to me?" Albert hesitated for a moment, then quickly broke into a smile, as if lost in a beautiful dream. He paced back and forth for a few steps before looking at Mary and saying, "...You may have forgotten that when I first joined the Scottish Guard, I had no intention of making a name for myself; I simply wanted to stay by your side. You don't need to go back and think about it for a few days; I can tell you the answer now."
The blond youth knelt on one knee, plucked a slender blade of grass with pale purple flowers, wove it into a ring, and held it up to the Queen of England.
He could no longer suppress his smile and looked up to ask, "Your Majesty, will you marry me and become the wife of Albert Durst?"
Mary nodded and put on the simple ring.
In the sunlight, the pale purple petals on the ring trembled slightly in the wind, bright and lovely.
Forum Extra
Medieval History Materials Forum
rant post
The poster's creamy fudge:
Have you all seen the trailer for "Mary Stuart"? Mary Stuart is played by a Black actress! A Black woman! A Black woman! I'm not racist, but it's so jarring to see a Black woman playing Mary Stuart!
Why didn't the director take a look at the oil painting that survived from Mary Magdalene's wedding?
My goddess's unparalleled beauty is so well-documented in poems, portraits, and historical records.
clutching his chest.jpg
Stills.jpg
First floor: Sigh, you watched it too? You really came with high hopes but left disappointed. I just don't understand, it's clearly a white queen, why did they have to find a black person to play her?
Second floor: In the past two years, Europe has gone crazy on human rights issues. They demand unconditional support for transgender, homosexual, and black equality, otherwise they will be cyberbullied in no time.
Third floor: Exactly, that's bullshit. A male criminal claims to be a woman and is locked up in a women's prison, then he rapes several female prisoners. This isn't supporting human rights, it's trampling on human rights!
Fourth floor: I saw this post while passing by and couldn't help but say something fair.
Frankly speaking, it's because of the original poster and the people above that Black people continue to face discrimination. You keep saying you don't discriminate against Black people, but actually, the ones who discriminate against Black people the most are you hypocritical people.
Whenever a Black person appears in a TV series or movie, no matter how hard the actor works behind the scenes or how superb their acting skills are on screen, you all seem blind to it and uniformly ridicule the Black person's appearance.
Fifth floor: Where did these moral guardians come from? I had no problem with the black man being a duke in that alternate history TV series last time, but this is a historical figure! A historical figure, understand?!
This is a desecration of history!
Sixth floor: Oh, so casting Black people as historical figures is blasphemy, right?
You won't admit you're hypocritical!
Seventh floor: According to what the fourth floor means, if Europe were to film a TV series about our history and cast a black person to play Wu Zetian or Qin Shi Huang, you would be able to tolerate it?
Eighth floor: I didn't mean that. What's wrong? Why are you so eager to praise me and smear me, trying to occupy the moral high ground? You people... (censored)
Ninth floor: (Harmony, harmony, harmony)
10th Floor: (Harmony, harmony, harmony)
……fold
Seventy-Nine Floors Filled Creamy Fudge:
Stop arguing, stop arguing. I just wanted to vent, not start a fight. I'll delete this stupid post in a bit.
Tears streaming down my face.JPG
80th floor: OP, don't delete it! You didn't do anything wrong, why delete it!
81st floor: If you ask me, the 1960 version of "The Queen's Scepter" is still the most perfect. No wonder it's directed by the same director who made "Sissi". Her Majesty the Queen was so amused by it that I just wanted to shout, "Her Majesty, please give me a princess meeting!"
This is the kind of thing that's being produced now. Human aesthetics have regressed by more than a few decades. *sigh*
Floor 82: Your Majesty, grant me a Princess Club +1
Floor 83: Your Majesty, grant me a Princess Club +2
Floor 83: Your Majesty, please grant me a Princess Club +10086
...
90th floor: Sigh, a bunch of perverts. I'm much more serious. I'm only interested in the Duke of Somerset.
A handsome blond man, invincible on the battlefield, returned home covered in wounds and waited on my bed. He cleared his throat, then raised his gentle eyes and said to me…
Pants off JPG
Floor 91: Hey upstairs, does JJ have absolutely no one left that you care about? Is that something you can say openly and honestly? Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble if this gets out?
(Just between you and me, I want to too.)
92nd Floor: Sharing Beautiful Pictures
A still from "The Queen's Scepter" (JPG)
Her eyes were more serene than the night sky.
That includes not only the stars and the sea, but also the imperial scepter and the throne.
The supreme power held in one's hands
Unparalleled brilliance
The magnificent sunlight, which seemed to survey all of Europe, shone brightly in the palace.
...
By the way, you guys only crave one, but I'm different; when I crave one, I crave both.
I want both of them!
93rd floor: If you're going to talk, then say more!
94th floor:
Mary Stuart (1542-1607), also known as Mary the Great.
The Queen of Scotland, England, Ireland and the Netherlands is renowned for her beauty and wisdom.
She ascended to the throne as Queen of Scotland six days after her birth. At the age of five, in order to avoid a marriage alliance with Edward VI of England, she was sent to France, where she was betrothed to Francis II. She grew up in the French court, receiving a comprehensive and perfect education and a life of luxury.
She married Francis II on April 24, 1558, becoming the Crown Princess of France. On July 10, 1559, with the death of Henry II, she officially became Queen of France. On December 6, 1560, her first husband Francis died. Coupled with the poverty and turmoil in her native Scotland, the treacherous lords, and the unpredictable danger of the regime, she left France and returned to France to rule in her own right, thus beginning her illustrious life.
During her reign in Scotland, Queen Mary quelled the Protestant-Catholic conflict, suppressed rebellious nobles, promoted the importance of the rule of law and education among the Scottish people, introduced potato cultivation, improved salt extraction, and enhanced agricultural technology, leading to the flourishing of Scottish commerce. Externally, she maintained close correspondence with her cousin Elizabeth I, secretly funded the Irish rebellion, and used marriage as a diplomatic tool to exert pressure on England, ultimately securing her position as first in line to the English throne.
In 1565, while Queen Mary was visiting Rome, Elizabeth I seized the opportunity to stage a coup in Scotland, installing her half-brother, the Earl of Maurice, as King of Scotland. Upon learning of this, Queen Mary decisively contacted Italian mercenaries, the army of the Duchy of Lorraine, and the most elite Swiss mercenaries. After landing in Normandy, she marched on London to counterattack, and then fought a decisive battle at Portsmouth against Elizabeth I, who had received Spanish support. She eventually became the new Queen of England, but at the same time, she also forged an enmity with Spain, the most powerful country at the time.
In 1567, Spain's brutal rule over the Netherlands sparked a local uprising. Mary, Queen of Scots, seized the opportunity to have the Dutch people swear allegiance to her while simultaneously engaging the Spanish Armada at sea. Initially, the war was evenly matched, but with the outbreak of smallpox, the Spanish, suffering from the disease, had no choice but to retreat. Meanwhile, the English navy, which had already been vaccinated against smallpox, was almost unharmed.
After this war, Queen Mary and England's status in Europe rose dramatically, and the natural geographical advantages of the newly annexed Netherlands laid the foundation for the later division of French territory.
In 1572, the Anglo-French War broke out. Queen Mary ordered the Duke of Somerset to march south into France to expand his territory. He briefly occupied Paris, but was forced to retreat due to the rebellion of the people in Paris. The Duke of Somerset was seriously injured and disappeared for nearly half a year.
Even so, Queen Mary successfully partitioned France, including the ports of Calais, Upper and Lower Normandy, Picardy, and Champagne, making England the leading power in Europe that year.
Queen Mary's reign was marked by numerous achievements, the most famous of which include:
1. He promoted new medical knowledge, pioneered the smallpox vaccine to curb the spread of smallpox, developed anatomy, personally conducted simple chemical experiments in universities, proposed many advanced chemical ideas, created simple chemical symbols, dispelled witchcraft and superstition and witch persecution, encouraged scientific research, and laid the foundation for modern medicine and physical chemistry.
2. They explored new continents and colonies at sea, subdued long-standing pirates, and sailed merchant fleets to China for trade, creating new and more standardized world maps.
3. The large-scale introduction of new crops such as corn and potatoes, and the continuous optimization of grain varieties by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences for decades, greatly solved the hunger problem at that time. At the same time, the promulgation of the Poor Relief Law and the establishment of vocational training centers for the poor, and the abolition of patent rights, almost solved the serious problem of migrants at that time.
4. Reforms were made to the education and university systems at the time, giving ordinary people the opportunity to learn. A sound government system and civil servant evaluation system were gradually established, which solved the problems of corruption and overstaffing in the government at that time.
5. He unified the British Isles and gradually expanded the territory across the European continent. In his later years, due to the extinction of the Valois dynasty and his victory in the war against Henry IV, England's territory expanded by hundreds of thousands of square kilometers across the European continent, far exceeding that of any other English king.
6. Promoted the prosperity and development of numerous handicrafts and commerce, resolved the British debt of up to £3 million, established a modern banking system, put forward The Wealth of Nations, and allowed finance to take root in that era.
7. The encouragement of cultural and artistic development led to a gradual shift of the center of the Renaissance from Italy and France to England, resulting in a large number of timeless classics, such as Romeo and Juliet.
The reign of Queen Mary was also the most glorious period in British history.
Besides being an outstanding monarch, Queen Mary's private life, including her manuscripts and the sudden emergence of inventions such as smokeless gunpowder, proves that she herself possessed extremely high scientific literacy. She alone advanced the development of European military technology by at least 100 to 200 years.
That era was a constellation of brilliant figures, a time of great upheaval and change. Geniuses such as the Duke of Somerset, Secretary of State Cecil, Prime Minister Emma Wilson, Shakespeare, and Bacon emerged one after another, each shining with their own unique brilliance. Much of their achievements on their respective platforms can be attributed to Queen Mary.
—Excerpt from Baidu Encyclopedia.
Floor 95: Continuing to share beautiful pictures.
Her Majesty's Coronation (JPG)
Her Majesty the Queen's coronation as Queen of France (JPG)
Duke of Somerset (JPG)
A handsome blond man, a descendant of the stunning beauty Lucrezia!
He lived in Italy in his early years and secretly let his cousin's unfortunate girl run away, allowing her to elope with her child and lover. He was then hunted down by the Duke of Ferrara and met Her Majesty the Queen when he was at his lowest point.
He was invincible throughout his life, and willingly became a stay-at-home husband for decades for love.
Princess Lucia (JPG)
Mary, Queen's eldest daughter and the future "enlightened" queen, was not as capable as her mother, but she was still an outstanding monarch.
Prince Isaac (JPG)
Mary Queen of Scots' second son is also a handsome little boy, a sweet and loving son to his parents.
The Countess of Richmond (JPG)
She was Queen Mary's lifelong best friend and the godmother of her two children. She insisted on not marrying and therefore lived in the palace with His Majesty for her entire life.
When she passed away in her old age, Her Majesty the Queen wept openly in public, saying that she had lost not just a friend, but all of her friendship.
Emma Wilson JPG
The first official female official in Britain was almost unimaginable in that era.
But she not only did it, she rose to the position of Prime Minister, demonstrating abilities no less than Cecil's. After more than a decade of wrangling, she finally got Parliament to pass a law that would allow women to inherit real estate, making her a pioneer in the issue of equality!
She's my goddess too!
Princess Margot (JPG)
Waaaaah, my beauty~ my poor beauty~ my poor beauty with such a tragic fate~
She was truly murdered for political reasons in her early years. She kindly protected her husband, but was used as a shield and coerced all the way to Navarre to become "Queen". What kind of life did she live during those years?
Fortunately, she eventually divorced and found a husband who loved her. Queen Mary took good care of her sister-in-law, giving her a large annuity to continue living the life of a princess, and her children were also given titles.
The Duke of Giss JPG
I don't like this. The St. Bartholomew's Massacre is a stain on his life. He died in 1573 from an assassination attempt by Huguenots. It's like retribution.
Francis II JPG
I almost forgot about him.
Mary was the white moonlight in Queen Mary's heart for a lifetime. She missed him for more than ten years after his death before marrying him. When he was alive, he and Queen Mary grew up together as childhood sweethearts and had a very good relationship.
One theory is that Queen Mary later married the Duke of Somerset simply because she was getting older and wanted to have a child with someone, but the person she truly loved was still him.
...
96th floor:
What do you mean by "there's a saying"? This is the truth!
The bond between childhood sweethearts is something that can't be replaced by something unexpected. This couple was true love, but unfortunately, they didn't live long enough, and Francis II passed away at a young age.
97th floor:
The king upstairs is evil; get out of here! The queen and the knight are clearly the true love!
My blond knight Albert and Her Majesty the Queen are the perfect match; they even have two children!
98th floor:
Get out of here, you two CP fan leaders upstairs!
You're all wrong! Miss Mary Seton was clearly Queen Mary's true love!
Ninety-ninth floor:
"..."
This is an angle I never thought of.
100th floor:
This has shocked me for a whole year; the 98th floor is cursed!
Groundhog Screaming JPG
(End of extra chapter)
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