People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 288 Queen La Gaia

"Thanks to your fancy, but I still have some doubts, why did you help me?"

Lothar frowned.

Although he has no intention of being involved in the strife of imperial power, he actually doesn't mind a mutually beneficial cooperation with the royal family of the Eastern Empire represented by Anna.

Just like being a mercenary this time.

Only a few hundred people are lost, and the title of general of a military region can be obtained. This means at least tens of thousands of gold coins per year. In exchange for digging sand on the Sinai Peninsula, when will this amount be made up?

The Limassol Military Region alone, in terms of revenue, will surpass all the remaining territories of Rauf that Lothar wants to take.

"Isn't it a matter of course that capable people are favored by others?"

"In the empire, there are too many idiots sitting in key positions. I just hope that they can vacate one or two seats under their buttocks, so that people who are really worthy of this position can sit in it."

Anna said lightly.

But Lothar knew that it must be more than that simple. Isaac was alone, although he could not represent the entire Komnenos family.

But it can also prove that the Comnene family is dissatisfied with Lagaia's occupation of the throne.

The two parties may be able to get along peacefully on the surface, but the struggle in private is definitely already fierce.

In addition, there is one more crucial thing.

Although the empire has temporarily fallen under the control of the Dukas family, the eldest daughter of Lagia and the former emperor Alexios Komnenos is the orthodox heir of the empire.

According to common sense, after the princess becomes an adult, the queen regent should return her power.

But is she and the Dukas family behind her really willing to return power to the Comnenos family?

Lothar was full of thoughts, but he only said: "I don't have any wrong thoughts about Her Majesty the Queen. If you need me to do something, just like this time, just exchange it at an equal value."

When we arrived at Theodosius Square, the crowd in front of us became more and more congested.

There are gorgeous shoulder cars with gauze curtains, and a carriage decorated with gold and silver trim.

With hordes of servants and private guards, they ran into each other head-on.

Each of them sent one person to urge the other to make way with a dissatisfied expression, but in the end they were blocked.

The aristocrat on the shoulder looked at the carriage opposite with a cold expression. He neither surrendered his status, nor did he intend to give way.

At this time, he heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed from behind him, and when he looked back, it was actually a guard holding a square shield, facing his own guard.

Black and yellow double-headed eagle...

It's a coat of arms I've never seen before.

Could it be that they still dare to attack my guards?

The noble snorted coldly, and was about to turn his gaze back when he suddenly saw a noble lady in purple surrounded by these soldiers.

"An...His Royal Highness Anna?"

With a jerk, he jumped off his shoulders, and his red boots happened to step into a puddle of mud, and he didn't care about it at all.

"Get out of the way, make way for Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess!"

The title of Princess Anna in purple clothes played a huge role at this time. She rode a horse and walked in the forefront, even some dignitaries would silently step aside and salute respectfully.

"How about it, isn't it very majestic?"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Anna came over via voice transmission with some complacency.

The little girl Fringila looked very hot, and she also wanted to be as majestic as Anna.

"It's really majestic."

Lothar smiled wryly, although he criticized the Eastern Empire for having been transformed by the Pronian system into a feudal country that is the same as all European countries.

But the thin dead camel is bigger than the horse.

The imperial power of the Eastern Empire is still far superior to that of Jerusalem, Gaul, Great Germania and other countries.

At the very least, if it were Lothar who met a royal lady in Jerusalem, if she didn't want to, she wouldn't even have to say a word, at most it would be considered rude.

"Wait a mininute."

Anna's expression became much more serious.

She seemed to be talking to someone, her lips opened and closed silently for a while.

After a while, she frowned and said, "Recently, a group of followers of evil gods came to the city. People from the Association just checked their stronghold. I have to deal with it."

"Need my help?"

"No, this is Constantinople. I won't be in danger in a site where wizards have been running for many years."

Lothar's expression was a little dignified: "These gods, ghosts and evil spirits, have there been more and more of them recently?"

"There have always been a lot, but they were not as active as they are now."

Anna sighed softly, her tone a little depressed: "Speaking of which, it all started when your Germanic king started building the wizard tower. It has only been a few years, and the world seems to have changed."

It started with Emperor Henry?

Lothar silently kept this information in his heart.

"Wait here for a moment, I will send someone to take you to see Basilisa, please pay attention to your tone, and be a little respectful, after all, my sister represents the pinnacle of secular power."

"I will."

Anna was about to leave, but she suddenly turned around and said confidently, "I know you may still be a little disdainful now, but when you see my sister, you will definitely be amazed by her, she is really beautiful, she is not inferior at all For the girls around you."

With a smile on her face, her figure gradually faded and disappeared.

"cut."

Fringila puffed out her chest, which had nothing to do with disdain.

"An old woman who has given birth to a child, why should she compare with us?"

Jeanna whistled: "What do little girls know? Women of this age are like overripe peaches, the most tender, juicy, sweet and delicious."

What kind of wolf word is this?
Lothar was a little bit dumbfounded: "Where did you hear these words?"

"That's it"

Jeanna's expression was a bit nostalgic: "I don't remember, maybe it was a comrade who died? You know, those old women like to talk about these things the most, especially pretty widows. They are easy to learn and can also get some benefits. "

...

The brigade of remaining veterans was left in a manor on the coastal boulevard on the east side of Constantinople.

This is Anna's private property, and she once personally managed the training of the Thracian Guard here.

An old eunuch with a wrinkled face claimed to be the Royal Treasurer, and led Lothar and his party to the Brahena Palace.

The closer you get to the Brachner Palace.

The guards here are stricter.

Most of the Varangian guards were in their own barracks outside the city, and the rest belonged to the emperor's personal guards, responsible for guarding the palace.

Lothar looked at these authentic Varangian guards, which were different from the "stereotyped" Varangian guards under his hands who were equipped with two-handed axes.

The equipment of these genuine products is often spears, Danish long swords, and kite-shaped shields. They wear round spine helmets and gorgeous clothes, and many of them even wear crimson silk robes.

This is silk!
Can even the chief soldier wear this kind of clothing?
Seeing Lothar's eyes linger on the robes of the Varangian guards, the eunuch grimaced and said, "Your Majesty never treats his own people badly."

Pass through layers of palace gates and royal gardens.

He entered the hall with smooth stone slabs that seemed to reflect his face.

The spaciousness here is outrageous, several times larger than the palace hall in Jerusalem, and the surrounding decorations are something Lothar has never seen before, and the air is filled with the smell of incense.

The old eunuch stepped forward respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, the man has already been brought."

Lothar raised his head subconsciously and looked at the throne. This woman was undoubtedly the most honorable woman in the secular world—if anyone said who the most honorable man was, it was still open to question.

She was wearing a purple tunic with exquisite icons depicted on it, and on her head was a triple crown representing the emperor of the empire.

Under the crown is a beautiful face with plump red lips, creamy skin, and peach blossom eyes. A pair of phoenix eyes are slightly narrow and elongated, adding a third of majesty.

The eunuch on the side immediately reprimanded: "Bold, without my emperor's permission, how dare you look directly at the greatest Basilisa, Her Majesty the Regent Queen?"

"No problem."

The queen raised her hand.

The phoenix eyes are not angry and prestige.

"Anna respects you very much. You have also made commendable feats in the battle against heretics and rebellion. She often told me in private that you will become my Belisarius."

Her voice is very clear, her tone is gentle but full of majesty, which makes people feel close to her without losing her sense of proportion.

"His Royal Highness is overrated."

"I think so too, but it doesn't matter if you say it's too good or not, and it doesn't matter what I say now. In the future, I will see it with my own eyes."

Looking at Her Majesty's eyes of implicit consideration, his expression was very calm, without any fear or fear, or the emotion of worrying about gains and losses after seeing such glory and wealth.

Responding to Lothar's neither humble nor overbearing, the queen frowned slightly, beckoning: "Come here, General Lothar."

"I heard that your subordinates are able to skillfully use the ancient tactics that even the empire lost, instead of just burying their heads and charging like wild boars like the Frankish barbarians or the Norman pirates? I saw them on the parade."

This is a matter of getting angry with Anna a long time ago, and Lothar will naturally not refuse.

"I am honored to be part of such a grand ceremony."

"Very good, but I have to remind you that tomorrow's military parade will be very grand. Envoys and guests from foreign countries will gather in the arena. You may need to fight at the right time to demonstrate the might of the empire."

"Your Majesty, do you want me to participate in the team competition?"

In the knight competition, group fights are actually more common than knights wielding lances, and relatively charge fights. To put it bluntly, knights on both sides lead their attendants to a life-and-death fight.

It looks like the gladiators who fought in two teams in the Colosseum in the ancient empire, but most of the gladiators in that era were slaves, but in this era they became nobles.

"That's right, but it's only possible that you need to take action. If you win this battle, you and your soldiers will each get a purple silk ribbon as an honor and the manor property as a reward."

Empress Lagia looked solemn, and she couldn't see any extra emotions on her face, as if she had become a special creature like an "emperor", and even emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy disappeared together.

Lothar quickly understood the meaning of Lagaia's words.

There is a high probability that this team competition is a competition against foreigners. I and the remaining veterans under my command will be the finale, or the bottom line-if the queen's own people can win, they definitely don't need to take action.

"I see."

"Now, you can swear allegiance to me."

She stretched out her white palm with a huge ruby.

Lothar hesitated, stepped forward, knelt down on one knee, held the front of the queen's five fingers, and kissed.

"I swear allegiance to Your Majesty. I will fulfill my obligations as a subject and protect the Limassol Military Region for you from foreign enemies, so that the common people can live and work in peace and contentment. When called upon to fight."

Lothar's oath was obviously carefully considered.

He emphasized the basic obligations that he would only fulfill, and the call to join the war later was just a passing mention.

The queen didn't seem to mind Lothar's reservation, and said sternly:
"According to the tradition, you need to swear to the Heavenly Father and the Holy Mother in the monastery, and keep the precepts for a week, but I know that you are a devout Catholic, so I will not make it difficult for you to accept such rules."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

At this moment, Empress Lagaia's expression finally softened: "All ladies who cast spells, you can come to Brahena Palace as guests. I will sweep the couch to welcome you, and sister Anna will be happy to entertain you."

Fringila rolled her eyes. She had long disliked this old woman who had given birth. Even though the Brahena Palace, which has undergone many renovations, was gorgeous enough, she had no intention of living here.

Celinina stood indifferently in the shadow behind Lothar. In addition to the extra tasks, she always kept in mind the position of "Personal Assassin" that Lothar had bestowed on her.

Jeanna smiled and gave a knight's salute.

"Okay, that's it for today. Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to seeing you, General Lothar, in the arena."

Watching Lothar leave.

Lagaia breathed a sigh of relief and lay down on the velvet upholstered throne.

The court eunuch came forward and muttered for a while.

"Oh?"

"Conrad is gone? And he said he's divorcing that little guy from the Comnenos family?"

There was a hint of schadenfreude on her face.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, this empire was jointly ruled by the two royal giants, Komnene and Dukas, but she never had a good impression of the Komnene family.

Even——after she succeeded as Queen Regent and saw the dire situation in the empire.

Even with the Dukas family from which she was born, a kind of disgust developed.

The local nobles headed by these two families are like parasitic vines attached to a towering giant tree, and their tentacles absorb nutrients from this giant tree all the time.

She often thinks about it.

If these two parasites are uprooted.
She looked slightly stunned. If so, the empire might be torn apart in no time.

"What about Branas?"

"He has contacted many people in Constantinople, but many people have not given a definite answer. They want to take another look, and they are up for sale - but there are also a few, who have decided to follow Brad Nas rebelled together."

The conspiracy of General Branas can even be received by Conrad of Monferrato, so naturally it cannot be hidden from Lagaia's eyes and ears.

She was even happy to see the success of this, and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to take back a large area of ​​the Komnenos family's estate and bring it under the direct control of the royal family.

Even if the remote areas, such as the Trebizond Military Region, are not moved to avoid large-scale opposition from noble officials, it is better for Thrace, the hinterland of the capital, to be under the direct control of the royal family.

"Unfortunately, the Varangian Guards cannot be used. Only Anna's Thracian Guards are hidden forces and can be dispatched to cooperate."

There was a trace of sadness on Lagaia's face.

If it wasn't for the Thracian Guards, who had taken the potion and easily smashed the Bulgarian rebellion, to be sent by her, why should they worry about a small competition.

(End of this chapter)