Eagle Byzantium

"Messenger? Although I issued a permission document permitting the passage of the Frankish Barbarian King's brother, I have not yet sent out a welcoming team." Prince John put down the negotiation document and replied to the Seleucia envoys, meaning that he did not expect why Xio able to walk In such a hurry, and will be lost on that unknown road, "even if the Kallegos family strictly prohibits opening the border on dates outside the market, Hugh can walk from the Milio Cephalon area, where there will be no The threat from the Konya remnants.”

Facing the prince's explanation, Seleucia's eight envoys, who were acted by the Zixin Society and the Jince Brotherhood, were very cautious. They did not dare to speak until they saluted the prince, "The Grand Duke did not dare to disturb His Royal Highness at first, but he Ten days have passed since the day to see off Xio. It should be expected that he would arrive at Philadephia within three days, but the Grand Duke has not yet waited for the return of Xio's arrival, and he feels uneasy. "

"Hugh has indeed never come to my place. Not to mention Philadephia, there has never been any news about him from the border police sentry cavalry." The prince said with certainty with his hands behind his back. Then he vaguely felt something was wrong and looked at Looking at the staff beside him and then at the Seleucia envoys standing in a row under the steps of the hall, he was silent for a while and said, "If it is really missing, the empire is willing to join forces with the Grand Duke's army to search for that section of the road."

Then, the prince handed the document to the confidential officer, ordered that the matter be reported to the imperial capital as soon as possible, and set off alarm fireworks on the beacon tower outside the city.

After the envoys left, the prince sat on his seat without hesitation. The other staff had already left. Only his most trusted slave attendant, Axepochus, was still standing by his side holding a knife. There was still a sword at the foot of the steps. There was a man who bowed his head and knelt down in worship: that was Tatisius, the commander-in-chief of the march to Asia.

"The current situation is very serious and passive for Your Majesty and the Empire." General Xiangbi lowered his head, his tone full of sadness, "Diognis is not safe on the island of Cyprus. I have sent a secret message to the Governor there. The Grand Duke is not trustworthy either. However, the first thing that needs to be resolved is to strengthen the defense of Alamein Castle to prevent Gawain from taking advantage of this incident and requesting His Majesty to bring an army from the imperial capital... "

"General Titicius, I have the highest official position in this military region. Although your title is Commander-in-Chief of March in Asia, it is also a military position, and this military position has no basis for its continued existence." The prince said with disgust. With a demeanor, looking at the general lying in front of his boots, "What's more, since Gawain has sent an envoy to inquire, it is enough to prove that he has no plans to use force against the empire for the time being. He and his sister have made an agreement with their father to return the land. Gawain is a warrior from Varyag. , how could you take the initiative to destroy its reputation?”

"Your Highness the Prince, I have fought with Gawain for a long time. He has principles, but he has no bottom line."

The prince laughed like a dumbbell and said that your answer was simply ridiculous. How could a principled person have no bottom line?

"Gawain's principles are only interests. He has no performance in dedicating himself to the Lord or observing integrity." Titicius clearly answered the difference between "principles" and "bottom lines" and asked eagerly, "Please allow I, the humble one, command the troops of all the military districts, support the Kallegos family at Fort Alamein, and monitor Seleucia.”

However, the prince did not have enough trust in him. John's idea was still to "stick to his own opinion" and "cannot accumulate too many main forces in the border fortress. We must still retain a mobile force in Philadophiam City that can provide support everywhere." Military strength, this is the wisdom of ancient emperors. And there is no definite answer to the matter of Xiu's disappearance, so shrewd diplomacy must be the main thing."

But the exact answer soon came:

Within two days, the decomposed bodies of Xio and his retinue were exhumed from the mountain forest at the border of Seleucia and Pamphylia. The whole scene was horrific, and Xio's body was dismembered.

This made Prince John, who heard the news, hold the document of the report with trembling hands, even at the end of summer, his back felt like it was immersed in ice water, and he felt chills. But after he read the written words below, he felt that his heart was being oppressed even more, "In the grave pit of the corpse, there were the remains of a carriage carriage regulated by the empire, which seemed to be used by the murderer to examine the corpse; in addition, among the In the woods where we were, we picked up several weapons called arrows. This kind of weapon is only used by the imperial army, not the Franks or the Normans. "

Finally, the city of Seleucia sent a note. This was an extremely serious incident that must be informed to the emperor and His Majesty the Holy See of Rome, as well as to many pilgrims in Antioch, and the prince and the grand duke were asked to have a face-to-face meeting. A joint investigation brought the truth to light. However, at the end of the document, Gawain did not point his doubts at the Komnenos royal family for the time being, which made John slightly relieved, "In return for your Grand Duke, just say that the empire is willing to accept his suggestions. We can do it in Milio meeting in Cephalon."

Next, the horses of the messenger kept going back and forth on the road. Just as the prince was patiently waiting for the other party to reply, a message came from Seleucia City, "The King of France has not known about this matter because of the road blockage; but Mr. Vallo, the General Counsel of the French Palace in Port Saint Simon, is rushing here; and the Norman Earl William also disappeared in the attack, and his life and death are unknown. Therefore, Lord Bohemond, the general commander of the pilgrims' army, expressed serious concern and also sent his relative and subordinate Earl Richard to join the meeting."

In this way, the problem became more and more complicated, and more and more forces were involved. The prince did not dare to act on his own, so he wrote another letter about the situation and sent it to the imperial capital urgently.

In the Brahena Palace, Alexius Komnenos, who sat on the couch, got up and looked at the letter sent by his heir. His jaw almost dropped to the floor. Malena, who was wearing a gauze nightgown next to him, also supported the emperor's arm in surprise, and asked what happened?

"Someone is playing tricks on me, Gawain or Bohemond?" The emperor threw the letter fiercely on the bedside, furious, and then he stood up in his nightgown, "With the death of this Hugh, the enemies I may have to face now are not just the Turks on the plateau... In addition, no matter what, Gawain and that Apat, the adulterer, will definitely use this incident to get an excuse not to return my territory next year!" The emperor deliberately emphasized the "adulterer" in his mouth, which made the chief lady of the court lying on the couch feel very embarrassed.

But the emperor, who didn't notice these at all, slowly walked to the front of the bedroom, looking at the curved elevated canal between the palace and the ridge under the night sky, and the anger in his heart surged, "If Gawain dares to be disrespectful in the future, I will not abide by the agreement with him and directly lead the army to flatten Seleucia."

(End of this volume) (To be continued ~^~)