On the second day, Sophia's attendants were quickly driven back by a scolding from Constantine XI.

After being tortured by Alex for a day as usual, Zhou Heng's expression was a little colder than in the previous days.

"Brother?"

Sophia walked into the room with a few maids carrying dinner, but saw Zhou Heng alone staring at the map on the desk in a daze.

Sophia...... What do you think of the empire...... Is there any salvation? ”

Sophia was stunned for a moment, then waved her hand and retreated from the attendants on the side, and walked to Zhou Heng's side: "Yesterday I still looked ambitious, why did I plan to raise my hand and surrender today?" ”

"Time is running out, isn't it?"

Sophia instinctively sensed that something was not right, and looked around, only to notice a letter on the table that had been sent from nowhere.

"What is this?"

"A war report. Two days ago. Now that Constantinople is closed, it is even more difficult for us to know what is going on outside. Zhou Heng moved his chair to make room for Sophia, "Two days ago, a skirmish broke out on the Ottoman-Hungarian border. The Crusaders and Turks retreated after suffering casualties. ”

Sophia had already felt the extreme uneasiness in Zhou Heng's heart, and from Zhou Heng's description, she also vaguely guessed something: "This shouldn't be Hunyati's character...... Encounters and conflicts, the crusaders should have an advantage, and there are many Hungarian troops on the border, ready to support, and the Ottomans should not be let go so rashly. ”

"Yes. Therefore, this crusade should soon end because of an armistice. Although I believe that this truce will not be too long...... But no one can guarantee that we will be able to hold out until their next attack on the Ottomans......" Zhou Heng lay on his back on the bed and said with a bitter face, "Time is more tense than I imagined. ”

"It's this time to do what we are supposed to do. As long as the Crusader forces were not greatly attritional, the Ottomans should not risk being attacked on three sides. After Sophia put down the battle report in her hand, she turned to Zhou Heng and asked, "Since you are bent on saving Constantinople, there should always be a plan, right?" ”

"The premise of everything is power, and when you lose power, you will know how wonderful and practical this thing is." At the mention of this, Zhou Heng got up angrily again, "Father rejected my request, that is enough to show that he is not a virtuous monarch at all!" ”

"Brother John......"

"I thought he was bent on saving Rome from danger, but I didn't expect that he was the same as those mediocre emperors! Cowardly, cowardly, blindly believing in the West, not listening to advice! ”

"Brother!" Sophia wanted to hold Zhou Heng, but was thrown away by Zhou Heng.

"He thought that if he sat in that palace of Constantine all day and dreamed of the prosperity of Eastern Rome, Rome would be saved? Stupidity! If I were him, I wouldn't be sitting still in this Constantinople! Zhou Heng seemed to be determined to vent his frustration of being under house arrest, and the more he scolded, the more addicted he became, and the louder he became, "How strong is the Ottoman national strength?" As long as the pressure from the West is a little less, this wall will not last for a few days at all, how can an emperor who can only send a letter of distress to the Western world lead the revival of Rome! ”

……

"That's how you're behind it?"

……

Just as he was scolding, this loud voice came to an abrupt end in the calm tone of Constantine XI.

"Your Majesty......" Sophia quietly glanced at the not-so-nice face of Constantine XI, and hurriedly lowered her head.

However, at this time, Zhou Heng didn't have so many worries in his heart, and in the current situation, it was better to directly find out with this emperor.

"I've been listening at the door for twenty minutes, and you haven't said a word of repetition...... At a young age, good skills! Constantine XI's face was even darker, but Zhou Heng was not as frightened as he imagined, kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy, but looked at himself with the same sharp but slightly immature gaze.

"What? Why don't you continue to scold? Can you still say anything in front of me? ”

Just when Sophia was thinking about how her brother should apologize in order to avoid the fate of being thrown into the dungeon, Zhou Heng actually glared at Constantine XI like this, repeating every word he said in the past twenty minutes, word by word.

What surprised her even more was that Constantine XI actually stood like this, listening to Zhou Heng finish speaking, but he didn't look like he was about to have a seizure.

When Zhou Heng finished spitting out the last dirty word, Constantine XI actually laughed.

His Majesty the Emperor smiled presumptuously, and even a few tears oozed from the corners of his slightly old eyes. Zhou Heng and Sophia waited for some reason, waiting for Constantine XI's next move.

"Sit down, my son. And you, Sophia. ”

The emperor sat on the edge of the bed uninhibitedly, and pulled Zhou Heng, who was already completely confused, to his side.

"If this group of wine bags and rice bags under my command and the flattering nobles around my ancestors could be like you, why would my Roman Empire fall to this point today." Constantine XI wiped his tears, but his face was relieved and satisfied, Zhou Heng's curse did not seem to arouse the emperor's anger at all, but made his emotions turn upside down.

"When you told me that day that you wanted to learn to fight, I vaguely guessed that you were probably no longer the little John who only knew how to escape." Constantine XI seemed to notice the abandoned manuscripts and maps scattered throughout the room, and probably guessed what the siblings were plotting in the little manor of Slou, "I know that the empire is short of time, but you must also know that no one wants to be the king of a fallen country!" When I was found out of the Peloponnese and brought to this place of Constantinople for coronation, I was on a sailing ship borrowed by the Venetians! ”

"My brother has betrayed the Empire, and he has made a pact with the hypocritical Pope of the West in a vain attempt to convert the Empire's long-held faith! I know that the people of the empire, even if they are slaughtered by the Ottomans, will not betray the Orthodox Church. When I was first crowned, it was the real dire ......"

Zhou Heng's emotions gradually calmed down in Constantine's narration, and it was the first time that he and Sophia had a long talk with this emperor.

"I have returned to the Patriarch, appeased the anger of the people, and driven out the three sieges of the Ottomans......" Constantine suddenly paused.

He took off his crown and purple robe, and like every aged Greek father, he let go of all his guard in front of his own children.

"I know that with my ability, this struggle is just trying to keep the empire alive for a while longer......"