Heading towards Bucharest from the north bank of the Danube, you pass through a low hill on which a church is built.

The scale of the church is not very large, because the stone foundation has become one with the ground, and from a distance it looks as if the whole church has grown out of the mountains.

The top of the church is made of red painted wood, and the whole church looks slightly dignified in tone, with a sense of vicissitudes eroded by time.

"There is the church of Bucur, the witness of the city of Bucharest," Tzepes said to Alexander, and seeing Alexander's expression of interest, he told him about the origin of this church: "Legend has it that the builder of Bucharest was a shepherd who passed by this land while herding sheep, and then received a revelation from an angel telling him to throw his rod into the distance, and then build a refuge for the believers of this land where the rod fell. Bukur followed the angel's arrangement and founded a city in the land, which was converted to the glory of God because the pagan people heard the voice of Jesus Christ. ”

"So the city is called Bucharest?" Alexander looked at Cepes, he felt that this 'second generation' should not just be a tour guide for him to talk about the past and the present with such interest, after all, as long as he has a little bit of eyes, he can see that at this time his mind is not at all on those passing scenery, although he can't be with Sophia openly, but the look of nonexistence between the two people along the way can be seen clearly as long as he pays a little attention.

"Of course not, in fact the city was named after the people here who defeated the Ottoman invaders," said Tzepes, whose expression was slightly gloomy, "It was also in that war that my father lost his life." ”

Vlad III was killed in the Battle of Bucharest in 1476, and his head was eventually sold to the Ottomans for 120 gold coins, where it was displayed on the gates of Constantinople.

And the person who sold the head was a local farmer.

Looking at Cepes's gloomy face, Alexander opened his mouth and wanted to ask, "Aren't vampires still resurrected", but looking at the other party's appearance, he felt that it was wiser not to ask this question.

"Earl, this city is not friendly to some people, especially those who make it feel like it might cause it trouble."

Listening to Chipes' obvious warning, Alexander nodded silently.

The implication of Chipes's words is clear, at least for some, that Alexander is the kind of person who can cause trouble.

Alexander had been prepared for this, and he knew that even without Sophia's connections, he might not be popular.

At least to Ladislas II, he was an unlikable man.

The city of Bucharest was already far away, and from the ruins that could be seen everywhere along the way, and the traces of farmland that had apparently just been harvested, it was clear that Bucharest, like Helva, had adopted the same strategy of clearing the wilderness as Helva.

But they were apparently more thorough than Helva, and Alexander saw that the ruins of some villages had apparently been burned down not long ago.

This gave Alexander a new understanding of the resistance of the Bucharestans.

Obviously, the Bucharestans, who were always vacillating between war and peace, were not prepared to blindly sue for peace, at least Ladislas II was still thinking of using war to promote peace.

It also gave Alexander a fresh idea of his previous decision.

For the first time in these days, Ladislas II stepped onto the city.

It wasn't that he hadn't climbed the walls before, but since Sofia and Chippes took the walls with a group of men, and then appeared as the main battle faction, Ladislas II refused to climb the walls again.

Because that would make him think that he was compromising with the main fighters, which the king would not tolerate.

Only now he had to be forced to climb the city walls, because there was a very important person coming.

Ladislas II didn't care at all who the Count of Montina was, but he couldn't help but value the special status of this man.

The father of Pope Alexander VI's granddaughter, this special status made Ladislas II instinctively wary of Alexander's arrival.

Ladislas II could not let go of what Prato said, he knew that Emperor Maximian had been watching over his throne as King of Hungary, and even a few years ago Maximian had tried to coerce him to give up the Hungarian crown, and now that he had heard that the Emperor had started the idea of a Hungarian copper mine with the Fugger family, Ladislas II felt as if he had been choked by the throat.

What was that Gombray doing in the Balkans?

Ladislas II was puzzled by this idea, and in the end he boiled it all down to what he had just heard about the Hungarian copper mines.

Ladislas II had not only heard of the Fugger family, but had also dealt with them.

Many of the precious objects from Western Europe in the Prague court were purchased through this family or their related merchants, and many of the unique Bohemian goods were also sold to other parts of Europe by the Fugger family, among which the famous Bohemian fine glassware became a valuable collection in many European courts.

Because of this, Ladislas II was more aware of the enormous influence and power that the family wield.

Now the Count of Montina had arrived, and he had come as a savior, and his previous active resistance to the Ottomans in Transylvania and at the Battle of the Alger River had given him a cloak of morality and sacredness from the beginning, which Ladislas II did not want to see.

"Your Majesty, our men have brought back news about the front," said an attendant whispering, and then called aside a man in mud-stained clothes that had not yet been changed, "and tell me everything you know." ”

The man licked his tongue and nodded, first took a glass of wine handed over by the king and poured it down, and then said: "The Grand Duke's army attacked the Ottomans after entering the battlefield, and then the Count of Montina took advantage of the Ottomans' retreat to regain the positions they had lost......"

Ladislas II listened silently to his men's reports, until he heard the Ottoman army retreating in the direction of the Alger River, when he suddenly interrupted his men's narration with a wave of his hand.

"You mean that the Ottomans withdrew from the battle after being counterattacked, and then reorganized their defenses on the right bank of the Alger River?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"When was that?"

"It wasn't long after noon," the man replied as he pondered.

"So not long after the Wallachians entered the battle, the Ottomans began to retreat?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Ottomans retreated very decisively at that time, and they did not give us a chance to expand the battle at all."

"Just retreated?" Ladislas II stared at the man with a straight gaze, and when he saw the man nod affirmatively, the king's already gloomy face was as ugly as a layer of frost.

"The Grand Duke did not continue the attack?" The attendant asked with some hesitation, then looked at the king.

Ladislas II shook his head silently, and he turned to look out of the city.

"It's not just Chipes, that Count Montina obviously didn't attack either, he may not even have done a decent counterattack, they gave up the pursuit of the Ottomans on their own initiative."

Hearing the king's words, the entourage shook their throats with some difficulty, and then said carefully: "Perhaps, they are worried about the main force of the Sultan......"

"But the main force of the Ottomans is across the Alger River!" The king angrily interrupted his men: "Do they think that the Sultan's army can cross the river in such a short time and threaten them?" ”

Ladislas II questioned angrily, then gasped hard as he walked back and forth on the ramparts, then slammed his fists against the masonry of the city.

"That count, that Cambrai," Ladislas II whispered to himself, pausing to catch his breath and continue, but his voice was always low and muffled, "what did he come to Bucharest for, and who made him come, the Pope or the Emperor?" ”

Looking at the king's gloomy and ugly face, the people next to him lowered their heads, they knew that the king often did terrible things when he lost his temper, even if he always regretted it afterwards and begged God for forgiveness, but the unlucky people because of his anger became less because of his repentance.

"Where's that merchant, that Prato, I want to see him." The king suddenly ordered.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty, we couldn't find that man," replied the attendant next to him cautiously, "that man said earlier that he was busy with some business, and it is said that he has not returned to his residence in the city for some days. ”

"Oh, really?" The king replied noncommittally, and then rubbed his forehead vigorously with the two fingers of his right hand, "As far as I know, isn't he in the business of copperware, find him, and tell him that I can take care of him enough business." ”

The retinue hurried away, and the king's hand on the bricks finally lightened.

"Maximian, the Fuggers, and that Chipes," the king muttered softly to himself, feeling a headache at this time, as if everyone was working against him, "and now all of them were probably waiting for the count to do something. ”

Ladislas II pondered and finally determined that the key to everything was the Count of Montina.

"We must greet the Count, who is the Savior of Bucharest," the king commanded the man with a sudden raised voice, "as for the Grand Duke of Chipes, he is the hero among us, and we will already have those two men in the most solemn way." ”

"Your Majesty, what about the princess?" One of the attendants asked in a low voice, and when he saw the king's cold gaze, the attendant couldn't help but bow his head.

"Princess Sophia Alexandra Valleola herself has gone to battle," said Ladislas II in a slow and unwavering tone, "and her courage has led us to a victory, and we will welcome her and her army back in the most solemn way." ”

With that, the king walked down the wall with a heavy expression.

The city of Bucharest is right in front of you, with its towering and sturdy walls rising from the ground, and the more you get closer, the more you can feel the shock of the steepness and majesty, and even some traces of the walls that can still be seen after a long time are reminiscent of the war that threatened the fate of the city more than 20 years ago.

"My father was here at the time, fighting the Ottomans under Bucharest, but he was not killed by the Ottomans," Tsepes chuckled sarcastically, looking up at the walls, "I don't know who killed him, but there was a farmer who exchanged his head for 120 gold coins from the Ottomans." ”

"How's that farmer?" Alexander asked calmly, seeing a strange smile on the corner of Chipes's mouth, Alexander shook his head slightly, "I guess you better don't tell me." ”

"No, you should know," Tzepes gently stroked the mane of his mount, "I found the man and kissed him on the cheek as a thank you because he hid my father's body and sold only the head to the Ottomans." ”

"Oh, that's a clever man," Alexander muttered.

"I was about to pay him a sum of money to thank him for doing so, but the man himself offered to sell my father's body to me, so I decided to withdraw my gratitude to him, and I ordered his tongue to be cut off, and then to cut off the heads of all his sons in front of him."

Alexander looked at Cepes for a moment before nodding slightly: "It's not wrong that you avenged your father. ”

"Of course I'm not wrong," Cepes raised his chin slightly and stared at Alexander, "I am the master of Wallachia, and even if many people don't want to admit it, I'm still their Grand Duke." ”

As he spoke, Chipes looked in the direction of the city gate, and he saw a group of Bucharest nobles gathered under the city gate, and among them he noticed the Patriarch of Bucharest and the governor of the city.

"Those people are waiting for us, and they will surely compliment you on the previous battles, but let me remind you that at least half of these people are your enemies, and the other half may become enemies at any time."

Alexander nodded his head slightly gratefully, and then his gaze turned to the people opposite.

Among those people, there was one man who caught Alexander's attention.

Morko, who had been beside Herva before, stood in the crowd, but instead of the clothes he had worn in the forest camp, he was dressed in a brand new outfit.

On the outside of the jacket, a coat that is a little wide but stands out because of the eye-catching badge.

Seeing the badge, Alexander couldn't help but look at the head of Bucharest.

It is like the lion emblem of Bucharest.

.。 m.