On more than one occasion when Raphael painted the portrait of Josa, Gompati had seen the Countess in her gorgeous but impractical dress, holding a musket in a heroic pose.

So when Gompati first saw the armor on Sophia's body, he immediately thought of Josha, but he quickly saw that unlike Josha's body, which was purely used for decoration, Sophia's armor was obviously a real guy.

Especially as Sophia stood up and walked towards him, listening to the sound of grinding between the blades of the armor, Gompati couldn't help but look surprised.

He really couldn't imagine how such a girl who didn't look very old could wear such heavy armor.

Sophia gestured to Gompati, and then her groomed eyebrows tightened hard, and there was a rush of antiquity in her eyes.

Gompati looked at Cepes next to him, he had been told that the Greek princess was a mute girl, but he was still a little surprised to see the princess gesture to him.

"General, Your Highness asks where your Count is." Chipes asked with a slightly gloomy face, he always felt that Sophia's concern for the Count of Montina was a little too abrupt, although he also hoped to get support from Europe, especially from the Vatican, but Sophia's too enthusiastic performance made him vaguely feel that things were not so simple.

Cepes admits that he knows Sophia, whether she is really a Greek princess or not, but Cepes knows that Sophia is actually a very simple girl, except for a bad temper, at least so far she has not shown the slightest interest in power.

This made Chipes wonder if she was suddenly interested in the earl.

"My lord is probably near the Alger River right now."

Speaking of Alexander, Gompati could not help but become a little anxious, and the last news he heard about Alexander was that he was marching north along the Alger River with the main force of Montina's army, and if there was no miscalculation, Alexander should have already fought the Ottomans by this time.

"Your Highness, please send your army to support my lordship, we have less than seven thousand, and the Ottoman army has nearly 80,000 people, my lord will not hesitate to fight the Ottomans head-on in order to buy time for Bucharest, but he will not last long, so Your Highness please send troops as much as possible."

Gompati's words surprised everyone in the tent, and Cepes looked incredulous, he thought he was crazy enough before this, but now he realized that there was an even crazier than him.

With less than 7,000 men against nearly 80,000 people, Cepes felt that even if he was given the Hungarian crown, he would not do such a crazy thing.

The others were skeptical, some of them did not believe Gompati's words, some thought that the foreigner was alarmist, and some thought that the count might have some other ulterior motives, otherwise no one would be so stupid as to kill himself.

Sophia listened in a daze, she didn't understand much, but she understood Gompati's words.

Alexander, not far from Bucharest, was fighting with the Ottomans with his army, and the enemy was much more numerous than his army!

Sophia's body trembled slightly, so much so that the armor on her body made a strange noise.

She gestured anxiously as she looked eagerly at Chipes.

"Your Highness asks, why did your Count do this?" Chipes hesitated slightly, but although he saw Sophia's unhappy look, he still didn't fully ask what she was going to ask, "You know, the Count is so unexpected that we are not ready for anything here." ”

"But my lord is ready, and he is still from Rome, His Royal Highness, the Montina army is fighting, and we need help."

Gompati looked at Chipes with an ugly face, and he could also sense Sophia's strong concern for Alexander, but the Grand Duke of Wallachia did not seem to be in such a hurry, which was very different from what he had heard before he had entered the city that the Grand Duke was a staunch warlord.

Cepes looked at Gompati with a heavy face, and although he wanted to know that this man did not see that he and Sophia had very different attitudes towards the earl, he also knew that it was obviously impossible, and that Sophia's overly strong expression had completely betrayed her inner thoughts.

"General, please wait a moment." Chipes nodded, then pulled Sophia, who seemed reluctant, out of the tent.

"What's wrong with you, why are you so excited?" Cepes asked strangely, "It's not like you at all, I've never seen you like this before," Seeing the look of chagrin between Sophia's eyebrows, Cepes paused, and suddenly looked at her with a strange gaze, "Tell me, do you know the Count of Montina?" ”

Sophia's face showed a slight sluggishness, and then she nodded slowly.

"You know the Count," Chippes raised his voice, and then he lowered his voice as best he could, "tell me how you knew him, and how much he knew about you, I mean he knew who you really were?" ”

When talking about his true identity, Cepes deliberately lowered his voice, but when he saw Sophia nodding again, Cepes couldn't help but feel the urge to ask loudly.

"Tell me everything, don't hide it from me, it's for you and for his good." Chipes said heavily, he felt he might be in a bad situation.

Until recently, he believed that he was the only person in control of the "Greek princess", but now a stranger, a count from Rome, who not only knew Sophia well but also seemed to have a different relationship with her, gave Chipes a sense of danger that he might lose control of the girl.

For Cepes, Sofia was a key part of his rivalry with Ladislas II, and without this trump card, not only would he be in a difficult situation in Bucharest, but even his Wallachia might have fallen victim to bargaining between Ladislas II and the Ottomans.

Sophia looked at Cepes silently, hesitating whether to tell him about her and Alexander.

Sophia felt that this was her own secret, and although she wanted to tell everyone about it, she could also feel that Chippes was obviously not in a good mood when she looked at his face.

Sophia was a little nervous in her heart, although she didn't care what was going on in Bucharest, but she at least knew that Chesses's attitude was important, and it would be terrible if he refused to send troops to support Alexander.

After all, not only did Chipes have a strong army, but more importantly, if even he refused to send troops, could he still count on Ladislas II, who only wanted to negotiate with the Ottomans?

"Ah~"

Sophia let out an anxious cry, her eyes fixed on Cepes, as if trying to see what he was thinking.

Cepes looked at Sophia, and he could feel the vague wariness in Sophia's gaze, which he hadn't had before, and it made him a little uncomfortable.

But what really made Chipes mind was what kind of impact the arrival of the Count of Montina would bring.

Chipes couldn't help but wonder in his heart, he didn't care much about the past between Sophia and Count Montina at this time, although Sophia was indeed beautiful to him, but compared to the side of the Greek princess, the appearance of the girl in front of him was actually not important.

But it was the identity of this Greek princess that made him wary of the Count of Montina.

What he needed to be sure now was that person would not sabotage his plans, let alone pose a threat to his position.

The count of Montina, Cepes thought quickly in his heart, and he felt that he must have caught something.

Hearing that there was a merchant from Rome who seemed to know the count well, Cepes thought to himself, but the man had always been with the king.

Thinking of this, Cepes glanced at Sophia, who looked anxious.

Obviously, Sophia wanted to urge him to send troops immediately, but her experience in the Prague court during this time made her somewhat understand that this matter was obviously not so easy.

"I must go to the king," said Cepes to Sophia, "and before that promise me not to be impulsive, and as for the man I will arrange for him and his men to rest for a while." ”

Cepes said as he hurried away without waiting for Sophia to stop him, but after walking a short distance, he immediately beckoned one of his cronies to his side and whispered a few words to him.

"Remember, don't let that person wander around, especially don't let him go to see the princess casually."

Cepes secretly wondered in his heart, because he didn't know what the relationship between Sophia and the Count of Montina was, so he was more careful.

With the arrival of the Count of Montina, Cepes was looking forward to it.

Although Sophia has the influence of Sophia among the people, Ladislas II is the king of Hungary after all, and the nobles who support him are the majority, and the arrival of a foreign count with reinforcements and an important status can obviously increase the bargaining chips on Chipes's side, but now Tempes is a little unsure of what this person's arrival means.

The people of Cepes found Prato in a tavern outside the castle, while Prato was listening to the Zagreb emissary named Morco pouring bitter water.

"I heard that the count is here, oh, he's such a hero," Morco poured a sip of malt wine into his mouth, and then shook his head as the wine wet his clothes, "He is a hero in front of the Viscount, and the Viscount is because of him to promise Aloxia to him, my Aloxia is forced, I know she is forced!" ”

"Yes, they were all forced, and the young lady of the Rovelle family and poor Lucrezia, I heard that she was kidnapped by the Count at that time, and even kidnapped her in front of her brother Caesar," Prato and Morco drank face to face, and his eyes were so blurred that when the attendant of Cepes approached, he shook his hand and shouted, "Man, two more large glasses." ”

The people of Cepes ignored the drunken Prato, and they picked him up and walked out of the tavern, while behind Morco was still babbling: "My Aloxia, I will go and save you, I will get ahead!" ”

A glass of cold well water splashed on his face, and Prato immediately shivered, and he couldn't help but struggle, and opened his eyes hard to look at the man in front of him.

"Grand Duke? Is that you, my lord? Prato finally recognized the man in front of him and asked in amazement, he knew Chipes, knew that he was one of the most powerful people in Bucharest, but he did not understand what the Grand Duke had come to him for.

"Listen to me, I'm short on time, so I'll answer whatever I ask." At this time, Cepes did not have the same patient and gentle appearance in front of Sofia, his eyes shone with cruelty, and his hand pinched Prato's throat, which instantly caused a panicked sigh from Prato's mouth.

Prato nodded vigorously, his face turning purple as he was short of breath.

"Don't say you don't know how many troops that Count Montina has," Cepes let go of his hand, but then pressed Proto's lips again, "I know that people like you are very well-informed and tell me the truth." ”

"There must be 6,000, or 7,000 men," Prato said urgently, "and when I left Rome I heard that the Count was organizing an expedition of about 5,000 men, but then I met the Morco, and I heard that the Count had the permission of the Duke of Zagreb to recruit many of the locals. ”

"So he really has a large army?" Cepes frowned slightly, he didn't think that this merchant was lying, on the contrary, after comparing several sources of information, Cepes could not help but admit that the strength of the Count of Montina could not be ignored.

"The Count is not the only one who has this strength," Prato thought that if he provided more information, he would probably be more lenient with him, after all, he felt uncomfortable when he remembered that this man was the son of the famous Vlad III, "He is the father of the Duchess of Pisa, and ......"

"I know all this," Cepes interrupted Prato impatiently, "but it's useless now, to say something more important, tell me if you think he can beat the Ottomans?" ”

Prato was stunned, and he looked at Chippes with a somewhat stunned look that made Chippes feel as if he was the one who had drunk too much.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to offend," Prato immediately realized that his appearance had aroused the displeasure of the terrible man in front of him, and he immediately explained carefully, "but I don't think the Count can defeat the Ottomans, at least not yet, I don't see anyone who can defeat the infidels, they are terrible." ”

"You're right," Chipes pushed Prato aside a little roughly, and the annoyance that had been dashed by the merchant's words made him want to hit someone, "so why did he come here, you know, it was really because of the Pope's order? ”

"My lord, I'm just a merchant, and though I know some of the great men of Rome, it's impossible for them to tell a merchant these things," Prato replied cautiously, and when he saw that Cepes looked cold because of his disappointment, Prato hurriedly continued, "But it is said that the Emperor seems to be very concerned about everything that happens here, because one of the Emperor's court ministers has a good relationship with the Count, in fact, as far as I know, they are not only on good terms, because I have done their business, So I heard that the Count had a close relationship with the palace minister in private. ”

"Emperor?" Cepes looked stunned, of course he knew that Prato was talking about Emperor Maximian of the Holy Roman Empire, but he couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard this.

"Yes, the Emperor," Prato nodded at the sight of Cepes's attention, and as if to strengthen the credibility of his words, he added, "and the King asked me about it not long ago." ”

"The King?" Chipes couldn't help but be stunned again: "You mean King Ladislas?" ”

"Yes, not long ago, but His Majesty seemed a little unhappy when he heard this." Prato tried to take a small step closer and said cautiously.

Cepes looked at Prato, and it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he had done the right thing to ask the merchant for.

Ladislas II walked around angrily, waiting for the messenger he had sent to bring back the news, but it was clear that neither Chipes nor Sophia had obeyed his orders, much to the king's annoyance.

The sudden arrival of Roman reinforcements completely disrupted Ladislas II's calculations, and the negotiations that had been planned with the Ottomans suddenly became troublesome because of the intervention of the Roman nobleman, especially when he heard that the man had actually launched an attack on the Ottomans, and the king almost opened his mouth to curse because he could not contain his anger.

Ladislas II could vaguely guess what the Count of Montina was doing, and it was clear that he was trying to sabotage it, but the king didn't understand what he was doing it for at first, but then he felt that he had finally discovered the truth.

In Ladislas II's mind, it was clear that the Count of Montina had been instigated by Emperor Maximian to provoke a war between him and Bayezid II, so that Maximian could intervene in Hungary.

Especially when he heard that Maximian was working with the Fugger family on the idea of a Hungarian copper mine, Ladislas II felt that he was simply a wolf at the front door and a tiger at the back door.

"That Chipes, and that nasty wild girl, what are they doing?"

When he saw the messenger he had sent hurrying in, Ladislas II asked desperately, and he didn't even bother to hide his disappointment and anger at Sophia.

"Your Majesty, the Grand Duke of Wallachia is gathering his troops," said the messenger hurriedly, "and the armies of the Greek nobles, and the princess is gathering those men to support the Count of Montina. ”