Eleven days after the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, Emperor Alexios received the latest battle report in the camp of Ladia, and the queen's brother John Ducasse Jr. wrote in a letter that Tatuš Khan's army of 30,000 men had been defeated in Kule, south of Adriatic, and was now fleeing northward, and that the deposed king of Hungary, Solomon, was beheaded by reinforcements sent by Adrianople, and after the battle, Caesarnikiphoroos arrived in Adrianople, and immediately participated in the pursuit of the north, driving the barbarians to the northeast, and the road to the pass of Haimos in the west had been completely restored.

The messenger who brought the letter to the emperor was a mercenary, and Alexios did not look at Solomon's hideous head, but looked the young lion in front of him up and down.

"Odrick, get my gold cup." The Emperor casually ordered his Varangian guards.

The English disappeared silently behind the curtain.

"We heard that you killed Solomon?" The Emperor's eyes jumped like flames.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I remember you came with the Pope's envoy, right?" Alexios habitually played the subtle and all-encompassing insight of the Roman emperor, "Our brother John really cares for you, and even asks us to give you the command of a fortress." ”

Seeing that the young man was still bowing, Alexios had a good impression of him: "Although you are recommended by John, you do not belong to the army of Dillakium, my brother Andreano is still your commander, you go to Meisembria, Varazettes is dead, you go there to reorganize the remnants of his army, and then join our main force, and prepare to go north to pursue the barbarians." ”

Glancing at the name of the barbarian on the paper, the emperor frowned slightly, and then said casually: "If you want to get ahead in Rome, your current name is not enough, we will call you Angelo in the future." ”

Still immersed in the dream that he had become the commander of Meisembria, Angus vaguely agreed to the emperor, but the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Nabitus, had already seen it, and called a eunuch to help him aside, so that the countryman would not be rude in front of the emperor.

Soon, under the envious gaze of the nobles in the tent, Angus reappeared in front of the emperor's table, and Aldric placed a golden cup on the table, and opened the iron box in the hands of the two slaves in front of the emperor, and the eyes of the emperor's best friend, General Tetisius, shone brightly with golden light.

The Emperor took out a gold coin from the box and threw it into the cup, followed by a continuous sound of crisp metal crashing, one after another, which made people's hearts shake. Soon, the huge gold cup was filled with saucer-shaped gold coins engraved with the emperor's own head, but the iron box was far from the bottom.

"Lord Angelo, this is not our gift to you—though Rome will never treat anyone in the service of the Empire badly – we have handed over Meisembria to you."

Angus couldn't help but look disappointed.

Alexios then opened his sleeves and pointed at Solomon's head: "We are willing to buy this from you and make it into a drinking vessel, as for the price, we will exchange this cup with you, are you willing?" ”

"Yes, Augustus forever!" As if afraid that the other party would regret it, Angus immediately replied loudly.

Alexios turned to the people in the tent, all but the blind old Nikephoros Brenus, who were staring in the direction of the emperor.

"John, the chief nobleman of the Empire, had already won his first glory in this war, and for this reason we decided to give him the estate near Arcadiopolis and to confer on him the title of High Chief Nobleman. Now that Tatoosh, the leader of the barbarians, with the blessing of Christ, has fled to the Danube, will you follow your emperor to let the barbarians shed a drop of blood, to win immortal glory for the empire, and to win spoils and rewards for yourselves? ”

Cheers resounded through the tents, and almost everyone began to fantasize about the victory that was close at hand, and Angus finally calmed down when he heard John's name.

He will never forget the blood behind that victory, and Peter was a violent madman, so the chief nobleman entrusted the matter to him later.

In this battle, the two Roman generals who fought bloodily in the camp of Culle were the real heroes, as evidenced by the Pecheneg warriors who were killed and wounded and filled the trenches, but they did not have the surname Ducasse after all.

When Angus and Peter arrived on the battlefield, the situation had begun to turn against the Pechenegs, Solomon, who had been hesitant to wait and see, finally made up his mind when he saw Angus's banner, and struck back against the tent of Tatush Khan, after Angus charged, the Hungarian had already hung Kutaiskberg's head on the top of his head, and there was almost no resistance wherever Angus passed, and the large groups of nomadic hussars fled to the north, and the Khan's great army fell to the ground, The splendid iron armor that Angus had seen in the Khan's tent was also propped up by a spear shaft, and the owner of the armor was long gone.

As twilight had begun to fall, Solomon approached Angus, took his father-in-law's head in his hand, and cried out to see the Roman commander. It's just that what he didn't expect was that he rushed to Adrianople overnight and ran away with two fast horses, but it was Angus who stabbed him in the back.

John Ducasse, from the moment he heard of Solomon's arrival, realized that the great work had fallen into his hands, and he gave Angus the order to murder before going out to meet him, not even forgetting to bring Irina, who was in the corner of the bed.

It was only after Solomon had finished telling his father-in-law that he saw the man hiding beside the chief nobleman, and when he realized that the situation was not good, he felt a cold to the bone, and the tip of the blade had pierced through the back of his neck, and the murder was carried out with precision.

The late Caesar-Nikephoros Melisenos saw only a Kutaisk head the next day, a gift from the governor of the Dirachium Military District, and as for Solomon's head, it had already been taken by Angus to the Praetorian Guard camp in Thrace.

The Emperor's reward was generous, but Angus was happiest at this time because he had been sent to the north, so that he could stay away from the dangerous John Ducasse.

What's more, once the Pechenegs were defeated, he had his own castle in the north and became a lord like Varazetus. Of course, he will not become the governor of the military district like Valazettes, Meisembria has also been destroyed by the war, and the current center of the riverside military district is Isaacia on the Danube, and in addition, his castle is surrounded by a group of Pechenegs, and he is not of the Pecheneg royal blood like Valazettes, and he cannot have the strength and status of the latter. But a territory is a territory after all, and it is the greatest luxury for an illegitimate child to be able to own land, so what else is there to choose?

One more victory, one victory would allow him to realize this dream, and the same would be true for the Empire, the next victory would solve the northern problem once and for all, and the Cumans would certainly give up their ambitions to invade when they saw the miserable state of the Pechenegs, and the Roman Empire would have a chance to breathe and be reborn.

Angelo, the Roman general, prayed to himself.