The Count of Baldwin de Boulogne gazed at the conch-shaped silver horse's horn in the king's hand, and the amber foam poured from the mouth, and he remembered his brother Godfrey, who must have liked the drinking habits of the English court.

"The ancient Medes built Ecbatna, and it is said that this royal city had seven walls." Edgar took a sip of wine, "Constantinople built by the Romans has ninety-six towers and two high walls, and we want a much simpler, Lincoln Castle with two towers and double walls, firmly controlling Erninga Avenue in the north. ”

Baldwin understood that this was a test for the king, that building such a fortress would require no less financial and material resources, and that entrusting him with the land and water link from London to York would mean a great deal of trust, and once the castle was completed, he would become the most powerful lord in the eastern part of the kingdom. After all, Lincoln was the most important city in the British East from Roman times to the Viking Age, and today the city has a population of more than 7,000 people, almost the size of York.

Compared to the two eldest brothers, Baldwin felt that he should be the luckiest, Eustace was the heir of Boulogne, but completely under his father's control, in order to strengthen his relationship with the English royal family, he was arranged to be engaged to Edgar's niece, Princess Mary of Scotland; Although Godfrey was finally promised the right of succession to the Duchy of Lower Lorraine, he had to agree to join Emperor Henry's expedition in Italy to swing his sword at St. Peter's throne! As the youngest son of the family, he was destined to be a priest until five years ago, but now he has a knighthood, land, and a city, and he sits on the kingdom's parliament, and is one of the important ministers of England.

If Baldwin himself was not confident in his abilities, Edgar never doubted the future king of Jerusalem, Baldwin had a full scholastic education and was also a good knight, the two rarely appear in the same person, in Edgar's eyes, Baldwin was similar to Count Rodrigo, with a quality of Hernán Cortiz or Robert Clevou - a natural pioneer of the empire.

For Edgar, this kind of vassal may not be the most loyal and reliable, but if appointed properly, it can take on the responsibility. He was not the Alfonso of Castile, he was always suspicious of overly capable vassals—God was above, he was Edgar of Wessex, the overlord of Britain and the whole of the North Sea, he was the ruler of England, and the rulers of Caen to Roskild did not dare to relax; He drew his sword and unsheathed it, and both the Teutonic and the Pope felt the edge.

For more than a decade, however, it was the King of England himself who feared more than the island, and now everything is quietly changing, and England is secretly sprouting from the ashes of the ruins, stretching its branches and leaves until it grows into a towering tree......

The winter was harsh, from the North Sea to Rome, the princes hibernated like wild beasts, hiding their claws and lurking in the castle, hiding from the heat of the fireplace, and Edgar and the entire royal family moved back to the Tower of London, where the Guards and the Royal Danish Guards guarded the towers, and among the two-handed axe-wielding guards was a special unit called Ethan Gran (meaning "Grey-Faced"), a name that in pagan times meant berserkers who wore wolf skin coats and stood proudly dancing and roaring in front of the shield wall.

"How many people will freeze to death this winter?" The queen listened to the "sizzle" of the burning oil and put down the needle and thread in her hand.

"There will be no more than more than a decade ago, when the Normans continued their offensive northward in the winter, from Erninga Avenue to the walls of York, and the English countryside was littered with frozen corpses." Edgar replied that he had seen the most terrible scene, whether it was a colony in a previous life or England a dozen years ago, and no amount of bad weather was as devastating as a war.

The cold wind howled outside the stone walls, the thick curtain blocked the cold air, the fireplace reflected the light of the fireplace, and soon, there was not a single strand on both of them, and the hot bodies were aching from the vigorous activity, Emma was still not used to this kind of wild rudeness, but she could still feel the joy, and when she was done, she covered her lower body with her fur, watched Edgar turn aside, and prayed that God would let her blossom again.

They had drunk some of the wines that the Greeks called "the blood of the earth", which was filled with various medicines such as thyme, juniper berries, mandrake, and belladonna, and they were all dizzy at this time—a drink that had become popular since it was introduced to the English court by Count Rodrigo, and Edgar discovered its function, although it did not have an aphrodisiac effect, at least to make him forget the pain of old wounds, especially in such a cold season.

Life in the castle was actually boring, and the recipes for the banquets were much simpler than in the summer, but Emma felt that the nobles of the English court were more natural and less pretentious than the Franks. At dinner parties in Paris, the immortality of the soul is often discussed in a mocking mimic of the dialogue between Socrates and Agathon, but once the alcohol comes into play, the conversation quickly degenerates into the lowest level of vulgarity and absurdity, like Trimalcho's dinner conversation in "Satilicon", full of werewolves and witches. The English, on the other hand, did only a few things at the table: drinking, riddles, and laughing, and the king sometimes had a few Homeric or Sappho poems sung according to the mood, nothing more than the words of a hungry wolf eating flesh on a cliff, or a silver leaf sleeping soundly by the Gantang and the cold spring, whatever was sung, Edgar would burst into devouring enthusiasm after the feast, burning all over her like a flame, making her eyes dark, her ears thundering, and her brain booming—perhaps that was why she liked it all the more.

The queen selfishly hoped that winter would never pass, so that her husband would be her own. It's just that when February arrives, the grass begins to sprout, which means that there will be plenty of grass for the horses to eat in April. Emma knew that war would break out somewhere, and that any war could make Edgar leave her again, and she knew that his passion for war would never be extinguished, even if he never admitted it.

In fact, the year lasted for a long time, and last year's fighting did not affect farming and trade in the counties, and in the east of the kingdom, the monks of Peterborough even began to lead the Kers in draining the wetlands and clearing new fields.

On this day, in Chester's castle, the Earl of Moka found his cousin.

"I received a message that may be an opportunity for you."

"What's the matter?" Robert Mallett asked lazily, the Norman had been "imprisoned" here for half a year, and great boredom was rusting his mind.

"News from Italy, Godfrey de Bouillon has been captured by the Normans, and the emperor is still in Piacenza."

"What's the matter with us?"

"The Earl of Lincoln has received the consent of His Majesty, and is about to leave the kingdom to join up with his brother Eustace and rush to Italy to rescue him. Do you understand? This is your chance to lead again! ”

Robert Mallett jumped up in an instant, as agile as a hound ready to tear apart a stag: "You mean, Your Majesty will send troops?" ”

"Of course not." Moka shook his head, "The Normans have already made a move, what can we get if we send troops again?" Will Rome remember Robert Giska, who personally saved the Pope, or will we send troops to Saxony? ”

The Normans were deflated again: "In that case, where is the opportunity you say?" ”

"Italy!" "I have written to Your Majesty asking that you accompany Baldwin south. As long as you rescue Godfrey, you have a chance to be pardoned and even enter the court! ”

"That must be fast, we can't let that Spaniard take the lead this time." The Norman knight replied that he was still haunted by the opportunity of the Earl of Pembroke to go south, and that Rodrigo returned with the glory of opening up his territory and the gold and silver of his plunder, so that every banquet hall in England sang of his overseas exploits, which almost overshadowed the king's conquest of Wales.

"Don't worry, when dealing with the Otwell family, you are naturally more suitable." Moka reassured that he knew his cousin's ambitions very well, and now that even Baldwin, a Flemish man, owned two hundred estates, Robert could not have been dormant for long, after all, the Normans were known for their unruliness, and in order to better control this cousin, Moka knew that he needed to provide what he craved most - hope.