Margaret's stay in Westminster was very short, and she had to return north before the end of Lent. What made Edgar even more disappointed was that Glouohe's mind had not changed, and he could only send the two away. At the time of separation, Margaret showed a look of confusion, perhaps she had thought that Glouauhe would choose to stay in the end, or at least confide in the child. This ending was exactly what Margaret had originally planned, and she was faintly disappointed, but it also made the noble queen finally quietly change her opinion of Gruohe, and the ruthlessness of the highland woman almost made Margaret feel a sense of disdain and sympathy.

After May, while the King of England was still in his palace at Westminster, an emissary returning from Normandy brought back new news. The Normans' bold actions in the winter were brutally retaliated by the Normans, and the Duke of Wilhelm not only sent troops to retake Furksan, but also made a large number of ruins in the southern lands, and the Norman cavalry divided into small groups to raid lightly, but this time they did not raid the castles like the Duke of Conan who had dealt with Brittany, but only set fire to many villages and towns and manors along the way, and Philip did not have time to gather his army, and the enemy had already appeared elsewhere.

The fire raged in the land of the Franks, King Philip's reaction was very strange, he no longer had the desire to take the initiative, but ran to the south of Melon, such a performance was seen by the lords, the weakness of the French king also disappointed the counts, if it were not for the princes in the northwest of France now have been blunt, I am afraid that there are already hungry wolves who can't help but come out to pick up the bargain.

After the Duke of Normandy's revenge was over, Philip returned to Paris, and his brother Hugue, seeing the fleeing crowd, could not help asking: "Your Majesty, why don't we fight back?" ”

Philip watched a thief with his severed hand parade outside the city, was silent for a long time, and finally said, "Because the balance of victory and defeat has begun to tilt, but if we act rashly, William may give us a new battle of Wallaville at any time." The scattered Norman bandits weren't the focus of our efforts, and the sacrifices were all for the moment the dice were thrown. ”

Yu Ge was a little unimpressed, in the eyes of this prince, the enemy could never be knocked down by waiting, no matter what, in the end, he always had to shoot in person, how much difference could it make if he was earlier or later?

As if seeing this brother's dissatisfaction, Philip still explained a few words: "After the Battle of Saint-Lo at the beginning of this year, why did Edgar retreat? I think he must have seen that as long as William was still around, the morale of the Normans would not be lost, and at this time, fighting for heavy casualties, even defeating the Normans, I am afraid it will only be to shed blood for us or those counts. It's the same for us, defeating the Normans is not our ultimate goal, and in fact I don't need to defeat the Duke of Normandy as long as we can control them. And if our strength is exhausted in the war with the Normans, I am afraid that our throne will become a martyr for the Normans. ”

Due to the fire in Rouen during last year's war, the Duke of Normandy moved the court to the castle of Caen, a fortress built of stone and originally built by Roger de Beaumont, but after Hastings, the Duke ordered the palace hall to be enlarged to serve as the center of the new Norman Empire. Today, despite losing the crown of England, the fortress of Caen still surpasses the royal castles of countries near and far. In this somewhat empty hall, Duke William said to Roger de Beaumont, who was beside him: "I would like you to go to London." ”

Roger only nodded, and listened to the Duke continue: "Robert cannot remain in the hands of the English forever, and the day he is imprisoned will remind our enemies of the weakness of the Normans, and the war I have waged against Philip will be in vain." ”

"I see." Roger de Beaumont also did not want Robert to remain a hostage, and immediately agreed to this request.

Roger was long past his old age, and he stayed in the Duchy to assist the Duke's eldest son, Robert, during his time in Hastings, and this was his first time on English soil. As soon as Dover landed, the Norman lord informed the defenders of his identity, and the inhabitants of Kent did not have much affection for the Normans, and it was a long time before a Saxon girl with a chest the size of an apple introduced him into the castle tower.

When the meeting was over, Roger went into the room that the English had arranged for him to rest, and the Saxon girl brought him a plate of herring and a glass of wine.

"Where is your home?" Roger saw a brass ring on the girl's arm, different from the pagan Danes, which was worn by slaves.

The girl didn't seem to understand, so Roger asked again in Saxon.

"I don't know." She replied briefly.

"East Anglia, Kent, or Wessex?" Roger was a little strange.

"A village." The girl still couldn't answer anything.

"How did you get here?" Roger thought to herself, and it seemed that she had no idea what Wessex or East Anglia was.

"I was cooking for my brother, and then the shaved men came, they were on horses, they burned a lot of people, my mother was dragged away, and my brother and I were tied up outside the village. Later I was sold here, and my brother doesn't know where he was sold. ”

The Norman Lord waved her hand and let her out of the room.

The next day, the Normans sailed north from Kent and crossed the River Thames at Kingston, the only crossing on the eastern border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex.

Near Southwark, behind a strange building with four arms on the top and turning in the wind, the tall figure of the Tower of London came into view, and as they approached the square building, the Normans saw many strange wooden machines, a wooden cart with three pulleys in the lower part and two pulleys in the upper part, and a cable in the lower part tightly wrapped around a winch, and with the turn of a lever, the cable gradually wound and tightened, so that a piece of ashlar was lifted in the air. There are also large machines of various axle bases and pulley sets, which stand like giants near the scaffolding, which are operated by many Saxons on the ground, who transport the stones upwards with great speed with the help of ingenious guiding and transmission parts.

Roger de Beaumont felt a strange power, as if these machines were alive and well, as if they could build a whole new kingdom!