The northern sky was obscured by the ravages of war, and the tall mountains that hid the light of the lake reached into the sky, like towers in the mist, piercing the borders of the stars.

Even in winter, the land of Saxony was unusually cold, but these nobles in Goslar did not dare to move even a step to avoid the biting cold wind. The Emperor appeared under the palace on the white steed with the golden hoove, and the avenue of the Church of Our Lady at the foot of the fortress was already lined with the seven ranks of vassals under the military shield system (Heerschild), and as the emperor's horse strode forward, the vassals who vied with each other formed a golden wave of wheat in the summer fields.

The Emperor felt a little sorry for the dozens of exterior windows and arched windows that surrounded the main hall of Goslar's palace, which were now empty, and he preferred the sight of the ladies of the court, who were now all obedient to the side of the road, like slaves, rather boring.

"Roman Emperor, Eternal Augustus!"

A violent cheer suddenly rang out, interrupting Henry's recollection of an affair with a noble lady in the herbs of the summer garden.

The northern territory of the empire is ours.

Henry IV quietly savored the pleasure of the conqueror, and he almost regretted that too many unruly Saxon nobles had been killed, and that a limited number of captured nobles were also here, only to be separated by the shield-bearing guards farther away.

The Emperor soon found what he wanted to see, a captured northern noblewoman. There was a delicate sadness on the face of the young woman, who looked less than twenty years old, her frost-white skin was without a single blemish, and what was even more interesting was that the woman was clearly not a Germanic person.

Archbishop Udalric of Aquilia and his brother Cargnola Istria Bianber-Henry were the first to notice the Emperor's anomaly, and following the Emperor's gaze, the two Italian nobles also discovered the strange color among the people.

"Inquire who that lady is." Archbishop Aquilia explained to his other brother, Herman, that the Emperor's favor was crucial to the purpose of their expedition north.

Thanks to the betrayal of the damned monk, the Ebenstein family had lost a duke and most of their most elite knights, and it was said that their brother Lyutport had not been able to wield a sword in Sobala before he was burned alive in the tent by the mercenary minions of Dagobet.

The monks are now sheltered by Canossa's rebels, and Crown Prince Conrad hides beside his maternal grandmother, the Ifrian Daughter, like a frightened wolf cub, and the only one who can avenge them is the emperor himself.

In the case of the recent situation in Germany, although Saxony has been pacified, the Kaiser's enemies are far from completely disintegrated. The Billund region on the north-east coast was still in the hands of the Saxons' Slavic and English allies, and the southern Lady of Wel was equally eyeing him, having already defeated the Emperor once in August, and if it had not been for the rapid collapse of the Saxons, the treacherous Duke of Welf would have already entered Carinthia.

This is the current situation of the empire, even if there is no opposing king elected, the lord appointed by the emperor can still rebel at any time, perhaps only Frederick, Duke of Swabia of the Belén family, is the emperor's real trusted vassal, as for Ebenstein, a border lord from Italy, in the eyes of the emperor, may be just another welf.

"I heard that the Duke of Bavaria's father-in-law, the Count of Flanders, has just suffered a big defeat?" After entering the palace hall, Henry Bianber asked his brother, Archbishop Udalric.

"Duke Welf won't care about this kind of thing, since he can go against his father and brother in order to get Otto's principality, he won't care about a father-in-law, not to mention that I heard that the Count of Flanders was not killed."

"Anyway, it's good news for us." Henry pursed his curly bearded upper lip, in the autumn, when he heard that the emperor had wooed the Flemish, he was wary of Welf switching sides again, and it was not good news for him that the Duke of Bavaria had become an ally of the Emperor, after all, the Emperor might take out his own duchy to win over the Welf mongrel of the Este family.

God willing!

Now it seems that the position of the Flemishians will not affect Welf - to hell with the Emperor's cause, as long as Carinthia is mine.

Henry Bentber saluted the Emperor in an even more flattering manner, and then quietly learned from Herman what he wanted to know.

"The widow of Nordmark Bianbo?"

This answer was a little tricky for him, he knew a lot about the northern nobility, but his limited knowledge of the nobility still made him understand that this lady of Nodamak was not an ordinary person - this young widow was named Yev Praxia, she was of Varyag and Cuman royal blood, and her grandfather was the famous Grand Duke of Kiev "Sage" Yaroslav, who is now her cousin of the kings of England and France!

Such a northern lady is not something that a southerner should offend, even if her current status is nothing more than a captive.

The emperor's meaning could not be more obvious, so many graceful and lightly dressed court ladies present could not win the emperor's blue eyes, but the noble captive in mourning clothes became the center of all desires.

Only one thing was that any nobleman with any status already knew the identity of the lady, and in this palace, whether they were prisoners or not, most of the guests were northerners—and Henry Bianbo suddenly realized his advantage.

Once a duke, what is the disgust of the northern barbarians?

"Arrange it in my name." Bian Bo quickly made a decision, he did not realize at this time what kind of enemies his reckless actions would invite......

At night, Henry IV was led by an Italian lord to a dark room, undisturbed by any guards along the way.

The Emperor snatched a brass candlestick from the Italian hand and quietly entered the room.

The white nightgown clings to the body, clinging to every part, every tiny movement magnified by the soft fabric, and even if the body were completely naked, it would not be so clearly visible.

An ethereal and beautiful face turned sharply, as if startled by the sudden candlelight.

Beautiful as a sigh, perfect booty! The emperor was almost ecstatic at this insignificant victory that had already been achieved.

When the "trophies" turned around, the makeup on the lips cracked a small opening, and the desire to kiss the lips instantly hit the emperor.