The king was joined in the derby by by the queen and the infant princess Elfwen, not only because the king's doctor said that Mercia's air was good for the queen's health, but also because the queen herself did not want to be alone in the unfinished city of Westminster, which was now in chaos like a battlefield, and Queen Emma always had the illusion that she was under siege.

The queen was accompanied by envoys from abroad, an Italian who was clearly not a good diplomat, and who greeted the nobles of England with a superior salute with an attitude towards the northern barbarians, which made Edgar almost suspicious of the intentions of the Norman conqueror who had sent such an envoy.

"The prince is willing to ...... with His Majesty," the Lombard from Salerno insisted on conversing in difficult Greek as if he were an important vassal of some empire.

"Maybe we are unheard, but in the north, only the king can be called a prince." Edgar interrupted the Salerno people without waiting for the interpreter to speak.

The messenger blushed, as if he wanted to explain something, the king of England had lost interest, and Robert Mallett on the side stepped forward, this Norman knight was sent by the Earl of Mercia to protect the king, his left arm clamped a silver winged helmet, his right arm stretched out, and "invited" the messenger aside in an attitude that could not be refused: "My lord, today's meeting is over. ”

The Salerno man was in a hurry, and he did not want to go back to face his irascible master, Duke Robert Gisca.

"Your Majesty, the Holy See is still dusty......" Before he could finish speaking, Edgar had already stepped up to the high platform, his right arm holding a white Icelandic falcon, a laurel crown on his head, and his braids and long beard glittering golden, like a mythical figure.

The queen gently untied his shawl, and all the nobles present seemed to be expecting something, and there was silence, except for the occasional snorting of the horses below.

The falcon shook the feathers on its neck, its eyes sharper than its short beak, and looked forward to the samurai of half England in the enclave. Suddenly, Edgar's statue-like body made a movement, and the falcon was released, and a long chirp and a chorus of horns announced the start of the game.

"My dear, why do you do this to that poor creature?" Queen Emma's gaze swept over a chestnut horse, and she asked casually as she clapped.

"Talking to that idiot is torture, I'd rather listen to Elfwen hiccup." Edgar succeeded in diverting Emma's attention, and under his wife's coquettishness, he began to ponder the Duke of Apulia's intentions.

It was probably because of the Duchess that this Salerno man was able to become an envoy, but judging from his last haste, Robert Giscard did hope to gain the support of England.

The bright colors made the smell of horse manure forgotten, and the cheers grew louder and louder on the high platform of the three-tiered oared ship, and now in the lead was the "silver fire", which belonged to Count Guspatrick, the young lord, apparently a horse lover, who had spent so much effort to buy it from the Saracen lands.

"Is there any news from Greece?" The king suddenly asked the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Seeing the Bishop shake his head, and with a look of disappointment on his face, Edgar was a little skeptical that the other party had heard his question—the Bishop's Flemish "Sunday" had just been overtaken.

"There is no news, only rumors of the Venetians." The bishop replied to the king's previous question, "All the information tells us that Bohemond is now the master of Thessaly. ”

"I think the Greeks probably have the upper hand." The king's voice was low, "Otherwise, the Duke of Apulia would not have been able to find us." ”

"Do you want to send an emissary to the Duke of Saxony?" The bishop's attention has completely left the racecourse.

"It's not time yet." Edgar shook his head slightly, "If the rebellion starts now, Henry, who has withdrawn from Rome, will immediately go north, and then he will fall into the hands of that Norman, and we will fight this battle for him." ”

"But on the side of the Cardinals...... "The bishop wanted to remind the king of the Roman side, that he was very old, and that it was not out of personal ambition to curry favor with the Cardinals, but for the future of England in Christendom."

"Don't worry, even if we don't move, the Holy See won't be good, that Clement III is too much of a threat to the Holy See. Bishop Ostia is a wise man and will alert the cardinals. ”

"But the conditions given to us by the Holy See ......" seems to have hoped that the king would soon start that rebellion in the north of the empire and become the savior of the Holy Church, the crowned King of Britain.

"I once told a story to my son." At this time, the host won the race group, and to the joy of the Mercian song, Edgar applauded, and said, "When Ethan Gran smelled the smell of roasted tilapia in Lena Fox's house, he knocked on the door and asked his nephew for a penalty. Lena Fox said, "My house is entertaining the monks of the Tyron Monastery, so I can only let my fellow sect enter, and then hand my uncle a small piece of grilled fish through the crack in the wall, which makes the old wolf even more greedy. Ethan Gran Wolf asked: Can you enjoy such good things when you join the church, then please let me join the church too. Lena Fox told the old wolf that he had to shave his head before joining the church, and Ethan Gran was greedy, so he stuck into his head through the hole in the wall, but Lena Fox poured boiling water on his head, and his hair was burned and his scalp was rotten. ”

After saying that, ignoring the strange look of the Bishop, Edgar commented: "Giscard is a Norman fox, and the cardinals' promise is fresh fish, and they are treating us like greedy and stupid wolves." ”