"It's getting madder......" sighed the King of England from the tower.

He wasn't here to observe the birds' flight or study the laws of the stars, but simply because he wanted to find a free corner in this grand cage with Emma, away from the eyes of the court.

The queen was worried about the prince's health, and the poor child was born a little weak, after all, it was her first. Edgar leaned on the stone pillar alone, more and more like he was talking to himself.

“Quod-principi-plaquit-legis-habet-vigorem……”

"All the things of the Yue Jun are valid laws?" The queen said in astonishment.

"Yes, it is said that this phrase came from the court of Emperor Henry."

"What a bold idea."

"Since the simultaneous deposition of the Archbishop of Milan and the Archbishop of Ravenna more than a year ago, I thought that the Holy See was losing its mind." The king sighed again, "Now it seems that no one is crazier than the Emperor himself. ”

Queen Emma was unaware of what was coming, she was never a sensitive woman, not only politically, but also in the family. But Edgar was well aware of the dangers of this dark age, that Europe could collapse or revival, and that his kingdom would swing between the scales at any time, and that would eventually rise and fall with the whole world, and that the fate of this island nation had always been like that in his previous life, during the Crimean War, and that the glorious isolation of the British Isles had never existed!

After all these years of thinking that peace had come, and that the next thing was to enjoy the mead in an idyll, wasn't their King Edgar obsessed with art and learning? Only the wisest of men are worried, and this state of worry comes from the Anglo-Saxon experience of the past: the song of joy will eventually summon darkness, just as King Hrosgaard met Grandel. For such a person, grief is eternal, and the fear that one's time will eventually repeat itself and that terror will re-enter the world looms over everything: such wisdom is sometimes almost a curse.

When it comes to the king of England, the Gentiles think that this is a sleeping beast that does not need to be disturbed, after all, no one thinks that Edgar is an ambitious monarch, and the young king of West Saxon has always behaved thoughtlessly and carelessly, which gives everyone the impression that the English overlord and William of Normandy are two different kinds of people.

However, whether they were worried about the king's indulgence in comfort, or they decided that the king was absolutely harmless to his neighbors, these people were shocked by Edgar's next move.

At the end of the summer, the King of England intervened in a high-profile battle for the dangerous Verdun succession: it did him no favor, even from any point of view.

Three years earlier, Emperor Henry had taken the Duchy of Lower Lorraine, which was supposed to be inherited by Godfrey, leaving only Bouillon and Antwerp to the young knight, for whom Godfrey de Bouillon would have to fight under the emperor in one of the most dangerous civil wars within the empire, and even if he was lucky enough to win, he might one day find himself opposite the Pope himself.

Now the Flemish knight had to face another opponent, his "great" aunt, Madame Matilda, the mistress of Canossa. Half a month ago, when he heard that Emperor Henry had also chosen to support Matilda, he had given up all hopes, this young man was not a holy knight's flower, he longed for fame and land, and in order to obtain both, he decided to do whatever it takes. A temporary bow was only a necessary detour, and he comforted himself.

It wasn't until King Philip's messenger told him that the kingdoms of England and France would be by his side that the beacon of hope rekindled in his heart. Although Philip did not want to clash with the Germans for the time being, the importance of the Lorraine region was unparalleled, this steel-producing region was in a sense the military heart of Europe, and Verdun on the Meuse was the gateway to the French kingdom, from which Reims passed to the east, was the military town of Metz. It can be said that the Teutonic kingdom, which controlled the Lorraine Heights, had a high position on France in the west, and Philip was very excited to expand his influence in this region.

The most difficult to understand is the king of England who initiated the matter, and on the face of it, the only explanation is that the northern Saxon monarch was finally unwilling to be lonely and decided to get involved in international affairs. However, his choice was not very wise, because supporting Godfrey would mean offending both the Emperor and the Pope, and inspiring the resentment of a powerful woman who was never known for her magnanimity.

"Saxons!" Emperor Henry roared angrily, ignoring the presence of Bishop Benoît of Osnabrück.

He had reason to be outraged, and in the northern region of Goslar, where the Saxon nobles were almost openly supporting Rudolph's cause, these rebellious northern lords not only provided the Duke of Swabia with a large number of troops, but also became the purse of the puppet emperor: the Harz Mountains and Goslar had been the site of silver mines since ancient times, and in order to strengthen his control over the region, Henry tried to build a castle there, but the Saxon nobles resisted, but failed.

But this time, it was the king of the West Saxons, Edgar, who was even more indignant to the emperor, the news from the west was becoming less and less optimistic, thanks to the instigation of the English king, the king of France had no longer concealed his ambitions, Philip's army appeared in the direction of Champagne, and according to certain spies, another English army would also land in Boulogne, and once this prophecy came true, the western front of the empire would face a serious crisis!

"The Archbishop of Cologne fears that in the event of a war between the Rhine and the Meuse, Swabia in the south and Saxony in the north may take advantage of the opportunity, which means that our forces in the west may be threatened on three sides!" Bishop Benoît, the most famous castle builder of the time, still dutifully reminded the emperor.

The emperor's frown began to sink: "If the English send troops, what kind of forces will they send?" ”

Benoy, Bishop of Osnabrück, replied: "It is possible to reach up to a thousand knights......"

Thousands of elites, this is enough power to restore the emperor's composure.

"What is the attitude of Hildebrand and that woman?" The Emperor asked suddenly.

"They will not be able to control Rudolph, and the Italian army will not cross the Vosges Mountains to ...... north"

"So if war breaks out, it's like we're taking all the blows for that woman." The Emperor's anger has a tendency to flare up again.

"That's right, so I think Matilda of Canossa must be very tough......" the bishop mentioned the name Canossa, successfully diverting the Emperor's attention.

"Our enemies are not France and England, then, let us put aside the idea of war, send envoys to the courts of Paris and London, and say that the Reich is willing to keep the peace, and that we want to meet with the two noble Majesties at Cambrai to decide the future of the West!"

Hearing this decision, Bishop Benoy was relieved: "Augustus, the crowning of the Lord, this will be an unprecedented event!" ”

Indeed, three monarchs under the age of thirty could represent almost the supreme royal power in all of Europe, and if the emperor had succeeded, Rome would have been horrified to see that the kings who had held secular power had been united.