"I know that you are studying the scriptures," instructed Madame Escher, "but you must not forget that the most important thing is your father, and you must keep an eye on him at all times, and do not wait for him to order you before you do anything, it will be too late, and he expects a lot from you, my son, and you must prove to him that no one can replace you, no one can." Her fingers gently stroked the picture books on her lap, "Think about it, your father has never been a man without purpose, especially these books and picture books, which seem vulgar and boring, crude and smelly...... But that's why we have to pay more attention, because there must be something in it that your father needs—something more important than the books adorned with gold and pearls, because its value is not on the surface. ”

When Suleiman heard this, he immediately put away his previous contempt, and he looked up at the bookcases that still shimmered - they were all made by order after Selim became the master of this place, and they were full of the Sultan's latest collection of books: "I will pay attention to collecting and reading, Mother. ”

"Me too." Madame Aychet smiled proudly behind her veil: "Let's have a contest, son, and see who can guess your father's will first?" ”

"I'm not going to let you."

"Do you want to bet?"

"Cashmere from Florence, Aegean blue, you can never imagine that there is a fabric with a watery sheen."

"So...... Well, how about I bet on that short arquebus encrusted with rubies? ”

"Ah, then I'm going to win!" Suleiman exclaimed excitedly.

——————————

The chief steward of the black eunuch stood outside the door of the compartment, from which he could hear the laughter of mother and son, this kind of heartfelt laughter, which was very rare in the Sultan's harem, and his fat lips could not help but bend slightly in a wonderful arc, but it quickly disappeared - such laughter was precious and sweet, but it was built on countless unfortunate concubines and slave girls, and Madame Aychet was like a glass of honey to the Sultan and her son Suleiman, and to the women and their children, it was like poison.

And the laughter was heard by someone other than the chief eunuch of the Black Eunuch - a slender squire on tiptoe, hurrying from the back of the library into the dense flower forest, he was like a mouse unfortunate lost in the daytime, quickly looking for shadows, running in the darkness, perhaps someone saw him, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone, and people would only think that the too bright daylight had made them mistaken.

He boldly ran all the way to the residence of the imperial eunuch of the harem, where the outside world was completely separated from the harem, and a eunuch came out and said a few words to him.

"So what I told you to do, have you already done?" The black eunuch asked.

"It's already done." The squire said that if Suleiman was here, he would definitely be able to recognize that this squire was a child of blood tribute like Ibrahim, but he was not as lucky as Ibrahim, although he was also excellent and brave, but he was never able to get Suleiman's favor, which made him always resentful, and this resentment was seen and used by those with intentions.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure ......," said the attendant, trembling, for he did not know how he could have had so much courage—while he was stranded outside the city, he took advantage of the bathing opportunity to serve Suleiman, and he changed the cloth he had used to rub his master's body—the cloth he had changed was stained with the blisters of smallpox, and Suleiman, who was always fond of his servants, scrubbed him vigorously with burlap, so that he always had minor abrasions on his back—and these abrasions were the best passage for the plague to enter his body.

"That's good," said the black eunuch, "it's a reward for you." ”

The black eunuch showed his attendants a thick gold necklace inlaid with sapphires and opals, which still shone in the dim light, and could be sold for at least 10,000 gold florins if taken to the Grand Bazaar.

"That's not what I want!" The squire shouted, courage from somewhere filling his chest, "I want to see Mrs. Havelin!" ”

The black eunuch's face changed suddenly, "How can you call out the name of the lady!" He angrily lowered his voice and shouted, "Do you want to die?" ”

"Let Madame come to me," the attendant threatened without showing weakness, "I am doing this for you, not for money!" "He was the best of all, and he would not have betrayed his master had it not been for Ibrahim, and for Lady Haflin, who had promised him the love he had promised, and what he did, apart from the fact that if he had leaked it would have been to be put to death after a cruel punishment, had he taken the blisters of smallpox, and hid the cloth contaminated with the blisters, and brought them into the bathroom, and rubbed them on the body of Prince Suleiman, even for him, which step was not fatal?

He didn't know if he had smallpox, and he didn't want his loved ones to die with him, but at the very least, Havelyn should have come to see him one last time, rather than have a eunuch send him away!

The black eunuch did not speak, he gasped heavily, and before the attendant could notice that something was wrong, the thick gold necklace flew up and fell around his neck.

The attendants had learned martial arts, but the black eunuchs who served in the inner palace were all tall and fat, and the eunuch only tightened the necklace with force, pressing the weight of his entire body on his back, until the attendant's body relaxed, and a tiresome stench emanated from his legs, he sat up from the attendant's body, put away the gold necklace, wrapped the attendant in the silk blanket that had been prepared, and hid him in the barn of the eunuch's residence as if nothing had happened.

In the evening, he went to the corner of the fourth courtyard and threw the stinking pile of garbage into the dark Sea of Marmara.

————

Lady Haverin, whom the attendants were looking forward to, had the meaning of sweetness and kindness in the name, but it was a pity that in the Sultan's harem, the truly sweet and benevolent women had become the bait of the fish in the sea, and so was Haverin, who may have been naïve, until she saw her sister being chosen by the Sultan to sleep with her own eyes, and because of a trivial mistake, she was wrapped in a silk carpet by the eunuchs in the dark night and cast into the Sea of Marmara - then she understood that in this harem, she wanted to be an innocent and good person, It will only make people laugh and be pitiful.

It wasn't even the first lady who executed her sister, but another favorite concubine.

Haferin managed to avenge her sister after she took refuge with the first lady Ayshe, and became the new favorite of the Sultan, but she also had children of her own, which meant that the covenant between her and the first lady had broken down, and not only was it broken, but she might soon follow in her sister's footsteps - she had not been without the idea of asking the Sultan of Selim for protection, but a black eunuch beside her persuaded her—Havrin knew that in this harem, if women were mad for the Sultan's favor, their children and their own lives, Then these eunuchs want money and power - but it is almost impossible to overthrow the chief eunuch of the inner palace, because he also grew up with a prince who is not yet a sultan, in this case, they can only take refuge in the concubines who have princes, and of course, at the same time, it does not prevent them from collecting money.

There were already credible eunuchs around the First Lady and Prince Suleiman, so all they could find was another concubine who had a son and was bold and clever enough.

Haverin estimated that her belly should be three months old, she had seen her mother conceive and give birth, and in the fourth month, the fetus would grow rapidly, and at that time, she would no longer be able to hide it - fortunately, as if God had blessed, when she was almost desperate, there was an outbreak of plague outside the city, and Prince Suleiman was willing to share his father's worries - so that he contracted the epidemic at this moment, and people would only think that he had contracted it outside the city, and would not think of the inner palace.

Of course, if you think of the inner palace, as long as Suleiman is dead, then in any case, the pregnant concubine will not be punished, and, as the first lady Esher has always said, a mother who cannot protect her child cannot conceive a child worthy of raising, so she should be able to accept this cruel consequence.

Havrin thought so, while putting her hand on her lower abdomen, in order to hide the fact that she was pregnant, not only did she dare not have taboos or restrictions on diet and movement in the past few months, but she never missed any tea party hosted by the first lady Escher, and even played music, dance, and games for her, and did everything that should not be done by a future mother. Luckily, she did have an unusually strong child.

It must be a son, no, if Suleiman dies, she may not be able to become a second Aishe! If so, she will have more children as well.

There was a slight knock outside the door, and her eunuch came to say goodbye—something trivial, as it sounded to others, but Haverin knew that their plan was at its last step.

Havrin didn't have much regret for Suleiman's squire, and since he was stupid enough to covet the Sultan's harem, he should have guessed that he would face such an end.

"The gold chain?"

"Let him take it," said Havelin, "and I'm not so stingy as to get what I was given back." ”

"I thank you for your reward on his behalf." The chief eunuch of Haverin said that when the matter was over, the black eunuch would inevitably die, but now, on the eve of the chaos, it must have attracted too many people's attention.

Indeed, no one noticed them, not even the attendant who did not return to his residence within the allotted time, because Prince Suleiman had just returned to his palace from the library when he suddenly fainted and developed a high fever.

————————

The Golden Gate of Istanbul was opened.

People watched in amazement as a convoy of incomparably brilliant motorcades slowly and eagerly drove out of the city...... The reason why I say slow is because the heavy and huge frame obviously does not allow them to go all the way, and the reason why I say eager...... This east gate has been abandoned for a long time, because there is a legend that Constantine XI will return to the city through this gate - Constantine XI was the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, when Mehmed II raised his troops to attack Constantinople at that time, and now Istanbul, he took off the emperor's purple robe, changed into the clothes of ordinary soldiers, and fought to the death against the Ottomans, and it is because of this that his body was not found in the end, so people say that it was the angels who took him away, Transform him into a stone statue and hide it in a mountain, and when the appointed time comes, he will awaken and return to Constantinople through this golden gate.

Mehmed II and his descendants did not care about this legend, but they also got bored, so the gate was abandoned, but today, it has been opened again, and who is lucky enough to be ...... from here Expulsion, or send-off?

The young knights were looked at suspiciously, and someone recognized them: "Isn't this Prince Suleiman's squire?" They exclaimed.

Prince Suleiman's attendants also heard the shouts of the people, and their hearts were at a loss except bitterness, and things came too quickly—they first found out that one of their companions had not returned, and Prince Suleiman fainted, and when the royal doctors hurried to see him, they thought he was poisoned or wounded, but just four days later he had a red rash on his skin.

Remembering that he had been to a small town where smallpox was spreading, although the royal doctors wondered why he had no symptoms before, the most important thing was that Prince Suleiman must leave Topkapi Palace and Istanbul immediately, as far away as possible, because there was his father, Selim Sultan, and the Sultan must not be threatened in any way.

If it weren't for Selim's continued compassion, perhaps Suleiman would have been burned outright, but now, he was just sent away, along with his attendants, his eunuchs, his mother, the First Lady Ayshe, and the maids, all who came into contact with him, except for the Sultan, who had mercifully allowed them to settle in Yedikul, where smallpox had already occurred.

Everywhere they passed, salt and wine were poured to drive away evil and plagues, and they could not go out through the open gates, so that I wonder how many people would come into contact with them—no one knows if any of them were infected with smallpox.

A group of merchants from Italy watched them depart, and the Sultan of Selim had given him everything he could—and in the caravan, the other father sighed softly, not knowing what had happened, but asking him to say that there would be no smallpox that had been silent for thirty days before it broke out—and that the prince of Suleiman had been attacked by the enemy.

I just don't know if this enemy is from the outside world or a harem.

"Selim Sultan's speculation has come true." Duarte said: "Smallpox was used as a weapon. It is ironic that the devil he brought to Istanbul has been annihilated in an endless fire, but someone has foolishly resurrected it for his own selfish gain.

。 m.