Sure enough, she is a strong woman!

I could not help but be in awe, and felt more and more that my victory had come to an ignominious victory, so I walked to the side of the Countess in a gloomy and ashamed manner, and escaped the scrutiny of her burning gaze, and went on as if nothing had happened:

"Judging from the current situation, going to the monastery is your best choice, if you are willing to dedicate the rest of your life to God, I will arrange the next thing and choose the place with the best conditions." As I spoke, I deliberately dragged out my voice and watched her reaction.

"How shall I answer you, Lord Earl? Or what kind of answer will be to your liking? ”

She seemed to hear the dodge in my tone, and seized the opportunity to ask harshly, "If you really respect my decision as you say, then please give me a death!" My husband and children have died, the royal line of Friesland has been completely extinct, and a weak woman like me is still alive, and it would be a desecration of my husband's family to take a breath of air. ”

Speaking of excitement, the Countess clenched her fists and tried to stand up, but her hands and feet were restrained, and it was then that I realized that she was tied to a chair.

I hurriedly took two steps forward, subconsciously trying to help her loosen the bindings, but suddenly stopped in the middle of the road silently, turned around and looked at the messy battlefield outside the castle window, sighed deeply, and said to her helplessly:

"Actually, I don't have the power to decide your life or death, the countess, and even the power to decide the final outcome of this war is not in my hands, only His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Pope can decide your fate, either return to your mother's home and wait for remarriage, or spend the rest of your life alone in the convent, there is no better ending."

The Countess lowered her head and stopped answering, the whole person was cold like an ice cube exuding cold air, stubbornly rejecting people thousands of miles away, I saw that she wanted to express the meaning of sending off guests, so I consciously retreated, and at the moment of going out, I looked back at the back of this strong woman, and pursed my lips in a complicated mood, I can't tell how I feel about her in my heart, is it a hazy like? Or is it a heroic sympathy? Or is it just a glimpse of the plot that is entangled in my heart? I couldn't find the answer in myself, so I silently closed the door of my room and forcibly closed my suddenly soft thoughts.

"You have been so rude to a noble woman, let her go at once, and give her the best treatment, knowing that she is a countess, and that her family is also a prominent nobleman!"

Closing the door and walking out, I was a little angry when I saw Myers coming up with a smile, and angrily reminded him to pay attention to his identity: "I hope that the order will take effect immediately, and I will repeat it again, before the royal decree of His Majesty the Emperor and the Pope arrives, she must live well, if there is one less hair, I will ask you!" ”

Frightened by my anger, Mels hurriedly shook his head like a rattle in defense: "Lord Earl, please listen to my explanation, you must not let go of her, once the rope is untied, she will immediately do everything to kill herself, otherwise how dare you tie up the noble Countess with our lowly status?" We're trying to keep you from having a bad reputation. ”

Myers' seemingly humble explanation of his actions was in fact full of subtle threats and hints, which only added fuel to the fire and made me even more angry.

"Find a trustworthy maid to take care of the countess, and I will send someone to protect her twenty-four hours a day, and even from the most common gentleman's rule, you must not abuse a weak lady, this is the principle!"

I suppressed my thoughts about exploding, and told them as calmly as possible, but I secretly made the decision in my heart to wait for everything to settle down, and then I made the decision to wipe them all out.

The night spent in Utrecht tossing and turning, and the smell of burnt corpses seemed to fill the air, which made it difficult for me to sleep, so I simply walked to the window in my coat and stared at the light of the fire below, not knowing what I was thinking.

The tower where the countess was held was darkly lit, and nothing unusual could be seen in silence, and I pinched my broken brain and sighed in the direction the sun was about to rise.

At the same time, the news of Nijmegen's capture of Utrecht was being transmitted to every castle anxiously awaiting the results through various channels, and the characters hidden behind the scenes began to calculate silently in their hearts while the various minor lords of Friesland were beating drums in their hearts, not knowing how to choose their fate.

At the end of the Utrecht plain, facing the narrow bay at the entrance, was an ideal harbor, and the climate was pleasant, and the army of Nijmegen was stationed in the city for a while, and the Flemish knights were content to say goodbye with their booty, and they left with clay pots containing the ashes of a dozen knights, including the Knight of Kell, whom I knew best, whose remains were eventually found and sent back by several fishermen.

The remaining soldiers in Nijmegen could not take care of every corner of the city, especially those citizens who were hiding in the shadows and plotting to rebel, and we had to announce the order of curfew, send as many patrols as possible to closely monitor the rebels' every move, but they were still exhausted and helpless by their small-scale gatherings and troubles.

Several of the larger vassals of the Count of Friesland fell into a leaderless situation after the war, and two of them came to Utrecht early to show their loyalty, and the rest were still waiting and watching, and they were not sure to pay attention.

Seeing that the big lords did not clearly state their positions, the small and medium-sized lords rode the wall and looked forward to it, trembling and not daring to find a big tree to enjoy the shade, for fear that they would stand on the wrong side and be liquidated by the autumn queen.

Leonardo once again showed his excellent organizational skills, and he methodically used his special channels to get in touch with the inner lines that had been lurking in Utrecht for a long time, and soon took control of the situation in the city.

Commerce was the first industry to be revitalized, and the Utrecht Chamber of Commerce first cleaned up some of the hard bones that refused to cooperate, and then flattered them to donate their confiscated property to the Count of Nijmegen, and then regrouped, resumed its own store operations, transported the backlog of goods to the sea and disposed of them at low prices, and then purchased the grain that the citizens urgently needed after the war and dumped it, making a lot of profits in one go.

At the same time, Leonardo strengthened the supervision of the merchants, and through the imposition of the exit tax, he slaughtered the iron roosters from this group of indefatigable iron roosters, completely ignoring the original promise of tax exemption.

Although there are quite a few criticisms, but in the face of absolute strength, businessmen can only consider themselves unlucky, and the tax rate in Nijmegen is indeed much lower than before, and it can still make a lot of profits when converted into costs, so it has not caused any too bad repercussions.

On October 18th, the tenth day of the occupation, we celebrated the feast of St. Luke, and people gathered outside the church to recite the Gospel of Luke, which is said to have been written by the Holy Master and disciple, with the Gospel of the Virgin Mary and a winged bull.

The door of the church where the Bishop of Utrecht was stationed was locked, and the servants of God seemed to be disgusted by the evil killings among mortals, and even after the situation was under control, they still refused to open the door and let the believers who were waiting outside to go in and pray, and it seemed that the Bishop seemed to be a little dissatisfied with the occupation of Nijmegen, and protested to me in a cold way, deliberately avoiding it, and it just so happened that I was too lazy to take care of his kind of magic stick, the promise of His Majesty the Pope Neon and Bishop Gaiulius, Much more useful than other combinations, he happily held a banquet in the castle's renovated hall to reward the soldiers who went on the expedition.

His Majesty the Emperor must have been so distracted by the noble mission of building the great Roman Empire that he had no time to pay attention to the telegram of the little Count Nijmegen, and the letters that arrived at the palace were lost to the sea, and there was no more news.

After the death of his grandmother and the prime minister of the empire, His Majesty began to surround himself with some grandiose villains, who used extravagant court style and endless play to make the young emperor happy, gradually gained trust and became a favored minister, and then commanded the Son of Heaven to rule all directions, like the power of the Chinese court in the past, causing great disgust among most of the German nobles.

His Majesty, who had become increasingly self-serving, allowed his best friend, Adalbert of Prague, a once-like-minded priest, to ignore his persuasions, and in the end the tireless Emperor alienated him and became even more cynical.

It can be said that the court of Rome is now full of smoke and miasma, and the villains are surrounded by purple robes and laurel crowns, and everywhere they claim to be the supreme ruler of Christenmatter, and the only representative of the clerical authority Otto III flatters.

The German Empire was full of dark currents, and the great lords expressed their dissatisfaction with the young emperor who was only obsessed with the prosperity of Italy, believing that he had forgotten Germany, the foundation of the country, and was no longer suitable to be the co-leader of the empire.

For a moment, with the exception of Otto III, who was still far away in the Roman palace, the seemingly mighty empire was clouded, and everyone was watching with ulterior motives, and the neighbors were sharpening their knives and calming before the storm.

(End of chapter)