The Duke of Nijmegen, together with some of the Upper Bavarian nobles loyal to Duke Charles' family, issued a denunciation condemning the invasion of the Duke of Carinthia, claiming that Duke Charbinthia's unexplained sudden death was suspicious, and there was reason to believe that Duke Otto of Carinthia must have been involved. [No pop-ups. 】

The Duke of Nijmegen called on all the Bavarian nobles who were unwilling to submit to the war and did not cooperate with the invaders, and also called on Emperor Henry and His Holiness the Pope to give a fair judgment, and to give justice to the deceased Duke Charles and the chaotic Bavaria.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and as soon as this document was announced, it caused an uproar, some applauded, some dissatisfied, and some did not think it was a big deal to see the excitement, of course, more were hesitant to wait and see for the time being.

Although everyone was surprised why the Duke of Nijmegen suddenly appeared in Augsburg, the Duke of Carinthia, who had swallowed half of Bavaria, was not easy to mess with, and no one would be stupid to jump out and be the first bird, unless it was really an old stubborn who was loyal to his oath or a nerd with a bag in his head, so it was undoubtedly the smartest choice to shut up and be silent at this moment, everyone was waiting for the variable that changed the trajectory of the course of events, and this much-anticipated variable, even the well-informed me didn't know where it was.

"Bastard! Why hasn't there been any news of Otto Jr. yet? Raising so many spies is it all dry food? ”

I angrily threw the glass on the ground, and the wall of the gold glass hit a large part of the stone slab, and the Earl of Henry, who was sitting next to me, picked the corner of his eye in obvious pain.

The questioned bull lowered his head and did not squeak, in fact, he couldn't find an excuse to prevaricate, as the chief henchman next to me now, he assumed the responsibilities of Kohler in the past, if Rollo is the chief of staff who takes care of daily chores, then the role of the bull is equivalent to the chief of staff and the director of logistics, not only to schedule the advance and retreat of the army, but also to arrange the timely supply of supplies, and to always pay attention to the news of the intelligence system, which is a laborious chore.

"Calm your anger, my lord, the Duchess is definitely a wise woman, she understands what it means to survive on the cusp of the storm, and she will protect her son, and the merciful God will bless their mother and son."

As the only nobleman present who could speak, Count Henry stood up at the right time to relieve the bull, this guy will soon become his son-in-law, and the family will naturally help each other.

"I'm afraid they'll fall into the hands of the enemy and things will get bad."

I slumped down in my chair and waved my hand weakly at the bull: "I don't blame you, go out and continue to be busy, and send some more men, I must know the whereabouts of little Otto before the Duke of Carinthia!" ”

After two days of long waiting, the armies of the Upper Bavarian aristocracy were assembled in Augsburg, and the pressure on logistical supplies increased sharply, and it was obvious that the city could not supply so many people to feed its stomachs, or that Count Henry would not be stupid enough to empty his warehouses to feed the guest army.

There have been several remote villages, which have been ransacked by unknown thugs, of course, everyone knows the identities of those thugs, nothing more than to take care of the face and pretend not to know, Count Henry has to keep a blind eye and remain silent, who calls everyone an ally nested in a trench, at this time multiple backs are better than multiple enemies.

Ash Wednesday, the day Jesus was betrayed by Judas, forty days before Easter, marked the beginning of the first day of Lent, and the nobles came to the church to pray with devotion, and the church priest presided over the ceremony of anointing the ashes, to burn the palm branches that had been consecrated on the previous Palm Sunday, and to apply them on people's foreheads as a symbol of repentance.

Halfway through the long prayer, the priest was still babbling on and on about something, and I was already wandering into the world, fantasizing about strange things, when the bull suddenly came to my ear from behind, and blew a hot hawl, which made people feel j-skinned: "My lord, I have found the little duke." ”

"Hmm...... Well? ”

Before I could reply, I woke up suddenly, and the priest's lecture was interrupted by a loud voice, and he stared at me with a complaining look, and then continued to speak in the vernacular, and I quietly retreated outside the church, and took the bull's arm and asked again:

"You say it again, did you really find it?"

"The spies who followed the little duke sent a message that the Count of Kelheim had surrendered to the Carinthians, and wanted to sacrifice the duke's mother and son as a vote, but fortunately someone sent them a message so that they could escape in time, and now they are being escorted here by our men via Fleising."

The bull had ashes on his forehead, and reported the situation to me word for word, and if there was no news of little Otto, I guess I would be able to dismantle him in a fit of rage.

"Send more people to pick it up, be sure to ensure safety, we have him in our name." I happily patted the bull on the shoulder and urged him to act immediately.

This was the first time I had seen my own nephew, Duke Charles's only son, Otto, a jack-of-all-trades name, who inherited his mother's sharp facial contours and beautiful bright eyes, as well as dark blonde hair and fair skin from his father's line, and he was only two years old at the moment, biting his fingers and hiding in his mother's arms and looking at me timidly.

A bad uncle I don't know, while his mother and my sister are very skillful in playing their own roles, snot and tears to tell my brother about the miserable experience of orphans and widows, so that everyone who hears it burst into tears, even I almost cried with a sore nose.

"Don't worry, it's safe here, and I'll leave the rest to my brother."

I gently stroked my sister's shoulder, and while making a show of family affection, I told Rollo to arrange a comfortable room for their mother and son to rest first, and then introduce them to other nobles at dinner.

The appearance of little Otto undoubtedly boosted the morale of the lords, and there was no news for a period of time before, making everyone think that the little duke had fallen into the hands of the enemy or was no longer alive, and there was almost a mutiny among the nobles, but fortunately, God was back on the side of Nijmegen, giving us the name of righteousness, and we could stand on the commanding heights of law and morality, and condemn the wolf ambition of the Duke of Carinthia with righteous words, which could win the sympathy and support of public opinion.

But Duke Otto of Carinthia was not a vegetarian either, and he reacted quickly to his unfavorable situation, bringing in several important Bavarian vassals who had surrendered to act as tigers, revealing a surprising insider.

Little Otto is not the son of Duke Charles at all, the former Duchess is a full **, and she has been secretly married before leaving the cabinet, and it can be inferred from this that Nijmegen was uneasy and kind from the beginning, and even suspected that this sister was a fake oolong.

All kinds of appalling information gathered together became a bombshell of sufficient weight to throw into the aristocratic circle that had been dull for a long time, so that those upper-class people who gossip all day long about whose wife Hongxing went out of the wall, whose lord's green hat ended early, and whose girl eloped with someone instantly exploded their souls.

The Emperor and the Holy See, who had not made a public statement for a long time, finally found an opportunity to speak out, and sent arbitrators to Bavaria, where the clouds of war were shrouded, and demanded that the two rival dukes exercise restraint and never inflict the sword of hatred on their compatriots.

His Majesty the Pope even issued a serious warning to those who provoked the quarrel and immediately excommunicated the Church, but when the edict of the two Majesties reached the hands of the people concerned, the time had come to a dozen days later, Carinthia and Nijmegen had completed the transfer and deployment of troops, and the current situation was as dangerous as an egg.

"This is a slander out of thin air! O God, how can there be such shameless people! ”

Count Henry was more angry than I was, and I saw him jumping up and down in the room, and several times he followed my example, and picked up the cup and made a gesture to fall, and after thinking about it, he put it down.

"We must fight back and let everyone see his ugly face!" As he spoke, he deliberately slammed the glass on the seat with great force, and the spilled wine spilled all over his hands.

I watched the aristocrats sitting around the table, either expressing their true feelings or vividly expressing their inner anger in various ways, and thinking calmly:

Since the Duke of Carinthia can shake out such a secret inside story, it shows that he is by no means a blind guess, at least someone has revealed clues, and he chose to start in such a sensitive period, just to take the opportunity to swallow Carinthia and cause the established facts, so as to sit on the ground and raise the price, invite all parties to woo and promise him, and make a lot of money, in the other party's camp, there must be people who are familiar with Nijmegen.

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt a chill in my back, the feeling of being stared at by a hungry wolf with green light in the dark in the forest in the middle of the night, and the truth that I couldn't touch and couldn't see was like an invisible net, which made me breathless.

Someone had been calculating himself from the beginning, I narrowed my eyes and frowned, and swept the faces of everyone in front of me with a questioning gaze, these Bavarian nobles who were still discussing it hotly became untrustworthy in an instant, and perhaps the Y plotters were hiding among them, laughing at the self-righteous stupidity of the Duke of Nijmegen.

"Your Excellency, Your Majesty......"

Count Henry's constant calls brought me back from my contemplation, and he stared at me sweating profusely with concern and whispered, "What's wrong with you, Lord Duke?" ”

"Oh, it's fine."

I casually wiped my forehead with my sleeve and cleared my throat to remind the noisy crowd to be quiet.

"It is indeed shocking and disappointing that the Duke of Carinthia should utter such irresponsible nonsense, but it will also promote our unity with each other and fight against the invaders to the end, and the two Majesty's arbitrators are on their way, and I am sure they will judge fairly."

"The Vatican and Carinthia are in cahoots, they will certainly not side with us, His Majesty the Emperor, in order to win the support of Duke Otto for himself in the civil war, will also pretend to be deaf and dumb to the Lower Bavaria that he has occupied, no matter what, it is the Bavarians!"

Count Henry stood up excitedly and almost overturned the stool: "We have long lost faith in them, and we all believe that you are the only one who is dedicated to the interests of Bavaria, so it is better to let go of your hands and feet and fight to Dresden to clear the king's side." ”

"Bastard! The decision of the two Majesties is not up to you to make irresponsible remarks here! ”

Hearing him say something rebellious, I immediately turned my face and stood up, pointed at Earl Henry's nose and scolded: "I think it's your wolf ambition, always instigating me to start a war, what kind of heart do you have?" ”

How could Count Henry have been so humiliated, let alone in front of everyone, he suddenly couldn't hold his face, pulled out the dagger on his waist and stabbed it fiercely on the table, gritted his teeth and roared:

"I respect you, but I will not swallow my anger when insulted, Augsburg will not welcome Nijmegen from now on, please leave immediately!"

"Oh? Annoyed and angry? I'm right! Go and kneel and lick your new master's boots, traitor, and God will punish you! ”

I kicked the stool away and shouted like a shrew to the nobles looking at each other below, "Now you can see this man's ugly face? Those who are willing to follow Nijmegen and continue to fight against the Carinthians will follow me, and those who do not want to go will go their separate ways! ”

I yelled angrily, and suddenly turned around and grabbed Count Henry's neck, he was caught off guard and couldn't breathe, and no one dared to come up and fight, I slowly approached, staring at his purple face and suddenly blinking secretly.

(End of chapter)