The Count of Basel stared at me suspiciously for a long time, his cloudy eyes constantly changing directions, as if a searchlight moving back and forth wanted to illuminate me clearly.

"Today's lamb roast is a little old, but I like this sauce, what do you think?"

His words were like a signal to disarm the alarm, and the two sides who had just been tense immediately started drinking and talking happily again, but there was an obvious layer of embarrassment floating in the air.

"Speaking of sauce, you've never tasted Milan's ginger roast ribs, the taste, the ......"

I smacked my lips exaggeratedly, and laughed at the grave-looking old earl, whose wrinkles were like a chrysanthemum with clear veins, and I was disgusted for no reason, for fear of being sprayed with dirty things.

The banquet scene became noisy again, and the two knights at the far end of the table were drunk, and they were happily wrestling their wrists under the coaxing of everyone, and they gambled on the glory of each other's ancestors for eighteen generations.

I tapped the rim of the glass with my finger, and the discerning attendant immediately stepped forward to fill it with the flask, the mellow liquor was viscous and rich, exuding a refreshing aroma, and the old earl slowly raised his head, and our eyes met just in time.

The electric light shuttled, you came and went, and they looked at each other for a long time, before the old earl rubbed the corners of his dry eyes and muttered:

"Didn't you come here just to talk to me about Milan's ginger ribs?"

"In that case, why do you ask me how many soldiers and horses I have brought? What do you want, do you have to force the sabre-rattling? I asked with a shallow smile.

"It's not that I'm going to force you, it's that someone else put a sword on my neck, there's no way."

The old earl stroked the folded skin of his neck, and said with palpitations:

"As I get older, I am more and more afraid of death, even if I am tired of this circle of deceit, it is no longer possible to retreat from it all."

I shook the bottomless glass in my hand, the silver-plated walls of the cup showed an old color from time to time, just like the old Count of Basel in front of me at this moment, the years have taken away his blood and momentum, but it has not reduced his fox-like cunning and suspiciousness, old people have always been difficult, especially when they rely on the old to sell old and pretend to be stupid, the tenacity of the nonsense is enough to wear away the high peaks of the Alps.

"What is your family's precept, my lord?"

"Warnings? Why do you ask this? ”

The old earl frowned his brow, full of black age spots, and replied solemnly although he asked:

“solidumpetram！ Rock solid! ”

"My family has risen in the mountains of the Alps and has been resilient for generations."

“solidumpetram！ Is it Latin? It seems that your family is not only strong-willed, but also noble and ancient, right, my lord? ”

"I don't know why you suddenly became interested in my precepts, but does it have anything to do with what we're going to talk about next?"

He spread out his hands and met my eyes seriously: "Don't lie to me about family glory and chivalry, Lord Duke, that's a fool." ”

"Does it matter, you must have the answer in your heart, you are all smart people, why are you pretending to be confused?"

I lowered my voice, the old earl pursed his lips and raised the corners of his eyebrows, and reluctantly leaned over here, like an impatient ** official who shouted grievances.

"We are in the same boat, Lord Count, and we are too far from shore, and all around us are stormy seas, and there is no other way but to paddle together."

He pursed his pale lips and seemed speechless.

"There is a way, but I don't have the guts to do it, congratulations, I guessed right."

The old earl fiddled with the scraps on his plate, and said in the tone of a father rather than a lord, "What father in this world does not love his son?" ”

"So I need your help, friend."

I nodded earnestly, replacing the honorific with a closer you, and using it to close the distance.

"Help? Relying on these shiny and slippery knights in front of you, or the big-headed soldiers at the door who can't even hold a spear? ”

The old earl suddenly raised his voice: "Lord Duke, how do you want me to help?" Basel is but a poor place to eat and drink from the cracks in the stones, and I will not have a good time as a count until you have mercifully given me the rule of Constance, and the Swabian nobility have always looked down on Basel's small business. ”

"Victory or defeat does not have to be a battle on the battlefield, Earl, especially when you and I have nothing to do, the last hole card in our hands will determine the final result, and we have to gamble again."

"Hehe, just like you said, we are people in the same boat, too far from the shore, jumping off will definitely die, besides, you are still pinching my life, it is a matter of life and death, do you have a choice?"

"Don't call me a bad person, my friend, you were the one who was going to get on the boat in the first place."

After three rounds of drinking, everyone gradually got better, and the noise became more and more noisy, I withdrew my gaze and said in a deep voice: "On the way I met the Earl of Lechfield, and the two sides fought fiercely, and both sides were defeated, and the Earl also fulfilled the duties and duties of a vassal, and went to God to report peacefully. ”

"Really? The result was to be expected, and the elm pimple was entangled in conscience and honor, and naturally bent on death for relief. On the battlefield, he is a rare general, but at the aristocratic round table without swords and swords, he is just an unconscious chess piece, but it is a pity that he is full of enthusiasm and pays Hanshan. ”

The Count of Basel looked at the room full of drunken knights, and there was a hint of banter on his lips.

"Who inherited Duke Hermann's title after his death?" The answer that I could not find from Count Lechfeld has always haunted me.

"Huh?" The old earl snorted suspiciously, and then nodded clearly.

"I guess that stubborn old fellow gritted his teeth and refused to speak, now the nominal duke of Swabia, of course the imperial decree of His Majesty the Emperor is on the way, he is about to become the official duke recognized by the royal family, your old acquaintance, the son of the late Otto, Duke of Carinthia, Conrad of Salzburg, remember? You killed your father and destroyed the country, and now you have a chance to turn over, he can't wait to be happy and revenge, what? How does it feel to change in time? ”

I frowned: "Conrad? Why him? ”

"Conrad's bloodline comes from the Lorraine line of the Sarian family, and he is a distant nephew of the Duke of Hermann in terms of generation, and he is also the cousin of Henry, Earl of Speyer, and theoretically has the right to inherit the county of Speyer, and his legal blood is beyond reproach......

The Count of Basel looked drooping, but his silver-haired head was clear: "Who blamed you for not taking advantage of the situation to clean the grass at that time, leaving a scourge?" ”

As he spoke, he broke the sheep bone with a strong click, and the crisp sound was particularly harsh, as if it was a deafening alarm bell.

"You know, I'm not a cruel person, and being cruel and murderous is the most unconfident behavior, and that's a sign of cowardice." I said half-hard, half-forced.

The old earl dismissively threw away the broken bones: "You long for absolute justice, but you must know that absolute justice is often unpopular. ”

He narrowed his eyes, and after many years of vicissitudes, his stubbornness flashed with a strange light: "Whoever wins, who has the opportunity to speak, you still taught me this truth, have you forgotten?" ”

Forgot? Of course I won't forget! How can we forget the tragic tragedy of this broken and lost wife and separated from each other! It was like a sharp steel nail, stuck in the chest, tearing at the heart-rending pain.

"My fist needs the combined force of your hard fingers so badly, help me, friend."

I pleaded sincerely, and my tone softened: "You and I, stir up the pattern of this troubled world!" ”

The old earl did not answer, but turned his gaze away......

"See a room full of people drinking and drinking?"

He said with a faint chin: "Including the little attendant who poured wine for the two of us just now, from the moment you swaggered into Constance, all the eyeliners in ambush in the city will spread the news, and within half a month, the whole of Germany will know the news of the return of the Duke of Nijmegen, which is faster than the growth of wings!" Think about what they're going to do, huh? I wish you had no place to die, but there are many people! ”

His words slammed into my ear, vibrating my eardrum with swiftness and agility, piercing the nerve endings with a sound that was like the original mint water, always making people wake up immediately.

"No matter how much you show affection, you will always hate me if you hate me, just like you can't wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep, and it is more in line with Nijmegen's style to simply divide the superior than to make peace and plead."

"Showdown? Why, with the little remnants of the defeated army you brought, or these playboys in my hands? ”

The old earl chuckled and shook his head: "Everyone praises you for your brain, and you have been doing it step by step along the way, but you should tell me, what is the way to be small and broad?" ”

I looked at the playful eyes of the Count of Basel, and then at the drunken knight in front of me, and felt a different kind of sadness in my heart.

"There is indeed a way, but ......"

I wanted to say more. Deliberately stared at the old earl expressionlessly: "I can't do without your cooperation, my friend." ”

The old earl was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood what I meant.

"It's murder."

Although his tone was angry, his expression was indifferent, as if he was discussing how to pinch a little ant to death.

"He's a Salian!"

"Sarian is also a man, and everyone dies!"

——————————

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27 January, six days before Candlemas Castle, Upper Swabia, Ulm Castle.

The climate in the mountains is cold and damp this season, and it rarely rains, from Konstanz all the way to Ulm, intermittently soaking the entire journey, even the air floats with a strong musty smell, and the woods on both sides of the road are wrapped in thick rain curtains, vaguely like an impressionist oil painting.

I shifted to a comfortable position and lay on the stinking straw pile, my consciousness flying out of the clouds with the rickety cart, and the horses pulling the cart gasped, presumably sinking into the mud again.

As its name suggests, Ulm is located in a delta plain where the rivers Iller and Blau flow into the Danube, and is bordered by unattainable mountains to the east and west.

It is no wonder that Otto the Great once set up the Imperial Palace here as a transit point between Swabia and Bavaria, and today Ulm owes it to its strong stone fortress and deep moat.

Through the cracks of the rough carriage, you can just see the heavy solid wood wheels mingling with the dark sludge, and the gray and dirty water does not exceed a quarter of the wheel, turning into a terrible bottomless pit, entangled in dragging the prey that has been so hard to reach the mouth into the abyss.

A few feet hurried around, and it was the attendant of the cart who helped.

"Get some wood, this damn mud!" A person scolded angrily.

"Mountain man, grumpy, with a rough accent like chewing a mouth full of broken glass."

I pursed my lips and quietly put my hand into the crotch of my pants, scratching at the itchy spot comfortably, I could easily distinguish the difference in the accent of people in different places.

The rain became heavier and heavier, and finally spread from the trickle to an unstoppable majestic, and the small and fresh tone of literature and art instantly changed to the symphonic style of thousands of galloping horses, and the noise of people and horses could not be heard clearly.

"Go to the village ahead and call some men to help, it's not far from Ulm, you must get to the castle before dark."

It was another knight who spoke, his voice shattered by the rain, but still unable to hide the thick mountain accent.

"Send someone to report to the Earl, and say that we are in some trouble here."

As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden sound of hooves in the whistling of the torrential rain, and everyone who was busy pushing the cart stopped what they were doing, staring nervously into the hazy distance, obviously surprised by the unexpected encounter.

"Be on guard! Alert! Archer! ”

The knight who had just commanded roared, and his horse spun uneasily, and many people ran to and fro, and the carriage sank violently, presumably the archers who were ready to draw their bows jumped up.

As the horse's hooves drew nearer, I pulled open the wet straw and pulled out the dagger hidden underneath, breathing uncontrollably and rapidly.

"This is the car of the Count of Basel, who is coming!" The knight shouted, and at the same time I dodged into the corner of the carriage.

"May God bless you, friends from afar, we are knights of Ulm, and we have been ordered to patrol here."

The person who came showed his identity neither humbly nor arrogantly: "If you take the liberty of colliding with the earl's car, it will be our reckless trouble, and I hope the earl can forgive me." ”

"The Earl is magnanimous, and I will not blame you for it."

The knight reined in his horse and replied politely, "But the weather is bad, why do you patrol in the rain?" ”

"The Duke led the crowd to garrison the city yesterday, so we had to step up our vigilance."

The knight of Ulm, who was at the head of the city, said as he instructed his men to give way behind him: "Follow this road all the way to the city, the banquet has just begun, and the arrival of the Earl will surely make the Duke very happy." ”

(End of chapter)