Almost at the same time as Tetisius went ashore to the city of Atalia, the embarrassed Count of Blois and his party first arrived in the city of Adana, and were ridiculed by the remaining personnel, although they were partially supplied, but the doubts of the entourage arose, so the Count of Blois did not dare to stay, and sternly ordered the knights and sergeants under his command not to discuss any issues in private, because "they were ordered to go to the Emperor of Constantinople to negotiate reinforcements".

On the second day, they passed through the castle of Cichstra, the lord of Gawain, and were also given food and wine, "I am going to the city of Tarsus", which was the request of the Count of Blois.

The Brotherhood of the Brocade Scholars in the city agreed, and sent a guide to the Count, but some of them advised Stephen, "In Tarsusri, the Emperor has not been able to send a qualified official to govern the government (because it has been a lonely enclave because it is surrounded and blocked by Gawain's domain), and the city has no income (nonsense, even the shipping and the farmland and workshops on the outskirts of the city are occupied by Gawain's peasants), and the soldiers who defend it have fled a lot. If you go, sir, I'm afraid you won't even be able to get supplies. ”

The Count of Blois was greatly embarrassed and immediately felt cornered, but at this moment, a cavalryman galloping from Seleucian City found him with a paperwork in hand, "The great and wise princess of the empire in purple, the chief of the Governor's Department of Agriculture in Seleucia, and the mistress of the entire kingdom's courts, almshouses, and academies. Your Highness Ducasse, I cordially invite you to come to her insignificant but hospitable realm, to provide you with suitable food and wealth, and to open the way to Constantinople. ”

To tell the truth, at the farewell banquet at the Orontes River earlier, Gawain had also told him that if things did not go well and little Fort Alexandria could not hold on, he could retreat to his Seleucia, and he and Anna would welcome him warmly.

The Count of Blois, who was deeply moved, summoned his wife and brother and the others, "On the plateau of Cappadocia and Konya, there are still many remnants of Turkic bandits, and the terrain is difficult to travel, you should know from there. So at the invitation of the Grand Duke of Greece, who was the Mistress of Seleucia anyway, we walked through the flat West Cilicia, and then through there we went to the Emperor for the Pilgrimage. ”

When the plan had been settled, the Count of Blois sent the herald back to report it.

Soon the Seleucian court became busy, and the workers here were mainly women, most of whom were recruited from among the lords and supervised by the bartender "Staulachos the Fat", so the fat eunuchs often complained that these country women lacked etiquette and necessary skills, and Anna replied that I have increased your salary, and you are responsible for teaching the clever and clever maids among them, and then asking them to train others.

Sometimes, after the princess had finished her agricultural work, she would personally gather her handmaidens to give lectures and teachings: after three months, the Seleucian court was on a small scale, the German women worked professionally in the nursery, the mestizo women were in the kitchen, and the Greek women were in charge of ceremonial supervision and court hygiene.

However, while Anna was inspecting the preparations for the upcoming feast for Count Stephen, the Imperial Ink Officer Agnes reported to her that the curtain covering the hall was missing, for there were some delicate patterns on it that were beyond the competence of the weavers of our court.

Anna was upset, saying that there was a lack of such ingenious women, and that training time could not be as convenient as that of nurseries and cooking.

"Why don't you summon Mrs. Chiser urgently, and that person? The latter is said to be an expert in this area. The fat eunuch bowed behind the purple-clothed princess's skirt, smiled flatteringly, and suggested.

Anna also lowered her eyes and laughed, sure enough, this was a good opportunity to suppress the blonde girl, "You go and summon, why don't you give her the weaver's workshop in the palace from now on, and let her serve me." ”

After the fat eunuch departed, Anna summoned Billel, who had stayed in the city to supervise the training of the people's army, and met him in the hall at the highest point of the acropolis, "Immediately draw out thirty of my guards and the elite people's army that have been trained, and arrange them on both sides and around this hall, carrying fine weapons, halberds, swords, and battle axes, as well as distinctive robes and banners, to reflect the majesty of our court." ”

"Obey my highness, and let the Count of Blois know of the power and prosperity of our kingdom and court." The simple and honest Biller thought that Anna had done this to give "color" to the Count of Blois, who had come to vote, to boast of the richness of Seleucia, so he turned around and walked down the stairs with the sound of his armor.

Soon the strong and mighty soldiers came to pay their respects, and Anna, who was sitting on the high seat, was suddenly satisfied, and kept saying to Agnes, who was standing beside her, "This time I must show the majesty of the mistress, so that the rest of the years will be strong." ”

"You said the same thing last time, but you let the female fox get out of the way, and now she still has the four richest market towns in the country." Agnes couldn't help but want to refute the princess's naivety in such a matter.

But Anna was clearly winning, shaking her fingers and triumphantly, "You don't know, little sunfish"

"Please don't call me such a nickname, this is simply a malicious mockery of the oldest and most glorious Prani family." Agnes closed her eyes and was very aggrieved to refuse Anna's nickname as such, but Gawain never dared to protest when she shouted so.

"Well, with that said, you must know that a female fox like Kabeamia, who did not know the etiquette of being a human being (a person in Anna's mouth, especially a nobleman) when she was a child, often climbed trees to pick leaves to write (purely Anna's imagination), and when she was a little older, she was with a group of heretical men, and she grew up in the wilderness and killing, and she was like a child raised by a fox, and did not understand any of the teachings of the holy apostles. So in the face of me growing up in an elegant purple dormitory, she is always cunning and deceives the kind and true me everywhere. But that widow is different, although she was born in the savage Varyag on the other side of the ocean, she married into the Mesadini family very early, this family is about the same ancient honor as your Prani, and she has long cultivated a good concept of hierarchy in her heart, which is the result of infiltrating the essence culture of the empire, so does she face me Anna. Ducasse, do you dare to quibble against something? I asked her to come to work in the court, and that was a matter of verbal order. "Anna is gushing and confident.

At this moment, the fat eunuch ran in in a hurry, and knelt down in front of Anna's throne with an arrow step, "Hmm, is anyone coming?" Anna asked.

Staulajos's face was a little flustered, "People are coming, but" (to be continued.) )