Beriel paced leisurely on the colonnade against the wall in front of the outer gate of the palace, where no sunlight could shine in, and the walls and balustrades were full of cool and fragrant flowers and plants, and as long as he passed through this sentry, he could walk straight out of the palace and follow the arrow path back to his official residence.

At this moment, he saw Lord Caesar, who was sitting on his shoulder by the fountain in the small square in front of him, wearing an ancient silk robe, looking at him with a smile.

"I have done one more thing, it is worthy of being the commander of hundreds of officials, the emperor's right wrist." Macaulinus complimented stiffly and sensibly.

"I didn't do anything, I just truthfully reported the current financial situation of the empire to the chief of the palace, and I don't know if he will talk to the emperor." Burriel was also impenetrable, "Did His Excellency Caesar enter the Brachna Palace to pay homage to Her Royal Highness the Queen, who has been blessed by the Virgin?" ”

"Yes, the Ducasse family, including me and the Empress, are they all grateful to you, Lord Zaisuke?" With that, Caesar got up and whispered the words as he passed Beriel.

"No, it's my duty, and I don't know what happened in the end." Burrier's answer was still the same.

Myaulinus sneered inwardly, and after Zaisuke left, he looked at the beautiful Brachna Monastery on the peak of the palace mountains, with a look of unfinished affection.

In the council hall, the emperor sat on the throne, the imperial ink official Meles and the court officials arched to the left and right, and the eunuch Nikedemia knelt down at his bottom, "I know what you say. Emperor Alexios said in a depressed and mournful tone, "I never thought that the treasury and the imperial treasury had weakened into such a state, but I could not give up lightly, thinking that when I went to Durazo to face the brave Norman bandits, the guards around me were only 500 people, but I still begged for a large number of magic artifacts from the church, and sold them to cobble together tens of thousands of military horses, although they were on a par with the bandits, but they severely demoralized Guiscut, and defeated his son Bohemond in Theloponnese, So that the Normans did not dare to invade the border for many years. Now that the imperial capital is surrounded by enemies on all sides, the warden has finally opened up the situation in Asia Minor, and he cannot fall short because of lack of money, and if it is really necessary to give land as a substitute for salary, I am determined to carry out this matter. ”

"That's true, but," the little bird Nick Demia was about to say with difficulty, but Alexios stretched out his hand to stop him, "My Imperial Ink Officer, please draft an order on the Golden Edict." Then the Emperor walked up to the Grand Eunuch with a voice of frustration and sadness, "Instead of going to save Nicaea, Zahaas's forces have gone aboard the shores of Gallipoli to burn them, and they are on light fast ships made of Sinop wood, and I do not know if they will attack Thessaloniki and Corinth further in the future." ”

The eunuch also suddenly felt that the entire palace was gray, "Your Majesty, you are saying that Zahas may be with the Norman bandits"

Alexios bowed, "It's all the out-and-out bastard of Myaulinus, so that Bohemond can escape back to Calabria and command the Normans to fight against me, which may have been planned by my dear brother-in-law, who hates me more than he is hostile to the Norman bandits." So, once Zahaas's fleet crosses the Holy Sea and joins the Normans, the entire empire will face the worst and most terrible situation, and I myself may even fall from the throne to the dust. ”

After saying this, the emperor walked to the small table in front of the throne, discharged two horseshoe-shaped tokens, and said to the eunuch with a wry smile, "You see, there are two emergencies on the border, and it is autumn, and a large number of Pechenegs have invaded Thrace, and the urgent documents are like snowflakes; In addition, according to my spies, Bohemond's mother, Geta, was critically ill and visited by Norman lords from all over Italy and Sicily, so I had every reason to suspect that the lawless creatures were preparing to swarm as well. And Zahaz's fleet is still roaming the holy seas, ready to go north or west to join my enemies, so can you tell me what I should do now? ”

The little bird Nikdemia immediately fell to his knees and wept, on the one hand, for the emperor's plight, and on the other hand, for the emperor's trust in him, and he said with sincere fear, "I am willing to spend all my wealth in preparation for the emperor's expedition, but since the emperor has inquired, I think that everything has a priority—Bohemond will not easily leave his mother, Gaita, who is in bed, and I can secretly arrange for a good physician to help her prolong her life and hold Bohemond back." His Majesty then seemed to be able to meet Constantine, the Slavic king of Zatar. Berdin, shook hands with him in exchange for the power of the coastal defense of the Adriatic, and the army of His Majesty's servants on the expedition against the Pecheneg bandits. As for Zahas, he could only hold on for a while at most, and without Nicaea and Prussa, his thief behavior would not last long after all. ”

It is worthy of Nikdemia, this suggestion and plan, even the imperial ink officer constantly nodded in agreement.

Emperor Alexios also expressed his approval, "Now Gilici. Arslan's 4,000 men have been delivered, and I have hired 5,000 Cuman cavalry, and after making peace with Berdin, I can also get the support of thousands of Slavic mercenaries. Since Pecheneg's wolves were trying to attack Zahas, I would return to the rule and contact the Cumans further north to attack them, completely exterminate them, and restore peace to the borders of the empire. Then, I went to deal with the other enemies. ”

"May Your Majesty triumph!" Immediately all the court officials knelt down.

On the Cape of Calabria, under the Saracen Towers (watchtowers built by the Italians to defend against Saracen pirates, which were everywhere on the coast), and everywhere there were fires, Bohemond covered his face and walked quickly into a tent with a choked voice, accompanied by several old knights.

An old woman in a gray robe lay on the couch in the tent, on which several physicians were busy, and when she saw her tearful son Bohemond walking in, she smiled and said to the doctors, "I have some explanation, I must tell my son who is not successful, or I am afraid that it will be too late." ”

"You're getting better, trust the Lord, ma'am." The chief physician said this respectfully, and then took all the rest of the group, bowed to Bohemond, and left for a moment.

"Mother" Bohemond grinned, full of snot and tears, and threw herself directly in front of his mother's couch.

Geeta looked at his red-bearded son, forced a forced smile, and held out his dry hand with a trembling hand, and Bohemond quickly leaned his cheek over, thinking that his mother was going to touch him.

With a crisp sound, Gaita gave Bohemond a mouth directly, and the snot flew to the mattress, "No one is here, what are you pretending to be?" ”