Gawain's heart was much more relaxed when he got this news, "Then we need Aptsomatus to sit on the island of Cyprus to guard the delivery of grain here." ”

Tetisius agreed, saying that he would soon inform the governor of the Cypriot Empire, "Your Majesty has also tentatively approved your division of the city, but he wants your Excellency to agree that the city you have divided must give the Venetians unlimited right of residence and trade." When you arrive in the Holy City, you must fulfill the treaty and return the city of Antioch to His Majesty's throne. In exchange, the Venetian fleet will send you a large amount of food so that you and I can hold out in Antioch until we repel Kobha's attack. ”

It turned out that it was to be sold to the Venetians in exchange for the support of their fleet, and my father-in-law, Alexios, was really accustomed to making shrewd deals: he used my Gawain as an agent to gain the glory of repelling the infidels, and instigated the Venetians to compete with other Italian city-states to crowd out the power of the Ecumenical Church; In the end, it is effortless, according to the oath of the Grand Palace, to obtain the entire territory of Antioch. It's really comprehensive, and it doesn't leak.

But if the situation is like this, we can only go with it, and Gawain agreed, "Then we will join forces, rely on the walls and towers of Antioch, and then defend Kobuha." ”

"Okay, tomorrow the Consul of Venice will come to negotiate with you, and you must be familiar with this man, the former governor of Chania, Molito. Roseau. ”

Since Tetisius had agreed to this, Gawain decided not to leave Antioch and to defend the walls to the end, and took his leave.

Then, in the tent of the marching steward, only Tetisius and Theognes were left, and the burning of candles hissed, and the mosquitoes of early summer swirled and made a monotonous and low sound, and the sweat of the palms of the guards flowed out, and the eyes began to stare at Tetisius.

The general looked so calm that he quietly put the scroll of letter paper into the leather tube.

"This letter is not at all what you said to Gawain just now." Eventually, Theognes couldn't hold back and spoke out.

"It is against the law to silence and to freely divulge the emperor's letters and wills." Tetisius's questioning of the captor blocked him back with an iron-clad marching decree.

There was another deathly silence, but in the end it was Diognis who couldn't bear it, and his tone and attitude became fierce, although he had first taught Gawain to "learn to abide by the traditions and institutions of this empire", but now he couldn't stand it, but he didn't want to say it too loudly, so that bad words would spread in the camp, so he suppressed his voice,

"Your Majesty in your letter told us to abandon the pilgrims of Antioch and return to Cyprus!"

"Yes, that's good." General Nose's attitude was still very indifferent.

"In this way, Your Majesty will lose his faith and honor."

"You don't have to worry about that, your wise majesty has already taken the whole situation into control. Kobuha's army is so strong that I reckon that even if Gawain and Bohemond join forces, they will not be an opponent of the other side's troops, and the Western pilgrims will certainly ask for help from Your Majesty, and Your Majesty will send troops at the right time, and then we will also go from the island of Cyprus to Anatolia in due course, to 'stop' His Majesty's horses' hooves, and to 'warn' him that it is futile and unwise to go to the rescue of Antioch. In this way, whatever the future holds, the blame will be left to us, and your Majesty may withdraw the army without any loss, and after the pilgrims here have fought with Kobuha and Agyhi, and have lost both, Your Majesty will gather up his strength, and then reap the benefits of the reaps, and take back Cilicia, Seleucia, and Antioch at the least cost, and such a clever strategy will be enough to ensure the revival of the Roman Empire. ”

"But," Diognes was distressed.

"You're surprised, aren't you? That's right, in fact, when I was under the former Caesar's tent, I had already sworn allegiance to His Majesty's throne, so His Majesty can always make the first move when quelling rebellion and defending power. Next, Tetisius unabashedly told such a shocking secret, he had long been a "secret pile" directly under His Majesty the Emperor!

Although it was a very hot weather, looking at the marching commander with two nostrils exposed, Diognis was covered in cold sweat, his hands and feet seemed to be standing in the cold lake water of the Anatolian plateau, Tetisius had no expression on his face, probably he had already regarded himself as a tool of the emperor or Caesar, a tool that could be entrapped, "Capture officer, maybe you will question my private morality, but this is not necessary, you are also a military nobleman and border guard, unlike me, my father is just a slave, I too, I can't expect slaves to have any morality, slaves only have the distinction between useful and useless. Since the Emperor had previously asked me to swear allegiance to him, there was no reason to refuse, even if it was to betray Caesar for it—and now, the Emperor's secret letter was only asking us to leave, not Gawain. ”

"It's ridiculous that Your Majesty even asked me to monitor you." Theognes smiled very distortedly, and his heart was full of horror, "The one who is monitored, in fact, is the monitor, such a means can indeed only be controlled by the wise majesty, so this time it is our turn to betray Gawain." ”

Tetisius unsheathed his saber and rested it on the weapon, "It's not a betrayal to Gawain, at most it's abandonment." His Majesty hopes that he can fight with the infidels in a desperate situation, to the last drop of blood, it's as simple as that. This conspiracy is known only to me, you, and Your Majesty, so Diognis swears by your supreme loyalty to the throne that you must carry it out without hindrance. Gawain, Raymond, and Bohemond, they all think they are heroes and heroes of the first generation, but in His Majesty's silver plate chess game, they are just a chess piece, and you and I are the same. It's just that we are pawns in the hands of His Majesty. ”

After hearing this, Diognes' face turned pale, he walked to the scarlet screen, and slowly knelt down with a heavy heart in front of the portrait of His Majesty hanging on the other side, and the surrounding icons, "It turns out that all this is really just a conspiracy of Your Majesty. Previously, why did His Majesty care so much about Berdin's rebellion that he would temporarily abandon Seleucia, which was at his fingertips? In the end, His Majesty still regarded Gawain as a ferocious beast bear, and he used his power to make chains, and the pioneers drove it to fight and bleed with other beasts that threatened the Empire, and when all the beasts were dead, His Majesty standing in the arena stands will enjoy the flesh on their corpses with great interest! ”

Thinking of this, Diognis looked at the holy apostles with brilliant golden halos on their heads, and suddenly felt a heartfelt disillusionment and powerlessness - he lived in a false world, but now he could only clutch his chest in agony, bow down in front of the icon and the portrait of the emperor, and according to Tetisius, express the unconditional fulfillment of the will of His Majesty the Emperor. (To be continued.) )