After receiving the Patriarch's reply, Tanrred felt a little reassured, and soon made intensive contacts with Ridwan in Aleppo, Kobha in Mosul, and Fer in Marash, claiming to join hands with the Muhammads and Armenians against the "evil alliance from the West". Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

But when Antioch's secret letter came to Marlashburg, the regent Fell urgently summoned all the nobles, "Everyone knows that Gawain actually defeated the emperor in the previous battle of Philomelon, you must know that the emperor has an army of 50,000, but he was still defeated, the corpses of the killed are piled up, and more people surrender to Gawain." Now I heard that Gawain is joining forces with Baldwin and Bohemond to prepare to advance eastward. We Marash is so weak that we must bear the brunt of it. ”

With that, the Regent put Antioch's proposal on display.

Not surprisingly, everyone quarreled again, and many nobles, led by Saliki, because their hatred with Gawain and Bohemond was too deep, strongly advocated an alliance with Antioch and fought to the death with each other on the basis of natural danger.

However, there are also a group of nobles who are already pessimistic about the future of the kingdom, and they think that it is difficult to preserve it on their own, let alone restore the glory of the ancient kingdom, but in such an atmosphere, they do not dare to compromise lightly, for fear of becoming the target of public criticism.

Beside the tall stone gate outside the fortress tower, among the nobles who were still gathered to discuss, Hercules bowed his head and walked in the direction of the city wall, without saying a word, following his father.

"This time, you were selected as a diplomatic envoy to negotiate with Gawain in Tarsus City, it is better to reach a peace agreement, and if not, you must also know the details and methods of the other party. After all, you're a young man with a great future, and it's better to send you there than to send us who can only wield a saber. The bare-headed father stood cross-legged on the wall, looking at the blue-gray distance, and stood there to Hercules.

"Now that the Ani themselves are divided, most of the families in Meritene have taken refuge in Gawain. Now only Marash is left, but as you can see from what happened just now, everyone's hearts are beginning to waver. Hercules stood behind him, looked at the magnificent mountains and whispered, "Father, in your opinion, if Gawain were to attack, how many people would be willing to fight to the death?" ”

Parkard sighed, still with his back to his son, and was speechless for a long time.

Hercules, on the other hand, saw a little gray hair on the back of his father's bare head in the sun, "Let me ask my father another question, if Gawain comes to attack, can we hold on to the city of Thubacena until death?" ”

"Let's do what we need to do." Parkade patted his son on the shoulder, then shook his head and walked down.

The young Armenian nobles, following the route of Bohemond's release, first arrived in the city of Kastabara, and then crossed half of Adanab to the city of Sith. There, he was greeted by Wright, the governor of the other county, and told Hercules, "Now the Grand Patron and Caesar are in the vicinity of Zephelim, observing the harvest of the rice fields. ”

So Hercules, as the governor had instructed, came to the port of Zephilim, about nine cures southeast of Tarsus, and he went up from the north side of the mountain range, and at last he saw the great patron and Caesar sitting in front of a small monastery, under the fruit tree.

Hercules was courteously received by the female officials, who, after inspecting his outfit and paperwork, invited him to join him at a picnic with the great patron and his wife.

Hercules carefully stepped on the grass, and under the guidance of several female officials, slowly approached Gawain under the tree, his tall body and back unchanged from those of those years, and the proud Greek princess had a large belly and accompanied him. Gawain sat on a large folding stool, while Anna leaned back on the couch, some fine and neat food and wine were placed on the floor between them, and a gray-haired girl sat under the red parasol on the other side.

"Marash's messenger?" Gawain turned his head and looked at Hercules, then his blue eyes moved, "I remember you, we met in Tarsus and Antioch before, the son of Pacaad, a brave young mercenary. ”

Hercules immediately bowed and saluted, and then stared at Gawain, not daring to relax in the slightest.

After a while, Anna also turned her head and said to him in a gentle tone, "Why have you kept staring at my husband, haven't you come to negotiate peace?" ”

Now all the female officials giggled, and the gray-haired girl's face was obviously a little disdainful, which made Hercules feel sincerely embarrassed, just like the Isurian barbarians hundreds of years ago, who walked barefoot and wore tattered hats into the Grand Palace of the Romans in the new capital, and was taught what is the real system and architecture, what is the real civilization, and what is the real Romana.

In the shadow of the tree, Gawain waved his hand at Hercules, then looked over there and nodded, "Stand by my side, don't be so restrained, the beautiful scene is below." ”

Hercules, who could only do so, walked slowly, and many of the female officials' beautiful eyes were staring at him, and some of them were straightforward and laughed.

Three steps, five steps, ten steps.

At last he stood on the lower ridge of the hillside, where Gawain had a fish and dragon flag erected, and the wind poured into the bag, and the bronze dragon head bared its hideous teeth, and its long body was swung and whined in the changing direction of the wind.

In the sun, Hercules saw that the entire coastal plain had turned into a huge "golden whirlpool".

The blue sea, ochre-colored sand, cyan hills, green citrus orchards, black narrow lanes, red-tiled and gray farmstead barns, and white windmills embracing the whirlpool of golden rice waves in the center serve as its embellishment. The golden color first spread along the hillside, sandwiched between the sparkling tributaries of the Zephilim River, several magical huge waterwheels across the river and the rice fields, the wooden wheels continued to turn in the gurgling, and then the rice fields finally converged on the flat ground and became one, and also became a golden vortex that filled the vision of Hercules.

Many dark-skinned Moorish slave laborers, wearing straw hats, scattered among them, were reaping with small shiny scythes, and the huge square in the center of the whirlpool was already filled with a rich harvest.

Hercules suddenly swelled up in his heart with a divine emotion, which could not be contained, for for the sake of this mysterious harvest of golden grain, if he were a painter, he would certainly spare any ink to depict this beautiful scenery forever.

"How, this sight?" At this moment, the Great Patron sat next to him, squinting his eyes and asking, as if he were a child, "Messenger from Marash, it must be difficult for you to see such a sight." Can you give it a nice name? ”

"Golden snail shell, golden snail shell, Your Highness." Hercules' heart was so blissful that he summoned the name almost without thinking.