The location in the Brachna Palace was too dangerous, and the emperor had always been known for his treacherous and untrustworthy thoughts, which was the unanimous idea of the Red Hand. In particular, the three Italian veteran companies had the least affection for Komnenos, and they all believed that they had been betrayed by Sebastocrates in the Nicaea Gorge (so Gawain protected Isaac very tightly and often changed tents); The rest of the Greek companies, along with the Lombards, Magyars, and Cumans, had little affinity with the Roman emperor, most of whom were recruited from Italy, and had a vague understanding of Constantinople. At the very least, the 6,000 soldiers of the Red Hand Dalian Army, their loyalty to the emperor is completely based on their loyalty to Gawain.

Not to mention, Gawain single-handedly established the "Brotherhood of the Brocade" recognized by the Holy See.

Therefore, the vast majority of people strongly discouraged the Grand Duke from going to the palace, so as not to fall into the trap of Emperor Komnenos.

"The proposal for peace talks and the oath was given to His Majesty the Emperor by my Gawain, and if I retreat at this moment, it will be to give the initiative to Emperor Komunen." Who would have thought, but Gawain was very calm and atmospheric, "Besides, I, Gawain, am the priest of the city of Rome and the commander of the emperor's Aconis, Your Majesty will not easily murder me." There are nearly 100,000 pilgrim troops outside the city, and if he were to poison me, not only Godfrey and Baldwin, but even Bohemond would take the opportunity to attack Constantinople. I believe that Alexios. Komnenos, for the Grand Duke of Ben, still has to be mainly bribed. ”

"What's that strategy?" Bramson asked curiously.

Gawain smiled, and kept touching the mud of Anna's small handprints on the scroll with his fingers, "Go see Godfrey first." Then send a letter to Bohemond, and then select a few of the Brotherhood. I will accompany me on my pilgrimage to His Majesty the Emperor. ”

In the middle of the snow that covered the whole of Sarabria, the Orthodox friars from the Holy Monastery of Gallipoli. Together with the Red Hand and the monks of Godfrey's army, they set up a platform on the edge of the forest, and began a vigorous activity in the name of "theological discussions" and "exchange of reliquaries"—in fact, Desiderius, who was the chief deacon of the Holy Abbey, secretly sent many slaves and peasants to bring from the monastery a lot of wood cut into small pieces, as well as a lot of ointment and wine, to the pilgrims' camp. for heating and food needs.

Who is called Desiderius, since the city of Nicaea, he has been very friends with Gawain!

Therefore, the entire procession of pilgrims can survive for the time being.

But time is running out, and this winter is constantly increasing its humidity and lowering its temperature.

Soon, in the palace of Jukuntina, Bohemond (the original Byzantine defenders in his palace) who had been his camp were all "gifted" away. A letter was received from Gawain.

"What, being preempted by Gawain? The Greek emperor actually wanted to confer on Gawain as the Grand Duke of Anatolia, which is equivalent to cutting off the way of our Normans. Bohemond was furious, and he was angry at why Gawain was in front of him again. Moreover, Anatolia was the land of hope of the Normans, and as long as they occupied this plateau, they could enter and exit Antioch and Jerusalem in the east. Why should Gawain take away the most fertile and fertile western coastal zone of Asia Minor? It seems that this is again a trick of Alexios.

The other side. Tancred was also annoyed, he said vigorously. The emperor of the Greeks could not be trusted at all, so it was better to unite with Godfrey and others to attack Constantinople along the palace of Juquintina, destroy the country, divide its territory, and then use the Greek state as a springboard base to better attack and recover the Holy Sepulchre.

Just as Bohemond hesitated, Count Geoffrey walked in, "Your Excellency, an envoy from Constantinople wants to see you. This sudden ending surprised Bohemond, "Pay attention to the collection of his hidden weapons, and change all the clothes he wears, and then let him in to meet me, the Greeks are very good at using poison." ”

After a while, the withered "little bird" with a mysterious smile stood in front of Bohemond and Tancred, "Excuse me—are you an old eunuch who digs a diversion canal for the palace?" Bohemond couldn't believe that this fellow, who looked like a village elder, could be the envoy of His Majesty the Emperor.

"Please hurry, Your Excellency the Norman Duke, or your appointment as the Grand Duke of Anatolia will fall into the palm of Gawain's hand." This was the bird's first sentence, and then the old man lifted the cloak covering his face, and looked at Bohemond and Tanfred, "But it doesn't mean that there is no chance"

"Well, this is a Greek ruse." Bohemond also grinned, and spoke bluntly to Tantarred beside him.

The Grand Eunuch of Nickdemia did not have an angry expression, "Your Majesty was coerced by Gawain, because this cunning barbarian had previously instigated Godfrey to break through the Imperial Fort Sophia, and captured His Majesty's favorite brother Sebastoclat, using this as a bargaining chip for negotiations, and His Majesty was also forced to be helpless, not because he was unfriendly to you Normans. And you, Duke of Apulia, are said to have someone in your Majesty's hands that cares the most."

"Naturally, I also hope that Your Majesty can offer a very suitable price."

"The price code is the position of the Grand Duke of Anatolia and the Commander-in-Chief of Asia, and whoever hands over the prey in his hand to His Majesty first will get it."

Bohemond twisted his beard slightly, "Good deal, it turns out that Alexios successively sent separate envoy teams to Gawain's Dalian team and my camp, and then used Anatolia as bait to instigate me to fight with Gawain, and then used this empty position as bait to not only get his brother's release, but also to extradite his most hated brother-in-law back." There really is no more shrewd figure than His Majesty the Emperor, good deal, good deal. Bohemond said in a loud voice.

"Empty titles, empty titles, that's right. But as long as it was given by the Roman Emperor, it was definitely not 'empty', otherwise how could His Excellency the Duke be so concerned about this position? The moment of Gawain's Hajj is on the last day of this week (Saturday), so I hope you will take advantage of it. Finally, with a wicked smile, Nikdemia put on his cloak again, stepped out of the tent, and walked away in the snow.

As soon as Tancred was about to ask about his uncle's decision, the other party whispered to him, "The tricks of the Greek emperor are definitely more than this, we must take it step by step, and don't let Alexios bastards really think that my Tver family is stupid and foolish." ”

"How, uncle?"

"We also have to use a strategy to kill two birds with one stone against Gawain and the Greek emperor." Bohemond said with a sly grin. (To be continued.) )