John was furious, "My mother is protected by my guards, what do you want Ducasse to enter the Brachna Palace?" ”

But such negotiations did not seem to have helped, and eight hundred Dukas's private soldiers, led by Evraimius, continued to be at the city gates. The reason given by Ducasse was that the situation was now unstable, and if His Majesty felt that it was unseemly for them to enter the palace, perhaps Empress Dowager Irene could be sent to a monastery on the outskirts of Sarabria, and they could be protected nearby. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The quarrel soon spread to the barracks and market towns outside the city, and then spread rapidly over the walls of Theodosius and the old walls of Constantine. All kinds of rumors spread, and some people deliberately led public opinion, and actually claimed that Emperor John had put his biological mother under house arrest, just as he did to his grandmother Darasina.

"What nonsense, Axepocos, you go with me to my mother's dormitory at once, and I will explain the matter clearly." Ignoring the fatigue of the day, John hurriedly asked the Turkic slave to prepare a guard of honor and prepare to set off immediately.

At this time, the rain was much lighter, but two eunuchs close to the emperor rushed to the emperor in a panic, "Just now, Your Majesty, your queen Piloska was suddenly invited by the Queen Mother to have a long talk. ”

John felt a heavy blow to his chest, and he barely managed to stabilize his body by holding on to the pillar, and then he asked the eunuch who reported the news in a trembling voice, "What did you talk about?" ”

The two were busy saying that they didn't know.

When John walked anxiously to his mother's bedchamber, he saw the young queen come out of the door, escorted by several Hungarian guards.

John didn't dare to breathe, because although some people in the palace knew about his relationship with Marlena, Piloska was at a loss, and the group of Hungarian knights who had married were kept in the dark, and if they knew, the anger and conflict might bury the entire palace.

"Honorable Husband, Honorable Imperial Majesty." Who would have thought that the queen seemed to be in a good mood and walked up to him to give a salute.

"I ...... What didn't the Queen Mother say to you? ”

Tilta shook her head and replied childishly, "The Queen Mother treated me well and discussed some theological topics with me, and then we played a game of chess. ”

Then John was relieved, and he sent Piloska away, and hurried to his mother's bedchamber, where Irene, who was sitting and watching the maids tidy up the dice on the chessboard, smiled happily when she saw her son enter, "Vlaimius, this child, has troubled you. I immediately wrote to him asking him to return. ”

"It's annoying for my mother." John replied in a low voice.

Then the atmosphere in the dormitory fell silent, and just as Erin was about to ask what else was going on, John suddenly burst into tears.

He wept like that, tears running straight down his cheeks, knelt in front of the knees of the queen mother Irene, took the belt of his mother's long robe, and said incoherently, "You are the embodiment of the Virgin Mary in the world, the most merciful, I am your son, I hope your mercy and help." Please, Mother, you are the only remaining relative of mine in this world, your son has never and will never do anything to disobey you, you are my mother and the patron of this city, for you are the embodiment of Mary. ”

The Virgin Adoration in Constantinople was at the forefront of the world at the time, and the entire empire considered the Virgin Mary to be its guardian.

Erin lifted her son to his feet, and Wen Yan said to him, "It doesn't have to be this way, you are the true emperor who was crowned by the Patriarch Maastas in the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, and like all Roman emperors, you can share the supreme divine power with Jesus." The city, and all the people, will not give up on you, just as they dare not give up on Jesus. ”

"I just beg you not to give up on me, Mother...... Please don't give up on me, be merciful, and give me a little love......" John was now unable to weep.

In the courtyard outside the dormitory, the freezing rain turned into hail and snow particles, and this year's winter in Constantinople came exceptionally early and was exceptionally cold.

On the other side of the strait, in the palace of Prusa City, Gawain draped the skin on the shoulders of the pregnant Anna, and the two walked in the courtyard on the thin and cold snow, the tip of Anna's nose was slightly red, and she looked up at the hazy yellow waning moon in the snow, "Are you going to start moving, big brute?" ”

"Yes, we have to take that step anyway."

Anna nodded, reiterating, "Yes, there is only one core idea of the Romana Empire, and that is that 'the Empire is universal and the whole universe', and the great Constantinople is the most central scepter symbol on the golden earth, and it must be held, it must be held." There may come a time when I will really give up my favorite Tarsus, my favorite Seleucia, and return to the Brachna Palace. ”

Thinking of this, Anna's cheeks also had hot tears slipping down, she had both ambition and true feelings that were difficult to abandon.

At this time, in the port of Sinop, in the howling wind and snow, the buoy stakes, half-buried in the black sea, were tied to them with half-extinguished torches, and the stars were dotted from a distance. On the pier, the ropes of many skua longships were untied, and their bodies were similar, and one by one they began to paddle away from the castle. On the deck of one of the ships was upturned, and Diognis was standing on the deck, the snow had obscured half of his cloak and armor, and he felt a bone-chilling chill under his feet, and the ice floes kept flowing, hitting the side of the ship or the oars, making a sound of peeling, and Theognis lifted a leather bag of wine, but it was filled with only standard wine, and after a few sips, it was slightly warmer.

He looked beside him, and the military judge Aljili, who was holding the sword of phosphorus and fire, was also too cold to speak.

In this season, the Yukexing Sea will soon be completely frozen, ports, ships, people and livestock.

But it was also a good time for them to make a surprise attack, targeting several ports in Thrace, and there was no specific and clear plan, although it was rumored that the destination was Meisembria, but immediately after joining up with the task force of the Count of Merlot, they would only take the opportunity to go ashore - and land there wherever it was cheaper.

Diognis had sailed from Tbilisi from the port of Fasis to Sinop, a promontory citadel jutting into the Yukchen Sea, and then set out with Algilli under the command of about 120 "skuas".

In addition, in order to avoid criticism from the outside world, especially the Pope of Rome, they and the task force of Mamellot did not carry the banner of Tarsus at all, but would call themselves the "Thracian Volunteer Army", which also included 700 Oghuz volunteers and archers - this was Maglendius. The second step of Prani's strategy is to be "unscrupulous" under the premise of "covering people's eyes and ears".