Helpless, Brenus, although he didn't know what happened in Bari City, or the barbarian who was appointed by the emperor as the commander of Aconis, robbed the Red Hand Dalian, but anyway, the army itself was just mercenaries, so he could only ask for a ship to go to Bari City first.

The sandbar in the bay outside Bari was made up of improvised dikes, and in the shallow sea above and around it, there were vertical wooden fences erected to prevent boats from penetrating, and two towers on the edge of the lighthouse were lined with Venetian catapults, an old ship that the city of Bari had bought at its own expense, moored at the very point of the sea, on which stood menacing militia soldiers, armed with bows and crossbows, and with small stone throwers in the bow, and on either side of the ship were attached hanging pouches full of stones.

Obviously, this is a "watchman", and when the enemy is not strong, they act as floating turrets more than enough; But when the enemy is strong, the ship can sink completely, and drop the rocks it carries into the sea, blocking the enemy's path.

But the question is, who is the enemy?

Diognis on the ship's tower was a hero who guarded the city more than half a month ago. He hurried to the bow of the ship, and was about to wave the flag and shout, when a flying stone thrown from the opposite side whistled past the mast, and with a great cracking sound, half of the mast fell down, and the Grand Duke Attachés on the deck screamed in amazement, and then the flying stone fell into the sea water on the right side of the ship, stirring up a rising column of water, and Brenus also held on to the railing in embarrassment, "How can this be! ”

"We're going to enter the port." Diognes, who had regained his footing, waved a small flag with such content against the watchtower standing on the shore.

But no one welcomed it. Soon a small barge slowly rocked out of the harbor on the side. Diognes could see clearly that there was a cloud of ancient silk sitting holding a box. His new wife.

"This was given to you by the Grand Duke of Barry." Gu Siyun, who boarded the boat, handed the box to her husband.

"Don't talk nonsense, now the regular Grand Duke of Drasime is here," Diognes hurriedly reminded his wife, telling her to be silent, and then in front of Nikephorus. Brenus opened the box, took out the letter, and gave it to the Grand Duke to read the ruling.

The oarsboat lowered the iron anchor, and Brenus swayed slightly. Sitting on the seat of the tower, looking at the letter, his face soon became a little surprised, "Your Excellency, I don't think we can enter this city, the Lombard company Aconis has been elected governor of Barry on his own initiative, and this seaport is no longer under my jurisdiction. ”

"Gawain" Theognes instantly understood, his eyes began to become bloodshot and red, and his fists squeaked. His shoulders were shaking with anger.

"This is a gift from Grand Duke Gawain, who said please take care of yourself in the future, and he thanked you for what you taught him in front of the Brachna Palace, but Gawain said that he was not willing to learn the so-called rules of the empire. It was just a cage for him to fly high. But when he has the opportunity in the future, he still wants to fight alongside you. Gu Siyun said to her angry and embarrassed husband very seriously, and then took out the contents of the box. Theognes saw that it was a pot of fine Italian wine. There is also a precious silk woven from six silk rolls.

Diognes angrily snatched the flask from his hand and threw it into the waves of the harbor with a shout. Then he rushed to the stern of the ship, but he could only see the endless water, and Gawain's fleet had already headed for the coast of Dalmatia, and now it was almost to the city of Ragusa.

"Alas, I think we should return to Durazo for the time being, and while informing Your Majesty of this matter, we should get in touch with the team commanded by Gawain just now as soon as possible, and find out what his true purpose and purpose are." Brenus was a mild-mannered man, so he gave steady orders to his attachés.

The remnant sun lay on the surface of the sea, and from the stern came a roar of Diognes, who raised his bow and arrow, and flew an arrow in the direction of Gawain's departure, and the arrow flew a distance with a whistling sound, and still fell into the sea in vain, and then the guard lowered his head, leaving everyone with a lonely and discouraged back.

By the time their ships returned to Durazo, it was getting late, and soon from the field outside the city, Tetisius had entered the city gates with less than 200 Cuman mercenary cavalry and more than 400 Tekopo soldiers who had landed early by Gawain's "gift".

Brenus, Theognes, and Tetitisius then looked at each other in the Grand Duke's Mansion, "It would be better to send this matter to the Brachna Palace in the imperial capital as soon as possible, so that Your Majesty may know as soon as possible." ”

The hazy summer rain, mixed with the wind blowing from the strait, enveloped the entire palace and streets of Constantinople in refreshing coolness.

At this time, under the section of the city wall adjacent to Salabrea, Anna sat under the porphyry wall with eaves, holding her cheeks with her hands, sitting on the steps, several maids holding umbrellas to shield the eldest princess from the wind and rain, while Anna looked at the nameless flowers and vines that kept climbing up in the rain along the moss and the cracks in the rock wall, "Your Royal Highness the eldest princess, the queen is asking you to go to her palace and learn some etiquette before marriage." ”

"I'm not going, tell my mother, I'm watching the plants grow." Anna was in a low mood and muttered, "I'm going to go to the college of St. John's Church for a week. ”

When the car was ready, Anna got up in displeasure, looked back at the city wall that loomed in the rain, and then sighed twice and left.

In Marlena's dormitory, Alexios, dressed in light silk clothing, angrily slammed the seal reported from the front on the table, "The Lord really favored this barbarian who came out of nowhere, the guy who looked like Lusail, let him take the city of Barry, and he actually lived up to my love, usurped the rank of grand duke, like a bear who disobeyed discipline and shackles, and began to walk in the wilderness, unforgivable, never!" ”

Marlena, the chief lady of the court, dressed in tulle and adorned with delicate jewelry, took the opportunity to come over and read the contents of the seal a few times, "If Gawain is allowed to do whatever he wants, his barbaric army will break through the wasteland of Bolgar and will probably be close to Adrianople, which is the key to the imperial capital." ”

The Emperor knew this, and there was no need for the woman to remind him, "Zahas has been destroyed and fled far away, so it is time for me to call Isaac back with his army, and recently there has been a steady stream of remnants of Tevris who have been crossing the sea by boat from Sinop and infiltrating into Bolgar and Thrace, and have begun to prepare for a rebellion at Fort Philip, the hinterland of the Empire, and it is said that the remnants of the former dynasty and the remnants of Pecheneg are involved." I immediately commanded an army with Isaac to defend Adrianople, both to defend the imperial capital to suppress the new rebellion and to 'welcome' the Frankish pilgrim army. This group of people also has to be vigilant, not to let them make trouble on the land of the empire, and to send these plague gods to Little Asia as soon as possible. Then the Emperor turned and put his hand on his adoptive mother's cheek, "Since I have brought the flood, I have to shoulder the responsibility of channeling, and the same is true of that Gawain." ”

In the rain, Marlena's face was both charming and murderous, "If Gawain can be used best by His Majesty, if he is even the slightest disobedient, he should be executed categorically." ”

Alexios sighed twice, and then he drafted an order, "Quickly send a message to Berdin, the monarch of Za'tar, to cooperate with Brenus, and stop Gawain's Red Hand company after landing - and let Isaac also send a detachment of 5,000 men to Brenus to deter Gawain's troops, and if they dare to resist, they will be annihilated by the enemy." ”

In the deep cloister of the court, two maids with wine vessels and dinner plates were quietly and nervously pressed against the wall, and after eavesdropping on the conversation between the emperor and the vice-empress dowager, one continued to enter to serve, while the other took the opportunity to quietly slip away from the garden path.

After about two minutes, the drenched maid knelt before Queen Irene's seat, "Stephen. In the name of pilgrimage, Gawain is about to come to the imperial capital, and he is still taking an army of thousands of people with him? The queen's eyes lit up, and she suddenly stood up, "At last the horn of the decisive battle is about to be sounded" while her words became lower and lower, and she understood that it was time for life and death to come:

Immediately the emperor and his younger brother The Lord Sebastoclat will leave the town of Adrianople, and according to the rules, the emperor will arrange a regent before leaving, responsible for staying in the imperial capital, taking charge of the court and the guards, and now the regents are nothing more than two - one is herself, if Alexios chooses herself, then she will take the opportunity to meet her brother Caesar Myaulinus in the court, and the imperial assistant Beriel, and self-judge Anna as the empress, creating a fait accompli, and establishing a dynasty belonging to the Ducasse family, plus Anna has a marriage contract with Brenus of Teshoram, and is Gawain's guarantor, and there is no one to worry about foreign aid; The other is Marlena, if Alexios chooses her, then the result is self-evident, the future heir is John, and the Ducasse family and his daughter Anna will forever lose the opportunity to covet the throne.

Irene, who was pacing around anxiously, planned countless plans in her heart, the best of which was nothing more than to let her brother, who "held" the Channel in Gallipoli, enter the imperial capital with the guards, and then gather the huge party of the Ducasse family in the government and the opposition, and coerce Alexios to choose himself as the regent and Anna as the heir to the crown prince.

But in this way, will there be bloodshed, will Erin already be like a Thracian cave in her heart, and recall that when she was twelve years old, ignorant and wearing brand new clothes, walking past the big tree in front of the family manor, stumbling close to the fence of the hunting garden, and seeing Alexios being there, shooting deer with her father, the sun was so bright and dazzling at that time, when Erin raised her head, she could smell the faint fragrance of palpitations in the wind.

"Prepare to prepare, tomorrow I will go to meet His Majesty to discuss some matters." Eventually, Erin said to the maid.

(End of this volume) (To be continued.) )