() A Creelian who had entered the estate a few days in advance showed us the way. No pop-ups, fast updates

The farmer-like man said that in the south, there was a section of earth rammed that was actually made of mud pasted with wooden planks, and it was very easy to break through, and it was only necessary to use a wooden stake to break it. After receiving this news, a dozen or so Kugits, while we were attracting the attention of the defenders of the manor, rode around the south side of the manor, and the horsemen returned half an hour later to report that the farmer had not lied.

A Valan gave the farmer a small bag of gold coins in return, but the Creelian threw the gold on the ground, spat on the ground, and swore by pointing to the sky.

"As long as you can drive out the Salanders," said the Creelian, "my life is yours, and I will not take this money." "Stammering, this Creelian swears in Wikiyan, and curses.

The Creelian was a yeoman farmer, but because of the vastness of the Salander estate, his land was expropriated to grow olives and graft grapes, but the compensation was pitiful. For this reason, he kept finding the local Vichyl, hoping to get justice. But time and time again, all he got was Vicchier's perfunctory and severe fines. His sons were killed or exiled, and the Salanders, fearing reprisals from the family, castrated the remaining men. These Salander Mamluks were called eunuchs for a large reason because they liked to inflict such cruel punishments at will.

The Creelians said that he wanted nothing more than to make the Sarandians' deaths more painful, and nothing else.

We estimated that a hundred men would be able to break through to the south of the manor, so the Varanites stayed behind and feigned an attack, while the Kugit retreated to the olive grove and circled to the south of the manor, preparing to surprise the Salanders when they were not expecting them. The Salanders dug many pits, in which sharpened stakes were inserted, and many of the Valans broke their feet or broke the hooves of their mounts. The surface of these pitfalls is covered with leather and meadows, sprinkled with sand. You can't see it from the outside at all. The boyars sent scouts to warn the Kugit cavalry to beware of the same ambush south of the manor.

The Varans shouted and insulted the Salanders. The constant thirst irritated us, and it wasn't long before I unplugged my water bladder and started drinking. The water had a strange taste, and I wouldn't have drunk it if I hadn't been thirsty. Soaking in the water of a dead man is not the best choice. Fortunately, I was so thirsty that I didn't care too much about such a drink.

The crossbowmen began to shoot at the manor's fire-burning arrows, and the Salanders returned fire with powerful crossbows, which produced javelin-sized arrows that could almost pierce a person, leaving a wound the size of a helmet. Even the strongest horses can be crippled after being shot. There were at least two ballistas fired at us inside the manor. It can be seen that the ballista men are very skilled, because the big arrows from the ballistas fly out almost against the top of the courtyard wall, and then penetrate into our team, and if the angle is not good, it will deviate. The Varans had no choice but to scatter their soldiers and even lie on their stomachs on the ground. Avoid the bolts of the ballistas.

The rain of arrows only weakened the defenders at first. Let a lot of the manor guards be shot. Later, the men hid behind the breastwork. There's nothing we can do.

The soldiers captured several Creelian peasants, pointed them at them with crossbows, and told them to clear the pits in the ground under the shuffling of the manor guards. These Creelians can only bite the bullet and go up. If you help the Valans, you may only be killed, but if you disobey the Valans, you will definitely be killed. The Creelians seem to be familiar with the traps laid in ambush on the estate, probing the ground with their hoes and smashing them down whenever they find them. The closer you get to the courtyard wall, the more such traps there are, and the progress of the investigation is very slow, and there are often Creel farmers who are shèd, and if they can come back on their own, the Valans will give him a little meat and salt, and if they die, the Valans will ignore them.

The ballista also stopped firing, because the momentum of our offensive had stopped.

I didn't expect the desert to be so hot on a Chūn day, and I wanted to retreat into the olive groves, but no one gave me orders, so I could only sit cross-legged on the ground and watch the Creelians carefully dodge the shè attacks of the guardians of the estate.

After eating at noon, the Creelians had already found out all the pitfalls at the gate of the manor. These Mamluks really put a lot of thought into it, and the whole manor house was full of potholes, and there were sharp wooden stakes in them. However, such protection may be effective against a group of dozens of rogues, but it is useless against an organized army. Several of the nearby woodwatchers' huts had been torn down, and many planks had been collected and piled up on the ground at the entrance of the manor, and the manor guards could do nothing but watch.

If this situation continues, we will be able to launch a general offensive before the sun sets. The people of Salander must have thought so too.

Soon after, the gates of the manor opened, and the busy Creel farmers left their planks and tools behind and fled, and when they ran to us, they were relieved and looked back.

After a while, no one came out of the gate of the manor.

Just as we were about to lose our patience, a group of Salanders came out.

These Salanders were dressed in neat gowns, as if they were going to a rally rather than on the battlefield. The Salander at the front carried a plate containing pearls and precious stones; The second carried a large silver tray with piles of gold coins that glittered; The third person is holding two white sè bottles, which are almost transparent, with blue and white sè patterns painted on them, making people think they are a kind of charm.

Behind the three Salanders were four dark-skinned men, who were wearing their upper bodies and carrying a palanquin with a high spire and a moon carved out of ivory at the top. The whole palanquin was surrounded by silk, and it was not known what was inside. Behind the palanquin, followed by a maid and a docile man.

These men were followed by a large number of Creelian villagers, who carefully piled aside leather, cloth, full oil jugs, jīng knives, and shiny armor, and then fled at once, almost all of them back to the manor, and it seemed that these people still had illusions about the Salanders.

Finally, a Salander warrior dressed in armor appears.

Nothing can describe the beauty of the Salander warrior's armor, the helmet has swirling lines at the top, and the bottom is adorned with chain mail-like ear guards and a whole piece of snow-white iron that protects the neck, and his shoulder pads just cover his entire shoulder and half of his back. The cloak is like red sè blood. However, the belly of this Salander Mamluk is too fat. So much so that his armor covered in armor had to be half loosened, making him look like a ripe melon that had exploded on its own. His trouser leg is made up of two kinds of sè, the left leg is a red sè and the right leg is a huángsè, which seems to have been a fashion that came from Swadia.

Although this Salander man does not look mighty at all, his armor must have made many people remember it after seeing it.

The few soldiers behind this Salander warrior were much worse equipped, only the helmets could barely be seen. The rest of the armor is a patchwork. The helmets of these people were all tied with red ribbons, and they looked as if they were really going to fight.

The Valan soldiers were also more curious than cautious at this time, and they all gathered around to take a look.

Giovanni rode on his horse and walked slowly towards the Salander, and the Salander warrior saw this, and urged his horse to meet him.

Salander Mamluk looked at Giovanni carefully. Then he jumped off his horse and took the reins of his horse and walked in front of Giovanni. One of Giovanni's guards looked at the Salander on guard, who gave him the reins of his horse and said to Giovanni, "Honorable one, I give you my mount." ”

Then the Salander led Giovanni's horse and walked towards the group of Salanders. The Valan soldiers crowded forward, guarding the Salanders and Giovanni in the middle. Mamluks smiled humbly. Cautiously pushed away the Valans in front. Then he walked up to the Salander attendants who were carrying the treasures.

"Honorable people," Mamluk said. "The pearls of this place, all over the coast, there will be no greater than this. This is the treasure that my father brought out of the palace when the usurper burned down the garden and prayer room. My father was about to commit suicide, but he didn't repay his hatred, so he went to the border with his belongings. This is a gift that we have saved for the Sultan, and together with this servant, we now offer it to you! ”

The Salander servant knelt down and kissed the tips of Giovanni's boots.

"O noble man," continued the Mamluks, "the gold here can buy any oasis, build a bazaar named after you, and let the riches flow like a river." You can use it to fulfill your heart's desire, any wish. This is the fruit of all these years of my business, and together with this servant, I am now dedicated to you! ”

The Waran soldiers' vigilance was lowered slightly, and they watched the surrender ceremony of the Salanders with curiosity.

The four men carrying the palanquin lowered it as Giovanni approached, and the maid and the man stepped forward.

Pointing to the man, Mamluk said, "This man, who has been castrated since childhood, will never corrupt your court and inner chambers. He is also familiar with all known etiquette and the laws of various countries, and can prepare documents, transcribe letters, initiate yīn schemes, and invite allies for you. And he is loyal, and if you are his master, then he is trained to obey any of your orders at all times. And, once you make an oath, then always be faithful. ”

Giovanni frowned, "Always loyal." Since he is eternally loyal to you, what is the point of you offering this servant to me? ”

"This is where the ingenuity," said the Mamluk, "the servant has not taken an oath so far." It cost me a full thirty horses and six pounds to buy this man. I only want to wait until the day, when I am too old and infirm to handle the affairs of the manor, and let him swear to assist my heir, but now it seems that I have to sacrifice him to you. ”

He said a few words in Salander's dialect.

The one who came over and didn't kiss Giovanni's toes as he had done before, but took his hand and said only one word, "Master." ”

Giovanni pulled out his hand, "I'm not used to strange and strange things coming into contact. ”

The Valan soldiers thought of a bull in the early morning a long time ago.

The man seemed to be unconcerned about the dislike, and stood tamely to the side, as if he had been a servant of Giovanni for many years.

Mamluk then said to Giovanni, "This maid has been specially trained to know the true meaning of happiness. Every inch of her skin can bring you endless pleasure; She can dispense spices to make your happiness last longer; She can also cook delicious food to help you recover faster; She knows how to weave the silk of the Orientals, and at the same time knows how to bargain in the bazaar, so that you will never have to worry about the expenses, and she will be your best maid. ”

Finally, what everyone is waiting for is coming to the sedan chair.

"Honorable man," said Mamluk with a laugh, "a poet once saw this woman, and when he failed to make a courtship, he stabbed himself in the eye, because he felt that there was nothing in the world worth seeing; There was a beauty of the Sultan, who was beautiful and beautiful, and when she saw her, she bit her lip and cut off her hair, and served Allah all her life, because she could not accept that someone was more beautiful than herself; My lord, this woman is not mine, but I have the privilege of serving her for a while, offering her my food and shelter, my loyalty and affection. Now, I'll give her to you. ”

Giovanni was a little interested at this time, "Yes, I'll see what this woman is like." ”

He dismounted and walked to the palanquin.

The two guards wanted the woman to come down on her own, and I followed Giovanni. But Giovanni smiled and said, "You have to be polite to the lady." ”

He opened the sedan chair.

A crossbow was aimed at his face.

It was so close that in the last hour, I could only see a sunflower carved into the bolt.

I slammed Giovanni's head away, and the crossbow arrow shè pierced my shoulder armor and came out from behind, but luckily no shè pierced my shoulder. But I felt the cracked fragments of my shoulder armor digging into my flesh, and the pain made me fall to the ground and shrink into a ball, howling in pain.

In the palanquin, a light shadow flew out and slammed Giovanni's chest with its knee, crushing him to the ground.

The Valans drew their swords and stabbed them, but the dagger in the shadow's hand was already kissed on Giovanni's neck, and Giovanni reached out and motioned for his men not to act rashly.

A horn sounded on the other side of the manor.

Countless Salander soldiers rushed out shouting holy names.