We prepared towels sprinkled with potions that make you faint when you smell them; We have prepared ropes that will make it difficult for even the strongest men to break free as long as they are tied; We also prepared razors so that if necessary, the bride would be shaved bald in case her long hair was discovered.

In addition to this, we have prepared a great deal of things for the tying of men: the ropes of the Kugit people, the wooden flail of the Rhodoks, the empty wine barrel that King Nord loved to use, and a caravan camel stolen from the Salander merchants, which was so hungry that it was stinking and stinking, and on either side of the hump hung two huge reed baskets, which for many years the Salanders had used to carry slaves from one country to another, and now they had no problem carrying a bride.

Unexpectedly, when we climbed up to the bride's windowsill at night, she followed us obediently without resistance. We didn't even cover her mouth with a towel, but the smell of the towel wafted everywhere, and I was groggy with two Kugit and three Varan.

We approached the bride's room just after nightfall. There was one other person in the room, the old woman we had seen in the ready-to-wear store, who was trying to tighten the bride's corset, and as long as she could still put a finger in the corset, she would ask the bride to breathe in so that she could continue to tie the corset. We waited for a while, and the woman finally got into a verbal altercation with the bride and was blasted out by the bride.

All six of us were dressed as Salander merchants, wrapped in huge headwraps and robes of desert people. A face towel to keep out the sand on the face. When we saw the bride walking around the room by herself, the Kugit pulled the bolt of the window with a dagger. One by one, we jumped into the room, leaving only one Varan lurker downstairs watching the camels.

The bride's panic lasted only a moment. She saw the Salanders leap in through the window one by one, and retreated to the door in terror, as if they were about to shout.

Iyu pulled out a towel from the bag on his shoulder, and the intense smell of the potion made us hold our breath for a moment.

The bride looked at me, "Victor? Timmy? ”

She said two names, both of which indicated that she recognized me.

Iyu turned to me and asked, "Stun her?" ”

"Hell, you recognize me?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Don't waste time," Iyu pinched the towel. "Hurry up."

I simply pulled down the face towel and said, "Take you away." ”

"Where to go?" Anastasia continued, "What kind of trick is this?" ”

"If you want to marry an old man, just keep asking."

I pulled out my dagger and walked over to her, and she looked at me in horror, but I just cut her waist with a knife, and she swelled like a bundle of straw that had been tied tightly.

"Let's go! I'll go right away. She thought only for a moment and immediately made a decision.

Iyu: "Don't you cover?" ”

Iyu asked vaguely.

I was about to say to him. "No need to cover it." Then he heard a bang, and Iyu fainted with a towel and fell to the ground.

One of the Valan lurkers dropped the towel and Iyu's package in a corner of the room and climbed out of the window with Iyu on his shoulder. As for the ropes that bind Anastasia and the like, they were all thrown into the room. Anastasia collected a few dresses, lit a corner of the candle in the bride's dress to make it burn, looked at the equipment we had brought with an indescribable expression, and finally glared at me coldly. With the help of a Valan lurker, climb down the window.

Outside the bride's window was supposed to be a garden and a meadow with a wide view. But because there was no one to take care of it, the garden was full of vines. Wild grass grows wildly on the pasture, and the wild grass can be half a person's height after rain. We cautiously entered the pasture all the way, and no one was noticed. After entering the woods, we met a bird catcher, who stopped to look at us for a moment, and was somewhat surprised that there was a Salander caravan passing by in the manor. When we tried to get close to him, he ran deep into the woods. Knowing that we could not catch him in an unfamiliar place, we hurried to the border of the manor, where we had made a gap in the fence, from where we fled to the main road.

After returning to Ivangorod, I handed Anastasia to Copernicus, sent Iyu to the Pioneer to wake up, and then planned for the next day.

Halfway through the meeting of the nobles, Yuri of Little East Lake City still did not express his position.

The Great Boyars of the Ivangelod Region have already taken a stand, and only a few of the Great Boyars have not yet expressed their opinions. According to the process of the past aristocratic assembly, it is time for the great boyars of the East Lake Region and the Hejian Region to express their position. If there is still some interest in the nomination of the boyars in the capital of the parliament--- because of the great uncertainty, the distribution of power in the capital is more detailed, and the relationship between the great boyars is more complicated, and no one can say which one will support whom--- then when it comes to the nomination of the Great boyars of the East Lake Region and the Riverland Region, the nomination matter is more boring: the alliance and hostility between the princes are almost open, and these nominations will either be used to support their allies, Either the enemy used to support the enemy became the boyar, in short, it was a little better predictable than Ivangorod. For example, Xiaodonghu City will definitely nominate each other with a lot of people in Ryazan Fort, and maybe there will be mutual nominations with Dadonghu City; Count Anton of Riverland has not yet officially taken the oath of office, and if he becomes an earl, he will become a boyar, and he may then fully surrender to the alliance of Little East Lake City, in order to use the alliance of Little East Lake City to promote boyar's assistant for his own territory at the meeting of nobles; Denia will certainly not consider a candidate for Little East Lake, but they may nominate each other with Chud; The city of Chud may be open to some of the kings of the Transode, where many of the Great Boyars have lost their lands and are anxious to seek the support of the princes, or else they may be reduced to the situation of Catherina's father, who has lost their lands at the same time. Together with the boyar's knighthood was canceled.

The princes of all parts of the country generally slaughtered the landless Great Boyar of the Riverlands as fat sheep, and they lost their land. They don't have much say in Parliament, but they have a lot of property. This is something that makes the prince salivate. The boyars were always polite to the boyars before their last gold coin was used to curry favor with them.

At Copernicus' orders, a Varan lurker quietly took advantage of the darkness to deliver a blackmail letter to Anastasia's stepfather's bedside, ensuring that the old man would be visible when he woke up.

I did not come forward, and this time Copernicus visited the great boyard every few days.

The fisherman's words were slurred, and we didn't quite know how much Anastasia was worth. A few thousand gold coins, which may be two thousand gold coins or nine thousand gold coins. For this. Copernicus specially found Anastasia, and after carefully looking at her appearance and figure, Copernicus said that she was estimated to be worth two thousand gold coins, and the two Kugit and Varan lurkers nodded in agreement, and Anastasia was confused.

Crucedel said: "There is no difference between blackmailing the big boyar for a thousand gold coins and ten thousand gold coins. It's better to extort him for 10,000 gold coins. Then the maester visits him again, and when he asks for a bribe, you try to explain to him that you can rely on the pioneers to ransom him. The cost is yours. So, you might as well ask the Valan Infiltrators to raise the price a little higher. ”

Cruseter's right, but I have a feeling that something will go wrong and things will never go this way.

After the Valan lurkers set off. Copernicus was also preparing to visit the Grand Boyard again.

I was racking my brain to figure out how to get two more nominations. Yuri can't see it, and the needs of the big boyars are almost the same, either women. It's either money or the friendship of allies.' But the bishops' needs are much simpler. Perhaps a bishop can be convinced.

I don't know if my reasons are sufficient, but I think I'm like the Copernicus said. Always give it a try.

Having taken my attention, I found Iyu, but he was still in a trance, and I called Crucedel and asked him to follow me to visit a bishop.

"Visiting the bishop? I've heard that bishops like pretty little boys, and you're too ugly to bribe them. ”

"I'll convince him with something else." I shrugged my shoulders.

When we got downstairs, we found that our carriage was gone, and a servant of the Romanov family told us that Yuri had gone with a few young men from the small East Lake City to visit the other princes. The servant told us that if we were in a hurry to use the carriage, we could go to the chariot dealer and hire one, but if that was not possible, we had to go on foot.

"You're a terrible mix." As I walked down the muddy road, Crucedel kept complaining to me, "Why don't you even have a carriage?" ”

"You haven't given the Romanovs a copper coin, it's already good to have used the carriage for so long in vain. It doesn't hurt to walk when you're full. ”

"You gave our horses to someone else, but you don't even have a carriage yourself." Cruzedel teased me and said, "Why don't you go back to the steppe early, the chief will let you ride one kind of horse during the day and another at night." ”

"This is the two-horse system of Kugit warriors, one person and two horses, I know something."

"You know something. You're an idiot, Timmy. ”

We had been sarcastic to each other on the road, and Cruzedel was even meaner than the meanest Kujit I'd ever met, and under his description, I was almost useless, and should have tied a big rock to my foot and jumped into the East Lake. If it weren't for Giovanni teaching me to be cheeky, I could barely handle Crusedel's vitriol.

Soon we were on our way to Notre Dame.

Five curved golden domes, high white stone walls, solemn paintings, and prayerful crowds --- all make Ivangelode's Notre-Dame Cathedral's majestic.

The soldiers of the Church and the Parliament were on either side, and their equipment was extremely beautiful, and it seemed that the forces of the Church and the Council were secretly competing here. A middle-aged priest was there handing out black bread to the poor, and each one would take his hand and kiss it, then take his own portion of the bread. The soldiers would pull out the duplicate bread and throw it into the mud.

I walked up to a priest who was watching the crowd and said, "Good day." Brothers. ”

"Good day, citizen."

"I wish to visit Bishop Oleg."

"I'm afraid the bishop has a busy day. The day to meet civilians is Saturday, and you can come a few days to a sermon led by Bishop Oleg. ”

"That's right." I said to the priest, "The stakes are high. ”

"It's a big deal, Ivangelod has a lot of tribunes and a city court, you should go to someone there to settle it."

"Do you know Bishop Philip and Bishop Mikhail?"

"The two bishops of the Riverlands? Of course I know. ”

"The boyar they nominated on the first day was me. Now that I have come to visit Bishop Oleg, I have a lot to do with it. Can you relay my request on my behalf? ”

The priest looked at me quizzically, "Please wait. ”

The man turned and walked into the church. It seemed that Oleg was not averse to seeing me, and after a while the priest took me to Bishop Oleg's room. The bishop was chatting with a group of clergy at this time, and I noticed that they were drinking the kind of bitter drink that Copernicus had given him.

After hearing that I am coming. Bishop Oleg looked back and smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Viktor, who contributed even more to the end of the civil war, has arrived. ”

The priests were all too cautious and too serious, and at this time they did not hear that Oleg was in a good mood, and they did not dare to laugh casually.

A clergyman stood up and greeted Bishop Oleg, "Thank you for your drink, I like it very much." ”

Then. The clergy stood up, greeted the bishop, and left.

When everyone had left, Crucedel walked out. Closing the door, I heard him asking the priest who had brought us in, "Why do you have to shave off all the hairs on your heads?" Are you afraid of ringworm? ”

The priest snorted. Ignore him.

After only Bishop Oleg remained, the smile on his face disappeared. Instead, a slightly cold expression appeared, "Mr. Victor." Or Mr. Timmy? ”

"Whatever you want."

"Okay, Mr. Timmy, is there anything I can do?"

"Nomination."

Bishop Oleg giggled, the laughter shriveled as it emanated from his aging body.

"Tell me, Mr. Timmy, are the Westerners so direct, or did the Valans teach you to be like this?"

"It's your informality that makes it unnecessary for me to hide myself."

"Very general flattery."

"That's the best compliment I can give."

"Well," said Oleg, "I can only nominate one boyar at each congress of nobles, and it will be a long time before the next congress of nobles is convened." I am already decayed, and may be glorified to my Lord in a few years, so that every nomination I have to be made needs to be more deliberate. In a little while, I will visit my good friend, Bishop Luseny. Mr. Timmy, you don't have much time, can you tell me briefly during this time why I nominated you to be a boyar? ”

"Yes."

"Please."

"I have inquired about your deeds, you were once a priest in Little East Lake City. As a result of your missionary work in Creel and the Riverlands, a Crelian tribe was converted to the Eastern Church, and you became a priest in Little East Lake, and then vice-president. In the missionary work of the Riverlands, you and the Berkish priests competed with the bearskin hat tribes, and when there were no money or manpower, you rode mules to visit the chiefs of the tribes, and at last they were almost equal to the Berkish missions. This made you Abbot of the Riverlands, then Vicar Bishop, assistant to the Patriarch at the time, and at that time befriended your lifelong friend, Bishop Philip. ”

"You're looking into it very clearly."

"This is a credit to my family. I have read a quote from your writings, 'Preaching the word of the Lord is the key to heaven.'" ”

"Oh, do you understand what that means?"

"Spreading the teachings of the Eastern Church to more places will make people beloved by God."

"The doctrine of the Eastern Society is narrow. Doctrine does not have the eastern or western boundaries as the boundary, these are all rifts in the world, and they are the only ones that cannot affect the faith, and the Lord's way is not just the doctrine of the eastern church. ”

"But the Eastern Church is more accessible to God than the Western Church, right?"

"Are you luring me into the trap you designed, Mr. Timmy?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then what are you going to do with my writings? What about convincing me to support you? ”

"When I return to the West, I will preach the word of the Lord for you. As one of my responsibilities. ”

"Ha, Timmy. It's not as simple as you think. The churches in the West are so tightly organized that it's hard for you to make a difference. Regardless of whether you really have that kind of passion, you can't convert too many people's beliefs on your own. ”

"I know, Bishop Oleg. Converting many people is hard, but it is easy for one or two people. ”

"One or two?" Bishop Oleg laughed, "The world is no longer the era of barbarian kings thousands of years ago, the era when the conversion of one or a few wise men converted the faith of countless people. It's already in the past. But I'm curious who you're talking about. ”

I took a breath and whispered a name to Bishop Oleg.

Bishop Oleg retracted his ears as if pricked by a needle and looked at me with a frown.

"Are you serious?"

"If you can support me, I will do my best to make this happen."

"What nonsense, how could you possibly influence him."

"Do you know why I want to be a boyar?"

"Something to do with this?"

"If I can become a boyar and get more guidance from you in the future, I think it's possible. Of course, there are many difficulties, for sure. But this attempt, I think the bishops of the Eastern Church. Not many people have such an opportunity. If 'preaching the word of the Lord is the key to heaven,' I think, even if you have only tried it. Then no matter what the outcome, you're going to be the Lord's favorite, aren't you? ”

Oleg's eyes were mixed with suspicious gloom and excitement.

"Tell me about it. Mr. Timmy. "Oleg is like a wolf sniffing the bait of a trap," after becoming a boyar. How will you convert the beliefs of that person and his family? ”

"Are you familiar with history? Bishop Oleg? "I pulled out something from my bosom that I had brought out of Varankov.

Most of the day passed quickly.

After returning home, Copernicus had not returned. Cruceidel felt that my persuasion must have failed, and did not speak to me much.

At supper, the meat on my plate and the wine in my glass were doubled, and the Kugit people thought I must be depressed, so they told me to eat more and get drunk a little more, so that I might forget my troubles.

When night fell, Copernicus returned, with a helpless expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Cruzeidel asked him.

"The asking price of the Grand Boyar for the nomination is still six thousand gold coins, and one cannot be missing."

"yes, what's that? Didn't you tell him about helping to redeem the bride? ”

"Redeem the bride?" Copernicus smiled bitterly, "'Anastasia' is married, how to redeem it." ”

"What?" Anastasia, who was sitting at the table, asked with a puzzled expression, "Why did I get married?" ”

"The son of the big boyard found an illegitimate daughter and said that she was Anastasia. Your mother called her 'Aniya' herself at the wedding, and all the relatives called her 'Anastasia', and your stepfather took her by the hand and shed many tears, took her by the hand, and gave her to his friends. In the entire manor, not many people have seen you, and few people know this illegitimate daughter. If it weren't for the help of a pioneer, I wouldn't know who the fake Ania was. ”

"So our plans fell through?" A Valan lurker asked unwillingly.

"At least it annoyed Big Boyar for a few hours." Copernicus laughed at himself, "It is said that he got up that morning and was furious, and by noon he had everything arranged, and to this day his face is as usual." I even suspect that he knew that I did it, and today he tried me several times. ”

"This old man is really cunning and powerful." Iyu sighed dumbfounded.

"So what do I do next?" Anastasia asked.

"It's just with you." Copernicus said, "You don't exist anymore: Anastasia of the Rurik family is married." ”

Iyu's eyelids were like two heavy water bladders, he didn't hear the helplessness in Copernicus's words and his sympathy for Anastasia, and he picked up his glass and touched Anastasia's glass, "Cheers." ”

Anastasia actually shed a few tears and turned away from the table.

At this time, Copernicus asked me, "You have gone to visit Bishop Oleg today, has he introduced you to anyone else?" Both the bishop and the Grand Boyard are available. ”

"Nope."

"Oh''," Copernicus shook his head. "Don't worry too much, let's figure it out."

The meal was spent in a dreary and everyone drank a lot of wine.

The next day we slept late.

In my sleep, I heard a banging on the door. I heard Copernicus come out of his study, walking downstairs in leather slippers, and then the door opened.

After the door opened, I could hear the voice of a Varan lurker, who was talking to Copernicus breathlessly.

"What the hell is going on?" Copernicus asked.

The sound of their conversation came through the hallway, strange and distant, like the sound of windmills turning outside the village.

"Bishop Oleg," said the Valan lurker, "nominates Viktor as a boyar. (To be continued.) )