Burgundy outside the Jura, county of Aargau.

Eagle Fort stands at the foot of the mountain, overlooking the fields and rivers at the foot of the mountain.

The eldest son of the Count, who was dressed in a suede coat, stretched out his hand to open the window, and the cold wind from the Alps in late autumn immediately rushed in as if it had been a long time in the morning, and blew his whole body with excitement.

In the distance, there are towering mountains.

The county of Aargau is located on the border of the Jura Mountains in the northwest and the Alps in the southeast.

To the south, Lombardy, the land of Lombardy, which emperors had the ambitions to hold in their hands, to the west, beyond the Jura Mountains, is Lower Burgundy (i.e., Provence), and to the north is the Duchy of Swabia, the center of the emperors of the Hohenstaufen family.

Therefore, most of the time, the Count of Werner actually served in the emperor's court, and he was the de facto master of this eagle castle.

The sound of horses' hooves sounded in the mountain trail.

The cavalryman, riding on a black horse, waved the letter in his hand and shouted: "Open the gates, I have important news from Lyon, Lord Count!" ”

"What's important?"

Otto quickly descended the stairs and made his way to the hall.

Here the Count of Werner was already receiving the messenger.

He stood by for a moment, waiting until the Count of Werner had finished reading the letter, and was about to reach for it, when the old Earl pressed him against his palm.

Otto's face changed slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Is the news from the Holy Land coming back?" ”

The transmission of news in this era was obviously delayed, and many remote territories on the European continent did not know that the Crusaders had defeated Saladin's army at the Battle of Galilee.

From time to time, the kings' court heard, but apparently not to the hills-bound, Allgäu countryside.

"It's not."

Werner shook his head: "The news came back from Lyon, there was a merchant fleet sailing from the east, loaded with spices, silk, and luxurious Oriental plate armor docked. ”

Otto was a little puzzled: "What does this matter to us?" ”

His tone paused slightly, and he suddenly lifted his spirits, and said in disbelief: "Did you promise me to lead an army and go to the Holy Land to help Lothar?" ”

Ever since he learned that Saladin's army had been dispatched and the Holy Land was about to be rekindled, Otto had been trying to lead Aargau's army to support Lothar, but Count Werner had not been able to respond.

Lyon was not close to the Château del Gaud, but it was not too far away, and it would not be long before he could reach Lyon from the west through Geneva and out of the Vallée de Joux, and if he had set out now, he would have been able to go with him to the Holy Land just in time for the caravan to leave.

The returning merchant ships will obviously not let go of the good opportunity to make money with passengers.

Werner shook his head: "That fleet has the coat of arms of a black double-headed eagle. ”

"The fleet of the Greeks?"

The old earl nodded and shook again: "Half and half, they are from Limassol, Cyprus, and belong to your brother Lothar." ”

Otto's mouth couldn't help but open wide.

He had thought that Lothar was rich, but he had never imagined that he would be so rich.

The valuables of this entire fleet can at least be exchanged for tens of thousands of gold coins of Souleds, right? No, maybe it's much more!

"You asked me to give you a village as a fief, but I didn't."

Count Werner grimaced and said, "Two castles, more than twenty villages, a quarry, and a chalcopyrite mine are already a good dowry for an unappreciated duke's second daughter." ”

"Now, it's no longer in your eyes."

"Yes, it is tempting to be the lord of a city in Jerusalem who was once worthless, but have you ever wondered where everyone else has gone?"

"Or do you think you have grown up with Lothar and are not inferior to him in every way, and you can replicate the miracles of him?"

The further back he spoke, the more stern the Count of Werner's tone became.

"I didn't think so, father."

Otto lowered his head: "I just think that the Holy Land is in trouble, and Lothar urgently needs our help now. ”

Werner shook his head and said, "Then you don't need to go to the Holy Land, because I have just received a congratulatory letter from His Majesty the Emperor, the crusaders of the Holy Land have successfully repelled the invading pagan army, and your younger brother, the Marquis of Lothar, is preparing to march south and take Egypt." ”

At the bottom of Otto's heart, a feeling of disbelief suddenly emerged.

"Lothar is handsome?"

Count Werner, with a serious face, finally showed a smile of relief on his face.

"Yes, that's him, he has now been made the Grand Commander of the Crusaders by His Majesty the King, commanding 30,000 crusaders, and has been given a series of sacred titles such as Guardian of the Holy Lance and Guardian of the Holy Wood - he is now, although he is still a vassal prince, but he is even more majestic than a king."

Who would have thought that this second son, who was almost sent to the monastery because of his thoughts, would be able to do such a great thing after arriving at the Holy Land, and his father felt like a dream every time he thought about it.

If the person who sent the letter was not only his old friend Baron Goffrey, but also the young king who had been loyal, he would have doubted the truth of the news by now.

"Father, are you serious?"

"When did I lie to you?"

Otto's expression changed for a while, some in disbelief and some in envy, and the whole person seemed to be stepping on a cloud, with a light and unreal feeling: "God forbid, Lothar must be favored by God." ”

Werner nodded: "There are indeed rumors that many Franks in the Holy Land believe that Lothar is the new Son, and thousands of crusaders have watched him use the Holy Lance to kill the demon dragon driven by the infidels. ”

Otto was so shocked by this successive news that he couldn't close his mouth for a long time.

Is this still his younger brother who grew up with him and was always slapped by his governess for playing in his Latin lessons?

"Father, Lothar he. Is it really the Son? ”

Count Werner looked at Otto, did not answer his doubts, but only asked rhetorically: "Do you think your mother is like a virgin?" Or do you think I'm the Holy Father? ”

He pinched his eyebrows and said with some distress: "To be honest, sometimes I wonder if the Marquis of Lothar, who is praised by people for being just and benevolent, leading tens of thousands of troops, and serving him with many witches, is really my son?" ”

"Yes, of course!"

"I saw him not long ago," Otto said, "he didn't get any taller or fatter than he had since he left—I didn't think he had become a different man when he triumphantly boasted to me that he had a thousand miles of fertile soil." ”

Werner smiled: "So, it's time for you to put your mind at ease. Next, you have to marry Margarina, the daughter of the Duke of Lower Lorraine, as soon as possible, and then go to the court of His Majesty the Emperor and serve as a bodyguard. ”

The surprise in Otto's heart disappeared immediately.

If he went to Lothar now, and followed him to conquer Egypt, how could he also obtain a rich city as a fief, wouldn't it be more comfortable than staying in Germania and being a country lord?

In Europe, even the wealthier middle-class aristocracy had to live in cold-winded, poorly furnished stone castles in dirty woolen coats.

Where can you compare to the Oriental lords who live with their mosaic floors, marble walls, painted ceilings, fountains and gardens?

"Don't think about it, Lothar doesn't need an army of one hundred and ten people to support him now, his opponent is a pagan monarch like His Majesty the Emperor, who can easily pull out tens of thousands of troops. So, don't think about going back to the East, whether you go or not, it won't help. ”

He opened his mouth, his mind was extremely complicated, and at this time, what should have been his status as the heir to the family that he was thankful for had become an invisible shackle.

"Yes, father."

Werner got up and patted him on the shoulder: "You are not serving Your Majesty in the name of a knight, because the Thuringen family has a close relationship with Henry the Lion, and you have refused the call of His Majesty the Emperor when he attacked Lombardy. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor deprived them of their family's fiefdom of Bern and gave it to me. ”

"I now canonize it to you, and you will enter the court of His Majesty the Emperor as a Baron of Bern to serve him."

Otto was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Thank you, father." ”

Watch Otto leave.

Count Werner reopened the letter and, after reading it several times, sighed lightly.

It was not that he did not understand the deep meaning of Lothar as the commander of the crusaders, which meant that once Lothar conquered Egypt, he would have a high probability of being elected king of Egypt, which was destined to be a crown with more weight than the crown of Jerusalem.

But the higher you stand, the worse you are likely to fall.

The intrigues of the court were all too familiar to him, a courtier who had served Baldwin IV and then Emperor Henry.

He pondered for a moment, but then wrote down a letter in which he wrote down his current situation in the Holy Land, his views, and how Lothar would communicate with the ambitious European monarchs if he conquered Egypt.

But when he had finished writing, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, crumpled the letter into a ball, and threw it into the fireplace beside him.

The flames swelled high.

Amid the crackling of firewood, the soft murmur of the Count of Werner rang out:

"Where does he need the advice of a mediocre country lord now?"

"Whether it's Your Majesty or Godfrey, you can give him more advice than I do, and it's more meaningful."

He couldn't help but rub his cheeks full of wrinkles, looked at the air in front of him with a smile and said, "Elise, you gave birth to a good son"

(End of chapter)