Eagle Byzantium

As a result, the prince did not answer any words for a long time, and the imperial officials wearing hats made a thick and dense voice, mixed with questioning and mocking attitudes.

"How can the chief administrative officer be arbitrary about such a major matter? Please allow us to return to the palace and discuss it in detail with the Queen, the Queen Mother, and the Patriarch, and then we will naturally issue appropriate instructions to each government office." Finally, the prince's personal slave Ah Xepochus stood up and put an end to this pointless and malicious questioning.

After the prince and his guards hurriedly left, Burrill and several confidants gathered in a secluded garden. "Forty thousand people, no, fifty thousand people were wiped out in Philomelon in an instant." Burrill said At this number, there were beads of sweat on his forehead, "But the prince's right-hand man, Titicius, and the Thessalian army mostly returned to the city of Prusa intact. This is almost... despicable. Betrayed."

"What now?"

After listening to the eager inquiry from his confidant, Burrill thought for a moment and said in deep thought, "Now there are only a few remnants of the entire empire's army left, and the emperor's brother Sebastocrat still has some troops in the city of Durazzo." Thousands of people gathered in Thessaloniki Many garrison troops were struggling to resist the Norman bandits, but these two troops could not be mobilized freely because they were trapped or torn apart by Bohemond. Therefore, there were only two teams that could determine the situation in the imperial capital. defensive walls and outer city camps The outer palace guard, after the emperor went on the expedition, left 1,500 people under the control of Mikhail Eustace, the chief of the palace guard; there is also the palace chief general Nicodemy who had previously crossed the sea and garrisoned at the emperor's order. Three thousand at Nicaea The troops of the Thracian Military District were originally going to Bithynia to coordinate the armies of the two generals Harold and Brinnus... Therefore, if you want to compete with Titicius's new army, just We must and can only capture these two armies.”

When the Prime Minister finished speaking, the faces of several imperial officials were full of sarcastic expressions. Nicodemia Eustace and Mikhail Eustace, standard uncles and nephews, However, everyone in the court knew that the former was the emperor's die-hard loyalist and the latter had been insulted by the emperor, so the current situation can really be described as delicate.

And some people have also received news that Titicius of Prusa has recruited an army and seems to be heading to Nicaea to start a war against "Little Bird Nicodemea"? The answer is unclear.

Furthermore, more than half of the empire's previously poorly managed fleet was lost and captured in the Gulf of Atalia at the same time as the Battle of Philomelon. Even the commander Asasidus was defeated and fled to Rhodes Island to join the pirates. ——In other words, neither Titicius nor Nicodemya had enough ships to cross the sea to the imperial capital to calm the situation.

"Mikhail Eustace!" Several confidants shouted this name almost simultaneously.

Burrill also nodded, "Your analysis is correct. Under such circumstances, only this team in the imperial capital can determine the balance of power."

"Then let's go and bribe Mikhail."

"Well...Mikhail." Burrill turned around and looked at the green summer forest in front of him. "No matter what kind of promise you make, you must win his support, but because Mikhail The current attitude is ambiguous, and we cannot say it so openly - just say that Titicius betrayed His Majesty during the battle, and we hope that Mikhail will express his attitude towards this incident. "

"If His Majesty suddenly appears..." The two officials suddenly thought of this problem.

"Then it will be more justifiable to request that Titicius be tried for his crimes, and by the way, all the people who should be implicated will be implicated." Burrill replied, "But if His Majesty is really buried on the plateau, once Michael You turned to us, and immediately arrested Titicius and put him on trial publicly. As for the judge, of course Yes...His Royal Highness Brenus of Philadephiam and His Highness Isaac of Durazzo, and the latter has basically no hope of coming. Once His Highness Brenus enters the imperial capital by boat, like this The throne of the empire will be safely placed in his hands, and of course we are the chief heroes with the merit of making decisions.”

After this group of people discussed excitedly, they also decided to send a reliable emissary to Brachna Palace to "win the support of Queen Irene, so that the weight of the princes' party will be even more advantageous."

At dusk, in front of the Brachna Palace, the prince and Aksepokos hurriedly dismounted in front of the stables at the end of the arrow path. "The Queen, the Queen Mother and the Patriarch are waiting for you in the River Hall." Several palace guards immediately came over with anxious tones.

Aksepokos stepped forward and said to them: "You must guard the gates of the palace, because there may be various targeted conspiracies and even rebellions in the imperial capital recently. The prince and I will go to the river right now." Hall." So the guards obeyed and stood on the edge of the palace gate and city wall, and Aksepokos and the guards immediately embraced the prince into the palace garden.

"Your Highness, I will go to the River Hall to delay time first, and you..." After turning around a corridor with a forest garden, Aksepokos took cover, and then Prince John avoided everyone, Sneaked to the other side of Brachna Palace alone.

That was the bedroom of the chief lady of the palace. It was surrounded by several tall trees. In front of it was a lobby square surrounded by three side corridors and a fountain in the center. It was originally converted from a small monastery. The prince hurriedly crossed the small square, where several maids greeted him anxiously. There was a tribelon-style arched corridor between the lobby and the main hall, leading to the inner room with Persian-style curtains.

In the inner room, through the colorful curtains, John could hear the chief lady's uneasy and fluctuating breathing inside, which seemed a little anxious, a little painful, and even mixed with a faint charm.

The prince paced back and forth on the floor outside for several steps, so light that the birds on the window eaves were unaware. It was obvious that he was also afraid, even afraid of the shadow under his boots, which was dark and stuck to his clothes, and seemed to soak his heart and spirit.

"Father lost the war and disappeared." This terrible news should have made John feel relieved, but now he felt that if he held on to such thoughts, even for a moment, he would have degenerated into a beast-like creature...

A correct version in 16-9-1 book-1 bar!

"John my child..." Just as the prince's face and neck, including his hands, feet and breathing, were frozen, Malena turned over under the candlelight on the other side of the curtain, raised her long arms and the shadow of her hands, blocking John's eyes under his frowning brows, like the temptation and call of the devil, "John my child, come and see your adoptive mother, her chest is full of sorrow and despair, John my child, please, please." In the end, Malena's cry became more and more wanton, just like a woman full of desire craving for her man.