At the end of the Tang Dynasty, it was a feudal town, but in Western Europe

With her head down, Fastelada's voice trembled, she couldn't even stand up, if it wasn't for the two servants supporting her, she might have fallen limp to the ground.

"Your Excellency Pepin, do you agree with this ruling?" Al Kun, who was the host, stood in front of the altar and asked loudly.

Walking in front of Fastrada in two steps, Pepin didn't speak, but just looked at her distorted face because of the pain and tears.

The terrible scene appeared in Fastelada's mind, the narrow sky, the wild wilderness, as long as he said the word "identity", she would serve the heavenly father forever for the rest of her life, and then She couldn't take half a step, but she was only 24 years old.

If she finds a local noble in Austrasia to marry, it may be much better than now.

"Forgive you is the business of Heavenly Father." Taking a deep breath, Piping said slowly.

Fastrada closed her eyes, it was over, it was over...

"And my task is to send you to see the Heavenly Father."

A cold feeling rose from her heart, and the cold front of the sharp blade slashed across her chest, followed by a burning sensation, a scalding burning sensation, flowing out from the place where the sharp blade pierced.

Maybe this was the hot liquid that the pharmacists were talking about. Anyway, after the liquid flowed out, Fastrada only felt cold limbs, dizzy head, and then he started spinning.

"Ah—" The screams of the ladies resounded through the ceremony, and even the choir and holy music stopped.

Fastelada was dressed in a fine attire, and fell on the expensive carpet. A hundred-forged fine steel dagger was stuck in her chest, and the dark red blood dyed her white dress a beautiful bright red.

"What are you doing?!" Charlie stood up. It was the first time he lost his composure in front of so many people, and he couldn't hide the surprise and anger on his face.

"What am I doing? I'm doing what I need to do!" Pepin "Revenge!"

Charlie supported the throne beside him, his voice roaring like a lion: "Is it still that Saracen woman? I promised you..."

"You also promised to my mother, but what? If you didn't get Sarah's support, you probably would never let a hunchback, a cursed person take the throne!

It is because of Sarah's support that you are willing to keep that dreamlike promise. All of this was given by Sarah. I promised Sarah that she would be Frank's queen.But I'm not like you, even if she is dead, I must do what I said. "

Pulling off the crown from his head, he smashed it hard at Charlie. Pepin's voice was also like a lion, "Old dog! Who wants you to be king!"

Such a long distance would naturally miss the hit, but both Charlie and Pepin knew the meaning of this blow.

Charlie trembled all over his body, and his face that was a little plateau red quickly turned red. At this moment, he laughed loudly: "Hahahahaha! Good! So what if you killed Fastrada? Killing Fastrada will bring your Sarah back to life? This will only change the person who enters the monastery from her to you!"

"Who said that?"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh-"

There was only a sound of piercing through the air, and countless short arrows were shot from nowhere, attacking the people at the ceremony indiscriminately. Before Charlie could react, a dozen dead soldiers rushed out from the free people and began to kill wantonly.

"Quick, stop them, they're setting fire!"

What's even more frightening is that in the distant Poitiers Castle, there was also a faint fire.

"Help me—"

"Killer, guard! Guard!"

Among the crowded crowd, there were nobles, guards, and dead soldiers who took advantage of the chaos to kill. These Berber slave soldiers who had followed Sarah for many years had already had their will to die when Sarah died.

The guards immediately stepped forward and blocked Charlie behind him, but Charlie suddenly calmed down in this chaotic situation. He pushed away the guards in front of him and stared at Pepin who was slowly retreating under the cover.

"Pipin—is that how you treat your father?"

Pepin shouted fearlessly: "Old dog, you lied to my mother and killed my wife. Your heart is dirtier than the filthiest swineherd. You killed Sarah, didn't you want me to become you? Let me tell you, I won't die!"

You call me Pepin, but I don't want that name, the name Pepin is a lie you gave to my mother, I want to be called Gobo, which means king on hunchback, king on horseback, king of the Franks, far King better than Charlie! "

Charlie shouted angrily: "Lead the horse, I'm going to kill this criminal!"

"Your Highness, no, it's too chaotic now, no—" Alcuin hugged Charlie's waist.

"No, what? How many people can those dead men kill? Let Pepin go now!" Pushing away Alcuin, Charlie got on his horse and rushed out of the chaotic crowd under the cover of the cavalry. .

But before rushing out more than a dozen steps, he reined in the reins again, listening attentively in surprise.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"No, this is not right?!" Charlie stood up, but his face changed, "Back, back quickly, go to the camp, and inform the knights and guards, back quickly."

"Why?" The captain of the guard cavalry was a little confused. Didn't you just say that you were chasing Charlie?But soon, his doubts were answered.

Shiny armor, like Lin's spear, and a horse spouting white steam, and the captain of the guard even saw some familiar faces, including Pepin's righteous brothers, and some who had been surrounded nearby. Noble rebels.

The sound of chaos became louder, and the joint army from the noble rebels and the Iberian wing rushed straight towards the basically defenseless Frankish nobles.

The blood flowed like a stream, smearing bright red on the white ground. Several jackdaws screamed excitedly, and even rushed down to look for carrion regardless of the presence of anyone present.

Charlie took only a small part of the most core nobles, and returned all the way to the camp in Poitiers. The castle in Poitiers had been occupied, and the camp was the last safe place.

The camp was also in chaos at the moment. What Charlie could think of, Pepin could also think of. This was the place where the coalition forces attacked first. When Charlie arrived, there were only two or three thousand soldiers left in the entire camp to resist stubbornly.

After packing up the rest of the army, Charlie glanced at the dilapidated barracks and scattered broken and wounded soldiers. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Let's go to Auxerre! Regroup the army!"

Looking at the back of Charlie going away, Pepin silently stroked the veil in his palm, Sarah, did you see it?

"His Royal Highness Pepin..." A rebel leader stepped forward respectfully, "We have captured some prisoners..."

"My name is Gobo..."

"Your Highness Pepin, what did you say?" The leader raised his head in confusion.

"Don't call me Pepin." The hunchbacked Wang Yao looked into the distance, "Call me Gobo."

Wow four hundred and ninety-nine Zhang Charlie smashed cakes, cover

Heavy snow covered Auxerre. In the royal manor of Auxerre, a red-roofed castle was lying on the snow slope.

Inside and outside the castle, there are all kinds of tents. King Qin's army and the remnants collected by Charlie and Eric already number [-].

In the hall on the second floor of the castle, the torches gave off the smell of burning pine resin. The dusty Charlie was sitting behind a long table, eating absent-mindedly while letting a servant massage his shoulders.

Due to his current illness, he cannot eat meat, and Charlie, who loves meat so much, can only compromise. In the past, his plate was filled with steak and pork legs, but now, he is holding a white flour pancake with dried tofu, crispy rice cakes and fish, chewing silently, and has long since lost the joy of eating.

"Your Highness." Al Kun led a messenger over, but he couldn't hide the sadness on his brow.

"What's the matter, which nobleman raised troops to respond to that traitor again?" Charlie asked inarticulately while gnawing on a pancake.

Alcuin exchanged glances with the messenger, then leaned closer and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, more than half a month ago, His Majesty Malajiji insisted on going his own way and took three hundred private soldiers to assassinate His Majesty Anthony's pregnant wife... "

Charlie stopped eating pancakes abruptly.

"Although the assassination failed, it caused the Duchess to give birth prematurely, and His Excellency Malajiji shouted during the assassination that this matter has nothing to do with His Royal Highness Charlie, he did it himself, because His Excellency Anthony is a complete heretic, after that... "

"Yeah—"

"boom--"

The pancake was slapped heavily on the table by Charlie, and a crack appeared on the solid wood table, and the pancake was instantly torn apart. Cod meat, tempeh, and the like were scattered all over the table.

Charlie was panting heavily, his chest heaving, and he was pointing his fingers back and forth, obviously out of breath: "Malarjiji is a weak scholar, where did he have the guts to assassinate the Duchess of Saxony!"

The messenger was interrupted, but he didn't dare to continue talking, but trembled all over, and couldn't even lift his head.

"Malarjiji!"

What kind of monarch Charlie is, he knew Malakiji's intentions instantly.

Malarjiji's move seems to be thoughtless, but the essence is to force Charlie, plant the seeds of distrust between Charlie and Feng Sen, and even force him to send troops to Saxony.

But the question is, all of this is based on the premise of Frank's internal stability and the ability to gather strength, but after Poitiers, Pepin raised troops, is it possible for Charlie to deal with Anthony and Pepin at the same time?

"What's the situation in Saxony?" Charlie asked angrily.

The messenger's voice trembled as if being shocked by an electric shock: "According to the report of the priest in Würzburg, the current Saxony is already in a faintly unstable situation. After learning the news, His Excellency Anthony disregarded the dissuasion of His Royal Highness Charlie. Niah withdrew his troops, causing His Excellency Little Charlie to fall into the quagmire of counter-insurgency.

According to the letter of His Royal Highness Charlie, His Excellency Anthony, in disregard of the king's order, appointed an Avar tribe as the Duke of Pannonia on the spot before leaving, and arranged for the duke to convert Avar to the Eight Banners.

At present, Your Excellency Anthony has dispatched a large number of troops to the vicinity of Austrasia, and has even had a small-scale conflict with the local knights. However, His Excellency Anthony himself has only said so far that he wants to ask his wife for an explanation. Other than that, he has not made any substantive statements. "

The castle hall was as quiet as water, until Charlie's chuckle broke the water, sending ripples.

"Hmph, hum." Charlie thought for two seconds, but suddenly calmed down again. He smiled slightly, picked up the broken pancakes and fish on the table one by one with his thick fingers, sat down again, and continued to eat, "Let's discuss what you all think."

Diodorf and Eric looked at each other, and then Eric stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, we can't fight on both sides now. We can either go north to suppress Feng, or go south to attack His Highness Pepin."

Alcuin stepped forward and suggested: "Your Highness, in the current situation, I think we have to go north to suppress Anthony. Although Anthony is my Duke of Frank, he is of a foreign race. Although he is powerful in force, he does not get much support. .

We should destroy Antony first to prevent him from growing up and seizing the land of the Franks, and then turn to defeating Pepin. After all, Pepin is a Frank, and this is a civil war among the Franks. "

Alcuin still doesn't understand Malagiji's approach, but in any case, his strategy has indeed succeeded. Feng Sen and Charlie are on the verge of falling out. In this case, Alcuin can only ask Charlie to send troops to destroy the duchy of Saxony.

Uncompromising, Charlie glanced at the smiling Diodorf: "Mr. Diodorf, what do you think?"

"Your Highness, I think we should go south to attack Pepin first." Diodolf said calmly, "First, this Feng Sen is an ordinary courtier. He has no threat or claim to the throne, so what if we destroy him? Instead, let Pipin sit on the throne.

Second, Feng Sen has a large amount of woolen goods and goods, especially their high-quality woolen goods such as Saxon wool and Celeste wool, which are even considered hard currency, and our current woolen output can especially be used as hard currency. The woolen cloth output of currency is not high.

In addition, the silver output of the Lammersberg Mine in Saxony and its minted coins have occupied a lot of metal currency circulation in Frankland. Now that we are doing it, and what Pepin provoked in the south, it is estimated that this year's income will be cut by three. one.

Third, if Anthony is to be suppressed, according to reason, we should target him first, and we are unreasonable. Don't look at these nobles who don't support Feng Sen now. Once you see that your actions may affect their future interests, it is estimated that Anthony will increase Many supported it, and even received condemnation and contempt from many priests and even free people.But when dealing with Pepin, he is the rebellious party, and you are the rational party.

And if we deal with Pepin, the first is that we don't need to re-deploy troops, and it is more efficient to mobilize both sides.Third, Pepin's foothold in the south is not stable now, which is convenient for extermination, while Anthony has been cultivating in Saxony for many years and has a solid foundation. "

"But at present, Pepin has many internal conflicts, and his strength will not change much in the next few years. Anthony's internal structure is monolithic. He can develop like this in five years. If he is given a few more years, is that okay?"

"His Excellency Alcuin once had a very good relationship with His Excellency Pepin. You even asked His Royal Highness Charles for his position as Governor of Barcelona. Of course you have to say that."

"Diodolph, don't be bloody, let me ask you, you receive loads of gifts from Saxony every year, and now you speak for the Duke of Saxony..."

"Okay!" After eating the last bite of the pancake, Charlie wiped his mouth with the napkin beside him, "I asked you to discuss and want a result, not for you to quarrel."

Glaring at each other viciously, Charlie stood up and lingered a few steps in place: "It doesn't really matter which side you fight, because fighting one side will definitely make the other side develop, and even give both sides a chance to grow stronger.

But the important thing is that we cannot be attacked from the front and rear at the same time... Don't forget, there are still ambitious Eastern Empires and Arabs in the East watching us.

Pepin and Antoine... It is not scary for the two of them to fight alone, it is scary to join hands. Now the incident in Poitiers has just happened. According to the speed, after our letter arrives, the incident in Poitiers will reach Anthony. in the ears.

We can take this opportunity to hold Anthony up and paralyze him, so that he has no reason. He wants revenge, and Malajiji is in his hands. After all, this is Malajiji's personal behavior.

Even so, we can show apology, let him withdraw his troops before the intelligence has been disseminated, and give him a matter to make him unable to get away for a short time.

Let’s not talk about whether he can go back on his word and change the order from day to night. Let’s just say that although he and Pepin are friends in this matter, this is a civil war in Frank, and he is not allowed by legal principles and morals as an outsider.

Besides, I am still his monarch, and I have bestowed countless honors on him. Either he does not participate, or he must come to my side if he wants to participate. Otherwise, he is a perfidy. They are all huge blemishes. "

Alkun sighed: "Then we have to give up Malajiji. He shot at his colleagues and colleagues, or at a pregnant woman. Whether it is the heavenly father or the laws of the world, he can't tolerate him."

Charlie stopped his wandering steps, and lightly supported the back of the chair: "Stabilize him first, anyway, he is almost rebelling now, let him learn from others, let him hesitate, buy us time, and wait until Pepin's case is resolved. Afterwards, we will deal with Feng Sen's matter."

"The specifics..."

"Be more specific. I will write him a letter of apology myself. I have a general idea. Diodorf, please remember... First, recognize the Duke of Pannonia granted by Anthony, but we There must be another one. Second, I ordered the trial and hanged Malajiji. Third, the nobles of Austrasia need compensation. Fourth, Feng Sen was made king of Saxony... have you recorded it all?"

"take note of it."

Nodding his head, Charlie sat back on his chair and continued to drink the cold pea soup. Several courtiers and priests present left the hall.

When the hall was empty, Charlie raised his head and faced the air in front of him. After a long silence, he couldn't help but chuckled lightly at himself.

"Okay, without this civil war, the epic that records my legend would be too dull.

Father, did you see it?I robbed Carloman's inheritance through civil war and became the king, so today the heavenly father will let the other two Carolingians punish me and use civil war to rob me of my inheritance. This is fate!

Pepin, Anthony, now let me see what you can do. "

------

ps

No one understood why Queen Fastelada wanted to attack Sara. Some said it was because of jealousy, but she didn't give birth to a boy, so it was meaningless to do so, and was that guard really killed by Fastelada?

According to Wen Weng's "Austrasia Chronicle", it is speculated that Queen Fastrada arranged a cold room and a stove without firewood for Mrs. Sara, but it is very likely that someone else killed the guard who was looking for firewood and directly led to Sara's death.

For example, according to the records, there was also a prince who was with the army at the time. If he knew Charlie's intentions through certain channels, it would be very normal for him to destroy his relationship with Charlie by killing Sarah.

So is the prince a suspect?First of all, this prince is none other than Pepin of Italy (formerly Carloman, who was later renamed Pepin)...but at this time, King Pepin of Italy was only 8 years old, and the only possibility was that his assistant Archbishop Ann Gilbert did it to kill people with a knife.

So does Charlie know about this?According to Ali Baba Ma Yun's "Accompanying the Army Records" recorded his conversation with Pepin: Pepin believed that Charlie knew about it, and the time when the attendants rushed to inform Charlie also matched the time when the guard died.

And Charlie's reply was very ambiguous when he dealt with it. It may be that he only reported about the guard or Sarah, or he only reported about Sarah being splashed with water.

And obviously, judging from the follow-up performance, Pepin or Gobo firmly believed that Charlie knew the whole thing, but chose to let it go.

I don't know how he knew it or it was just based on intuition, otherwise he wouldn't have set the main target of revenge as Charlie himself.

Assuming this is true, but there are still contradictions. Judging from Charlie’s usual behavior, the handling of this matter is quite poor, preventing the queen from splashing water, preventing the queen from arranging the room, preventing Ann Gilbert from killing the guards, and assigning new servants to Sarah.

No matter what he does, he can change the direction of the Poitiers change, but he didn’t do anything, either because he was delusional and thought that Sarah was not that important, or because he didn’t want to pass the throne to the hunchback Pepin at all.

...From Angelbert's point of view, this matter is still not worth the candle. After killing Sarah, if Pepin honestly married a Frankish woman and sat on the throne of the Frankish king, wouldn't that be giving up the throne to someone else?