Prato's "prophecy" was soon fulfilled, and Ladislas II summoned Morco.

To Morco's disappointment, however, he did not meet the Greek princess whom had greatly pleased him, nor did he receive a satisfactory answer from the king.

Whether it was Helva's imminent becoming Duke of Zagreb or his proposal to resist the Ottomans together, Ladislas II showed little interest.

As for the Count Montina, who is said to be from the Vatican, Morco did not want to mention that person at all, while Ladislas II thought that the tide was gone and was not interested.

Now Ladislas II has only anger.

He convened a meeting of all the people he could think of in order to come up with a solution to the current crisis.

Rowa?? The sudden betrayal shook too many people, and at the same time completely exposed the shortcomings of this assembly in the name of Ladislas II.

Because there was never a real name, what was originally a meeting as a guild turned into drinking, dancing, and endless hunting, and no one can say why it became like this.

For Ladislas II, Sophia is a trump card in his hand, but for various reasons, he doesn't want to play this trump card so quickly, he needs to wait, he needs timing, and he needs to see the best opportunity to make this trump card bring him the greatest benefit.

Just now Ruva?? The sudden defection to the Ottomans not only disrupted his plans, but the danger that Northern Bosnia might give up resistance forced Ladislas II to hastily confront an enemy he thought would be a long time later.

The king had to find a way to deal with the current crisis, and for the first time he began to really think about how to command the troops that were now gathered in Bucharest.

The nobles who came to Bucharest at the call of the Greek princess numbered hundreds, and the vast majority of them were either old and young widows who had lost their territories, or lords large and small who were threatened by the Ottomans, and they generally hoped that someone would stand up and lead them against the Ottomans.

When Sophia's news spread throughout the Balkans, the men immediately responded to the princess's call, and now they are in Bucharest, but that doesn't mean they know what to do.

Chesses walked slowly through the low but wide corridors, the Bucharest Castle is typical of the Eastern Roman style, the dome of the corridor is not very tall, but it is very wide, and one always walks in it with the illusion that the vaulted roof above the head will collapse at any time.

The king's meeting had been in session for two days, but it had not been able to produce any resolution, and all the nobles who could speak at the meeting had expressed or shouted their opinions, and the whole meeting was in a state of chaos similar to the vegetable market not far from the castle.

Of all the opinions, Chipes was the representative who advocated the initiative.

He hoped that Ladislas II would make a public call in the name of the Greek princess, rather than just spreading the news in a rumor-like manner, as he was doing, and he believed that if the armies of all the nobles were organized, they would be able to confront the Ottomans head-on.

It's just that Ladislas II apparently had other ideas, he was silent about all opinions, seemed to consider all possibilities and as if he had already made his own decision, and because of his attitude, the meeting became endless and procrastinated.

Chipes could guess Ladislas II's intention to make the most of Sophia's value, but he didn't know what the king wanted to achieve with the girl.

A whistling sound came from the courtyard, and Cepes looked out through the pillars, and he saw Sophia practicing archery with a longbow, her chest so tall and tall from the side, and the fullness did not look like a girl who had only passed the age of 14.

Cepes squinted at Sophia, he thought it was a little funny that he could be fascinated by such a little girl, but he knew how important this girl was now, or that her existence had completely become a symbol.

Tzepes walked towards the courtyard and saw Sophia smiling back at him, he signaled to Sophia to cross the longbow, bent the bow and aimed the arrow at the distant target, the bowstring vibrated and the arrow hit the bull's-eye.

Ladislas II finally made up his mind, and he gathered all the influential nobles to announce his decision.

Send emissaries to negotiate with the Ottomans.

When the decision was announced, people were stunned and then booed.

To the surprise of many people, Cepes, who was supposed to express his indignation at the king's decision, did not show anger, he did not even show a look of surprise, as if he had known the result.

And when the meeting ended and Ladislas II met with Cepes in private, Ladislas II showed a helplessness and frustration that others could not see.

"How can we defeat the Ottomans, although that man is not Muhammad, but he is still the Ottoman sultan, we cannot defeat them at all, their cannons can break through any wall, Constantinople can't stop them, and Bucharest can't stop them." The king looked at Tsepes and said helplessly, "I used to think that I could get help from the West, but now it seems that I am too optimistic, the French are interested in conquering Rome, and the emperor wants to conquer us, I have no doubt that if I fail this time, that Maximian will not hesitate to divide my country, at least now he is already doing this, just when I was preparing to fight the Ottomans to the death, the emperor was behind the idea of Hungarian copper mines." ”

Ladislas II grumbled incessantly, until Cepes nodded slightly in approval, either perfunctory or approving.

"I need your support, I know that you have a deep hatred for the Ottomans, and I know what this city means to you, your father gave his precious life for God here, but now what we have to do is to stop the Ottomans from conquering this place completely, we should use all means for this, right?"

"So do you mean negotiating with the Ottomans?" Chipes didn't want to confront the king, but he couldn't think of any less provocative way to express his displeasure: "We don't have a lot of troops, if we ......"

"If Rois?? There is no surrender, if we have an army strong enough to compete with them, if we can drive them from here back to the other side of the Mediterranean," Ladislas II interrupted Cepes, "and all this is just if, but the fact now is that when we are not a little ready, Rois?? Having betrayed us all, the Ottomans can now effortlessly turn their fingers at Bucharest, for which we are not prepared yet. ”

"We have about 50,000 people."

"Yes, 50,000 rabble, you have seen the nobles, they are much better at drinking and making trouble than fighting, do you think they can resist the son of Mehmed II?"

Cepes sighed secretly, he knew that Ladislas II was right, although there were many nobles gathered in Bucharest, and the number of troops they brought was quite considerable, but it was indeed a rabble, there was no unified command, there was no unified plan, and there were even contradictions between many people, such a so-called coalition army could not be compared with the Sultan's army at all.

What's more, even those who shouted for the fiercest war against the infidels could not hide the fear in their hearts.

The Ottomans were so terrible that they really seemed invincible, and even though the city had succeeded in keeping Mehmed II under its walls, the people shuddered at the mention of that terrible army.

It seems that the most appropriate approach is to propose negotiations at such times.

"And what about the princess?" Chipes asked the question he was most concerned about: "You know that everyone came to Bucharest because of the legend of the Greek princess, and if we make peace with the Sultan, does that mean we have to hand over the princess?" ”

"Archduke, you now look like a sentimental artist," said Ladislas II disapprovingly, "it was Rois who had put us all in the terrible situation we are in??, he had completely broken our plans, and if I had done as much as you did, I would have tried to punish that scoundrel, but now we have nothing to do but save ourselves, and as for the princess, I don't think that handing her over to the Ottomans would make things better." ”

Chipes looked at the king, and he suddenly realized that he had made a mistake.

It is clear that Ladislas II had other plans, perhaps he was ready to negotiate with the Ottomans from the beginning, even if Rova?? The Marquis did not betray, and he probably did.

Borrowing the legend of the Greek princess to gather the Balkan nobles to form an alliance against the Ottomans, and then bargaining with the Sultan through the alliance, it is clear that Ladislas II's purpose should be to keep Hungary, whether it is those nobles or Sophia, it is only a tool for him to use,

And as Ladislas II himself said, handing over Sophia to the Ottomans would not make things any better, and the presence of such a Greek princess would be a minor nuisance for the Ottomans, who could use this to keep the Sultan in check, so that he could not make a smooth move against Hungary.

Just Rova?? The marquis's sudden betrayal completely disrupted the king's plans, and the gates from Northern Bosnia to Bucharest were opened, and the Ottomans were about to march 80,000 into the city.

Tempest suddenly felt like laughing.

He will not forget that his father, Frass III, died under the walls of the city, and his head was cut off and hung above the gates of Constantinople as a small footnote to Mehmed II's show of prowess.

The cause of Frass III's death remains an unsolved mystery.

Some say he was killed in battle with the infidels, but there are more indications that he was actually the victim of someone else's plot.

This made Chipes suddenly feel that his current situation is very similar to his father's situation, the only difference is that his father has offended too many people because of his famous name and brutal rule, which makes him unable to distinguish who is an enemy and who is a friend.

And Chipes believed that if he did not support Ladislas II, then he would become an enemy of the king and a large group of nobles.

"Do you think those Greek nobles will agree with your decision?" Chipes reminded the king, "They have waited too long, and they hope that the princess will lead them back to the kingdom." ”

"Even if Rome can be restored, it must obey my orders!" Ladislas II interrupted him viciously, and under the stunned gaze of Cepes, the king exhaled impatiently and said, "Listen, we have no other way now, Rois??" We are in a difficult situation, I was going to slowly unify all the noble armies, but now I don't have that chance, do you think your Wallachia can hold off the Ottomans, and if not, why shouldn't we think more about ourselves? ”

Tsepes was silent, he knew that what the king said was indeed the truth, Sophia's role was to become the spiritual leader of all the Balkan nobles, but now this spiritual leader had become a burden to them, and the Sultan did not hesitate to lead a large army to fight in order to eradicate this hidden danger that might pose a threat to his rule, and the current situation was that before they could gather enough bargaining chips on the battlefield, the Ottomans were already about to come to the door.

"I will not hand over that girl to the Sultan," said Ladislas II, in a low voice, "and you should understand that as long as she is there, the Sultan cannot but have scruples, and the Sultan will have to sleep with one eye open because of her presence, and that is enough for me." ”

Chipes nodded silently, he knew that the king was right, Sophia was indeed an unbearable existence for Bayezid II, just think that there was a descendant of the Eastern Roman royal family in the land he ruled that could rise at any moment, and this could be enough to give the sultan a headache.

"The only regret is that we ended up not being able to make the Sultan see our strength," said Ladislas II with a bit of frustration "Like you said, what if, if Rois?? Without betrayal, we have every chance of organizing a decent coalition before Bayezid arrives, but now we will have to negotiate with him as soon as possible, or we will have no extra leverage when the Ottoman army arrives under Bucharest. ”

Seeing the king's chagrin, Chipes shook his head secretly, he knew that Ladislas II was right, they had indeed lost a great opportunity.

There was a sound of footsteps from far and near, and from the rhythm of the rapid pace, you could feel that the person who came was obviously very excited.

Ladislas II looked up, his brow furrowed, which made Tempes feel that any news at this point might make the king furious.

"Your Majesty!" An attendant hurried with a messenger.

Far away, the messenger had already shouted to Ladislas II: "Your Majesty, the Ottomans are besieging Belgrade!" ”

Hearing this, Ladislas II's face changed drastically.

Almost at the same time that Ladislas II received the news, far away in Transylvania, Alexander was on the high slopes of the right bank of the Muresh River.

With the roar of war drums and the sound of gunfire!

A great battle unfolded on the banks of the Mamuresh River.

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