Then in the Acropolis Hall of Antioch, Bohemond and the lords staggered and laughed, and the Norman leader was drunk, "Finally, finally this day has come." Our ancestors used to say that as long as the ship could reach it, the kingdom could be established. Now I am no longer a mere Duke of Apulia, but a veritable Lord of Antioch. In the midst of the constant compliments and congratulations, Bohemond's tears of excitement welled up in his eyes, and he looked up at the top and felt that the whole ceiling was spinning and leaning happily.

"I have no intention of interrupting your rejoicing, and I sincerely believe that this is what your effective command and wisdom deserve. But what I want to ask is, can the measures you just said to the Greek emperor be fulfilled? After all, what the previous Greek emperor had done had already made the entire procession of pilgrims angry and uneasy. At this moment, Duke Godfrey held a glass of water, and together with Robert of Flanders, approached the new master of Antioch City in rejoicing and asked.

"Of course! I have made a pact with Gawain to defend the offense, and I will abide by the Chamber of Secrets and all the contents of the Antiochus Resolution, if the Greek Emperor dares to use troops against Seleucia, then let us give him some color and make this fellow tremble on his vain throne! In the eyes of the pilgrims who defeated Kobha, he was really nothing, a weak and contemptible Greek. Bohemond gave the answer cheerfully, though his tongue was a little curly.

"Gawain is ready to arrive at Milio Sepharon for the time being, and Prince John, who arrived there at the same time, is ready to publicly argue about Hugh's death, hoping to clarify the truth of the facts."

"That's right, Gawain now sends fast horses almost every day, one after another to send letters asking for instructions and asking for advice on how to deal with this matter." Bohemond triumphantly, "My opinion is that this may officially represent a parting of ways between the Greek Empire and the pilgrims, and that we can certainly act in accordance with the five resolutions of Antiochus without regard to the Emperor's dictations, and that as far west as Seleucia and as far east as Antioch will be in our self-defense, and no one will be able to touch everything that the League has." ”

When the others heard this, they all brought their glasses to their beards and lips, and said no more.

However, Bohemond's speech before and after the reception was quickly passed through the word of mouth of spies and spies, and reached the "postal office" (and spy agency) under the jurisdiction of the imperial chief in Constantinople, and Beriel's book arrived at the emperor on the same day.

"Meles, it seems that as I expected, the stinking water demon has risen from the swamp puddle with filthy blood with an unstoppable attitude." After reading the information, Alexios hated, "Sure enough, the resolution was sent on the surface, but behind the scenes, the plan to occupy Antioch and establish itself had already been made and implemented, and in order to find an excuse, he planned a despicable attack and framed it on the Brachna Palace." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, there is still a big suspicion about this case that is worth noting." After speaking, the imperial ink official Meles had a serious expression, and sent a document again to ask the emperor to take a look.

This was sent by John and his officials, meaning that William had not been found in the grave where Hugh was buried. The corpse of Granmenille? Where the hell will this guy be, dead or alive," the emperor suddenly realized, and felt that the situation was really as he had predicted.

But the Imperial Ink Officer was still very cautious, "Your Majesty, William. Granmenelle had been in close contact with our court before, so now I ask your majesty to tell your servants the truth, that is, whether William has been in contact with us since his disappearance. If he's still alive and says something, it's really bad for us. ”

"Nope!" The emperor waved his hand, categorically, "I estimate that William was probably killed as well, and you must not forget that the one in William. No matter what Granmenelle says, he is also Bohemond's own brother-in-law, and he is the count of the Apulian side, as long as we bite him to death, who can still think that he is a member of the Brachna Palace? According to what I have identified, that is, Bohemond did not return it to me in order to occupy the city of Antioch, did not return it to me according to the original oath, and feared that the justice and morality of the Lord were not on his side, so he expelled Hugh and let this wretched man and William. Granmenille entered the Anatolian mountain road together, and then instructed William to kill Hugh, and killed William, so that I could take responsibility, and that's it! ”

At this time, as time flies, Hugh's murder becomes more and more complicated, and most of the lords of Antioch City unanimously accuse Alexios of the murderer. Komnenos, and refused to surrender the territories occupied by Syria and Asia Minor; The French king, on the other hand, appealed the matter to the city of Rome, hoping to canonize Hugh and several knights who died at the same time, and took the opportunity to ask for the elimination of the previous gap and estrangement between France and Rome, and asked Constantinople to give a reasonable explanation; His majesty was furious, and immediately issued a document saying that the pilgrims were now mixed with various forces, as evidenced by the tragedy of the Pisa Chamber of Commerce and the unprovoked murder of Hugh, and that the priesthood should be held accountable for Upper Admar, and that the Holy City of Seleucia, Antioch, and the Holy City that may be recovered in the future should be sent to each of them to increase the Catholic Church's restraint and supervision of the virtues and deeds of the pilgrims; Alexios, on the other hand, was equally furious, calling for nothing to do with Constantinople and sending constant notes to put pressure on all sides by threatening to cut off the passage of pilgrims.

"It seems that only we, Seleucia, are really painstakingly mediated." In the palace, Anna listened to the sound of rolling waves outside, barefoot, dressed in a hazy summer tulle robe, lazily reclining on the couch, one of the two cats on the armrest of the couch, looking down at the correspondence on the floor, and the other lying on Anna's lower abdomen purring and squinting and napping.

"Is the little sunfish back?" Gawain's footsteps carefully avoided the paper scrolls scattered under it, walked to the couch, and touched Anna's cool forehead, "I came back, but I still have some resentment against you, so I didn't stay in the palace, but went to the official hall of the Ordnance Department in the city to find a separate courtyard room." By the way, now that Hetomia has returned to Barbalenburg to be with her husband, Androdat will have to follow you again in your tent to deal with confidential information, and put the little sunfish back for a few days, right? Look at the mess in our study. Anna said with pleading and complaining.

Gawain laughed, touched Anna's braid very fondly, and said of course it was possible, but "I didn't drive Agnes away, but I didn't have time to persuade her personally, so I'll leave it to you—and don't forget that the little sunfish has a real key mission in coming back to Seleucia." ”

"Understood, you can go in peace. I am responsible for all transfers and deployments. Anna squinted and laughed, raising her head to rub the tip of her nose against Gawain, and then her forehead, "Regarding the consequences of this incident, does the Seleucian side already have the strength to bear it?" ”

"Absolutely." Gawain took Anna's hands and his eyes burned, "Don't forget, I promised you, so our main battlefield is always on the Anatolian side." (To be continued.) )