Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Riding the Middle Ages

Chapter 4 The Heart of a Lion Chapter 50 Tuogu

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    Chapter 50 Tuogu

    After a few days of rest, the Templar Knights followed their Grand Commander Leiro to the Antioch Castle. Schwab and Duke Flanders stood on the city wall, looking at the Saint who was wearing armor and a white cross robe.  The knights looked at their arrogance and looked at each other helplessly. Although the Duke of Flanders and the Teutonic Knights fought bravely, facing the overwhelming power of the pagan army, they inevitably retreated and lost their lives.  The land was hundreds of miles away from the border to Antioch Castle, and Lei Luo actually used this as a reason to send Queen Sofia a strongly worded letter of condemnation. Queen Sofia sent this letter from the Grand Master of the Templar Knights.  The notice was shown to the Duke and Schwab.

    The letter said, "How can your Majesty retreat cowardly in the face of Saladin's army? With the gift of God, the Crusader kings should fight bravely. If you retreat because of fear of Saladin, you will surely face the uproar of the whole world. This letter is completely  It was a condescending tone that made Queen Sophia tremble with anger. However, the military strength of Antioch, which had been attacked by Saladin's army at this time, did not allow the young queen to be angry, so she had to swallow the tone. However, according to reports  William said the Queen shut herself up in her bedroom for a long time.

    "Damn Lei Ruo." Duke Flanders clenched his fists. If he were ten years younger, he would definitely challenge this abominable leader to a duel.

    "Your Majesty, the attitude of Captain Lei Ruo is not right." Schwab was keenly aware that the attitude of the Templar Knights was very hostile to the Antioch royal family. It is said that the Templar Knights passed through the Antioch royal family.  The person who came just after the invitation was nominally his employer, so there was no reason to send a blaming letter to the owner before he arrived.

    "Well, the Templars must pass through the territory of Duke Bellazon to enter Antioch Castle. It must be Duke Bellazon's fault." Duke Flanders thought for a moment and then said without thinking.

    "That would be terrible. The alliance between Duke Bellazon and the Templars is enough to shake the authority of the royal family." Schwab said worriedly.

    "It doesn't matter, no matter what, the Templars are also under the jurisdiction of the Holy See. They cannot meddle in secular power without the order of the Holy See."

    "That's it." Schwab was relieved. At this time, the bells came from the main castle of Antioch, which was an order to gather the nobles for discussion, so Duke Flanders and Schwab returned to the main castle.  .

    But when the two entered the hall of the main castle, they noticed something was wrong with the atmosphere. In the hall of Antioch, Queen Sofia was sitting high on the throne. She was wearing a long dress with blue and golden colors as the main colors, with her hair on her head.  Wearing a shining crown, on her left is William in armor holding a sword hilt, and on her right is a maid holding a golden cross.  Although the crown was dazzling, there was no smile on Sophia's face. Instead, her lips were tightly closed and her face looked worried. When she saw Duke Flanders and Schwab coming in from the hall door, her eyes did not blink.  Looking at the two of them, his eyes were filled with a look of help.

    Below the Queen, Captain Lei Ruo was sitting on the seat on the right. He was surrounded by the tense Templar Knights, but he was leisurely tasting a glass of wine with a look of disdain on his face.  , those who were angered by his behavior were the Antioch nobles and Teutonic knights opposite. If eyes could kill, Lei Ruo would have been pierced into a hornet's nest long ago.

    "What happened?" Seeing the strong smell of gunpowder in the hall, Duke Flanders, as the regent, had to speak out to break the deadlock. The Duke's arrival made everyone in the hall look at them.

    "Duke, Count." The bald Otto walked up to Schwab in a few steps and briefly told what happened. It turned out that the Templars who had just entered Antioch Castle were in the hall before the interview was over.  He ridiculed the Antioch nobles and Teutonic knights, and forced Queen Sophia to order the entire army to assemble to attack Saladin's army again. Although the Antiochians also hoped to repel Saladin, they had just retreated.  The royal army had not yet been refurbished and had no strength to return to the battlefield. Many of the levied militiamen fled back to their hometowns and needed to be re-recruited by local officials and lords.

    "Your Majesty, Grand Master, I think you've been tired all the way, so let's wait until you and the knights have a rest before discussing this matter." Duke Flanders was going to ask Lei Ruo to step aside first, and wait for a while before talking, but Lei Ruo was too early.  He had an affair with Duke Bellazon and had no intention of letting the Duke go.

    "No, we are soldiers of God. Now the pagans have taken away the land of God's coming, so all the Crusaders are obliged to fight to take back the land of God." Lei Ruo stood up, raised his fist and said loudly, this  No one can object to this high-profile religious slogan, even Queen Sofia can only remain silent.

    "But we don't have enough troops." Schwab took a step forward and said to Lei Ruo.

    ??"Humph, under the power of God, we only need to have a pious heart." Lei Ruo leaned forward, almost face to face with Schwab, his eyes were threatening.

    "Even so, we still need to rest. One or two days will not prevent victory." Schwab stared at Lei Ruo without fear. The Teutonic Knights saw their grand leader being threatened and held their hands on the hilts of their swords.  They all gathered around, and the Templar Knights were not to be outdone. Suddenly the Teutonic Knights in black smocks and the Templar Knights in white smocks faced off in the hall, and the battle was about to break out.

    "Okay, everyone, I understand. Antioch's army will immediately set off to fight." Duke Flanders suddenly said, interrupting the confrontation between the two knight captains.

    "What? No, Duke." Schwab was shocked and tried to stop him.

    "Okay, Duke Flanders always pays attention to promises. Please rest assured that the Templar Knights will follow closely." Lei Ruo grinned, glanced at the Duke, then turned around and left with the Templar Knights.  down the hall.

    "Uncle, it is too dangerous. We are not prepared yet." Queen Sophia said at a loss. At this time, the situation was beyond her control. If Antioch did not send troops, he would be accused of cowardice. As long as  Lei Ruo sent a letter to the Holy See. The Holy See would definitely blame the Antioch royal family. Knowing this, Duke Flanders made this decision.

    "Duke, since you have decided, I will lead the Teutonic Knights to fight with you." Schwab said.

    "No, Count Schwab, you must stay to protect Her Majesty the Queen." Duke Flanders patted Schwab on the shoulder and asked Schwab to stay. The Teutonic Knights also needed time to rest.

    The Templar Knights and the Antioch nobles broke up at the hall meeting. The two sides had no sincerity in cooperation from the beginning. The Templar Knights were proud of their powerful force and did not take Saladin in their eyes, while the Antioch nobles  Suspicious of Lei Ruo's actions, the ominous crow sounded in the courtyard in the evening. The irritable Queen Sophia ordered her servants to chase the blind crow, and the palace was filled with a dull atmosphere.

    "Your Majesty, the Duke of Flanders invites you to come and have a talk." At this time, Schwab was staying in the room. Bald Otto and others were surrounding him and looking at a map on the table. A young attendant came.  At the door of the room, he said to Schwab who was studying the map attentively.

    "Oh, Your Majesty the Duke? Okay, I'll come right away." Schwab nodded, put down the map in his hand, left his room and went to the regent's room where the Duke lived with his attendants.

    "Ah, Your Majesty, you are here." Duke Flanders sat on a solid oak chair, on a carefully hollowed-out high platform on which an incense burner was placed. An incense burner was exuding a calming fragrance, and the silk  The curtain hung to the ground. Schwab opened it and walked up to the prince.

    "Your Excellency, you are looking for me." Schwab said after saluting.

    "Yes, I have a bottle here. I brought the wine from Britta. It was too boring to taste it alone, so I thought of you." Duke Flanders smiled, holding a bottle covered with dust.  A misty-colored glass bottle contains precious wine.

    "Oh, that's really my honor." Schwab knew that sharing the wine meant that the Duke regarded him as a friend, and it would be rude to refuse, so he found a chair and sat in front of the Duke.

    "This bottle of wine belongs to my grandfather. I brought it with me when I came here from Brita. Even Sofia's father has never seen it, haha." The Duke looked at the bottle of wine cherished, and then opened the sealed lid.  , the unique aroma of the wine suddenly filled Schwab¡¯s nose. Even without tasting it, you could clearly know that this was a good wine.

    "Your Majesty, thank you very much." Schwab took the wine glass made of Milan glass, looked at the red wine inside, and tasted it carefully.

    "No, I should thank you. I know that although you have made many contributions to Her Majesty because of little William, you and your knights have not received any benefit." Duke Flanders saw Schwab  He opened his mouth as if he wanted to explain something. He immediately stretched out his palm and continued, "For my age, words such as for the glory of the Lord are useless, and you are not the kind of hot-headed young knight. In fact, you  You pay great attention to practical interests, but even so, you still choose to help us. I have never seen a noble like you, and Sofia and I should thank you for this."

    "Your Majesty the Duke~~~." As Schwab listened to Duke Flanders's words, he felt more and more something was wrong. Could it be that the Duke already had a premonition that he would be in danger during this expedition?

    "Ah, just say some depressing words, haha, in fact, Sophia's father and I hugged each other when we were young.He had great ideals and wanted to build a powerful kingdom on this land, but after struggling all his life, he left first, leaving a lonely old man like me here to support him.  "The Duke of Flanders seemed to have drunk too much. He stood up unsteadily, walked to his table, picked up a small wooden box and handed it to Schwab.

    "What is this?" Schwab asked curiously.

    "Here you go, open it when you feel you need it." Duke Flanders said.

    !#

    ? www.piotia.com
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report