Although Father James is pale and looks like he has vomited everything in his stomach, there is always a gentle smile hanging on the corner of his mouth. He has a unique charm that can exude tranquility and infect those around him. people.
"Is this a new weapon in Lord Simon's army?" Father James murmured curiously when he saw two soldiers holding Gutentak spears passing by outside Fort Esbai.
"I think so. Master Simon has a lot of ideas, and most of them are good ideas. The carpenters and blacksmiths are happy to follow his descriptions to create some strange but very useful gadgets." He led Father James towards The soldier walking towards the tower of Fort Esbai said with a smile.
"I hope he can invent a ship that won't be too bumpy." Father James held his forehead, feeling a little top-heavy until now.
"Hahaha, maybe it would be more practical to ask Pharmacist Arthur to prepare some herbs to treat dizziness for you!" the soldier said jokingly.
Several soldiers took Father James to the inner courtyard of Fort Esbai. The crossbowmen standing guard on the fort wall stared at them closely, and two slaves who went to draw water from the well hurried past them. The soldiers standing guard in front of the tower gate recognized Father James and the leading soldiers, greeted them friendly, and then opened the gate.
"Sir Simon!"
"Father!"
"It's great to see you!"
"Me too!"
Seeing the smile on the priest's face, Simon knew that he must be back with good news.
"Thanks to the merciful God, our boat arrived in Cologne a whole day faster than Lange's messenger. I met the Archbishop of Cologne, and he had not forgotten me. Then, I gave him the letter."
"Speak slowly," Simon pointed to the armchair in front of the dining table and motioned for the priest to sit down. Then, the waiter brought a clean wine glass and a wine jar filled with red wine, "Let's have some wine to moisten your throat first."
"Thank you," the priest took a sip of red wine and continued, "you have a good reputation with the bishop, and he still remembers your pious deeds. In addition, he is very impressed by your great victory over the pagans in Fordeburg. It’s incredible, you know, before this, no lord in the entire parish could defeat those Magyar bandits!”
"They're so cunning!"
"Yes, the plundering activities of the group of Magyar bandits caused the nearest city of Cologne to be filled with homeless farmers and village women. They described to everyone the scene of the Magyar attack as if they were being coerced by Satan. The endless fire of hell rolled over the village mercilessly, and the entire city of Cologne was panicked. The priests spent a lot of effort to calm them down." Father James's face became rosy, no longer as it was when he first got off the boat. Pale.
"Aha, it seems that I have done another good thing. However, I am very curious about what will happen when Count Lange's messenger arrives in Cologne and the bishop sees the same group of Magyar bandits being killed twice by two lords. What an expression." Simon lay comfortably on his throne in a comfortable posture. When Father James came back, most of the stones in his heart finally fell away, especially since things were going very smoothly.
"Surprise, confusion, puzzlement and suspicion, I can't think of more words to describe the rich expressions on the bishop's face at that time," Father James laughed heartily, "Lange's messenger's reaction to the bishop. Feeling frightened, he recognized me next to the bishop. Do you still remember the unexpected arrival of Lange with his troops on the night of the victory over the Magyars? This messenger was responsible for the communication between Lange in the castle and those outside in the forest. He passed news between the troops stationed in China, and he met me several times that day."
"I suppose the Bishop must have asked you two what all this was about?"
"He did do this, but it was obvious that he did not trust Count Lange, so he questioned Count Lange's messenger. The bishop said at the time that this is the Cologne Church, the most sacred place, and God is watching our conversation, If you dare to lie, the door of heaven will not be open to you. Now tell me, are everything in Lange’s letter true?”
"He must not dare to lie." Simon said firmly.
"Of course he doesn't dare to lie. No one wants to be associated with Satan after death. Besides, as long as he dares to lie, I will expose his lies as soon as possible. This poor guy was frightened at that time. He didn't know Should he commit sin and lie for this riddled lie, or should he confide the truth to the bishop in front of God in this sacred place? A fool knows which choice to choose. So he betrayed Lange and told everything that happened. Explain clearly."
"This is really exciting!" Simon couldn't help laughing.
"The Bishop's face was full of displeasure after being fooled. He touched the messenger's head with a sullen face and blessed him in the name of the Lord, telling him not to be afraid. God knows what Count Lange will do to him when he returns. What terrible things to do.”
"I know my brother," Simon sighed and shook his head. "This poor messenger should go far away, otherwise he will be tortured by Lange to the point of death."
"This cruel guy," Father James also sighed, "Although the bishop did not impose any substantial punishment on Lange, after all, he just wrote a letter to brag about himself and take the credit for himself. It is not necessary to punish him with excommunication, but as expected, people in the entire principality will soon know that Count Lange is a treacherous villain, and his reputation is completely ruined."
"I'm not surprised, he deserves it." Simon resisted the urge to applaud.
"And the messenger was not a fool. He knew that he would definitely suffer disaster if he went back, so after leaving the city, he walked south without looking back. That means that Lange can no longer wait for his messenger, and it won't be long. He will also find that his reputation is completely ruined in the principality." Father James has not smiled so happily for a long time. Frustrating the enemy's plot is also a very fulfilling thing.
"This is really bad luck, but I like it." A proud smile appeared on Simon's lips. Langer really lost a lot of money this time.
"But having said that, Sir Simon, I have to remind you that the angry Lange will definitely suspect that the people around him have leaked the information. You have to let the informant hide deeper to avoid being exposed and causing death." Father James said He changed his smile from before and said seriously.
"I'll let him pay attention." Simon nodded.
In order to protect Sir Julian who conveyed the news to Simon, almost no one except Fatty and Ludwig knew that the news was given by Julian. After all, the more people who knew, the easier it would be to leak the news, and the more dangerous Julian would be. . Simon didn't want this good card to be exposed too soon.
………………………
After defeating Lange's conspiracy and getting rid of the spy Herta, Simon's life calmed down, but this was the last calm before the storm.
Fat Betty never waited for Herta's return. She had roughly guessed that her husband had met with misfortune on the way. This cheerful and optimistic woman became a little depressed. She hired a messenger to go to Cologne to call her son, who was an apprentice, to come back and prepare to inherit the tavern.
There is also a regular customer in the tavern, a free farmer named Rhett. It is said that one of his distant relatives died without any heirs, so his inheritance, which itself was not worth much, went to the lucky man Rhett. He used the money to buy a few pieces outside the village of Esbai. Farm, so life is quite prosperous, and he has free time and money to drink in the stump tavern every day.
Fat Betty had no doubts about these regular customers with clear backgrounds, but she didn't know that Rhett was actually Ludwig's secret spy, spying on her and her son to see if they had any secret dealings with Baron Luke.
At the same time, Count Lange's treacherous reputation spread quickly throughout the Principality of Cologne. Even in Fordeburg on the edge of the Principality, many farmers were talking about it.
This time, Lange's hypocritical appearance was really torn apart, and his true cunning, cruel and ruthless inner nature was nakedly displayed to everyone.
Sure enough, according to the news returned by the informant, Count Lange was furious, and even the joy that Lady Josephine was about to give birth to an heir for him was gone.
He hated Simon so much that he guessed that Simon was behind all of this. At the same time, he also began to wonder if there was a mole around him. So, he sent Sir Julian to investigate the matter thoroughly, and he must find out the traitor who leaked the information.
Little did he know, however, that his most trusted spymaster, Sir Julian, was the one who leaked the information.
Treachery and cunning are not a virtue in the eyes of Christians, which means that everyone, whether they are nobles, merchants or farmers, will be more cautious when dealing with Lange. In addition, the promises made by Lange will also become untrustworthy. Everyone knows that he may tear up the contract and fall out at any time. After all, that is who he is.
Simon thought that Count Lange would try his best to retaliate against him after this incident, at least to show some action, but what surprised and disturbed him was that Lange unexpectedly made no movement. This was not like It was the behavior of his brother who was determined to retaliate and retaliate tooth for tooth.
Just as Simon was considering whether to take the risk and contact Julian again to see what Lange was up to, Tommy, the Duke's messenger, hurriedly rode to his castle.
"Dear Baron Simon, I bring greetings from the Duke. He invites you to join the expedition against the Magyar invasion army. Please lead at least fifty soldiers and assemble outside the town of Dusseldorf within ten days. ." Tommy's expression was not relaxed compared to his last visit. It seemed that he was very aware of the seriousness of the situation this time.
"I understand, thank you Tommy, please tell the Duke that I will lead the troops to the town of Dusseldorf within the specified time."
After delivering the news, the messenger Tommy didn't even stay for lunch, then mounted his horse again and continued on to the next territory.
"Little Klein, summon the couriers and ask Sir Miller, Sir Bill, and Sir Hoffman to lead at least ten soldiers each to assemble outside Fort Esbai within two days."
"Okay, my lord."
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