In the official office of the Governor (Note) of the Lord Hall of Thorne City, a middle-aged man with a full beard, black hair, and a pointed chin threw the glass wine glass to the ground, then turned around and slapped a young man in the face who looked like a knight wearing plate and chain armor. (Note: Here, a low-level position means a high-level position, as opposed to the mayor of the provincial capital.)
The slap was too hard, and it only shook the young man who looked like a knight to one side. The middle-aged man continued to beat him, but an old man with a gray beard who looked like a bachelor stood up to dissuade him.
The middle-aged man pointed at the nose of the young knight and cursed: "You useless guys, I asked you to catch a group of robbers and you couldn't catch them, but you also let the robbers kill three of them. What's the use of you wastes! I'll give you one more day. If you can't catch those bastards in one day, come back with your own heads chopped off!"
The knight who was slapped didn't even dare to cover his face. He just lowered his head and defended softly: "Master Yidu, it's not that we didn't do our job well, it's that those bastards were too insidious and cunning. I led twenty-five cavalrymen and ran wildly along their tracks all afternoon. I just caught them near a hill in the evening, but I didn't I think they actually set a trap..."
It turned out that Angus and his party ran south all morning. At noon, they separated a carriage and sent the three injured soldiers to the planned remote village to recuperate. Then they continued to travel south for a while before the team stopped.
Angus and his team are not just trying to escape, they are also tasked with attracting the enemy's attention. So after arranging the injured soldiers, Angus divided the team into two parts. One part of the soldiers with slightly weaker combat strength continued to run south with a carriage with insufficient horse power. They were on standby in a small town called Abilne and waited for the people in the rear team to arrive and assemble before turning east and running towards Besançon.
After the front team left, Angus led seven brave and clever task force soldiers, carrying strong bows and crossbows, and set up an ambush in a hill...
“Lord Yidu, I don’t know what those bastards put on the crossbow arrows. People will faint immediately when the crossbow arrows hit them, and even the horses can’t stand up for long. We were shot down by two cavalrymen and three horses in the hills, and while chasing the ambush group, five or six horses were knocked down one after another. Our people were more and more The pursuit became less and less, and the sky became darker and darker, so I~"
"So you came back with your tail between your legs? Can't you follow them first and grab their tails before sending people back to ask for help? Where did the usual extortion brain go?" The middle-aged man poked the young knight in the forehead and cursed.
This middle-aged man is the governor of Thorne City, Viscount Errol Bilkin. He is one of Bernard's retainers. He manages and protects Thorne City, the capital of Thorne Province, for Bernard all year round. He is considered a confidant of Bernard.
Errol scolded the leading knight guarding the city again and told him to go back and prepare to assemble a larger cavalry team to leave the city overnight to pursue.
The young knight quickly took a few of his young officers and bowed to Rolle and the old man before exiting the room.
After all the other people in the official room had left, Errol said to the old man anxiously: "Grandmaster, what should I do? 2 After causing such a terrible disaster, the earl will not let it go easily. Mine. Even if the count lets me go, if those bastards hand over these heretics to the Bishop of Besançon, the church will not let us go, and maybe even the count will be implicated!" Errol said as a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
After listening to this, the old man pondered for a long time. He raised his head and said seriously: "Master Yidu, we never thought that our opponents would have the guts to come to our home. It seems that the count is right. Flanders and Baldwin are indeed not easy to deal with. But now the most terrible thing has happened. We'd better wait until our opponents send the heretics to the Bishop of Besançon (the Archbishop of the County). "We must deal with it properly before it causes a big disaster."
Errol was at a loss at this time, and he didn't know how to deal with it properly. "Grandmaester, you are the count's most trusted chief advisor. Please help me find a proper solution."
The old maester sat back in his chair and rubbed the ring on his finger, lost in thought.
Erol did not dare to disturb or urge him at all. He could only pick up the wine glass on the table, fill it with wine and send it to the old bachelor's hand.
After a long while, the old bachelor spoke, "Master Governor, I can't hide it now. You have to do two things next."
Errol quickly pulled a chair close to the old bachelor and listened.
"The first thing is to immediately send a secret message to Besançon, informing the earl of what happened in Thorne City, saying that Assassin has been exposed, asking the earl to prepare for the response in advance, and suggesting that the earl put the Dean family in front as a last resort."
Errol had thought about this a long time ago, but if he sent a secret message directly to Bernard now, Bernard might kill himself in anger, "Grandmaester, I know this, but I was wondering if I could wait until I catch those bastards before I send a letter to the Earl, so that my guilt can be alleviated..."
The old bachelor waved his hands repeatedly, "Absolutely not! This disaster is too great. A careless move may cause irreparable trouble to the Count. You must send a letter to Besançon immediately." The only way to reach the goal is to go up. Dijon, the capital of the Principality of Burgundy, or Besançon, the capital of the Counties, is too far away, and they have no internal support in Dijon, so it is difficult to achieve their goal."
"But Besancon is different. The Marquis is still the monarch of the county, and there are backbones of the Baldwin faction in the court. Their best choice should be to try to bring Assassin to Besancon."
Errol also felt that it made sense, "You mean that I should chase on the road to Besancon?"
"Yes, you must choose your most elite soldiers to pursue! And in addition to the pursuit, it must also be intercepted. You must immediately send an order to the castles, fortresses and villages and estates along the Saône Province in the name of the Earl, and any caravan passing by will be detained and interrogated."
Old The bachelor came closer and lowered his voice, "The most important thing is that you must send your most trusted people to follow the pursuers. Once you catch the group, you must kill them all, including the sources of the disaster. You must not let the word Assassin appear in people's eyes under any circumstances!" A strong murderous intention flashed in the eyes of the old bachelor...
…
"Sir, Dawson reported that the third group of troops leaving the city has returned. They returned empty-handed. The sergeant major must have completely escaped." In the corner of the first floor of the granary, Stanley changed into the outfit of a hawker who came into the city selling smoked fish, and his sentry post also changed to a stall in front of the shop at the front alley.
dedleg.
Ron also stood up at this time, "Master, we really have to evacuate quickly. The weather is getting colder and colder. Just relying on some charcoal can't keep the guys warm. More importantly, I'm worried that those Assassins won't be able to survive. The two heretics have been on a hunger strike for three days. I'm afraid they won't be able to survive long with just a little water. If they all die, we The evidence in your hand loses its strength. "
"They must not be allowed to starve to death. In this way, you make the wheat paste thinner, pry open his mouth and pour in as much as you can. After that, give him medicine. In addition to eating and drinking, he will be in a coma."
"Yes, sir."
After Matt finished arranging things, he put his hand on a pile of cooking charcoal (Note) in the corner and grilled it. He said to himself: "Three days have passed. The defense in the city has become much more relaxed. It's time for us to leave the city. There are still many things to do next." (Note: The smoke from the firewood was too big. In order not to expose the target, we could only use charcoal fire to cook and keep warm.)
On the second Saturday of December, four full days had passed since the murder in Beicheng. The security in the city had been relaxed, because the army had determined that the group of perpetrators had circled south and then ran eastward. The troops sent by Thorne City and various checkpoints and arteries along the way were chasing and intercepting them. However, What is quite surprising is that the Lord's Hall of Thorne City did not publicize this matter. The citizens in the city only knew that a murder occurred in the north of the city and that a wealthy businessman's mansion was robbed. As for who the wealthy businessman was and who did it, they did not mention a word. Even those who came to the north of the city to watch the excitement were expelled.
The alert in the city has been lifted, and only a small number of troops are still paying attention to this matter. To ordinary civilians, it is as if this incident has never happened.
At noon, there was drizzle in the sky, and it was still Southwest Water Gate.
The broken wooden boat that transported a batch of dead fish and shrimps a few days ago sailed from the north of the city to the southwest water gate again today, but this time the wooden boat was carrying a boat full of grain, black beans and wheat bran. In order to prevent the river from getting wet, the boatman covered it with a thick felt cloth.
Hand of course there was private goods in the secret compartment on the ship's warehouse deck. This was not the first time that the seemingly honest and loyal ship owner had done this kind of thing. It was obvious that he had already tasted the huge sweetness brought by this beheading trade.
Him The last boatload of dead fish and rotten shrimps presented by the "guest" made him a lot of money. This time it was another boatload of grain and grass. Although they were all fine materials used for horses and livestock, they could still be sold as cheap grain in poor areas further downstream.
The broken wooden boat sailed to the narrow inspection pier of Shuimen. It was still the same young officer guarding the city a few days ago.
After the broken ship approached, he jumped onto the deck and looked around for a while. He saw that the broken ship was actually carrying food. The owner had to make a lot of money on this trip. He hadn't made much oil and water in the past few days. Of course, he couldn't just let go when he saw someone who could make a little money. He couldn't pay commercial taxes when leaving the city, but he could still think of other ways...
The young officer yelled at the two soldiers on the shore, "Come here, you guys. I have to check this ship today. There may be robbers and gangsters hiding there."
The two soldiers came out of the hut sheltered from the rain by the dock, jumped onto the deck in a few steps, and were about to lift the felt covering the grain bags as they spoke.
The boatman was anxious and quickly stepped forward to hold down the felt cloth. "Sir, sir, no, it's raining. Now that you open the felt cloth and the food is wet by the rain, how can I sell it? This is my year's savings, and I'm just waiting to transport it to those remote places to exchange for a few copper coins."
The captain said and put the felt cloth back.
The little officer ignored the captain's words and said, "I'm warning you, let go quickly, otherwise I will seize your broken ship for colluding with bandits!" The soldiers argued, "Sir, then you can do the interrogation. Can you let the ship sail into the entrance to protect it from the wind and rain, and then open it for careful interrogation?"
"The dock is the place for inspection. How can I let you in the doorway? Stop talking nonsense and search for me!" The young officer took the lead and tore off a corner of the felt cloth. Bags of grain and grass were neatly stacked, and the rainwater hit the grain bags.
The captain was really anxious. He quickly walked up to the young officer and said in a low voice: "Master, Master, look, next time I will catch you some more delicious fresh fish from the river and bring them over, so that you can have a good meal of river fish."
The young officer looked at the man in front of him. The soldier who was slowly stabbing the grain bag into the gap with his short spear turned his head and glanced at the captain. "The two dead fish you brought me last time almost got me stuck on the fish bones. I don't want to eat fish anymore. I just want to eat some barbecue and drink ale recently."
The young officer said a few words and ignored the captain.
Honest people are not fools. If you still don’t understand this, the boat owner shouldn’t survive on this river.
As expected, when the young officer saw the captain turning around and taking something out from his arms, a smile immediately appeared on his face.
The captain reluctantly handed the three copper pfennig to the young officer’s waist, which he had already raised in his open hand.
The young officer touched it twice, without even looking at it, and said, "Here are my two brothers~"
The captain gritted his teeth, took out two more copper coins from the purse in his arms, and patted them into the hands of the young officer.
The young officer clasped his fingers together and winked at a few lazy soldiers who were wasting their time. The two soldiers immediately stopped moving and covered the rain-covering felt cloth back. "Sir, I have checked carefully and there is no problem."
"Okay, let's go!" The young officer waved towards the door, and jumped out of the boat with satisfaction with two soldiers...
Sailed away from the southwest water gate, and a heavy exhale sounded from the wooden ship's plywood, grain and grass adjutant.
"Silence, it's not safe here yet." Ron's soft scolding came from the grain pile...
In the afternoon, the wooden boat arrived at a shoal eight miles downstream of the river to anchor and wait.
In the evening, five riders escorted two manned iron-clad carriages to the shallows of the river bank. The "private goods" on the wooden boats were transferred to the carriages, which soon disappeared on the southbound road.
After walking for a while, the convoy suddenly turned northwest and sped away...