Chapter 43 The return of the great power
"The powerful minister... Tangli... um... this is it, the cardinal, isolating the inside and outside, the Papal State will be in danger... um..."
"Master Frick, can you do it? I've been studying these two lines for a long time."
"Don't argue, don't argue." The old man named Frick rubbed his half-blind eyes and said to The faint skylight shouted loudly.
He was half-blind, but his voice was so loud that it hurt Madeleine's eardrums.
"Oh, your ink is smudged. Here is, you are also a cardinal...wait for something, ah, then, something, something, finally something, ah, then you can return the great power."
Madeleine looked at the old man in front of her and said helplessly: "Master Frick, did you really become a bard when you were young? You've been talking for a long time, but I just didn't understand anything."
Frick scratched his neck and said: "I've been a fool, what do you know, you little brat."
Madelan was a little helpless. Among the many villagers he trusted, this Mr. Frick was relatively the most trustworthy. Those who are reputable are considered to be on the same side as him.
The people who followed Madelan were either refugees or public farmers. What kind of culture could they have in making paper?
Among Madeleine's more than two hundred men, less than ten were literate, and the only one whom Madeleine could trust was Frick.
After autumn, there is still a hint of chill in this thatched shed with ventilation on all sides and hanging straw curtains.
The old man in front of him was wearing a wrinkled and patched knee-length robe, revealing his withered wrists with skin attached to white bones and veins.
Drawing out a three-legged stool from the rubbish heap and sweeping away the dust on the stool, Madeleine sat down and said, "Tell me, what is the secret letter that the Pope gave me?" What?"
"Oh, so is the Pope. Why do you keep using such docile words? You think you are reading boring knight poetry."
After complaining in his mouth, Old Frick still bit the bullet and explained: "Well, what His Majesty the Pope probably means is to ask you to break into the monastery as soon as possible and kill the powerful minister Tangley."
" Me? Go kill Tangli? Is this what the Pope really means?" Madelan's eyes widened, "Do we old, weak, and disabled people have the strength?"
Old Frick originally said this casually. Said, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt right: "What else? All those armed peasants are on the side of Townley. The Pope is not even allowed to leave the door of the monastery, and the pontifical guards are blocked outside the door.
This must be because there are traitors in the Pope's country. Chilvis and Grampwin are all on the side of Townley, while Danji is neutral. Who else can the Pope rely on besides you?"
< br>"But how can we be Tangli's opponent? Alas, why did your Majesty give such an order?"
After learning about Horn's "real" intention, Madeleine had a headache.
Although he and Tang Li were extremely reluctant to deal with each other, they could only endure it most of the time because behind Tang Li were a large number of armed farmers.
Compared with most public peasants and refugees, these armed peasants are not only physically stronger than them, but most of them even have weapons and equipment such as chainmail, leather armor, daggers, and longbows.
The church's night guard is actually a militia organization, formerly known as the Night Watch Brotherhood, which was formed by armed peasants.
So more than 90% of the night guards are from armed farmers.
As long as Townley wanted to, he could quickly pull out twenty or thirty night guards. The weapons and equipment of the armored sergeants before were also in his hands.
However, Townley's power also has a problem, that is, the armed peasants are very brave when facing the homeless peasants, but when they go to the church or the nobles, they will immediately turn into defeatist fighters.
This is also the reason why Horn feels that Townley will surrender immediately once the church sends troops.
The consequence of not surrendering is that your Majesty is about to surrender first. Why did your Majesty fight to the death?
But Horn never meant to ask Madeleine to go to Hard Steel Tangli.
He asked Madeleine to contact Jeshka, inform him at the critical moment, guard the monastery gate, and prevent Townley from running out to join the armed peasants.
However, this most important paragraph was omitted by Frick. He could only understand that the beginning was scolding Townley and the end was that the government was returned, and the middle part was all made up by his own imagination.
Putting a bottle of turbid wine on the table, Madeleine left worriedly.
Frick leisurely picked up the wine, hummed a tune, and drank to himself. But after just two sips, another person walked into the hut, also an old man: "Frick, where did you get the wine?"
"Hey, brother, would you like two drinks?" Frick became excited when he saw the old man. This was his cousin. The two were drinking buddies and often drank together.
"Come on, hey, just now I saw Brother Madeleine leaving in a hurry. What was he doing?"
"Hey, you can't say."
"We two "What's the matter? There's nothing to say. I promise not to tell anyone else."
The old man took out a half-cooked pheasant with feathers from his pocket, threw it on the table, and took out half a bottle. Mead, swayed: "That's interesting enough."
After a few glasses of wine, Frick's face turned slightly red. He glanced at the roast chicken and hesitated for a long time: "Then I'll tell you, but you're not allowed to tell others."
"You tell me. , I promise not to talk nonsense.”
“Come, put your ear closer.”
“What?” Madeleine wants to get rid of Townley ”
"Keep your voice down, keep your voice down." Frick said in a loud voice, "Don't let outsiders hear it."
He shook the wine in the glass and said proudly: "Look at it Now you, brother, and the bishop have to ask me, how do I compare to the forest sage Hero?"
"Shit." The old man cursed with a smile, and started drinking together. Here comes the wine.
……………………
“What?” Townley suddenly stood up from his chair, “Madeleine is going to attack and kill me the night after tomorrow?”
The blazing fire in the fireplace burned everyone's faces red, and the dancing firelight shone on the mosaic-leaf Boss shrine on the wall, reflecting the Myrcella wrapped in the holy tree in varying light and darkness.
“Where did you get the news?” Chilvis put down his wine glass, his long dwarf-like beard trembling.
The young man with a curly soft beard replied: "It's my second brother. His blacksmith master's daughter married Madefa from Tudunzi Village, and Madefa's ex-wife's cousin My sister-in-law is from Madelan.”
“Is the news true?”
“It’s absolutely true, my second brother told me, don’t tell the second person.”
"Okay, I get it." Tangli threw out a dinar, "I'm going to reward you, get out."
After the young man left, there was only one person in this small monk's house. The core layers such as Townley and Chilvis are left.
After waiting in the firelight for a long time, Grampwin frowned and asked: "How did Madeleine know that you were going to the monastery the night after tomorrow to meet the secret party envoy?"
"You ask me. "Who can I ask?" Tangli's face was not good, "I guess it's probably because we have a spy inside."
"Does a little Madelan really dare to attack us?" Chilvis rubbed the wine glass in his hand and said, "Find more people to ask questions tomorrow. We must investigate clearly."
"It will be too late when the investigation is clear. Then Madeleine had a grudge against me last time, so she might really want to do this." Tangley stood up, "There might be someone named Horn who is instigating this matter. During this period, , How can he stay calmly, the refugees are all following him now? "
"What do you think we should do?" Grampwin asked.
Tangley raised his palms and made a slashing motion: "Instead of sitting back and waiting for death, it is better to take the initiative. Tomorrow night, we will capture Madeleine first and teach that guy named Horn a lesson.
Hmph, he may be the leader of the secret party, but we are not easy to mess with! ”
(End of Chapter)