Eagle Byzantium

One of the most shocking accusations was the incestuous act between John and his adoptive mother!

It must be said that after Irene became the Queen Mother, the level of struggle rose sharply. She no longer used slogans such as "the feud between Komnenos and Ducas" that the residents of the imperial capital were not convenient to take sides with, but directly pointed to the "lower three roads" that the people were most concerned about, using the palace scandal as a starting point, and made it popular throughout the capital in half a night.

John seemed to have lost the legitimacy of his rule in just one day.

Originally, the people, the competitive party, the guilds, and the monasteries praised him loudly as the "morning star", "lighthouse", "national great man" or "human holy apostle". Now many rebels took to the streets and took the opportunity to commit crimes. They beat monks, raped young girls and even old women, drove away the nobles who came to maintain order, and wrote graffiti and slogans insulting John all over the pillars of various magnificent monasteries and squares, scolding John as a "wild boar", "hedgehog", "crawling monster", "sex maniac", "great wise emperor", "a young man who is devoted to his adoptive mother".

The thorn in the eyes of many mobs was the big barn built after John ascended the throne. They were hungry and full of anger, holding torches and rushing from all directions, gathering under this building, throwing torches into it crazily, and the officials of the gate fled with their families. The mob used wooden stakes to smash the heavy door of the barn, and looted and burned it to their heart's content after entering.

The nobles who remained in the city at this moment also cursed their bad luck. In the extreme chaos, some people spent all their money to please their slaves and armed them to protect their houses. There were also many people who were ready to flee to Western Thrace, Adrianople or Thessalonica. In short, they had to leave the imperial capital because "it was like the center of an earthquake, with crumbling and collapse everywhere" - they and their families were in panic and rushed at night. The slaves either robbed their property and ran away, or ran to join the mob. The nobles and senators could only carry their children on their shoulders and backs. Young and beautiful ladies or girls were surrounded by men in the middle of the team, like lambs in a pen. In order to avoid attention, they smeared dirty mud on their faces and necks, wore coarse clothes, and removed all jewelry.

The Pella commercial district where the Venetians lived was the first to be hit and also became a victim of violent conflict. Armed personnel from the Amalfi and Pisa commercial districts took to the streets. They had all received secret agreements from Gawain and Anna, promising that the two city-states would "continue to enjoy trade charters in Constantinople in the future." They openly provoked and killed the gatekeepers of Venice, whose bloody bodies were hung upside down on the tower columns. Many Metropolitan Games parties also joined in, and the closed Golden Horn area war broke out! The Venetians guarding the churches and gates shot flaming arrows like raindrops, interweaving in the night sky of Constantinople. From time to time, there were fierce gunpowder fires, dazzling white, lighting up the streets below. However, there was no shortage of ruthless and ingenious people in Amalfi, Pisa and the Metropolitan Games parties. They made all kinds of simple battering rams and crossbows, and launched a series of fierce attacks on the Venetian commercial district from all directions.

The gates of the city were filled with people crying and cursing. Children were trampled to death and pregnant women were squeezed to miscarriage. Countless ghostly cries seemed to ring out from the dusty corner towers of this ancient sacred capital at the same time, which was particularly creepy in the cold night.

In the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom, Masdas sat dejectedly in front of the altar. He also had to face the "issue of staying or leaving".

The people of this capital admired him, but the Tarsus hated him because he had insulted and attacked Stephen Gawain, the "enemy of Orthodoxy", and his name was written on the other side's "public enemy list".

If he stayed, he would inevitably be insulted or even murdered;

And if he ran away, he would be assumed to be the same kind of person as John Komnenos, who "killed his father and had an affair with his adoptive mother", and the believers would mistakenly think that he was protecting John.

Finally, Masdas announced a very strange decision:

He first declared John an out-and-out sinner, and strictly prohibited John from setting foot in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom again. He would condemn and protest John Komnenos for the rest of his life;

Then he told everyone that his position of fighting against Gawain would not change, and he would go to the Holy Mountain Monastery of Athos to lead all the Orthodox Christians to fight until "the Lord's justice comes to the world again."

After saying everything, Masdas handed the keys and seals of the cathedral and the Patriarch's residence to his two deputies, and fled from his post in a hurry.

At the south gate wall of the Brachna Palace, looking at the outline of the Our Lady's Monastery in the dark night, the desperate and crazy John rode his horse, crossed the forest and garden with a small number of guards, and rushed into the inner court.

At this time, the entire palace had also turned into a deadly battle. The outer perimeter of Irene's bedroom was full of Ducas's private soldiers, and the commander was none other than Ephraimius Ducas. Piroska's sedan chair was also carried in through another small door by the Hungarian squires in a chaotic situation. The other guard knights and soldiers were furious and rushed over to ask what had happened. The Hungarians, who had learned the truth, were furious like a volcano erupting. They thought that it was unbearable for such a well-behaved and beautiful princess like Piroska to suffer such a great humiliation in the palace. So, regardless of Piroska's cries and dissuasion, they all drew their swords and rode their horses, joined Ephraimius Ducas's team, and attacked the bedroom of the chief lady of the other corner of the palace, killing anyone they saw along the way.

Just now, John also returned with his guards. All parties were extremely jealous, cursing each other and waving swords, fighting and killing each other.

"Mother, mother! Why do you treat me like this, why? Are you going to put the real emperor to death just for your favorite sister? If so, Komnenos' world will be destroyed." John rode on horseback, raised his arms, ignoring the flying arrows and darts, and cried in grief and anger, watching the queen mother who was surrounded by the family's private soldiers in the corridor opposite the bedroom, shouting loudly. She was holding Alexius's youngest son Adyon in her hand. The child was still looking at the soldiers fighting everywhere in front of him, not knowing why his brother was crying over there.

Irene closed her eyes in pain, then lowered her head and clenched her fists, gritting her teeth and angrily shouted, "I would rather see this country collapse and perish, and be replaced by others, than to see a rebellious person like you continue to be the owner of this palace. Your father forgave you, Anna and Gawain before he died, but I will never! It was Malena and you, it was Malena and you, who took away my husband, from spirit to life, I will never forgive you, never!"

A perfect version of the book in 1619!

Amid the Queen Mother's final excited scream, Ephraimius beside her raised his bow and arrow and shot an arrow at John without mercy.