Chapter 152: Breakout

"Where are the people you brought?"

Facing this question, Ma Like, who was always called an old fox by his political enemies, couldn't help but be stunned. Indeed, in Apoler, only a few people could be more sensitive than him, but they might not be as decisive as him. What happened after Sultan Nur ad-Din's coffin was transported out of the south gate of Apoler Castle for the first time had already given him an ominous premonition in his heart.

Things like this, which were extremely grand and solemn—in fact, were not difficult to handle. They had scholars and scriptures, and Nur ad-Din had made arrangements for himself before he died.

Even so, they still made a mess of it—you know, at such a time, no matter how unruly a Vizier or Emir was, they would hold their breath and be obedient. This was not only respect for the monarch and the deceased, but also to avoid being questioned and attacked by everyone.

And what happened during the first funeral procession—Ma Like didn't see much trace of human intervention, but even if it wasn't a conspiracy, as one of the successors, they should have thought that given Sultan Nur ad-Din's prestige among the people, and the current influence of past traditions as well as Isaacites and Christians, such things could happen.

And not only were they unprepared before, but when the clues first appeared, they were still as dull as pigs, at a loss, and only cared about their own safety. If it were on the battlefield, he had no doubt that they would abandon their father's coffin, abandon the people and the army, and flee.

The second day's funeral made him even more disappointed. The ones who came out to remedy the mistake were the Grand Vizier and the great scholar, not any of the three princes. To say they were still young and lacked experience, what about the King of Amalric I? What about the young knight who came with him? They had just defeated Sultan Nur ad-Din's tens of thousands of troops not long ago.

Could these two useless wastes really lead the Saracens to fight against the Crusaders in the future?

When Amalric I died during the expedition, Ma Like had rejoiced, believing this was another powerful proof of the Saracens receiving Allah's protection, after all, Nur ad-Din was already old. But Amalric I was in his prime. His death not only led to the failure of the Crusaders' second expedition to Egypt but also signaled the decline of Amalric I and other Christian countries.

After all, his heir, a young man who had barely reached adulthood, had leprosy. Even if he received the Prophet's revelation and Allah's blessing, his illness had not gone away. How many more years could he live? Or could he really lead the army to fight the Saracens? This undoubtedly gave the Saracens a breathing space after Nur ad-Din passed away.

He didn't want to say that, but he had to. He even thought that among Nur ad-Din's three sons, there didn't need to be another Sultan like the Light of Faith (Nur ad-Din), as long as it was a monarch who could guard the heritage and maintain the current situation. He was only in his fifties now and could fully wait quietly for the new Sultan to grow up before coming to assist him.

Unfortunately, those two princes were indeed quite useless when facing the outside, but when facing the inside, they were as cunning and ruthless as jackals and wolves. Their methods were very rough, simply dividing people into available and unavailable parts, and dealing with the unavailable ones.

If you questioned them, they might say righteously that their father Nur ad-Din did the same. But they didn't think about it. Sultan Nur ad-Din was a monarch recognized by people as brave and wise. As long as he was still alive, even if there was a big defeat at the Horns of Hattin before, no Emir or Vizier would dare to defy his will.

Look at that pair of Kurdish uncle and nephew. When Shirkuh and Saladin were in Syria, they could be considered high-ranking and powerful, with great military achievements—Shirkuh was the Viceroy of Damascus—even with such authority and achievements, after Shirkuh became the Grand Vizier of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Adid, he still didn't dare to walk in front of Nur ad-Din.

They knew very well that as long as Nur ad-Din saw them, he would order his soldiers to catch them and execute them, and there wouldn't be a single soldier in their army who would raise a weapon against the Sultan for them.

The two princes only saw the gorgeous but illusory glory floating on the water surface. They were fascinated by it, not knowing the turbulent vortex and profound meaning hidden under the water. And what made people feel ironic was that because they were Nur ad-Din's sons, there were still quite a few people who supported them, whether they were sincere or just wanted to use them as puppets.

Ma Like knew that if he was willing to bow his head and choose one of these two idiots, kneeling to them and kissing the corner of their robes, he could not only preserve his life and family but also climb higher. He might become the Grand Vizier, who knows. But as long as he thought that he might have to clean up the mess for the "Sultan" on the throne countless times in the future, he couldn't help but feel nauseous.

His decision was right.

If he chose the eldest prince or the second prince, he would now have to violate his conscience to deal with those former colleagues. They might not be friends, or even enemies, but no matter what, the ones who would be regarded as thorns in the side by the two princes could only be those most upright ministers and generals.

Some of them were not in Apoler (serving as viceroys and officials in other cities), but only returned here to complete the last step of loyalty. They probably didn't expect that just because they refused the princes' recruitment, they would have to face cruel persecution at this time, or they might have thought they would be dismissed or expelled, but didn't expect they would lose their lives.

But clearly, there were people instigating around the prince, perhaps those vultures waiting to share their flesh and blood.

And Ma Like was able to gather these people so neatly because they had already been detained in the prison of Apoler Castle. Even so, several ministers who were too fierce had either been killed by the guards in the conflict or resolutely followed Nur ad-Din underground.

And Ma Like didn't even have time to mourn them—he first sent his family out of Apoler, and then used all his means to rescue these people from the prison. Fortunately, at this time, the followers of the eldest prince and the second prince were still fighting each other in the King's Hall, the Throne Hall, and the palaces of the Second Lady and the Third Lady, temporarily unable to take care of them.

The castle was already in chaos, and people were panicked. At this time, gold became the most persuasive thing—after all, at this time, the outcome of the two princes was unknown, and no one knew who would become the Sultan in the future. At this time, if Ma Like said anything about promotion and rewards to those guards, they would sneer, but gold was different. Gold could buy many things, especially when many people were not optimistic about the future.

——————

When the Christian knights rushed into the palace on the side to collect gold and jewelry, Ma Like brought the survivors in. Cesar glanced at them hurriedly and found that these people were almost all men, some young, some old. Some ministers had completely white hair, but their spirits looked okay.

The biggest problem was those who had been tortured. Cesar saw some obvious mutilations—he knew that there were also people with extraordinary abilities among the Saracens, who were called scholars. Among the Saracens, treatment and combat were not strongly separated. A person could be a doctor or a warrior: "Are there any 'scholars' among you?"

"Yes," Ma Like said. If it weren't for these people, he would have no way to bring those who had been tortured out. Damaged limbs could not be recovered, but at least they were stopped from bleeding and could act on their own.

"Once we start galloping, we might not stop again," Cesar reminded Ma Like. Ma Like nodded silently. Being able to obtain the forgiveness and assistance of these Christian knights was already a pleasant surprise.

When he stepped into this door, he thought it would take a lot of time to use his glib tongue to persuade this young knight. No matter what, the latter should have been full of joy to welcome his father and mother, but could only face such bad news.

Ma Like brought him the remains of two relatives, which was not a favor, but a compensation. He was not a fool and never had the idea of bargaining with him. He only hoped that this could slightly alleviate the blow brought by this desperate news—and he held such a lucky idea, also because on this journey, he observed that Cesar had always been very rational and calm.

Even if he would fall into a rage because of the death of his parents, Ma Like was already prepared to use his own blood to extinguish his hatred, only asking him to remember his promise to the Christian King Baldwin IV of Amalric I as soon as possible—compared to those who had passed away, more important was himself, and those knights.

He never expected that Cesar would make a decision so quickly and accurately.

Cesar, however, had already thrown all complicated thoughts behind him, whether it was the death of Count Joscelin III of Edessa and his wife, the Saracens' plea for help, or the recklessness of Sultan Nur ad-Din's son.

Although he had not experienced it, he had seen it countless times from history books—this kind of power struggle that suddenly reached a white heat like an explosion could make a city or even a country turbulent at any time. And they were infidels and enemies, and it was impossible to get protection from either side, but it was possible to become a target of public criticism. What they had to do now was to get out of here as soon as possible. Other things could be solved slowly later.

He had to thank Ma Like. If Ma Like only brought that sad news, he would have only two choices. The first choice was to risk the danger of total annihilation and search for two corpses without exact positioning and obvious characteristics in this palace complex that was nine times the size of Amalric I; the second choice was to give up everything, want nothing, and leave immediately.

If so, after returning to Amalric I, he would face countless people's accusations, and even those knights who retreated safely because of this would complain about him, because he regarded them as cowards, preferring to endure such humiliation rather than bring them out of Apoler.

Now Ma Like had solved this biggest problem for him. The only choice they had and had to make was to leave immediately.

This place was about to become a meat grinder.

Cesar's idea was the same as Ma Like's. He didn't think Nur ad-Din's two sons could control the Emirs and Fatimids under their command. Could their soldiers be constrained by public opinion and law like soldiers a thousand years later? Even if there were strict admonitions. When they saw women, gold, silver, and silk, would they still remember?

Once looting, rape, and killing started, the evil thoughts in people's hearts would be infinitely magnified. By then, let alone the Sultan's son, even if Sultan Nur ad-Din descended to the world again and stood in front of them, they might slash at him.

Just when everything was almost ready, the knights also returned. Ma Like looked over and found that they truly followed Cesar's order, only taking away precious jewelry and gold coins, without anyone taking a woman, although there were a few bold slave girls following behind these knights begging them to take them away.

But these knights were iron-hearted. Facing their entanglement, they even drew their swords. They didn't fall into a pool of blood immediately, only because the knights were preparing to set off and didn't want to cause extra trouble.

"If I were you, I would hide as soon as possible," Ma Like said, but only this hurried sentence.

He brought about forty people, forty-one including him. It was not difficult for the Christian knights to take them away. Half of the squires or knights could take one more person on their horses.

Although this meant they had to transfer part of their spoils to other knights or pack horses.

The Saracens were a little nervous. Even if they were not Fatimids, they had dealt with more than one Fatimid. Of course, they knew that Christian knights, like Saracen soldiers, valued their private assets very much. Of course, they knew that their sacrifice was not to rescue Christians, but to rescue a group of former enemies, but what surprised them was that not a single knight protested or refused. Their absolute obedience made the subsequent actions as smooth and rapid as flowing water.

When Ma Like was pulled onto the horse by Cesar, only less than an hour had passed, and he was even a little dazed.

The young knight in front of him lowered his head. Cesar was praying in a low voice, and then people saw silver melting, or stars pouring down, and a brilliant river passed through them, covering every Christian knight with a layer of chain mail like dragon scales.

The Sultan's minister turned to look around and found that many people were doing the same as him. Yes, without exception, in this quiet courtyard, a miracle was happening. How much Allah loved this beautiful young man. This was a glory that Sultan Nur ad-Din never had.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 153 =====