Chapter 200: A Not-so-pleasant Day For The Byzantium Empress
For Mary, Empress of Byzantium, this day had been quite an unlucky one.
In the Crusader States, people often mocked the Emperor of Byzantium as merely a heretic who had donned a crown, and due to the influence of the Persians and Saracens, his rule was of an Eastern style—though he outwardly adhered to monogamy, Manuel I still maintained a vast harem.
It was vast because women throughout the entire empire could become his consorts, including his blood relatives. However, this was not something Mary would care about, just as people mocked her, she had married with great joy at the cost of betraying her brother.
Manuel I divorced his first wife and stripped his two eldest children of their inheritance rights for her, and she had not disappointed Manuel I. Even though Manuel I was so old, she still bore him a healthy son, but this exceedingly smooth life came to an end with Manuel I’s great defeat this time.
To seek the aid of the Crusaders, they had to pay fifteen thousand gold coins and one hundred purple silk robes as reward, which already caused Empress Mary great heartache, but she had to do it, and even had to continuously disburse money from her private treasury to bribe those Crusaders.
She began to miss her brother, more intensely than ever before.
After all, her son was only six years old, and even if she could bribe ministers and generals to support her instead of Manuel I’s eldest son, Alexios, who was constantly eyeing them, it would be difficult for her alone to control the entire Byzantine Empire for the time being.
This nation was too vast; even with the education she received in Antioch, it was completely insufficient compared to the situation she was about to face, like a drop in the ocean.
But after the Emperor returned, before she could even utter a few words, she was severely reprimanded by Manuel I.
Facing an enraged Manuel I, she couldn’t say a word. She wanted to seek counsel with Bohemond, but unexpectedly, Bohemond had not returned to Constantinople with Manuel I this time. He had returned to Antioch and had no intention of meeting his sister, which filled Mary with resentment, yet she was powerless.
Finally, something happened that made her completely lose her reason. Manuel I decided to marry his daughter, Princess Anna, who had been stripped of her inheritance rights, to the knight Caesar who had saved him—Empress Mary met Caesar before the other women in the harem, and the young knight, who made the entire banquet shine for him, even she couldn’t help but look at this young man several times.
If she were the Empress Dowager now, she thought with regret, she could summon this young man to her side and have a good time with him. But unfortunately, she was still the Empress and had to maintain her reputation as pure as snow in front of the suspicious and brutal Manuel I, but immediately thereafter, she received more bad news: Manuel I intended to marry Anna to that knight.
Not only that, but he also promised that Cyprus would be Anna’s dowry. For the Empress, this was like a thunderbolt from the blue. She could hardly believe what she heard—she rushed to Manuel I to confirm, and returned to her room with a swollen face, having been slapped.
Then the precious porcelain and glassware suffered another disaster, with continuous crashing sounds.
Manuel I would not change his mind because of her, and he had even laid hands on her.
The Empress yearned more and more for someone by her side to cooperate with her wholeheartedly. She put on a veil to cover the bruises and swelling on her face, ordered her handmaid to fetch paper and a pen, and she wanted to write to her brother.
And her brother had not yet arrived in Constantinople. A few days later, Manuel I ordered her to attend, along with him, the ceremony for bidding farewell to the King of Ayyarasa Road, the two Grand Masters of the Knights Templar, and Princess Anna. The Empress was extremely reluctant, but she also knew this was not something she could decide.
On this day, she was busy with her toilette from early morning—although, like previous Empresses, she believed that natural beauty surpassed artificial beauty, and even though she had given birth to a son, she considered herself to appear younger than Anna, but she was uncertain if she could completely surpass the princess in appearance.
She fumbled somewhat clumsily with the cosmetics, from charcoal pencil to face cream, from face cream to rouge, imagining the admiration the Christian knight would show upon seeing her. She chuckled softly, placing the charcoal pencil on her brow, intending to draw her eyebrows slender and long—but before she could apply pressure, the charcoal pencil snapped with a crack. This was a common occurrence, but the Empress’s anger immediately flared, and she casually threw the charcoal pencil to the ground.
“This is the quality promised by Nicaetas!” she shouted sharply. The handmaid beside her immediately knelt in panic, but none dared to respond to the Empress. The Empress was berating Manuel I’s Chief Eunuch, one of Manuel I’s most trusted men. Although he was a eunuch, he often had a place in the Imperial Court and on the battlefield. Such a powerful figure could be insulted by the Empress at will, and they dared not get involved.
The Empress’s chest heaved violently, and it took a long time before she finally calmed down.
She glanced at the water clock in the room. Manuel I would not wait for her. If she did not appear on time, the Emperor would undoubtedly be furious.
The Empress dared not delay, and could only pick up another charcoal pencil to draw her eyebrows, and then had a handmaid come to comb her hair and help her dress.
Although she felt that nothing was quite to her liking, the rouge was not bright enough, the golden crown was a bit dull, and the inner robe was not fitting well, she still did her best to dress herself gorgeously before going out.
Today, the robe the Empress wore matched Manuel I’s. Inside was a golden tunic, and outside was a sleeveless purple-red silk cloak, embroidered with colorful flowers and adorned with gemstones and pearls as brilliant as stars.
Her most prized possession, her abundant hair, was neatly styled by the handmaids, adding a touch of dignity to her splendor.
The Empress rose and left the room. The handmaids breathed a collective sigh of relief. They dared not speak, only exchanging this rare moment of relief with their eyes.
But this tranquility was shattered when the Empress saw her stepdaughter Anna. Anna wore even more jewels than she did, and she even recognized at a glance that several of them came from Theodora’s private collection.
This was, of course, presumptuous, but Manuel I would not care about such things. He called his daughter to his side and, like a doting father, spoke sweet words to her, making empty promises. Those who didn’t know might find these words very warm, touching, bringing tears to their eyes and stirring their hearts.
But how could the Princess not know what kind of man their father was?
Although he always said, “I have married my most beloved daughter to you,” and called her “one born of the purple chamber,” even as she was about to leave Constantinople for Ayyarasa Road, he had never spoken of restoring her status as a legitimate child. In other words, she was still merely illegitimate, and because her dowry already included Cyprus, the most important chip, he had given her almost no other subsidies.
In other words, she had barely managed to assemble a ship’s worth of dowry, entirely from the gifts of two mothers: one was her birth mother, and the other was Theodora. She worried that Theodora would anger Manuel I and hoped she would take back the jewels and silk, but Theodora only sighed wearily.
“Princess Maria’s wedding followed the scale of a Byzantine Princess, with beasts, armies, furniture, and vessels—although those beasts almost took her life. And you… I mean, this marriage came too suddenly… you don’t have these, so at least in other areas, you should receive compensation.”
Manuel I described the marriage in glowing terms, yet paid no attention to the princess, merely transferring a portion of his first wife’s inheritance to her, consisting only of some clothes and gold coins, which was utterly meager. Anna did not even have a handmaid willing to accompany her.
It was laughable to think that Manuel I’s actual illegitimate daughter married a king, while the king’s legitimate daughter could only marry a knight, and their dowries were worlds apart.
Yes, Cyprus was the princess’s dowry. She and her husband would live in Cyprus in the future, and the taxes and other produce of Cyprus would also belong to them. They only needed to pay tribute to Manuel I periodically.
But undoubtedly, it would be very difficult for them at first.
Once the Crusaders’ knights obtained Cyprus, they would certainly not allow Cyprus to be a constant point of contention between themselves and the Saracens. They would need to continuously expel and repel the invading Saracen fleets, which meant that these people, once they arrived on Cyprus Island, might have to build fortresses and city walls, as well as fleets.
Theodora could not be sure if Manuel I was willing to allocate part of his fleet to his daughter and son-in-law. Perhaps Manuel I had this in mind: using Cyprus to exchange for the money, timber, craftsmen, and soldiers he needed.
Of course, the knights of the Holy Land might provide money and aid. But in that case, to whom Cyprus would belong would be uncertain. No one was willing to give without seeking reward, especially the knights of the Knights Templar, who had long coveted Cyprus. Upon hearing that Manuel I was willing to give Cyprus as a dowry to Caesar, they showed more excitement than anyone else present.
It was conceivable that if they had to hand over the reconstruction of Cyprus to these people due to financial constraints, then the princess’s husband would merely be a lord in name only in the future. But to rebuild without the help of outsiders, what aspect of it did not require money?
It was not uncommon for Crusader knights to use their wives’ dowries to build castles. For example, the former Baldwin I, though somewhat unscrupulous in his marriages, was undeniable in that without his second wife’s dowry, he could not have built the series of defenses surrounding Ayyarasa Road.
She had also heard that the young man was not only handsome but also a good person of impeccable character and morality. If that was the case, for a wife who, though much older than him, at least retained her virginity and was willing to provide him with selfless assistance in their future rule, he might at least retain a modicum of gratitude.
Thinking this, she handed over all her accumulated savings of many years to Little Anna without any hesitation.
But for Empress Mary, such an action was rather jarring. Although they were consorts of Manuel I, these women did not hold official positions or titles; their only reliance was on Manuel I’s favor. Once they grew old and lost Manuel I’s affection, and were expelled from the Grand Imperial Palace, they would not be able to carry a single coin obtained in the palace with them.
This meant that even though Theodora now possessed jewels, gold, and silk that the Empress could not rival, as long as she did not intentionally damage them, those things would still belong to Manuel I in the future, and belonging to Manuel I meant belonging to his son.
Now Theodora, with Manuel I’s tacit consent, was giving these precious treasures to Princess Anna. Empress Mary felt a surge of suffocation.
She gritted her teeth, almost wishing she could strip the jewels and silk from the princess with her eyes. Of course, this was impossible. She could only watch as Anna, surrounded by everyone, boarded a small boat, and then, amidst the laughter and encouragement of the crowd, was carried by her future husband up the rope ladder onto the large ship.
The princess extended her arms and wrapped them around Caesar’s neck, a sight that further pierced the Empress’s eyes. She was indignant all the way, describing it as “a monkey carrying a fat pig.”
Upon returning, she constantly complained about the matter to Manuel I.
Cyprus, it was Cyprus! How could you give Cyprus to a Crusader knight? That will all belong to your son, your son’s! She failed to notice Manuel I’s expression, nor the expressions of those around him, especially his stepson Alexios. Her complaints ended with another slap from Manuel I.
The Empress immediately burst into tears, stomping her feet as she ran back to her palace. However, this time she did not smash things in anger; items like golden cups and silver platters, even if broken, could be hammered back into their original shape, but those precious porcelain and glassware could not.
Manuel I was not so stingy as to begrudge such a small expenditure, but their son had lost so many jewels and Cyprus. The Empress had to think more for her son. “You have such a heartless father,” she wept, “he gave away what was yours, Cyprus.”
She indulged in self-pity until dusk, then heard her eunuch report that her brother Bohemond had arrived in Constantinople. Given the timing, he must have set sail immediately after receiving her letter; perhaps his ship had even crossed paths with Anna’s ship on the sea.
However, the Empress had no leisure to think about these matters at this moment. She sprang up and urgently prompted the eunuch to bring her brother into the palace before sunset. She wanted to meet him. The eunuch hurried away. But when he returned, there was only one person. He reported to the Empress that her brother had indeed arrived, but the moment he entered Constantinople, he was summoned by Manuel I to handle another matter.
“Another matter? Is there anything more important than Cyprus?” the Empress shrieked.
Yes, for example, an envoy from the Pope of the Roman Church.
