The Truth

Târgoviște, the expanded Curtea Domnească Palace looked magnificent.

Stefan admired the grand palace with a hint of envy, and under the guidance of a servant, he arrived at the Duke's reception room.

Here, Vlad dismissed everyone, preparing for a secret conversation with his cousin Stefan, who had relieved the siege of Târgoviște.

"Vlad, your body seems to be recovering well."

Stefan was in a very good mood.

Although he had anticipated the strength of the rebels, he hadn't expected this disorganized rabble to be even weaker than Peter Aron.

Stefan observed Vlad and found that his complexion wasn't too bad, indicating a rapid recovery from his injuries.

A rare smile appeared on Vlad's usually cold and ruthless face, and he said with some regret, "Yes, I didn't expect you to act so quickly.

I had originally wanted to personally lead the army to crush these damned rebels after my body recovered a bit."

Stefan looked at Vlad with a hint of helplessness and laughed, "Vlad, are you still sticking to your principles?"

Vlad's expression suddenly turned serious, and he said earnestly, "I have said this to the Saxons, the Wallachia nobles, and to you.

When a person or a prince is strong, he can make peace as he pleases.

But when he is weak, a stronger person will do to him what he wants.

This is a truth I learned from the Emperor."

"So you've always refused to show any weakness?"

While Stefan agreed with Vlad's words, he felt his approach was a bit too extreme.

Vlad sighed softly and said, "It's a pity you still didn't listen to my advice. Now the Emperor has seen my weakness, and who knows what excessive demands he will make in the future.

Do you know, the moment the rebellion broke out, the Emperor wanted me to exchange a reduction in Wallachia's autonomy for his reinforcements.

Thankfully, I refused. Otherwise, the Emperor would definitely turn Wallachia into Hungary's fifth governorship, and perhaps even your Moldavia..."

Stefan also frowned slightly upon hearing this, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "Perhaps the Emperor does have some ambition for our lands? But I feel his ambition isn't great.

You should know that just managing his current territory is already causing the Emperor immense pain.

His territory stretches from the Black Sea all the way to the distant western coast, so our land probably isn't that appealing to him.

Moreover, the Emperor still needs us to deal with the Ottoman, Poland, and Lithuania, so there's no need to worry too much."

Vlad glared at Stefan and said indifferently, "Your territory is naturally protected by the Carpathian Mountains, so you only worry about threats from northern nomads.

But to my west is the covetous Hunyadi, and to my east is the ill-intentioned Frederick. How can I not be extra careful?"

"This..."

Stefan didn't know how to persuade Vlad. It seemed that due to too much killing, he had begun to view everyone with suspicion, even the Emperor.

So, Stefan could only change the subject: "Have those captives revealed any useful information?"

At the mention of this, Vlad's expression immediately became incredibly gloomy, and his murderous aura even made Stefan feel a little apprehensive.

"The Emperor's warning to me was correct; the rebels were indeed backed by the damned Hunyadi,"

Vlad's tone was icy. If Hunyadi appeared before him, he would immediately draw his sword and fight him to the death.

"In his letter to the Saxons of Brașov and Sibiu, he accused me of 'having no intention of remaining loyal to the King of Hungary,' and incited them to provide weapons and financial aid to Dan."

Stefan's expression changed slightly, and he said with some headache, "Brașov and Sibiu... Aren't those the German immigrant cities that the Emperor pays special attention to? Could it be that they..."

Vlad nodded lightly: "Brașov rejected Hunyadi's request, but Sibiu provided a lot of support to the rebels. They even tried to win over my brother to conspire against me."

"Hiss."

Upon hearing this, Stefan's expression finally became serious. He was now worried that Vlad might impale his own brother if things went wrong.

"He must have strongly rejected the invitation from those Saxons, right?"

"Hmph, of course, otherwise you should have seen his head by now."

Vlad's indifferent tone made it sound like he was talking about a trivial matter.

"Besides inciting the Saxons, Hunyadi himself sent some troops, disguised as mercenaries – that spineless fellow confessed everything."

Stefan, of course, knew that Vlad was referring to Dan.

In terms of seniority, Dan was Vlad's paternal uncle, and also had some familial ties to Stefan.

However, in Romania, killing fathers, sons, and brothers was commonplace, let alone an uncle who openly rebelled.

It was truly rare for someone like Emperor Laszlo to not only refrain from punishing a rebellious paternal uncle but also entrust him with important responsibilities.

However, that might not be entirely accurate, because Emperor's other paternal uncle, Albrecht VI, the younger brother of Frederick, the Regent of Bulgaria, was executed by the Emperor for rebellion.

Perhaps the Emperor dealt with his uncles entirely based on his mood.

If he was in a good mood, he might forgive them; if he was in a bad mood, there would most likely be bloodshed.

Stefan rubbed the ring on his hand, observing Vlad's expression, and after a moment of consideration, he said, "What do you plan to... do about this?

Those Saxons, and Hunyadi, are probably not easy to deal with, right?"

Vlad slammed his fist on the armrest, causing a jolt of pain from his wound.

However, he seemed oblivious, only staring at his father's portrait on the wall, and said in a deep voice, "Janos killed my father and my eldest brother. Now his son wants to kill me.

Hmph, I will fight the Hunyadi Family to the death!

As for those Saxons... Do you think the Emperor will uphold justice for me?"

Stefan wanted to nod, but considering Laszlo's tolerance towards the German immigrants in Transylvania, he could only answer Vlad with silence.

"Then it seems I will have to seek justice for myself."

Vlad revealed a cruel smile, a venomous thought appearing in his mind.

"You're not thinking of raiding the Saxon settlements in Transylvania, are you?"

Stefan asked worriedly, frowning.

Vlad shook his head in denial: "I'm not that foolish; I won't openly challenge the Emperor's authority.

However, there are still many Saxon merchants in Wallachia..."

Stefan opened his mouth, but ultimately said no more.

For someone like Vlad, who repaid every grievance, an offense would surely provoke an immediate reaction, never waiting for the future.

He only hoped that this matter wouldn't escalate too much, otherwise, the relationship with the Emperor might suffer significant damage.

"What are you going to do with Dan?"

"Originally, I should have subjected him to impalement, but as an important witness to Hunyadi Laszlo's crimes, I plan to send him to see the Emperor," Vlad was quite interested in the Emperor's feud with Hunyadi. "Perhaps if the Emperor is pleased, he might decide not to favor those Saxons anymore, and I will definitely take my stakes to Transylvania to carefully select sacrifices."

"This..."

The conversation concluded in Stefan's silence.

Dan was secretly escorted by a team dispatched by Vlad via the Danube River waterway to Budapest.

Afterward, the Wallachian and Moldavian armies joined forces and marched southwest, intending to clear out the remaining rebels.

Vlad also seemed to plan to take the opportunity to reclaim the important passes and fortresses in the Severin region that belonged to the Hunyadi Family.

But that's a story for another time.