Just as Rostislav was pondering his selfish thoughts, Gvaran, who had been waiting quietly behind the Prince, suddenly leaned close to the Prince's ear and told him that there were more people to meet and that the audience time was approaching.
This made Rostislav instantly slap his forehead. It was true, how could he have forgotten such an important matter? Receiving audiences was something he did every day.
Audiences were very important to the Moscow regime because they were an opportunity for the Moscow Prince to have direct contact with common subjects.
A lord needed to maintain long-term contact with common subjects to establish authority among them, avoid being sidelined, and provide rulings or resources.
Then the Prince handed over the affairs here to the head of the printing workshop, pushed open the door, and walked towards Rostislav Palace. The Captain of the Guard standing outside immediately followed him.
However, what Rostislav did not notice was that his Captain of the Guard and the head of his personal retinue looked at each other with somewhat hostile eyes before continuing onward.
But even if he had seen it, he wouldn't have said anything. This hostility between the two actually represented their competition, and maintaining this competition was good, as it helped maintain the combat effectiveness of the troops.
In essence, the personal retinue was also a Bodyguard Unit, and there should not have been such great animosity between the two teams.
However, because Rostislav had always used the personal cavalry unit as a single entity, the personal cavalry became more and more like a unit independent of the Bodyguard Unit, and the personal retinue members themselves also regarded themselves as an independent unit.
Since most of the personal retinue were young people, many in the Bodyguard Unit, which was filled with veterans, somewhat looked down on these young people.
As for the young people, they had an uncooperative attitude towards the veterans, completely ignoring these seniors, and if they fought together on the battlefield, they would compete even more aggressively. Over time, both sides developed some hostility towards each other.
This was an unforeseen outcome when Rostislav formed the personal retinue team back then, a case of unintended consequences.
However, after he discovered that the positive effects this brought, namely the effect on motivating soldiers' training, far outweighed the negative impacts of that hostility, he simply ignored it and let them develop.
Moreover, the hostility between them precisely encouraged them to fight harder. After all, for warriors, the slaughter on the battlefield is always the most convincing.
Anyway, whether it was the Bodyguard Unit or the personal retinue, they were both extremely loyal to him, the Prince.
And he had never shown any bias in the relationship and treatment between the two, so the loyalty of these two units to him had not wavered because of it.
Soon, Rostislav passed through the antechamber with the huge aurochs skull, entered the audience chamber under the salutes of the guards, and sat in his seat.
The important military and political figures of Moscow stood around Rostislav, awaiting the Prince's orders and instructions. They were all dressed in exquisite robes to display their respective authority.
As the Moscow Prince raised his hand, the Captain of the Guard immediately announced the entrance of the audience members, and the door to the waiting room opened.
The first to enter was the person Rostislav specifically wanted to see: Yegor Ivanovich Sherikhov of the Rostov Camp.
Yegor was a veteran under Rostislav. He had experienced the baptism of the Hungary war, and shortly after returning to Moscow, he was transferred to the Rostov Camp to serve as a backbone.
Amidst Gvaran's booming voice, a sturdy young man walked in. His body bore the marks of long-term exposure to the elements, and his eyes belonged to an explorer and a warrior.
Behind him followed two young men, carrying precious furs from the East as gifts for the Moscow Prince.
Rostislav was very sensitive to such people, as Northeast Rus' never lacked this type of individual, and such people could always accomplish things that ordinary people could not.
These daring and tenacious individuals were also the kind of subjects Rostislav liked most, because they were always willing to take risks and explore for profit, helping themselves while also helping the Prince.
And there were no signs of illness or malnutrition on Yegor's body, indicating that although he had lived a life of comfort since childhood, he had always worked hard with adults, probably spending a lot of time traveling in the wilderness.
This was the first time Rostislav had met the second son of The Sherikhov Family. Yegor's face greatly resembled his father's.
The Moscow Prince had seen Old Ivan from afar during the aurochs hunt. In Rostislav's words, that man was as strong as an old tree stump.
At that time, Rostislav had even drunk with this old man and had intended to chat more with this tenacious elder, but unfortunately, there were too many nobles that day, and countless people were waiting for Rostislav, hoping to share a drink with the Prince.
The Sherikhov Family was a legend in Northeast Rus'. Old Ivan was merely the son of a tanner, yet he built an immense family fortune through his own efforts, elevating his family to the ranks of the powerful in Yaroslavl.
When Rostislav came to Northeast Rus', he had heard of this family's reputation. At that time, they were praised as a typical success story of Northeast Rus', and their admirers were everywhere.
After all, Old Ivan, with just a few friends, dared to venture into lands populated by pagan tribes, exploring many untouched territories.
They befriended the locals, traded furs with them, established trading posts, and gradually built their commercial empire, even establishing new frontier fortresses and attracting colonists to settle there.
At the same time, this family also took on the responsibility of Christian expansion. Their family's priest established an entity called the East Bank Church in the newly opened territory.
Rostislav had heard Bishop Luka speak of this church, and in the Bishop's words, he had been a bishop for so many years, and it was the first time he had encountered such a hotbed of heresy.
Even Bishop Luka, who thought he had become unperturbed by everything due to the myriad dual beliefs of Rus', was like this, which showed how… diverse the composition of that East Bank Church was.
However, Rostislav did not care about any of this. What Northeast Rus' needed was not some strict adherence to faith.
Rather, it was the spread of faith, no matter how distorted this faith became in the end, it was important to spread it first.
Rostislav had a very good, excellent impression of The Sherikhov Family. He liked such pioneering families, and it was precisely because of their existence that Northeast Rus' could prosper.
Moreover, this fellow's eastward expansion actually encroached upon Bulgar's sphere of influence. Rostislav strongly supported this; he needed someone to act as a vanguard to see if the Bulgar people would react.
Therefore, Rostislav agreed to Sherikhov's various material requests to Moscow whenever possible. He strongly supported The Sherikhov Family's pioneering endeavors.
And The Sherikhov Family was also very sensible in sending their second son, Yegor, to serve under Rostislav.
Of course, this young man claimed that he joined the Prince's army because he wanted to see the world himself.
But no matter what he thought, his arrival was part of building mutual trust and was inseparable from his family.
Didn't he now bring his family's gifts to visit Rostislav?
Yegor faced the Moscow Prince and respectfully bowed to him with composure.
And with his slight bow, the insignia of the Assault Knight on his chest reflected a bit of light, which was the symbol of a Moscow officer.
"Greetings, Lord Rostislav, I represent my family in presenting gifts to you."
As he spoke, two attendants holding precious furs stepped forward, and the Prince's servants, who had been long prepared, immediately accepted the gifts.
"I have received your gift, Yegor of The Sherikhov Family. What are your family's requests of Moscow? Do you need further material and manpower support from us?"
Subconsciously, Rostislav assumed Yegor was there to request support. Rostislav was very aware of how difficult pioneering was.
However, he did not notice that Yegor's expression was very unnatural, as if he was suppressing something.
And Yegor's subsequent answer, from someone serving in the Prince's army, greatly surprised the Prince.