Laszlo's return finally made the Empress Dowager happy, especially after Laszlo pushed all the blame onto Old Uncle Ulrich II—as Laszlo's chief advisor, it was perfectly reasonable for him to take the fall for Laszlo, wasn't it?
While enjoying her son's company, the Empress Dowager was also planning to settle scores with her cousin, Ulrich II, who had "kidnapped" her son to Hungary.
The mother and son were enjoying themselves, and a world where no one was hurt was achieved.
Poor Ulrich, who had been sold out, was still in the dark, busy preparing for the Emperor's grand wedding.
The celebration of the Emperor's election and Laszlo's new marriage, these two joyous events, happened to coincide, diluting the sorrow of the old Emperor's recent death.
Nobles from all over Europe were continuously invited to attend the wedding, among whom the most distinguished guest was Laszlo's brother-in-law, Charles. His inheritance of the Duchy of Burgundy was already a certainty, and his visit this time was to establish a good relationship with Laszlo and prepare for future expansion.
Now, the young Charles had already begun to show his true colors as a warmonger, very fond of leading from the front on the battlefield and bravely slaying enemies.
He had not yet been given the nickname "the Bold," but it was estimated that someone would call him that soon. Laszlo preferred to call him "Iron Head."
His greatest passion was to attack and annex the weak but rich Low Countries around him.
Unfortunately, these Low Countries were all members of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Emperor had an obligation to protect them. If Burgundy rashly attacked a Holy Roman Empire member, a war with the Emperor would be unavoidable.
However, if he could establish a good relationship with the Emperor and secure the Emperor's neutrality or even support, then the Low Countries, that juicy piece of meat, would be free for Burgundy to feast on, and even Holy Roman Empire vassal states closer to the Imperial center would not be beyond their coveting.
For the great ideal of a Greater Burgundy rebuilding Lotharingia, Charles felt it necessary to forge a deep friendship with his brother-in-law, Laszlo.
Coincidentally, for Burgundy's rich and vast territory and to gain a stronghold against France, Laszlo also wanted to get along well with Charles.
The two quickly became as close as brothers from different fathers and mothers, which greatly surprised Laszlo's eldest sister Anne, who had come with Charles.
Laszlo also entertained many other guests, mostly princes or envoys from various parts of the Empire. Brandenburg Elector Frederick II even personally came to Vienna to show his support, which surprised Laszlo. It seemed that the Hohenzollern Family's determination to cling to the Habsburg Family was very firm.
Envoys from the King of France and the Iberian countries also came with gifts. The envoy from the King of Portugal brought many treasures.
The King of Portugal was not as indifferent to his sister's marriage as he appeared on the surface.
The last guest to arrive was Janos Hunyadi. After handling the border defense work, he had been stationed in Budapest and finally arrived in Vienna the day before the wedding.
He clearly was an experienced DDL war god.
Laszlo brought Matthias and Ulrich to visit Janos together.
Inside the room, Laszlo, Janos, and Ulrich sat around the table, while Matthias served tea and poured water for each of them. He was now quite skilled at this kind of work, having been smoothed out by life.
Strangely, there was no hint of the joy of an upcoming marriage in Laszlo's expression; instead, he seemed somewhat worried.
Janos observed silently. He could probably guess why the Emperor was unhappy. After dealing with the Wallachia matter earlier, Laszlo had taken the opportunity to give Janos a hint.
Janos expressed understanding for the Emperor's thoughts and was willing to offer some help, such as the more than five hundred Transylvania cavalry he had brought to Vienna this time, commanded by his eldest son, Laszlo Hunyadi, but this was already the limit.
If more troops were to be deployed, it would affect the border defenses.
As for the Emperor's incorporating his own wedding into his scheme, Janos could only lament the terrifying nature of this young monarch.
The original protagonist of this wedding was not the beautiful Leonor, nor even Laszlo, but an absent guest—the Bohemian Regent Iri.
Laszlo specifically asked Matthias to help him copy five sincerely worded invitation letters, hoping Iri would come to Vienna to attend his wedding, and repeatedly swore to guarantee Iri's safety.
However, Iri had still not arrived by this time. The Bohemian side sent a Catholic nobleman, Ulrich II von Rosenberg, who brought news that Iri was unwell.
Anyone could see that this was merely an excuse.
There was an ironclad rule in the Holy Roman Empire: if you believed the Emperor's promise, you were not far from death.
The Czech (Bohemia) priest Huss was invited to attend the Council of Constance back then. Emperor Sigismund (Laszlo's maternal grandfather) swore to guarantee his safety, but Huss was immediately arrested upon his arrival. He demanded that the Emperor fulfill his oath, but Sigismund chose to stand by.
Poor Huss was burned alive as a heretic in the central square of Constance.
It was due to their hatred for Sigismund's betrayal and their urgent desire for religious reform that the Bohemians spontaneously gathered, calling themselves followers of Huss, and launched the brutal Hussite Wars.
Laszlo actually wanted to try his luck and replicate this story, only the target became Iri, the current leader of the Hussite.
The timing of this wedding was just right, and Laszlo simply used it as a banquet to lure Iri, attempting to create a bloody wedding of his own.
However, Iri had clearly become a master of deceit; he simply did not believe in the young Emperor Laszlo's integrity and bottom line, and firmly refused to fall into the trap.
He succeeded, and Laszlo was now extremely displeased. If Iri had willingly walked into the trap, Laszlo might have been able to avoid a war that was bound to be bloody and cruel.
But if Iri was unwilling to comply, then there was only one way...
"Ulrich, how is the guard's reorganization coming along?" Laszlo's eyes were stern. Now, there was only one path left: to militarily crown himself King of Bohemia.
"The Austro-Hungarian Army has been assembled. The two extra squadrons have been merged into a large company to serve as your guard and reserve force on the battlefield."
"Good. After the wedding, bring the generals you recommended to me. I want to personally assess their abilities."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Janos, I plan to hand over my guards to your son for unified command, making him my guard captain. Do you think this arrangement is appropriate?"
"It is his honor to serve you, Your Majesty. I think that child would still be troubled if he could not gain honor; you do not need to care for him too much."
"Good." Hearing this, the dark side of Laszlo's heart resurfaced.
You said it, no special care needed.
On the battlefield, swords have no eyes, and dying accidentally is quite normal, isn't it? Especially since that Laszlo Hunyadi is an incredibly arrogant fellow.
In the original timeline, Janos died of illness in Belgrade in 1456.
Soon after, Laszlo V, at the suggestion of his maternal cousin and chief advisor Ulrich, raised an army from Vienna and marched into Transylvania, attempting to strip the Hunyadi Family of their fiefdoms.
Laszlo Hunyadi also didn't back down, directly leading his army in a counterattack, defeating and capturing Laszlo V and Ulrich II. Ulrich was brutally murdered by him, after which he kidnapped Laszlo V, attempting to control the princes by holding the Emperor hostage.
Later, under pressure from various parties, Laszlo V was released. Not long after his release, Laszlo V, holding a grudge, plotted and killed Laszlo Hunyadi.
The Hungarian nobles could not tolerate the capricious Laszlo V and began a civil war. Laszlo fled to Prague, was soon imprisoned by Iri, and died in Prague.
The Hungarians elected Janos's second son, Matthias, as King of Hungary. Coincidentally, Matthias had gone to Bohemia with Laszlo V, and Iri also detained him in Prague.
It was only after Matthias married Iri's daughter and agreed to support him in establishing himself as King of Bohemia that Iri released Matthias to return home.
Of course, this world has changed a lot now, but it doesn't prevent Laszlo (the protagonist) from being displeased with the other Laszlo (Janos's eldest son).
This Laszlo Hunyadi could be considered to have suffered an undeserved calamity.
Compared to Iri, who was destined to die in any timeline, he was actually half an honest man, only thinking of taking over his father's career and continuing to guard the kingdom's eastern border.
It's just that he didn't have his father Janos's sky-high prestige and connections. No king would allow a family to control nearly half of the kingdom's territory for a long time.
However, this timeline is slightly different. Albrecht II's additional decade or so of life led to a successful reorganization of Hungary. The king's direct territories far exceeded all other nobles. Janos was merely the most powerful among the many lords in the Transylvania region, and the Hunyadi Family was not as powerful as in the original world, capable of directly confronting and defeating the king.
Laszlo had thought of many ways to weaken the Hunyadi Family, such as directly enforcing equal inheritance, or secretly eliminating Laszlo Hunyadi while nurturing Matthias, and finally creating "Gundam Janos Unit 2"—Matthias.
These were all methods Laszlo was considering, and overall, he leaned towards the second one.
However, this war was mainly to eliminate Iri, that cunning traitor and rebel, so he would let Janos's son off this time. He still greatly respected this White Knight.
Laszlo temporarily abandoned the idea of plotting to kill Laszlo Hunyadi.