Immediately after the death of Andrei, men of the party opposed to him in Suzdal and Rostoff began to ask: “What are we to do, now that our prince is gone? With whom can we replace him? Ryazan is our neighbor; if Ryazan princes attack, what shall we do without a leader? Shall we not take a Ryazan prince? The wife of their ruling prince is a daughter of Rostislav, son of Yuri Dolgoruki; she is a relative of our late prince. Let us find a prince in Ryazan; that is better.” The boyars sent confidants to Vladimir, who declared to the friends of Andrei: “Ye are not many in number; ye would better not oppose Rostoff and Suzdal; your city is still a dependency. It is wise for you to agree with us. If ye hold to the plans of Andrei, we will meet you with war to the death. The Ryazan princes may also attack you.” Volunteers from Rostoff and Suzdal hovered round, as it were, to support all these statements. In Vladimir the “smallest people,” as they called themselves, and those who were not in the boyar conspiracy, gave answer in this form: “Whose is with you, is not on our side.” The boyars wanted a prince who would not punish those who had caused the murder of Andrei. They wanted a prince who would be an opponent of all that Andrei had established, hence they selected two nephews of Andrei, two orphans, sons of Rostislav, Andrei’s elder brother, who died early. In Ryazan itself, where the conspiracy had originated, there was joy, but words were few: no discussion was needed; all knew exactly what they wanted. In Rostoff and Suzdal the plan existed even before Andrei was assassinated. Glaib of Ryazan, when envoys came to him to ask for a prince in place of Andrei, was greatly delighted. To those envoys he added others, and all went to Chernigoff, where the orphans were living. When the envoys appeared before Sviatoslav, he saw at once the meaning of the embassy and was not pleased with the project of choosing the orphans. He insisted that Mihalko and Vsevolod, brothers of Andrei, who were in Chernigoff, should go to Vladimir in company with Mystislav and Yaropolk (the orphans). On hearing of this, the Rostoff and Suzdal boyars were angry, and sent a message saying that Mihalko and Vsevolod were not to come nearer than Moscow. Mihalko paid no attention to the message, but hastened to Vladimir, where the people received him with gladness, and prepared for a siege by the boyars. Meanwhile Glaib of Ryazan, bringing Rostoff and Suzdal forces, with Mystislav and Yaropolk, attacked the city. A siege of seven weeks brought the people to famine and a surrender on promise that no harm should meet any man. Mihalko and Vsevolod went back to Chernigoff, and the new princes, after hearing the statement of the Vladimir men: “Not against you have we struggled, but against the boyars of Rostoff, who boasted: we will scorch you, and then send a posadnik to rule. Ye are our slaves, O ye masons and carpenters,” took oath to give kindness and peace to the people.