The entire outskirts of Constantinople are densely covered with tents of all colors, and 100,000 pilgrims are squatting in them, most of them are countrymen from Germany. Majestic walls, towering aqueducts, gold-tiled churches and gates, and countless ships moored in the bay.

But all this they could only see on the surface, and the pilgrims could only pass on the legends of the luxurious life of the Greeks in the city: it is said that the Greeks, even the poorest citizens, had no less than ten silk clothes at home, and their emperor would reward the citizens with countless grains and wine every six months, as long as they could shout long live to the emperor's guard of honor when the ceremony was held in the palace.

It's really envious of everyone.

Of course, all the camps were under the strict supervision of the garrison in the palace, even the Roman outpost in front of the palace of Juquintina was like a great enemy, everyone knew that this group of pilgrims was a gangster brought from the Rhine Valley and more remote places, uneducated and unprincipled, killed Jews and Hungarians on the way, robbed anything like locusts, did not like to buy things in the Varangian camp at exorbitant prices, and the only means of bargaining was to use knives and axes, for which there have been several cases of theft and murder.

A cavalryman of the Inner Palace Guard, dressed in scarlet clothes, came to the camp with a letter, met Peter, a hermit standing in the midst of the crowd to perform a confessional ceremony, and then dismounted and saluted, and handed the letter into his hands.

Peter walked back to his tent, and when he opened the envelope, he couldn't help frowning, and at this time Gottschalke, Folcher, Walter, Reinold, and other key members rushed over. Ask exactly. "We are on our way from Sofia to the imperial capital. Neither met the Emperor His Majesty of the Greeks. ”

"There's nothing strange about that, doesn't it mean that Your Majesty is sitting in Adrianople? Military affairs are busy. Perhaps after he put down the heretical rebellion, he would return to Malaysia to meet us and others. Knight Walter explained.

"But Brachna Palace, summon me in." As he spoke, Peter circulated the letter to the rest of the people, and everyone was silent, since the emperor was not in the capital, then who issued this unsigned summons document, and what was the purpose? Now the pilgrimage procession is, after all, on the territory of the Greek Empire of the Orthodox Church. It can be said that any incident involving the Komnenos court will become delicate and tricky.

But Fourche and Rainold, however, tried their best to persuade Peter to agree to this, for they wished to have a closer relationship with the royal family of the Greeks, and the last time they had met the emperor's brother at Fort Sophia, they had been made a high official of the court, and had been rewarded with many coins and silks, and this time they should do everything in their power to curry favor with the royal family of Komnenos. It's likely to take off. "What does it matter if you go to the Holy Sepulchre or not? I heard that now the Greek emperor is reusing capable foreigners, who are high-ranking officials. They couldn't help but think so.

"But before parting, Gawain tried to persuade me. Don't get involved in anything related to Komnenos. Peter remembered his friend's earnest admonition, and spoke worriedly of the dull clouds in the sky above the Empress of Ten Thousand Cities. He felt that a great catastrophe was about to happen.

"What does that hillbilly from the North know." Forser was furious, "He even owns his castle territory. and the pedigree are not clear, besides, he is a subordinate of the emperor. It was because we were jealous that we would be more favored by the emperor, and deliberately made some rumors to disturb the whole pilgrimage procession. ”

At this time, Gottschalke became annoyed, and with a sharp and crazy voice, he questioned the two knights, Fourche and Reinold, "You are the scoundrels of the land of the Franks, and you dare to slander the great Lord of the Holy Priesthood!" ”

"That can only show that now the Pope is becoming more and more indiscriminate, and even the dead wild badgers can listen to the peasants and canonize them, not to mention a divine priesthood." As he spoke, Rainold scuffled with Gottschalke, who stepped forward. Then the whole tent was full of men from all sides with rude scolding, some striking each other with sticks, some smashing anything they could see, and the holy geese and holy chickens in the cages let out frightened cries and feathers flew everywhere.

"Stop!" Old and respected knight Walter. Sanzavar gripped the hilt of his sword and scolded majestically.

And Peter raised his crutches as well, "Don't get infighting. There is still a long way to go to the Holy Sepulchre, and we are all brothers and sisters. Since there is a summoning in the palace, for the sake of unity, I am willing to go and ask what is going on. The scene fell silent at once, and Fourchet and Rainold smiled and went up to Peter to ask him to take them with him to take up the "guards," and "as for the camp, leave it to the noble Knight of Walter." ”

In front of the grand Jukuntina Palace, the Byzantine military judge wearing a white cloak took the summons letter handed by Peter, checked the palace seal on it, and immediately stood in awe, "Please rest in the palace building for a while, and tomorrow you can go to the palace along the Golden Gate to receive an interview." ”

After nightfall, in the rooms of the palatial Juquintina Palace, Forchet and Rainold grew their mouths, and looked in amazement at the various exquisite ivory miniature carvings and lavish frescoes, "This is amazing, the furnishings that connect us are like this, and we don't know what the palace is like!" ”

"I heard that the emperor and empress sat on a throne made of pure gold, and ate the roast meat offered by the chefs of the court, and even the roast meat was wrapped in silk, and the emperor and empress ate it with their hands, and the servants knelt down with gold plates and dripped down the oil and water, so that the supreme clothes could not be stained."

After listening to Reinold's explanation, Forcher kept nodding in amazement and understanding.

"Look, look." Soon Forchet fell to the window, pointed out, and whispered, and when Reinolds heard the noise, they came over - and in the light of the lamp, they saw in the courtyard a figure dressed as a Roman court official, holding a large plate, full of brilliant gold sand, piled high, and kneeling in front of him in front of a bureaucrat, "Your Majesty has set aside a drop of his vast gold and rewarded you, and I hope that you will continue to do your best for the empire in the future." ”

This scene almost made the saliva of the two of them almost drool, seeing that this bureaucrat is at most a small clerk in the customs, and the Greek emperor has a reward in his hand, which is enough for them to work hard for several lifetimes.

Peter, who had been sitting in his chair in contemplation, shook his head secretly when he saw the two of them, but he was thinking about what would happen in the Brachna Palace.

On the second day, on the arched bridge of the Jukuntina Palace, the soldiers with banners led the group of people riding donkeys and horses into the Golden Gate, and in front of the gate stood several soldiers of the Varangian Guard, armed with swords and spears, and when they saw Peter, they stopped him and said to the soldiers in the palace, "The edict from the palace is that the Venerable Hermit Monk should follow us." (To be continued.) )