"What a beautiful blue sky, what a beautiful air, what a beautiful water." Under the canopy, Ingrid, raising her beautiful turquoise, fox-like eyes, gazed in revok at the narrow sky sandwiched between the buildings of Venice, and she and Gawain were sitting side by side in the same narrow boat, parading through the same narrow, huge S-shaped canal of Cassiano that stretched all the way through Venice.

Compared with the city of Rome and Constantinople, the city of Venice has no plan to speak of, and cannot have a plan, all its boundaries do not depend on the wisdom of architects and designers, but only on the silt after the sea recedes, the six areas and the entire core of St. Mark's Square are all irregular shapes, all Venetians consider themselves subjects of the sea and nature, but never willing to submit to it completely, this asymmetry and imbalance of character, dominate the city and this community.

The sun is getting brighter and brighter, the reflections of various buildings are projected in the clear canal, the oars are paddling rapidly, and all the patterns are as bright as unbroken gems, gray, white, blue, emerald, all kinds of colors are playing with people because of the refraction of fog and sunlight, playing with people in the game of light and shadow.

Gawain and Inglina had just entered from the large pier at the mouth of the canal, where there stood two huge monuments, one dedicated to St. Theodore and the other to St. Mark's Lion, "But Gawain look, the statue in this temple is so strange? On the bow of the ship, Ingrid pointed to a white building on the shore and asked.

It was a three-storey building in series, and the four pillars on the outer wall were carved into the shape of a merchant with a round hat, and Gao Wen, who had already read the text, looked at the inscription intently, and explained to the widow like a guide, "The Levant." Presumably to commemorate the city's fortune from the Syrian coast. ”

"Not Bowen, I'm asking about that one." As the building retreated, Inglina pointed curiously and anxiously to the sculpture on the top of the building, "Yes, if I'm not mistaken, it's Mercury, the pagan god of commerce." It's naked, but it's wearing boots" Gawain laughed after saying this, it seems that even the religious philosophy of the Venetians implements the absolute imbalance of "there are no absolutes" - worship both Christ and the sea, and even worship the foundation of the state, which is commerce, even to pagan gods.

At the small pier, Gawain took out a few small Byzantine silver coins from the money bag hanging from his belt and gave them to the captain. Then he took Inglina by the wrist and went up to the streets that were unusually narrow by colonnades and bazaars, "there are really people here," the widow continued, and it seemed that people of all colors had gathered in the city, but Gawain noted: even so, Venice was different from Constantinople in that it was bustling but not noisy, busy but not cluttered. All the men and women rush past you, and even the bargaining in the market is very small and quiet. Everyone is like an ant colony from another world, forming this city built on the sea and mud and sand.

In front of a stone tower standing in front of a small square, Gawain saw the bull on it, and pointed to Ingrina, and understood that the place where the governor of Chania had said had arrived.

As a result, under that stone tower. About a dozen men in black robes and white feathered hats immediately surrounded them, saluted the two very politely, and then accepted the letter handed by Gawain. After the inquest was correct, he introduced himself, "We are the brotherhood of the Palpara neighborhood here, responsible for maintaining the traffic security of the city, and of course there are also foreign guests, and the accommodation of your husband and wife is in the tower mansion near the sea here. With that, the Brotherhood gave Gawain a seal document that appeared to be a "Foreign Friend Credential", "The Governor Archon will take time out of his time as soon as possible to meet with you in secret, Your Excellency the First Sword Nobleman of the Empire and the Priesthood of Barry, I wish you and your wife a pleasant day." Everyone took off their hats and said goodbye to Gawain without humility or arrogance.

Then Gawain felt that the shadow quickly cast over the square, swallowing up all the remaining colors, turning the buildings, the square, and the memorial pillars all a dull gray, and his eyes looked up, and the blackened stratus clouds, coming from the other side of the city against the shore, without the slightest stagnation, seemed to be about to rain, which is a common thing in this kind of harbor city, and the weather is not complete.

On the east side of the square, on an open ground, Ingridina saw a strange sight: a group of people, setting up all kinds of improvised tents, happened to sit there densely, and when the surrounding vendors began to retreat their stalls to the first floor of their house, the group of people did not pay attention to it, and remained silent.

And the place where they gathered was in front of the waterfront mansion that the Brotherhood had just identified

Seeing that Ingrid was a little worried, Gawain walked over and stared at a large sailor-like man sitting at the front with his knees crossed, the other party's face was a little flat, but this kind of appearance was common in the Peloponnese and Asia Minor, "Hey, you." ”

"Hey!" Who would have thought that the big man was even more fierce, and as he spoke, he shook the thick linen jacket he was wearing, decorated with small pieces of iron, "Don't talk to me, you noble-looking, we are Skiavons, don't defile your noble breath, sir." ”

"Yes, you're a Skiavon, living on the shore of Dalmatia, hired specifically by the city of Venice as an oarsman, aren't you?" It seems that Gawain is very familiar with the story of this area.

Skiavoni, in fact, is the Venetian word for "Slavs", hundreds of years ago in the tide of barbarian migration, the Balkans, Greece, the Adriatic Sea became a paradise for Slavs in the south, many of them became bandits, attacking the Byzantine Roman Empire, and some of them became pirates and wreaked havoc on the Adriatic Sea. The city of Venice also built fortified levees around the lagoon, called the "Skiavone Embankment", to defend against their invasions, and on the other hand, it also paid them to join its own fleet.

"Alright then, let's go inside." Gawain got up, shrugged, and said to Ingrid.

The big Han Nahan looked at Gawain, and then at the mansion they were referring to, with a surprised expression on his face, "Hey, this nobleman, what's your name?" ”

But Gawain smiled, "We can't continue the conversation, so as not to pollute our respective air." ”

Suddenly, the rain fell on Ingridina's hair and fine clothes, "Quick, Gawain, it's already raining!" ”

Then, holding hands, the two of them ran into the front of the mansion, no matter how magnificent the Venetian house was, but it did not occupy a large area, let alone a huge front yard, the back door of the mansion was stunned against the street and the square, and then when they walked under the canopy, they were already half drenched. (To be continued......)