The emperor's anger caused the great eunuch Nicodemia and the noble lady Yudohya to hang their hands in horror, while the rest of the guards grasped the sword that had been on their shoulders and slashed Gawain and Diognis, who had offended the dignity of the royal family, as soon as the emperor gave a clear order.

At this moment, even Diognes, who was holding the rope, had thought of something to report to His Majesty, but he was so frightened that he didn't know what to say.

Anna's brown eyes in her father's arms turned twice, and she saw Peter, and Peter, who was on a cane, gave a look to Gao Wen, whose hands were tied, and Gao Wen understood, so he knelt directly in front of the emperor with one leg and half knelt, "I came from a remote and cold place, and I have not been able to learn the noble etiquette of the court, and I have no brute force and bravery, but my loyalty to the Lord is not bad, I was captured by the Turks after a pilgrimage to Minor Asia, and I escaped after three years as a slave!" I have nothing but blood and tears against the infidels, and when I hear that the hermit is going on an expedition with Your Majesty, I will immediately follow His Majesty's call to raise my sword and shield and fight for Christ and for Our Lady! ”

Although Gawain spoke in a relatively low-level Greek, his expression was impassioned, and his movements were sincere and sincere, which moved many dignitaries and nobles present, and Anna thought to herself that this barbarian was a little clever, and seemed to be very different from the usual stupid Frankish knights, so she had the heart to continue for him, "Father, so this barbarian wants to beg Mary for protection before he regains the Holy Sepulchre, and he has come to pay homage when he hears that the veil worn by Our Lady in the funeral of Jesus is enshrined in the palace of Brachna. But the catcher was suspicious, because his daughter was also there at that time, and the catcher, seeing his appearance as a barbarian, feared that it would be against me, so he stepped forward to stop me from leaving, and when they did not agree with each other, they began to fight—this barbarian was really capable of fighting, and he was on a par with the bravest of the guards. ”

"And how did you understand him, because he could speak Greek?" As soon as he saw his daughter's delicate and happy appearance, Alexios's anger actually dissipated most of it, so he stroked his daughter's hair braid and asked.

"He speaks Aus, and seems to be a Norman nobleman!"

At this time, Yudohia also took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty, he is indeed a nobleman, and he is willing to lose his honorable honor only when he goes on a pilgrimage. ”

At this time, the curtain at the entrance of the palace swayed--Mikhail, Yudohya's husband, Nikdemia's nephew, and the emperor's bodyguard, came out drunkenly holding the hilt of his sword, "Ha-" Then he saw Gawain, who was half-kneeling, so he came over intently, pinched Gawain's cheek, looked at his teeth, and patted his back and shoulder, "It's perfect, it's perfect, Eudocia, and my uncle, this is a perfect soldier template, I'm sure everyone who knows about military camps will think the same way as me, how about it?" I hope you can join the Emperor's Praetorian Guard, what's your name. ”

"Mikhail, I think I'm the only one here who hasn't consulted the key opinion, and this is not the first time you've offended the court's etiquette!" Seeing Mikhail's scoundrel appearance, the emperor's anger surged again, "I spent a lot of money to rebuild the Orphan Legion and the Praetorian Bow and Arrow Guard, not to ask you to emulate the group of Norman bandits who were born as pirates, or the Franks who were born as coopers, you are a noble and elegant Roman warrior, you don't understand." Hearing this, Eudasia and Nickdemia lowered their heads.

Then the emperor sighed, and he walked up to Gawain, who looked up, and the blood was still flowing, flowing into his eyes, which made him open only a single eye socket, just like that, in the face of the bright sun, the Byzantine Roman Emperor opposite him was a medium-sized figure, with thick beard and a lot of silver-white mixed with it, and his face was thin, and his eyes were attentive, but with sorrow and heart, "Strange barbarian, your face is full of blood, and I can't see your face clearly, But Mikhail and Yudohiah are willing to believe in the judgment, and since you are to fight for Christ, you must swear allegiance to me; Since you will not be able to return to your homeland and have no relatives, you must dedicate the rest of your life to the Lord and to me - and I will bless you today. ”

As he spoke, before Gawain could react, Alexios took the sword from the guard, cut the purple robe he was wearing, and then used the cut section as a shawl scarf and rested it on Gawain's neck, and at this moment Anna stepped forward mischievously, tiptoed, and tied it around Gawain's strong neck.

Then Alexios pressed Gawain's head with his hand, "On the third day of each month, wait in line with the rest of the guards in the camp outside the palace of Brachna, and receive their salaries from me personally, as do all the high-ranking officials of the Empire. ”

The surrounding guards and palace people immediately let out a collective exclamation, this was intentional, of course they understood that His Majesty the Emperor was taking this opportunity to invite people to buy people's hearts in public, and His Majesty would treat the soldiers who were important, whether they were nobles of foreign races or warriors, they would be incorporated into the Praetorian Guard, and pay him with their own hands, this kind of treatment was the same as that of the senior bureaucrats of the empire, and the intention was to call the foreign mercenaries to go to the soup for the emperor. In addition, Alexios of course had a deeper purpose, he used the mercenary guards, in addition to the embarrassment of the previous Roman army in the battle of Manzikert, and the idea of preventing the local Greek army and nobles from making trouble - after all, ten years ago, the chaos of the "four Caesars" in the whole empire fighting for the throne was a clear purpose, so outsiders used it more comfortably.

"I discovered him first, and he should have entered His Majesty's Bow Guard, which belongs to me, not my brother's Varangian Shield's Guard." Over there, Mikhail was still complaining loudly that the emperor had taken Gawain away from his eyes.

Gao Wen, who was wearing a purple scarf, almost couldn't turn his mind, just now His Majesty the Emperor had to hold him accountable, but in the blink of an eye, he was included in the Emperor's guard!

But I have to escort Peter back to his homeland! Thinking of this, Gao Wen, who wanted to keep his promise, looked up at Peter behind the emperor, and the other party also looked at him, shaking his head slightly, meaning that he should not say anything nonsense, and now he must go with the flow.

"Shut up Mikhail, this is a Varyag from the north, and it is impossible for him to enter the bow guard, because your party is all native sons of Roman nobles, or orphans of martyrs." The Emperor then wiped his hands slightly, and then Anna stood in front of Gawain, "Kiss my father's boots, and thank the Emperor for the favor he has given you!" ”

Since Gawain said that he was a barbarian who did not understand the etiquette of the purple court, now Anna had told him what to do.