While Maurice was fighting a bloody battle with the Frankish knights, Alexius was receiving an uninvited guest from Constantinople at Trebizond.

Andrew Johnny was a newly recruited diplomatic envoy of the Romanian Empire. On the orders of Emperor Baldwin I, he went to Trebizond to negotiate with the Greek forces there. (The official name of the Latin Empire was the "Romanian Empire" or "New Romania".

Roman Empire", not related to modern Romania.)

When Andrew came to Trebizond, the Catholic Frank was treated with stones and eggs by the locals. The former had to seek help from the local city defense army. After the officer John learned about the situation, he promptly reported the news to his superiors.

, finally reached the ears of Alexius, and the emperor, who was busy with official business, decided to send an army to escort the ambassador to the governor's palace.

In the summer of 1204, in Trebizond, the (Eastern) Roman Empire (Comnenus Power), a small hotel was located in dense woods. In this relatively noisy and noisy city, this hotel was

Enjoying a rare silence.

There is a separate utility room deep on the third floor of the hotel. It is usually used for dogs, so it is not cleaned very much. But a few days ago, Andrew was arranged to enter this room, and there were always two people standing at the door.

There are two fully armed guards. This kind of treatment is not available to other guests in the hotel. Even if Andrew in the room wants to come out to use the toilet or pray every day, the two guards will follow him closely.

The rays of the rising sun penetrated into the room through the hotel window and shone on the bed in the utility room. This utility room was very simple, with only one bed and a small cabinet for placing items. The hotel owner thoughtfully provided

Andrew prepared a table full of holes gnawed by moths and a chair with a missing "leg". On the table were placed the bones left by the dog and a parchment scroll filled with prayers.

There were densely written words in Frankish. There was an extinguished oil lamp hanging on the wall. Andrew was sitting on the bed. His eye circles were a little dark, his skin was a little wrinkled, his nose was high, he was wearing dirty clothes and white boots.

.

Andrew has been staying in the hotel for a week. It is more like a prison than a stay. The Greeks kept him like a prisoner in the dog quarters. During this week, he was monitored by two guards at all times.

Holding him, he couldn't even get out of the hotel door.

Suddenly there was a rush of footsteps in the corridor of the hotel, and six fully armed Roman (Greek) soldiers broke the silence here. They walked straight to the utility room, and after showing the emperor's token to the two guards,

The guard at the door used the key to open the iron lock of the utility room door.

Five Roman soldiers broke into the utility room, which surprised Andrew. His face was pale, his hands could not help shaking, and the plate and fork he used for eating fell to the ground. The tall officer with the highest rank among the six soldiers spoke.

: "According to Komnenos' order, you come with us now!"

His tone was completely commanding, and there was no room for doubt. He waved to the soldiers behind him and pointed to the plates and forks on the ground. The soldiers immediately understood what the officer meant and removed these with food residues still on them.

Plates and forks were put into sacks.

Andrew took out a parchment document signed by the Emperor of Romania himself from the cabinet - this was the only item he had that could prove his purpose and identity.

Andrew put the document into his clothes, put on his boots, and followed the six soldiers out of the utility room obediently.

Six soldiers lined up on both sides, surrounding Andrew Johnny in the middle, and walked on the streets of Nanfeihong. The citizens on both sides of the street watched the team and started talking among themselves.

"What are so many Roman soldiers doing to suppress a middle-aged man?" The young people in the crowd were already unfamiliar with Andrew Johnny.

"He is also wearing Frankish clothes...well, and a pair of white boots." Many people found it even more strange.

A Genoese businessman who had just returned from Constantinople suddenly recognized this Frank, "He is a Frank! A vampire living in Constantinople! A lackey of the Venetians!"

"It's him!" After hearing this, an old man took off his boots and hit Andrew hard on the head.

"He should die on the gallows!" a woman screamed before throwing eggs at him.

Some children picked up stones from the ground and threw them at him, chanting: "Xerxes! Xerxes!"

(Xerxes was a monarch in the ancient Persian Empire. His brutal rule was often used to describe some bad things. It is said that in order to put children to sleep, old people usually joked that "Xerxes is coming", and the children would

You will be so scared that you will fall asleep immediately.)

"What are you talking about! Get out of the way! And you, you just hit me with a stone." The tall officer used a spear to drive away the crowd of onlookers.

Andrew Johnny, with a bruised nose and face, left the street in embarrassment and stayed away from the crowd. He lowered his head and walked silently with the guards.

At the end of the road is the Governor's Palace. In front of the Governor's Palace are dozens of steps. When he got here, Andrew finally couldn't bear it anymore. His feet became weak and he almost fell to the ground. He was flustered and frightened. He didn't know that these Greeks

What kind of punishment would be used to treat him? Andrew had read some Roman history books when he plundered the Royal Library of Constantinople. He knew that in the Roman world, many people who angered the Roman emperor did so in the basilica or on the steps of some large buildings.

They were decapitated, stabbed to death with spears, or blinded before being exiled.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but tremble all over.

In the Governor's Palace, Alexius Komnenos had been waiting for a long time. The tall officer entered the palace first.

"Did you bring him here?"

"Bring it here." The tall officer nodded.

"Bring it into the house." Alexius' voice sounded particularly majestic.

Andrew was quickly brought into the palace by the soldiers. He, Alexius and the six soldiers were the only ones in the Governor's Palace of Nota, which seemed extremely empty.

When Andrew entered the house, Alexius stared at him with sinister eyes, which made Andrew even more panicked. After being brought here by the soldiers, he collapsed and knelt on the ground.

"Damn the Latins, the destroyers of New Rome..." Thinking of this, Alexius suddenly pulled out his sword from its sheath and waved a cold light in mid-air.

Andrew felt that his life was coming to an end. He clasped his hands, burst into tears, and murmured his last prayer: "God, please forgive me for all my sins..."

The powerful right hand suddenly relaxed, and with a "dang" sound, the sword fell to the ground. In fact, Alexius had no intention of cutting off the sword. On the one hand, because the Latin Empire was still very powerful, he could not do it because of his own

Impulsively, he ruined the future of Rome. On the other hand, he considered that this Frank was still useful.

"I have forgiven your sins, and God will forgive you, Frank!"

Andrew looked at Alexius in shock and crouched in front of him. The young Komnenos man obviously didn't want to scare the timid Frank anymore, so he picked up the sword, sheathed it, and

He looked through the contents of the sack given to him by the soldier.

"Well... the plates and forks used by the dogs... exude the unique stench of barbarians." Alexius covered his nose and returned the bag to the soldier, with a somewhat joking tone: "The embarrassed Franks,
Chapter completed!