Maria stood up uneasily and looked at Lawrence and his patrols in panic.
Because he had only drunk half a glass of gin, he was now the soberest of all the Englishmen present.
Seeing Lawrence's appearance, he became even more convinced that the waiters who delivered the drinks definitely did not come with good intentions.
Moreover, it only took two minutes from the time they beat up the waiters to the time the patrols entered. It was as if the patrols were waiting outside the door, ready to break in at any time.
The British people in the tavern looked around in confusion and confusion. Dozens of patrols were pointing at them with black muzzles. Under such death threats, their alcohol-dazzled minds became clearer.
.
The four waiters who had just fallen to the ground and were punched and kicked also took advantage of this gap to get up quickly and ran behind the patrols with bruises on their bodies.
"Everyone, put your heads in your hands and line up to come out of the tavern."
Lawrence raised the tip of his knife to the British people and said sternly.
The British guys looked at each other in fear, and no one was willing to be the first to step forward.
After all, their master's order kept them from leaving this tavern. If they disobeyed this order, they might get into even greater trouble.
Seeing the hesitation of these people, Lawrence didn't waste any time. He winked at the patrolmen and asked them to tighten the encirclement.
Seeing these patrols slowly approaching them, the British people finally couldn't stand still. The heads of several people standing on the outside were almost on the muzzle of the gun.
According to Lawrence's request, they had no choice but to hold their heads in their hands and walk out of the tavern step by step in fear.
When it was Maria's turn, though he shouted loudly to Laurence:
"Sir! Your Excellency! I was not involved in the fight. They can testify. You can't do this to me!"
But neither Lawrence nor the British continued their business as if they hadn't heard anything.
Especially those British people, they are now in a difficult position to protect themselves, and no one will be kind enough to testify for him.
Many British people even looked at Maria with schadenfreude, as if dragging Maria into the water made them feel a lot better.
Under the supervision of patrols armed with guns, all the British people in the lobby were driven out of the tavern and surrounded on the street outside.
The waiter who had just taken the initiative to provoke the British was touching the wounds on his body and came behind Lawrence.
"How are your injuries? Grosso."
Lawrence looked back at the bruises on his body, and asked with a worried frown.
"It hurts so damn much, but it doesn't matter. I've been beaten by more people than you. In this case, as long as you huddle on the ground and hold your head, it'll be fine after being beaten for a few minutes. The other three are about the same as me.
, it’s nothing serious.”
Grosso said nonchalantly, still pressing a bruise with his hand to speed up the healing of the congestion.
"Sorry, but you are the only one on the patrol who can speak English." Lawrence said a little apologetically.
"What the hell, there's not even any blood shed. I'm messing around with you anyway."
Grosso continued to press the wound, looked at a large group of British people squatting on the ground with their hands on their heads outside the tavern, frowned and said:
"However, we can just arrest the two British guys and leave. If you drive them all outside like this, wouldn't it make the matter bigger?"
Lawrence took a look at the situation outside. It was now noon, and there were still many pedestrians on the street. Many passers-by who noticed the situation were already gathered around.
"all the same."
Lawrence shook his head and said:
"Even if we only arrest one person, the news will still reach the ears of Pauli and the earl. We might as well make the matter bigger and it will appear more legitimate."
"That's it...then what should we do now?"
Grosso thought for a while and said, the four waiters just now were pretended by him and other patrols. There is no problem in deceiving these newly arrived British people, but for the citizens of Ajaccio, Grosso's face is terrible.
It's easy to recognize.
"Well... the four of you stay in the tavern first, wrap your faces with bandages, and watch my gestures before you come out."
Lawrence glanced at Grosso. His scarred face was so recognizable to the other three patrolmen. Because he often appeared in public, he still needed some disguise to avoid being exposed in front of the citizens of Ajaccio.
.
After ordering several "victims", Lawrence walked out of the tavern. The crowd gathered outside had formed a large three-story circle.
In the innermost part are the British guys squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands, then there are the patrols pointing guns at them, and in the outermost part are the citizens of Ajaccio who are watching the excitement.
Seeing Lawrence walking out of the tavern, the citizens moved their steps in a tacit understanding and made way for him.
"Your Excellency! You can't do this to me. I am a gentleman! What is my crime?"
As soon as she saw Lawrence coming over, Maria, who was squatting on the ground just now, immediately stood up and said to Lawrence hastily.
Lawrence glanced at him and said casually:
"Gathering a crowd to fight and causing intentional harm."
"I didn't participate!" Maria spread her hands and said loudly:
"Besides, I am a subject of His Majesty the King of England. You cannot use Corsican law to judge me!"
Lawrence ignored the first half of his sentence, deliberately sneered, looked around at the surrounding citizens, and said:
"I'm very sorry to disturb your normal life, fellow citizens of Ajaccio, but a horrific attack just occurred in this tavern."
After saying that, Lawrence clapped his hands toward the inside of the tavern and motioned for Grosso and the other three patrolmen to come out.
The four of them were seen supporting each other and moving out with difficulty. Their faces were covered with bandages like mummies, with only a pair of eyes exposed.
And the waiters' uniforms they were wearing were almost turned into rags from the beating and tearing just now.
Not to mention that on their exposed skin, purple and blue bruises could be seen everywhere, and there were quite a few abrasions, some of which were still bleeding slowly to this day.
To be honest, such injuries are not serious and can be cured by just resting for a while.
However, the visual impact of these injuries was huge in an instant. When the surrounding citizens saw this, they all exclaimed. This was the northern part of Ajaccio, and there would not be such serious attacks on weekdays.
"There is no need to panic, fellow citizens."
Lawrence said calmly:
"The murderer has been controlled by us, and they are the British guys in front of you. And just now, one of them..."
As he spoke, Lawrence pointed to Maria who was standing with his chin and continued:
"He told me that I could not use Corsican laws to try him, and what I want to say is that I will not let such bullying of Corsican compatriots happen in front of me. Even if I use non-legal means, I will
Put him on trial!"
"British!"
Lawrence stared at Maria and spoke in Italian:
"Don't think about being arrogant here, this is Corsica! This is Ajaccio! Now, everyone obeys the order and escorts these criminals back to the dungeon of the patrol."
Amid bursts of cheers from the citizens, the patrols began to tie ropes to the British and escorted them back to their garrison.
On the way back, Grosso carefully leaned behind Lawrence and whispered:
"By the way, boy, why did you just speak Italian to those British guys? They couldn't understand you."
Lawrence tilted his head slightly and whispered while keeping his lips almost still:
"It doesn't matter, I'm not telling them."
Grosso was stunned for a moment, then he came to his senses and said angrily:
"Damn, you're trying to manipulate public opinion again. You should go into politics. It's so despicable."
"Despicable? Grosso, I would rather call him efficient."
Lawrence whispered these words and walked a few steps faster to avoid Grosso's identity being exposed.
