In the evening, the Doge's Palace of Athens, a classical white-stone building in the style of a few hundred years ago when it was not conquered by the Romans. Because the Romans were in awe of Greek civilization, they tried to protect the superior civilization of the same origin rather than trample on and destroy it as they did with the barbarians. It was maintained by nostalgic aristocrats or governors from time to time, and it is still as good as new after all these years, which is no small achievement, or at least the pride of the local Athenian aristocracy.

The same respect for civilization was reflected in the aristocrats in the audience, dressed in Greek robes, who sat opposite each other at a large round table in the empty hall of the middle of the room, as if they had been arguing before.

Speaking of a banquet, no one would have thought that they were actually here, and the Greek nobles looked at the empty table in front of them, looking at each other, not knowing what it meant to do so.

The aristocrats, who had gathered urgently, sat nervously on their stone seats, and began to whisper before Luga arrived.

"Hey, I heard they were defeated in their fight against Attila."

"Who are you listening to?"

"Who else is to say this? If you don't get defeated, then what are you doing here? The current generals of the army are all a bunch of waste, look at Attila's proud appearance now, even if a slave goes up to command the army, it is impossible to become like this. ”

"Don't talk nonsense, that man is the son of Theodosius!"

As long as one is not a fool of the current situation, it can be seen that the Thracian field army should have built a defensive line in the Macedonian province to resist the Huns, but they are here.

The heated discussion came to an abrupt end the moment the door was opened, and everyone looked in the direction in which the door was opened. A figure flashed among them, everyone held their breath, the whole hall was quiet and eerie, everyone seemed to be petrified and motionless, quietly waiting for the figures standing in the doorway.

"Looks like they're all here, isn't it?" Faced with such a big scene, Luga was naturally surprised, he smiled, looked unfazed, and nodded at Alleto beside him.

Alleto's expression was indescribably embarrassed, he didn't know what Luga was thinking, now that the province of Macedonia was in danger, and the Huns were a great enemy, he actually came to Athens with a whole army to cheat and cheat, this can't be said.

While Arleto was hesitating, Luga had already taken a step forward.

He became the center of attention, and the eyes of all the nobles followed his movements, and no one dared to whisper or talk to each other, and they all considered themselves spectators, and came to see what this adopted son of Theodosius would bring them, whether it was a delicious meal or Edessa wine. As long as it's enjoyment, they'll be happy to spend some dispensable time listening to this guy's talk. yes, who cares about all this boring language? Wine and food are the main themes of the banquet.

Luga unhurriedly came to the center of the hall, just under the ornate carvings on the ceiling, as if he were the brightest star of the banquet, and the guards around him were busy with him, and even the chair he sat in was just warm enough not to make him feel uncomfortable.

Luga's bodyguard, Andrew, stood behind Luga, nodded at Arleto and whispered, "Alright, Your Excellency Arleto, let's get started." ”

Soon, the empty table in front of him was filled with delicate silver plates brought by slaves, which were not very delicacies not seen in the city of Athens, and could be said to be quite conservative, but although they were common, they could still be seen in them of the great value, especially in the Balkans, which had just been hit by famine.

The nobles waited for most of the day, and when they saw this table full of delicacies, they were naturally hungry, rubbing their stomachs that were constantly wailing and protesting, and they had to show a noble and unmoved demeanor, smiling and clenching their upper and lower teeth like a door, blocking the saliva that was about to burst inside, as if the silver plate delicacies in front of them had nothing to do with them. God knows how many of them were secretly praying that Luga wouldn't hang his appetite there, and said a few words hastily.

"What a rare delicacy!" Looking at this table of delicacies, Luga couldn't help but admire: "I once passed by Athens, and saw the first legion that belonged to me here, but I didn't have the opportunity to eat such delicious food, during the time that Thessaloniki held on, I followed the soldiers to eat hard bread, and the soup I drank and the soil under my feet, oh my God, I really don't know how I got over that time, but now, I came to Athens, and I was warmly welcomed by the Athenians, thank you very much, thank you very much." Immediately after that, Luga talked about his past, which is a wonderful history.

Woo la la said a lot, but it hurt these nobles, after all, they were the adopted sons of Theodosius, and they could only wait patiently for Luga to speak unhurriedly. In order to express their approval and approval of the speeches of the members of the Purple Room, it is like being taught since childhood, keep smiling throughout the whole process, and applaud in agreement when it is critical.

Where did the pampered nobles suffer from hunger, their smiles turned into bitter smiles because of hunger, and no one dared to touch the dishes without Luga's consent.

Seeing that their faces looked hideous, Luga took advantage of the situation to raise his glass and shouted to everyone seated: "Cheers to this rare gathering!" ”

"Good!"

The nobles breathed a sigh of relief and raised their glasses, one by two looking like prisoners who had been rescued from torture. They realized that this would be the end, but just in time, Luga's play really began.

"Enjoy, you don't have to be formal!" That's what the nobles were waiting for, and Luga said with a smile as he stretched out his palm, such a common and strange behavior was like a god in the eyes of the nobles. They cast appreciative glances at Luga, and then, like hungry wolves, pounced on the food.

Luga was not in a hurry in the face of the food in front of him, although he was also hungry, and he played with the knife in his hand and two forks with pitchfork-like teeth, which were invented by Theodosius, and soon became popular among the upper nobility of the Eastern Roman Empire.

"This is still in times of famine, is it?" Luga asked thoughtfully as he was dining elegantly beside him.

"Yes, Your Excellency." Alleto nodded, and while stuffing a piece of well-roasted beef into his mouth, he munched and replied to Luga: "God knows what happened, they all say that Attila is the whip of God, and the disaster has not stopped since he laid siege to Constantinople. First the earth shook and the golden gates of Constantine collapsed, and then the drought made the crops in the fields go hungry, but there was nothing we could do about it, we could only save money and try to keep them from making trouble. ”

"Is there no other way?" Luga frowned and asked Arleto, "My soldiers are also starving, it's a miracle that they were able to get here from Thessaloniki, they need enough food and enough pay to sustain them, otherwise we can't go to the battlefield ourselves to defend against Attila's attack!" ”

"I can see what you mean, Lord Luga." Arleto said, then took his glass and drank the wine inside, he was completely intoxicated with the feeling of enjoying the taste, and answered Luga's question with some hesitation: "I have begun to understand your intentions, Your Excellency, and I want the nobles of the city of Athens to help solve the problem of maintaining the army. As he spoke, he put down his glass and looked at Luga, his face was serious, and he continued: "After all, this is thousands of mouths, and thousands of hands, not a small number. ”

"I don't understand what you mean, Lord Arleto." Luga tapped his glass with a knife, his face gloomy and he asked, "Are you suspicious of my insatiable greed, or are you suspected of deliberately embezzling your property?" ”

"No, no, no, that's not what I think, Lord Luga." Arleto hurriedly put down his glass and hurriedly explained: "Listen, Lord Luga, I don't mean to offend you, but you must understand that if you want to get money out of the hands of these nobles, you need something that will make them feel good enough to make them give generously, after all, Barcellus is too far away to be as real as Sulledus in his hands. ”

"I don't understand the minds of you Athenians." Luga put down his knife, "It is undeniable that you are all excellent merchants, but now that the Huns are plundering Macedonia and will soon reach the Peloponnese, are you not afraid that they will want to loot you as Macedonia did?" ”

Luga's words made Arleto stop his hands from eating, he put down his knife and fork, turned his head to look at Luga, his expression was full of puzzlement, "Your Excellency Luga, it is not my decision here, even if you complain to me, you will not be able to solve the problem of your military salary even one Souledus. ”

"I'm sorry, I lost my temper!" Luga waved his hand at Arleto, and then turned his gaze to the nobles in front of him, who did not care about Luga's conversation with Arleto at all, and devoted themselves to enjoying the delicious food.

Also, they were only meeting Luga for the first time, so how could they talk about any concern? It's just a mutual use, like now, which of them doesn't come to enjoy the delicious taste and be silently dumb?

"I said everyone!" Lu Jia couldn't help it, he shouted loudly, and finally made the nobles present stop the knives and forks in their hands, and turned their heads to look at Lu Jia, their eyes full of doubt.