From morning to noon, Luga and his party finally made their way through the cobweb-like streets to the foot of the Royal Palace.

"Caesar, here they are!" The guard gestured to Theodosius below. Theodosius turned and looked down, and saw the group of men, blocked by the Praetorian Guard.

Luga looked up and saw dozens of steps, so high that he couldn't see the view from the top of the steps. The only thing that could be seen was the tall wall and the statues on the wall, although Luga had seen tall buildings two or three times higher than this, but in such a backward era, it was indeed extremely difficult to build such a majestic building with stone blocks layer by layer, and every place was carved vividly.

At the foot of the stairs, five Praetorian guards stood guard, easily distinguishable from the large iron horned helmets they wore on top of their heads, which imitated the vertical horses. Their right hands were pressed tightly against the hilt of their swords, and their eyes were fixed on us. Because no one dared to stop in front of the palace, let alone a man with a weapon at his waist.

"We are the personnel hand-picked by Augustus of the Western Empire, and we have specially come to become the close guards of Augustus of the Eastern Empire, which is our proof." One of Luga's attendants stepped forward and handed a parchment letter to the Praetorian Guard soldier standing in the middle.

The Praetorian Guard soldier took the parchment, and instead of opening the letter and reading its contents to confirm its authenticity, he pinched the parchment with two fingers and rubbed it carefully, as if he was feeling the feeling of the parchment. It may be that the royal parchment is not the same as the folk one, but this advanced method did open Luga's eyes.

"Well, it seems to be a distinguished guest of the Western Empire! It's not in vain that I'm waiting here! The Praetorian Guard soldier said lightly, his face was expressionless, and his language was just as cold, it seemed that he had known that we were coming, so he had waited here, but why didn't he go to meet them at the city gate? This is the question and resentment in Luga's heart, but here, Luga did not open his mouth to question. The Praetorian Guard soldier handed the parchment back to the guard standing at the front, turned sideways to make way of the way, and the other four Praetorian Guards relaxed and took their hands off the hilt of their swords. The Praetorian Guard soldier who gave way then walked up the steps and turned back to Luga and the others, saying, "Then follow me on the road below!" ”

"Let's go!"

Luga took the lead and led Andrew up the white steps with the guards behind him. As they ascended one step at a time, the scenery under the palace in front of them came into view. The first thing you see is a row of Roman columns carved out of marble, and then you can only see a garden with a small but delicate fountain in the middle of the garden, spraying water day and night.

"Tsk, this is where people live!" Andrew's eyes were already wide, and his open mouth could barely be retracted. He admired and admired at the same time. "It's worthy of Augustus, I haven't seen him in person, just looking at this palace, I have already seen his majesty and domineering from the side."

A stone path leads to the fountain, and then around the fountain is the main entrance to the palace, but in the middle of the road twenty meters in front of the fountain stands a marble statue carved with a shield in his left hand and a torch in his right hand and a man in a robe.

"This is our Augustus, Theodosius II." Seeing that Luga and his party were attracted by the statue, the Praetorian Guard soldiers opened their mouths and explained to them: "This is to commemorate the peace agreement reached between Augustus and the Huns, which brought a lasting peace to the Eastern Empire, which is inseparable from our efforts Augustus. "The Praetorian Guard's commentary made Luga's face red, and it is also true, such words can only deceive the visitors who know nothing, but it is simply impossible to deceive Lujana, and everyone in later generations knows how many despicable things Theodosius II did for this so-called peace that was sought, and if he was transferred to China, he would inevitably be tied up as unbearable as the Song Dynasty that is now known to be in his mouth. After all, in the eyes of future generations, great empires are not maintained by humility.

The trees in the garden were trimmed by slaves, and there were guards dressed in full-length chain mail, iron helmets, and axes, almost all of whom were Slavs from the north. They were loyal, fanatical, and unyielding, which was why Augustus of the Eastern Empire was able to trust them and make them palace guards.

They lined up in a row to patrol the garden aimlessly, or sat on the marble platform and laughed loudly, everything was very easy-going, but our arrival made them vigilant, but it was certainly not ordinary people who were able to climb the steps, and the Praetorian Guards led the way. Until you pass through the statues and fountains to the gates of the palace.

"Please disarm you when you enter the palace!" At the last pass, the soldiers guarding the gate blocked Luga's path and demanded that Luga hand over the weapons they were wearing.

After all, they are going to see the emperor of the empire, it is not the treatment of a casual petty official, handing over weapons is a rule, and it is inevitable, and Luga They need to obey unconditionally.

Remove the iron sword from your waist, and let the Janissaries who don't trust them search one by one, personal privacy, a false proposition that does not exist in this era. They searched very carefully, and they didn't grab a handful three inches below the navel to make sure it was indeed a man's lifeline and not a dagger.

A person searched for at least five minutes, and then the Praetorian Guards let them enter the palace, and as soon as they entered the gate, they heard a dull question: "Is the person who came from the Western Empire's close guard?" The voice echoed like thunder in the hall for a long time.

The hall was brightly lit, full of lighted candles, and the inside of the house was as bright as the noon sun outside.

Luga stopped, and the door behind him closed at the same time. Luga looked up and saw a large group of soldiers in black scale armor and black horned helmets, neatly arranged in two groups behind the candlesticks on either side of a large wooden table in the middle, while turning their heads to look at Luga and them.

What's the matter, Hongmen Feast? Such a big pomp and circumstance made Luga feel very depressed, and of course, Andrew and others behind Luga did not understand what Theodosius II's intentions were.

"Luga, what does that mean?" Andrew didn't dare to be annoyed at this time, after all, what we are facing now is that the real emperor of the Eastern Empire still has a whole team of guards. They are on par with the famous Hercules Battalion in the Western Empire, and such a huge pressure has forced our hearts to pound, and the already not hot room has not been long before it is still flowing.

"Let's get on the table!" The tone became deep and calm again, obviously not by one person. Luga looked up and saw the man sitting across from the table, and behind him stood a dozen courtiers. That's right, that man was Augustus of the Eastern Roman Empire, Theodosius II.

"Take a seat, you are distinguished guests of the Western Empire!" Theodosius II beckoned to them. Luga complied with Andrew and sat down opposite Theodosius.

"It's all here, and the friendship of the landlord is also to be done." Theodosius spoke deeply, and he turned back to a retainer and nodded in acknowledgement, and the retainer understood, and turned and went into another room.