Chapter 523 Return to Rome

"I have to say here, congratulations to you in advance, Aresio." Luca said slowly while helping Aresio pour wine.

This sudden blessing made Aresio a little overwhelmed. He raised his head and looked at Luga in surprise with wide eyes. His eyes were full of surprise, and there was a hint of expectation in the surprise.

"What did you say? Luca." Aresio refused to believe his ears for a long time. He stretched his neck and leaned forward as if to tell Luca: I don't understand, say it again.

"What I mean is that you don't have to stay here. This is not a place that belongs to you, am I right, Aresio?"

“Damn it!”

After hearing what Luca said, Aresio stood up from his seat like a spring. His face flushed with anger, he glared at Luca, pointed at Luca with his arm still shaking, but he managed not to lose his temper. It seemed that he had finally figured out that he should control his temper. He slowly sat down, picked up the wine he had poured, and drank it all in one gulp.

"What do you mean by that? Luca, sir." Aresio looked at Luca, his words revealing a little caution. He must be wondering what Luca was thinking at this moment. Was he going to kill him after he had done his job? "I think you haven't been back to Rome for a long time." Luca picked up the wine glass with his index finger and thumb, knocked on the wine pot beside him, and said this out of the blue.

"What?" Aresio instantly became excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He sat up straight, stared at Luca with wide eyes and looked expectantly, "Really? You promise? You are not lying? In other words, what do you want to say? What identity do you want me to go back with?"

"Of course it's the quaestor. That's your position." Luca said, pulling out a carefully wrapped parchment from his pocket and handing it to Alessio. "This is approved by Valentinian III himself. Take a look. I didn't lie to you, for God's sake."

"Oh, oh! My God!" Looking at the gorgeously decorated parchment in Luga's hand, Aresio's eyes lit up because of the careful packaging. He covered his mouth with his left hand, afraid that he didn't want Luga to see his embarrassed look when he was surprised, but he couldn't control himself. In the end, he stretched out his right hand to take the parchment. Looking at the parchment in his eyes, Aresio couldn't wait to open the parchment to verify the correctness of the text on it.

Alessio exclaimed repeatedly, not daring to confirm the authenticity of this thing until he saw Valentinian's signature at the bottom. Although the handwriting looked sloppy and reluctant, it was a genuine signature after all! "Is this real?" Alessio looked up at Luca, his eyes full of uncontrollable excitement, "You must have paid a lot for this. In my opinion, Valentinian must be no easier to talk to than his mother!"

"Oh, forget all that, Aresio. This is just a gift from me to you." Luca looked very generous. Of course, he would not tell Aresio that Alessio was reinstated because Luca promised to hand over the taxes of the province he occupied and promised not to do so again in the future, as a way of obtaining Valentinian's forgiveness.

"Get ready to go, Alessio."

Another month passed. In Ludinum, Aetius looked up from his governor's seat in the governor's palace, staring blankly at the ceiling above his head without saying a word.

In front of him, there were the commander of the Eighth Comrades Legion, Tereus, the commander of the Fourteenth Gemini Legion, Ihorius, the elder senator Litorius, the governor of Luduga Province, Pagaveniculus, and a bunch of other Senate bureaucrats and officers. They stood in front of Aetius and consciously divided into two groups. Aetius said nothing, and they also kept silent.

"Sir." Littorio, who was considered the most courageous guy, seemed unwilling to let the situation remain so cold, so he said, "We must come up with some solutions. Flavius ​​Luca has completely controlled the Senate with his army. He is too rampant and does not take you, the consul, seriously at all."

Directly opposite Aetius was a dusty senator named Philimix. He was the one who stood up at the instigation of Thermitius and took the lead in saying that Luca was a "rebel". This daring guy now completely lost the arrogance he had when he accused Luca.

He escaped from Rome with great difficulty. Perhaps it was intentional by Belialius and Marenius, who took over Rome at that time, that allowed him to come to Aetius alive and tell him everything Aetius wanted to know.

Aetius lowered his head and looked at Philimix who was keeping his head down and saying nothing. He could not help but sneer at him: "Look at you, you are like a stray dog ​​that has lost its home."

In response to Aetius's direct insult, Philimix had no choice but to lower his head. He could only whisper in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "I'm sorry, Mr. Aetius, I disappoint you!"

Aetius did not appreciate Philemux's apology. He not only blamed Philemux, but also blamed Thermitius, this fence-sitter who always messed things up.

Fortunately, Luca had an irreconcilable hatred for him, and Aetius was afraid that if Luca let go of his past resentment and extended an olive branch to him, this dying bastard would be so excited that he would crawl on the ground like a spoiled dog and take it with both hands.

But Luke is not Jesus, so he would not be so magnanimous.

"Littorius," Aetius asked, "What did Valentinian say? How are the negotiations for the wedding of my son Gaudentius and his youngest daughter Eudolia going?"

"My lord..." Littorius bowed and saluted. Looking at so many people around him, he hesitated for a moment, then looked at Aetius and signaled with his eyes: There are too many people here, it may be inconvenient to talk.

Aetius quickly understood Litorius's idea. He waved his hand at the others and said, "All of you leave."

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After the others left the meeting room in confusion, Aetius sat up straight. It seemed that this was the only thing that could arouse his interest.

"Tell me quickly, Litorius, what exactly did that Valentinian say?" Aetius was a little impatient.

"It's bad, Your Excellency Aetius." Littorius's face was solemn, and he shrugged and said to Aetius, "It's bad, Your Excellency. Valentinian's mood is fickle. He was so gentle before, but this time he heard that Flavius ​​Luca had taken away the victory that should have belonged to us, so he quickly changed his attitude. I am very confused, because Flavius ​​Luca openly refused to pay taxes to the Purple Chamber in front of all the civilians and nobles in Rome, which made Valentinian's authority questionable. Such disrespect could actually be forgiven by him. Who is Luca that Valentinian can trust him so much?"

Upon hearing the news of Valentinian's refusal, Aetius collapsed in his seat like a deflated ball. First, he was tricked by Luca due to the military defeat, and then Luca stabbed him in the back politically. Now that the domestic situation is generally stable, Flavius ​​Luca has already shown his fangs to him, and he has to be on guard.

(End of this chapter)