Chapter 550 The War of the Successors

At night, perhaps I had to recognize my fate and bow to the reality before me.

During the time from the time Luca pushed him down and then took Licinia away, the surrounding soldiers stood there as if petrified, watching coldly and motionlessly, as if Valentinian was no longer their Augustus worthy of their loyalty.

Valentinian showed amazing silence. In Luca's camp, in order to prevent Licinia from being hurt again by the mad Valentinian, the two of them would be separated.

Valentinian returned to his main tent of Augustus, which was located in the center of the army. The guards were guarding there all night. On the one hand, they were protecting Augustus' safety, and on the other hand, they were keeping an eye on him to prevent him from doing anything crazy because of the unprecedented blow he had received.

Although Aetius and Luca cooperated on the surface, they were still scheming against each other behind the scenes.

Their camps were also clearly divided. On the left was the camp of Aetius, and on the right was the camp of Luca. Both sides tightly surrounded Valentinian in two semicircles. Although the walls were connected, they did not support each other.

"Oh my god, look at this Augustus, he made us lose face in front of the Greeks."

In Aetius's military camp, generals and courtiers filled the huge tent.

Among them, Litorius was so excited that he even stood up and loudly humiliated Valentinian, saying: "He is just a baby sitting on the throne. He is good for nothing and will only cause us meaningless trouble!"

"Look, Flavius ​​Luca, the person he once relied on the most, no longer supports him. This poor fellow, I'm afraid, except for his two daughters, no one else will stand with him!"

"Sir, why not send this damned coward to see his poor father and mother at this time!"

The courtiers and generals were discussing the matter, and everyone present turned their eyes to Aetius who was in the crowd. He just sat there quietly without saying a word, with a serious expression, as if he was thinking about something.

The people around him were filled with righteous indignation. No matter what, they were all about Valentinian being just a powerless fledgling. He was neither capable nor qualified to be Augustus of the huge Roman Empire. No matter what, Augustus needed a new spokesperson! They were all staunch supporters of Aetius, so they wanted to nominate Aetius as the best candidate to become Augustus.

However, Aetius did not seem to be prepared to listen to the opinions of his subordinates and become Augustus. On the contrary, he took a relatively safe but controversial approach, which was to follow Stilicho's example and marry his offspring into the Flavius ​​family so that they could inherit the imperial power in a natural way.

This debate has been going on for a long time. When it will end depends on how patient Aetius is.

At this time in Luca's military camp, there was also a heated argument about Valentinian, this uncontrollable second-generation rich man.

"Luga, it's time to let this stupid, immature kid know that this is no longer the era he takes for granted." Andrew said indignantly, "Obviously, these Greeks are well prepared. They must have their own plans to wait for us here."

Andrew's words made the other officers and courtiers who had already joined in supporting Luca nod their heads repeatedly. Now all of them turned their eyes to Luca who was silent among them.

"Sir Luca," Marenius called out, "Now has come to a very critical moment. Your Excellency promised to support Augustus's cause. So now is the time to follow Valentinian's orders and attack Dyrrachium, or do you have other plans?"

"This is a very thought-provoking question, everyone." Luca looked at everyone present with a serious face, "Now we have to admit that after Theodosius died, he did not leave any will or even a token to prove that Valentinian had the right to inherit his position, so the resistance we encountered was because the Greeks believed that we were illegal."

"So what should we do?" everyone asked.

But Luca shrugged helplessly, shook his head, and said knowingly: "I'm afraid it's too late now. We've wasted too long. It may be too late now."

In the imperial palace of Constantinople, the usual number of guards was doubled, and they patrolled back and forth as if they were facing a great enemy.

The citizens outside the palace had no idea what had happened. They were still immersed in the grief of Augustus' death as usual. At the moment, those in the palace who were closest to Theodosius by blood had long forgotten the pain of losing their loved ones and leader. All they had in their eyes was power. It could be said that for the sake of power, they could forget all emotions.

Purgolia sat lazily on the throne of Augustus, an ordinary seat that she could only look up to from afar. Now she did not feel anything extraordinary sitting there.

At this time, a series of footsteps were heard outside the open door, and Hedolia appeared outside the door with a teenage child. Looking at the lazy and rude Purgolia, Hedolia pursed her lips, and as if mustering up great courage, she pulled her almost adult child forward a few steps.

The mother and son almost trembled when they came to Purgolia. Purgolia was like a wolf in sheep's clothing. She was gentle and friendly in front of Theodosius, but after Theodosius' death, she finally revealed her true face.

She was a politically ambitious person who thought she was no worse than Pracithea. Fortunately, she had a husband, Marcian, who controlled the army. Relying on the army in Marcian's hands, she was able to quickly eliminate all covetous people of the throne when Theodosius died, and successfully seized power in Constantinople.

She was also cunning. She didn't want to be the first to attract attention and become the target of criticism from men, so she planned to nominate her husband Marcian to become Augustus. And being the woman behind Augustus was also a good job, at least this way she could maintain her rule for a very long time!

"You're here..." Feeling the footsteps getting closer, Purgolia almost didn't look at the mother and son who were fostered in the palace of Constantinople. She stretched like a cat that just woke up from a deep sleep, opened her tired but extremely sharp eyes and looked up and down at the mother and son who were not good-looking and had only Flavius ​​blood in them. "You are so brave to bring this unwelcome guy to the place that belongs to Flavius."

Her words were clear enough. Hedolia's son lowered his head in shame. Logically speaking, he was a young man, full of vigor and vitality. Such humiliation would definitely make him furious, and at the very least he would just walk away.

But he still stood there like a wooden stake, but one could see that Hedolia was holding his hand tightly and it was shaking.

"Tell me, you came here to ask me for something. Let me hear it, poor woman, what do you and your child want? After all, this is your right. After all, you are a member of the Flavius ​​family." Purgolia dozed off and looked at Hedolia with laziness and boredom.

"I...I..." Hedolia seemed to find it difficult to speak, but after preparing herself mentally for a long time, she finally mustered up the courage to say to Purgolia: "My mother has been dead for a long time, and now Theodosius, who promised her to watch over me, has also passed away, so I want to return to Ravenna or even Milan, to let my son see the hometown he has never seen!"

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"Go home? Haha, what a strange woman!" Purgolia laughed dryly, stroked her forehead and sighed softly, then complained: "Oh, God, Hedolia, look, it's all because of this throne. I lost my mind while sitting on it. I didn't think about anything, just like a newborn baby."

Then, Purgolia's eyes moved quickly, and a sinister smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. She raised her head and said to Hedolia: "Go back, why not? But I agreed, but someone didn't agree. He always regarded you as a shame, Hedolia."

"who?"

"Your brother, Valentinian!" Purgolia said with a smile to Hedolia, who was staring at her with wide eyes, while playing with her fingers. "I'm afraid that your lovely brother has long since become no longer as lovely and friendly as he was when you last met him. Under your mother's instigation, he has become the same person as your mother."

"No, it's impossible!" Hedolia shook her head firmly.

"Yes, I also think it's impossible." Purgolia smiled and said, "But after he learned of Theodosius' death, he led the two captains of the western division of the empire and led a large army here. On the one hand, he wanted to seize the throne of Augustus, and on the other hand, he wanted to clean up the Flavius ​​family."

Then, Purgolia stood up and slowly walked to Hedolia's side. Hedolia seemed to be frightened, and the whole person was stunned like a statue.

Purgolia leaned close to her ear and whispered to her, "He wants to settle accounts and wipe out all those who have brought shame upon him and hindered his progress, including you and me!"

Hedolia couldn't help but shudder, she was really frightened by Purgolia's words, and looking at her eyes, she couldn't be more vulnerable than she was at this moment.

"I hope you can think about it carefully, Hedolia." Purgolia continued, "Your existence and my existence are enough to challenge his bottom line. Even if we are just two ordinary women, we have the blood of Flavius ​​in our bodies, so we can't escape controversy. Think about it, if you go back now, Ravenna, Milan, Rome, any place will be your grave!"

After saying that, Purgolia led the guards out of the meeting hall, leaving Hedolia standing there crying with her son. The mother and son hugged each other and cried, and bursts of crying were heard in the hall.

(End of this chapter)