The outer courtyard walked by, where slaves and maids disturbed the courtyard, and a number of soldiers patrolled the area.

Passing through a wall, we entered the heart of the Grand Palace, where in the center was a huge fountain and at the top of the fountain there was a statue of a Roman general, who tried to portray this Roman in the form of Poseidon, the god of the sea, tall and mighty, with a trident in his hand, and broken warships under his feet, as if these small warships could not withstand his endless wrath.

"This is Hermanus," said the courtier, pausing and pointing back to the statue, to Kessel, "he is the former naval commander who commanded the mighty navy of the invincible Roman army to Great Sicily. He was an excellent naval commander who once led his soldiers to break through the golden horn of Constantinople and expel the usurper for Augustus! ”

Listening to the courtier's words, Kessel couldn't help but raise his head to look at the statue that was several meters tall for him, the statue opened its mouth wide, as if it was roaring, and its lifelike eyes stared at Kessel below as if it was alive, and the trident raised high seemed to fall at any time, which made Kessel shudder.

Later, he sped up his pace as if he wanted to escape, and in a few big steps he surpassed the courtier who was leading the way in front of him, as if he was running away from the wilderness, and his comical actions almost made the courtier who was thrown behind him couldn't help but want to laugh, but that smile was not like a smile because he encountered something funny, it was more like a sneer, but the conditions required him to calm down, and he also wiped his mouth to erase the smile on his face, leaving only seriousness.

Behind the statue was the majestic palace, and Kessel saw that the road in front of him was two rows of white marble columns, and behind the stone pillars were two huge pools, which were as quiet as two huge mirrors.

A few simplely dressed but gorgeously dressed maids held brass kettles for water, and talked and laughed there, looking carefree, enjoying their youth at will, which made Kessel envious.

The building of the Greek-style marble column appears in front of it, and it is a magnificent building.

Behind the fountain is a very large clearing, covered with very fine polished stone bricks, and richly decorated carriages are neatly parked on both sides, as if waiting for something.

"Oh my God, did Augustus in Rome have to use so many carriages?" Kessel looked at the row of carriages with different decorations and stopped for a moment, his dull gaze was clearly full of envy, how could he not be envious?

These carriages were not a common thing in Carthage, after all, even the king of the Vandals, Gaisarik, used horses abandoned by the local aristocracy, and the ordinary nobles regarded the carriage as a rare thing, and they only rode their own horses.

The courtier who led the way did not seem to be in a hurry to wait, and watched as Kessel stood still for a long time, and finally came to his senses to realize the embarrassment of knowing that he still had something to do.

"Sorry, sorry, I lost my mind!"

Kessel apologized again and again, and the courtiers in front of him also nodded slightly without smiling and continued: "That's the best, Caesar is still waiting for us, I don't want Caesar to wait too long." ”

Kessel said yes again and again, and then hurried after the courtiers who led the way, slowly ascending the long steps.

At the top of the stairs, the courtier pulled out a brass support and the guard at the door nodded slightly at the courtier and pushed the door open to let the group enter.

"I'll have to tell you about our rules here when I come in, and the rules of the Romans." The courtiers, in Latin who were not very fluent, explained to Kessel the rules to be followed, such as what to say and what not to say, what to do, and what not to do.

Kessel listened very carefully in the back, for fear of missing something in the meantime.

The corridor in front of him was far from being as majestic and spacious as the appearance of the huge palace, and as the corridor zigzagged upward, Kessel heard a loud quarrel, like a crowd of people gathered together to argue about something, and the sound was very similar to the sound of Gaisaric rallying the elders of the nobility to argue about the life and death of the Vandals.

He walked slowly up to the chamber of Augustus on the third floor with trepidation, only to see that the voices of the argument were becoming more and more obvious, they were all arguing in Greek, fortunately Kessel was fluent in Latin and Greek, and Kessel could hear what they were arguing about.

"Hey, look, this is the battle plan I spent a week preparing for Caesar! I have to do it in the shortest possible time,"

"The newly formed Macedonian legions are coming soon, and they are equipped with the latest armor and weapons we have now, especially against the barbarians."

"Oh? Well, I always think that returning to the primitive way and using the broad shield and short sword handed down from my ancestors can solve the problem very well. ”

"The heavy armored cavalry is, think about it, thousands of war horses galloping, even Attila, will also be terrified!"

"Hey, you've forgotten about our navy! Oh my God, they're Hermanus' men, and I think they're the ones who have the most say in what happens next! ”

"The Romans have a voice!"

At this moment their argument ceased by a series of loud footsteps, and everyone turned their heads and stared with puzzled eyes at the courtier who was getting closer and closer, and at Kessel, who was following him.

There was a clear confusion in the eyes of the officers, who might not have been as accustomed to a barbarian face wearing a Roman toga as the nobles of Western Rome.

Staring at everyone's suspicious gazes, Kessel realized the strangeness in their gazes. He could only bury his head in his chest to avoid the eyes of everyone present, or at least he found that he couldn't escape their eyes even with this outfit.

The gaze judged him like a judge, which was difficult for Kessel to accept, and although he was only a messenger of the Vandals, it was no wonder that his misfit with them had become his greatest sin.

Anyway, instead of focusing on himself, perhaps he was already accustomed to these officers, the courtiers instead sped up to the door of the closed council chamber.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Just as the courtiers were about to explain their intentions to the guards guarding the door, an officer from behind suddenly stood up and pointed at the courtiers and Kessel and said loudly: "Don't you know the rules, don't you see that we are all queuing up to report to Caesar?" What privilege do you have to stand ahead of us? ”

"yes, who are you? Don't you know the rules of Rome? ”

"Is it a barbarian?"

"Only barbarians will cut in line, oh, uncultured fellows."

In the face of many doubts, this voice seemed to be a mockery, a satire of Kessel's life, yes, he was brought in by the courtiers and now he was subjected to unwarranted accusations.

"Please follow the order you should be, and don't act like a barbarian!" The nearest officer unceremoniously stepped forward and stood in front of Kessel, who felt so helpless at this moment, bowed his head and suffered all this in silence.

The courtier in front of him couldn't see this, and he turned back to the complaining officers and said loudly, "He..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, he stopped abruptly, and the courtier looked down at Kessel, who was holding him down.

"Let's go to the back!" Kessel lowered his head, his voice so small that only the courtiers could hear him.