thing left to do – resort to the old proven technique.
– There are no enemies here. He is not my enemy, – he said, placing his hand on the blade. Now he held it like a spear, but no one paid attention to it. – I can’t kill a man without a weapon, – finishing these words, Lacius saw the strong Han warrior turn his head to the side disdainfully and the Empress’s brother frown, the fat governor Bao Shi shrink into a ball behind him and the chief of security Fu Xing straighten up, apparently having guessed his intention; the servants made a noise behind the shed, conveying these words to each other.
But when the “thunderstorm of silk belts” turned his face, hearing the sound of a blade piercing the wood, it was already too late. He saw the sword sticking out of the post, right between his legs. Having pierced the robe, it stuck into the wood at a palm’s distance from the source of his male power. Lacius swayed. Even such a simple throw required a lot of strength. Everything swam in a circle again in his eyes: the face of the guard chief Fu Xing, distorted with annoyance and resentment, the frightened face of Governor Bao Shi with trembling lips and a half – open mouth, the helpless and confused expression on the face of the “thunderstorm of silk belt” Yu Lai and the unexpected smile on Wang Mang’s face, the Empress’s brother.
– Good shot, – he replied, shaking his head. – Smart move. You could have killed him.
– He is not my enemy, – Lacius repeated once again. – I don’t kill people.
– Okay… Everyone can learn this. But we don’t need that. Why do we need this? Three warriors are still stronger than one. We don’t need these people, – he said again, turning to Bao Shi.
– They built a big city and stone walls, – the old Governor said not very confidently, hiding his eyes.
– We can build a thousand such cities! – Wang Mang proudly threw at him.
– But you don’t have bridges, – Lacius finally remembered what Chow Li told him. – There are no bridges in your mountains. – You can’t build stone bridges in the mountains, – he added. The Empress’s brother frowned and looked at the governor. He raised his eyebrows, as if to say “Well, yes, he’s right,” and Wang Mang immediately responded with a question:
– Can you build it?
– Yes.
– Show me right here!
– I’ll need stones and boards, – Lacius shrugged.
– Show me! Hey Yu Lai! Take out your sword and drag stones and two boards here! Dig the earth, pick the stones out of the road. If he is lying, you will put his head instead of one stone!
The warrior, red with indignation and anger, bowed and immediately rushed to carry out the order. However, there was gloating in his eyes, because in his soul he hoped that he would be able to cut off the offender’s head when he failed to build his stone bridge, as he promised his owner. A dozen servants poured out about forty stones, slightly larger than a palm, in front of Lacius, and he whispered praise to all the gods for the fact that they were not round.
– The boards are mountains. Make a bridge between them! – Wang Mang ordered.
Having laid them out so that under his hands there were stones with beveled edges, reminiscent of triangles, and the rest a little further away, Lacius took up the wood boards. He tilted them towards each other at a distance of an elbow and placed two stones under them. Then he took the first triangular stone and pressed it to the board. The second one goes to it. To the second – the third… As a result, he got an arch of stones, which rested its ends on the inclined edges of the boards. After this, he took several narrow stones and inserted them into the cracks, strengthening the first row. He placed smoother pebbles on top and added a few more pieces around the edges.
Now there was an arch below and an almost flat road above. Calling Lucro and Zeno, he asked them to hold the boards, and he, taking an iron ball and chain in his hands so as not to interfere, carefully stood with his feet on the top of the small stone bridge. If these people knew that any legion had to be able to build not only cities and roads, but also stone bridges and sewers, they would not be so surprised. However, the Han people did not know this and therefore exclamations of surprise and joy were heard from all sides. They liked the strange barbarian from a distant unknown country.
When Lacius came down, the Empress’s brother came up and took his place. Small stones supported his weight. Lacius smiled wearily.
– You will teach our people this, – Wang Mang said very calmly and evenly, as if this was nothing surprising to him. – Yu Lai, horse! – he shouted and quickly walked out from under the canopy. Everyone froze in confusion, not knowing what to do. Only Governor Bao Shi smiled and joyfully rubbed his palms, hiding them on his stomach under wide, long sleeves.
The young head of the security, Fu Xing, approached him and, bowing, asked something. The Governor patted him on the shoulder in a fatherly manner and began to explain. Lacius did not hear anything, since there were many servants around, each of whom now wanted to stand on his small bridge, and poor Zeno and Lucro were forced to try their best to keep the boards motionless. The Han people rejoiced and laughed like children, but Lacius felt that this was not the end yet. Confirmation came a little later.
CHAPTER IV. CONVERSATION WITH CHOU LI
The rest of the day passed in complete silence. The Romans lay like empty, dusty bags, abandoned on the road as unnecessary. Towards evening they were taken outside the city, to the river. This was a real reward for their dirty, exhausted bodies. On the way, Lacius noticed that dozens of carts with barrels were constantly moving from there to the city. Apparently, this was the only way to transport water to the city. It was very strange. And there were no sewers visible in this city, although it was clearly very large. Everything drained into ditches near houses or into large holes. Then barefoot poor people carried them out with buckets.
When they returned to the city, it was already dark. A stretcher and two dozen servants were visible at the canopy. Lacius’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed them. It was Chow Li. Without waiting for the guards to come for him, he, with difficulty holding the chain with the ball, came closer and identified himself. A woman’s voice was heard from inside, and the porters stepped aside.
– The Empress’s brother was here today. Terrible Wang Mang, – he said with a tired sigh, as if they were continuing a conversation they had started long ago.
– I know. Everyone in the court knows. But that doesn’t change anything. The Emperor has not yet changed his decision. He doesn’t yet know that the Empress’s brother was here.
– Everyone knows, but he doesn’t! It’s strange somehow…
Chow said that the Empress’s brother was a secretive person. He didn’t like to share his thoughts with anyone except his sister. Besides, the Emperor spent the whole day with his concubines in the distant garden of the palace, so no one saw him. In the evening, the Emperor’s wife called the senior eunuch and ordered him to prepare for her exit outside the palace walls the next morning.
– Here? – Lacius asked. – So has she managed to talk to her brother? —
– Yes, – Chow confirmed.
– You bet! She sent him to us on purpose. She was checking us out.
– You’re probably right. But now she wants to see everything for herself. The ministers’ wives will be with her. If they tell their husbands about the paintings, they can convince the Emperor…
– Chow, I’ll do my best. You need to get to the Emperor’s concubines. You say he doesn’t know anything because he was with them. This means they are more important than everyone else. Even more important than his wife!
– What are you talking about! You shouldn’t say so. You shouldn’t. The