As soon as these words came out, the faces of several people present changed. To praise the consuls of other city-states in public as being better than their own tyrants, and in Syracuse only Ferrosanus dared to do so.

"Unfortunately, I heard that Daves of Dionia came from a humble background and was once a shepherd (referring to Davers, who herded sheep and horses in Thessaly before he became a mercenary)." Macias was the first to speak.

Henipolis finally couldn't help but retort: "Could it be that Lord Dionysius is of noble birth?!" I heard that before he became General Plenipotentiary, he was just an ordinary clerk in Syracuse. Master Davers once said to me, 'True heroes don't care about their origins, because they rely on their own abilities, not by their families.' ’”

"Well said! That's what I admire most about Master Dionysius! Felistos praised loudly to cover up Macias's gaffe: "It is also by your own efforts that all of you here have achieved today's noble status. ”

"That's right! Right! ......" Macias chimed in to hide his embarrassment.

"Everyone—" Felistos hurriedly took the wine, stood up, looked around to the right and left, and said in a loud voice, "I have been accompanying Lord Dionysius to negotiate with the Carthaginians for the past few days, and I have been so busy that I have neglected the distinguished guests from Dionia!" With my friends here, I punish myself with a glass as a sign of my apologies! ”

"Good!" Gerolis raised his glass, as did Reptines, Macias, and Ferosanus.

Ansitanus did not rise to dissuade him, because he knew that Felistos had said these words on behalf of Dionysius, and of course the wine contained Dionysius's apology.

When Felistos had finished their glasses of wine, Ansitanos stood up with Hennepolis, raised his glass and said, "I am very grateful to Lord Felistus for his kind invitation, and at the same time congratulate Lord Dionysius, with the assistance of all of you, for defeating the mighty Carthage many times, which is a great victory for Syracuse, and the most exciting news that the entire Great Greeks have ever heard!" Because Carthage, the greatest enemy of the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, has been devastated, the people of Sicily and Greater Greece will enjoy peace for a long time! After saying that, they also drank it all.

"Well said!" Felistos raised his glass again and shouted, "To Lord Dionysius! Syracuse wins! ”

While the others raised their glasses in congratulations, Ansitanos, who was opposite, noticed that Jerolis did not speak with the same serious and enthusiastic expression as the two next to him, and Ferosanus did not follow suit, but shouted: "For the peace of Sicily!" ”

Then Felistos made a gesture, and the musician and the dancer entered the hall, and the feast began.

In the beautiful melody and the soft dancing swaying, everyone staggered and feasted......

When the music stopped and the dancing queen withdrew, Henipolis was unconsciously full under the coquettish voice of the beautiful slave girl. He saw that Macias on the opposite side had become close to the slave girl, and was extremely unbearable; Reptines was also flirting with a slave girl; Only Jerolis was still chewing slowly; Ferrosanus even dismissed the slave girls on the left and right; He turned his head again to see that the teacher next to him, Ansitanos, had eaten very little, and was always smiling and watching the song and dance...... Henipoliston was ashamed of his poor self-control.

At this time, Felistus, who was on the main seat, coughed twice, attracting everyone's attention to him, and then said: "Lord Ansitanos, since the establishment of the Ionian Alliance, there has been basically no diplomatic official contact between the two sides, this time Dionya sent you to Syracuse for friendship?" ”

Here it comes! Ansitanos had been accumulating strength for a long time, and just waiting for this moment, he immediately smiled and said, "Of course I came for friendship. Syracuse was a large Sicilian state, and Dionya was also a powerful alliance of Greater Greece. Previously, one of the two sides was busy dealing with Carthage, and the other was trying their best to repel the natives in the mountains, and for various reasons, the two Greek powers so close to each other did not establish friendly ties and communication, so that something regrettable happened-" Ansitanos deliberately stopped talking.

None of the people in Syracuse spoke, but Philosanus asked curiously, "What is regrettable?" ”

Ansitanos took advantage of the situation to take over the conversation: "Several senators of the Dionian Senate were accused by the people of corruption and bribery, and when collecting evidence of their violations, a large number of 'Four Drakmas Silver Coins' from Syracuse were found in their mansions, as well as some letters. These letters—" Ansitanos looked at Felistus.

Felistos listened attentively.

"The main content is to communicate with the senator of Dionia, Polyxis, 'how to disturb the order of the Dionian Union, cause unrest among the people, remove the consul Davers from power...... etc., and the letters are signed by Felistos." Ansitanus looked at the host of the banquet again: "The letter also mentions that 'he was ordered by Lord Dionysius.'" Polyxis himself admitted that it was with the support of Syracuse that he dared to carry out these acts of betrayal of the alliance so boldly. ’”

"How could such a thing happen?!" Felistos looked stunned: "I have never given anything to the name of Bo...... The people of Polyxis wrote letters, and this is really ...... Lord Ansitanos, can you bring with you the letters you are talking about? ”

"I brought it." Ansitanos was prepared, took out a letter from the baggage he was carrying, and handed it to the slave girl beside him.

Felistos couldn't wait to take the letter, unfolded it, and then showed a relieved smile: "Lord Ansitanos, if the handwriting and signature of every letter in your hand are the same, I can tell you for sure that these letters were not written by me!" ”

"Oh?!" Ansitanos looked surprised.

"Go and get some copies of the letters in my study with my signature." Felistos immediately gave an order to his enslavement.

"Show me this letter." Herois next to him spoke, and Felistos handed him the letter.

Just as the slaves went to get the letters and the banquet fell silent for a while, Jerolis took the letters and said, "...... Well, Lord Ansitanos, I was shocked to hear the news you just said. But I would like to try to stand on the sidelines, and to speak of my own judgment, that Felistus, a man of letters, who prides himself on his own status, is relatively high-minded, and who disdains to do such despicable things that only a despicable person would do, and who cannot be in league with the greedy and filthy Dionian senator of whom you have just spoken...... Wave ......"

"Polyxis." Reptines reminded from the sidelines.

"With Polyxis, it was impossible for Felistos to write to him. And Lord Dionysius, as the general plenipotentiary, was very happy to see that there was an archon in Dionya with a similar status to him, which made him feel that he was not alone in this vast western Mediterranean, how could he do anything to destroy the rule of Lord Davers! ”

"Yes, my brother would never do such a thing!" Reptines emphasized.

"I wonder if it could be like this-" Felistos pondered for a while, and analyzed seriously: "Lord Dionysius single-handedly created today's powerful Syracuse, uniting the Greek city-states of Sicily, but he was also hated by many people. As I think you know, when the Carthaginian army came to the city of Syracuse a few years ago, some people in the city incited a riot to oust Dionysius. Although the situation was eventually calmed down, in fact, there have been rumors circulating in Syracuse over the years, and even small riots and assassinations have occurred one after another, otherwise General Plenipotentiary would not have lived on this island, which is so well defended.

These people are like poisonous snakes, hiding in their caves, ignoring the peace and stability of Sicily, and attacking Lord Dionysius and our supporters at every possible opportunity. The Carthaginians were defeated, but in Great Greece there was a Dionian alliance with a solid strength similar to Syracuse, and if there was a war between Syracuse and Dionia, then they would have the opportunity to come out of the shadows again and cause unrest in Syracuse in order to achieve their goals......"

"Are you saying that Lord Dionysius's opponents did this, and then blamed you, Lord Felistos?" Ansitanos asked rhetorically, smirking.

"It's very likely." Felistos replied earnestly.

"How can we explain that Hermis, a citizen of Syracuse that we have also captured, has fully admitted that he was assigned by Master Dionysius to buy Polyxis and others to engage in sabotage against Dionia?" The corners of Ansitanos' mouth showed a slight mockery.

"Hermis?" Puzzled, Felistos asked the others, "Do we have such a citizen in Syracuse?" ”

Henipolis couldn't help but say loudly again: "Don't pretend, we have all investigated in detail, Hermis is a citizen of Syracuse, lives in the central area of the city, next to the temple of Apollo, has two sons, he is also the clerk of Lord Herolis, am I not wrong?" ”

"It's true?!" Felistos was shocked, and Herolis's expression was even more surprised, he turned his head to look at Felistos, and after the two met their eyes, he said hesitantly: "...... I do have a clerk named Hermes, but ...... A year ago, I went on an expedition to Cyrenaica, and when I came back, I heard that he had already been punished for embezzlement and had lost his post...... If Turii had caught the same person, I really didn't expect him to run away to Turii, I don't believe you can go and look at the court records, his criminal record was ...... half a year ago"

"This is a problem!" Felistos suddenly said loudly, his expression becoming extremely serious.

"What's wrong?" Leptignes asked, puzzled.

"If the former clerk of Hermis and Lord Herolis are the same person, it means that those who oppose it may have begun to consciously infiltrate the public officials of the city-state of Syracuse!" Felistos said with a solemn expression.