Speaking of this, Publius also felt a sour feeling in his heart, he exhaled lightly, and then said loudly: "Therefore, the king of Dionya wants you to surrender!" ”

The hall was boiling again, and many senators stood up angrily and said to Publius, "The Romans would rather die in battle than surrender!" ......" and so on, and of course there were some senators whispering in frustration, "Why are even Phidine and Gabi occupied by the Dionians?!" ......" and something like that.

"Isn't the king of Dionya too confident!" Portitus sneered: "Even if what you just said is true, we didn't experience it when the Celts invaded, and the situation was worse than this time, and in the end we won!" ”

"The Celtic invasion is completely different from the Dionian invasion, and I'm sure you should be able to feel it even though you are trapped in the mountains!" Publius retorted loudly: "The Celts burned and plundered in the Etruscan and Latium regions, causing all races to turn against them, and their atrocities were punished by the gods, causing them to contract the plague before they were finally defeated by the united Latins led by Camillus, but now-"

Publius shook his head and pointed to the mountain outside the temple gate: "Not only have the Etruscan city-states allied with Dionia, but the Latin city-states such as Prinister and Bonnet have also submitted to Dionia, and even the Roman civilians in the city have almost all become citizens of the Kingdom of Dionia, except here, the city of Rome has completely become a city of Dionia, and you have become the isolators of the Latin region!" ——”

"Fake! What you say is false! Dionyas were invaders, and the Etruscan and Latin city-states could not have allied themselves with it, they would only be loyal to Rome! In the midst of a riot, the Senator Lucritius shouted hysterically.

Publius turned his head to look at him, and there was only pity in his eyes: "I don't need to lie, you can ask Decimus and Domijuanus in a moment, and they will tell you the truth, it's time to wake up from a sweet dream!" ”

Portitus, Maruguinetis, Ambustus, Scipio the Great, and others looked at each other, and Publius' words confirmed their fears.

Eventually, Portitus coughed lightly and said, "We already know your intentions, we have to discuss this matter, you can go out and wait for our decision." ”

Publius saluted, and as he turned and walked out of the temple gate, the faces of his former colleagues were less arrogant than before, but more of a fear and jealousy, which made him feel indescribable pleasure in his heart, and he raised his head and stepped out of the temple door step by step, and as he left the gloomy apse, he also saw Decimus and Domijuanus being led into the temple by the guards.

A few hours later, he was led into the apse again, and Ambustus was the only one left in the apse.

"You're ready?" Publius asked directly.

"Sit down and talk, Publius." Ambustus didn't answer right away, but gestured to the seat next to him that had been prepared for him.

Publius was not polite, sat down with his butt and clasped his hands in front of his chest: "From what I know about the Roman Senate, the decision you made must be to refuse to surrender, right?!" ”

Ambustus looked at him and did not speak.

"I'm actually glad to see you don't surrender, because you're all a bunch of selfish, arrogant and cruel people, and it's best to die on this mountain!" Publius said mockingly, and then changed his words: "But in addition to you, there are also your families, and other people, especially those civilians, who are already lying on the ground with hunger, and can't even make a sound of wailing, can you bear to let them be buried with you, these are thousands!" Do you really want the Roman aristocracy to be wiped out completely?! ”

Ambustus twitched his cheeks a few times, he didn't respond directly, but said softly: "Publius, when Marcus insisted on helping the civilians, he almost provoked civil strife, and there was no way for the Senate to make such a decision-"

"As it turned out, Marcus was right, and if the Senate had passed his recommendations at that time, the Roman populace would not have taken refuge in Dioonia today, and you would not have ended up in the predicament you are in today! ......" Publius loudly vented his dissatisfaction with the Roman Senate that he had held back in his heart all these years.

"Maybe we've made some wrong decisions over the years......" Ambustus sighed, stared at him, and said in a heavy tone: "As one of the oldest clans in Rome, the Manlius clan has lived here for generations, and there are many relatives of your family who have married on this mountain, there are people who have given you favors, and there are people who have helped you...... Can't you bear to throw it all away, including Jupiter and Juno, whom you grew up believing in—"

Publius frowned and interrupted him, "What the hell do you want to say?" ”

Ambustus looked at him with a sincere face, and said with a sad expression: "We underestimated this war with the Dionians, originally thought that even if they captured Rome, as long as Camillus's army returned, they would be able to retake Rome again, so we brought so many people up the mountain, but listening to what you said, the army led by Camillus has been defeated, so the plan to return to the city of Rome is far away, and our food is already very tight...... Alas, the tragic situation of the people, I believe you have seen it when you went up the mountain, and in a few days, they ...... You might starve to death on this mountain because you don't have food to eat......"

Speaking of this, Ambustus's eyes glistened with tears: "You guessed right, we are not ready to surrender, but we hope to allow them to go down the mountain and surrender, so that they will not become food for crows......"

Publius was stunned, and Ambustus was embarrassed by his request: the Dioonians were forcing the Romans to surrender by besieging Capitoline Hill and starving them of food, but Ambustus wanted to send down most of the people who had caused their greatest food consumption so that he could continue to hold on, and the shrewd Dionian king would not have allowed the Roman senators to succeed in their self-conceived clever proposal!

Seeing that Publius was silent, Ambustus immediately put his hands on the ground, bent down, and slammed his forehead on the ground.

Publius was startled and hurriedly got up to avoid it: "Ambustus, what are you doing here?!" ”

"Please! Save these your fellow citizens! Ambustus pleaded.

"I ...... It's useless, King Davers won't agree! Publius shook his head vigorously.

Ambustus didn't speak, but kept lying on the ground.

If Portitus and Marugineensis had done this, it would have been counterproductive, but Ambustus had a good relationship with Publius in the past. After a long time, he sighed helplessly, and finally responded: "Well, I'll try my best to convince King Davers. ”

"Thank you, thank you! I thank you on behalf of the whole mountain! Ambustus sat up and said gratefully.

"There is no need to mention thanks, if you curse me a few words, I will be content." Publius said self-deprecatingly.

Ambustus coughed awkwardly.

"But...... Don't get your hopes up, the king of Dionya was very dissatisfied with the Roman nobility, and now that you have made this suggestion, even if they are finally allowed to go down the mountain, I am afraid it will not end well! Publius warned.

Ambustus smiled bitterly: "There is hope in life, we can't ask for more." ”

Publius was silent.

"By the way, have you ever seen my little daughter and son-in-law in the city? Are they doing okay now?! Ambustus asked eagerly.

"Your son-in-law and daughter are imprisoned in their own dwelling, but they have not been harmed, and King Davers seems to have some interest in Storo, and yesterday he let him meet with the captive Minusius......"

"Minusius was also captured?!" Ambustus was taken aback.

"That's why I've come to persuade you, because there's no hope for you." Publius took the opportunity to persuade again.

Ambustus didn't speak.

…………………………………………

"That's what those Roman senators put forward?!" Davers looked directly at Publius without being angry.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Publius didn't dare to make eye contact with Davers, he lowered his head and said respectfully: "After I went up the mountain, I have been patiently persuading them, and even brought the Roman nobles who were captured in the previous battles, just hoping that they would be able to recognize the facts, but they never compromised...... I can only bring back their proposals......"

"You've done a great job!" Davers complimented, and then said in a flat tone: "It seems that these stubborn Roman senators are still not giving up." ”

Publius's heart tightened, and he didn't dare to answer.

With his hands behind his back, Davers took a few steps in the center of the Senate meeting hall and suddenly asked, "How many Romans are there on the hill?" ”

"About 6,000 people."

"6,000 ......men," Davers pondered for a moment, then asked, "How many men were there on Capitoline Hill after the Celts captured Rome?" ”

Publius did not understand why Davers asked this question, and he replied truthfully: "532." ”

Davers thought for a moment, turned to face him, and said decisively: "I agreed to their request and allowed those Romans to go down the mountain, but they can only be the princes of the kingdom, and only 500 people can be kept on the mountain." ”

Hearing this, Henipolis on the side hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty, this is a trick of the Romans!" They're trying to—"