"Kventus, oh, why are you free to come to me today? I heard that you are helping your father with military affairs in the army, when will the decisive battle between Pompey and Caesar begin? ”

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After his last defeat at Casare by Lepida and Apis, Kventus returned to Athens to discuss with his father how to deal with Caesar's crisis. And now, the Senate general Obius went to the front with three legions, which became one of the topics of discussion between father and son. For this reason, Pompey sent Crintus to the house of Appius, who was temporarily living in Athens.

Even in Athens, Appius had the strength to take out a portion of his assets to buy a luxurious villa, so as soon as Kventus entered the door, he still maintained respect and due etiquette for the old nobleman.

"It's getting colder, and I really hope your father can end this war soon, you know? He even put my son and I against each other. ”

Appius warmly entertained Pompey's son, but for Apis, he was reluctant to tell outsiders the truth about the matter, after all, it would damage the glory of the family.

"I have heard that we regret your situation, Lord Appius. But, that's why I'm coming to you today. ”

Kventus entered the door and threw his cloak to the servants who had come to serve. Then, he and Appius walked into the inner hall. There, after all the slaves and servants had been removed, a conspiracy between the two began.

"I am grateful to your father for his care, but Appis's problem may not be easy to solve. I learned that he was now one of the most trusted captains around Caesar. Rumor has it that Caesar is even going to hand over the permanent command of the Tenth Legion to him. I'm really physically and mentally exhausted, Kventus, you know what? That day, when I saw Apis being rude to me, I wanted to lecture him hard and punish him with a stick, but he was now Caesar's officer. There were guards standing all around. ”

Appius had a natural talent for acting, he could be an excellent theatrical actor, and in fact, politics was indeed like a show, and Appius, as a typical representative of the Roman aristocracy, inherited the "good" style of the aristocratic class. Cventus listened suspiciously, in fact, he didn't care about the feud between Appius and Appis, but now they had a common enemy, and Pompey thought that he could use Appius to get Cventus to fight the old nobleman.

Kventus quickly got straight to the point—

"Well, sir, since we all have the same goal today, for Appis. You want your son to return to the path of reason, to the orthodox path of the Republic, and I, too, and my father and I hope that Apis will also lay down his arms and become our allies, at least, no longer our enemies, our adversaries. And to do that, Pompey needs your help. Lord Appius. ”

"My help? What can I do? If I can do it, I'll help. Not only for Appis, but also for the reward of Pompey, your father's trust in me. ”

Appius replied calmly.

"Let's put it this way. The scene of the banquet that day was seen by many, and your wife Anelka recognized Apis in full view, and his tears were wet on the corners of her clothes, and it was a moving scene, wasn't it? ”

There was a slight cunning look in his gaze, his plan had been planned by his father Gnaeus Pompey for a long time.

"Do you mean that you want my wife, Anelka, the mother of Apys, to persuade Aphis to give up following Caesar and turn to us? That is probably unlikely, you probably don't know Apis, he has been Caesar's servant for many years, and his affection for Caesar may not be as light as mine. My wife, Anelka, may be a concern for him, but I think it's a bit difficult for him to give up his current military position and join us. ”

"You're wrong, Appius. My father and I did not want Anelka to persuade Appis to betray Caesar and join us, but to have your wife Anelka act as an intermediary to mediate the battle on the front lines for us. ”

Kventus replied simply, to Appius.

He lifted his cuffs and continued—

"In fact, we also know that it is impossible to convince Apris's mother, Anelka, to get your wife, Apris, to surrender. However, this battle will involve your eldest son, Nikulas, and we hope that your wife, Anelka, will be able to go to the front line, to the camp of Apys, and persuade Aphis to stop fighting with his eldest brother. It may be difficult to ask your youngest son, Apis, to surrender, but it is not too difficult to persuade Apis to stop fighting his brother. In fact, this is also reasonable. Moreover, the legion stopped advancing, and Apis could find various reasons to explain to Caesar, the weather, the wrong plane, and a whole host of other reasons. In this way, he will not abandon his military position, nor will he betray Caesar, but he will not complete a mission perfectly. ”

"It is possible to ask Anelka to persuade Appis to stop fighting his brother. I'm sure my wife can persuade Appis to do the same. Just saying that, it doesn't have much value and meaning, does it? Apis is not defeated today, and will follow Caesar to attack us tomorrow. I, on the other hand, had to let my wife venture into the enemy's barracks once. ”

Appius was puzzled. In his heart, he wanted to crush Appis with one hand, but on the surface, he still had to find a reasonable reason. And expressed dissatisfaction with the way in which Cventus Pompey only delayed the war and did not completely address the root causes.

"No, there is no tomorrow. I mean there is no tomorrow for Apris, and if your wife Anelka's persuasion succeeds, Apheis will not have a second chance to become the commander of the legion at Caesar's side. ”

Kventus returned with a smile.

"Why?" Appius, on the other hand, was increasingly puzzled.

"My father, Pompey and Caesar, had crossed paths so much, they fought in politics, they fought on the battlefield, they knew each other. According to my father's opinion, Caesar would put a man to the test countless times before he trusted him absolutely, don't you see? Again and again, Caesar kept Apis away from him and acted alone, just to test his loyalty. And now, it's time for the final step to test Appis's loyalty. Therefore, my father saw that we were at this time, and asked his wife Anelka to persuade Apis and Niculas to cease the war, not only to stop a small battle on the northern front, but to make Caesar suspicious and even angry with Apys. Enraged, Apis did not carry out his orders and drove the legion under the city of Athens. Think about it, if your wife Anelka succeeded in persuading Apis to stop the war with Nikulas, then with Caesar's wisdom and wisdom, he would definitely suspect that Apis did not delay the war for so long because of his inability, but because something went wrong in the middle, and whatever that mistake was, Caesar would have thought that Apis had lost his loyalty to him. Do you think Apis still has a chance to secure his position as Legion Commander? So, everything is reasonable, but unwittingly it leads Apis into our trap. Moreover, we will not harm him by doing so, Caesar will at most remove him from his military office, and your son will be safe and sound, so that we will both achieve our goal, won't we? ”

Cventus told the whole plot in its entirety, and Appius only then learned that Pompey had such a plan when Niculas had gone on the expedition a week earlier...... (To be continued.) )