21. Rumors
"Cleopatra, O my noble lady, behold, you are still so graceful and magnificent, that there is hardly a trace of time in you. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. biquge。 info”
"Don't be sarcastic about me, Caesar, hero of Rome, come here and enjoy my service and love for you."
The ambiguity and lingering between Caesar and Cleopatra made the world have many suspicions, however, as a genius and passionate Julius Caesar, he did not pay attention to these comments of others, and in him, you can even find the romantic feelings of many poets.
"Tell me, is your own life in Egypt very lonely and boring, every day except internal affairs and management, dealing with those complicated affairs, there is nothing interesting to do."
Caesar said, taking off his heavy and splendid armor, the relief of the cuirass is engraved with the scene of his battle with the Gauls, the front hooves of a horse are raised high, and the knight on horseback holds a long sword in one hand, and the sword is pointed at the sky, yes, the knight is Caesar himself.
Cleopatra stroked the relief of her breastplate, and for a moment the desire for power was reflected in her dark eyes, Caesar was keenly aware of this, but pretended to ignore it, and just embraced Cleopatra like a lover, yes, there is nothing more blissful than simply embracing a peerless beauty. Antony once said to Octavian's face that he would overthrow the queen a hundred times, but was despised and ignored by Octavian. Caesar also made no secret of this, exalting Cleopatra's status and, in fact, consolidating the foundation of Roman rule in Egypt.
"It's not boring, I have my servants at my ......"
In response to Caesar's provocative question, Cleopatra also responded deliberately frivolously.
"Then I'm going to castrate all the servants around you."
Caesar knew that the "little woman" in front of him was deliberately flirting, so he responded with great interest. The manservants in the room were frightened. Then Caesar called them all out of the room, leaving only him and the queen, the light of the oil lamp softly sprinkled on the white tent, and in the curtain, only two figures were left swaying.
……
"Caesar, the Parthian kingdom in the east is now getting stronger, and my army is constantly struggling to cope with the borders, and the nomadic cavalry from the east is always a nuisance. Are you going to let Anthony stay here and defend Egypt's borders? ”
After a fierce battle in bed, Cleopatra threw out her own question at the right time. Egypt was originally adjacent to the Seleucid dynasty, since the Roman conquest of Seleucus, the empire's borders are directly bordered by the Parthian kingdom in the east, and the confrontation between the two powers has also occurred from time to time, Crassus's army of 50,000 has been killed in the desert, and Cleopatra has the same concern.
"Parthia? Well, it's a problem indeed. The reform in Rome is coming to an end, and yes, in just two years, I have brought about many fundamental changes in the country. Only now, the reform has not been complete. Rome was not yet completely stable. Parthia was a problem, and, moreover, Rome had to conquer it. I'll take the legions to conquer that wild land, well, after Rome has completely remodeled. So, you don't have to worry about that. As for the Egyptian border problems during this time, Antony's talent is indeed sufficient to deal with it, but I still need him to use it elsewhere. Let Crassus the Younger, and Fabius, whom I will send here after the end of his term as consul. ”
Caesar put his arm around the Queen's tender shoulders and said confidently. Despite being in his fifties, Caesar still did not feel tired after a long bed battle. His calloused palms caress the queen's delicate skin, and this scene is full of the smell of power trading.
……
"I have to tell my mother that Caesar is in Egypt and fooling around with that exotic slut!"
While Caesar and Cleopatra were enjoying their romance in Egypt, the originally peaceful situation in Rome was once again surging. Many rumors began to spread to Rome, consciously or unconsciously, perhaps intentionally by the Pompei aristocracy and the remnants of the Senate, or perhaps simply among the people, but in short, such peachy rumors eventually reached the ears of Tertila, and the young girl became angry. She couldn't let her mother suffer a little grievance, so the idea was simply to go to the Seville residence and tell her mother about the rumors. But he was stopped by Appis.
"No, don't go. What are you doing? Did you tell your mother about this in any way that would have done it any good? What are the consequences of telling your mother about this fact? Furious with your mother, who then seriously injured Caesar in the back? Or have all of Rome come and laugh at your mother, being pampered by an exotic slut? Or should Caesar's reputation be tarnished in Rome? My dear, when this news gets out, it will not cause any beneficial effects, but only an element of unease. Since it has spread silently in Rome, it is up to us to control and suppress this voice. And now, you go to your mother, maybe she already knows, yes, I guess we don't have more access to information than she does, perhaps, your mother knows and doesn't say it, just to pretend not to know. And you, tell her this fact, she will not have the steps to come down, and then she can only really hate Caesar. Beloved, think about it, no matter how things are, how they develop, we should not spread it, but we should do everything in our power to suppress it. ”
Appis took Tertila's hand and said bitterly. At present, Rome is heading towards the most tragic scene in history. Appis knew about this history, but the others didn't, except for the nobles who plotted to assassinate Caesar in the basement, and I am afraid that the entire Roman Republic thought that Caesar would rule the country forever.
"Caesar, how could he do that? Suit oneself? If it weren't for my mother telling me to respect him, I really don't have a crush on him, you know? He used to cast lustful glances at me. ”
Tertilla said, looking dissatisfied. Only then did Appis know that perhaps the rumors in history about the two maids and one husband of the Seville family were true. It's just that he married Tertila by mistake, so that this kind of thing didn't happen, Caesar was in Rome, and there were many women who could enjoy it, and Apis, well, yes, Apis only had one.
According to what Apis knew before he traveled, historically, Cicero was asked why Caesar would sell many properties to Seville at such a cheap price. Cicero, the gossip king, replied, "You don't understand, there may be a third deal hidden in this. But Cicero did not explain it, and then some people speculated that the third deal Cicero was talking about was Tertilla. In order to please Caesar, Seville may have dedicated her daughter to Caesar, two maids and a husband, well, maybe there is such an embarrassment in history. It's just that Apis happened to change all that, and Cicero didn't say what he shouldn't have said. His interests had been linked to Caesar under the arrangement of Appis.