"Mother, why didn't you leave that gladiator behind? He's the gladiator I told you I met at the hillside dinner that day. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info He knew a lot about Greek philosophy and history, and was a very special slave. ”

After Batinius left, Octavia asked about her mother's decision with grievances and puzzles.

"The time of the Roman Republic has passed, and the Rome we see now, although it still has such an institution as the Senate, it is no longer the Senate that it used to be, since my mother's uncle Caesar, united Pompeii and Crassus to form a triumvirate, and the actual power of the whole of Rome has been in the hands of the three of them. And the three of them are not without contradictions, just like the Senate, no matter how powerful the organization is, there are also disagreements and gangs, on the surface the relationship between the three heads is very good, but in fact, Pompeii has an opinion about Caesar, because Caesar's merit and fame are gradually surpassing him. ”

Atia is a very shrewd woman, in the face of her daughter's ignorance today, she didn't want to talk about these intricate and powerful relationships, but she was worried that Octavia would make trouble in the future, and Adia decided to tell her daughter the truth of the matter.

"But what does that have to do with us taking Aduneus?"

Octavia continued to ask, her beautiful face revealed childishness, as simple as a girl who had not been involved in the world, in fact, she was indeed too simple now, only seventeen years old, not only insensitive to the political situation, but even the most basic judgment of the crowd needed to be experienced.

"Batinius he wouldn't give us a genius gladiator for no reason, and the price of that slave was not a small amount, especially after he became famous. And such a generous gift will definitely attract the attention of others, even if Battinius does a good job of concealment, but after a long time, there will always be others who will meet the gladiator when they come to our villa. Then the cunning politicians would know that we had accepted a gift from Batinius, or Graus. Getting the news out of this would have made Pompey think that more Romans would come to Caesar than him. In that case, the triumvirate, which was not very strong in the first place, would become even more tense due to various suspicions. ”

Atia took a sip of milk and continued.

"It was a sensitive period for Caesar to conquer Gaul, and Pompey was already a little dissatisfied with Caesar's achievements, and if he knew that more Roman nobles, knights, and even senate officials were on Caesar's side, then it was inevitable that Pompey, one of the triumvirate, would not have other thoughts about Caesar. Thus to the detriment of Caesar. And now, Caesar is fighting in Gaul, his army has not yet been formed, Gaul has not yet been conquered, and it is unstable, and if there is another turmoil in Rome at this time, it will be very unfavorable for Caesar. So, the more we are at this time, the less we can get in touch with any of the courtesies of the Roman senators and nobles. Octa, my daughter, I say this, can you understand a little bit? ”

In the quiet Gaius mansion, when Atia quietly told all this cause and effect, Octavia, who was only seventeen years old, was obviously unacceptable, and she was still a minor, and she could not help but feel sad in shock when she heard such an intricate network of human relationships. The young girl just wants to live a peaceful life and be with her lover until she grows old, but now it seems that she will spend the rest of her years in this constant struggle for power.

For the first time, Octavia, the young girl empathized with her mother, as Caesar's niece, relative, how did she spend all these years in a cruel environment of deceit?

"Mother, then, even so, do you still want to send your brother to Caesar?"

Young Octavia's eyes were filled with tears, and she had deep feelings for both her mother and her own brother Octavian. She didn't want to see the people closest to her get involved in this dark struggle.

"Octavia, my daughter. You have to accept the reality that Octavian has a different quality from ordinary people, he is a keen eagle, although he is still very young, but he has his own natural keen insight into human feelings, sinister people, and these human relationships that we seem to be complicated and dangerous, deceitful to deceive, but for him, it is a pleasure, when I teach him this, he even likes to use his mind to think about these things, and he does not feel tired. Perhaps your brother Octavian was born a politician and the Roman gods chose him to one day become the ruler of the Roman Republic? If that is the case, we cannot go against Jupiter's wishes. ”

Whining......

After Atia explained all this, young Octavia could no longer control her emotions, and let her tears flow completely, soaking her clothes. It was as if she had seen the years to come, in that splendid Roman mansion, she was locked up like a wounded kitten, enjoying the most luxurious riches of Rome, but her heart was extremely empty and lonely. His mother, Aditya, and his young brother Octavian were among the elite of Rome in this era, and perhaps the gods had chosen them, and they had too many burdens to carry.

Roman noble mountain villas.

"Victoria, I really didn't think that Aditya was such a scheming woman, she was a cunning fox, she had been hiding in the shadows, and we all ignored her, when in fact she was probably better than all of us. I really shouldn't have despised her like that. Damn it. ”

Upon returning from Gaius Octavian's mansion, Bartinius rebuked indignantly. However, the respected Roman aristocracy did not seem to have foreseen the seriousness of the problem. Until Batinius's wife, Victoria, reminded him again-

"Now is not the time to discuss this little thing, my husband, Batinius. Have you ever noticed the way the passing Roman citizens stare at Aduneus when we came out of Aditya's house? ”

If Batinhos is a wolf who dares to act, then Victoria is the viper standing behind this wolf. Every time Batinius did something imperfect, Victoria always reminded him and led him to use more vicious methods. And this time, Victoria's reminder once again brought this detail to Batinius' attention.

Having Adunius (Zhang Ce) stand in front of Gaius Octavian's house and wait for him to come out was originally just a joint plan after the success of the gift-giving. But now, Aditya did not accept her gift, and Adouneus was seen by passers-by, and possibly even by Pompeii's eyeliner and henchmen.

The purchase of Aduneus by Batinius was only known to the two families of Batinius and Graeus, and more Roman citizens were not aware of it, not even Pompeii, the Senate, and no one knew about it, or the sale of slaves, which was too common, who would care? And that's where the problem lies.

Now, Aduneus appeared at the gate of Gaius Octavian's house, and was seen by the citizens of Rome, and possibly by Pompeii's spies, and if this matter reached Pompeii, Pompey's current wariness and dissatisfaction with Caesar must have thought that Gray was a traitor, took refuge in himself, and turned to Caesar's side. So, when the time comes, what will Pompeii use against Gray, and what will Gray think if Gray knows about this and knows that Bartinius bought Aduneus in order to dedicate it to Aditya? Do you think you, Batinius, are deliberately framing yourself?

Batinus didn't think much about it when he came out of Aditya's house, and now, his wife, Victoria, reminded him again. It was a small detail, but it also had an unfortunate ending, so now Batinius had to reconsider his plans.