"After war, what oath will be used to keep the peace?" - Appian

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"Caesar, Caesar, will your ambition and your deeds be buried in quicksand?" Seeing the bloody corpse of the dictator lying in the aisle, Anthony, who could not bear to see the fall of the noble figure, approached and knelt down, stroked Caesar's body, and began to cry.

"What do we do now?" Panza also knelt down and held Caesar's bowed head, and the six gods said, "Ebro, Igiulus, Bassatus, and Hezyus, we are all from humble origins, and we have only entered the political arena after being appreciated by the dictator, are they going to purge us bloodily?" ”

"Don't panic, don't cry!" Standing under the statue of Pompey, Li Bida calmly reprimanded, "Now that Julius is dead, and at the hands of the despicable assassins, the top priority now is to search for the list of Caesar's murderers, the second is to protect Caesar's will, and the third is to control the army!" ”

"Perhaps, soon Brutus and they will begin to liquidate us, and we will lose the opportunity to appeal in front of the people." Panza was a little frightened, but Li Bida said, "Don't be afraid of you, when Caesar was a teenager, he dared to rebel against the dictator Sula, didn't he also retreat?" The populace loved Caesar, and the whole of Italy and the distant provinces of the source supported the Emilius Bill, and they knew that if the murderers were allowed to succeed, they would lose all the power they had previously acquired, so now we had to distinguish between friend and foe. To win more friends. ”

So both Pansa and Anthony calmed down. They stood up. Wiped away his tears and said to Li Bida, "I long to get your Jianyì." ”

"Yes, in order to avenge Lord Caesar faster and better." Saying this, tears also flowed from the corners of Li Bida's eyes, "How much he believes in those people who have been promoted, he thinks that these people can repay their kindness, but this group of people has chosen to act like beasts." Don't panic, you two. You must know that this is not the time of the Gracchus brothers, when the high priests and consuls could kill their political enemies at will, but now it is different, we have an army, a sword slave, and Caesar's will - they are afraid of us, otherwise Brutus and Cassiyo would not have taken people to hide on Capitol Mountain. ”

"Then let's divide the work!" Anthony said, "The Sixth Army of Hezhou is your descendant, and the matter of controlling the army will be handed over to you." I remained at Julia's Synagogue and dealt with them as cavalry commander and acting consul, while Panza liaised with Ebro and other aides. In the capacity of the Executive Yuan, he collected grain and reserve troops from various provinces to prevent Dehemoth's counterattack. For he was the governor of southern Gaul in the inner set, where there were the soldiers of Caesar's newly recruited four legions. ”

"By the way, Marco, did you have any information about the murderer before? We are desperate to need this thing as a support for righteousness. Li Bida asked Anthony very blandly.

As a result, he obviously saw that Anthony hesitated, and at this time Li Bida's sharp eyes seemed to have seen through it, and then under the sculpture of Pompey, Antony shook his head decisively, saying that he did not know anything about the murderer, and the only thing he knew now was that Brutus and Cassiyo led the assassination.

Under the sculpture of Pompey with a smirk on his face, Li Bida also nodded very calmly, and the question just now was revealed very lightly, so he proposed, "Because most of the senators have gone home in panic now, so in order to win the support of them and the people, Brutus will not take radical actions in the city for the time being, what we need to do now is to carry Caesar's body back!" ”

So in the midst of a faint and mournful wind, Lybida, Panza, and Antony walked out of the theater and came to the iron bar, trying to find the palanquin, but the whole street was full of desolation, and the Roman people and slaves hid very quickly, which they had cultivated since the time of Sulla, and moved all their children and food to the mezzanine between their arcades and chimneys, locked the doors and windows, and took up the weapons they could find with their wives and slaves in order to protect themselves.

"Did you send someone to report to Julius's house?" Li Bida asked.

Pansa nodded, but didn't understand why no one had come to collect the corpse until now, "Forget it, it seems that Caesar's relatives also know that Caesar, who died unexpectedly, will inevitably be counterattacked, they are different from us, we have nothing to lose except ourselves." Li Bida sighed.

As a result, in the twilight, there was still a swaying shoulder in the street, and the slaves carrying it below carried it to the gate of the iron bar, and did not even dare to ask for money, so they threw down their shoulders, turned around and ran away.

Then came out of her shoulder, it was actually Pepea, she was stunned, slowly walked up to Li Bida, and said in a trembling and dejected voice, "Is Julius dead, the whole city is going crazy about this matter today." ”

"Yes, it's rare that you can still come to see him." Li Bida said.

Pepeia lowered her head and covered her face and said, "I have nothing to fear, what else can I be afraid of?" It's just the name of his former wife to help him one last time. Li Bida nodded, and said that it is rare that you still have the courage and responsibility as a woman, but when Caesar's body was removed, Pepeia almost fainted.

In the end, Li Bida and the others carried Caesar's body on their shoulders, and then the three men carried the corpse on their shoulders, and walked staggering down the street with an unstable center of gravity, and Pepea, who was walking behind, broke down and cried bitterly, "Why didn't he listen to the admonition of the prophet, isn't the current scene exactly the same as the prophecy - he will inevitably have a lame leg, and now the shoulders of the four people are three people lifting, what is it if it is not 'lame'?" ”

Caesar's body was laid aside, in the twilight, in the compound of Julius in the district of Subura, where he had lived since he had been a child, and several old slaves did not say anything, fumbling around to light the lamp, changing the bloody clothes for the former young master, cleaning the wounds, and preparing wax masks, vests, and clean shrouds, and Li Bida and the other three stood silently on one side, watching the scene, while Timosius, as a doctor, carried a document to record the number and depth of the wounds left on Caesar's body.

"It's clear, there are a total of twenty-three wounds, the most fatal of which is at the back of the neck, but the one that guides him to lose his ability to resist seems to be at the groin." Timosius finally stood up and concluded.

"That is to say, there are about twenty elders who are directly involved in the assassination." Pansa said through gritted teeth.

At this moment, several people wearing dark cloaks walked in one after another at the door, and Li Bida could see that they were Cota, Barsatus, Pisso and others, "If you are willing to take risks to mourn, why do you want to hide your identity?" Li Bida asked angrily. (To be continued......)