Volentiericedereobbedienzaforzataèmegliodi (Willing submission is better than forced submission)

- Xenophon (ancient Greek historian, writer, disciple of Socrates)

The cheers in the square finally returned to silence, and the Romans chose to resist Hannibal's blow once again and continue to fight against him. Therefore, the war between Rome and Carthage will still be in full swing; But tonight is all over. Hundreds of thousands of Roman people went home with their blood, and the senators dispersed; The father and son of the Maxentius family went to the family mansion together.

This time, Decius did not call his son-in-law, Marius; The brothers Sevio and Marcus also consciously did not greet Marius. The three of them were silent all the way, and none of them wanted to say anything; Everybody's full of worries. Soon, the group of three returned to the mansion; Decius entered his study with his two sons and ordered the guards to stand guard fifty meters away, and no one was to approach.

After entering the study, Decius motioned for his two sons not to speak; I walked over to a bookshelf in the study, turned a nondescript book of poetry, and the bookshelf creaked open. Looking at the secret passage that was revealed after the bookshelf was moved, Sevious and Marcus were dumbfounded; They never knew there was such a secret in the family.

The stunned expressions of the two made Decius very satisfied, and his two sons were excellent; The eldest son is generous and gentle, and the second son is shrewd and intelligent. However, neither of them is a careerist who can lead the family to the next level; Therefore, Decius began to arrange it many years ago, in order to leave a good enough family inheritance for these two sons.

Decius picked up the torch in the passage, lit it, and motioned for his two sons to follow him; The secret passage is not very long, and the distance of about 200 steps is completed. At the end of the passage is a secret room with an area of about 200 square meters, and the inside of the secret room is full of neatly arranged wooden boxes. The trio entered the chamber from the south side of the chamber, with black and purple chests on the east and west sides, and a larger number of gray wooden boxes on the north.

When Decius walked in, he stuck the torch in his hand into a torch stand, and the dancing light of the fire showed everything in the chamber to the three of them. Sevius couldn't help the doubts in his heart, and asked his father in front of him, "Father, how can there be such a secret room in your study?" Also, why do you keep disguising yourself? What exactly are you doing? ”

As Sevius asked, Marcus shifted his puzzled gaze from the box to his father's face; Decius sighed and said to his two sons, "Isn't it for you two that I'm like this?" Selve, you are a good man with a big heart, but you can't be a qualified family leader; Marl, you are indeed shrewd, but you lack enough courage and ambition. But, after all, you are the sons of my Decius; He was also the heir to the Maxentius family. Therefore, I must lay a sufficient foundation for you; in order to ensure that the family will not decline. ”

Decius's words made Sevious and Marcus look at each other a little, could it be that these boxes in front of him are the inheritance left by his father for himself? The two looked at their father even more suspiciously, and Decius just patiently continued to explain: "I didn't make the box here, but it was accumulated by the family leaders of the Maxentius family; There are 20 black chests, 20 purple chests, and 50 gray chests. As for what's inside, you can open it for yourselves. ”

At his father's signal, Sevious and Marcus walked to the black and purple boxes, respectively; After glancing at each other, the two of them opened the box at the same time. In an instant, the two of them were blinded by the rushing light; Even the two of them, who had never been greedy, were looking inside the box with extremely eager eyes at the moment. It turned out that the black box was full of neatly placed gold bricks; The purple box is a mess of all kinds of jewelry.

The desire for wealth does not necessarily come from greed in the heart, and anyone who sees so many priceless gold, silver and jewels will lose their temper; It's human nature. Decius looked at his two sons amusedly, and quipped, "Why, the two who have always claimed not to be moved by money will also lose their temper for these mundane things?" The father's teasing made the two of them, who were sons of man, instantly turn red, and they quickly closed the box in shame.

When the two of them were back in their original positions, Decius continued to smile and said, "Each black chest contains 500 gold bricks, and one gold brick can mint 200 gold coins; There are a total of 10,000 gold bricks here, worth 2 million gold coins. In the purple alley, there are jewels of the same value as those in the black chest, with a total value of 2 million gold coins. These are the wealth accumulated by the ancestors of the family in Rome's foreign wars, and they are the last reserves of the family; It is absolutely unusable unless it is a matter of life and death. ”

After listening to his father's explanation, Sevious couldn't help asking: "If that day comes, the mansion of the Maxentius family will definitely not be a safe place; How can we get these things out there? If we can't get it out, sooner or later, this secret passage will definitely be discovered by others; When the time comes, won't the accumulation of these families for hundreds of years be cheaper for others? ”

This time, without Decius answering, Marcus replied: "To the south of the chamber is the entrance to the study, and there should be a secret passage behind the gray chest on the north side; That should be the exit. "Yes, do you remember the family's secret manor near the Latin port? The study in that secret manor was the exit to this secret passage; Moreover, the servants in that manor are all dead soldiers trained by the family, and they are absolutely loyal! Decius affirmed Marcus' words.

"An estate near the port? That's too far away from the family mansion! It's also extremely inconvenient to transport these things away; Besides, if there were pursuers behind us, we wouldn't have been able to transport things out of the secret passage in time. Sevios asked as he looked at his father and continued to wonder. At the same time, Marcus looked at his father suspiciously; He didn't know what to do about it.

Instead of speaking, Decius led his son to the gray box to the north and lifted a black cloth; Inside are two turntables, one black and one red. Decius pointed to the two turntables and said, "After entering the secret room, turn the black turntable, and the secret stone door on the north side will open; Turn the red turntable, and the southern secret passage we just entered will be filled with boulders on top. At that time, even if someone moved the bookshelf, they would not be able to find this secret room, because the entire secret passage was already filled seamlessly, and no one could find it. But keep in mind; This red turntable can only be used once, and once used, the secret passage on the south side is completely damaged and can no longer be opened. All of them should never be used until the time of life and death! ”

Hearing such a serious instruction from his father, Sevious and Marcus immediately said in unison: "The son remembers his father's instructions and will never use it unless the family is alive and dead!" "Well, good; Just keep in mind, and may you not have the opportunity to use this secret path in your lifetime. Now, guess what's in those 50 gray boxes; I'll see who can guess! Decius asked, smiling.

Without thinking about it, Sevios replied directly: "It must still be a precious treasure or a valuable treasure!" Decius smiled, looked at Marcus and said, "What do you say, Mar?" Marcus pondered for a moment and said uncertainly, "Is it weapons and equipment inside?" Marcus's answer made Decius's eyes light up, and then Decius praised with a smile on his face:

"Marl, you're so thoughtful! You may not be able to guess exactly, but you are not far from the correct answer. Actually, these gray boxes are a bit miscellaneous; The bottom 30 chests contain all the best quality weapons and equipment, each with 3 sets, for a total of 90 sets. The 10 boxes in the middle are all maps of various countries and the structure of the main cities of the seven Roman provinces, which were slowly collected by the family bit by bit; A truly priceless treasure!

The top 10 layers are simple, just some drawings; Among them are drawings of various types of battleships, drawings of various Roman standard armaments, and even drawings of many buildings. In short, our family found all the drawings we could find, and then kept them all secretly in these gray boxes. These drawings, plus the riches over there; No matter what happens, as long as our family members are still around, we have a chance to revive the family! ”

The contents of the gray box were clearly unexpected by the two of them; However, if you think about it carefully, you can understand the good intentions of the ancestors of the family. This is to prepare everything needed for the revival of the family! In order for the Maxentius family to survive the catastrophe and still stand. The two also silently swore in their hearts that they must not let the family decline in their own hands, and they must revitalize the Maxentius family!

Seeing the determined expressions of his two sons, Decius naturally knew what they were thinking; When his father brought him here to say these words, he secretly vowed to protect the family in his heart, just like them. I've done it myself, and I hope they can do it too......

At this point, Decius felt that he had already told the two brothers what he had to say; For the rest, there's nothing else to say. Just as Decius was about to call them back together, Marcus suddenly asked, "Father, I have one of my greatest doubts: since you have never been deaf, you have always been so wise and wise; Then why did you adopt Iulianus and Kaisso as adopted sons? You should know that adopting them will only bring disunity within the family! Moreover, it is certainly impossible for us brothers to live in harmony with them; Doesn't this make the struggle between us weaken the power of the family? “

Marcus's doubts made Decius smile a little, and they couldn't help but ask.