Icittadinidi Atene, nonc'ètempoperincoraggiaretutti, maconi Warriors, lepochefrasichevalepiùdimilleparole (Citizens of Athens, there is no time to encourage everyone, but a few words are worth a thousand words with warriors)

- Hippocrates (ancient Greek physician, revered as the "father of medicine")

Although the Maxentius family, with its long history and glorious deeds, has been an evergreen tree in the political arena of the Republic for hundreds of years, it still cannot change the fact that its family is weakening day by day; This is already known to every member of the Maxentius family. However, there are many things that cannot be changed by knowing it.

Since the cooperation between the Maxentius family and the Augustus family, the rookie family of the Republic a hundred years ago, it has finally halted the continued decline of the family; But the good times did not last long, and the Maxentius family only did not continue to decline in the past hundred years, while the Augustus family relied on the support of the Maxentius family to develop by leaps and bounds.

Today, the House of Augustus has grown from a small family with no name to a behemoth second only to the four major families of Rome. What is even more worrying is that the members of the Maxentius family are not as good as the generation, and there is even a ridiculous thing that the adopted son of the family excludes the members of the family's bloodline; The Augustan family, on the other hand, is more and more shrewd and capable from generation to generation.

Since the Augustan family, the entire seventeen generations of family leaders have been heroic for a while; Even the worst of Augustus leaders will leave enough legacy for the Augustus, not to mention the amazing leaders. Originally, the sudden death of the previous leader of the House of Augustus three months ago made everyone think that the family would be decadent for a while; After all, the heir of their family is a young man who has just turned 20 years old and has not yet undergone the ordeal.

As a result, Oscar, who was silent for three months during the filial piety period, actually made a splash on the day of the enthronement ceremony; With lightning speed, he quickly grasped the power of the entire family, and won the allegiance of all family members and family legions. This made the people who had been going to see the Augustus jokes and those who gloated collectively lost their voices; Who would have thought that this young and inexperienced little guy would be so courageous.

What surprised everyone even more was that this little guy did not know what kind of means he used to get the Maxentius family to support him; The other three even acquiesced in this support. Only one day after he succeeded the head of the family, he won the command of a new legion for the family, which further improved the strength of the family by leaps and bounds.

Now, not to mention the whole republic; At least in the Latin provinces and the city of Rome, Oscar's name was already on the streets. No one doubts that this genius will achieve something to look up to in the future; No one doubted that he would lead the Augustus family to a higher level. And, more importantly, such a young and amazing character is not married yet! Not even a marriage contract!

This makes the already famous Oscars even hotter; On the second day after the Senate meeting, some prominent families in the city of Rome proposed to the Augustan family to marry. But to everyone's surprise, before the Augustus Mansion here could answer, the Maxentius family over there officially announced that their family's youngest daughter Prisca had been engaged to Oscar, and the engagement ceremony would be officially held on the 30th of next month.

Well, as soon as this news came out, all the families who were still disillusioned about the Oscar, the rookie of the republic, were disillusioned all at once. But would the citizens and nobles of Rome so easily let this pass? Of course not! As a result, from the day after the marriage contract of the Maxentius family was announced, all kinds of rumors and gossip circulated in the streets and alleys of the entire city of Rome.

Some people say that the Maxentius family can even sacrifice their daughters in order to win over the Augustus family; Some people say that Prisca of the Maxentius family fell in love with His Excellency Oscar, so he pressured him to marry Oscar through his family; Others say that Prisca was already pregnant with Oscar's child, and there was no way for the Maxentius family to do this............

In short, all sorts of rumors were rife throughout the city of Rome; Of course, our Oscar Excellency does not know this. Because our great leader, Your Excellency, has lived in the barracks since he received the command of the First Legion and has never returned to the city of Rome, we are really completely unaware of this. However, some people who live in the city of Rome every day will know this very well; For example, Miss Prisca of the Maxentius family......

At this time, in the mansion of the Maxentius family, outside Miss Prisca's boudoir, the personal maids of the four young ladies were kneeling tremblingly outside the door; Inside, Miss Prisca was smashing everything in the room that could be smashed in a rage at the do-gooders of Rome. Scolding and scolding, Miss Prisca began to scold our Oscar. Oscar, who was wandering around in the barracks, suddenly sneezed a few times and said to himself: Is there still anyone thinking about me?!

As Prisca continued to be angry in her room alone, her mother, the matriarch of the Maxentius family, Madame Honoria, came to the door of her youngest daughter's room. Seeing the four kneeling maids outside and the crackling of things in the room, Lady Honoria waved her hand to make the kneeling maids stand down; Then he walked into Prisca's room himself.

Prisca, who was angry, heard someone enter the room, and said angrily without looking back: "Didn't you say that no one is allowed to come in?" Who let you in? Get out! Prisca, who found that there was no movement behind him, felt that something was wrong and looked back; His mother was looking at him helplessly. Although Prisca is usually a little willful, she is very filial to her mother, who loves her; So, he hurriedly went over and hugged his mother, and said in a low voice:

"Mother, I didn't know you were coming; Actually, I didn't mean to get angry, it's just that the rumors outside are really annoying. So, I couldn't help but sulk in my room. ”

Sulking? Looking at the debris all over the floor and the smashed mess of the room, Mrs. Honoria, who knew her daughter's temperament very well, didn't say anything, just took her daughter's hand and walked towards the garden in the backyard. The mother and daughter sat down in the central pavilion in the garden, and then Madame Honoria ordered the maids to clean up Prisca's room.

When only her mother and daughter were left in the garden, Mrs. Honoria took her daughter's hand and asked her, "Prisca, tell your mother honestly if you would like to marry Oscar?" When I was outside your room, I heard you scolding Oscar. Although the new leader of the House of Augustus is indeed very powerful, if you don't want to marry, your mother will not gamble with your happiness; I'm going to convince your father to give up on this marriage. ”

Hearing her mother say this, Prisca quickly explained: "I don't want to get married!" Oops, no; I mean to say I don't mean to hate Oscar; No, I mean I'm also so old that I should contribute to the family. So, I'm willing to marry Oscar for the sake of my family. It's just that the rumors outside are too ugly, and Oscar doesn't stand up to explain, so I scolded him. ”

With that, Prisca lowered her head in embarrassment. Looking at her daughter like this, Mrs. Honoria, who knows her daughter like her mother, naturally knows that her daughter has a good impression of Oscar; So he quipped: "No, how can I let you marry Oscar for the sake of your family!" I'll go to your father and ask him to help you get married; I can't let you let a little woman pay for the family for the rest of her life! ”

After speaking, he made a gesture to get up and go to Decius, Prisca was anxious, and quickly pulled his mother and said helplessly: "Okay, okay, I admit that I also like Oscar a little, I am willing to marry him." However, now there are more people in the city of Rome who want to marry Oscar; What if he marries me for the sake of his relationship with the family? If he really likes me, why doesn't he stand up for me? ”

Looking at her daughter's negative look, Mrs. Honoria couldn't help but feel distressed: "You stupid boy. You are so beautiful and moving, how can he not like you? Actually, it's really because he likes you that he proposed to you, and it has nothing to do with the family at all. And ah, he wants to marry you home before this expedition! It's your second brother who doesn't want to be in a hurry, so he has to wait for him to return from the expedition to let you get married.

As for the rumors, you really blame him. Oscar is a man who can do great things, and he has been preoccupied with the formation of the family's legion until the new legion is formed; After it was formed, he went to the barracks with the legion, and he has not returned yet. He didn't know about these rumors, otherwise he would have come forward to explain them to you. ”

Hearing her mother's words, Prisca said with a face full of surprise: "Really? It turned out that he mentioned it first! Then I'll reluctantly forgive him. Seeing her daughter's sudden change of joy and sorrow, Mrs. Honoria said to Prisca seriously: "Prisca, you are also about to get married; After getting married, you can't be so willful. Oscar is a man who does great things, and he's better than your father and brothers; In the future, you need to be his helper, so that you can be together for a long time. Therefore, your temper will also be restricted; If you want Oscar to love you and love you forever, you also have to learn to share his worries and think about him, do you understand? "Hmm! I understand my mother, and I will definitely try to be a good wife. I will help Oscar run the family well, and I will make the Augustus family closer and closer to our family! Prisca said firmly, holding her head high.

Mrs. Honoria looked at her confident daughter and nodded with satisfaction