I put out his fire

Chapter 67 Rhodes at Sea

A large ship full of supplies slowly docked at the circular harbor.

Shirtless sailors in coarse hoods, their tanned skin flecked with sea salt, cast their hawsers ashore, fastened to their stakes, and tied strong sailor's knots.

The captain put down the prism used for looking into the distance, brushed back countless tiny braids of hair, and smiled with satisfaction.

A short and thin sailor ran over, took off his turban, and reported: "Boss, the ship has docked, do you think it's time to move the cargo?"

The captain narrowed his eyes, held his head up, and said strangely, "What did you call me just now?"

"The head... the leader..." The sailor grabbed the back of his head and bent down timidly.

The captain punched him and said, "Call me the captain, we are ship merchants now, not pirates!"

Enduring the pain from his back, the sailor laughed dryly and asked cautiously, "Then...the captain, can we unload the cargo now? Or, I'll get the hook and hook the cargo out..."

The captain punched him violently again, "Nonsense! The box contains expensive and fragile items! An idiot would use a hook!"

The sailor was aggrieved, "It's full of cargo, and it can't be lifted by hand until sunset..."

He asked again in a low voice: "Captain... what are we carrying in our boat? We dared not drive the fast boat, wrapped them in blankets, and cared for them like women. The deputy captain only said that they were imported from the East. Yes, nothing else was said..."

The captain grinned his mouth with a few gold teeth, and patted his braided head, "That word is so damn hard to spell...it seems to be called some time...what the hell! Your first officer assured that it's legal It’s enough to make a lot of money!”

The sailor looked around and whispered in a low voice: "Captain, tell me...the deputy captain has not been here for long, is what he said trustworthy?"

The captain punched him angrily, and shouted: "Shut up! This whole ship was made by him! You are as ignorant as a jellyfish that just jumps around without thinking!"

After speaking, he rubbed his nose and faced the blue sea.

A sea of ​​white seagulls flitted across the sea, their silhouettes embedded in the center of the sun.His tanned face became serious: "You entered the industry too late, how do you know the past grievances between the deputy captain and me..."

The sailor rubbed his painful back and asked, "Then... what should we do now?"

The captain glanced at the stacked cargo boxes and said helplessly, "Let me ask your deputy captain."

……

The mate's cabin was clean.The captain vacated his cabin exclusively for the new deputy captain.

To be precise, it was the deputy captain picked up by the water.

On the night of two months ago, the weeping leader led the pirates with bruised noses and swollen faces ashore, planning to find a black market dealer to sell the ship at a low price.They managed to escape from the pursuit of the official ship, but the flying stones smashed their heads and broke their masts.

The leader looked at the injured men, with snot and tears streaming down his face, crying and vowing never to be a pirate again.

However, when they went ashore, they found Rhodes dying by the water.

The leader immediately recognized that it was the personal guard of the descendants of Augustus, who had helped him hijack a merchant ship full of silk...

Rhodes leaned his head against the window frame, looking out the window at the paper-like seagulls, while gnawing on a crooked apple.He was dressed in poor-quality coarse cloth, his long hair was tied up with a belt, and his mandible moved with his biting movements.

The straw curtains covering the door were raised, and the sunlight poured in like a golden mist.Rhode's eyelashes gradually slanted, he looked towards the door and said, "Be gentle when the boat docks, Verba. Don't break the ceramics in the box."

Welba rubbed his hands that were red from the cold, shrank his neck and said, "It's still warm here. I'll spare you the best cabin. I'm really a kind and generous person."

Rhodes took a bite of the apple, "I'll fix the mast for you and sign the contract for you. You don't lose anything."

"No loss, of course not loss..." Welba smiled flatteringly, and leaned forward, "You jumped from such a high mountain, even though you didn't die, you were seriously injured. Several bones were broken, let alone counting. Indistinct bruises and abrasions. The old man who practiced medicine said that you have to lie in a warm bed for half a month."

Rhode dismissed it, and folded his bandaged legs casually, "But doctors who are short of money like to talk about serious illnesses to increase their income. I have suffered more serious injuries than this, and I know my physical condition. I You can already walk on the ground."

Welba tucked him into a tight quilt, smiling honestly, "Recover well. After all... you are the only person I know who can understand contracts. I don't want to live a precarious life of pirates who rely on hijacking for a living."

He hugged the heater at Rhodes' feet with his cold hands, "Speaking of which, the silk you wore while soaking in the water is really valuable, and it can be exchanged for a high-quality mast."

Rhodes glanced at him silently.

Welba pointed to the cargo box outside the window with his chin, his eyes sparkling, "What is the name of this batch, will it be as valuable as silk?"

"It's ceramics from the East." Rhodes leaned against the head of the bed, slowly gnawing on an apple, "I don't know how valuable it is. But I've seen porcelain covered in glass in the palace, and I heard it's quite precious Collection."

Hearing "Palace", Welba squinted his eyes and looked at Rhodes with a smirk: "Palace? Miss your master? I don't know what he has become. The last time I saw him on the boat, he was still A biting little sheep..."

Rhodes bit off the apple flesh, looked straight ahead, and ignored him.

"I really don't understand why you would rather live at sea and give advice to a pirate-born ship merchant than go back to the palace to enjoy the blessings." Welba scratched his head, "In the theater, the love-hate relationship between you and him is staged all day long hatred……"

Rhodes removed the apple core from his lips, and said, "Remember to rent a jack from the dock workers for unloading later."

Welba slapped his head, as if he had a flash of inspiration, "Oh... I almost forgot, that's exactly why I came here."

He leaned closer again, restraining his laughing expression, "But I still want to ask you, why didn't you go back? The emperor cleared your crime of dereliction of duty, and I have been looking for you like crazy for more than a month. I I bet the whole of Rome is only missing the sewers and cesspools!"

Rhodes was calm, his eyes were slightly half-closed, and his thick black eyelashes touched.His visually astonishing black hair and red lips, matched with his clothes that were too crude and didn't match him at all, seemed to compromise at this moment.

"Die again." He said flatly, "I'm tired this time."

Welba, who didn't know why, said viciously: "It's as if you have died!"

He knelt down, looked at Rhodes' face, and said in a low voice: "But... Although I don't like men, I have to admit that you are very good-looking, and you are indeed the prototype of the vengeful banshee in the ballad. Brothers can sing..."

Rhodes threw the apple core and hit him in the face accurately.

Welba jumped up like a leaping fish, wiped the fruit crumbs off his face with the back of his hand, and said with a smile: "In a few days, the new emperor will ride around the city in a carriage and walk through every street. Are you going?" To support your former master?"

"No." Rhodes said meticulously.

Welba smirked persistently: "Really not going? It is said that the route of the carriage is close to this sea."

Rhodes faced the small window, the light illuminated his plain face, and his two months of bedridden life made him look ruddy.His expression was calm, and there was a bit of compassion hidden in his demeanor after reading a thousand sails.

"Give me the telescopic prism, and I'll take a look in the cabin." He said, adding softly: "One look is enough."

Welba, with a meaningful expression on his face, moved to the door with clumsy steps, and withdrew his body, showing only a smiling face.

"You're still not tired!"

After saying this, he quickly lifted the straw curtain and ran away as if fleeing for his life.

……

As soon as he came to power, Nero was known for his friendly and iron-blooded style.

At the urging of his advisers, he lowered food prices, lowered taxes to feed the poor, and released government tax records to prevent corruption by officials.The corrupt nobles were all sentenced to death, and their wives and children were reduced to the lowest public slaves.

Compared with the previous old emperor Claudius who was timid, Nero, who acted courageously, was worshiped by the wild Romans.In particular, he vigorously punished the nobles and formulated a series of policies that favored the common people, and he was even more respected and loved by the common people.The folks spontaneously held the "Nero Festival" and set the day when he took office as a festival.

At the same time, the guards searched the whole city, but still found nothing.Nero's will continued to sink, and his attitude towards affairs became more and more severe.

In the afternoon, he executed two slave girls who stole food from the kitchen and sold it for money.Stealing ingredients and selling them for money is not uncommon among the nobles, but most masters would choose to let it go.

When the house slave who had been with him for many years brought milk, Nero saw the cups that were constantly colliding due to shaking hands and glanced at the panicked face of the house slave, and suddenly realized that no one had spoken to him for a long time.

He stopped the engraving pen he was writing, put down the high-grade wax tablet, and asked, "How many slaves do I have?"

The house slave was startled, and replied truthfully: "There are 65 palaces and manors in total."

"Are there only 65?" Nero frowned slightly.

"Yes." The slave said, "A few days ago, because the chickens in the manor were frozen to death, you sent more than 20 slaves to the mining area."

The corner of Nero's lips twitched, and he said coldly: "It's okay to have a few less."

The house slave brought the cup of milk to the table and silently wiped his sweat, "The governor of Gaul is coming, and he sent a message saying that he brought you a small gift."

The engraving pen that Nero raised stopped again, "...Reko?"

The house slave nodded, "He said he will leave Rome tomorrow for Gaul, so he will visit you tonight."

……

This is a meeting after nearly a year.

After returning from the battlefield in Gaul, Nero never saw Lei Ke again.At that time, he was still a big boy who had just grown up and couldn't even ride a war horse steadily.

Rhodes was still by his side at that time.

Lei Ke came here alone, his hair on the sideburns was obviously grayer.He wore iron armor in the shape of muscle, a piece of the enemy's white skull around his neck, and a leopard skin around his lower body.

"I want to congratulate you, Nero." His posture was respectful, but his long-term command of the army made him not easily bow his head, "You were born noble, and you successfully ascended to the throne at a young age. Your life has been favored by fate. "

Nero put on the splendid attire he had when meeting guests, sat on a high chair covered with animal skins, and replied: "Fate has never treated me favorably. All I have obtained is to boil my own bones as a sacrifice to fate." , and fate gave me a piece of meat soup."

He looked at the Governor of Gaul standing at his feet and said, "Long time no see, Lei Ke. I am honored that you, who have refused to set foot in Rome for many years, are willing to come to my succession ceremony."

"I'm not just here for you, but also for my dead cousin. I just paid homage to him in front of the shrine." Lei Ke said calmly, "I've seen his childhood and his urn. This kind of insight makes me feel that the whole world is fake."

Nero said slowly, "Nothing remains the same. When I saw you last time, I was a commander who had just entered the political arena, and now I am a lonely emperor."

Lei Ke looked at him and said: "You have matured a lot, Domitius, it's only been a year, and you have tenacity and maturity in your bones. I heard about you. Everyone knows about it, even Gauls who are far away from Rome know that the emperor's personal guard jumped off a cliff and committed suicide, and his whereabouts are still unknown."

Nero pursed his lips tightly, his complexion paled a little.

Lei Ke recalled a handsome figure with black hair and black eyes, and said: "He looks too much like Thales. I guessed his identity as early as the first time I saw him. I was worried that you would marry Caligula. It also fell on the hands of my own bodyguard, but I didn't expect him to fall on your hands in the end."

Nero's fingers holding the armrest were trembling, his face turned from white to red, and then gradually returned to the original paleness.

He calmed down and asked in a slow tone: "You are a friend of Caligula, one of the few people who have seen Thales' true face. How much do you know about Thales and the Fine family? I want you Tell me ten times."

Lei Ke let out a long sigh, his face darkened, "I only saw Thales once, when he was just appointed as the commander of the Guards, wearing the golden sword in your succession ceremony, and followed Caligula , but always with a reluctance."

Nero said: "It is said that he was forcibly conscripted into the Guards."

"That's right. Caligula went to march in Corsica. After the victory in the battle, he changed into civilian clothes and wanted to sneak out of the barracks to gamble outside. When he climbed over the wall, he was stopped by Thales, who was in charge of the night watch. That's it One stop, and all the tragedies started. I know Caligula. He likes to gamble, playboy, and act to extremes. He does not have a queen, and has countless women and men. But after Thales, he restrained himself You have to be like an ascetic sage who turns a blind eye to beauties and men, and even quits gambling."

"What about Thales?" Nero asked. "How does he treat my uncle?"

"Not good, it can even be said to be very bad." Lei Ke raised an eyebrow, "At that time, Thales was still raising a little boy in Corsica, who he said was his son. He was forced to separate the father and son because he was enlisted in the Guards. , and two years ago, the Fine family was ordered to be exterminated by Caligula... I think he hated him to the end."

Lei Ke's tone became deep, "I didn't expect that little boy to become your bodyguard later and stir up such a big disturbance in Rome."

Nero's eyes were heavy, "Why was the Fine family destroyed?"

"Because of a crime." Lei Ke said, "The owner of the house accepts money from wealthy slaves, buys them, and then uses his status as a nobleman to give them release orders."

Nero thought about it and said: "Buying and selling citizenship is generally to deprive nobles of their qualifications, and there is no need to destroy the family."

"At that time, Caligula had just succeeded to the throne, and he needed to be dismounted, and Fane became a victim." Lei Ke said, "Thales was saved from death because he was serving in the army and was protected by his military status."

Nero was silent for a while, and asked: "Patriarch Faen, is Thales the only son? Do you have... other children?"

"He has an older sister, who was probably executed when the family was destroyed. I don't know anything else." Lei Ke said, "That's all I know about Fine. Not long after Thales became the commander of the Guards, I offered to ask Transfer to Gaul province."

Nero raised his eyes, "Why are you going to Gaul? It's notoriously barbaric."

"Because..." Lei Ke seemed to be unable to speak, "I took an extra look at Thales during the appointment ceremony of the Chief of the Guards."

"Looked at him more?" Nero asked suspiciously.

"A soldier from the provinces was given great power overnight, and he was in charge of the royal family's elite troops. I was just curious about who this person is, and nothing else." Lei Ke said, "But Caligula's jealousy is too strong, because This person ridiculed me in public. I couldn't bear this uselessness, so I took the initiative to go to Gaul to be the governor, and vowed never to use Gaul's elite soldiers to rebel, and never stretch my hands to the throne."

He looked a little different, "I heard... Since then, Caligula has let Thales wear a mask to show people, and even put him under house arrest for a while. Caligula was a cheerful and enthusiastic person when he was young. Then he became a madman."

Nero stepped down from the chair, dragging the hem of the robe embroidered with purple stripes to the ground, while stepping on the gilded steps, he said: "So Thales would rather be crucified than stab an enemy like a lunatic. That's understandable."

He walked up to Lei Ke and asked, "Where are his ashes placed?"

Lei Ke replied: "The ashes of the criminals who were crucified will be placed in the crypt of the temple to prevent the vicious ghosts from doing evil again."

"A temple..." Nero murmured after thinking for a while, "Which temple? I want to check it myself."

Lei Ke shrugged, "I haven't been in Rome for many years, so I can't answer this question. You can ask others. Generally speaking, it was the largest temple at that time."

Nero's consciousness went back, and he suddenly thought of the temple that had been restarted for the flood sacrifice.The ruined temple was even bigger than the Vesta Temple today, and there were murals inside that showed Pandora opening the magic box.

And, Rhodes' mother was also a virgin there.This is what he learned when he secretly investigated Rhodes' life experience.

Many obscure clues are connected together, like the pulse of the devil's twin finally connected, there is blood in the invisible, and a shocking truth is about to be born.

All seemingly unrelated events in life are actually colluding secretly.

Nero felt himself facing the cold.

"I didn't come here empty-handed today, I brought you a gift." Lei Ke's rough voice brought him back to reality.

He reached for the leopard skin around his waist, and unfastened a gold cylinder from his belt.

"This is the herald day of the Gaul army." Lei Ke said, "The combat capability of the Gaul army is the strongest. I entrust the most powerful army to you, Emperor. When I was going to Gaul, I once I promised the emperor that I would never stretch out my hands to the throne. Now, this promise is still valid. You have just ascended the throne, and your heels are not yet firmly established. You need an invincible army as your confidence."

Nero took the herald, stroked the she-wolf engraving on the cylinder with his fingertips, and said softly, "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me." Lei Ke's face was serious, "If you want to thank, thank the guard who jumped off the cliff for you. He once saved my life in Gaul, and I owe him a favor."

Nero clenched the Herald Day tightly, his eyes darkened for a while.