Decius waited until his wife fell asleep before he got up from the bed and put on his clothes again. After that, he looked at his lover on the bed and seemed to have made up his mind about something. After that, he walked out of the room quietly.
He walked through the dark front hall, trying not to wake up the slaves who were sleeping there. It was not until he walked out of the domus that he breathed a sigh of relief. After that, he looked around to make sure that he was not being followed. After that, Decius walked south along the street. He did not go too far because the people living in this area were basically the upper-class nobles of Rome.
This area was also the most expensive area in the entire Rome. Even if one had the money, one could not buy a house here. One had to be of high status. Decius's family moved here after the rise of Rome. Their domus was relatively small.
In contrast, the place that Decius was going to now was much more luxurious. This meant that its owner was quite famous even in the Senate. So Decius tidied up his clothes before visiting the domus.
However, before he could knock on the door of the domus, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
"From the standpoint of a friend, I really don't recommend you to do this."
Decius was taken aback, especially when he realized whose voice it was. He was almost scared out of his wits.
"You, when did you come here?"
"I've been here for a while," Zhang Heng said. "I have to say, the environment here is quite nice. I like the small fountain outside your house. It's very cute."
"But why didn't I see you?" Although Decius tried to appear as calm as possible, his heart was beating wildly.
"Because I didn't want to scare you. Although it seems that I did in the end," Zhang Heng said regretfully, "It's so late. Why aren't you sleeping at home? What are you doing here?"
"Uhh, I can't sleep. You know, a lot of things happened today. The guy named Amidio died in front of us. I …"
"Haven't you seen the execution of prisoners in the arena before?" Zhang Heng asked curiously.
"Yes, but it's completely different," Decius said. "Besides, with Amidio's death, we may be in danger."
"Ha! So, you came out for a walk with a lot on your mind, and you accidentally wandered outside the residence of Andrea," Zhang Heng said. "This explanation sounds very reasonable."
Decius was silent when he heard that. He then raised his head and asked Zhang Heng, "Then why are you here?"
"The reason I'm here is to prevent you from doing anything stupid, and also to solve the problem of the bronze statue."
"How to solve it?" Decius was surprised. "Do you know who is behind this?"
Zhang Heng did not answer Decius' question. Instead, he stretched out a hand and said, "Give me back my things first."
"What is it?" Decius' heart tightened, but he still did not say anything.
"The necklace you stole from Amidio's room tonight."
"I didn't steal anything … Wait," Decius seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes widened. "Where did you put the necklace?"
"Yes, so can you understand why I stopped you from seeing Andrea? If you negotiate with Andrea with this necklace, I'm worried that you will follow in Amidio's footsteps," Zhang Heng blinked and said, "That necklace is not evidence left by Amidio. It's just, uh … a gift from someone. I threw it into the crevice of the bed."
The main reason was that Zhang Heng did not have a good choice at that time. If he did not throw the necklace that Lucilla gave him, he could only throw his game item.
"You set me up?" Decius looked incredulous. "But when did you suspect me?" "I didn't set you up because there are three possibilities.
"I didn't set you up because there are three possibilities. The first is that you didn't fulfill your duty as Watson and didn't discover the necklace out of carelessness. Of course, nothing will happen to you in that case. The second is that you found the necklace and informed me about it. I really hope that you will do that because I will praise you for it. The third is the current situation. You took the necklace without me knowing, so I need to stop you from doing something stupid.
Zhang Heng said, "As for when I suspected you, to be honest, I did believe you in the beginning. Your family became a noble with the support of the former emperor, Aurelius, and they have always been hardcore supporters of the royal family. In other words, you should have been on our side during the bronze statue incident. However, when I got to know you better, I found that your family environment is quite interesting." Your mother is a slave, and … I'm sorry to say this.
"Your mother was a slave, and … I'm sorry to say this, but she wasn't a very pretty one, so your birth was actually an accident. Your father had sex with your mother after drinking, and after your mother gave birth to you, she was kicked out of the house by the mistress. It's obvious that your childhood wasn't very happy. In fact, until now, your position in this family is more like a dependent. Fortunately, you have a loving and understanding wife, but unfortunately, your brother is a bastard. He would take advantage of your absence to harass your wife, so I can't help but wonder, how much sense of belonging do you have to your family?"
"Did you do your research before you came to see me?" Decius looked serious.
"No, I came straight to you after I came out of the palace," Zhang Heng said.
"But we haven't been together since then. When did you …" Decius was taken aback when he said that. He then realized what Zhang Heng meant. "In the southeast neighborhood. You said you went to look for a friend to see if he could solve the ore problem. At that time, we were separated for a while."
"Yes, that's right. You are much smarter than you look on the surface. I know a guy, and the force behind him is said to be everywhere. He specializes in all kinds of information, and he is not just staying in the southeast city. So, I asked him for your information, "Zhang Heng said.
"And this solved one of my biggest doubts. If the bronze statue is not handed over on time, your family will undoubtedly suffer a loss, especially for a new aristocrat like your father who relied on Aurelius to enter the Senate. Once he loses the emperor's favor, I'm afraid his family will soon decline. But I guess this is not bad news for you. You and your family's interests are not the same."
Zhang Heng paused. "Of course, this doesn't mean that you will definitely stand on a different side from your family regarding the copper mine. Strictly speaking, I really started to suspect you when we went to see your friend, Klaus."
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