"I found Senator Pellegrino's domus and got rid of his six guards. By the way, the whole process didn't take much effort. I also visited his residence, and I was surprised to find that Senator Pellegrino, who has always been busy making money, lived a simple life. He didn't have many slaves in his house, and he didn't have anything particularly valuable. Considering that he made a lot of money every year, it made me wonder if Senator Pellegrino was a miser who valued money as much as his life.
"But when I kicked open his door and put my dagger on his neck, Senator Pellegrino was so scared that he knelt in front of me and kept begging for mercy. He didn't mention anything about using money to buy his life," Zhang Heng said. "This made me feel a little strange. According to my past experience, no matter how stingy a person is, he would still be willing to spend some money when he is about to lose his life. Unless …"
"Unless all the money he has earned over the years is no longer in his hands." Lucilla raised her eyebrows. "He is making money for someone else."
"That's right. What's even more interesting is that when I asked him who he gave the money to, Senator Pellegrino actually gave me the name of our centurion friend, which suddenly reminded me of something else."
"What is it?"
"Rome has always been the Balance Blade's territory. It's not easy for the Hounds to infiltrate Rome with their assassins. Besides, my teacher also told me that assassins who seem to be alone actually need external support, including but not limited to contacts and efficient intelligence channels. The latter, in particular, is a big money-burning organization. There is an organization called the Beehive in the southeast city. They are very mysterious, and their influence is not limited to the southeast city. There seems to be some of their people in the Senate as well. It can be seen that they have spent a lot of money to collect intelligence.
"But unlike the other two forces, the Beehive doesn't have any income. Or to be more precise, it doesn't have any visible income, which means the owner behind it needs to continue to burn money. As far as I know, the owner behind the Beehive is the Hounds. Their spokesman is a guy called Cornu. He once tested me with the Balance Blade's doctrine. It was only then that I began to really suspect your husband.
"After that, I began to investigate your husband. Starting from when he was young," Zhang Heng looked at Pompeo Nuss. "You came from a prestigious family, but your family had declined by the time your father was born. In order to revitalize your family, you entered the army and began to follow Aurelius everywhere. At first, you were just an inconspicuous centurion. Later, you began to stand out, and you continued to make contributions. Aurelius began to appreciate you more and more, treating you as his confidant.
"However, your situation is actually a bit similar to mine. Although Aurelius values you very much, you are not the only young general he is optimistic about. You actually have many competitors, and many of them are better than you. In the next two years, those young generals who are better than you died one after another for various reasons. In the end, you became the most dazzling existence of your generation, and Aurelius began to rely on you more and more.
"Although there are many people in the army who are more senior than you and hold higher positions than you, they are all very old. Basically, they are from the Antonine era. They will not pose a threat to you. There is only one person who is more troublesome to deal with."
"Lucius." Lucilla thought of something when she heard Zhang Heng's words, and her expression suddenly changed. She was standing in front of her dressing table, but when she heard Zhang Heng's words, she took two steps back, distancing herself from Pompeo Nuss.
"Yes, Aurelius's younger brother, Rome's co-ruling emperor, Lucius," Zhang Heng said. "He was the first person in the military at that time, and he was in his prime. If I'm not mistaken, he should be in charge of the army for a long time. Like Aurelius, he was the emperor of Rome. As long as he is alive, you can only be his subordinate. So, Lucius died. On his way back to Rome from the front line, the unlucky guy contracted the plague. He didn't even make it to Rome."
"You bastard, you killed my first husband?" Lucilla looked at Pompeo Nuss. At this moment, she even forgot her fear and roared, "I could have continued to be a queen in the palace. After my father's death, Lucius would have become the only emperor of Rome, and our child would have been the next ruler of the Roman Empire, not my stupid brother."
Pompeo Nuss smiled when he heard that. After that, he looked at Zhang Heng and finally said, "Enough. Let's stop here. You don't know me at all. You said before that you didn't understand why I sent assassins to assassinate you. The reason is actually very simple. It's because of jealousy."
"What?" Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows, a little surprised.
"Oh, of course, I'm not jealous that you went from a commoner to a noble, and you got the favor of Commodus … I don't care about this kind of thing at all. The jealousy I'm talking about is the instinctive reaction of a man and a husband."
"You mistook me for your wife's lover?" Zhang Heng suddenly realized, "Let's not talk about whether I'm your wife's lover or not. As far as I know, your wife has had many lovers before. You shouldn't take this kind of thing to heart …"
"Then do you know where they are now?" Pompeo Nuss said leisurely, "In order to get her, I can even kill Emperor Lucius of Rome, let alone those toys she threw away when she got bored of them."
"But if you really care about this matter so much, why didn't you stop her from the beginning?" "Oh, then you underestimate her too much.
"Oh, then you underestimate her too much. Lucilla is never a woman who will be controlled by anyone. Even her father couldn't control her. Otherwise, if she just wanted the pleasure of having an affair, why would she make it known to the entire city of Rome? She was using this method to declare war on my father, who used her as a political bargaining chip in his marriage. She wanted to trample on the royal honor that her father was proud of. She is like a flame, burning wantonly, and she doesn't care where it will ignite. This is also the reason why I fell in love with her."
Pompeo Nuss smiled, "With my identity, it's easy to find a gentle and obedient woman, whether it's a wife or a lover. But none of them have her charm. Her wildness and greed, beauty and debauchery, and innate cruelty and ruthlessness. All of these intertwined to form her. There is no more perfect existence in the world. I fell in love with her from the first time I saw her. I can't change her, and I don't want to change her."
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