I warmed his cold blood

Lucas' departure did not bring much change to Heron.

He still fed pigeons, chatted with Fanny, went fishing in the countryside, taught slaves harsh lessons when they made mistakes, bathed in hot water with herbs, and learned how to cook when he was in a good mood.Occasionally he took care of the house, listened to the slaves report the money in and out, and received a few guests.

Except for the vague anxiety in his heart, his life seems to be uneventful.

He surreptitiously inquired about Brutus—

His friend stays at home all day, doing nothing but sitting and eating, and is more at ease than him.

The season has entered late autumn, and Gattuso welcomed his first child.Perhaps the gods accepted Sulla's prayer and the child was a boy.

The successor's joy caused Gattuso to throw a big banquet and invite Herron and Fanny to come to his house for the banquet.

Fanny did not go because she was seriously ill.She asked Harun to bring gold bracelets and silk as presents.

On the day Herron went to Gattuso's house, the weather was exceptionally good.This is the most comfortable time of the year. Among the four seasons of exhaustion, this is the only time that is worthy of the name.

Amidst the clatter of horseshoes, Helen sat in the carriage, raised the curtain and stuck his head out of the window.

The tall zelkova trees on the side of the road are covered with yellow leaves and are closely next to each other.The yellow leaves on both sides meet at a high place, and a thick layer of yellow leaves is paved on the road, forming a cylindrical yellow leaf tunnel.The sun shines through the gaps between the leaves, folding out a hazy colorful circle of light.

The bitter taste of autumn leaves surged under the tip of his nose.The tunnel is very long, like a layer of yellow silk satin inside, isolated from the world.The blue sky at the end shrinks to the size of a glass ball, like a blue crystal set in the yellow leaves all over the sky.

He seemed to think of some vague scene.It is similar to a line of small characters in a dusty parchment, a false image in a dream, or an old yellowed letter.

He only recalled it when he caught a glimpse of the arrow-like sunlight——

It was Latham's Tunnel of Roses, which Lucas had built to amuse him.Except for the color, it is very similar to this yellow leaf tunnel.

A rosy picture appeared in front of him, and he smiled.

Gattuso's house is very unique.The outer walls are inlaid with hard colored shells, and the carvings on the stone pillars are painted with colors.In the atrium stands a statue of Venus, her full lips painted with Spanish cinnabar, and fountains gushing from her pinched orchid fingers.

This place resembles the world depicted in nursery rhymes, with exaggerated colors and childlike innocence.Herron even suspected that these paints ate up most of Gattuso's income.

After giving birth, Sura had a kind of maternal warmth.She was reclining on a silk pillow with a red ribbon around her forehead, with the newborn in her arms.She even slowed her breathing, lest she wake her baby.

Herron walked over softly and glanced at the baby.

His face was wrinkled, like walnut skin, and his whole body was red, like a shrunken version of an old man.Heron was shocked by this nascent ugliness.

"Oh, so the newborn baby looks like this..." Helen smiled reluctantly, and put the gold bracelet he brought on the baby's little wrist.

Sura grabbed the baby's hand and kissed it lightly.She kept looking at the baby's face, then abruptly looked away, and said to Helen, "Gattuso won't let me look at him all the time, but I can't help it."

Helen raised his eyes, "Why didn't he let you see him?"

"Women who have just given birth are unclean. Staring at the child with bloody eyes will bring him bad luck." Sura said helplessly.

"Oh! I thought Gattuso wouldn't believe these things." Herron said, "He wasn't like this before, but he seems to have changed a lot after becoming a father..."

"This is a legitimate request from a husband to his wife." Gattuso came with a bowl of honey porridge, his lips pouted playfully, "This little guy took a lot of Sura's energy. Since he came, Sura Those beautiful eyes don’t look at me very much anymore…”

Sura smiled shyly and wanted to take the bowl in his hand.Gattuso withdrew the bowl back, scooped up a mouthful with a spoon, blew carefully, and fed it to her mouth.

"You are so contradictory, Gattuso!" Herron sneered, "One moment you are fascinated by evil customs and despise the filthy eyes of pregnant women; the other moment you are fascinated by foreign things and praise its beauty. After all, you still have to be superstitious and progressive How long have you been swinging between?"

Gattuso stopped his movements, the corners of his mouth were slightly lowered, his eyelids were slightly retracted, and his eyebrows were raised slowly.He suddenly laughed, and the laughter was a little nervous.He laughed tremblingly, the gadgets on his waist clinked together, and pointed at Heron with his fingers, as if he had never been so happy.

He laughed enough, and then he slowly straightened up, "My dull cousin, this has nothing to do with some shitty superstitious progress..."

His eyes showed sympathy, "Can your black eyes, which are more beautiful than Venus's, see the true feelings of human beings?"

"Don't use the word beautiful, Gattuso!" Herron managed to miss the point he wanted to express, "You know I hate it..."

"Okay, okay..." Gattuso said nonsense solemnly, "That is extremely handsome, as brave as the sun god Phibos, and as powerful as the giant Titan. There is no one in the world who is more majestic than you. Dumping all the goddesses, the little girl who can scare and cry and steal sweets behind her parents' back..."

"Shut your mouth!" Herron interrupted him, "Slick elder!"

Gattuso shrugged, taking it for granted, "If you enter the Senate and debate with a bunch of talking white-haired monkeys every day, you will never have less oil on your lips than me."

"That's why I hate politics," Herron said, frowning.

"So you don't want to make progress, my dear Helen." Gattuso said seriously, "As a cousin, I hope to see an ambitious cousin. I don't want you to be mediocre and rely on Polio all your life." the inheritance of food and clothing."

Heron's black eyeballs moved and fell silent.

……

According to the custom, the ninth day after the baby is born is the purification day.Since most newborns do not live beyond seven days, only babies who survive the premature death period are accepted into the family, and Purification Day is the day to welcome newborns.

Flower walls were erected in the atrium, and slaves sprinkled petals and perfume on babies.The baby cried out in fright, and its short, fat calves kicked the swaddle, like a wriggling ball of dough.

Gattuso picked up the child and lifted it up to the sky, which represented the father's approval of the child.

Sulla put an amulet on the child to protect him from evil spirits.The amulet would hang around his neck until he came of age at 15.

Gattuso holds the child, his expression has never been so serious.He said aloud:

"My son is called Seneca. May the gods protect him, may Venus give him beauty, may Minerva give him wisdom, and may Dick give him a righteous and pure heart. May all demons stay away from him, and all Misfortune will not enter his ears, all filth will not enter his eyes, and no pain will befall him. I will always guard him and his mother until the day when the gods call my soul. The sun, the moon and the stars Everyone swears to shine for this, all demons, witches and ghosts swear to detour!"

Helen watched all this quietly.

The misty shadow of Pliny passed by.The long-accumulated resentment was aroused, and it was hard to tell whether it was love or hate.

He thought he was indifferent to fatherly love.

What he thought he had forgotten was actually something he cared about, and what he thought was not worth mentioning was actually important.