I warmed his cold blood

Claudius' funeral fell on a rainy midsummer day.

The dark cloud covered the crowd in black mourning clothes like a big palm, as if it wanted to hold them in their hands.Yin Yu looks gloomy, inserting gray and black wings into this world, and is about to fly to the underworld.The heat has not been washed away by the rain, only the sticky damp heat makes people feel like they are in the steaming heat.

17-year-old Fanny was lying under the plaster statue, crying bitterly.She didn't pay attention to her majesty, and the ink lines in her eyes were blurred by crying, making her face look like it was smoked, which was very funny.

Her mother passed away.As a daughter, mourning is her catharsis of pain and her obligation to mourn.

The sarcophagus was quickly carried away.Fanny sat slumped on the slippery steps, her black dress stained with mud.

Her eyes were painfully stained with black ink, and she wiped them with her sleeves, but it was useless.Two layers of eyelashes seemed to be stuck with ink, and she stumbled to her feet, unable to open her eyes, bumping into someone as she left the atrium.

She grabbed the man's hand subconsciously, and saw a red ring in a daze.

The man didn't have the slightest demeanor, and immediately withdrew his hand.Fanny lost her center of gravity and fell to the ground with a scream. Blood was wiped from her knees, and her blurred eyes suddenly opened.

She cursed in a low voice, and raised her head reproachfully.

She was stunned.

——This may be the beginning of everything.

This is quite a handsome young face, like a handsome man portrayed in mythology.His black pupils are cold, with a circle of cold mist flowing, like frost that cannot be removed in winter; his black hair is soft and smooth, his high nose touches his cheeks, his jaw line is so rigid that it is easy to fold, and the tail of his eyebrows is like the tip of a sword So slender that Fanny thought it would cut herself.

His temperament is cold, like the solid ice on the cliff that does not melt all the year round.

Fanny felt that everything around her was still, and she could even hear her own violent heartbeat.

She vaguely felt that she had never been so close to life, although she had always lived.

He looked down at her indifferently, with a straight face, as if he was judging a sinner.

"Your shoulder straps slipped off." His attitude was no warmer than an ice pick, "What a stupid woman."

Fanny was stunned for a moment, and found that her shoulders were exposed, so she quickly put on the shoulder strap...

She can't remember anything after that.The clearest thing is his sharp back, in the gray sky and dark gray marble, like a lonely sage who is not understood by the world.

This image burned into Fanny's life like bronzing.

Even when she is in unbearable pain, she can smile because of this back.Her soul is meaningful because of this back view.Whenever she recalls this first encounter, Fanny, who has suffered from the pain of the world, can be grateful for life for it.

After the funeral, Fanny inquired about the young man.

It turned out that his name was Pliny, his surname was Polio, and he was the same age as her.His father died prematurely of heart disease, and he became one of the youngest heads of a family in Rome.

……

Most of the time, Pliny would shut himself in his study, studying dull volumes.

There was no incense in the study, and it was very cold, with the shutters half-closed.He has a serious obsession with cleanliness and likes to be spotless. He is not even allowed to lay carpets that are easy to trap dust. He also ordered his slaves not to eat mutton, onions and other bad-smelling foods.

The overly clean study room is colder than the unselfish mask of Hades, without any breath of life.

Pliny was wearing a clean white robe, leaning on the table, with a delicate statue of a god standing in front of him.

He flicked the brush to brush off the slight dust accumulated on the idol, and he acted very patiently.

It's something he does every day.

At the age of 15, when he came of age, he converted to religion and lived as an ascetic ever since.So he cut off drinking and fighting, and sat on a life that was more bare than the dead branches in winter.The corners of his mouth have always sunk down gently, rarely raised due to emotional fluctuations, giving people a vicious and mean intuition.

He straightened the statue and put a pocket garland around the statue's neck.

Sisi walked in.He served Polio all the year round, served as Pliny's servant when he was a child, and was the only slave he was willing to approach.

Sisi was holding a copper basin and a towel was draped over his shoulders.He quickly cleaned the desk and rolled out the parchment.

"Your proposed release has been issued," he said. "Polio has lost two more hardworking slaves. I must warn you that this will make future housework more difficult!"

"They are indeed very diligent and loyal." Pliny moved the jade stone and pressed the corner of the sheepskin roll. "I obviously treat them generously, but they always eat inferior roast lamb. I can't stand it."

Ceci hesitated, and said, "Compared to what they paid for Polio, I think... this eating habit is worth ignoring..."

"A little mildew in bread will make people sick, and a little sour taste in milk will make people vomit. Bad is bad, there is no such thing as degree." Pliny said coldly, "it's the same with people. "

Sisi became embarrassed, his status as a slave made him shut up hesitantly.

At this time, lyre music came from outside the window.

Startled, Pliny got up and walked over, poking open the half-closed shutters with his fingers.

Fanny was wearing a fiery red silk dress, with a lyre in her arms.She dyed her nails Kodan, and her eye shadow was cinnabar with gold powder.She was beautifully dressed and flamboyant, without the shyness of a girl at all, like a blooming rose, embedded in the plain and almost dry atrium.

The entire courtyard seemed a little warm because of her fiery figure.

Pliny was very impatient, leaning against the window and said, "Why are you here again?!"

"Because I like you! Lord Polio!" Fanny was extremely flamboyant, but she seemed very innocent, "Do you like listening to the harp?!"

Pliny frowned and slammed the window shut.Immediately afterwards, he opened the window again as if contradicting himself, and said to her: "Your shoulder strap fell off again!"

Startled, Fanny pulled up her shoulder straps in embarrassment, and when she looked up at him again, he had already closed the window.

……

Young Fanny has always loved good food, wine and pleasures.She had a magnificent life like red flames, but she just ran into Pliny who had an indifferent personality.

She asked her father to arrange a marriage for her.

Her father clearly disagreed.

"How can a small family like Polio compare with Claudius?!" He blew his beard and looked annoyed, "He doesn't even have the blood of the royal family, and his wealth is not rich, so he is not worthy of our Claudius! "

So Fanny resorted to a hunger strike, forcing her father to nod.

She knew that her father used some shady means, which might involve money, power or something.

But she doesn't care about the process.Naively, she just wants to marry the one she loves.

She also got her wish.

On the wedding night, Fanny was full of expectations.She sits under a drapery in an orange veil.

After entertaining the guests well, Pliny walked into the room slowly, smelling of alcohol on his body.

Facing the bride, his expression was quite calm, as indifferent as ever.

He is a man who can keep clean in the place of stinky wine and meat.

He glanced at Fanny, and said coldly: "I think I'd better say in advance that I hate baths, gladiators, and wine, and hate anything that indulges depravity, and I live a life of absolute cleanliness. If you can't accept it, you can ask for a divorce." , you will get your dowry back."

"I've checked your likes and dislikes a long time ago." Fanny smiled, "I will stay away from the things you dislike, and I will also learn to be like you and become a clean person."

Pliny ignored it: "I have a bad heart, and I'm likely to die young, just like my father."

"That would be wonderful!" said Fanny, "and then you will die before me, and you won't have to suffer alone."

Pliny froze for a moment, and resorted to his trump card: "I tell you, I don't love you. I married you because of Polio. My love has long since died with the death of my cousin!"

"I know." Fanny took his hand and kissed the back of it.

"Then let me love you, you don't need to do such tiring things!" She said with a smile.

Pliny straightened his back and looked at her fixedly.After a long time, he sat next to Fanny and said with disgust: "Kissing the back of the hand should be done by men."

As he spoke, he kissed the back of Fanny's hand and lifted her veil...

Married life was not as boring as Pliny expected.

He is busy with his career every day, making his family business bigger and bigger.

Fanny weaves woolen cloth diligently and becomes a competent wife.She abstained from wine and dispersed the gladiators who supported her.Estranged from her fun-loving friends, she worships at the shrine every morning with Pliny, swapping her voluptuous silk suspenders for tight gowns.She no longer wears heavy makeup, but keeps her face bare, because Pliny hates the smell of greasy powder.

She restrained her liveliness and wantonness, fading the gorgeous life into colorless.

Winter is coming, and snowflakes are flying in every corner of Rome.The Romans began to store ice and dig cellars to store their precious wines.This is the coldest winter in recent years. At first people celebrated the snow, but then they complained.

Fanny worked day and night to weave a long scarf for Pliny and wrap it around his neck.

"This wool is very uncomfortable, it looks like a snake that is shedding its skin!" Pliny frowned, his face very displeased, "You have really poor eyes for picking wool."

Fanny raised her scarf and rubbed her face, "seems a little uncomfortable," she said.

"Hmph!" Pliny curled his lips, and said casually, "Keopera is very good at knitting, and she can even exchange it for a bolt of silk at the auction."

Fanny shuddered, and the loss accumulated in her heart was instantly magnified by this unintentional sentence, breaking the long-term patience.The circles of her eyes gradually turned red, and a sharp sourness rushed up her throat, all the way to her nose.She wanted to cry, but she was afraid that Pliny would be unhappy, so she quickly turned her face away, not daring to look into his eyes.

"Yeah...how can I compare to her..."

She gave up on herself a little, with tears in her eyes, she untied her scarf in a panic, hugged her in her arms and wanted to turn around and walk away.

Pliny was stunned, grabbed her shoulders, took back the scarf and tied it on himself, and said blankly: "But... I like the patterns on this scarf. I have to admit, you are sent to hell The advanced thread weaving technology, recently has the tendency to go back to heaven.”

After that day, Pliny never mentioned Keopera, not once.

The days went by so smoothly.In their spare time, the couple also traveled to Capua.There, they got acquainted with the De Laite couple, who were also from Rome, and the gorgeous and beautiful Gnaia was very enthusiastic about them.

Not long after returning from Capua, Fanny discovered that she was pregnant.

She prays in front of the shrine every day, and her diet becomes light and nutritious; what she does most often is to lie on the rocking chair in the atrium, caress her growing belly, and gaze at the frescoes of Venus, which is said to give The child is beautiful.She rarely goes out, let alone places that are noisy and chaotic.As a mother, she needs to protect her children with all her heart.

Her liveliness and impulsiveness have all been wiped out by the life of weaving and spinning, leaving only the gentleness of being a mother.

On the day the child was born, Fanny, a new mother, was very excited.

She had just given birth, her face was still beaded with sweat, and her body was very weak.Under the service of the slave, she lay on the bed, hugged the cleaned newborn, and touched his flushed face with the back of her finger curiously.

When Pliny heard it was a boy, he ordered the slaves to gilt all the gods in the house.His fingers trembled rarely, and he walked into the bedroom with trembling legs.The joy of successors made his indifferent face, which had been tightly covered, loosen a little.

He walked over to the bed and stared at his wife, very intently.In fact, she is not good-looking at the moment, her face is still swollen, her hair is sticky and wet on her forehead, and she also has a bad smell on her body.But her motherly love from the heart makes her especially beautiful.

Pliny was moved by this other kind of charm.His heart, which had been stopped by the untimely death of his first love, seemed to quiver slightly again.

He stared so engrossed that he didn't have time to look at the newborn.

Fanny looked up.At the sight of Pliny, all her excitement suddenly froze in her blood, and when dispersed it became mixed.

She shrunk her nose and twitched her eyelids a few times, but she couldn't hold back after all, and cried while holding Pliny's hand.It can be said that she was crying with joy, and she was also venting her sadness of not getting love after being married for many years, and many complicated emotions were intertwined.After a life-and-death childbirth, she, who had always pretended not to care about her husband's response, finally revealed her most vulnerable side.

She didn't care whether Pliny would be angry or not, so she cried very emotionally.

With rare patience, Pliny listened to her cry quietly and tucked up the quilt for her.

When Fanny had calmed down, he stretched out his hand, poked the crumpled baby's face, and said, "It's ugly."

……

Pliny named his son Herron, and Fanny called him Hermia.

He invited the fortune-teller to be a guest and divination for Harun's fate.

The fortune-teller was an old man with a white beard. His robe was unusually loose, but he walked very lightly. His thick white eyebrows drooped and swayed with his steps.The tourmaline-like blue eyes are embedded in the snow-white hair, as long and deep as if reading the whole world, recording the vicissitudes of the world.

"You are the most prestigious fortuneteller in Rome, and I am honored to receive your favor." Pliny said politely.

"My son has just been born, and his life is worth mentioning like an ant. But I still want to know whether he will experience too much joy and sorrow."

The fortune-teller arranged the bones of animals regularly, and these bones were engraved with strange symbols, implying the rules of operation in the world.

According to Heron's birth date, he moved a few bones, his face changed, and he sighed regretfully.

"Unfortunately... Judging from the results of divination, your son will die at the age of 24, and his lifespan is only twenty years. But before that, he will live a carefree and prosperous life. "

Pliny's heart tightened, as if an ice pick pierced his spine.He gasped, trembling uncontrollably: "He's going to die at 24?! Oh my god..."

"I'm sorry, but this is indeed the result of divination."

"What will he die of?" asked Pliny.

"It's a violent death." The fortune-teller said, "It's possible to be murdered, or even commit suicide..."

"I can't believe it..." Pliny shook his head. "It was too cruel for him, and it was too cruel for Polio!"

The fortune teller put away the bones and sighed deeply.

Pliny did not tell Fanny the result of the divination.He didn't think that with her fragile mind, she could resist this unpredictable bad news.

time flies.Herron grew up to be three years old, and he inherited Pliny's handsome features and Fanny's beautiful hair.His cheeks were as white as suet, and his lips were like cinnabar that could not be washed off.He is very mischievous and has an insatiable passion for having fun.

Fanny doted on Herron and satisfied almost all his demands.When poor children were picking up stones and stirring mud, he could blow the ivory whistle that was worth a year's food for the poor.

Pliny's education method can be described as brutal.He was very strict with Herron, even to the point of being harsh.He hired the most expensive servant to teach his son Latin and Greek.

……

On this day, Pliny received an invitation to the funeral of the De Laite family.

De Laite's head of the family died of illness, and his wife Gnaia became a widow.They also had an adopted son who was only ten years old, named Brutus.

Pliny was weird.Because three years ago, De Laite looked very healthy and lively.

When I went to De Laite's house, the full moon was suspended in the night sky, obscured by long, melancholy clouds.So the moon is black and white, which looks very hideous.The cold wind hit the skin, the pores instantly tightened, and the body felt like it was covered with crushed ice.

Fanny, feeling cold, drew Pliny's cloak and sneezed as she tied it.

"Look at your stupidity." Pliny said, piercing like a knife, "As a weak woman, don't show such power, it's really ridiculous."

He patted her hand away impatiently, took off his cloak and put it on her.

The newly forged black ring on his finger is eye-catching.

Fanny noticed his finger and asked strangely: "Your ring has changed color. Where is the original red ring?"

Pliny's expression changed, the blush on his face was covered by the night, "Leave it alone!"

Fanny was very worried, and said worriedly: "The seal is so important, it must be kept properly, and it must not be lost!"

"I know." Pliny nodded, and glanced at her meaningfully, "I gave it to the person I love the most."

Fanny's throat was sealed, as if stuck in her throat.The marriage obtained by coercion made her unable to hold her head up, so she could only suppress it forcefully.

"Okay then..." she said sourly, looking very humble.

Pliny almost laughed, but the cold side of his temper made him return to his expressionless face.

"Tomorrow is your birthday." He said casually.

"Hmm." Fanny replied suspiciously, "what's the matter?"

"It's nothing." Pliny turned his face away, half of his face was in the shadow, and his expression was hard to see.

He coughed twice, and continued: "I can't accompany you to the end of the dinner tonight, I need to leave early and go to the Senate..."

"You want to leave early?!" Fanny was a little surprised.

"Well... today... it just so happens that it's my turn to host the debate... a coincidence..." Pliny looked away, looking guilty, and he was not good at lying, and he spoke clumsily.

He glanced at Fanny, with a rare timid expression on his face: "What gemstone do you like best?"

Fanny was full of doubts, feeling that her husband was too strange: "Why do you ask this?"

"You meddle too much!" Pliny was very displeased, "If you are asked to answer, answer it well!"

Fanny thought for a long time, and said, "Obsidian."

……

The two entered De Laite's house.

Gnaia was dressed in black mourning, her lips were painted fiery red; her red nails protruded from her black sleeves like poppies among black thorns.She cried pear blossoms with rain, but her eyes were not red and swollen, and there was just the right amount of tears between her eyelashes, like exquisite and clear amber, which looked very cute.

When she saw the Polio couple, her pupils lit up instantly.

Her soul was ignited when she saw Pliny, as if she had been in a deep sleep all the time, and the prosperity of the world could not seduce her, but Pliny woke her up, and her life had hope from then on.

She had been waiting for this moment for three years.

Gnaia went up to meet her, hugged Fanny, and wet her shoulders with tears.

"Why did the gods recall my husband..." She seemed very sad, "He left me and my child behind. I am a woman who urgently needs to be protected. How can I protect such a large family property?"

Fanny patted her on the back and comforted her: "My friend, Brutus is already ten years old. You can survive in just five years, and you will be able to retire completely."

Gnaia hugged her tightly, crying tremblingly, "Fanny, you must get drunk with me tonight, let me vent this pain... Please..."

After the dinner, Fanny could not remember what happened next.All she remembered was drinking a lot with Gnaia.

She inquired from the slave that she had stayed at De Laite's house for a long time last night, and it was already late at night when she was sent home.

Fanny was terrified, because she had a splitting headache, a vague strange feeling in her body, and her underwear was missing.

"Why didn't you come back until late at night?!" Pliny looked pale, "And he was so drunk that he passed out!"

"I have no recollection of last night..." said Fanny terrified. "My head is as heavy as a stone."

Pliny paused and suppressed his anger.He put away his disgusted expression, took out an obsidian from a small silver box, and hung it on her forehead.

"It's not bad." He said, the slightly raised corners of his eyes betrayed his good mood, "It makes your dull eyes look passable. After today's birthday, you are one step closer to aging , the dim black gem is very suitable for you."

Fanny touched the stone in bewilderment, but her fear was not lessened.

Her fears immediately became reality.

At this time, a strange slave came to the door, holding a letter in his hand, and there was only one line on the letter: "The birthmark on your chest is beautiful, and it will turn purple when you are kissed."

Fanny was so shocked that she almost fainted.She was drunk and sexually promiscuous.

This scene was like smeared with black ink, accumulated in her mind with dull and gloomy tones; so long as she recalled this moment, her whole body would be plunged into the darkness of hell.

Pliny's good mood turned to fury.He was extremely angry, the anger made his eyes black, and his heart was beating violently, like a rampant monster jumping up and down in the atrium.A vein popped out of his forehead, he shoved Fanny impulsively, and slammed Harron's whistle like never before.

With an extreme temperament, he moved out of the house and chose to live alone in Latham, with only Sisi, a slave, by his side.

His heart, like his eyes, cannot tolerate any flaws that go against his own will.His bad temper is like a deflated rubber ball, no matter how hard it is hit, it will be returned with the same force.

That seemingly indifferent appearance to the world often makes people ignore his narrow mind like a mustard seed.

Cersei had kindly mentioned Fanny, implying that he should go home and see her and Herron.

"Don't mention her to me again! Sisi, this is the last time I warn you!" Pliny said angrily, losing control again, "I hate her!"

Sisi sighed, turned around and wiped the table, and whispered, "There are always parents who value love more than children..."

Not long after Pliny's solitary life began, Gnaia, the widow, offered to visit him.

She is not afraid of the severe cold, wearing a thin suspender skirt, revealing her moving curves and plump limbs.The red color of her nails is still very fresh, and her makeup is as gorgeous as a carefully carved colorful mask, and even the vivid eyeballs seem to be inlaid.She was beautiful, young, bright as a jewel in a crown, and faded the gold in which it was set.

"I'm very sorry about Fanny..." She said hypocritically, "I've tried to dissuade her from watching the fight, after all, a wife without a husband is easily seduced by the gladiator's body..."

As soon as he heard Fanny's name, Pliny felt a bloody pain in his heart as if being scratched by sharp claws.

"This is between me and her." He took a step away from her and said angrily, "You, an outsider, don't need to take care of it!"

Gnaia choked for a moment, her heart pricked like a needle.She held her breath, adjusted her delicate and pitiful expression, and tried her best to put on a delicate posture.

But when she looked up and saw Pliny, her pretense was defeated by the burning love.Her heart was beating fast, her shy expression was a bit demented, and the words she had prepared had long been forgotten. Love made her speak only by instinct or intuition.

"You didn't go to the Senate that night at all..." she said, "I know you went to the craftsman in the city and got back an obsidian..."

Pliny became alert and asked sharply, "You sent someone to follow me?!"

He thought of the red ring, and his voice became low and dangerous: "What else do you know?"

Gnaia woke up suddenly, quickly lowered her head, and lied stammeringly: "I...that's all I know...my slave girl happened to be passing by..."

——Naturally, she would not say that the craftsman was the slave she released not long ago, and she was so grateful to her that she was willing to tell all the secrets to the master who gave him freedom.

Pliny looked at her suspiciously, and said cautiously: "You look so guilty, you are no different from a sophistry criminal in court!"

Gnaia was taken aback.The embarrassment of being exposed, especially in front of her beloved Pliny, made her cheeks burn and her jaw tremble.

She subconsciously covered her face, her legs were weak and unable to support her body, finally she knelt down at Pliny's feet.Her fragility is aroused by Pliny's questioning, and she is like a child who has been exposed by her parents, and she has a kind of admiration for him and the fear of being abandoned.

"I swear! It was very late...you didn't bring the slave with you...I was just afraid that you would be in danger..." She grabbed his sleeve and cried, "I was so worried...that's why I asked someone to follow you……"

She knelt and took a few steps forward, shedding tears: "I...I want to protect you..."

Shocked, Pliny tried to wrestle her away.Gnaia's slender fingers gripped his forearm tightly, with great strength, as tight as an iron hook.

"Fanny betrayed you..." She was crying amidst the babble, her voice changed because of excitement, it was urgent and sharp, "But I can do everything for you, even if you want me to kill people or set fires!"

In a panic, Pliny yanked her away, and a small piece of the sleeve was torn off.

Gnaia rushed over excitedly and hugged his calf.Even though she is a woman, she has amazing strength to go crazy.Her long nails cut Pliny's ankle, and tears streamed down his instep.She cried wildly, begging him not to drive her away.

"Drag the mad woman out! Sisi!" said Pliny with disgust. "She's like a disgusting shrew!"

Gnaia's crying stopped abruptly.She hugged his ankle in a daze, her body was still twitching because of sobs from time to time, "Don't use such vulgar words to call me...Pliny..." She trembled, "No one has paid more for you than me , including your wife, Fanny."

"Don't mention that name!" Pliny became angry immediately after being poked at the sore spot.The fact of his wife's adultery was like a sharp sword, cutting his mask of indifference to nothing.

His cold voice was a bit ferocious, "Even if she commits adultery and loses her virginity, she is better than you, a woman who takes advantage of others!"

Gnaia shuddered and stopped moving.She pursed her lips, stood up slowly, stared into Pliny's eyes and remained silent.

After a long time, she said hoarsely: "According to the law...the person who exposes the crime of adultery can get part of the adulterer's family property..."

Pliny rang the alarm bell and asked quickly, "What are you going to do?!"

Gnaia's face was gloomy, and her voice seemed to come from the abyss, sinister: "I have evidence, and there are witnesses and evidences. She was drunk and had sex with a gladiator at the funeral show, and her underwear was also in his hands." On. Most importantly, he was impressed with her body!"

She put on a weird smile and threatened: "If I sue her in court, she will be exiled, and I can get some property..."

Pliny gasped and clenched his hands tightly.He stared at Gnaia in shock, his face turned red and then pale, and cold sweat broke out on his back.He was astonished and contemptuous, and finally turned into an exclamation: "You are such a poisonous woman!"

"I don't have to expose her, as long as you don't see her again!" Gnaia continued, "I don't ask you to fall in love with me now, I just ask you to give me a chance to get close to you!"

Pliny froze in place and did not move for a long time.

All the past flashed in front of his eyes, Fanny's lyre, the orange veil worn at the wedding, and Heron's smiling face, all floated in his mind as if they were scattered.He weighed those memories for a long time, and his sense of responsibility as a father made him make a quick choice: "Don't tell her, my child needs a mother."

Gnaia took a step forward and said solemnly: "Then from now on, I will take care of your daily necessities! What Fanny can do, I will do better than her!"

She paused, "I'll wait until the day you divorce her voluntarily!"

Pliny gave her a blank look, and went straight into the back room.

……

The days passed by.

In the beginning, Gnaia came every day. She cooked for Pliny, knit sweaters, learned their own housework, and tried to show her gentle and considerate side, so rumors spread.

But Pliny never spoke to her and ignored her.

Gradually, she was hit by his indifference, and came less and less; more often, she stood at a distance, peeking at him through the glass window as he handled his business, with a smirk on his face.

Opportunities held hostage by handles will not lead to happy results.

Pliny had mixed feelings for Fanny.In this cold world, Fanny infected him with her persistence and patience. Love for a long time is more difficult to let go than love at first sight.

And he has always believed in the power of the husband, and he has always had a grudge against his wife's one-night affair with a lowly slave.As a husband, his self-esteem is deeply rooted, and the consciousness of male superiority and inferiority has haunted him since he was a child.His living alone is coerced by others, and it is more of his own choice.

He had hesitated to write to her, but when he thought of her betraying him, his hatred made him unable to calm down, and he finally tore up the parchment angrily.

He did love Fanny, but he would not give in.Like most people in the world, his love is self-centered.

With aging and working around the clock, Pliny had a heart problem.His temples had already grown gorgeous hair, and he often engraved words, so he had to lean on the table and hold his chest to rest for a while.His heart often hurts, accompanied by a feeling of suffocation, and he has to gasp for breath to survive the difficult time when he fell ill.

His condition is getting worse.

Until this day, he was lying on the bed with his eyes dim.He could feel that the heart in his chest was gradually weakening, and finally it seemed to be dying, beating a few times from time to time, symbolically indicating that he was still a living person who could breathe.

His eyes were covered by a white mist, at this moment a golden light tore the white mist, and behind the golden light was a rainbow.He smelled a fresh fragrance, and heard the melodious sound of the piano.His blood was refreshed as if irradiated by divine light. At this moment, he seemed to return to the most youthful age, far away from the torment of illness.

According to his teachings, this was the hour of death.

"I'm finally going to be free..." He muttered to himself.

A soft voice came from the golden light, "You have dedicated your life to the gods, so you will naturally have your rewards. You have a chance to return to life..."

"But I don't want to live again..." he said, "I'm tired..."

Then, scenes floated in front of his eyes, which were all his previous experiences.From childhood to school with the servants, to inheriting the family business in youth, to marriage, separation...

His mood also fluctuated with the scene changes.Before he died, he spent his lonely life.

He also saw many scenarios that had nothing to do with him:

At the de Laite's funeral dinner, Gnaia poured a large amount of valerian into Fanny's wine glass, and valerian has drowsy and aphrodisiac effects.

In addition, Fanny will die of illness on the bed half a year later, and her son Helen will also die in a cold and shabby corner not long after...

When the truth of the year was revealed, Pliny was surprised and heartbroken.

"I blamed her..." he regretted.

"It's because of your paranoid and lofty personality." The voice said,

"You have the opportunity to be born again, to change the trajectory of your life, to avoid a tragedy for you and your wife."

Pliny sighed sadly, "Even if everything starts over again, my son will still die at the age of 24...I can change my fate and that of Fanny, but I cannot save his short life..."

He thought for a while, then continued: "I want to give my son the chance of rebirth, this is my compensation to him."

He thought of the gold box containing the ivory whistle, "And his sudden death will also be borne by my irresponsible father, while I still have my breath."

The voice did not respond, and seemed to fall into silence.After a long time, I sighed with myriad thoughts: "I fulfill your wish... Do you want to leave with me?"

"No," said Pliny, "I have to wait for someone else."

The white mist soon faded, and Pliny came to his senses.

He sat up, walked to the locket, took out the whistle and kissed it lightly.His tenderness was rarely revealed, diluting the original fierce aura, and the black eyes that were very similar to his son's were much gentler,