I put out his fire

The prevalence of strange diseases alarmed the Romans.They held sacrificial ceremonies in the temple in exchange for the blessing of the god of disease.

Nero ordered his slaves to clean the colonnades with brushes and to apply fresh cinnabar to the lips of the goddess in the fresco.The slaves set up a brazier, sprinkled ash and sheep oil on the ground, and swept away all the stains.

The crimson fire danced in the marble dome, like jumping red amaranth.

A carriage rumbled over and stopped at the gate of the temple.The slaves rushed over graciously, and brought out bronze statues from the carts.

There are not enough slaves.Rhodes put on his gloves and walked over to help them carry them.

These smooth copper statues, a poppy-husk tan, are mostly busts of gods of sickness, welded onto square bases.

The bronze statue looks heavy, but it is actually relatively light.A slave could lift four bronze statues and place them on carved stone pillars.

Rhodes picked up a bronze statue, looked around with stern eyes, and fixed it as if being restrained.

The family name "Otto" is engraved on the base.

Nero walked all the way on the cashmere carpet.He stood beside Rhodes, picked up a bronze statue, and weighed it in his arms.

He pondered and said: "These bronze statues are not solid, otherwise they wouldn't be so light."

Rhodes scratched the family name on the base with his fingernails, and his expression became more dignified, "Anthony is very capable. With his status as a smudged commoner, he can actually take over the bronze statue business of the temple..."

"It's not his job alone." Nero put the bronze statue back. "His elder brother is very powerful, and he was the high priest of the temple when he was young. It's not surprising that Anthony got this kind of business."

The slaves passed by holding the bronze statues in rows, very close to each other, flowing past like a string of glass beads.

Rhodes moved sideways.He stared at the bronze statue with some danger in his eyes, "This is really an excellent publicity! The people who come to the temple to worship will be grateful for this surname. Otto, who was hit in the coup, will be as heavy as sparks in ashes burn."

Nero was silent for a moment, and there was a gloomy, scale-like cold light in his eyes.

"It's not good for me," he said darkly. "The Otto family is on the opposite side of me in the political situation."

Rhodes handed the bronze statue to the slave and asked in a low voice, "Then who is your supporter?"

"The gray-haired judges in the court." Nero replied, "they are old and have witnessed the glory of the opening of the empire. They are staunch supporters of Augustus, so they naturally have expectations for me, a descendant. "

The slaves cleaned the altar with beech ash and added some oil to the ever-lasting sacred fire.

At this time, the saints who presided over the sacrifice walked from the door to the altar, and the oldest saint led them.

These saints wear flowing white dresses, white veils that cover half of their faces, and a purple sash around their waists.

They carried salt cakes cooked with pine nuts, the meat of pregnant cows, and the blood of racehorses.This is the offering used for sacrifice.

Only girls who have undergone strict selection can become saints.The saint of Rome was born aristocrats, with a beautiful appearance, wearing six layers of braids.This kind of beautiful hairstyle, ordinary women only have the opportunity to wear it when they get married.

They take it as their duty to guard the torch, pursue the principle of never marrying for life, and enjoy privileges that others cannot match in society, and even the highest chief executive has to make way for them.

Slaves lined up to the sides and knelt.They all lowered their heads, their humble identities made them dare not look at the saint with humble eyes.

The eldest saint, wearing shoes inlaid with gold thread, approached with a serious face.

She was wearing a translucent white veil, her cold eyes were expressionless, and dense fine lines had grown around her eyes.

Nero moved away and bowed to her.

The saint nodded slightly, her frosty eyes moved, and she inadvertently glanced at Rhodes behind Nero.There was a slight hesitation in her elegant eyebrows and eyes...

The sacrificial ceremony took a long time.The saint poured the blood of the race horses on the altar, burned the spices, and chanted prayers in the light of the fire and the fragrance.

It was evening when the ceremony ended.

Nero and Rhodes chose to walk home.

In the narrow streets, there are potholes and uneven stone roads, and yellow dust is piled up between the cracks of the stone slabs.Shops and houses are mixed together, and the goods displayed by hawkers occupy most of the street. Some carry greasy buckets and pour dirty water into public sewers.The low-slung flats were crowded with rows of floor-to-ceiling bunks.

"This is the slums of Rome." Nero grabbed the hem of his robe to prevent his clothes from being stained with plaster.He covered his nose and said, "Many people with strange diseases live here."

A visibly malnourished woman came out of the apartment, foaming from her mouth, coughing while clutching her chest.

She looked frail, with swollen eyelids and an eerie blue-green white.After walking a few steps, she stumbled and lay on the mouth of the sewer, vomiting continuously into it, like a snake writhing desperately and shedding its skin.

Rhodes looked at her twitching back and said heavily: "This disease seems to favor the poor more. They have no money to treat the disease, so they can only spend the last days in vomiting and urinating blood."

Nero's expression became more and more urgent.The slightly longer bangs buried his eyelids, making his brows unclear.

"This is the first thing I have faced since I took office. It is related to my reputation." He said in a low voice, "I must solve this disease, even if it requires working around the clock..."

He raised his hand and pushed back the forehead hair that blocked his view, revealing his pale forehead and fullness.Nero's bone shape is very three-dimensional, with high browbones, and he actually has a subdued temperament when he is young.

When he put down his hand again, Nero accidentally hit Rhodes' hand holding the hilt of the sword.Flesh and flesh touched, and the impact produced was like a small hammer hammering into the heart.

"I'm sorry..." Nero, who was terrified by love, apologized quickly.

Rhodes suddenly held the hand he intended to avoid.Nero was stunned, this kind of active intimacy made his heart itch.

He blushed and tried to pull it back, but Rhodes held it so tightly that he didn't succeed.

"I'll accompany you." He leaned close to Nero's ear and said softly.

Nero felt warm like rain after a long drought.

……

After Messalina's death, Claudius has been sleeping alone in an empty bed.He is old and has long lost interest in husband and wife affairs.However, being timid and physically weak, he couldn't help being afraid and lonely about the single life.

The slave set up the sofa and lit the candles on the dining table.The slaves sliced ​​the quail meat and sprinkled it with pepper sauce and honey.Chefs can bake bread in the shape of rosettes and serve it with fish sauce and rosemary sauce for dipping.Polenta porridge with saffron and sea urchin was a staple of the evening.

A table full of sumptuous dinners, in fact, only the emperor ate alone.

Claudius was lying on his side, occupying the three-person sofa alone.He chewed the sliced ​​meat slowly, tasteless.

This is a lonely dinner.Octavia spent all her time with noble girls and spent little time with her father.

Claudius scooped up a spoonful of porridge and swallowed it mechanically.The huge restaurant echoed with the sound of bowls and spoons colliding.

The slave came with eel milk and roasted red crane tongue, arranged them on the dining table, and spread the napkin on the emperor's chest.

After he finished his work, he was stopped by Claudius just as he was about to retreat.

"You stand right in front of me, just make a little movement, and let me hear it!" Claudius ordered, with strong resentment in his round eyes, "at least let me feel that this damn restaurant is not so Empty! God...it's as cold as the bottom of the Styx here!"

He patted the table irritably, shaking his body.The golden laurel wreath slipped from his gray hair and fell to the ground with a dry sound.

The slave stood still in horror, knelt stiffly, trembling with fear.

Claudius was helpless.The warm oatmeal slowly rolled down his throat, moved to his chest little by little like a reptile, and then quietly gnawed at his heart.The sourness surged up his stubby neck and almost gushed out of his eyes.

"I'm going crazy..." he said to himself, with a very sad expression on his face, "I've worked so hard for Rome all day long, but I can't even find anyone to eat with me. Age, I have foreseen that I will die alone in the cold bed!"

His Adam's apple kept trembling, and his slack eyebrows were faintly red.

At this time, a female slave came tremblingly and brought him a plate of anchovies.

Small silvery fish are neatly stacked on a plate, with lavender lip mint on the side.The skin of the fish was grilled until it shrunk, exposing the golden honey-colored fish flesh. The hot oil splashed on it was still sizzling, and there was a tempting fragrance of chives.

Claudius leaned over and sniffed, his red nose fluttered twice, and he frowned and said, "This is the lowest level of fish. Tell the chef that there must be no ingredients that even slaves can eat in the palace..."

The female slave serving the dishes hung her head, faltered, and looked at the emperor with a very timid look.

"I asked the chef to do it." A faint female voice resounded suddenly, like a weed growing in the air.

Agrippina was wearing a dark red dress, her plain facial features were half hidden under the veil, and only her bloodless lips were exposed, her expression was gloomy.

In the empty restaurant, she appeared like a ghost out of nowhere, startling her naturally timid uncle.

"Oh...it's Agrippina..." Claudius turned pale with fright.He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and smiled at her reluctantly.

"Why are you here? My dear niece..."

Agrippina smiled calmly: "I just want to visit you, my poor uncle. I heard that you have not been well these days and have lost a lot of weight."

She put on a regretful expression, "Look, your cheekbones are protruding. You must be very tired with all your affairs..."

"It's always been like this." Claudius patted the empty space beside him and invited her to lie down.

With a look of relief on his face, he said in a generous tone from an elder: "Come and eat something, Agrippina. This is the first time in this period that I am not eating alone..."

Agrippina looked cryptic.She walked to the sofa, her sickly face hidden behind a red veil.

She didn't lie down for a long time, and said quietly: "I'm afraid I still have to refuse you, my uncle. Only the queen can lie on the seat next to you. I don't want to break the rules."

"This is my private palace, no one will blame you." Claudius smiled gently, "You don't have to care about the rules..."

Agrippina was silent, her indifferent eyes were motionless, and even her breathing was almost stagnant.

She said softly: "There is only one way, so that I don't have to care about the rules..."

Claudius poured wine for her and asked, "What way?"

Agrippina suddenly approached him and said in a bewitching voice, "That is to make me a queen..."

This fluttering sentence fell into Claudius's ear like a flint, and there was a huge movement in his head.

Claudius' eyes suddenly widened, his eyes brightened.He tensed up all over, raised his face stiffly, and looked at Agrippina with a calm face in disbelief.The wine glass in his hand shook, and the wine was splashed wet.His reaction was as great as if he had been stabbed.

The wine glass fell to the ground with a clang.Claudius shook his head helplessly, his rickety body twisted on the sofa, like a turtle that turned its shell.

He said intermittently: "God... what are you talking about... I am your own uncle! Agrippina... I think you must be drunk..."

"I didn't drink." Agrippina remained calm, "I didn't drink a drop."

She pressed his trembling shoulders firmly, and said word by word: "Let me be the queen, my uncle..."

"This is impossible..." Claudius shook his head indiscriminately, "This is too strange! I don't have that kind of evil idea about you at all! You are my beloved niece, my brother's daughter..."

"That's just a name, you don't have to worry about it!" Agrippina took the initiative to lie down beside him, hugging his hunchback to comfort him.

Her touch made Claudius shudder.

"Don't...don't touch me...Agrippina!" he said tremblingly, "this is terrible..."

"I am a helpless person, and I have a son who has just grown up but is still not sensible..." She said calmly, without a trace of panic in her tone.Those deep pool-like brown eyes were thick and cold at this moment.

"I need a guarantee, a place that can protect me. Also..." Her tone suddenly became urgent, "My son also needs an emperor as his father! He obviously has a logical bloodline, but because his father is not an emperor Was criticized by some elders."

Claudius almost buried his face in the napkin.He shook his head weakly, not even having the courage to look at Agrippina, and said in a trembling voice: "I can't marry you...Agrippina...that's too weird..."

Agrippina looked at him calmly.After thinking for a while, she tore off a piece of anchovy and placed it on her uncle's plate.

She squeezed out a look of nostalgia, and said softly: "Do you still remember when you came to my house to celebrate my birthday? I was only seven years old at that time..."

Claudius froze, slowly raised his head, and looked at her cautiously.

Agrippina picked up the fish with a fork and handed it to his trembling mouth, "At that time, I was very young and knew how to give you the first piece of fish, just like now..."

Claudius opened his lips slightly in shock, held his breath, and his mind was so frantic that it seemed to be overwhelming.

Agrippina took advantage of the situation and stuffed the fish into his mouth, making a seemingly sincere smile.She said in a warm tone: "You also need someone who can eat with you and really care about you, don't you?"

Claudius felt like a stick in his throat.