Chapter 1246
"How do you know if you don't try?" Soxikles broke free from his hand. After a few steps, he muttered in a low voice, "Brother Stass is too honest."
Pekestas was Hilos's second son. Hilos married Sostus's eldest sister, so they were cousins. Although Pekestas was older, he was influenced by his family and did things by the rules. Soxikris was younger, but Sostus intended to train him to be the successor of his business, so he was more tactful and flexible.
Soxikris went back and told the servants to take care of the children. Then he walked slowly south along the fence of the zoo.
The Turií Zoo, whose full name was Turií Kingdom Zoo, was built on a hill near the Crati River. The whole hill belonged to the zoo. It had been built for seven years, but construction had never stopped. Because the east side of the hill was flat, the west and north sides were steep, and the south side was close to the river, so only the east side of the hill was built with a fence. Originally, there was only one door, but because there were more and more tourists, it was not safe or convenient for Avia, who often went in and out of the zoo. So a side door was built at the foot of the hill in the south for Avia, the palace guards, and the staff.
Soxikris saw some people standing at the side door from a distance. Obviously, they had the same purpose as him, but they did not succeed.
He walked over with his head held high and said to the guard at the door, "I am Axikus's brother. I have something important to see him!"
The guard quickly called the team leader and whispered a few words to him. The team leader looked at Soxikris and said, "Wait a moment."
…
There was a huge water wheel and a long stone trough by the river near the side door. It was embedded in the fence and led the Crati River into the zoo, which finally flowed into an artificial lake not far from the main entrance.
Around the artificial lake were large cages and small houses next to the cages. In front of each cage, there were some people gathered, exclaiming and screaming from time to time. There were also some places where spectators were gathered, but there were no cages. Instead, there were large pits with low walls built on top, and pools in the pits …
Suddenly, the people in front of a large pit let out deafening cheers. It turned out that the animal hiding in the pool at the bottom of the pit had finally climbed up to the shore. It had a large mouth, but a pair of small ears. Its body was as thick as a cow, but it was matched with four thick, short legs … This was the hippopotamus from the Nile River. It shook its small ears and opened its mouth to spray water, causing waves of cheers from the tourists …
In a corner beside the crater, there was a person who stood out from the rest. He was sitting there quietly, and there was a wooden board in front of him. On the wooden board was an unfinished painting of the hippopotamus at the bottom of the crater.
However, the continuous screams clearly disturbed him. He angrily threw the ink brush in his hand to the ground and then looked at the excited tourists. In the end, a helpless expression appeared on his face.
At this time, an honest-looking young man hurriedly walked up to him and said eagerly, "Brother, the weather is so hot. Drink some water to quench your thirst!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the servant beside him immediately untied the wooden box on his back and took out a long-eared pottery bottle and two clean wooden cups. He pulled out the cork and poured the green water into the cups. Then, he opened the other wooden box wrapped in layers of cloth and used a wooden clip to pick up a few ice cubes and carefully put them into the cups.
This action was seen by the people around them, and they couldn't help but look at the two of them carefully. After all, people who could use ice cubes to cool off in such a hot day were definitely not ordinary people.
The man who was painting picked up a cup and drank it in one gulp. Then, he chewed on the ice cubes and said vaguely, "Not bad, it's apple juice. Pour me another cup."
The servant hurriedly took the cup and poured the water.
"I say, Axicus, are you always so extravagant when drinking water?" This man was drinking the water provided by others, and he actually wanted to criticize him. That was a bit too much.
But the young man didn't care. He also drank a mouthful of the water and explained, "I'm busy every day. How can I be so delicate? This is all prepared for Avia."
The man who was painting didn't say anything.
The young man curiously asked, "Brother, haven't you been helping the city hall with the carving and design for the sports meet recently? How come you have time to come here?"
"I've already finished helping them, so I came out today to relax."
"Then if you want to come to the zoo, you should tell us in advance. If Big Sister Eunice knows that we didn't take good care of you, Avia and I will be scolded by her!"
It turned out that these two people were the two sons-in-law of the King of Devers, Alex and Axicus.
Hearing this, Alex was a bit unnatural. In the past, when he was carving and painting, he could not eat or sleep for a long time and was completely immersed in his creation. This was actually very harmful to his body. After getting married, Eunice asked him to change his bad habits in the past. Because of this, the two had several arguments. After the Devers intervened and talked to the couple, he was willing to change. Eunice also took good care of his life so that he could devote himself to his creation. Since then, his carving and painting skills had been constantly improving, and he finally became the top carver in the whole kingdom.
"I have hands and feet. What do I need you to take care of me!" Alex scolded indifferently, and then whispered, "If you really want to help me, then drive these tourists out!"
Axicus hurriedly shook his head. "I can't do that! Avia wanted to only allow a few hundred people to enter the zoo, and I had to persuade her for a long time. Now that there are tourists outside the zoo, it will be troublesome if there is a riot! "
"I say, you are now so busy with Avia that you don't even care about your father's business?" Alex couldn't help but ask.
Axicus scratched his head and did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "I heard that the Diónia Academy is going to set up another art academy, and they are going to let you be the dean. Is this true?"
Alex hesitated for a moment, looked at the painting on the board, and said softly, "This matter is still under discussion. It has not been decided yet."
Although Alex had his own carving room and a few apprentices, this was completely different from the situation of being the dean, teaching and managing dozens or even hundreds of students. It was because of the great pressure that he had slipped out to draw alone these days to relieve his boredom.
After the news was confirmed, Axicus was delighted. As the largest ironware manufacturer in the Kingdom of Diónia, his father not only continued to maintain the lead in weapons and civilian ironware, but also began to involve in the production of metal handicrafts. For example, the previous Antebrice star statue was designed by Alex and made by the Theos Ironware Workshop. But after all, his family did not have a strong foundation in the production of handicrafts, and there were not enough engravers. In the metal handicrafts market of the kingdom, the famous engravers either worked alone or were trained by other workshops. The upcoming establishment of the Diónia Academy of Arts would be good news for his family's handicrafts workshop.
While Axicus was thinking, the zoo guard came and said, "His brother is looking for him."
He was stunned. Because he had no brothers, only a sister. Who was so bold as to pretend to be his brother?
Axicus decided to see what was going on.
When he walked to the side door, he saw a teenager waving at him and shouting, "Brother, it's me!"
Akecus smiled in realization. Since Theos and Sostus were both big businessmen in Turkistan, and they were both in the Turkistan Chamber of Commerce, the two families often interacted with each other. Also, Sostus was interested in training his second son, and often brought him to visit his house. Axicus liked this clever little brother very much.
"Why are you here?" Akecus asked in a pleasant tone.
"Brother, help me!" Soxikles put on a pitiful look. "Isn't this a sports day? Many guests came to my house, and my father insisted that I bring the guests' children to the zoo. In the end, we found that we had to wait for a long time when we arrived. The weather is so hot, and the younger children can't stand it anymore …"
"How many people?" Axicus frowned.
"Including me, five people. But I just saw my cousin, Pekestas, also in the queue. He brought about seven people. Can he join us … "
"Pekestas?" Axicus was stunned for a moment and immediately understood. The only person who could be called cousin by this little guy was the son of the Thessaly District Administrator, Xenos. He thought for a moment and said, "Okay. But you have to wait outside for a while. I have to go and inform Avia first. There should be no problem. "
"Thank you, brother!" Sostus said gratefully. Watching Axicus walk into the side door, ride a Bruti horse that was brought by a servant, and disappear in the blink of an eye, he could not help but think: There were rumors that Princess Avia liked Axicus because he was like a dog, following the princess around every day. Even after getting married, he was still like that. He did not have his own drive and pursuit at all. He was a disgrace to the upper class of the kingdom's young citizens …
Sostus used to scoff at this saying, thinking that it was just some jealous people saying it out of jealousy, but now it seemed that it was true.
…
The Bruti horse trod on the flat stone road, carefully avoiding the bustling tourists, and came to a yard surrounded by high iron railings halfway up the mountain.
Axicus dismounted and hurried to the wooden house at the back of the yard. The antelopes in the yard immediately stopped eating and looked at the intruder warily.
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