Chapter 621
Turín's narrow victory over Kopsa could be attributed to the fact that many excellent rugby players from the First Legion were taken away during the Downey War. Uentum's victory over Udié was completely unexpected by the people. Abenilum's victory over Picossis shocked many people. Lijim, who had always been regarded as a weakling, actually defeated Naxos … The situation of this year's competition was so confusing that even the veteran fans could not understand it.
While the people's attention was attracted by the exciting game, the Senate held several emergency meetings in two days.
First, several Sicilian senators, led by Laodisian and Lessiperatus, protested against the illegal behavior of "Myron, the governor of Naxos, and Cypross, the governor of Catanai, ignoring the laws of Diónia, sending people to break into their houses and wantonly search their belongings." They asked the Senate to immediately send someone to stop these two people's crazy behavior and remove them from office.
Their proposal was opposed by the senators led by Strompoli and some of the senators from the former Southern Alliance led by Lucius.
At this time, Myron's search operation had already begun. After getting a hint from the Devers, Strompoli no longer needed to keep it a secret. So he faced the senators in the meeting room and said aloud, "During his last term in office in Naxos, a slave who voluntarily surrendered himself because his subordinates were investigating a murder case, but revealed another secret after interrogation."
The senators, who originally felt that there was something fishy about the Sicilian incident, immediately went into an uproar.
Laodisian and the others denied and accused Strompoli of framing them!
Both sides argued, but it was obvious that the Sicilian senators were a little panicked.
In the end, the day's meeting did not come to any conclusion.
After the meeting, Laodisian, Lessiperatus, and the others tried to explain to the Devers face to face, but the Devers refused to meet with them on the grounds of "physical fatigue and need to rest."
Laodisian turned to his son-in-law for help.
However, Antonios, who had been idle at home on the grounds of "recuperation", had already heard about what happened in Sicily. He remembered the King of Devers's reminder to him that day. Despite his wife's pleading, he finally hardened his heart and did not open the door.
Laodisian and the others had no choice but to seek help from the other elders who were on good terms with them.
But these senators were not fools. In the past, they had made friends with Laodisian and the other Sicilian senators for their own benefits, or through Laodisian and Antonios. But now, everyone could see that Myron and Cyprolos were conducting a large-scale search in Sicily, and even the senior judge Tritodemus had rushed over. Without the instructions of the King of Devers, no one would believe them! Of course, these people avoided Laodisian and the others like the plague.
Laodisian, who used to do things in a flamboyant manner, no longer had the mood to curse these people's ruthlessness. He already felt a strong sense of unease. Laodisian, who used to do things in a flamboyant and careless manner, secretly sent his confidant to hire a lawyer who was proficient in the law. When he learned that what he did in the past was likely to make him the "second Polyxis", he couldn't sleep well the whole night.
The next day, the Senate meeting continued. The Sicilian senators were not in a good state of mind, and the next two letters from Sicily made their hands and feet even colder.
In the letters, Myron and Cyprolos wrote: In the mansions of Laodisian, Lessiperatus and other senators in Sicily, they found evidence that Aconis, the leader of the Sikaer Tanikean tribe, had bribed them, hoping that they would speak for the Tanikean tribe in the Senate. At the same time, many slaves also pointed out that there was a lot of land belonging to these senators in the Tanikean territory. The Sikaer slaves were in charge of farming, and when the harvest was good, their confidants would go to the Sikaer mountains and transport the crops back in batches …
After reading the letters, the senators were shocked.
Some of the senators suddenly realized: Usually, Laodisian and Lessiperatus often held banquets, and they were quite rich. So this was how they got their money!
Laodisian and the others cried out that they were innocent, saying that Myron and Cyprolos were framing them!
But in the end, the Senate passed the proposal of "temporarily grounding Laodisian, Lessiperatus, Icadas and the other senators, and waiting for Tritodemus to escort a large amount of evidence back to Turií before they could be interrogated."
… …
"Your Majesty, Lord Antonios could not stand the pleading of his wife and sent someone to plead for Laodisian, but he did not come to you. Instead, he sent someone to Lord Cornelus. Lord Cornelus did not accept his request, but recommended Lord Cunogorata to him. " The court herald, Aristiras, reported to the King of Devers, "According to reports, Lord Cunogorata did not refuse, but allowed Antonios' confidant slave to enter the mansion. Not long after, the slave took a letter, left the mansion, and went directly to the academy of Diónia …"
"This Antonios is really muddle-headed! I told him to stay at home, but he refused to listen. Even when Cunogorata was recuperating at home, he still wanted to disturb him! " The Devers looked angry, and then asked with slight curiosity, "Why did Cunogorata let him go to the academy of Diónia for? Could it be … to look for Lysias? "
"Your Majesty, Lord Antonios' slave went to invite Lysias to be Laodisian's defense lawyer," Aristiras said.
The Devers raised his eyebrows slightly, "Lysias agreed?"
"I think so. According to the secret report, when Antonios' slave came out of the academy, he seemed a little excited. "
The Devers tapped his fingers on the table and said slowly, "… It's good that Lysias can appear in court to defend. This should be Lysias' first time acting as a court lawyer, right? "
"Yes, Your Majesty. I heard that he passed the court's examination and has been qualified as a lawyer for a few years, but he has never appeared in court, "Aristiras said.
"Alright, then we can watch the exciting performance of Lysias, who is known as the 'best rhetorician and debater in the kingdom'. The more the argument, the clearer it becomes. Diónia will not arbitrarily punish or suppress senators and officials, everything is done according to the law. However … I'm afraid it will be very difficult for Lysias to completely exonerate Laodisian and the others. "
Upon hearing this, Aristiras quickly observed the Devers' expression and found that he looked relaxed, as if he did not care too much about this matter.
Of course, the Devers did not care too much, he had already achieved his goal. Laodisian and the other Sicilian senators accepted bribes and betrayed the kingdom's interests, of course, they would not be completely exonerated. In fact, it did not mean much to him if he was imprisoned for a few more years. Instead, this incident allowed the Devers to clean up the Sicilian Senate's influence in Sicily, rectify the governance of the various towns in Sicily, and more importantly, they had gained the opportunity to enter the Sikere region.
The Devers looked at Aristiras.
Aristiras quickly lowered his head.
"Has the leader of the Abenilum, Gherni, arrived?" The Devers changed the topic and asked.
"He's on his way."
"Let's see what bad news this Samonai has brought me." Although the Devers said this, his expression was still relaxed.
… …
Under the guidance of the slaves, Lysias arrived at Cunogorata's bedroom.
Cunogorata, an influential figure in Great Greece and the most important senator of the Kingdom of Diónia, was lying on the bed. His face was flushed, his breathing was rapid, and he looked like he was about to die.
Lysias sat down softly on the wooden chair beside him, as if the slightest noise would worsen Cunogorata's condition.
Cunogorata opened a pair of turbid eyes, looked at him, and said weakly, "I was just thinking … cough … if you would come … and you came."
"How is your body?" Lysias asked with concern.
"I won't die for a while …" Cunogorata's expression was calm, his left hand slowly placed on his chest, and said in a flat tone, "Herpes … has come to see me many times … saying that I have been affected by … the trauma … caused by that incident more than ten years ago (referring to the expulsion of his family by the old Turís people) … cough cough … until now, I can't function normally … cough cough."
"Then you should rest well, and don't talk anymore." Lysias felt uncomfortable when he heard him coughing. He stood up and said, "I'll go back first, I'll come see you later."
"Next time … you might not be able to see me." Cunogorata forced a smile and asked, "You … cough … want to ask me … why I asked you … to defend them?"
Lysias looked at his dark red and dull face, and nodded with a heavy heart.
"Lysias … I know your ability very well … Unfortunately, the moment you came back … cough cough … you entered the academy … Except for the students … who know of your talent … many of the kingdom's people … don't even know … that every celebration's anthem … cough cough cough … is written by you … It's time to show your talent to the people … to the elders … to His Majesty …"
Cunogorata's words made Lysias' heart surge with emotions. He calmed himself down, but still couldn't help but ask, "Just for me?"
"Of course it's not just that … cough cough cough …" Cunogorata coughed violently. The slave girl beside the bed hurriedly helped him to sit up, hit his back, and then put a clean cloth by his mouth.
Lysias saw that the thick phlegm that Cunogorata spat on the cloth was mixed with clumps of blood, and couldn't help but be secretly shocked.
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