Chapter 11 rose that never fades

When Agrippa returned to Rome, I actively helped him pack his clothes, and as expected, I saw the gold bracelet with burn marks. I breathed a sigh of relief, everything seems to be developing in the direction I expected... It didn't take long for Octavian to launch another attack on Egypt, and Antony was defeated again and again. After hearing the false news that the queen was dead, he lost all thoughts and committed suicide.And the queen has been hiding in her tomb, how can not come out. The garden in early summer is lush and full of flowers.The pink and white flowers of thorn rose exude a burst of elegant fragrance, the unknown purple flowers sway gently in the breeze, and the fiery red flowers of poppies are about to burn like flames in the sun.

"What are you going to do with the Queen?" After Agrippa returned to Rome after the war, this was the question that concerned me the most. Agrippa didn't seem to hear what I said, just stared at the flowers in the garden, and said a few inexplicable words softly, "I used to be so afraid of failure, but now I really failed, but it's not as scary as I imagined: The sun still rises, the water is still sweet, and the glory is but a passing cloud." "What?" I was a little confused. "This is what Anthony said before committing suicide." There was a trace of elusiveness in his water-blue eyes. "At the moment before his death, maybe he regretted chasing that vain glory."

"However, in such a position, who wouldn't want to pursue the supreme honor? Anthony did, and so did Octavian. If it was Anthony who defeated at this time, I think he would not say such a thing." I paused , "There is a saying in our place called the winner, the king, and the loser, Kou. It doesn't make any sense for the loser to say these words. It is not worthy of sympathy." "Octavian will not execute the queen, but," his voice was a little lower, "he wants to bring the queen to Rome for a parade to appease the anger of the Romans." "Will this be too much?" I glanced at him, "Octavian has torn up the covenant, broke the promise, and now doesn't even leave her with the last bit of dignity? You also know that the Queen is not Roman The temptress in the population, wouldn't someone as smart as Octavian not know about it?"

"He knows, he knew this from the beginning, but this is politics, this scene, he needs to show it to the Romans, to the people of the Senate!" His emotions became a little excited, "In a few days , I will go to Alexandria again and personally persuade the queen to surrender." "I'll go too," I said hastily, "I also met the queen last time, and she also knows me, so no... I can help a little too." He turned his head to look at me, his eyes gradually softened, "Alright, you can go with me." This is my second time in Alexandria. Yes, this time the mood is completely different from before.I have a strong premonition that the moment to change the client's fate has finally arrived.

Everything will be revealed in this secret talk, although I guess it is almost the same.The key to this turning point must be related to Caesarion. To our surprise, the queen, who had kept herself locked in the mausoleum, agreed to see us. Walking through the long and dark tomb passage, there is a deathly silence all around, with occasional gusts of cold wind blowing across the cheeks, the air is filled with a breath of death, and the candle in the hand of the leading maid in front emits a faint glow. The light is like a will-o'-the-wisp. Although I am not afraid, anyone should not be comfortable in such an atmosphere.

As I was walking, I tripped over my feet somehow, a pair of warm big hands quickly grabbed my hand, and firmly held my hand in his palm. My fingers touched the thin calluses in the palm of his hand, rough and hard, but with an inexplicable sense of relief. It's very warm...it feels...as if bit by bit the coldness in the tomb passage has been dispelled... For some reason, I don't hate this feeling... When I saw the queen again, I was a little surprised at her unhurriedness.In this case, she still maintained that noble temperament.Her eyes are as dark as a deep pool on a moonless night, clear, firm and full of wisdom, and her neatly trimmed slender hands are elegant and gentle.The gorgeous gold headdress and shoulder ornaments added a bit of regal air to her.

"General Agrippa, I'm curious, after you broke your promise, what else can you say?" Her smile didn't have any warmth. "I'm sorry for this, but I believe the queen understands the current situation. If you follow us back to Rome, there may be a way out." Agrippa took a step forward. The queen raised her hand slowly, "Romans, you have lost your trust. If I hadn't sent Caesarion away in advance, I believe Octavian would not let him go. This time I trusted you, you Think I'll trust you one more time? I'd rather die in this tomb. Egypt, it won't end like this, my son, in the blood of Caesar, he will re-establish a Ptolemaic dynasty."

Agrippa stared at her firmly, with a strange gleam in his water-blue eyes, and said cruel words word by word, "Unfortunately, your son is no longer here." The queen was shocked and her face changed drastically, "You are talking nonsense, Octavian will never find that place." Agrippa took out something from his bosom, and the queen looked at it, and suddenly her whole body went limp, and she leaned against the back of the chair weakly. That is impressively ----- Caesarion's gold bracelet. "Your Majesty, the era of Egypt is over, stop making unnecessary resistance." A sneer appeared on his lips.

"Is it you? You killed him?" The queen's eyes became a little frantic, and she changed from her calmness just now. "Yes, it was me. I killed him. In addition, it doesn't hurt to tell you one more thing. The priests of the Egyptian temple also surrendered to Rome under my persuasion." I was also taken aback when I heard Agrippa's words, no wonder he was so confident last time, everything had been arranged long ago.So in this way, the oracle has also made a move. "You, so it's you..." The queen stood up abruptly, "You even have an oracle... Agrippa, you are more terrifying than Octavian..."

Agrippa took a few steps forward, "For Rome, I will do anything. To tell you the truth, as soon as you arrive in Rome, Octavian will immediately take you to the streets to parade and accept the approval of all Romans." Judgment..." Weird, I find Agrippa acting weird. He who spoke recklessly like this was not like the usual him, rather than trying to persuade the Queen to surrender, it was more like trying to provoke the Queen. However, I finally found the clue that the Queen hated Agrippa... Then, next... "Accept the trial of all Romans?" The queen smiled faintly, a little desperately, "You think I----" Before she finished speaking, she suddenly reached out and grabbed Agrippa's waist. Before we could react, she had already pointed the sword at her throat.

"Egypt is over. Since this is the case, I might as well end my life earlier, so as not to humiliate the name of Egypt." Almost instantly, I saw an almost invisible expression of relief on Agrippa's face. A thought flashed through my mind like lightning, could it be -------- he said this on purpose?The purpose is to let the queen commit suicide and avoid humiliation? Now I don't have time to think about it, I hurriedly said loudly, "Wait a minute, your son is not dead." She was stunned, and Agrippa was even more astonished. "Impossible, when I got there, Caesarion had already been burned to death." He blurted out. "I set the fire." I didn't look up at his expression, "Before you arrived, I had already found Caesarion, and that corpse was his friend Uz, who betrayed Caesarion, It’s Us too. We simply made the mistake, swapped Us’s clothes with his, and burned the house, and you who arrived later will definitely mistake Us’ body for Caesarion.” "By... why do I believe your words?" The expression on the queen's face was complicated and difficult to distinguish. "It's not good for me to lie to you. I just want to tell you the truth, and the general Agrippa who deliberately provoked you is just to let you take your own life. I have an explanation to Octavian, and at the same time maintained your last bit of dignity. Is that so, Agrippa?" I looked up at him. It is impossible for him to kill the queen himself, so letting the queen commit suicide is the best way. Agrippa stared at me as if he didn't know me. This kind of gaze, strange and alienated, made me feel as if something was blocking my heart. I hate this kind of gaze, very disgusting.I avoided his gaze, took out the letter from my pocket, and handed it to her, "This is a letter written by your son himself, you will know it after reading it." The queen accepted the letter with suspicion, and after reading a few lines, she shed tears and choked up, "My Caesarion, he is indeed still alive..." "But why did you save him?" She looked up at me suspiciously. I hesitated, "Because, I have my reasons." The queen's face gradually calmed down, she put down the sword in her hand, and said to Agrippa, "General Agrippa, can you let Xiao Wan and I spend some time alone." Agrippa stood quietly, nodded expressionlessly, turned and walked out. "It's all my subordinates outside, don't play tricks." When he said this, he didn't even look at me. In the empty and cold tomb, only the queen and I were left.Under the light of the candlelight, the characters in the bright murals around seem to come out of the paintings at any time. The human-shaped coffin made for the queen, painted with gold and silver, inlaid with precious jewels, is extremely luxurious. "Since I was sensible, I have been learning all kinds of knowledge. Even if I don't like it, I will force myself to study hard, because I know that only in this way, one day in the future, I will meet those Romans who know nothing but war. Only when we face each other, I know how to control them." She leaned on the human-shaped coffin, carefully touching the patterns carved on it, with a smile on her lips, "I want to attract those men in high positions, and let them do it for you To be overwhelmed, it is not enough to rely on the appearance of beauty, the dazzling beauty can only make you a plaything in their bed, but the inner charm can make them respect you from the bottom of their hearts, love you, and be willing to be used by you .” I looked at her quietly, she was right, her beauty all came from her inner self-confidence, the confidence to play with the emperors in the palm of her hand. Only this time, her opponent was Octavian. The Ptolemaic dynasty where the queen belongs can be said to be one of the most corrupt dynasties in Egyptian history. It inherited all the bad habits of the Egyptian dynasty, but it has no great emperors like Thutmose III and Ramses II.Except for the first few monarchs, the subsequent fatuous pharaohs destroyed their own country one by one in different ways.The decline of a dynasty, in the end, all the retribution should be pressed on a woman's head, and she was left alone to bear it all.Isn't it sad? "Xiaowan, I won't go to Rome." She looked up at me, "Let me retain a little bit of dignity." "Okay." I simply nodded.I know what she's thinking, and it's not fitting for a noble queen to live on her last breath. Die with dignity is probably the most suitable ending for the queen. Fate is hard to break, just like the trajectories of stars rising and falling in the night sky, which can never be changed. "I didn't expect to use something from Rome even at the last moment." She smiled wryly, and picked up Agrippa's dagger. I suddenly thought of something, "Wait a minute, Your Majesty, can you wait for me for a while? Just for a while." Seeing her nod, I put my finger to my lips and made a sound that sounded very strange to her. Not long after, there was the sound of a bird flapping its wings. Following the exclamation of someone at the door, a small eagle with black feathers bumped in, holding a small snake firmly under its claws. It's the same species of snake that tried to attack me in the first place. I reached out and took down the writhing snake, patted the little eagle on the head, and thanked it, it shook its wings and flew away quickly. "Xiaowan, who are you?" The queen looked at me in surprise. I put the little snake in front of her, "It doesn't matter who I am, Your Majesty, this may be an Egyptian way of saying goodbye worthy of you." There seemed to be something flickering in the corner of the queen's eyes, and she gently picked up the little snake with trembling hands.I turned my head away as the snake dug its fangs into her arm. "Your Majesty, do you still hate Agrippa?" I need one final confirmation that my mission is complete. "Resentment? I don't even know who I hated or loved in my life. All of this is not important anymore." Her calm and weak voice came from behind me, "But , anyway, I thank you for saving my son." After hearing her answer, I was relieved... "Your Majesty, in this life, who have you loved, Caesar or Antony?" I couldn't help asking the question I had been hiding all along. "All I love is--Egypt...my Egypt..." In a trance, I seem to hear the queen's faint singing, Nile, my mother, Bring me the prosperous land of Egypt, Bring me boundless vitality to the territory, I am here to praise you, I am here to pray to you, Let me Egypt live forever... I turned around and gently wiped away a little blood on her arm. She closed her eyes tightly and her face was serene. At this moment, her soul has returned to the Nile River... Back to the place she wants to protect... When I walked out of the tomb passage, I almost couldn't open my eyes, the sun outside was so bright, but I couldn't feel the slightest warmth under the scorching sun. "She is dead." I returned the sword in my hand to Agrippa. He didn't take my sword, but grabbed my wrist heavily, and the dagger fell to the ground with a bang.I raised my head and met his complicated and indistinguishable aqua blue eyes. "So you approached me just to save the queen's son! Everything before was a deception, right?" His hand gradually tightened, and a burst of pain hit my wrist. "Yes, everything I do has a purpose. Now my mission is complete, and I will leave here soon, and you will never see me again." I looked straight into his eyes, the faint water blue An indescribable sadness surged in the color. "You are my slave, and I won't let you go anywhere!" The sadness quickly turned into anger, and his strength suddenly became surprisingly strong, almost breaking my wrist. Yes, that's it, Agrippa, hate me, hate me... I who hate you like this will soon be forgotten by you, and will disappear in your life soon... "I've been using you, deceiving you, everything I've done has been deceiving you." I looked at him coldly, "Let go of me, if you think you can stop me, that's a big deal." You're wrong, you haven't forgotten about being surrounded by seagulls that day, have you?" With a look of shock on his face, he slowly let go of my hand, "Is it you?" "Yes, it's me." I rubbed my hands and took out Huimeng Wan from my arms. Sure enough, the color had changed. I can --- go back. Just as he put Huimeng Pill into his mouth, he suddenly hugged him tightly from behind.The force was so great that I could barely breathe. "I don't care, I don't care who you are, I don't care what your purpose of approaching me is, and I don't care what you want to do, I don't mind all of this, I don't want to care, I just want you to stay! Little Wan, I only want you to stay by my side! Even if you want to come and kill me, I will never let you go, absolutely!" "Maybe I'm a monster..." I managed to squeeze out the words. "Whether it's a monster, a human, a slave, a noble, a spy, or a commoner, as long as it's you, I don't mind any of them!" He whispered in my ear without thinking, and the warm breath lingered in my heart, so sweet that it made me feel dizzy. "Farewell, Agrippa." I whispered, feeling so powerless all over, as if a certain part of my body was disappearing... Forget me, Agrippa, completely erase me from memory ... I just feel that my consciousness is beginning to blur...everything is gone... When regaining consciousness again, many messy voices came from not far away, voices with different accents, the sound of cars passing by the road, the sound of motorbikes... car?motorcycle?So here---isn't it ancient Rome? "Miss, are you okay?" A fluent Italian sentence came from above my head, I slowly opened my eyes, and a pair of water blue eyes came into my sight. "Miss, why did you faint here? Do I need to take you to the hospital?" The young handsome man showed a smile like the sunshine of Rome. I looked around and saw the romantic buildings everywhere and the colorful tourists from all over the world. I suddenly remembered what Si Yin said. Is this the modern Rome? "Thank you, I'm fine." I stood up. "It's fine, if you have time, please allow me to buy you a cup of coffee." The handsome guy offered the invitation with a smile. I quickly shook my head, "Excuse me, do you know how to get to the train station?" The handsome guy saw that I didn't want to drink coffee with him, but he didn't force him. He pointed me in a direction with a smile on his face, waved his hand, and left without taking a cloud. From ancient Rome to modern Rome, I still need some time to adapt. Next, I just need to find the train station and wait for the train. When passing through the square, I suddenly saw a lot of tourist groups walking in one direction like a tide. Looking in their direction, I was shocked by the sight in front of me. The evening sun shines on the ancient city, and the ancient stones are covered with a layer of light yellow, as if covered with golden armor, and even the mottled marks also show a smiling brilliance.Near the setting sun, an incomparably magnificent temple stood erect, raising its proud head in the afterglow of the setting sun, in the posture of a warrior. Like a ghost, I walked over with everyone. "Tourists, please look up now, the name of the builder is written here..." In the sweet voice of the tour guide, I raised my head, as if my heart was struck by something. On the lintel of the temple, there are several clear characters carved, M.RIPP A familiar voice echoed in my head, "Oh, I will also build a temple in the future, engrave my name on it, and pass it down forever. Well, it's a good way to make it famous forever." "Dear tourists, this temple was built by Agrippa, the governor of Rome at that time, and almost all the gods in Roman mythology were enshrined in it..." "I'm serious, I want to build a magnificent temple in the future, but we have too many gods in Rome, whose temple should we build?" "Then just put all the gods in one temple." "Well, that's a good idea, ah! I've also thought about the name, a very imposing name, it's called ---------" "So, tourists, this temple, also known as the Pantheon, was a milestone in Roman architecture at the time, and was once called the design of an angel by Michelangelo... However, it is a pity that not many years later, a The fire destroyed the Pantheon at that time, and it was rebuilt on the ruins by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the year AD. You can look at the bottom of the wall, where the color of the stone is a little different from the one above... Moreover, there are brick kilns on it mark of..." I glanced at the tourists who bent down to check, then turned and walked outside the hall. Although I was a little curious, I couldn't stay here for too long. When I was walking out, the tour guide was still introducing enthusiastically, "Everyone must be wondering why the sign of the brick kiln turned out to be a rose. I heard that it was also designed by Governor Agrippa himself..." I stopped in my tracks, my mind seemed to go blank, and I heard a voice in a trance. "I will definitely give you roses that will never fade, roses that will not fade after thousands of years." The --------- rose that never fades? Walking out of the Pantheon, I slowly raised my head, The twilight sun of Rome hits right into my eyes, Faintly------ There is mild pain.