Chapter 9 Murder

"She...she kicked again!" Cristoia shouted, smiling happily.

Azuna hurriedly ran out of the garden, wiped the dust from her hands on her clothes, and helped Cristoia sit down with Cynthia.

After the three women frolicked and tossed, Cristoia felt a little hungry: "Cynthia, your brother has come back and is playing with little Chloe upstairs. You go up and ask them to come down, we are going to have dinner."

The "brother" that Cristoya referred to was Cynthia's own younger brother, Adonis, who was eight years old and also studied at Turii School.

Cynthia said "oh" and got up to go upstairs, but saw a black plate on the wooden table next to her, and asked curiously, "What is this?"

"This is your Aunt Andrea. According to your father's suggestion, jerky made of beef and salt was specially sent from Grummentum. Let's taste it first," Kristoa said.

Cynthia grabbed a small piece and took a bite: "some hard."

She chewed it hard for a while, swallowed it, and said, "After chewing for a long time, the taste is not bad, but it is a little salty, suitable for snacking."

"Your father intends to use this jerky as one of the soldiers' rations." Cynthia's inadvertent words made Cristoia's eyes light up. She only cares about the taste, and she doesn't care about using too much salt. Since Davos asked the people of Dionia Academy to come up with a way to improve the method of drying salt, the production of sea salt has greatly increased, and the price of salt is extremely cheap.

Cynthia stuffed the whole piece of jerky into her mouth and walked around the garden.

There is a small altar on the other side of the garden, and a stone statue of Artenis smiles with a bow. The stone statue is just one person tall and the carving is lifelike. After Agnes, the pearl of Lijim, married Davos, she could not forget the time when she was a priest of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, even though Davos made her the priest of the Temple of Hera. With the consent of her husband, she built a small altar of Artenis in the backyard, but Cynthia unexpectedly became a believer of this goddess. Perhaps it is because the Greeks regard Artenis as the goddess of the moon, and the night is her world, and the name "Cynthia" originally means the moon, so there is a natural sense of intimacy. So Cynthia went into the main building after praying devoutly to Artenis.

Seeing Cynthia entering the building, Azuna hesitated and said to Cristoia: "Madam, let's not wait... Wait for Madam Agnes to come back for dinner?"

Cristoia was stunned, and immediately smiled: "She is going to prepare for tomorrow's marriage festival celebration. It is estimated that she will be busy in the temple until late at night. We don't have to wait for her. With her temperament, she will not care."

"What about the master?"

"Don't wait. The Senate has been meeting and discussing these two days, and I don't know when it will end. It's all to blame for the nobles and businessmen who made trouble in the square...and that damn Polyxis!" Listoya was a little irritable.

…………………………

"Respected elders, not only in Turii, but also in Crimea, Picocis, Amendolara and other cities, many people protested in the square. Please open the door and listen to their voices— —Listen, they're yelling, 'Call a Citizens Assembly!'"

Pollux's impulsive speech was immediately interrupted by Antonios: "As far as I know, Turii and Crimisa are actually only a minority protesting, not a 'majority' as you say! And, Nothing like this happened to Amendolara and Picocis!"

"Yes, as a native of Amendorara, I can attest to the truth of what Antonios said!" said Scommbras.

Polyxis had long expected that someone would say this, and immediately sneered: "If you don't speak up, it doesn't mean that no one has any objection to it. The citizens just hide this dissatisfaction in their hearts and dare not vent it out. I really think about it. It's funny, their request can be said to be very simple and not excessive, do we need to be so nervous? You know, as long as the city-state established by the Greeks, there must be a citizen assembly! Even if the time goes back to the era of kingship hundreds of years ago ,

In the presence of a king, the civic assembly still exists! Only the city-states under the rule of tyrants, because they are afraid of the people and suppress the people, dare not have a citizen assembly, such as Syracuse. "

Polyxis said, turned to face Davos, who was seated in front of him, and asked with courage, "Excuse me, Lord Consul, are we... our alliance is ruled by a tyrant?!"

As soon as this statement came out, the audience was shocked.

Davos' expression was calm, as if he didn't know that Polyxis's words were pointing at him: "Of course not. The Dionysian Alliance is under the joint management of the elders of the Senate." There was a hint of smoke.

"So is there a clause in Dionia's law that "prohibits the holding of citizens' assemblies"?!" Polyxis became more courageous and continued to ask.

"Of course not." Davos replied unhurriedly.

"In this case, it is reasonable for the people to ask for a citizens' assembly. I hope the Senate will consider this matter carefully and not let the citizens down!" Polyxis saw that Davos fell into the language trap he set up, and took the opportunity to say loudly.

"Lord Polyxis, it is not an easy task to hold a citizens' assembly." Kunogolata got up and said: "The situation of the Dionysian League is very different from other Greek city-states. Our citizens are not concentrated in one city-state. , but all the cities in the alliance, just gathering them is a big problem that takes time and effort! In addition, the citizens of Dionia are not only Greeks, Lucarians, Bruti There are a considerable number of people. They still don’t know what a citizens’ assembly is, and they have never participated in a citizens’ assembly. Holding a citizens’ assembly rashly will not only make them feel at a loss, but also will most likely cause chaos in the citizens’ assembly and become a neighbor. joke..."

Kunogolata counted the difficulties of holding a citizens' assembly in Dionia. In fact, he still had a private idea in his mind: as the real power of the Dionysian Senate, he did not want the citizens' assembly to be held because he was tired of it. In the past, in order to be elected as a general in Turii, I had to please citizens, attack political opponents, etc. I did something against my will, and if I did anything after being elected, if I was a little careless, I might be incited by the political opponents to the citizens and forced them. Stepping down is far from being able to do things in a down-to-earth manner now, and only need to be responsible for the alliance, for... Davos.

There are actually a lot of people who have similar ideas with him, such as: Cornerus, Skomblas... and so on, some of the elders who have always been the important tasks of the alliance.

"Lord Kunogolata is right! We Brutians don't care about any citizen assembly, as long as there is something to eat, women to sleep, and wine to drink!" Sedorum said loudly, pretending to be rude : "We Brutians only believe in whoever has the strongest ability and whoever has the biggest fist, and they will obey whoever!"

"It's the same for us Lucarians. The Citizens' Assembly is too troublesome, and we're not interested!" Hermon said immediately.

The explicit opposition of the other two major forces in the Senate, Lucaria and Bruti, made Polyxis's face a little ugly, but he still did not intend to give up, and continued: "There are difficulties in convening a citizens' assembly, but because of difficulties we will To give up, is this the way we Dionians do things! To build the Turii-Laos Avenue has to climb over the mountains, and there are many difficulties. We have not finally built it after several years of hard work!

Citizens have been looking forward to the Citizens Assembly for a long time. If Dionysus faced the threat of survival at the beginning of its establishment, it had to unify the people's thoughts and concentrate on defeating the powerful enemy. Therefore, the Citizens Assembly, which took a lot of time and energy, was temporarily suspended. This is completely understandable. But now Dionia is stable and prosperous, and the people are wealthy and leisurely. As a Greek who has always had a strong tradition of participating in city-state politics, the request of the citizens of Dionia to hold a citizens' assembly will only change as time goes by. Getting stronger and stronger! As the most distinguished representatives of the Dionysian citizens, I hope you can deeply realize this and make the right choice in time. Don’t wait for the citizens’ dissatisfaction to accumulate to a dangerous level, and then make a hasty decision. That would be bad for the Senate and for the Dionysian League! "

Polyxis's emotional and threatening remarks caused many people present to change slightly.

Davos looked at Pollux thoughtfully.

"Now, it's up to everyone to vote on whether or not to pass this motion to hold a citizens' assembly!" the rotating chairman Cornelus announced loudly.

As usual, the legion elders expressed their opposition, as did the Lucania elders. Most of the elders in the real power also disagreed. Most of the elders who supported Polyxis were the elders who were not reused. Mostly elders. But among those in favor, Davos sees Burkes, Petaru, and even Dionysian Admiral Enanilus...

Davos narrowed his eyes, and a cold light faintly flashed between his eyes.

…………………………

Coming out of the Senate, it was already late, and the weather was still cool on a spring night, but the Bolton that Polyxis was wearing was basically soaking wet, which was the result of the cold sweat he was frightened when he questioned Davos.

Although his motion was again voted down, Polyxis now has confidence as he sees his support growing.

Davos is just the same, next time... he thought excitedly, the steps under his feet became stronger, and the words with the elders who were with him became louder.

"I don't know what the reason is, this timid guy is getting more and more mad now!" Marigi stood on the steps outside the Senate, looking angrily at Pollux who was chatting and laughing in the distance, and then gave Dai a little worried. Firth said, "Sir, you can't let him be so arrogant!"