Chapter 869: 869

Chapter 869: I’m Not Close To Him

The aedile originated in the Roman Republic. At first, this position could only be held by the civilians. They were mainly responsible for the maintenance of the temple and the management of the archives. Later, with the development of society, the nobles could also work as an aedile. And at the same time, the power and responsibilities of an aedile had gone through some changes.

From managing the archives and maintaining temples to being responsible for the city’s municipal administration, they maintained public facilities and even did public security work. In the republican era, the aedile was not paid. Often, they had to dig into their own pockets to pay for certain items. Like Caesar, he used to be an aedile. He ended up bankrupting himself, racking up considerable debt and was even prevented from leaving Rome by the loan sharks.

Of course, Caesar was no fool. He would not do something that was not going to benefit him.

Working as an aedile was one of the most effective ways to gain public favor and political capital. For example, if you built a road for everyone with your own money, it was only logical that they would be grateful to you. Caesar had accumulated a considerable reputation during his tenure as aedile, and it was all done with the help of his money. So, it was not difficult to understand why Caesar went bankrupt at that time.

Other than that, becoming an aedile would pave the road for the person to become a financial officer and magistrate in the future. Although it wasn’t mandatory for someone to be an aedile before they could become a financial officer or a magistrate, most financial officers and magistrates, according to statistics, had worked their way up from an aedile. It was simply how the politics of that era worked.

Andrea had served as an aedile for three years, and this year, he was expected to be promoted to financial officer. At this most critical juncture, he certainly did not want to make any mistakes. Hence, when he heard that the sewer pipe was damaged, he quickly rushed to the scene as soon as he could. The good news was that the damage was not severe, and it could be repaired within two days. The bad news was that if he did not want this matter to taint his career, he would need to pay for the repairs.

Of course, he could afford the fees, but the problem was that Andrea did not know who damaged the sewer pipe or whether the group of people would continue to damage it after it was fixed. As an aedile, he could mobilize some of his men to keep an eye, but the area he was responsible for was huge—almost half of the city. It would be impossible to get his people to guard every section of the sewers. It was a stupid thing to do. Besides the sewer, there were many public facilities in the city.

What Andrea worried about the most was that someone might be targeting him. If that were the case, his enemies would have plenty of options to mess with him. And it would be impossible to guard all of them. Right now, Andrea faced the same problem Zhang Heng was facing. He needed to find out who the mastermind was before formulating a strategy to overcome this problem.

So, Andrea spent the entire afternoon making a list of people he might have offended. And he found the recently famous Oriental man to be at the top of his list. Besides, Zhang Heng had just visited Divo Braille yesterday. He then proceeded to Cobb’s residence right after that. Andrea had no choice but to begin to accept that whatever he did to the mine had now been exposed.

And the way the enemy was opposing him seemed familiar, just like the situation in the Binota mine.

Would the cunning Divo Braille start to take a side?

Earlier, Andrea had only suspected Zhang Heng. After receiving the “secret report” from Decius, he was 70% confident that his guesses were right. Decius had told him that Zhang Heng did not ask him to tag along when he looked for Divo Braille. Before leaving, he even told him that it was better that a nobody like him didn’t participate in such an event.

This was also the real reason why Andrea felt that Divo Braille had betrayed him. With the way the cunning Divo Braille usually worked, he would never want to attract too much attention if he ever colluded with Zhang Heng. Everyone knew that he would gain more if he kicked Decius aside.

It appeared that an opportunity to confirm his conjecture further had presented itself. In the afternoon, Zhang Heng came to his domus.

Zhang Heng was no longer what he used to be. Instead of entertaining others with his life as an arena gladiator, he was appointed to become Commodus’s advisor. In other words, he had now stepped into the world where most of the powerful politicians nestled. Even if the two were enemies, Andrea had to let Zhang Heng enter his domus.

Initially, Andrea wanted to have a quick chat with him. He did not expect Zhang Heng to speak first.

“Shall we go to your study?”

Andrea subconsciously wanted to say no, but he suddenly remembered that someone had damaged the sewer pipe. So, he eventually agreed to Zhang Heng’s request.

The two soon came to Andrea’s study. Andrea then closed the door. They were the only people in the study room. After a while, Andrea spoke first, breaking the silence. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Oh, I heard an accident happened to the sewer pipes not long ago. I was shocked at how awful it was. I happened to be passing by your domus, and I wanted to see if I could offer my help.”

Before Andrea asked Zhang Heng to take a seat, Zhang Heng pulled the chair out and sat down.

“Advisor Zhang Heng, you are too kind.” Something was flashing in Andrea’s eyes. He then said coldly, “My people have total control of the situation, and I believe it will be fixed soon. There is nothing for you to help.”

“That’s good. I came to Rome not long ago. Two months ago, I was just a gladiator. There are so many things for me to study every day… So, if I make any future mistake, I hope you can forgive me.” Zhang Heng paused and continued, “A friend told me that it is not too complicated to gain a foothold in Rome’s political ground. Just get one thing done, and I’ll be able to gain a friend. If today your friend comes across trouble, and you extend your helping hand to him, my friend will naturally lend me his when I’m in a rut myself.”

“What are you trying to say here?” Andrea frowned.

“I’m working hard to make friends, as he said.” Zhang Heng spread his hands. “You should also know that I am now in charge of the casting of the bronze statue, but I’m encountering a little problem right now. The Binota Mine happens to have collapsed, and our ore supply is cut off. Work there has been suspended for some time now. I want to resume the work as soon as possible.”

Zhang Heng looked at Andrea’s eyes as he spoke.

Andrea then sneered, “What does this matter have to do with me? Besides, don’t you already have friends? Let Divo Braille helps you.”

“I didn’t say you have anything to do with this. As for Divo Braille, I am not too close to him. I went to look for him yesterday, but he refused to help me.” Zhang Heng shook his head. “So I could only come to you and try my luck here.”

Andrea almost yelled at Zhang Heng when he heard what he said. At this point, Zhang Heng still refused to acknowledge his relationship with Divo Braille. Without Divo Braille’s help, how could he have come to his domus the very next day?

Previously, Andrea had only suspected Divo Braille’s involvement in this matter. Now, he firmly believed that Divo Braille had indeed picked a side after Zhang Heng denied his relationship with him. It was also because he could sense that Zhang Heng possessed Divo Braille’s unique aura, where he dared not admit whatever he did. And at the same time, he did want to offend anyone too.