Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 257: No Way to Start and Visitors

Orville has been feeling a little weird lately because he feels like he doesn't know where to start.

Astolfo and his brothers are very capable. They are digging out more and more "dirty information". If these dirty information were to come out, it would be enough to get Antonis out of office.

But politics is not entirely based on rules. If Orville chooses to return to Rome and leak this information, regardless of what will happen to Cleopatra, Antonius himself will become an unstable bomb, because doing so will be equivalent to breaking off relations with him.

Orville and his staff discussed repeatedly and came up with several possibilities, none of which required Antonis to surrender his power as governor.

The first possibility is that Antonis's allies in the Senate protect him, and the matter will pass without a whimper, or it may cause a major political earthquake in the central government. This is something that should not happen in the current empire. It is now in the stage of recovery and cannot afford such a farce.

The second possibility is that Antonius, seeing that he could not survive in Rome, decided to lead the Kingdom of Egypt in rebellion, which would cause great trouble to Vespasian. In addition, the Parthians in the east were still eyeing them covetously. Egypt was not Palae, and it was necessary to mobilize troops from the Syrian province to quell the rebellion. At this time, the Parthians might take advantage of the situation.

The third possibility is that the Kingdom of Egypt felt that it could not resist the Romans, and instead of following Antonius in the rebellion, it controlled him. At this time, Orwell would have difficulty in advancing his reform plan. The Egyptians at this time might not directly kill him as they did with the defeated Pompey in history. At that time, Orwell would have no reason to intervene in Egypt's affairs. Even if he made up a far-fetched excuse, it would still be difficult to convince the public, and there were too many unstable factors.

All in all, Orville felt that it was definitely not a good idea to report the matter to the central government. The best option might be to act first and report later, resolve the issues of Antonis and Ptolemy first, and then report the results to the central government.

It was an established fact. Antonius' crimes were enough to get him killed several times. With Vespa mediating, the Senate couldn't do anything to Orville even if they had some complaints. Orville wouldn't mess around with them and play debate and aristocratic politics, and they had no choice.

The problem now is how to suppress Antonius and the Ptolemaic royal family with the few thousand people at hand. It is really difficult. Orville thought about it for a while but couldn't come up with a solution.

King Ptolemy had been asking him about Emperor Vespa's attitude towards Cleopatra. Orville pretended to be stupid and said he didn't know about it. He also had no decision-making power. The specific decision had to wait for the Senate and the emperor to discuss and reach a consensus before making a decision.

Ptolemy returned without success several times, and there was no progress on Orwell's side. He couldn't just keep dragging it out like this. Sooner or later, the Senate would come up with a solution. Even if the emperor wanted to delay, Egypt was a serious matter after all, so it wouldn't take too long, otherwise it might cause panic in the country. Orwell had to find a way to resolve this matter before the news came.
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Just as he was deep in thought, a servant informed him that a guest had come to visit, saying that the guest was sent by Cleopatra to bring him gifts.

Surprised at how the other party had gotten through Ptolemy's blockade, Orville let him in with the gift.

There were three or five people carrying a blanket when they met. Trajan, who was in charge of reception and review, looked a little embarrassed. Orville roughly understood what was going on.

He also thought it was interesting and wanted to tease the young Trajan, otherwise he would never have the chance again, so he asked him, "Is it okay?"

"No, no problem." He stuttered for once, then quickly lowered his head.

"Okay, it's a blanket. Everyone, step aside, I can check it myself." Trajan was eager to leave and wanted to move his feet immediately. At this time, the servant who was carrying the blanket next to him became anxious: "You are such a noble person, how can you do such a heavy job yourself? Otherwise, let us open it for you."

"I told you to leave. Don't make me say it again. You will be treated well. You must have come all the way here. Take your people back now."

Hearing Orville's rare emphasis on his voice, Trajan, who was anxious to retreat, quickly tried to pull these servants away. As a gifted person, he was certainly very strong, and these people did not dare to talk back and were directly dragged away.

After clearing the people around him, Orville walked down from his seat, picked up a walking stick (similar to a trekking pole) from the side, then squatted in front of the carpet, and with a little effort, poked the middle of the carpet.

"Come out on your own, I won't bother you. There are differences between men and women, and it's not appropriate for me to do it."

After hearing what Orville said, the carpet immediately began to wriggle, but because both ends were tied with ropes, the people inside couldn't get out at all.

Orville couldn't help laughing as he watched the squirming carpet. He laughed wildly for a few times. After he calmed down, he reluctantly cut the rope for the other party. Cleopatra, who was wearing thin clothes, poked her head out.

It stands to reason that a stunning beauty dressed like this should be quite seductive, but Orville made it look quite comical instead. He couldn't help laughing and covered his mouth with his hands and laughed several times.

After waiting for about half a minute, seeing that the other party looked really aggrieved, Orville spoke to him: "So which guy asked you to do this?"

Cleopatra couldn't help but feel wronged, and said in a clear and melodious voice: "I just wanted to give you a surprise."

This is the treatment that Caesar received in the legend. It is said that Caesar was quite surprised when he received the gift, and talked with Cleopatra all night long. Then, given Caesar's temperament, it is very likely that he negotiated a business deal worth hundreds of millions.

However, Orville had no interest in doing so. Instead, he thought it was more interesting to expose the other party, so he just did it.

In fact, the two sides can be considered friends for several years, because they knew each other a long time ago when he was still the captain of the Luo Xie Army. Orville usually does not put on airs when communicating with the other party. He can do whatever he wants without so many restrictions, provided that his subordinates don't see it, otherwise he will have to put on airs. Now that the person is gone, it doesn't matter.

"Forget it. You didn't consider that the attendant who checked the gifts couldn't keep secrets. Even if you prepared well and didn't reveal the truth, he was almost shy. How could I not know that?"

(End of this chapter)