Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 309 Temple
Arsinoe set an example by eating a few bites of food before Cleopatra allowed the servants to serve her food. Even at this time, she was still cautious and would only take a second bite after Arsinoe had eaten.

Arsinoe complained mercilessly: "So you can see that I am living well here, but you are obviously very wary of me. If you have anything to say, just tell me quickly, and then we can eat this meal, and then we can all do our own things. I have a play I want to watch today. Medea is really a classic by a famous master. There are famous actors coming to perform today. I like Pasiphae's performance and singing very much. If you want to talk to me about drama, I am willing to keep you for a while."

Seeing that Arsinoe was trying to get her to speak quickly, Cleopatra simply stated her purpose: "Then I'll get straight to the point. Has Mithridates contacted you recently?"

Mithridates is a relatively common name, meaning "blessing of Mithras". It is very common in the Greek region influenced by Iranian culture, and many nobles can be called this name.

But it was now clear to both of them that Cleopatra was referring to Mithridates of Pontus, a popular figure recently known for his radical anti-Roman political views.

"You have lived in Ephesus for some time. I believe you would not live here for no apparent reason. Ephesus is not far from the former land of Pontus. You should know a lot of information that I should know. This is one of the reasons why I am looking for you."

"This matter~" Arsinoe suddenly realized, "I moved here quietly, but I don't know who leaked the news, so now many people know that I live here. There is nothing I can do about it. I am not an unknown person. I am a princess of the Ptolemy family. Many people know me."

Seeing the other party's deliberately artificial expression, Cleopatra understood what he meant - she spread the news herself because she didn't want to hide her existence, which she thought was an unnecessary thing.

Cleopatra did not pursue the point, but continued: "So has anyone come to see you?"

"Of course there are. There are quite a few. As for Mithridates you mentioned, he also came to me, hoping that I could endorse him and cheer him on from behind. To be fair, he is a man with some charm. If I were thirteen or fourteen years old, I might have been tempted and chosen to help him resist the power like Medea did."

"So what did you do in the end?"

Arsinoe's eyes turned cold: "A half-blooded kid with Armenian descent who came from some remote village dares to claim that he is the successor of Alexander, and even shamelessly demands that the real successor bow down to him. It's a beautiful idea.

Even a loser like my father would be furious if he heard such remarks."

There was no respect for his father in his words, because Arsinoe thought he was a man without the integrity of a king, and there was no respect for Mithridates, because Arsinoe thought he was not worthy of being called the successor.

"Is there anything I need to know?"

"Many people in the country fell for his tricks because they had a problem with the emperor. I don't know the exact list, but I can tell you a few places, just listen carefully - Bosporus, Athens, Rhodes, Smyrna." In Arsinoe's opinion, the other party had the awareness of counter-reconnaissance, but the means were too unfamiliar and the actions were too rough, so he could easily catch them. Although she didn't get any shocking inside information, she had already figured out the basic situation.

Arsinoe mentioned the names of several cities in a disjointed manner, and Cleopatra kept the information in mind.

She nodded to Arsinoe and said, "Thank you for your cooperation. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"I said I don't need to repay you, but I have something to ask you. You seem to have some thoughts about His Royal Highness the Prince. From my observation, he is obviously not very interested in women. I even suspect that he is more interested in men than women.

And it is said that he is henpecked, and his wife happens to be that general. From a sister's perspective, I don't think you will be a good match this time. Even if your face has been kissed by Aphrodite (the goddess of beauty) and your brain has been soothed by Athena (the goddess of civilization and wisdom). "

Arsinoe had once thought of this, but she soon realized that no matter how coquettishly she acted, it was useless, so she simply decided not to lower her status by doing meaningless things.

Cleopatra replied succinctly: "I am observing and thinking, you just wait and see. I will send you some special products and letters from Egypt from time to time. In the future, we will just get along as sisters living in different places."

After confirming that the other party did not pose a great threat to her, Cleopatra finally let down her guard.

"Of course, I have no objection." Arsinoe responded sincerely. It was unknown whether she had any other plans behind the scenes. Cleopatra did not intend to delve into it for the time being. That was all.
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Turning our attention to Orville, he was negotiating business with the locals, and it was also going smoothly. No one would refuse the much cheaper paper.

He even had enough money to organize a bidding meeting in the local area. In the end, the wealthy businessmen who bid the highest won the right to cooperate with Orville and would receive a supply of paper for a period of time.

After doing all this, he even went to listen to Cleopatra's speech in the city center. As expected, the content of the speech was nothing new. It was nothing more than using various benefits to lure the locals to move to Egypt. The Ptolemaic dynasty had done this many times over hundreds of years, and the locals did not find it new. Of course, what had to be done had to be done.

Her move was also meant to reassure the locals that her country was safe. She wanted to show that her country had now escaped danger and had returned to normal operation. A speech and a simple question-and-answer session after the speech would be an effective way to do this. At least people in this era tend to believe in this, and personal experience is somewhat convincing after all.

After doing this, at Orville's own request, they went to the Temple of Artemis again. After all, it was one of the so-called Seven Wonders of the Mediterranean World, and Orville always felt that he was missing out if he didn't go there.

(End of this chapter)