Pope Augustus

"Romeo, instead of worrying about others, you should focus on your own affairs. Don't repeat last month's incident where a French diplomat suddenly arrived, and your subordinates couldn't find you anywhere. They thought you were missing, came to me, asked me to send the security team to help search for you, and finally found you in a woman's bed."

Francesco, who was nearby, also joined in the fun. His words made everyone burst into laughter, and the meeting was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Augustus looked at Romeo, whose beard, eyebrows, and hair were all graying, with surprise, and couldn't help but sigh: "Still going strong in old age."

Romeo's face turned crimson, veins bulged on his forehead, and he roared furiously, "Francesco, this is my private matter! Why are you bringing it up in the meeting? Do you have any respect for God and the Pope? You manage internal affairs, but are you managing the internal affairs of the Papal States, or the internal affairs of my home?"

Seeing that he was truly angry, Francesco stifled a laugh and made an apologetic gesture, no longer continuing. Although they engaged in open and covert struggles, they never reached a point of irreconcilable conflict.

Exposing someone's private scandals in a meeting was already a bit too much. If he truly pushed someone to the brink, and they rushed up to fight him to the death, at his age, if he injured someone, he wouldn't be able to justify himself.

Augustus, hearing Romeo's angry outburst, who had been trying not to laugh, also found it hard to hold back. This Romeo actually had the nerve to mention God; did your God allow you to do such things? His skin was truly thicker than a city wall. And he had the audacity to ask what kind of internal affairs the other person was managing. Then what kind of diplomacy were you managing?

However, he still said nothing. Being able to witness their intense dispute at this meeting was definitely an unexpected gain. He wasn't afraid of them having problems; what he feared was them having a pile of problems that he was completely unaware of. He scanned the surroundings with interest, anticipating the next exciting revelation.

"Francesco, you're not much better. Last night, your fourth illegitimate son, along with a group of bad friends, drank too much outside and got into a fight. A group of them beat one person, almost beating him to death.

When the security team arrived and arrested him, you didn't say a word and directly overstepped your authority to personally order them to release the person."

The speaker was Lorenzo, and his tone was extremely disdainful.

Francesco's smile gradually disappeared, replaced by surprise, and then anger.

"How do you know? You have spies in my security team!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Francesco regretted it. He had clearly focused on the wrong thing. In this situation, what everyone cared about was not how he knew, but what explanation he would offer.

"Are you a pig-headed idiot? What kind of joke is your security team? Who would bother to plant spies in it? Don't you have any idea how many people in the security team are retired from the military? News spreads like wildfire, from one to ten, then to a hundred, so it naturally reached me. Is that so strange?"

Upon hearing "from one to ten, then to a hundred," Francesco's mind buzzed. He hadn't even finished cleaning up the mess, so how could it have spread so quickly? He wouldn't believe it if Lorenzo hadn't been stirring things up.

However, now was not the time to pursue Lorenzo; he needed to defend himself first. After a moment of thought, Francesco had his rebuttal.

"The fight between them did not cause serious physical harm. I have investigated the specific situation, and as for your so-called 'beaten half to death,' I'm afraid that's just hearsay.

For minor injuries or less, this was originally just a civil case. Both parties agreed to resolve it through mediation, so of course, the person was released. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Francesco replied self-righteously, with a clear conscience, as if he were a fair and upright person who had suffered a great injustice.

However, Lorenzo had no intention of stopping there. It was a rare opportunity to catch him off guard, so how could he easily let it go?

"Mediation? You personally intervened. If you want to mediate, would the other party dare to say no? They'd probably be found dead in their home the next day. May I ask if your 'mediation' involved coercion, enticement, or both?"

"Lorenzo, watch your mouth. Everything I do is based on law. If you don't understand, you can go and learn about it. Don't just speak carelessly."

"Of course, of course, no one has ever doubted that your actions are based on law. Using public law for private gain, isn't that your consistent style?"

"Lorenzo, I warn you, when you speak, you must provide evidence. You must take responsibility for what you just said!"

"If I dare to say it, I dare to take responsibility. You don't need to worry about that. Do you dare to say that you have gained little private profit over the years?"

Augustus had also come to realize that this group of people was a den of vipers, birds of a feather, and probably not a single good one among them. It seemed that Lorenzo and Francesco were the most irreconcilable enemies.

"Speaking of private gain," Enzo, who had been silent, also spoke. After a pause, he continued, "Lorenzo, last week, some Venetians delivered a box of gold to your house. May I ask what this gold was for?"

"Enzo, you actually dared to send people to monitor me! You and I are on the same level. What right do you have to send people to monitor me? Your actions are a desecration of the Holy See's power structure!"

"Monitor you? How would I dare?" Enzo smiled without warmth, looking like he had succeeded in a cunning plot. "It's just that my people discovered Venetians carrying a large amount of gold into the country, suspecting that some high-ranking officials in our Papal States had been corrupted by money, so of course, they sent people to follow them. But I never expected that this box of gold would eventually be delivered to your house."

"I can explain this box of gold, I…" Lorenzo immediately wanted to defend himself, but he couldn't think of a good reason right away and stopped awkwardly mid-sentence.

"Alright, I will clarify the situation with this box of gold later. You don't need to explain. Since you can't remember what this box of gold is for for the time being, then let it be confiscated first."

This matter was the most infuriating for Augustus so far. Other matters still had room for discussion, but treason was absolutely intolerable, especially for someone in charge of military affairs. If he let it continue, he wouldn't even know how he died.

However, letting him remain so embarrassed in the meeting was not what Augustus wanted to see. While giving him a way out, he also gave him a warning.

"Enzo, you…" David had just spoken when he was interrupted.

"What about me?" Enzo gave David a fierce glare.

"No… nothing…" Seeing Enzo's murderous gaze, David immediately cowered.

…

The meeting also exposed many of their dark secrets, leaving Augustus utterly stunned. Only Enzo's were not revealed. However, this did not necessarily mean that Enzo did everything flawlessly; it might just be that others dared not offend him.

After all, Enzo was involved in espionage. If he wished, all their unsavory deeds would be exposed to the public. If all the dirty laundry of those present were aired, none of them would be able to die ten times over.

Finally, the meeting drew to a close. After seeing these people's true colors, Augustus understood what "in the halls of power, rotten wood holds office; between the palace steps, beasts feast on salaries. Wolves and dogs run rampant, and fawning sycophants hold sway" truly meant.