Chapter 877: Speculation
His unexpected meeting with Autrus tonight had not lasted long.
Zhang Heng had never seen Autrus's face from beginning to end, but that did not prevent him from gathering information about Autrus through other means.
Although Zhang Heng had also been affected by some henbane, it was far less severe than he had made it seem. His five senses had basically remained normal, while his calm mind allowed him to make objective and accurate analyses.
Judging by his voice, Zhang Heng concluded that Autrus was not very old, roughly the same age as himself or Commodus—around twenty. This surprised Zhang Heng. Given the caution and maturity Autrus had displayed, Zhang Heng had assumed he was at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He had not expected him to be so young.
Moreover, unlike the rumors suggested, Autrus was different from someone like Klind, who had clawed his way up from the bottom. Although Klind was now a nobleman and had learned the lifestyle and manner of speech of the aristocracy, he still retained certain small habits from his past in his wording. Klind rolled some of his final syllables because his elementary school teacher had been a Cappadocian.
Autrus, however, had no such issues. His accent was exceptionally pure, and his wording and phrasing revealed refinement at every turn. Zhang Heng had every reason to suspect that Autrus had grown up in a very privileged environment. It was entirely possible that he had been raised in a great family.
But that made it impossible to explain why Commodus trusted him so much.
Commodus's attitude toward the Senate showed that he was no fool. He had always remained wary of the great aristocrats; otherwise, he would not have boldly promoted lowborn newcomers like Klind and Zhang Heng. Under such circumstances,