Trap
Historically, Commodus had only one relative left after ascending the throne: his sister Lucilla.
But that did not mean he had no other siblings. Aurelius had actually had quite a few children, but most had not survived to adulthood. By the time he died, only two children remained.
If those who had died young were counted as well, Commodus had quite a few brothers. Of them, the closest in age to Zhang Heng's deduction was Commodus's twin brother. He had died at the age of four, and Aurelius had held a funeral for him. To express their grief, the Senate had even suspended its session for a day.
Any ordinary citizen in Rome who was not too young remembered this incident.
Thus, in the eyes of society, Commodus's twin brother was indeed dead.
That was why Zhang Heng had not considered this possibility at first. Of course, this was still only his speculation. To prove that Autrus was Commodus's deceased twin brother, Zhang Heng needed to gather more evidence.
Given the special nature of the imperial palace, nearly every political power had secretly planted its own people there. There were practically no secrets in that complex of buildings. After a prince had "died," it was clearly impossible for him to keep living in the palace for years without anyone discovering him. Therefore, whatever Aurelius's reasons, if he wanted that child to continue living secretly, he could only send him away from the palace. The safer choice would have been to send Autrus directly out of the city, the farther away the better.
Just as Zhang Heng had sent Little Female Slave on a long journey.
The good news was that, considering Autrus's illness, the people where he had lived and grown up could not possibly have no impression of