Sitting on the swing in the garden, Nashan looked at Joanna, who was taking a nap with half-squinted eyes on her face as if satisfied, the queen had not been seriously injured in her assassination, or rather mild, but she was so frightened that she could not even attend New Year's Mass.

Compared to Lucrezia's assassination, there are not many people who care about Joanna, even Geoffrey's wife, Xia San, who only sent someone to inquire about it and then had no news.

Although she may not care about whether this sister-in-law cares or not, Joanna's mood is obviously not very good.

Ferdinand has been dead for more than half a year, and Joanna, who has gradually gotten rid of the grief of her husband's death, is more concerned about her own situation, but now it seems that her situation is really not very good, at least people seem to have a dispensable attitude towards the former queen of Naples, this contempt makes Joanna really unbearable, without Nashan, she really doesn't know how to spend every day.

Nathan was an excellent lover, and although he was bohemian, perhaps it was this strange feeling of alien interest that fascinated Joanna, not to mention that she almost completely forgot about the husband who was too sick to give her the pleasure of being a woman.

Joanna is now a happy widow, and as for the status of queen, it only adds to her troubles when she thinks about it.

Because of Nashan, and because she inadvertently saved her life, Joanna has a lot more affection for Sophia than before, and she sometimes takes the initiative to invite Sophia to her room to talk to her, of course, almost all of them are talking, and Sophia is listening, but because of this, Joanna sometimes feels that Sophia is really a very qualified listener, at least she will not be impatient with her complaints.

Joanna is now left with only memories of the past and complaints about the current situation.

Monteiro's death hit her even harder than her own assassination, and when she heard that the cardinal had been assassinated, Joanna was depressed and a little self-defeating.

Monteiro was her only hope in Rome, and although the cardinal had shown some cold attitude towards her since coming to Rome, at least the cardinal could say a few words for her in front of the Pope, and Joanna had long since stopped counting on the others.

Now that Monteiro had suddenly died, Joanna felt that she was at a loss in Rome and had nothing to rely on.

If it weren't for Nathan, she would have even wanted to leave Rome altogether and hide in seclusion in a monastery where no one could find her.

Joanna, with her eyes closed, faintly heard a sound of footsteps, she didn't open her eyes, she wasn't worried with Nashan by her side, she had seen Nashan play with the saber in front of her, the dazzling way of playing with terrible weapons made Joanna completely fascinated at that time, so that when Nashan entered her room that night, the queen fell down in front of the gypsy like a conquered alien slave girl, and let him conquer her body again and again.

The visitor seemed to stop not far away, and then the swing moved slightly and Nashan left, and Joanna couldn't help but open her eyes slightly, and saw Nashan walking towards the garden gate, where Joanna vaguely saw Alexander's figure.

"What's the matter?" Nashan looked at Alexander and asked, his face was not good-looking, it was easy to think of an annoyed old man looking at his insincere son-in-law with his nose and eyes.

"There are things to report to the Queen."

Alexander said very well-behaved, and then glanced at Joanna in the garden, he didn't know what the two men were doing in the garden just now, but thinking about the cold and snow, he really wanted to remind these two to be careful not to catch a cold, after all, this is an era when a casual cold and fever can kill you.

But he didn't dare to open this mouth in the end, speaking of which, the trouble caused by Barondi's sudden visit last time had not passed, and Sophia was so noisy at that time, but Nashan did not show up at all, which made Alexander feel really strange, so thinking about this, he felt that it was better not to disturb the couple.

Joanna was a little surprised by Alexander's arrival, and she sat up straight on the swing slightly, and wrapped herself tightly in her thick coat, because she didn't want Alexander to see that the buttons inside her shirt were almost completely unbuttoned.

"Your Majesty, there is something I need to report to you," Alexander bowed and looked up at the queen, "King Frederick has just given an order not long ago that he will be crowned at the Cathedral of the Bishop's Cathedral of Naples, although this is only the news that I have just received, but I think the messenger who has come to invite you to the ceremony will arrive soon." ”

Joanna looked at Alexander in surprise, then at Nashan beside him, and then let out an angry "Ah" shout as if she had just come to her senses!

"Is he going to be crowned, and he's going to invite me? Is he trying to insult me? ”

Joanna roared angrily, she couldn't even care about the ** shoulders that were exposed in the gap in her coat that she had ripped open in excitement, and when Nashan walked over to comfort her, she had already gotten up from the swing in a huff, her eyes staring at Alexander angrily.

"I will never attend his coronation, I can't forget that it was he who drove me out of the palace, and then he drove me out of Naples," Joanna angrily pulled back and walked, because the queen, who had been angry and completely forgot about the embarrassment of her dress, came to the end and simply clung her coat to her chest, leaving her smooth shoulders exposed to the cold air and Alexander's gaze, "I know why he did this, he was worried, after all, Sanxia was still there, and she was married to the Pope's son, He was worried that his son would not be able to inherit the throne smoothly in the future, but I don't think his stupid son would be so blessed. ”

Alexander pursed his lips slightly, he somewhat admired the queen's foresight, although she said this purely out of jealousy, but it is true that Frederick's son did not touch the throne of Naples in the end.

And he can't help but admit that Joanna's comments about Frederick's son Alfred are still very pertinent.

"I will not go to his coronation," the queen repeated in a final accent, "if he has any grievances, he can send someone to talk to me, or simply cut off my pitiful annuity every year, for I am no longer needed, and I have become a poor widow in Rome that no one wants to deal with, and who wants me!" ”

Because of the excitement Joanna finally turned into tears and tears, she kept crying and complaining, venting all the grievances of the recent period at this moment, when Nashan reached out to her smooth shoulders to comfort her, she cried and kept slapping his shoulder with her fist, complaining that he actually only wanted to enjoy the joy of conquering women from herself, but never thought of helping her get out of trouble.

Alexander withdrew from the garden a little embarrassed, he wondered if the next Nashan would comfort the grieving queen in the garden, but Joanna's angry words made him feel that it still made a lot of sense.

Although there was nothing controversial about the succession to the throne from his nephew, Frederick was clearly not very confident.

It was no wonder that he thought so, after all, Sanxia's marriage to Jeffrey was too much of a threat to him, and no one dared to guarantee that in the future, Alexander VI or anyone else in the Borgia family would threaten his son in the name that Sanxia's children also had the right to inherit.

Because of this, Frederick demanded a formal coronation ceremony recognized by the Pope, or at least by an emissary sent by the Pope, so that he and his descendants could have a recognized legal right to inheritance.

In exchange, Frederick asked the bishopric of Naples to publicly support Caesar Borgia as the new cardinal.

This news was mentioned in a letter from the Count of Mordiglo to him, and it was the Count who explained to him why he had been given a marriage.

"We have to make sure that we have a friend who is strong enough, reliable and who can help us in many places, there is no doubt that della Rovere meets all these qualifications, and above all, he also needs our help, and I am sure that the interest of the Archbishop of Genoa in the office of cardinal will make him take our proposal very seriously, and that the talents shown by you, as well as the influence of the Modillo family, will make him think more seriously about the role required for this marriage, which is not an insignificant person. That said, I'm personally pleased that his daughter, Barentia della Rovere, is the right person to be engaged to you. The reason for this is that this lady is not only the archbishop's favorite daughter, but also because she inherited a piece of land at an early age, she has no influence in the Rovere family that the other children do not have. ”

The Count's thick letter was full of a lot of writing, but it was summed up in one sentence, telling Alexander to "take down" Barentia della Rovere anyway.

And Alexander finally knew why a marriage suddenly hit his head.

The combination of Rovere's desire for someone to support him as a cardinal, Modillo's refusal to allow Frederick's power to swell so much as to threaten his position, and the fact that the Rovere family and the Modiglo family are in a twisting and turning way are enough to be natural allies, and the only thing that seems to be the only thing to consider is who to marry to complete the alliance.

Unfortunately, it now seems that Alexander appeared deliberately for such a marriage, after all, the illegitimate son of the countess and the illegitimate daughter of the archbishop are simply a natural pair.

"You must make this happen, this is very important for the Modillo family, and more importantly, it is very important for you personally, if you really want to realize your dream in the future, then don't give up this opportunity easily," the Count did his best in his letter, "I don't need to say much about the benefits that a wife with a strong background will bring, to be honest, if my wife is still alive, I would prefer to be the protagonist of the alliance by myself, so don't waste this opportunity I have given you." ”

This sentence in the count's letter made Alexander stunned for a long time, and he wanted to reply immediately and suggest that the count get rid of the aunt who was younger than him, and then he could propose to Barendi in his place, but when he thought that the aunt was from a prominent family in Aragon, Alexander knew that this trick probably didn't work.

Engaged to Barendi della Rovere?

Thinking about it gave Alexander a bit of a headache.

Since that day, Sophia hasn't changed much, she still wields the long sword that is hard for men to use every day, and perhaps because she listened to Alexander's advice, she began to learn to practice using the musket.

This made the San Marino Palace suddenly lively, and the deafening sound of gunfire could be heard all day long, so that people in the streets thought that there was a riot.

All this seems normal, but Alexander knows that behind this seemingly "calm" there is an unsettling restlessness.

He couldn't figure out what Sophia was going to do for a while, but the only thing that comforted him was that Sophia seemed to be getting more clingy to him.

Day and night, Sophia always clinged to him as much as she could, sometimes reluctantly returning to her room until late, which led Alexander to believe that perhaps with a little nod, she would stay for the night.

These sometimes annoying and sometimes warm thoughts made Alexander a little helpless but enjoyed the entanglement, but when a letter brought by the merchant ship of the Rovere family arrived in his hands, some things changed their flavor somewhat.

When Alexander read the letter, Constantine, as a messenger, looked at Sophia curiously, he had heard about the jaw-dropping things that this bohemian girl had done, especially when he heard from the servant that Sophia had actually thrown a sword to Barendi and was going to duel her, and Konstantin was eager to see Sophia who had made such a big fuss.

Looking at Sophia snuggled up to Alexander, just keeping stuffing snacks into her mouth, Konstantin thought she looked a lot cuter than he had seen before, but he didn't think that this girl would be a threat to Barondi.

Especially after the letter was sent.

"My dear brother, I hope you will not be too surprised when you read this letter," appeared in front of Alexander in a beautiful handwriting, "I remember that when you and I discussed your ideas in Uncle Modiglo's villa, I thought that your ideas were too naïve to succeed, but now I cannot help but admit that I was wrong. While our plans so far have only just begun, I seem to be seeing incredible promises. Relying on the influence of Uncle Modiglo, many chambers of commerce in Naples have agreed to join our plan, although there are some troubles in Taranto, but I believe that if their merchants are not too stupid, they will eventually join, and because you have cleverly anticipated the movements of the Venetians, their navy has become a great help to us, because they need to establish a huge supply route on the Mediterranean coast, they need friends who can provide them with cheap and affordable goods, So in this matter we are almost traveling with the Venetian fleet......"

Seeing this, Alexander smiled slightly, he knew what he meant by traveling with the Venetian fleet, which meant that a long route that encompassed almost the entire western coast of the Mediterranean was slowly unfolding, although this route may not even be in its infancy now, but as Jisha said, this is a future with incredible prospects.

"But although it seems to be optimistic now, not everything is going well," the sudden change of tone in the letter caught Alexander's attention, "Many places are saying that trade seems to be declining in recent years, although there is no danger of this, but if it goes on like this, it will inevitably be worrying, and there are still too few large ports to support us, at least except for Naples, we have not yet gained a foothold in other influential ports, so Genoa, who used to do business with you, has become a very important partner, It will be very important for us if we can finally get their approval, so my brother, if you can, I hope you can play a bigger role in this. ”

Looking at this letter, and then at Sophia next to him and Konstantin opposite, Alexander's face sank slightly.