Giovanni looked at the day's report with a copy in his hand, but his eyes glanced through the gap above the report to a woman not far away.

This woman was the wife of an earl, and as one of the fiefdoms loyal to the Holy See, the count, when he learned of the arrival of the Duke of Gandino's army, came to the Duke with a large amount of supplies to his family.

Giovanni was clearly more interested in the Count's wife than he had brought, and although the woman looked a little older, she was still very attractive, and there was always a mesmerizing seduction in her eyes, which made Giovanni wonder what this woman was like in the bedroom.

The Count was still chattering beside him, and Giovanni was tempted to tell him that he was willing to let his wife go to his bed, but Giovanni preferred to watch a completely unwitting husband be blinded in front of him.

The Count was obviously unaware of the Borgia family's bad tastes, and he was trying his best to make a good impression in front of the Count, but he did not know that his wife was hooking up with Giovanni.

"Well, Count, I already know your loyalty to the Holy See, and especially to His Majesty the Pope," Giovanni finally interrupted the count's rambling impatiently, his time was limited, and he didn't want to waste it on such a man who was not destined to make much difference, "My army will be repairing here for a while, but I don't think it will be too long, it depends on how I progress here." With that, he glanced at the Countess again, "and then I will leave, for in the meantime I need you to provide me with enough food and wine for 20,000 men, and I need anything else." ”

In response to Giovanni's request, the count immediately and earnestly stated that he would never disappoint the duke, and then he carefully inquired that there was a party that night, and I wondered if the duke would like to enjoy it.

Giovanni was satisfied with the count's courtesy, and although he knew that the man was doing this because he was worried that his brother from the Milanese side would take advantage of the opportunity to compete for his title, Giovanni decided to go to the banquet for the sake of the charming countess.

The Countess was indeed a very attractive woman, and after seeing the large crowd of admirers at the banquet, Giovanni became even more interested in her.

But the woman seemed to know how to arouse a man's interest without letting him succeed so quickly, and the Countess's impartiality throughout the evening made Giovanni completely oblivious to other things, and just as he deliberately showed his interest in the Countess, thus defeating the other suitors, and being able to speak with the Countess alone in the corner, a person who had not expected him suddenly appeared at the banquet.

It was a panting young man, sweat running down his cheeks, and as he walked through the hall, people were drawn to him by his hurried appearance.

The young man was led by Giovanni's retinue, and when he saw the duke's frowning brow, the retinue hastened his pace.

"What's the matter, Pelotto, what's going on with my father?" Giovanni was a little surprised to see the young man, he didn't expect that Pelotto Caderón, the attendant next to his father, would suddenly appear in this place far away from Rome.

Peloto Caderon was one of the few real cronies around Alexander VI, although he could not be compared with Nomelo as his private secretary, but Peloto Caderon was sometimes more intimate with Alexander VI, in addition to taking care of the Pope's daily life, he also had to work on trysts with the Pope and his mistresses. Caderon himself was the "lover" of the Pope.

"My lord, it's not His Majesty the Pope, it's your brother Caesar." Pelotto Caderon hurriedly saluted, then looked at him but did not speak.

"I beg your pardon, I'll go over there and have a look."

The Countess made an excuse to leave, looked at her back, Giovanni licked her lips, and then said dissatisfiedly: "Listen to you nasty, if the news you bring is not important, I can't spare you, you know, I can take this woman to find a room to talk to." ”

"My lord, this news is much more important than a woman," Pelotto Cadron leaned over and whispered, "your brother Caesar has proposed to Irina of Naples. ”

"Frederick's daughter?" Giovanni asked unexpectedly, "You're here to tell me this?" ”

"More than that," said Pelotto Caderon, a little anxiously, "he promised the King of Naples that he would marry Irina as a dowry, in order to obtain Frederick's consent." ”

Pelotto Caderon's words surprised Giovanni's face, and he thought he had misheard, but then anger appeared on his face.

"What is he going to do, use Pervato as a dowry, does he think he is already the Duke of Gandino?"

Peloto Cadron lowered his head away from Giovanni's gaze, but he knew that Giovanni's anger was not for nothing.

Pervato was one of the most important areas in the entire Gandino territory, and in addition to the rich land that provided the lords with rich taxes, it was also one of the most important transportation hubs in Castile.

Almost all roads leading to the interior of Castile can be found here, which is important for Castile, which is much more backward than the rest of Europe.

In this way, Pervato has virtually become the core of the Duchy of Gandino, and there is even a theory that the Count of Pervato is the natural heir of the Dukedom of Gandino.

Caesar's promise undoubtedly offended Giovanni's most sensitive place, so far Giovanni has no children, which is obviously very unfavorable for him, his brother Juan passed the title of Duke of Gandino to Giovanni because he had no descendants at the time of his murder, and now Caesar's arbitrary decision makes Giovanni feel a little crisis.

Enraged, Giovanni removed a large ring from his finger, the ruby set on it that caused Pelotto Caderon to swallow slightly.

"I have never been unkind to those who serve me," Giovanni handed the ring to Pelotto Caderon, "I know that you are loyal to my father, but I am his son, and the firstborn, so I want you to be honest with me, what is my father's attitude in this matter?" ”

Pelotto Cadron was stunned, he didn't seem to expect Giovanni to ask this, he was a little embarrassed, but seeing Giovanni staring at him, the Pope's cronies hesitated slightly and then took the ring and pinched it in the palm of his hand.

"Your Excellency, you should know that Your Majesty likes your brother very much." Pelotto Caderón was careful to say that since he was a child in this family, he was too familiar with the Borgia family, and it was because of his familiarity that he was even more in awe of this family.

"Would my father, then, think that Caesar is more suitable to be Duke of Gandino?" Giovanni's voice was much darker.

Previously, because there would be no conflict between the two in their future lives, although there were some discords between them, as a member of the Borgia family, Giovanni preferred to see his brother ascend to the papal throne one day.

But from the day Caesar suddenly announced his renunciation of the priesthood, Giovanni had a great sense of crisis, and he realized that Caesar was threatening his position.

Now Pelotto Cadron's words made Giovanni angry and even more uneasy, and he began to worry a little about his father's attitude.

"And what about Frederick, how did he respond?"

When asked these words, Giovanni felt his throat feel a little dry, and his eyes were fixed on the entourage in front of him, as if he was afraid to hear the worst news from his mouth.

"The King of Sicily did not agree to Caesar's proposal," Pelotto Caderón, feeling Giovanni's eagerness, said quickly, "and Princess Irina does not seem to have much affection for Caesar, I have sent letters and gifts to the princess several times on his orders, and I feel that the princess's attitude is very cold, and even a little angry." ”

"Oh, that's right," Giovanni let out a long sigh, and at that moment he felt like his chest was about to explode, "It seems that my brother is not lucky, but he is not small. ”

What Giovanni gloated about, Pelotto Caderón just pretended not to hear.

"And what about Lucrezia's marriage, how did he do it, did he go to Naples only for himself?" Giovanni asked with a slight sarcasm, and then said casually, "Now that Lucrezia is still living in that monastery called St. Teresa, I think she must have a hard time, and I hope she will get out of there as soon as possible." ”

Peloto Caderon had a look of surprise on his face, he didn't expect Giovanni to have no idea what was happening.

Noticing the look on Peloto Caderon's face, Giovanni immediately guessed what might have happened.

"Your Excellency," whispered Pelotto Cadherón, "your sister Lucrezia was kidnapped a few days ago by that Alexandre Giulian Gombray. ”

"What?" Giovanni was taken aback

"He took her to Pisa."

"Huh?"

"He also started a riot in Pisa in the name of your sister and overthrew the Pisa government."

"Is there such a thing?"

"Then Master Nomelo rescued Miss Lucrezia, and now she should have returned to Rome."

"Oh." Giovanni finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then he noticed the strange look on Pelotto Cadron's face.

"Anything else?" With so much had happened, Giovanni felt that nothing could surprise him anymore.

"It is said," Pelotto Cadillón licked his lips, "they fell in love, I mean, Lucrezia and that Gombray, the two of them fell in love. ”

For a moment, Peloto Caderón saw the sluggishness on Giovanni's face, and then heard a name pop out of his teeth: "Alexandre Giuliante Gombray!" ”

As Giovanni gritted his teeth and swore a lesson about the "poor Neapolitan boy" who had offended the Borgia family, Alexander was slowly marching upstream with his chasseurs along the left bank of the North Arno tributary.

From time to time he was told about the situation on the riverbank, but the situation was not promising, for there was no suitable place for a large number of troops to cross the river, and Alexander's brows were gradually twisted.

The meeting between Milan and the Venetians brought their strength to 33,000, including 18,000 Milanese and 15,000 Venetians, a staggering number for a city-state, and even Alexander VI was skeptical of victory when he heard that the enemy might organize a coalition of more than 30,000 men in Rome.

So when it was decided to fight, Alexander VI generously spent a lot of money to recruit mercenaries, and Giovanni, as Duke of Gandino, decided to lead the troops himself.

20,000 papal troops with about 7,000 Genoese reinforcements, as well as Alexander's army of about 2,000 men made up of Agri, Bohemians, and Genoese, and less than 1,000 Montina troops defending Montieneuville, the Vatican League, which had just been established.

33,000 against 30,000!

Alexander secretly compared the strength of the two sides in his heart.

It seems that although the force is slightly inferior, the gap does not seem to be very large.

But Alexander knew that this was not the case.

In addition to the fact that the number of troops is less than that of the enemy, the situation on the entire battlefield is very unfavorable to the Vatican Alliance, and it can even be said that it is very serious!

Most of the Venetian coalition in Milan had already joined forces in Reiaro, while the 30,000 men of the Vatican League had not yet met.

The Vatican army, under the command of Giovanni, had already crossed the Chimone Hills, and the Vaticanes' vanguard was even on the verge of entering the plain outside the city of Reyaro.

The latest news is that 7,000 Genoese have just entered a town called Taroran on the edge of Romagna.

Similarly, Alexander's army had reached the left bank of the North Arno River, but Giovanni's Vaticans had no contact with him at all.

To make matters worse, Castel Montina is now isolated and under the direct threat of the enemy.

As long as they wished, the Milanese could directly cross the Royalo plain and completely surround the new castle of Montina in less than half a day.

Alexander didn't know if he was the commander of the enemy, and when he perceived the enemy's almost desperate situation, he would not hesitate to take the initiative to attack and break each one, but he already knew the name of the commander sent by the Venetians this time.

Niccolò. Pitiliano.

When he heard the name of the enemy commander, Alexander was a little stunned for a moment, he had heard of Niccolò. Pittiglino was a man he had heard of for a long time, both now and in the future.

This man is so famous because he once taught Charles VIII of France a lesson at the Battle of Fornovo.

"This war is not easy to fight."

A shadow crossed Alexander's mind, and his gaze fell on the other side of the river.

There, albeit a small but long mountain range, blocked Alexander's view.

Behind the hill was his titular domain, Montina, which he had acquired by a marvelous marriage.