Maria de Luna left Rome, and although she had been prepared, her decision to leave suddenly seemed a little hasty.

Alexander VI still showed enough affection for his grandson, and when he heard that he would leave Rome in two days and return to the distant Duchy of Gandino, the Pope specially held a small family banquet to see them off, and in addition to giving a lot of travel expenses, the Pope also gave his grandson the title of cardinal.

"At least that way he won't be underestimated in Gandino, those people, they're all villains."

The Pope commented on his countrymen in a slightly peculiar tone, although he was from Valencia, he did not have much affection for the people in that land, which was partly because his family had clashed with many nobles in Aragon, especially in the early years, when the independent Valencian Kingdom was annexed by Aragon, although they have become the nobles of Aragon, they still inevitably have deep contradictions for various reasons.

The fact that the Pope would express this emotion so strongly was also related to the fact that he had been humiliated by the Aragonese people, and he could not forget the public humiliation that Gonzalo had given him, which had not been seen since he became pope.

"Coincidentally, Nomelo can go well with you," the Pope thoughtfully arranged the route of his daughter-in-law and grandson home, "You can go to Naples with him first, so that he can take care of you on the way, although Naples has been occupied by the French, but it is not a problem for you." ”

Maria de Luna was somewhat distracted by the Pope's concern, and at this time she just wanted to leave the Vatican as soon as possible, to leave the land of Rome, and all this because of the Moorish visit not long ago.

Three years later, Giovanni's death was lifted by the Moorish man from behind the veil of time, which had been gradually covered, and then placed in front of her again.

This time, however, the Moors brought her news that surprised Maria de Luna.

As for who actually killed Giovanni, Uliu didn't say it in the end, but he was horrified when he hinted at the extraordinary relationship between Maria de Luna and Pedro Caderon.

Having a lover was nothing in Rome, or rather a capital to show off, and it is not known when this depravity arose, but in Rome, from the pope to the commoners, seemed to be only envious of this behavior and used as a topic of conversation rather than excessive condemnation.

But Maria de Luna's relationship with Pedro Caderon cannot be explained in such a simple way, because it involves Giovanni's inexplicable death.

And Maria de Luna was not completely unaware, she could vaguely feel that Cadheron seemed to have all kinds of mysterious connections with her husband's death, but she had never dared to delve into the root cause, and now a Moorish man suddenly appeared in front of her and mentioned the matter cryptically, although it was not explicitly stated from beginning to end, but Maria de Luna still clearly felt the threat of the other party.

To her surprise, Ulius did not offer anything to embarrass her in exchange for his silence, but only asked that she be able to leave for Rome as soon as possible in the next two days.

This didn't really need to be brought up by Ulliu, Maria de Luna had the urge to leave the city with her wings on her back, although she knew that even if she returned to Gandino, she would still not be able to escape the suspicion if Giovanni's death was really found to be related to Cadron, but it was always good to leave here as soon as possible.

As for Uriou, Maria de Luna was not a benevolent woman, and she did try to send someone to kill the abominable Moorish man, but Uriu seemed to have thought of this, so before taking his leave, he reminded the malevolent Duchess of Gandino that he had only sent a message on the orders of his master.

This completely discouraged Maria de Luna's attempt to kill people, and she had to pack up and prepare to leave Rome.

Nomerlo's reason for traveling with her this time was that she had been ordered by the Pope to go to Naples to investigate rumors of persecution of the local Catholics, and it was reported that the French had brutally ruled some of the locals who refused to join them after the occupation of Naples, and the key reason was that because the Archbishop of Naples had taken refuge with the Naples royal family and went to Billy Silly, some of the clergy of the church refused the French order to enter the church to search for the so-called rebels without the permission of the archbishop.

This naturally led to conflicts, even bloodshed, and it was at this time that Nomelo went to Naples as a papal envoy.

It was bound to be a tedious trip, and Maria de Luna was so preoccupied that she refused the owner's invitation to shut herself up in her room, which was a bit rude to say, but the owner did not dare to show any displeasure about it.

However, Nomerlo's invitation gave the owner a little face, and from the owner, Nomelo soon heard about some interesting topics.

"Why did the French collect so many ships?" Nomelo asked seemingly casually.

"I don't know, but a lot of people think they're trying to fight Sicily."

"Why?" Nomerlo's interest came: "Do you all think that the French are going to invade Sicily?" ”

"The ships prepared by the French are not very large, so it is impossible for them to sail far, and the places they have left on the ships for supplies are not large enough, and they obviously have no intention of going far, so there are not many places for them to go, except Sicily."

Listening to the shipowner's analysis, Nomelo couldn't help but nod slowly.

Nomelo had a vague suspicion in his mind, and although the idea seemed a little ridiculous, he thought that it might all happen to the Count of Montina, and he thought that it might not be so unusual.

Could it be that the French have already made some secret agreement with the Neapolitans, otherwise, as the Pope said, how could the Neapolitans still have the guts to declare war on Sicily at such a time?

And how to explain what the French are doing at this time when they suddenly collect so many ships, and they are still ships needed in the near sea, are they not sea tools for the Neapolitans?

Thinking about this, Nomelo couldn't help but fall into deep thought, maybe the trip was boring for Maria de Luna, but for Nomerlo, the errand seemed to become very interesting.

Historically, Sicily has changed hands many times.

From the Romans to the Vandals, from the Arabs to the Eastern Romans, and then to the Normans, the Kingdom of Aragon came after the Anjou rulers of France were forced to withdraw from Sicily.

Since Alfonso I officially started the history of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by dividing it equally among his two sons, the focus of Sicily's defense has shifted to the other side of the Mediterranean, as there is no longer a need for strict precautions against the mainland.

Whether it was the original defense against the Eastern Romans or the pagans, Sicily was an important part of the defense of the western Mediterranean against the invasion of the East, so both the French and the Aragonese mainly deployed their troops stationed in Sicily in the southwest of the island in these years.

In comparison, Palermo's defenses are not very strong.

So when the Kingdom of Naples suddenly declared war on Sicily, Palermo suddenly panicked.

Although Flomenza immediately sent bullets to suppress the panic, rumors of a possible Neapolitan attack on Palermo continued to circulate in the streets, and they were growing stronger.

The reason for this was that it was discovered that among the Neapolitans there was a young man who had experienced the bloody night in the first place, and although many of them had long since remembered or even knew who that person was, they were now very familiar with his name.

Alexandre Giuliante Cambrai, Count of Montina, is said to have titles that are no less than his name, in addition to the title of count, but these are still secondary, and what really attracts the attention of the people of Palermo is the alliance of free trade zones that is inseparable from this person.

Although war was declared, perhaps because of his own embarrassing situation, Billyselli's exiled court did not immediately send troops to conscript, which inevitably made the Sicilians ridicule the Neapolitan pretense, and the generals who were preparing to transfer troops from the south of the island also began to consider whether it was necessary to mobilize a large number of troops, perhaps as long as there were enough troops to hold some important points in Palermo and let the enemy see their strong defenses, it would be enough to make the Neapolitans change their minds.

There are many people who think this way, and even Flomenza, after some consideration, thinks that it is unlikely that the Neapolitans will actually fight each other, or that it is because Gonzalo's imminent arrival has given him enough confidence that he is not very aware of the threat from Naples.

Soon, however, Flomenza realized that things seemed to be a little more than he had imagined.

First of all, the number of merchant ships coming and going from the port gradually became smaller, which at first did not attract the attention of the minister, after all, the port of Naples, one of the main ports of traffic in Palermo, had just been occupied by the French, and this chaotic situation would definitely affect the flow of merchant ships on the route.

But then things started to go wrong.

The dwindling number of merchant ships in the harbor finally caught Flomenza's attention as the Chamber of Commerce became uneasy, and he was astonished to find that whether it was Naples, Taranto, or Barletta, the merchant ships that had been coming and going from the coastal cities closest to Sicily, were rapidly decreasing at a noticeable rate every day, and that in the last days of September, with the exception of a few long-sailing cargo ships, there were very few ships in the harbor flying those local flags.

What surprised Flomenza was that many of Palermo's goods began to plummet as merchant ships began to decline, either because of shortages or because of the blockage of shipping routes.

The Chamber of Commerce in Palermo began to panic, and the city began to look chaotic.

Although Flomenza is a bureaucrat who likes to use labels to eliminate dissidents, that doesn't mean he doesn't know anything about business.

The peculiarity of the Port of Palermo caught his attention, especially when he heard the word "free trade association" from the mouths of the uneasy and seemingly impending Chamber of Commerce, and he quickly grasped one of the key points.

That is, this free trade alliance seems to have been initiated first from Naples.

This discovery forced Flomenza to meet Modillo again.

Only this time he was doomed to disappointment.

When he heard the name Free Trade Union, Modillo just smiled indifferently, and then he told the Governor that he had nothing to do with the Trade Union, and that he was not entirely clear as to who was in charge of the Union.

"But I can give you an idea of what will happen next, Governor," said Mordillo lightly, "you will find that the Sicilians need less and less things, and more and more cargo is piled up in the port that cannot be transported, and when the ocean-going merchant ships that were going to unload their goods in Sicily find that Palermo cannot afford them to exchange their goods for gold coins as soon as possible, they will prefer to continue their voyage and transport their goods to other ports, and then the port of Palermo will be 'dead'." ”

"You forgot that we have other ports besides Palermo, Messina and Syracuse are enough to solve Palermo's predicament," Flomenza looked at Mordillo with a heavy face, "and you will be severely punished for causing all this." ”

"Governor, I cannot fail to remind you that these statements are good wishes, do you think that Messina and Syracuse will be better than Palermo, or do you think that your enemies have not thought of this, as far as I know the Free Trade Association is a wonderful organization, and believe me you will soon receive much the same reports as here."

Flomenza left Modillo's cell with a gloomy expression, and when the door closed, Count Mordillo's face finally showed a trace of anxiety that he had tried to suppress before.

"What are you going to do, Qiao Er," the Count whispered to himself in a whisper that only he could hear, and walked anxiously back and forth around the room as if he were walking, "That Gonzalo is coming, don't do anything stupid if you can't get me out, this is how many years I have planned, I hope you don't mess things up." ”

Camusi sat in a wheelchair and looked at the purple rose garden in the courtyard, which was at its most colorful in autumn, and the whole flower bed looked like a sea of solidified purple.

It's just that Camus's condition doesn't look very good, his legs wrapped in blankets shake unconsciously and slightly, and his hands suddenly shake violently from time to time, which makes him sometimes spill the broth all over his body when eating.

Despite his old age and the fact that he seemed to be going to see God at any time, no one in Palermo dared to underestimate this old man who had fought in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

The original noble council was not only forcibly disbanded after Flomenza's arrival, but many of them became prisoners, and Camus was not only not implicated, but even became part of a new group of Sicilian magnates, and no one could ignore him on this alone.

A servant led a guest around the path of the flower garden, and saw the man Camus with a smile on his face.

"Honorable Archon, you look good today."

When he was far away, the guests greeted him with a smile, and if Alexander was here, he would immediately recognize this man as an old acquaintance, and it can be said that he was not less cared for by this man during his time in Palermo.

The most important of these was in the palace dungeon, and it was this person who asked for help that he was able to save Sophia from the captain named Perón under the then palace minister Gomez.

Osborne, a tailor in Palermo who mixes well.

Flomenza's arrival did not affect Osborne's business, and he continued to do his business in his house on the old street, busily dressing the nobles and wealthy merchants on the first floor and taking them off for their wives on the second floor.

"Don't flatter my friend, I know very well how I look myself, I may not survive this winter when I'm old," Camury said disapprovingly, "but it's worth it for me, I know that I've been through so much, I've been through a long war that lasted for more than 100 years, and I've been lucky enough to see it end, and I've ruled this island for a short time, a dream that many people can't dream of, And when everyone else died or was thrown into prison, I was lucky enough to sit in my garden and enjoy the view, which was enough for me to leave this world without regret. ”

"The view here is because you are wiser than others," Osborne said as he began to get busy, "I have heard that you are planning to make a dress that will make you look a little more majestic, and although I don't know how to embody the majesty of a nobleman, I believe that the clothes I have designed will help you somewhat." ”

Seeing the tailor busy with his work, Camus, who was in a wheelchair, still shook his body a few times from time to time, but with the help of the servants, he tried his best to cooperate with the tailor to measure his size.

It was a hassle to dress a man who was almost half paralyzed, and sometimes in order to get Camus to stand up, Osborne had to ask the servant who was helping him to summon a companion to complete the rather difficult task, so when he finally returned to his home in Lao Cai, sweating profusely, he didn't even have the strength to greet the guests who were waiting downstairs, but just casually ordered the guy to help, and dragged up to the second floor with heavy steps.

But when he opened a door at the end of the hallway and saw a person standing there, Osborne's tired expression suddenly disappeared without a trace.

"The Earl." The tailor first bowed slightly, and then looked at the young man in front of him with a slightly sighing look, who he was once familiar with, but now had an indescribable strangeness.

No one would have imagined that at this sensitive moment when Naples officially declared war on Sicily, Alexander had quietly landed in Sicily and returned to Palermo.