A secret meeting with Juana, something that Eriodor Don Antonio had not thought of before, at least not before.

The West India Company became Alexander's springboard to the Portuguese elite, from the powerful nobles to the wealthy merchants, who saw an opportunity to make a fortune in the overseas trading company invested in the name of the da Gama family, and King Manuel began to be ambiguous, and then the strong interest in the company became even more sought-after.

Everyone wants to get a satisfying share in this crazy game of wealth, and no one wants to be left out of this feast, and they try their best to be a part of this crazy game of chasing wealth, even if they know that they are worried about the future, but they can't contain the greed that has been triggered.

In fact, by this time, even the king could not stop this vortex of wealth that was destined to sweep everyone into it, the adventurous spirit that had been peculiar since ancient times, and the exploration of the outside world, which had been fully stimulated since the time of Enrique, the curiosity and possession that had been pursued, and the greedy nature of seizing these pirates, made them completely forget the verdict of the famous papal meridian that had been surveyed by Pope Alexander VI himself. Let their eyes involuntarily turn to the uncharted sea in the west of the Atlantic Ocean that has not yet been truly recognized.

Everyone wants to be rewarded handsomely by going on an expedition, and whoever tries to stop it is their common enemy.

In this way, Queen Mary naturally became the enemy of many people.

Maria still tried to dissuade Manuel from abandoning a decision that could lead to conflict between Portugal and her home country.

Maria is actually fair, she longs to be a bridge and buffer between her husband and parents, and she doesn't want to see a big conflict between the two sides, so she tries her best to stop Manuel's mistakes, both in the bedroom and in the court, and repair the rift that may cause even greater contradictions, but Manuel has obviously made up her mind, and the queen has also aroused the hostility of many Portuguese because of her fierce opposition.

They did not think that Maria's actions were just, and in the eyes of many people, she was always the "Mary of Aragon" and not the Queen of Portugal, which made the nobles who had no good opinion of her because of Maria's actions in the court from the beginning even think that she was sent by Queen Isabella to try to completely annex Portugal.

Although Isabella may have thought so, at least Maria did not do anything harmful to Portugal, but even in private, the forces against the queen were still secretly brewing all kinds of conspiracies, and these conspiracy was not very secret, even Thiego had heard of it, so Alexander landed in Porto, where these conspirators gathered, when he first arrived in Portugal.

And among those "Porto conspirators", Eliodor Don Antonio seems to be among them.

When Alexander first revealed to Don Antonio that he knew something about their conspiracy, Don Antonio stubbornly denied it, but then he had to admit in front of a lot of evidence that his group of people did have such and such dissatisfaction with the queen, but he still firmly denied that it was a conspiracy, but only classified it as a political disagreement.

That is, until Tiego's men in Porto "accidentally" discovered a large number of weapons hidden by these men in an estate.

All justifications pale in comparison, and it was this discovery that led to the meeting between Juana and Don Antonio.

In fact, Juana was equally cautious and apprehensive about this meeting, she knew that her cousin was trying to completely eradicate her almost every day, and the slightest flaw could bring her ruin, not to mention that Don Antonio was a great nobleman in Portugal, and she did not know how many of those people were determined to completely oppose Maria.

If they don't think she's good enough for themselves, they might betray her to Mary with a twist of face.

Juana was actually afraid of death, but her ambition was as strong as fear, but she didn't want to lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She didn't want to live this kind of life that seemed to be just house arrest, but in fact it was always precarious, and she didn't want to suffer this kind of torture that even when she lay down to sleep, she had to remind herself not to be heard by the maids around her at night because of her indiscriminate talk, and then immediately tell Maria's people and even invite the torture of killing herself.

So when Alexander sent someone to tell her the news of the meeting, Juana finally decided to take a risk.

"Madame, you know your situation," said Don Antonio, glancing at Alexander, who was standing aside, "I don't know what the Duke of Rometesia has promised you, but I would like to remind you that your aunt, Queen Isabella, holds the rightful throne of Castile, and any accusation you make cannot be upheld by the Vatican." ”

"But her throne has been taken from me, the true and rightful heir, and she has slandered my father as an incompetent, and she has slandered me as the result of my mother's fornication with others, and I will tell you that I am the rightful heir to the throne of Castile, and my name is Juana Donna de Rastamara!"

Juana took a step forward excitedly and whispered to Don Antonio in a suppressed voice, her chest heaving violently because she couldn't help but gasp almost touched Don Antonio in front of her, and then she gritted her teeth and turned her head to look at Alexander, her eyes showing some kind of impulse, as if to say something.

Sensing Juana's intentions, Alexander shook his head at her lightly, and then said to Don Antonio: "Actually, we are not asking you and your companions to support His Highness in resuming his duties as Queen of Castile, but we hope that we can cooperate. ”

"Wait a minute, Duke, I want to know if this is in any way of your favor, to put it bluntly, I was coerced, we both know that any word in this room that goes out of this door will send us to the gallows, so I don't think it's too much to know what it has to do with you, at least I want to know who I'm dealing with if I want to do something."

Alexandre looked at Don Antonio, he knew that this Portuguese man should be very conflicted at this time, but now that he has been caught, he has to stand here, if possible, he is probably the one in Lisbon who wants to kill him the most.

"Dear Don Antonio, I can only say that many things that happened in Castile did not satisfy the Vatican, even if the Pope came from Valencia of Aragon, but this did not make him fully approve of everything happening in Castile."

Don Antonio looked at Alexander in some surprise, he didn't really want to believe these words, but Alexander's special identity made him unable to distinguish the truth from the fake for a while.

"Duke, what do you mean by not agreeing, you must know that Queen Isabella's piety is obvious to all, is the Vatican still dissatisfied with this?"

Alexander nodded slightly, and Don Antonio's questioning did not annoy him, but instead showed a meaningful smile: "So what do you think of the Way of the Cross that Queen Maria found on the outskirts of Lisbon, which of course also seems to be pious, but if somewhere far from Jerusalem, there are also biblical place names, villages, and even the miracle of pure virgin birth, then what do you think all this will be perceived? You know, one of these phenomena might be considered a miracle, but if all of them occur, it's a different story. ”

Don Antonio opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't say anything, he did want to contradict Alexander, but after a while his clenched fist finally let go.

"Please sit down, sir." Juana told Don Antonio that she was secretly relieved to see him hesitate and finally sit down in the chair opposite, she was really afraid that Don Antonio would turn around and leave desperately, if that else she might really have a hard time taking the lead.

"We're not alone, or Isabella isn't as strong as she seems, and of course she's hard to deal with, but that doesn't mean we can't beat her, or at least her daughter can't match her."

"But Maria is still the queen, isn't she, and behind her stands the pair of Castile and Aragon," said Don Antonio, with some frustration, "we do have some conspiracy, or want to do something, but we know that it is unlikely to succeed, but we do not allow that woman to sit on the queen's throne so unscrupulously and do things that hurt Portugal, it is a betrayal!" ”

Don Antonio suddenly became a little excited, he looked at Juana and then at Alexander: "Then what are your plans, madam?" ”

"My lord, what do you think would happen if Portugal had a new queen?" Alexander glanced at Juana.

Don Antonio's face was surprised, he already understood what Alexander meant, but he thought it was a bit absurd.

"It's impossible, even if it's the woman...... I mean, if something happens to the queen, Queen Isabella will not allow the kind of thing you think to happen, she will send another daughter to be the queen of Portugal, even if she has no daughter, she will give a niece or something, but she will never tolerate you becoming queen, Madame. ”

Don Antonio's words were not pleasant, but Alexander knew that they were true, and if you consider that Manuel married Maria's niece after Maria's death, the eldest daughter of the madwoman Juana, and Eleanor of Austria, who was more than 30 years younger than him, you can see how strong the desire of successive Rastamara monarchs was to annex Portugal.

However, Alexander was not discouraged by Don Antonio's words, he knew that Don Antonio was right, but he did not know that some things had deviated from history.

"Please take a look at this, I think this will help you make a better decision." Alexander took out a thick, unsealed letter bag, and after handing several of the written letters to Don Antonio, he sat down not far from Juana.

Don Antonio took one of the letters out of his envelope, a little puzzled, and saw that they were part of a report that, to his surprise, was sent to the Pope.

"Your Majesty, allow me to report to you with mixed feelings what I have seen and heard in Portugal, and what has happened here has surprised and pleased me, and although I have been to many places, I must admit that the atmosphere here is the most pious, and it is difficult to find such pure believers as they are, whether nobles or commoners, clergy or nuns, and it is difficult to find such pure believers as they are, which makes me think for a time that I have seen a real miracle.

But this was only the initial impression, and what happened next left me a little confused and uneasy.

The Vatican is rarely mentioned here, the clergy appreciate the piety of the queen but tend to ignore the supremacy of the pope as God's agent, and there are so many or too many holy sites that one wonders whether it is Europe or Jerusalem.

This is again in Portugal and not in Castile, and as far as I know it is even more so there, and it is said that the Queen's personal priest, a priest named Tomas Tongomada, even openly declares that the Queen is the embodiment of the 'Mary the Guardian of the World' ruling the country, and I cannot help but ask myself whether all this is normal, whether the dignity and prestige of the Holy See still represent God here, or whether it has been replaced by a secular monarch......"

Don Antonio looked at the unfinished letter, his eyes flickering, he was obviously weighing what kind of reaction such a report would cause if it were sent to the Vatican, and at the same time considering what the consequences would be if the Vatican made a certain decision.

"If I become queen, I will follow the wishes of the Vatican, which will allow me to gain recognition from the Holy See," Juana looked at Alexander, and then at Don Antonio, "and will also respect the king's decision and the interests of all the nobles, but I don't know if I can get your support if so?" ”

Don Antonio's breathing increased slightly, and he knew that his next words might have an unimaginable impact on him, and on the fate of too many people, and he didn't know what to do for a while.

Time passed, the room was unusually quiet, and after a long time, Don Antonio seemed to have finally made up his mind, and he stood up and bowed to Juana.

"Your Highness."

Juana's heart tightened with Don Antonio's title.

"Our relationship with Castile has always led us to believe that marriage is the best way to maintain the friendship between the two countries, as evidenced by the fact that the king has married two Castilian princesses as queens, and whether the king will marry a Castilian princess for various reasons in the future depends entirely on God's arrangement, but for the sake of Portugal, I believe that our nobles will accept and support this decision."

With that, Don Antonio bowed to Juana again.

Juana's face instantly appeared with a layer of irrepressible redness, her breathing was rapid, and the slightly stiff arms that had been placed on her sides showed how excited she was at this moment.

On the side, Alexander seemed to be silent, but the hand behind his back couldn't help but clench hard, and at the same time shouted in his heart: "It's finally begun!" ”