In mid-January 1497, with the arrival of a messenger from the north by Gonzalo, the commander of the coalition forces, a firm news spread through the city of Rome.

The French forces on the outskirts of Piedmont were finally unable to withstand the siege of the allied forces, and after being denied entry by the Piedmontese, the French had to retreat towards Nice on the third day after the New Year.

When the news spread, the whole of Rome was excited.

At first in other parts of the city, and later even in the south of the city, which was under the control of the French, the Romans took to the streets, shouting in praise of God, and some simply lit a portrait of a crown that looked like no one else, but could be guessed by a little thought.

At the same time, the coalition forces stationed outside the city of Rome finally moved!

When the French saw that the flag of the coalition forces that had been confronting them in the distance for nearly half a year began to move, they thought it was a little strange, after all, they had been at peace for so long that they almost forgot the fact that the two sides were actually fighting.

So when a group of allied infantry began to cross the narrow open road between the two sides with unhurried and compact steps, the French were still a little dazed.

Until there was a loud thunderous bang in the distance, and then a huge black shadow rolled in an arc from behind a mound on the opposite side and crashed into the French soldiers who were still slowly arranged!

Screaming and crushing stumps flew into the sky, and in an instant, the people in front were left with a large pile of unshapely rotten flesh, and when the plasma mixed with broken flesh and bone residue splashed on the heads and chests of others, many people didn't even know what was happening.

War came all of a sudden, unexpectedly!

De Charlain arrived outside the city not too late, and unlike other Frenchmen who were only angry at the sudden attack of the Romans in the city, de Charlain thought more than anyone else as a general with a wealth of war experience.

Although the news was brought by the emissaries of the coalition forces, de Charlain was keenly aware of the danger that might occur.

He immediately rushed out of the city with all the troops he could use, praying in his heart that everything would not be as bad as he thought.

But the truth is that when he arrived at the camp of the French army outside the city, the scene he saw was not only much worse than he had thought before, but even gave him a sense of crisis that everything would collapse at any moment.

Everywhere there were scattered French troops, everywhere there were bewildered soldiers, and de Charlain even saw a few French cavalry running aimlessly about the position, and not far from them, a group of Allied infantry had surrounded a French defensive earthen rampart, and a group of Allied troops with different clothes and banners had even begun to climb up a gentle slope towards the earthen rampart.

Angered by the sight, de Charlain immediately ordered his men to go into battle, and while ordering his men to collect what seemed to be a group of stragglers, he began to gallop his horses across the battlefield, shouting the names of the defenders' generals.

But de Charlon's reply was difficult for him to accept.

Maybe even God abandoned the French army at this time, just when the coalition forces were purely tentatively firing the first shot, the shell smashed into the organized French army formation very accurately, and then coincidentally smashed the defending commander directly into a pile of flesh!

At the beginning of the war, before the armies of the two sides officially engaged in battle, the French lost their generals on the front line!

There was a rumbling sound in the distance, and de Charlon's face couldn't help but become gloomy as he looked through the smoke as the team that was disappearing on the undulating slope.

"My lord, we will fail if we continue like this," said one of the knights, who finally whispered in the back, and although it was difficult to admit defeat, even the bravest knights became pessimistic when they saw the enemy slowly approaching, and his own army was scurrying around like a swarm of headless flies.

De Charlain did not reprimand his men, and when he saw the small but orderly formation of the coalition forces, he knew that he might be facing a test that he had never experienced before.

De Charron drew his sword, his black armor standing out on the battlefield, which attracted the attention of his own people and his enemies, and he could even see from a distance that several knights who had been at the back of the line were coming out of the gap in the formation and heading in his direction.

"France," Cried Charlon, "for France and for the King!" ”

The black knight pulled the reins of his horse with all his might, and when he saw the coalition forces getting closer and closer, he couldn't help but make a cross on his chest.

Then, with the roar of gunfire one after another, the oncoming projectiles flew sideways with a sharp sound!

Alexandria saw Giuliano della Rovere again, the day after the battle took place outside the city.

Since Sofia left, Alexander has been locking himself in his room, except for dinner, he is willing to go out of the room, the rest of the time he is closed, which makes the atmosphere in the San Marino Palace seem very depressing, even Joanna, who is nominally the owner of this palace, can't help but tell the people around him to be careful.

When the news came that the coalition forces outside the city had begun to attack the garrison French army, Alexander walked out of the room, ignoring the surprised eyes of the people around him, and directly ordered Ulliu to run to the villa of the Rovere family, asking to meet the archbishop.

Not only did della Rovere reply quickly, but he promised to see him.

So when Alexander arrived at the villa of the Rovere family, it was already afternoon.

Although the Rovere family has been in Rome for a long time, and even settled in Rome two generations ago, they still retain some of the habits of the northerners, especially because of their previous ties with some German nobles, and their customs have always had traces of the northern aristocracy.

The family still had two meals a day, and when Alexander arrived at the villa, it was just in time for the family to have lunch in the afternoon, and they sat around discussing the battle that was breaking out outside the city.

The men, who were clearly more interested in the war that was going on, sat together and argued, and some simply pushed away the table, arranging the tables as if they were a battlefield, and the women were apparently tired of the subject, and for them, although the battle outside the city seemed far away, the many troubles caused by it were a little unbearable.

Because the luncheon was attended not only by the archbishop and his children, but also by other members of the Rovere family in Rome, Alexander's arrival caused a small stir.

Faced with the inquiring and hostile gazes of several young men, Alexander sensed that he did not seem to be so popular in the house.

"I think you should feel like you're not a good guest," Constantine stood far up the steps and didn't come down, and even now he still didn't think Alexander was worthy of Barondy, "You probably don't know, but there are many people in my family who would like to marry Barondy, including my uncle La Four's son and his wife's brother." ”

But those people are useless to your father who is the archbishop now, Alexander said to himself.

Seeing Alexander's silent expression, Konstantin didn't say anything more, but just waved his hand sideways and motioned for him to follow him into the villa.

The figures of several guards flashed from the courtyard of the villa, which couldn't help but attract Alexander's attention, seeing him looking at those guards, Konstantin smiled slightly: "Those are some mountain mercenaries, these people are very strong and brave, speaking of which, I think compared to them, Caesar's army to protect the Vatican is a group of children's toys." ”

Nodding silently under pressure, this time he agreed with Konstantin's words, after all, compared with those Swiss mercenaries wearing fish-fin helmets and half-cut cuirass, Caesar's army, which had never been on the battlefield so far, was indeed a big gap.

Giuliano della Rovere was reading a book, and when he saw Alexander enter, the archbishop did not continue to stare at the book as a pretence, but took a piece of paper on the table as a bookmark and put the book aside.

"So, you're willing to talk about it now?" Della Rovere asked.

The archbishop's attitude of not wanting to waste the time of both parties made Alexander very much in favor, and he was tired of the false red tape, and he just wanted to let it go as soon as possible.

"I will be betrothed to your daughter," said Alexander, for which he had come, "and I will write to the Count that he will soon be in contact with the Bishop of Naples." ”

The archbishop put his hands together and put his fingers to his lips as he listened, and when he received a satisfactory answer, he came over and looked at Alexander: "I know that you are very dissatisfied with the matter of that girl, and I do not deny that I did exert some influence, after all, it is related to too many people, but fortunately, everyone is satisfied, so this matter should be over." As for you and Barondi, I hope you will be kind to her, knowing that she is my favorite daughter, and if you take a closer look at her, you will find that there is much to be noticed about her. ”

"Yes, my lord, I admit it, I'll try to get along with her." Alexander nodded, he knew that Rovere was not wrong, compared to the current nobles and ladies, Barendi de la Rovere was undoubtedly a very maverick, although her appearance could only be described as ordinary, but she was indeed a noble woman with a special side in this era.

Della Rovere seemed to be satisfied with Alexander's attitude, and he turned back to the chair he had been sitting in and picked up the book he had placed next to him, and Alexander noticed that it was the handwritten title on the cover of the book, the Canon Law.

"It's not officially written yet," said Rovile, who raised his hand slightly when he saw Alexander notice the book in his hand, "and I hope to see it actually promulgated one day." ”

Hoping to see a code promulgated, Alexander clearly sensed the ambition, or rather ambition, of the archbishop's words.

Since Siskos IV, although the Rovere family is slightly less powerful, it has always been one of the most influential families in Rome, but when Alexander VI ascended the throne, all this has changed somewhat, Giuliano was even forced to flee France for refuge, although with the momentum of King Charles of France The Roveret family returned to Rome again, but many people feel that it is not so easy for the family to be like back then.

But Giuliano doesn't seem to think so, looking at the handwritten code in his hand, Alexander can feel his irrepressible ambition, maybe now, when others are still fighting for a cardinal's position, Giuliano's eyes have been set on the papal throne.

To be a son-in-law of a pope? It suddenly occurred to Alexander that what was happening in front of him was somewhat unreal.

He knew that the reason why he thought this way was only because it was only an engagement after all, and in fact there were so many examples of engagement and then dissolution, just think of Lucrezia's colorful and dazzling marriage history.

How long his marriage contract with Barendi will last, Alexander is not very optimistic.

Giuliano della Rovere, the future Pope of the God of War, Alexander did not think that he would be satisfied with marrying his daughter only to the nephew of the Count of Naples, perhaps he did need such a marriage contract now, but it is difficult to say what the future holds.

Just then, Alexander saw the archbishop open the manuscript and take out the piece of paper from the page that had been used as a bookmark.

"You should already know what is going on outside the city," the archbishop looked at Alexander, "the French have withdrawn from Piedmont, and now the coalition forces are attacking, and it may not be long before the French outside the city are eliminated." ”

Alexander nodded, it was because of this that he finally came out of his room.

And although he has been hiding in his room for the past few days, he is not immersed in the pain and sorrow of parting as many people think.

He was preparing for the changes that were coming.

As he had previously said to Sophia, with the advent of 1497, Rome would be plunged into a turmoil where a lot was about to happen, and it was only just the beginning.

"The French are in need of help at this time," the archbishop handed Alexander the piece of paper, "and I want you to do it." ”

Looking down at the piece of paper in his hand, when he saw that it was a letter addressed to the commander of the coalition forces, the first thought in Alexander's mind was that his future father-in-law was going to trap him!