The road was full of potholes and mud after the rain, and the sewage splashed by passing horses and vehicles from time to time splashed on passers-by, causing bursts of scolding.

The wheels of a carriage jolted in the puddle and rolled forward with a large cloud of sludge, and a vendor standing by the cart spat on the back of the carriage wiping his dirty clothes.

Of course, the people in the car did not know that a civilian was so unreasonable to him, and in the car with thick curtains, Jeffrey was playing with a ruby ring on his finger.

This ring may seem ordinary, but it means a lot to Jeffrey.

It was a token sent to him by Ferdinand, and this ruby ring testified to Ferdinand's promise to him.

Jeffrey had just left a prestigious cardinal, a prominent supporter of old Rovelle, whose purpose was to expose the perverse relationship between his father and his sister Lucrezia.

He proved to the cardinal that Lucrezia's son, Joanne the Younger, was not the child of the Duke of Thesia, but of his father's creation, and that his sister had had a relationship with him long before he met the Duke of Thesia.

According to Geoffrey, it was this that Alexander VI did his best to facilitate the relationship between Lucrezia and Cambrai, so that he could cover up the terrible crimes he had committed.

The cardinal, apparently stunned by Geoffrey's words, asked in a skeptical tone if Geoffrey knew what he was talking about, to get a clear understanding of him, that he was accusing a pope and his biological father and sister.

Jeffrey's answer was that "everything I say is because of the conscience of a true Christian and the dignity of an aristocracy".

Jeffrey couldn't forget the incredulous look in the cardinal's look at him, but there was an unconcealable ecstasy.

Jeffrey hadn't met Lucrezia's son, but the thought that the child's name was Giovanni was enough to cause him to be angry.

Even if a long time has passed, he can't forget the ambiguous relationship between his wife Xia San and Giovanni, so when Giovanni was killed, he even risked being mistaken for the murderer, and said to Xia San in a mean tone: "Once I am not sad about his death, the only regret is that I am late." ”

His words became known to Alexander VI, who, after being harshly reprimanded, said to him in a sarcastic tone: "If Giovanni was really killed by you, as angry as I am, it at least proves that you have the guts to be a conspirator, but in fact you don't even have the courage to be a murderer." ”

Geoffrey will never forget the look in which Alexander VI looked at him, not just disgust from suspicion of his origins, but complete contempt.

From that time on, Geoffrey swore in his heart that one day he would completely destroy everyone in the Borgia family, even if he himself had such a status because of this surname.

So when he learned that the elder Rovere was trying to depose Alexander VI, Jeffrey immediately took the initiative to find Alexander VI's old enemy without hesitation.

And when Ferdinand's people had just revealed to her the temptation, he unreservedly showed his willingness to cooperate with Ferdinand.

And his only condition is that one day he will drive Giovanni's wife and children away and become Duke of Gandino himself.

Jeffrey rubbed the ruby from the ring with a piece of velvet, believing that the news he had just revealed to the cardinal would soon reach old Rovere.

Jeffrey played a trick here, and he did not tell old Rovere about it, but only the cardinal, which he had in mind to sell.

After all, it may not be so reliable to be relayed by others, and I believe that old Rovere must want to hear the story from him with his own ears, so he must prepare the chips for exchange in advance.

Jeffrey thought it might be possible to try to get the elder Rovere to support his wife, Chassan, for the Naples throne.

The unification of Naples with Sicily made Sicily a powerful state, and today the Queen of Sicily has no heirs.

With the death of members of the Neapolitan royal family, Chasan suddenly became the closest to the throne of the Neapolitan royal family.

This was something that no one had thought of before, and Jeffrey couldn't help but be moved.

If the Queen of Sicily dies without a queen, then it may not be impossible for Chasan to inherit the throne of Naples or even the entire Sicily as a Neapolitan line.

Although this idea may sound like a pipe dream, what if it comes true?

And even if it doesn't work out, it doesn't hurt, and maybe even use this to bargain with Ferdinand.

When he thought of this, Jeffrey felt that he still had some skills as a conspirator.

He was anxious to see how Alexander VI would be angry when he heard the rumors about him, and finally Lucrezia, he didn't care what she would think.

Horse-drawn carriages waddled down the streets, thanks to the complex urban drainage system that Rome had built centuries earlier, and although the Tiber River had several major floods since the beginning of autumn, most of the city was not threatened by flooding.

As for the famous Seven Mounds, there is no need to worry about flooding those places.

The carriage drove along the Tiber River in the direction of Xilian Mountain, and from time to time the raging water slapped ashore and splashed a large wave.

Jeffrey looked at the rolling murky river and didn't think of Giovanni.

Giovanni's death became a mystery, and after all this time, his murderer was never found.

Jeffrey sometimes wondered what Giovanni had been going through in the last years of his life, and what he was thinking at the time.

However, he obviously could not imagine the scene, and he only remembered that he almost laughed out loud when he saw Giovanni's corpse.

Maybe he's going to laugh again, but the thought that Xia San seems to be close to that Mahimo lately, his original good mood suddenly turns bad again.

Someday he was going to kill that Mahimo as well, and Jeffrey had set himself a small goal, which he felt was not a difficult task, after all, he could get a papal crown to land, and it should be much easier to deal with a cardinal.

The carriage shook twice and turned onto the road leading to Xilian Mountain.

The sound of the river surging behind him became quieter and quieter, and Jeffrey waved his fist in the carriage from time to time, and he guessed that Xia San must be fooling around with that Mahimo somewhere at this time, which made him hate that man even more.

The carriage shook violently twice, and Jeffrey, who was sitting in the carriage, was suddenly staggered, and his head hit the plank so hard that he could not help but let out a cry of pain.

"What foolish are you doing!"

Jeffrey slammed his fist twice on the board and scolded the driver, and just as he was thinking about getting rid of the clumsy guy when he returned, he suddenly heard a short scream.

Just when Jeffrey was stunned and didn't understand what was happening, suddenly there was a screeching sound, and the carriage swayed and slid down the slope!

Jeffrey cried out in panic, clutching at a protruding plank and trying to peek out of the window, but the carriage slid faster and faster down the slope.

With the painful creaking sound of the body, Jeffrey felt as if the car could collapse and crack at any moment.

Finally, with a dull thud, the wheels, which could not bear the violent jolting, shattered into several pieces, and the overturned carriage immediately rolled down the slippery road like a huge barrel.

Jeffrey cried out in terror, and in the midst of the rolling he saw the Tiber River getting closer and closer, and with a cry of horror and despair, the carriage, which had been almost completely shattered, slammed into a stone on the bank of the river, first bounced upward, and then crashed into the river.

The carriage kept tumbling in the river, and a hand could be faintly seen poking out through the crack in the broken door, but soon the carriage overturned, and the turbid river wrapped the wreckage of the carriage like a large pile of debris, rolling downstream.

Someone saw this terrible tragedy, and they gathered on the bank of the river to point fingers, but no one was willing to help the poor victim in the car.

"An unfortunate nobleman," said one man, and threw a few stones into the river, as if that would make the carriage sink faster. ”

"Should we report this to the city guards, then maybe we can get a bounty."

The other suggested this, which immediately attracted the attention of the others, and several people quickly turned around and ran towards the nearest city garrison.

Among these crowds, a middle-aged man who looked inconspicuous also stood in the crowd watching the carriage that gradually disappeared into the river, until it was completely out of sight, and then the man easily packed up the slightly tattered travel robe on his body, squeezed out of the crowd with a backpack that looked like a backpack for going out for business, and walked into the distance.

In the half-mountain villa, old Rovere stands alone by the garden wall near the slope of the back hill, looking at the city of Rome below.

He vaguely remembered that Alexander seemed to like the scenery so much that he liked to spend more time in the garden every time he came to visit.

Old Rovere didn't really like this place, although he could overlook the whole city from a high vantage point, but he felt that it was too remote, and it was even farther away from the Vatican.

Now he was the only one in the villa, and Constantin was still in Ferrara, and he was now eagerly awaiting the implementation of the Lombard Accords, and then he could take office as his Duke of Milan.

Barentia, on the other hand, had not returned for a long time, or rather, before she had officially married Alexander, she had made Montina her home, not here, let alone Genoa.

Old Roverley felt lonely, and he felt that his children had no conscience as the young men of other families he knew, and that when they grew up, they went their separate ways, and did not care about their parents at all.

Thinking of this, old Rovere shook his head, and he found that he was suddenly a little sentimental, which made him feel that he was really a little old.

A servant came briskly, first reporting to him of the cardinal's visit, and then to report that an officer of the city guard had asked for his summons. though

Old Rovere was somewhat surprised, he knew that since Alexander VI's secretary Nomelo became the Roman tribune, this man had firmly controlled the city defense army in his own hands, so it was somewhat abrupt that an officer of the city defense army would come to see him.

This made old Rovere wary, he did not know if there was any conspiracy involved, but the cardinal's visit had relieved him somewhat.

Nomelo wouldn't be stupid enough to get along with two cardinals at the same time, and if the Roman tribune was also Alexander's, he wouldn't have gone too far.

Old Rovere decided to meet the city defense officer first, but he didn't expect that the other party would bring him news that made him slightly stunned.

"Jeffrey Borgia?"

"Yes, my lordship, this is a pity," replied the officer respectfully, "Your Excellency has ordered me to report this news to you at once, and if you have anything you want me to bring back?" ”

"Please tell Lord Nomerlo...... Oh no, so be it. ”

Old Roverley stopped at the end of his mouth, waved his hand to signal for the officer to leave, and then he stroked his thick gray beard under his chin and fell into deep thought.

It was not until the servant reported to him that the cardinal had arrived that old Rovere awoke from the dust, and he looked at the cardinal, who seemed to have discovered some treasure in excitement, with a questioning look.

"My lord, I have good news for you, that Jeffrey Borgia visited me not long ago, and he said something that you must be very interested in."

A brief trance flashed across Old Rovere's face, and he casually motioned to the bishop to tell him what he meant.

The Bishop immediately excitedly reported to him Jeffrey's accusations, and from time to time he would share his thoughts on the matter.

"This will completely discredit him, no, it will go straight to hell," the bishop made no secret of his ill feelings towards Alexander VI "We have been firmly grasped by a villain all these years, and the reputation of the Vatican has been ruined to the extreme, and now we finally have a chance to get rid of this dishonorable man." ”

Old Rovere listened quietly, and at the same time quickly wondered what kind of relationship there was between what he had just heard about what had happened to Jeffrey and what the Bishop had said.

As to whether Jeffrey lost his life because of this stupid act, old Roverley had no doubt at all.

His only surprise was that "those people" would do so quickly.

Thinking that it was Nomelo's officers who reported the incident to him, and recalling the relationship between Nomelo and Alexander, old Rovere felt that he had understood something.

This is undoubtedly an undisguised warning!

Although the elder Rovere chose to cooperate with Alexander VI in the matter of Geoffrey in exchange for the support of two Alexanders for Constantine to become the Duke of Milan, this does not mean that he will willingly give up this good opportunity if he can give Alexander VI a fatal blow.

Because of this, "those people" revealed the matter to Jeffrey as soon as they decided to kill him, apparently warning him not to make any decisions about Alexander VI's father and daughter.

As for who "those people" are, old Rovie has a number in his heart.

Cardinal Massimo, Tribune Nomerlo, and perhaps Giovanni de Medici, who is also a cardinal.

Old Rovere had always wondered why the Medici family seemed unimpressed by Alexander's annexation of Florence, and on many occasions they showed support for the pressure, which made him wonder why there might be some unknown deal between Alexander and the Medici.

The bishop was still excitedly making all kinds of suggestions, until he finally noticed that old Rovere did not seem to be in high spirits.

"My friend, I'm very grateful for everything you've done for me, but this time we may not be able to do anything," Old Rovie sneered a little sarcastically, "Some people are too anxious, but it's better to have at least less trouble." ”

"What are you talking about?" The bishop asked, puzzled.

"Well, not long after leaving your lodgings, Geoffrey Borgia's carriage fell into the Tiber by accident."

Looking at the bishop's face that was incredulous at first, and then turned pale after instantly understanding something, old Rovere said in a deep voice: "That's why I said that some people are too anxious, this matter is ......."

He shook his head and looked at the cardinal, who seemed to be unconscious from fear, and a subtle disappointment flashed in his eyes.

After the cardinal had left, old Rovere slowly walked out into the garden, and looked at the city of Rome down the hill like Alexander, and he fell into deep thought again.

After I don't know how long, old Rovere finally seemed to have figured out something, and walked back into the house and began to write letters.

"My dear Barondi, as a father I have to care about your present situation, if Alexander still does not give you a formal invitation to go to Castile, I think you should seriously consider how to deal with this situation, well, there is a good opportunity before us, I think it will help you to fulfill your wish as soon as possible......"

Looking at the back of the messenger leaving, old Roviere's heart was slightly relieved.

Just when he heard the news that Jeffrey was chasing the river, he was also a little out of shape because of his accident and uneasiness, but now old Rovere felt that this was not necessarily a bad thing.

If Jeffrey used to be a bear child, now he's a scourge that could cause trouble for everyone.

So after the initial accident, although the old Rovere saw threats and warnings from Jeffrey's death, he also saw a good opportunity for his son to realize the dream of the Duke of Milan as soon as possible.

"Rodrigo, let me help you one more time, and then it's time for you to give me something back."

Old Rovere looked at the Vatican looming in the distance and whispered to himself, and he suddenly realized that he understood a little bit why Alexander liked this place.