On January 31, 1500, the birthday celebration of Pope Alexander VI took place as scheduled, and although the preparations were a little hasty, the Vatican's proud wealth made up for many of the shortcomings.

The procession begins in the morning from the famous Colosseum and begins its procession around the city of Rome, with a group of clergy in red vestments representing all the bishops of the diocese, while a full hundred choir boys in splendid clothes sing blessed hymns to the Pope with their sweet voices.

The procession marched through the streets and alleys, slowly under the watchful eyes of the Romans along the way, until it crossed the bridge over the Tiber to the Vatican and passed the Angel Castle into the Vatican in the afternoon.

During this period, the most striking feature of the procession was a bull painted in gold, apparently a reference to the bull on the Borgia family crest.

The whole celebration ceremony can be described as gorgeous, or extravagant, but all this can't hide the fact that everyone can't ignore it, that is, the protagonist who originally planned all this did not appear.

Caesar's disappearance was no secret, so when many people saw Alexander and Lucrezia standing next to the Pope in the early morning, they were not surprised, but most people looked at the family with an almost amusement gaze.

The Borgia are a group of savage, cunning, and ferocious and greedy beasts from Iberia, many Romans believe so, and there are many versions of Giovanni Sforza's death before the legend, in addition to Alexander's poisoning theory, there is also a theory that Giovanni Sforza broke the taboo relationship between Lucrezia and her family and was killed, and some even say that the father and son sometimes enjoyed Lucrezia's beauty together.

As for Giovanni Borgia's death, it is also believed by many to be Caesar's fault, and the reasons are competition, jealousy, jealousy, and so on.

In the eyes of outsiders, this is a family that is completely made up of lies, murder and reluctance, but now seeing the infighting in this family, many people actually feel very happy.

"Be glad dear, don't keep your face calm," said Alexander VI, dressed in the splendid costume of an ancient Roman emperor, instead of wearing a majestic robe and crown, to Lucrezia, who was standing on the steps below, and at the same time he raised his hand and greeted the people with the scepter in his hand, which also imitated the staff of an ancient Roman emperor, "Don't let them see the sadness and uneasiness on your face, then they will think of us as a joke even more, and don't forget what I told you, no matter what happens between you, you are family." ”

Hearing her father's command, Lucrezia barely managed to collect her mood and put a smile on her face, but her eyes still couldn't hide the loss and pain.

"Father, Caesar is too much, he shouldn't be like this, I don't even want to see him again," Lucrezia said with a wave of her hand in a tone more annoyed and sad, "He wants to kill Alexander, he wants to kill my daughter's father, how can I forgive him." ”

"But he's always your brother," the Pope said, pressing his thin hands on the shoulders of Lucrezia and Alexander, respectively, in front of him, "Although he has done something sorry for you, don't forget that he is your family and brother after all, and if I come to an end in the future, I hope you will treat him well, I don't count on Jeffrey," the Pope said, looking at Geoffrey and Charsan who were standing a little further away, which made him happen to see Jeffrey's expressionless appearance and the hateful gaze that Charsan was throwing at Alexander. Remember that you are the only ones who are my children, so I hope that you will love each other in the future, so that I will be happy for you even if I go to hell instead of going to heaven because of my sin. ”

Alexander VI's words made Lucrezia unable to contain her grief any longer, and she turned and threw herself into her father's arms, letting out a low "woo" that could be suppressed as much as possible.

Alexander looked back at the Pope, he didn't know if Alexander VI was playing the bitter trick or the sad card, but the old man's words also touched his heart.

Alexander VI was by no means a good man, but he was sincere about his family, and perhaps because of his Iberian character, Rodriguez Borgia had an unusually strong sense of family, which made him even think that even if he was deeply hurt by his relatives, he should be forgiven, and that there was no overnight feud between relatives, and Borgia would always be a family.

It's just that Alexander really can't believe such a touching statement from the Pope, after all, thinking about the black history of the Borgia family's pit son-in-law, people can't believe him.

However, the Pope's words still made Alexander's heart move slightly, watching the Pope lovingly touch the top of Lucrezia's head with his hand and comfort her in a low voice, and then showed a smile to tease Estles, who was uneasy because of his mother's sudden crying, Alexander's heart suddenly flashed a hidden thought in his heart: "The old man's lifespan is only these two years......"

The 214th Pope, Alexander VI, Rodríguez Borgia, reigned for 11 years and is now in his eighth year.

After Alexander VI, there will be a very unfortunate short-lived Pope Pius III, who was called only two months from the succession to the ascension to the throne due to physical reasons, and before the throne under his ass was hot.

As a result, three popes appeared in the same year, and the successor of Pius III was Julius II, Giuliano della Roverre, who was later known as the Pope of the God of War.

And Julius II's decisiveness and ruthlessness, ambition and action also made him one of the most influential popes in the history of Christendom!

Alexander's eyes narrowed slightly, and he turned his head slightly to look at the large expanses of striking red not far away, where sat the cardinals who were resident in the Vatican, and among the powerful and most of them old and decrepit, there stood a figure that could not be ignored by any matter how they looked.

Giuliano de la Rovere had been a soldier in his early years, and had personally commanded armies in the west, so he was not one of those cardinals who had become worse with age, but rather a sturdy body, and now he was only in his 50s, and there were still many years for him to spend time with a healthy enough body and Alexander VI, who was obviously already a little old.

As far as Alexander knew, in less than three years, Alexander VI would have died in a rather confusing and strange accident, and in his opinion, even if the current pope had not had that accident, it seemed that he might not have survived the old Rovere.

This is probably one of the important reasons why the old Rovere dared to publicly claim to seek the papal throne, after all, for the Vatican, even if no matter what Alexander VI's character is, just considering that in order to avoid the turmoil caused by the frequent death of the pope, there will be many people who prefer to bet on the old Rovere who seems to be able to survive longer.

It's just that through dealing with him in the past few years, Alexander has clearly felt that old Rovere doesn't seem to be very reliable, so is it a pros or cons for him to let this old man become the pope, Alexander narrowed his eyes slightly.

The winter in the Potico Palace is a bit depressed, except for some hardy plants, the whole garden in front of the palace looks very dry, the yellow leaves in the Romanesque domed pavilion that originally lingered with Lucrezia are flying in the wind, sitting in it is blown by the wind blowing in all directions, even if it is very thick, but the body still feels cold.

Lucrezia sat on a thick cushion and looked out at the garden, remembering the dangerous scene when she was almost assassinated here, when Caesar had saved her desperately, which made her even think at that moment, "Maybe my brother is the one who can protect her life".

This inexplicable and unsettling feeling was not until she met Alexander, and then in Pisa, when Alexander asked her to choose whether to leave or stay, and Lucrezia, who had made the final decision, understood the true desire in her heart, and also felt the absurdity and ridiculousness of the strange idea before.

But Caesar is still her brother after all, but there is already a tilted balance in her heart, especially the birth of her daughter makes the balance in Lucrezia's heart more inclined to one side, she still cares so much about and loves Caesar, but she didn't expect Caesar to hurt her relatives who are more important to her again and again.

"Alexander, are we never going to get rid of this curse," Lucrezia said to Alexander, who was sitting across from her, rubbing her hands together to warm her up, "I know what other people think of our family, and I also know that those people openly talk about Giovanni's murder by Caesar, although I will never believe that this is true, but now that he has tried to murder you again and again, is it true that our family is cursed to hurt each other like this?" ”

"Trust me baby, I won't be murdered, because I haven't found a crown for you and our daughter yet, and I think it's more than just a duke or duchess, so since I'm not done yet, I can't be killed by someone halfway," Alexander said, raising his hand and grabbing Lucrezia's left hand, who was so frightened that he wanted to cover his mouth because he heard this, "I'm serious, I think since our daughter has a pretty little head, Then she was born to wear ......," Alexander whispered, putting his lips close to Lucrezia's ear, "a crown." ”

Lucrezia's breathing stagnated for a moment, and then it became rapid, and she turned her head slightly in surprise to look at the look on Alexander's face who was close in front of her, this was the first time she had heard Alexander say so clearly about his daughter's future arrangements: "Crown? ”

"Yes, I know that I am now called the King of Rome," Alexander said, moving his head, for he did not really like the title that much, because it always reminded him of a short-lived and unfortunate second generation of emperors, and that unfortunate boy never inherited anything useful except for his father's bloodline, "Although I don't really like this title, and I know that I am not actually the king of Rome, it does not prevent my daughter from becoming a true queen one day." ”

Lucrezia listened to Alexander's words with rapid breathing, she had always been very worried about her daughter's future, as Alexander's wife, Barendi had a natural irresistible advantage, as long as her stomach was angry, no matter whether she gave birth to a boy or a woman after nine months, she could confidently fight for the throne of the future Duchy of Romagna-Tuscany for her child, and Estelles's future may really be "wronged to rule the two small places of Pisa and Florence".

But now Alexander's promise has opened her eyes to a future that she had never dared to imagine before.

Not a duchy, not even a crown of the Grand Duchy, Alexander promised her a crown!

"He wants to conquer all the city-states and establish a kingdom in Rome!" This thought made Lucrezia forget even the cold and howling wind around her, but only the man in front of her.

"Trust me, it's all going to happen," Alexander said, tapping his forehead to Lucrezia's white, cold forehead, "and I promise you that we'll get more in the future, because there's a big enough world to conquer." ”

Alexander's promise made Lucrezia just nod her head, she didn't really understand what Alexander was talking about, but it didn't matter, as long as she knew that the future of herself and her daughter would be better than the present.

Thinking of this, Lucrezia exhaled, and the white mist erupted from her mouth and immediately disappeared with the wind, which also made her seem to finally get rid of the invisible depression that was suppressed in her chest.

"Promise me if one day Caesar will murder you," Lucrezia paused, her face flashing with a hint of struggle and sadness, but she continued in the end, "Don't forget that you have a family and a daughter who are waiting for you to fulfill your promise for them. ”

Alexander nodded slightly, then touched the cold but comfortable smooth forehead of his lover in front of him.

At the same time, Lucrezia sighed helplessly in her heart: Caesar, for God's sake, I hope you don't do stupid things anymore.

With the end of the birthday celebrations of Pope Alexander VI, the city of Rome also ushered in February 1500.

It's just that for the Romans, they were not concerned with what time it was, but with the Montina armies who still occupied Rome.

Landing from Fiumicino and suddenly entering Rome was the 2nd Balkan Regiment of the Montina Army, commanded by Paolo Busaco.

The occupation of Bologna, which had previously been regarded by everyone as reckless and even unwise, made the head of the 2nd Balkan Regiment, who had been by Alexander's side for a long time and was obviously not as famous as Gompati and Oflei, suddenly become a celebrity.

This made even some Roman nobles who originally wanted to make waves a lot more honest, after all, this person dared to invade the papal territory without receiving an order without any scruples, and now he is obviously authorized by the order of that Gombray, then only God knows what horrific things this daring ** will do.

As a result of all these legends, although only two-thirds of the Balkan Regiment arrived, or about 2,000 soldiers, they were able to firmly control the whole city of Rome.

The city of Rome was a paradise for the Balkan peasants, as can be seen from the insatiable greed of the barbarians who invaded Rome centuries ago, but now the descendants of these barbarians themselves are beginning to taste the unease of being coveted.

Alexander brought with him the huntsmen, all veterans who had followed him to the Balkans, who had been quickly assigned to the Balkan Regiment, and these veterans, who could at least communicate with the Balkans in language, became the junior officers of the entire regiment, and Alexander made a suggestion that surprised the Pope.

"Reassembling the Vatican Army?" Alexander VI looked at his cheap son-in-law suspiciously, he couldn't guess Alexander's thoughts, if Alexander insisted on disbanding the Papal Army, he would be able to understand, and even if the banner of the Papal Army was returned, it did not mean that he would really allow the Vatican to rearm.

But now listening to Alexander's advice, the Pope felt a little incomprehensible.

"Do you mean mercenaries," Alexander VI muttered slightly, and although he didn't understand Alexander's true intentions, it sounded like the whole suggestion was good, "We've hired those troops before, but look at their performance, I think even if it's not against your Montinates, their performance is bad enough." ”

Looking at the pope's half-truthful annoyance, Alexander smiled lightly, speaking of which Caesar's training is actually very good, at least in Alexander's opinion, if it is not the second Balkan regiment, but some other army, maybe the papal army can still fight better, at least in history, Caesar relied on this army to be majestic for a while.

"Maybe there is something wrong with the hired soldiers," Alexander said consciously or unconsciously, "of course you have to buy better goods for the same money, and the same goes for the mercenaries, otherwise you will spend the money in vain." ”

"But where to find reliable mercenaries, you must know that those people are slippery." Seeing that Alexander did seem to be making a suggestion, the Pope couldn't help but get serious.

"I suppose there is a place where soldiers are reliable," Alexander suggested to the old man with a smile, "the Swiss are obviously a good choice, they are brave and strong-willed because of their faith in God, and above all they have strict discipline and a high sense of honor, which make them the best mercenaries, although they are a little more expensive, but I don't think it will be a problem for you." On the other hand, if you can recruit them personally in the dignity of the Pope, it will certainly be a great honor for the Swiss, and it will be enough for them to do their duty for the Holy See, and you can even recruit a Swiss mercenary as a privilege for them, I think it will be enough to inspire their sense of honor and responsibility. ”

Alexander VI listened carefully to the words of his cheap son-in-law, and as Alexander described, the look on the pope's face went from day to day.

After a while, he suddenly asked, "Tell me, what's in it for you?" ”

"There are still advantages," Alexander replied calmly, without concealing it, "because I want your reign to last a little longer, at least for the best of Lucrezia." ”

Speaking of this, Alexander paused slightly, as if wondering if he should say the following, but then he spoke: "As for the cost of finding a Swiss mercenary, if you want to save money, I have some way to guarantee that I can give you a good price." ”

Listening to Alexander's advice, the Pope could not help but fall into deep thought.

On the side, Nomelo, who had been silently watching this scene, couldn't help but shake his head secretly.

What a peculiar family, the private secretary pondered in his heart.