A woman struggled to carry a dead branch that looked not much smaller than her on the road, because the dead branch was too heavy, she had to stop often to catch her breath, although the weather was cold, but she was sweating profusely because her mouth was dry and coughing hard.

"It would be nice to be able to keep warm like this, but I'm too tired and hungry," said the woman, muttering to herself, as if laughing at herself, she looked back, and with some despair found that she hadn't gone far, and then looked at the top of a large slope ahead, and she simply threw the branch on the ground and sat on it herself.

In such a cold weather, the woman who was covered in sweat after sitting down was too cold to die, she struggled to get up again, and when she was about to bend down to lift the branches, she saw two people walking towards her.

These were two men who didn't look special, dressed in ordinary clothes and with two ordinary faces, but the women sensed some kind of danger, because they looked at him a little strangely, which should not be a good intention.

The woman looked around uneasily, there was no one around the road, she straightened up and looked at the two people, hoping that they just happened to be on the same road with her, but they walked up to her, and one of them looked at the branches on the ground and asked curiously: "May I ask where you found this, I remember that almost everything that can be used for heating in the city of Rome is almost burned out, and some houses have already begun to burn furniture." ”

"This is what I found in the old square in front of me," the woman was a little relieved, after all, no one would be afraid of a dead branch, "You can also go there and look for it, although there are not too many, but if you go early, you can still find something that can be burned, this day is really about to freeze people." ”

The woman kindly reminded her that she wanted the two men to leave as soon as possible, but the two men were obviously not in a hurry to leave, one of them went around to the other side of the branch and patted the wood with his head down, then looked up at her with a strange smile and said, "No thanks, we want this." ”

The strange appearance of the man frightened the woman, and she couldn't help but take a step back just in time for the other person to block it, and just as she was about to open her mouth to scream, the man had already held her mouth down, and at the same time a short knife stabbed her in the stomach.

The woman's mouth was covered and she let out muffled screams, but this did not stop the man from committing the murder, and the two men pushed the woman to the ground and stabbed her with knives until she was completely silent.

"Let's go."

Two bloodstained murderers picked up branches and hurried away, this scene was seen by a beggar hiding under a doorway to avoid the cold, the beggar shrank in a corner in horror for fear of being discovered by the two, when they left, he couldn't stop screaming in terror from the street: "Come on, someone, murder!" ”

Just when people were angry that a woman would die because of a tree branch, another terrible thing happened on the other side of the city of Rome.

This time it was a half-grown child, and his body was found naked and thrown in a secluded garbage dump, and his clothes that were still warm were stripped away, and according to some people who saw the scene, the child was not violated, and the killer killed him only to rob him of his clothes.

There are many more tragedies and tragedies happening, someone has someone who has broken their head from behind with a stone because they have a bite to eat, someone's home has been broken into by gangsters and the whole family has suffered, for a time the city of Rome has become a mess, many evil deeds have bystanders when they happen, but no one stands up to stop them, on the contrary, these people will spread the evil deeds of the time afterwards, and the result of this is that people find that all this is actually not a special reason.

Often for a piece of fuel, for a piece of food, for a warm place to stay, such a simple thing became a reason for violence and even murder, and the bottom of the city of Rome fell into panic for a while.

Caesar Borgia walked angrily back and forth in the office of the Council of Order, the place where he had generously donated in his own name to the Council of Order, where the usual work of the Council of Order was carried out, and which Caesar liked, even more than his palatial bishop's office in the Vatican.

But now he was in a very bad mood, the riots in Rome made him keenly aware that things were not simple, but the riots came so suddenly that for a while he couldn't be sure who was causing panic, let alone where to start to stop the riots from expanding.

"Doesn't anyone know who these are?" Caesar angrily glanced at the group of nobles standing in front of him, these people were in charge of public safety in the meeting, but now these nobles could do nothing but helpless explanations.

"We're sorry, my lord, we don't know how all this happened, but I don't think there's any need to be in a hurry, after all, it's just a bunch of bastards who are getting around because it's too cold or they don't have anything to eat," said one nobleman, disapprovingly, "as long as the weather improves, and some grain and coal arrive, it should be fine, or we can send someone to a farther place to cut wood?" ”

"You think it's just something that happens because of a lack of clothes?" Caesar squinted at the nobleman with a mocking look, and seeing the other party's disapproving look, Caesar's lips moved, but in the end he did not impulsively say the following words: "Organize our people, order in the city must be restored as soon as possible, we call the Council of Order, if we can't make the people of Rome feel safe, then we are nothing." ”

The nobles nodded in greeting, and when they left, they bowed as they passed Giovanni Borgia as they stood in the doorway watching the scene.

"It's a conspiracy, I can feel that someone is plotting everything," and after everyone else had left, Caesar angrily said to Giovanni "Someone is targeting us, and their target is the Borgia family." ”

Giovanni nodded, this time he had the same opinion as Caesar: "You're right, but do you think it's useful to rely on these people, some of them are hoping for something bigger, so that all Borgias can be kicked out of the council." ”

"So we must be prepared for ourselves," said Caesar, looking at the open door, and in a low voice, "I have asked my father to allow me to use the Vatican's army, and if necessary, we will go on armed patrols as before, and I am fed up with the flattery that surrounds us all day long, but I will turn my face and count our family fools, and this time I will do it alone." ”

Giovanni looked carefully into Caesar's eyes, and then patted him lightly on the cheek from behind: "Listen to my brother, I will only support you in this matter, although we may not get along in some places, but we are both Borgias, and I will not disagree with you in this matter." ”

Clenching his fists hard, Caesar grabbed Giovanni's hand with a little excitement, then lowered his voice and said, "I have to tell you one more thing, someone has reported that Lucrezia's husband seems to be involved in a conspiracy against our family. ”

Giovanni's face didn't show a look of surprise because of this, he just opened his mouth slightly to say something, and then gently raised his hand and stretched out a finger to make a silent gesture.

"I don't want to say anything about this, I think the only one who can decide what to do," seeing that Caesar was about to speak, he made another gesture to stop, "Don't forget that this is about the alliance between us and Sforza, my father was willing to pay a huge sum of 30,000 Durant to Lucrezia as a dowry, in the end in exchange for a strong ally, and now Sforza is fighting the French in Piedmont, and it is not a good time to clash with them at this time." ”

Giovanni's words calmed Caesar's anger at the mention of Sforza slightly, and he knew that Giovanni was right, although the war with the French was temporarily suspended because of the cold winter, but once it came next spring, the war prepared by the two sides after a winter would not only continue, but would probably have a decisive result, and it would indeed be unwise to openly break with the Sforza family, who were important players in the anti-French alliance.

"But Giovanni may have been so unscrupulous because he knew we would be afraid of this, and he even instructed Sanroni's mines to cut off the coal used for heating in the city of Rome." Caesar said angrily.

"That's what the Gombray told you, I didn't expect him to leave Rome and still affect you." Giovanni's tone was slightly sarcastic, and seeing Caesar's unhappy eyes, he added, "You know that I am not against your decision in this matter, but I just hope that you will think more about the possible consequences, and you know that I am not your enemy." ”

Caesar nodded, knowing that Giovanni was right, and that the relationship with Sforza should indeed be decided by their father, Pressure Mountain VI.

"But now I must first settle the troubles before me," said Caesar, with a gloomy face, "and must calm down before things get worse." ”

Giovanni nodded in agreement, and then he pondered, "Have you thought about it, maybe we can ask the French for help." ”

"French?"

Caesar looked at Giovanni in some surprise, then sat down thoughtfully.

Giovanni didn't bother his brother anymore. He walked out of Caesar's office, and when one of his attendants came to him, he whispered: "Get someone to tell my dear brother-in-law, he seems to be in great trouble." ”

Outside, it seems to be becoming more and more uneasy and peaceful, and many people are afraid to go out alone.

But even at home it is not safe, and what was originally just an attack on ordinary civilians has begun to grow as some of the wealthy have been attacked.

To make matters worse, while Caesar was still considering the need to mobilize the Vatican's troops without trying to irritate the sensitive Roman nobility and the French, an attack on the nobility shook all the Romans.

An aristocratic couple was ready to have a good time with a group of friends on a boring winter day, so they used enough firewood to have a few sheep and enough pheasants slaughtered, and the hostess even had the servants marinate a large piece of wild boar meat with enough precious spices.

Then the couple began to call friends and set up a feast to feast on.

But they didn't expect that in addition to their friends who drank and meat, there was also a group of uninvited guests who had become extremely dangerous because of cold and hunger.

No one knew how it happened, and when the servants found out about the guys who had sneaked into the house, they immediately smashed the servants' heads with the bronze tools they grabbed from their hands, and then they began to attack the panicked nobles in a frenzy.

The man was blinded by a red-hot wood poke in the confusion, and the woman had her throat cut with a meat knife.

The house was looted of its valuables, and when the city guards arrived, all they were left with was a bloodstained and messy ruin.

This kind of crazy and brutal behavior really frightened many people, especially some nobles, who could never have imagined that one day they would be attacked.

The Florentine civilian attack on or even the removal of the Medici family had shocked all the Italian city-states, but the nobles elsewhere still had no idea that such a thing would befall them.

Now, the tragedy of the public killing of a nobleman in Rome has frightened everyone.

Caesar, who was still hesitating, immediately appealed to the Vatican for help, and his army, which had been waiting for the Tiber River, immediately crossed the Tiber River bridge connecting the two banks of the river and entered the old city of Rome.

Unlike before, the Romans calmly and even joyfully accepted the fact that the Vatican army had entered the city of Rome, and although the number of troops was actually limited, the Romans were greatly relieved.

But what Caesar didn't expect was that just when he thought he had taken control of the city of Rome, which was becoming increasingly chaotic, an even bigger riot suddenly came without warning.

The first thing to happen was the large communal bath at the southern end of the old town.

In order to defend against the allied attack, the French barely established a line of defense at the southern end of the city of Rome, which can only be described as loose.

The Great Bath was a tacit line between the French stationed south of the city and the Council of Order, and in order to avoid conflict, both sides tried not to let their own people cross this marker.

However, in this way, the area around the large communal bath has become an uncontrolled area.

The riots first broke out in the streets near the large communal baths, and no one knows exactly what caused them in the first place, and no one even knows when they began, but a sudden chaos swept from the vicinity of the large baths.

In the middle of the night, a few people who had kept their own country very well climbed up to the attic of the house opposite the Marino Palace, and when they saw their companions who were already waiting there, several people walked over and exchanged hugs and greetings with the man.

"All ready?" The man put on the mask again.

"Yes, tonight is destined to be a lively night." A man hands a sword to the masked man.

Watching his companions take out the prepared weapons from their tightly wrapped clothes, the masked man turned his head to look at the Marino Palace opposite: "Then let's start here, starting with the woman." ”