The sun shines brightly in the huge rose garden, and the flowers look beautiful and charming.

Prato was staring at a rose, he had been looking at the flower in front of him for some time, because Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess had to coax the two children to take a nap, so he could only wait here.

Prato quickly turned around and saw Sophia, accompanied by a female attendant, walking up the stairs from an exit in the hallway, and he immediately took a few quick steps forward to meet him.

"Your Highness, I have sent you a batch of goods that are needed in the Bucharest court, many of which are considered the most luxurious treasures even in Rome, and the other things that you asked me to buy for you from Naples," seeing Sofia's eyes, Prato quickly took advantage of the situation and said, "There is also some news about the Duchy of Quetea in Rome." ”

Sophia nodded a little impatiently, she was obviously a little impatient, and after hastily waving her hand to spare Prato from those red tape, she couldn't wait to take the list handed by the merchant, just looking at the dense entries and numbers on it, the archduchess's face gradually became unpleasant.

"Does Your Highness need me to read it to you?" Prato asked cautiously, and when he saw the murderous look in the Grand Duchess's eyes from the top of the list, the merchant immediately shrunk his neck in amusement.

Prato was a little scared of Sophia now, which had something to do with the stupid things he had done before.

Shortly after Alexander left Wallachia, a merchant brought a letter from Montina to Barentia, but because Alexander had already left, the letter fell into Sophia's hands.

Eager to know what was in the letter, Sophia was not stupid enough to let anyone else read it for herself, so she struggled with her curiosity until Prato arrived, and then let the merchant read it for herself.

This was somewhat difficult for Prato, because in addition to the longing of the duchess-to-be for the duke, some of the contents of the letter were really not enough for outsiders to understand, so Prato cleverly decided to change the way he opened it slightly.

In his mind, the fact that the female archduke was illiterate was somewhat of a good thing at this time, and it should not be a big problem.

However, he still underestimated Sophia's curiosity and caution, and when she heard Prato stammering her beliefs in fits and starts, Sophia's suspicions became more and more serious, so she simply copied some words and phrases on different pieces of paper for others to see.

As you can imagine, the merchant is a complete tragedy.

Prato, who had been hung on a stake by Sofia's orders for a long time, became the laughing stock of the Bucharest court for a long time, and from then on he was really afraid of the Archduchess, who was not only short-tempered, but also moody.

Sophia motioned to the waitress next to her to read the contents of the list to herself, and listening to the numbers on it, her originally wrinkled face slowly relaxed.

"20 guns, 50 light horns, and 300 Bohemian cavalry muskets." The lady-in-waiting read the above contents, and from time to time glanced at the merchant standing in front with a smug face, "And the cavalry cuirass specially prepared for your guard, Your Highness is this." ”

Sophia looked at Prato with a serious look, and then nodded solemnly, but she was about to say something She suddenly waved her hand towards the distance of the garden, Prato couldn't help but turn her head to follow, and saw the "adoptive father" of the female archduke walking slowly, Prato couldn't help frowning secretly.

Just as Prato didn't like Nashan very much, Nashan also didn't have a good impression of this cunning merchant, and when he saw the list in the lady's hand, Nashan muttered, "Oh, I'm cheating again." ”

"My goods are genuine," said Prato dissatisfied, "and they are all in demand, even though some of the Romantesian troops are not yet equipped, and they are in trouble right now." ”

Prato's words made Sofia stand up suddenly, and her eyes were fixed on Prato, as if to ask him to continue.

"You don't know yet, the French are looking for trouble with the Duke," Prato hastened to report, "the army of King Louis XII of France is attacking the Duchy of Thesia in Rome, and I have heard that many countries, including the Emperor and the Venetians, have joined forces with the Duke, but the French are too powerful, and the Duke does not seem to be in the country now, which is really a bit bad." ”

Sofia listened stunned, tilting her head to see if her father seemed to want to know if what Prato said was true. Seeing Nashan shrug her shoulders indifferently, Sophia's face sank.

"My dear, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but you know that you're in a lot of trouble right now, that Herva is now entangled on the Wallachian border, and the Bosnians may fight you at any time," Nashan originally thought that he would be able to pass the test by explaining this way, but seeing his daughter's still heavy face, he could only continue to say helplessly, "This is indeed what the nobles asked me to say, but you know that it is also for your own good." ”

Sophia made an angry expression, she looked a little cute, but the people around her were somewhat afraid, they knew that the Grand Duchess had a bad temper, and more importantly, she had a bold and almost reckless determination that no one else had, and often when others thought that she should be cautious, she had already solved the matter in a sudden way.

This may seem reckless, but it is clear that in Wallachia, where the aristocracy that had maintained order had only recently experienced a bloody catastrophe, the Grand Duchess's irascible manner had played a role that no one else had thought of at this time.

Sophia walked back and forth, she suddenly stopped, grabbed a rose with her hand and twisted it hard, and then crushed the beautiful petals with her hand.

Not being able to speak up did cause Sophia a lot of trouble, but it didn't prevent her from showing some determination, and seeing her daughter's annoyed look, Nashan knew that Sophia was really angry this time.

Suddenly, Sophia began to gesture incessantly to the waitress, and when she finally got an answer, she beckoned to Prato and motioned for him to follow her towards the courtiers' offices.

The sudden arrival of the Grand Duchess surprised the group of ministers who were in the middle of the meeting, and they all stood up and bowed, while glancing at Prato, who was following behind.

Everyone knew that this man was the mouthpiece of the Duke of Thehir in Rome, or rather the duke's personal diplomat, so no one would ignore his presence when he appeared.

Sophia couldn't speak, but she had some other way of communicating with her ministers, picking up her pen and writing the words Bosnia and Bohemia on a piece of paper, staring at the ministers who had apparently been arguing just a moment ago.

"Yes, Your Highness, we are debating the matter," said one of the Wallachian ministers, standing up and cautious, "although there is no evidence yet, it is certain that the Bosnians clearly have the support of King Ladislas, and we have even found that some Bohemians have joined the Bosnian army, and as far as we know, the King of Bohemia seems to have an attempt to recover all of Hungary again." ”

Sofia looked at her ministers with some surprise, she knew that Herva had not been so peaceful, and although she had heard that King Ladislas II of Bohemia seemed to want to reclaim the western part of Hungary controlled by the emperor from Maximian, she thought it had nothing to do with her at the time, but now Sophia did not think so.

Almost after a moment's thought, Sophia made up her mind, and with her characteristic slightly furious movements, she thumped the piece of paper with the word bohemia written on it, and then reached out and made a throat-slitting gesture on her neck under the terrified gaze of the ministers.

The Wallachians immediately looked excited, but the Greek nobles could not help but look worried, and they secretly looked at Bodpeide, who was standing aside, and tried to make the representative of the Greek nobles speak to dissuade the archduchess.

Bodpeded a little groan, I don't know when he began to fear the Grand Duchess, not because of her identity but because of her character and methods, even if Bodped believed that what Sophia had done before was not really a so-called deliberate or pre-planned conspiracy, but it was her wanton destruction that allowed her to quickly break the monopoly of the Wallachian nobility on the court.

As a result, there is actually a situation in Wallachia today, where the nobility is still very powerful, but everyone is often in danger because they don't know when Sophia will bring her anger on her.

And along with this situation is the new army formed by Sophia.

It was a small but well-trained and well-armed army, made up of the Greeks and the Transylvanians under Sophia's command, which became the elite of the Wallachian army, which now defended Bucharest, and the rest of the Wallachian army, at Alexander's suggestion, was gradually being reorganized and trained.

This made Bodpade sometimes have to wonder if this reckless-looking archduchess was really a girl who was not only bad at words, but also illiterate in big words, as she looked.

"Your Highness, the Ottomans have been in frequent contact with Stefan in Moldova lately, and we don't dare to guarantee Rhova? Whether it will happen again, if we intervene in the war in Hungary at this time, it may be very bad for us. ”

Bodpade carefully explained the current situation to Sophia, he didn't know if the Grand Duchess really understood her current situation, and he didn't mind the presence of Prato, he didn't know what the merchant had said to Her Royal Highness, but he had obviously succeeded in angering the Greek princess.

To add to the worries of the Greek aristocracy, including Bodpaed, the Grand Duchess's decision was clearly in line with the ideas of the Wallachian aristocracy, who had been arguing over whether to focus on Bosnia or the Ottomans of the Greek peninsula.

This was not just a matter of choosing the enemy, but more of an opportunity to compete for dominance of the Bucharest court, and regardless of the outcome, the victorious side would have the upper hand in the court.

But now Sophia has made a decision.

I'm going to declare war on Hungary!

Although the words did not come out of her mouth, Sofia's actions had already told everyone what she was thinking, which made Bodpade's opinion of Prato even worse.

He didn't understand why the Grand Guild had suddenly made such a decision, and thinking that maybe he would be able to try to change Sophia's mind after knowing the reason, Bodped glanced at Nashan, who had just walked in slowly after him.

It's just that Nashan's glance made Bodped quickly realize that maybe it would be difficult to convince the stubborn archduchess this time.

The summer of 1501 was not destined to be peaceful on the European continent, and even if the sudden chaos within the Ottoman Empire was not threatened for the time being, the Balkans, a key point in Europe that would later be called a powder keg, were still filled with heavy clouds of war.

Since the beginning of the summer, the collusion between Northern Bosnia and Bohemia has aroused wariness in Wallachia, and the already frequent friction between the two sides has caused tension between the two countries.

At this time, the sudden decision of Sofia Alessandra Baroole, Grand Duchess of Wallachia, to send troops to Hungary added to the tensions in the region.

At the end of June, a Wallachian army first advanced towards Hungary from the direction of the Mureš plain, which, although small in force, quickly aroused the alarm of the Hungarians.

But even so, the Hungarians were careful to only increase their vigilance, and at the same time they sent the news to the court in Prague.

Although the Wallachian nobles cheered, many were puzzled by Sophia's sudden decision, and when the ministers understood the true intentions of the Grand Duchess, they did not know what to make of the decision.

Sofia sent troops to Hungary for only one purpose, that is, she did not want Emperor Maximian to delay the war against the French because of Ladislas II's attempt to unify Hungary.

When this reason was learned, the Wallachian ministers were silent, not knowing whether to cheer for the wisdom of the Grand Duchess or lament that they had such a reckless and unreasonable monarch.

Obviously, the timing of Sophia's dispatch was rather delicate, or even the monarchs who were considered to be brilliant in history might not have been able to seize such a clever moment to join a war for territorial resources and the crown.

But Sofia's reasons were so frustrating, especially when she saw that the new Wallachian army, equipped with weapons purchased at great expense from Naples, was not stingy in the war, and the Baladian nobles, who had been rejoicing at first, could not help but become worried.

Sure enough, in early July, King Ladislas II of Bohemia announced the recovery of the western part of Hungary, which had been occupied by Emperor Maximian.

If Alexander had heard the news, he would have remembered that it would be the last of a series of wars waged during the reign of Ladislas II, and the one that brought him into disrepute.

Alexander didn't know what Sophia had done for him, and if he had, he would have only advised Sophia to be a little more patient, which might have worked better.

It was because of Ladislas II's attempt to reunite Hungary that Emperor Maximian's reaction to the French invasion of Italy was somewhat affected, and he had to consider how to stop Ladislas II's ambitions while sending troops to Italy, which obviously influenced his efforts to send troops to Italy.

However, out of wariness of the French, the Viennese court did its best to send all the troops it could mobilize to join the anti-French coalition.

Now the Austrians had not only surrounded Milan, but had also crossed Parma and, together with the Venetian and Ferrara armies that had entered the eastern part of Rome-Thesia, marched in the direction of Montina.

The messenger sent to Pisa had not yet returned, but Sharon could not wait.

His previous uneasiness had now become a reality, and when he heard that the Austrians had crossed Parma, Scharlain realized that what he had feared most had finally happened.

In fact, this sign had already appeared before, and the defenders of Montina had become more frequent in their active counterattacks, and their artillery was bombarding the French positions almost without money, and although this damage and damage were limited, Charlain realized that this was not a good sign.

Sure enough, without waiting for a reply from Bowwicken from Pisa, Charlain received the bad news that the Venetian and Ferrara forces had finally reached the outskirts of Montina.

Sharron no longer hesitated, and he gave the order to withdraw his troops.

"Guys, it's going to be a terrible march, I don't know how far we're going to go or where we're going to stop next, but I know it's a dead end to stay here. So after the march I want you not to stop, we will only be safe if we get rid of the enemy's pursuit as soon as possible, and now you are fighting for yourselves. ”

Sharron's words made the officers look at each other, they didn't understand why the legendary general was so pessimistic, but looking at Sharron's serious expression, they also knew that the situation was probably really serious.

"My lord, are we going to retreat with Count Proswan?" An officer asked, "You know it's a serious crime if we throw the count down, so ......"

"You don't need to worry about this, knight," Sharron waved his hand to stop the officer's next words, "I just need you to take the king's army safely, and I will bear the blame." ”

Scharron's words made the officers even more uneasy, knowing that even the most stupid general would make such a cowardly decision to abandon his allies only when the situation had reached a point of no return.

And Sharron is doing it now, which makes them feel like a catastrophe is coming.

"Destroy everything you can't take away!" Someone has already begun to give orders to his subordinates.

"No," said Sharron, "leave all those things behind, especially the baggage that is precious and difficult to move, and keep our enemies busy for a while, so let's go about our own business now, and hopefully we can get out of here before the Venetians appear." ”

The officers who heard the order immediately took action, and the barracks, which had already heard the wind and became panicked, was suddenly in a hurry.

"Rome-Thesia, this is the end of my life."

Sharron sat down slowly, looked up at the sun overhead, and then looked in the direction of Pisa, Sharron sighed in disappointment.

Although he was a political enemy in the court, Sharron did not think that Boweken was a willful person, especially on the battlefield, and Boweken was a shrewd general.

But now Bowwicken has been slow to hear back, which makes Sharren realize that maybe Bowwicken is in even bigger trouble.

He still had the last hope of retreating to Charlaon alone, hoping to join up with Borwicken in order to increase his self-defense, because with the French army now divided into different parts, the coalition army, which was gradually carrying out a centripetal attack with Florence as the center, had the momentum to break the French army and finally annihilate the whole army.

However, the delay in the news made Sharren think that maybe something had really gone wrong with Pisa, but now he didn't care about the Count of Proswan at all.

Bauwicken was in trouble, as the coalition forces that had been holding Pisa had been holding on to Pisa had suddenly become active in the past few days, first by throwing their troops along the coast through the docks, and then destroying an important supply camp set up by Borwicken on the south bank of the Arno River after attacking several lone French troops.

When the French arrived, the coalition forces immediately retreated, but soon another coalition force landed again, and they began to destroy bridges along the south bank of the Arno River.

The Pisa's unusual behavior aroused Boweken's vigilance, but for a moment he did not know what the enemy was trying to do.

Until the early hours of July 15, several gates of the city of Pisa, which had been sealed, suddenly opened, and a force of Taranto, Pisa and Catalans poured out from inside.

At the same time, the fleet sailed upstream from the mouth of the Arno River and carried the allied forces up the plains on the outskirts of Pisa.

This is a barbarian-looking Catalan mercenary, unlike the unit in front of the French army, which formed a formation to engage the French army, this force immediately began to rush towards the French position in a frenzy.

After being surrounded for almost a month, the Pisians began to fight back.

Boweken didn't expect the enemy to suddenly counterattack unusually, and what surprised him even more was that it was clear that the enemy had many more troops than he thought, especially the addition of those Catalans, so that Boweken seemed to see Ferdinand's shadow.

Little did he know that this was simply the product of the trade union's deep pockets.

A wealthy merchant from as far away as the Iberian Peninsula hired the Catalans, who were known for their fierceness, for large sums of gold, and then shipped them to the Italian Peninsula in a steady stream.

Gold can hire strong mercenaries, but it is the city defense army led by the Pisa regiment commanded by Nicola Macheni that really insists on the defense of Pisa.

The incessant fighting, the see-saw attack and defense, the inevitable high number of casualties, as well as the hot season and harsh environment had gradually worn down the strength of the French army.

By now, fatigue and war weariness had gripped the French army.

"It is fitting that a counterattack should be made at this time, for the Duchess will be grateful to you, and that the Pisa branch opened up by your daughter, the noble Archduchess of Estelles, may become an important part of the future Alexandrian dynasty."

This was what Priest Valvidora had told Lucrezia privately when he persuaded her that it didn't matter how much of the hint was there, but Lucrezia had finally made the decision to fight back after a night of bitter discussion with all the officers of the city defense led by Maceni.

As for the Pisa Army, the task was not to destroy the enemy in front of them, but to delay the movement of the French army as long as possible.

Scharron's worst fears finally came along, and the connection between him and Bowwicken was completely severed.