Ferdinand summoned Elliot after the good news of another great victory came from Andalusia.

Gonçalo's model army attacked Seville as soon as it was once again on the battlefield, and after several successive victories, Gonzalo seized the opportunity to besiege Córdoba, the second largest stronghold of the rebels in Andalusia.

The city, which sounded similar to Gonzalo's surname, was the gateway to Seville, and the coalition of southern nobles had invested a large number of troops in Córdoba in the hope of stopping Gonzalo's offensive.

The two sides fought a fierce battle under the city of Córdoba, and Gonzalo's large phalanx showed amazing power in this battle, relying on his well-trained army to make the phalanx a flesh millstone that crushed the enemy into powder little by little, and with the strong combat effectiveness of the model army, Gonzalo also exhausted the last bit of courage of the noble coalition army under the city of Córdoba.

The coalition eventually had to abandon the city of Córdoba, crossing the Gwadar River and building a sparse line of defense along the river against Gonzalo on the south bank of the river, although those with a modicum of common sense knew that it was almost impossible to stop Gonzalo with its porous defense.

This victory made the Castilian people inexplicably happy, and also made the court of Valaridotus, which had been at a low point since Isabella's death, a little lively.

And Ferdinand chose to summon the Sicilian envoy at such a time in order to take advantage of this victory to slightly dampen the opponent's spirit.

No matter how disguised, Aragon was indeed at a disadvantage in the Sicilian War, and after the 6,000-strong expeditionary force was almost completely wiped out, the Aragonese fleet also failed to flee back to Aragon, and it was impossible to hide the fact that it was a failed expedition.

So at this time, in order to be able to curb the arrogance of the other side, it is necessary to use a new victory to let those Sicilians know that they are still dealing with a strong country.

It's just that Ferdinand's idea has somewhat failed this time.

The Castilians, apparently not interested in the affairs of Aragon.

Ferdinand decided to resolutely deny the unification of the two Sicilies and not to completely sever negotiations with the Sicilians for the time being, he made this decision because of a small trick, Ferdinand hoped to still rely on Gonzalo's great popularity and previous expeditions to Italy to intimidate the Sicilians, so that they must think that he still favored and reused Gonzalo.

So he had to write Gonzalo an open letter again in recognition of his brave loyalty, in which Ferdinand even discussed with Gonzalo that perhaps the Order of Santiago should be re-established.

Gonzalo was the head of the Order of Santiago canonized by Isabella during her lifetime, but for so long this position has been more of an honorary title, and now Ferdinand suddenly proposed to rebuild the Order of Santiago, and offered to bear all the related costs, which made many people see that the king still trusted Gonzalo very much.

As soon as the contents of this open letter were made public, the rumors that had been circulating in Barriadot about Gonzalo's possible ill intentions were put to rest, and it was felt that there was no more proof of the king's and Gonzalo's courtiers, although the news sounded a little false at all times.

Elliot is now much more mature than before, so Jisha will give him the responsibility of the mission, and he himself knows very well that this mission is actually more of a constant dispute with the other party on some things, in fact, no one on either side believes that a negotiation or a treaty can solve the problem of ownership in the message.

In fact, the reunification of the two Sicilies is what both sides want to see, but the only difference is that they both hope that the reunification will be themselves, which dooms the two sides to be unable to shake hands and make peace, and only when one of them is completely defeated and defeated, or even eliminated, will the Sicilian problem be finally resolved.

When he saw Elliott, Ferdinand had just finished signing a document, and out of the corner of his eye, he looked at the retinue who was retreating with the document, and Ferdinand looked at the Sicilian envoy who was walking from the main entrance.

Elliot also saw an entourage hurrying past behind a group of ministers, and of course he did not know that the retinue was holding the order that Ferdinand had just signed to collect the tax in advance in 1503, and it was not long ago, after some heated arguments, that the nobles of Aragon agreed to Ferdinand's order to collect taxes in advance, and then someone hastily sent the decision to Vallaridus to be signed and sealed by the king in order to take effect.

The previous defeat caused an uproar throughout the kingdom of Aragon, except for the fall of Sicily, the most difficult thing for the Aragonese to accept was the loss of the fleet in the Mediterranean, and it was because of this Aragonese nobles that Ferdinand almost unanimously agreed with the idea of rebuilding the fleet by taxing it in advance.

When Elliott presented Ferdinand's credentials, he could clearly sense the indifference of the Castilians, but this indifference seemed to be more of indifference than mere hostility.

Like the Aragonese in the same way, the Castilian fleet was challenged and defeated by the Portuguese in the Atlantic, and although the losses of the Castilian fleet were not large, the Portuguese challenged Castile's dominance in the new colonies by seizing control of the Azores, which was what the Castilian cared about.

Therefore, many Castile will naturally be indifferent and even wary of the possible troubles in Aragon.

Although the turmoil that occurred on the day of Isabella's Requiem Mass has gradually subsided, the rift between Castile and Aragon has become difficult to repair, even after Ferdinand's repeated efforts, the estrangement and contradictions between both the court and the people have become very obvious, especially when Ferdinand decided to negotiate with the Portuguese, many Castilians can't help but worry that Ferdinand may sacrifice the interests of Castile in order to solve the Sicilian problem.

Therefore, the arrival of Elliot naturally aroused the attention and vigilance of the Castilians, especially the more Ferdinand showed an unquestionable attitude towards the Sicilian question, the more they feared that the king might have to give up Castilian rights in order to regain Sicily.

The contents of the Scripture were already known to the Castilians, and the Castilians were not concerned with the conditions proposed in it with the Aragonese, but such conditions as the opening of the Strait of Gibraltar and the port cities along the coast were strongly opposed by the Castilians, who could not even wait for Ferdinand's official summons, and had already started a debate with the Sicilian envoy when Elliott arrived at Barriadod and visited them. Although the arguments did not lead to any useful results, the Castilian nobles had a common understanding that Ferdinand would not be allowed to sell Castile interests in exchange for a compromise or any concession with the Sicilians.

Therefore, as soon as Elliot's credentials were delivered, it immediately caused an uproar in the Barriatricot claim, and some people even openly stated to Elliot at the meeting that it was not hostile to him, but that "it is absolutely intolerable for the reason that anyone betrays Castile, so that the Sicilians must not be allowed to gain any benefit".

Ferdinand was once again in a trouble that left no room for explanation for him, for no one believed that he did not actually want to betray Castile in exchange for a respite from Aragon's war in Sicily, so much so that even the fact that he sent Don Macrosbene to Lisbon to negotiate with the Portuguese became "incriminating evidence".

Just when Ferdinand was in trouble, far away in Lisbon, another big drama was being staged that affected countless people.

On February 28, 1502, 12 Portuguese archbishops, led by the Metropolitan of Lisbon, came together to the Convent of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The abbot of the convent, who had already received the news, welcomed the 12 archbishops with her nuns, and then the archbishops, accompanied by the abbot, went to the room of the former queen Mary.

Because the room was so small, the abbot had to accompany the Metropolitan and a few of the archbishops in front of him into the room, while the others waited in the corridor.

Mary was already waiting for them.

When they saw her, the bishops were somewhat surprised to find that the princess of Aragon, who was about to be officially stripped of her crown and title, was calm and calm, she seemed to have no idea what was about to happen, even when the bishop announced to her the decision made by the Church of Portugal, Maria had been quietly and attentively listening to her sentence.

It was only when she heard the charge of "brutally and mercilessly murdering the innocent Prince Miguel" that Maria raised her head slightly and looked at the bishops in front of her as if she were looking at a group of idiots, and then she lowered her head again and carefully smoothed the folds on her skirt.

The Metropolitan had no choice but to continue reading, and the indictments were so numerous that one wondered how Mary had the time to commit so many crimes in such a short period of time since she became queen.

But apparently no one was looking into these things, and the people in the room just looked at the poor queen with complicated eyes.

“…… In view of these unforgivable crimes, we do not consider it sufficient for us to assume such a noble position as Queen......"

The Metropolitan was still reading the long sentence with some difficulty, when suddenly Mary interrupted him for the first time.

"Who did my father send to Lisbon?"

Maria's words stunned the Metropolis, and he couldn't help but cast a suspicious look at the nun next to him.

Seeing the Metropolis's suspicious eyes, the abbot immediately lowered his head in panic and explained: "I beg your pardon, but I can swear to you that no one has told the queen that Castile has sent an emissary. ”

"Don't ask her," said Maria, looking at the abbot with a slightly contemptuous gaze, "do you think I'm so stupid as the daughter of my parents, I know you want to remove me from the queen's throne and make room for that Juana, but we both know it's not easy, so tell me what's going on?" ”

Speaking of this, Maria suddenly thought of something, looked at the Metropolitan with some incredulous eyes, and asked, "Did he really win, did Manuel win the war with Castile?" ”

"Naval battles, to be exact, Your Majesty," the Metropolitan put down the verdict in his hand with some reluctance, "this is the last time I will call you so, the Portuguese fleet defeated the Castilians at sea, and for this reason your father, King Ferdinand, had to send Don Maklosbein to Lisbon to negotiate, one of the conditions of the negotiations was that you must renounce the title of Queen of Portugal. ”

Maria's face changed, this was the first time she showed panic, she took a step forward as if trying to grasp something, but when the Metropolitan instinctively stepped back in fright, she stopped and looked at the Metropolitan with disbelief in his eyes: "Wait a minute, you want to tell me that Don Macrosbine came to negotiate with you on the orders of my father, and exchanged my crown for peace with Portugal?" ”

The Metropolitan glanced at the few archbishops who were standing silently next to him, and then he nodded to Maria a little helplessly: "That's your Majesty, although this sounds a little helpless and even cruel, but this is indeed the attitude of your father, King Ferdinand, it is obvious that he thinks that the latter is more important in the comparison of your status with the interests of the Kingdom of Castile." ”

"It can't be!"

Maria was excited, and until not long ago she was able to remain calm because she knew that she had always been the agent of Castile and Aragon in Portugal, and that she was not only the queen of Portugal, but also a bridge between Portugal and its two powerful neighbors, or rather a shield, and that without her as a "protector", Portugal would face threats from powerful neighbors.

So even though Manuel was under house arrest in the convent on absurd charges, she never panicked, and even after Juana came to tell her the bad news of her mother's death, and then ridiculed her, Maria still believed that she would eventually get out of the convent.

When that time comes, she will take revenge on Juana in the most brutal way.

But now Mary was scared, and she didn't know why her father had given up, or had betrayed her.

Even after hearing about the defeat of the Castilian fleet at sea, she still did not believe that Ferdinand would choose to give in, as it would mean a complete loss of influence on Portugal.

Especially if Manuel and Juana were to marry, then Castile would henceforth have one more hostile neighbor, and as far as she knew, the French seemed to have always been interested in blending into the Iberian Peninsula.

So even though Juana had told her that she had officially signed a marriage contract with Manuel, Maria always believed that as long as Castile and Aragon behind her firmly expressed their support for him, then Manuel would not dare to take that crucial step so quickly.

But now, Mary is not sure.

"It's a pity, Your Majesty, that's the way it is, so let's end this as soon as possible, it's good for all of us."

The Metropolitan raised the verdict in his hand again and began to read it on, but he could see that Maria could not hear what was being read at all, and even when the Metropolitan made a symbolic gesture towards her to take off the crown above her head, she only trembled, and then fell to the ground with a limp.

In the Château of St. John, Juana sat quietly in her room and waited, if it were not for the small movements of her fingers tapping on the armrest from time to time, it would not have been revealed that her heart was actually very unsettled.

Suddenly there were footsteps from far and near in the corridor outside, Juana moved as if she wanted to stand up, but then forced herself to sit up, but her slightly stiff and straight back still betrayed her, especially when she saw Manuel who walked in from the outside with the door open, Juana could no longer suppress the excitement and nervousness in her heart, and took the opportunity to stand up and salute, she hurriedly took two steps forward, and a pair of eyes that were already slightly wrinkled stared at Manuel tightly, as if waiting for the verdict to be announced.

Manuel smiled at Juana, his face also filled with excitement.

"It's all over," Manuel took Juana's hand and kissed it, "now all I have to do is prepare for you a truly grand wedding." ”

Juana's breathing seemed to stop at this moment, her face turned slightly pale, it was the result of holding her breath from being too excited, and then although she told herself to try to calm down, the increasingly rapid breathing made her unable to control herself anymore.

Finally, Juana let out a moan, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and choked with her hands in her face.

"I have ordered the expulsion of Maria from Portugal, and according to the order, she must leave Lisbon within three days," Manuel said to Juana, "and then we can prepare for our wedding." ”

Juana nodded silently, and then she suddenly remembered something and said to Manuel, "Where is that Don Makrosbein, I want to see him." ”

When Don Makrosbein saw Juana, she had completely calmed down, looking at one of Isabella's most trusted cronies during her lifetime, and Juana seemed to think about how to treat him before reaching out to him.

Don Macrosbein bowed deeply, and then kissed Juana's fingertips very respectfully, as if he had stood in front of Isabella, looking a completely cautious courtier.

Juana looked at him carefully and said after a moment, "I have to admit that your choice was not my expectation. ”

"Your Highness, I am a Castilian and I am loyal to the queen because she is the queen of Castile, and I will not be loyal to an Aragon king."

"The other Juana is also Castilian," Juana reminded him seemingly casually.

The treasurer's face showed a strange expression, he looked at Juana and said carefully: "Your Highness, don't you know what the queen's daughter looks like?" ”

Seeing that Juana was clearly aware of this, the treasurer shrugged his shoulders: "I can accept that she is Ferdinand's daughter, but I can't accept a completely crazy puppet, that would completely ruin Castile." ”

"So you chose us," Juana laughed, and she took a letter from a box beside her and handed it to the treasurer, "I'm sure you won't regret your choice, and now I think I can introduce you to my brother." ”

Don Macrosbein's mouth opened slightly, and at this moment he felt his heart beating violently.

"Alexandre Giulian Cambrai, Duke of Rome Thesia, is my brother, and he has another name," Juana whispered, "he is George Mordillo Astamara, the biological son of my father Enrique. ”