The request to let Massimo enter the Vatican did not surprise the elder Rovere, on the contrary, when he heard this condition, the old Rovere also looked at Alexander with a little meaning.

Putting up a surrogate in the Vatican, if possible, to propel that person to a higher position is something that almost all prominent families have done or are doing.

In this kind of behavior, some families will seek out an alliance with someone in a high position in the Vatican, and some will simply push a member of their own family to be safer.

Whether it is Alexander VI or the elder Rovere, or their uncles, these families can be said to be huge families that control the fate of the Vatican, and the Medici family is also like this, officially these important gate valve families, monopolizing the supreme power of the Vatican, and then becoming a significant force in Christendom.

Now Alexander is clearly on his way, and the elder Rovere does not know how far he can go, but considering his extraordinary performances so far, the elder Rovere does not doubt that this son-in-law may become the emerging family of the Vatican in the future.

Thinking of this, old Roviere's mood was somewhat complicated, he couldn't tell whether it was a mistake to marry his daughter to this young man, but he clearly knew that Barendi and this young man seemed destined to never be too peaceful in his life.

However, the second condition put forward by Alexander made old Rovere's heart flutter slightly.

He knew that the meeting Alexander was talking about was not just a simple party for dinner or a greeting, and since he had made a meeting with the Medici family as one of his requests, then he must have had a very formal appointment with the Medici family, and perhaps it involved some conditions or suggestions.

The brothers Giovanni de Medici and Giulio de Medici are now lobbying in Rome to try to get the Vatican elite to support them in retaking Florence, and for this the brothers have spent almost all their savings on befriending the Roman elite, especially the bribe to Pope Alexander VI, so that the brothers are now even a little unable to make ends meet.

In addition to Alexander VI, another focus of the Medici brothers was the elder Rovere.

Whether it is in the Vatican or as the de facto ruler of Genoa, the Rovere family has enough power to speak, which makes it natural that the Medici brothers cannot easily give up the opportunity to befriend the Rovere family, in fact, when they found that Alexander VI seemed to have little interest in helping them regain control of Florence, the Medici brothers have shifted their focus to the old Rovere.

They insisted that the powerful cardinal should be an important source for them in the Vatican.

Now Alexander asked to see the Medici brothers, as if he had openly put his hand into the garden of old Rovere to pick the fruits, after all, in the eyes of old Rovere, the Medici brothers, who always offered him all kinds of benefits generously, were undoubtedly a cash cow planted in his own garden.

And what made old Rovere more concerned was what Alexander had just done in Florence not long ago.

The whole of Rome was quite shocked about Alexander's announcement that Florence would be under the rule of his daughter Estelles, but before the Roman nobles could take the opportunity to launch all kinds of difficulties against Alexander, he suddenly "disappeared", and then there was a mutiny of the Montina guards, and the whole event changed so quickly that many people did not have time to react, and the Montina guards' bloody sweep of the Carolingian palace completely frightened them.

Now that he thinks about it, old Rovere suddenly found that there seemed to be some kind of inexplicable connection in all this, and it seemed that not only did Alexander's mysterious disappearance make the Romans miss the opportunity to question him, but the subsequent brutality of Montina's guard completely frightened the Romans, so that no one dared to raise any suspicions and grievances about Florence against him.

This timing, this means, is too good to grasp.

Old Rovere looked at Alexander with deep meaning, but the only regret was that Estelles was not his and Barendi's daughter, otherwise Old Rovere felt that he might stand up and applaud the dazzling wrist of this son-in-law.

Alexander didn't know that the old man was thinking about whether to have a round of business with him, and seeing the uncertainty on Old Roverley's face, he knew that the old man was calculating whether his conditions were cost-effective, but he was not worried that Old Rovere would refuse, because he knew that the conditions he gave were definitely the kind of conditions that were difficult to refuse.

Sure enough, after thinking for a while, old Rowwere nodded slightly to agree to the quid pro quo proposed by Alexander, and before Alexander left, he did not forget to remind his son-in-law: "Don't forget that you promised that all this would end up in Barondi's name." ”

"Of course Dad, this is my gift to Barendi to thank her for her support and love for me during this time."

Alexander's affectionate title made old Rovere a little unaccustomed, and Konstantin next to him had a look of disgust on his face.

However, Alexander didn't care what the people of the Rovere family thought of him, he knew that he was definitely the kind of fragrant bait that looked and smelled very pleasing in the eyes of both the Borgia family and the Rovere family, so at this time he also had some privileges to be reckless.

The meeting with the Medici family was agreed at the Marino Palace, and Alexander unabashedly showed the brothers a tough side, after all, the Medici family is now in decline, and although it is still small, the "Cambrai house" that has emerged in Italy is in the ascendant.

At this time, it is appropriate to show the strong side, not only to occupy a greater advantage in future negotiations, but also to completely conform to his current status, and even to appease the Medici brothers, he has to do this, otherwise if the party that occupies the advantage of all parties seems cautious and humble, scruples will make the brothers feel inexplicably uneasy.

As for the fact that he could have shown support and friendliness when the Medici family was down, so as to gain the favor and friendship of the Medici family, Alexander had indeed planned to do so before, and he had indeed released enough kindness when he met the brothers last time, after all, the Medici family was much kinder than his two old fathers-in-law, and if he reached out to them in their most difficult time, the future rewards would definitely be very rich.

It's just that with the defense of the situation and the growth of Alexander's own strength, he no longer cares much about this simple favor in return, on the contrary, the Medici family has gradually become a part of Alexander's plan, or in his mind, the Medici family has changed from a possible alliance object to a pawn he uses to drive, and he also believes that although there is no longer a need to use friendship and favor to win over the family, there are enough benefits to make their future relationship more stable, After all, friendships and favors run out, and the intertwining of interests can make fragile alliances unbreakable.

Count Garol de Boweken was confined in a separate turret in the north wing of the Palazzo Marino, and Alexander had a slight suspicion that Lucrezia had arranged this on purpose, for the turret in the north wing was not only hot and unventilated, but also had sunsets, and such weather would have been enough for the Count to stay there for a day.

Lucrezia apparently did not like the Count very much, which was obviously influenced by her father, and Alexander VI was furious that the Count of Provan had secretly come to Rome without informing him, which he felt was an expression of Louis XII's distrust of him, which also calmed the Pope's euphoric mood with the alliance with the French.

Lucrezia could fight against her family for Alexander's sake, but if she dealt with outsiders, she would immediately become a Borgia who only knew her kin, so she unceremoniously sent the count to the corner tower in the north wing to bask in the sun.

Of course, Alexander knew about Lucrezia's small actions, but it would only make him feel that he was a woman and would not blame him, and he didn't know if he would compete with this Count of Proswan on the battlefield in the future, so he didn't mind letting this count suffer a little loss in his own corner tower first.

Alexander did not go to the Count of Provanne, for he had already inquired about everything, and he even knew why Louis XII had sent the Count to negotiate with the old Roveret at such a time, and no one else, since the parish which the old Roverlet presided over in France was near Nice, and it was evident that the King of France wanted the count to use his personal relationship with the old Roverlet to try to persuade him.

However, it can also be seen that Louis XII is indeed determined to win Milan, otherwise he would not have used this little bit of caution.

It was getting late when Alexander returned to the Marino Palace, but as he approached the renovated and widened staircase in front of the Marino Palace, he saw Lucrezia standing on the top step waiting for him.

Looking at Lucrezia who was looking down with the child in his arms, Alexander stopped and looked up, and then he walked up the steps and walked towards the mother and daughter step by step, and when he finally came to Lucrezia, Alexander stopped, and then carefully took the mother and daughter in his arms.

"I'm afraid I'll scare our daughter if I push too hard, you know how much I miss you guys for 2 days." Alexander whispered in Lucrezia's ear that although it was acting, the two days in the underground cell made Alexander really feel that he missed his family, and thinking that they were worried about their safety, Alexander wanted to rush out more than once to comfort them.

"My father, in fact, really imprisoned you." Lucrezia suddenly asked in a very low voice, there was a nervousness in her expression that could be concealed as much as possible, which was completely different from when she was in the Potico Palace, although Lucrezia looked panicked at that time, but it was more of an arrogance in front of her father and brother, it seemed that it was completely a temper between relatives because of the battle of wills, but now her face showed real panic, which made Alexander stunned for a moment, and then understood.

Lucrezia's previous events were just for others, or simply for the Borgia father and son, and she deliberately pretended to be ignorant, as if she always thought that everything was just a disagreement between the family, so that the Borgia father and son would not completely turn their faces in front of her, at least in front of her.

In fact, Lucrezia was clearly aware that her father and brother might really poison Alexander, and it was precisely because of this fear that she seemed to be absent-minded behind the palace of Lipotico.

"You're really good at acting." Alexander sighed and took Lucrezia in his arms, he had to admit at this time that everyone in the Borgia family was indeed not a fuel-efficient lamp, even Lucrezia, who he had always thought was cute but always ignorant, actually had another side hidden under her always innocent smile, "But don't worry, your father will not harm me." ”

Seeing that Lucrezia finally put his mind at ease, Alexander smiled lightly, of course he wouldn't let her hear the next sentence in his heart: "As long as you can give him enough benefits." ”

Marino Palace is being renovated, or it should be said that it is more appropriate to tear down and rebuild.

With the exception of the main hall with the main hall of the main hall, all the buildings on both sides of the entire Marino Palace are undergoing major renovations.

The hall looked cluttered, filled with all sorts of furniture, decorations, tapestries, armor, weapons and a mess.

One of the corners was tightly covered with a thick blanket, but from the corners of the slightly dusty skirt peeking out from underneath the blanket, Alexander speculated that they had been brought out of Sophia's room.

This made Alexander wonder how much grudge he had with Sophia, and he didn't even want to see her things, which also made him a little worried about whether he could abandon the inexplicable grudge with Sophia when he opened up the Balkan market in the future, and focus on the overall situation.

Although there was some confusion, after receiving the report of the entourage who had rushed back early, Lucrezia had already sent someone to clean up a room as soon as possible, although it was still a bit messy, but it was barely reasonable to meet the guests here.

It was Giulio de Medici, who was now the head of the Medici family, and his brother Giovanni de Medici chose not to show up for the time being.

Alexander could also understand Giovanni de Medici's thoughts, after all, since he did not know the purpose of this meeting, Giovanni naturally had to be cautious, especially since they had heard about Alexander forcing Florence to bow to his daughter, and the Medici brothers must have been quite dissatisfied with this, and even extremely angry.

When Giulio walked into the Marino Palace, he looked at the mess around him, but there was a strange expression, he ignored the dust that fell and gently stroked the marble handrails of some furniture and stairs, and when he heard that the famous architect who presided over the renovation of the palace was also the famous architect who also built the Vatican's small prayer hall, Giulio also had a faint sadness on his face.

Standing in the center of the room, Alexander took a step forward when he saw Julio being brought in by the servants, and then gestured slightly to Lucrezia, who was standing beside him.

Lucrezia stepped forward, she bowed and took Giulio's hand and kissed it gently: "Welcome, Honorable Archbishop." ”

Giulio cautiously motioned to Lucrezia not to be polite, while he never took his eyes off Alexander's face.

The Medici brothers are deeply wary of Alexander's sudden appointment, especially Giulio, who will not forget his meeting with Alexander, outside Florence last year, when Alexander made him feel hopeful, but now looking at Estelles, who was standing aside and being held in the arms of the maid and was already drowsy, Giulio's mood became indescribably complicated.

"Earl, you probably don't know, this Marino Palace was almost bought by our family before," Giulio surveyed the room, "but now it seems that it should have a more suitable owner." ”

"If we can reach an agreement before, I think the Medici family will soon be able to buy a palace more majestic and magnificent than Marino Palace," Alexander smiled at first, and then his expression became serious, "I invited you to come to make a proposal to the Medici family. ”

Alexander didn't want to waste time, he had been delaying for too long, he had been preparing for the imminent French invasion since returning from the Balkans, but no one knew that his mind had already flown far away, to be precise, to the Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean.

"Suggestions?" Giulio looked at Estelles on the side again, he had to admit that this was a very beautiful little girl, but this child had robbed them of the territory that the Medici family had run for generations, which made Julio's expression look extremely complicated when he looked at Estelles.

"My daughter is the co-owner of Florence, and this is a ...... that the Florentines have recognized"

"It's those cowards who betrayed Florence, Count, what you said about co-lordship is unacceptable," Giulio interrupted Alexander's words indignantly, seeing the calm but unsettling look in Alexander's eyes, Giulio couldn't help but think of the atrocities committed by the Montina Guard in the Carolingian Palace, but he still straightened his back and said firmly, "Count, I know that you have a strong army, which is incomparable to the current Medici family, but Florence is the pride of our family, from my great-great-grandfather Comoro de." Since the Medici era, every generation of our family has contributed everything to Florence, including my uncle and father, who defended this city that belonged to Medici with their lives, so please forgive me for not accepting any of your suggestions, as it is an insult to my family ancestors. ”

After saying that, Giulio proudly lifted the red thin coat on his body and prepared to leave, he knew that his actions had obviously completely offended this now hot and powerful person, but as he himself said, the pride of the Medici family did not allow him to bow his head.

Looking at Giulio, who looked at him as if he was at home, Alexander began to wonder how people outside guessed and described his Marino Palace.

Could it be more terrifying than the gruesome Inquisition on the Iberian Peninsula?

Alexander put these thoughts aside and smiled at Giulio with what he thought was a kind one: "Archbishop, I suggest you listen to my advice first, and you may find that some things may not be as bad as you think." ”

Julio nodded slowly with a slow expression, he knew that he couldn't offend this person too harshly, after all, he was a character who could occupy the Carolingian Palace and even kill people in it.

"You can get back to Florence."

Alexander's words surprised everyone in the room except Estles, and even the maid who was holding the Duchess's maid looked surprised.

And Giulio was a little stunned for a moment, but he quickly came to his senses and looked at Alexander with a cautious gaze: "Count, what do you want our Medici family to do?" ”

"I can give you Florence, but......" said Alexander, slowly but unusually forcefully, "I want you to support my daughter to become Duke of Romagna." ”