Alexander stands behind the canvas and looks closely at Michelangelo's portrait of Josa.

Designing coins was not a big deal for Michelangelo, he just needed to know what kind of effect he needed, and he had already designed a large number of different patterns.

Some of these motifs are full-length figures, some are busts, and some are simply heads, and it is clear that Michelangelo had in mind the different styles that might be needed.

After finally choosing two patterns for the front and back of the coin, Alexander finally did not resist the charismatic image of Josa, and he decided to have Michelangelo paint a portrait of Josa, forever keeping her Athena-like beauty and hand-held musket-like posture on the canvas.

The portrait of Jossa looks so faintly intimidating, it is a kind of perfection that seems to have exceeded the existence of a human image, the determined eyes make her look a little tough, but just the right amount of slightly curled lips with a hint of tenderness, Alexander does not know how Michelangelo thought of making the person in the painting look like this kind of deep meaning when dealing with this lip, but he thinks that this look just shows the difference of Josha.

The sound of footsteps came slightly, and Alexander looked back and saw that the person in the painting was walking slowly, but she was wearing a milky white home dress, and the skirt without many embellishments fitted very well.

"I've decided to have Michelangelo carve a full-length portrait of you, remember when I said I'd like your statue to stand forever in the Duomo del Fiore in Florence, I don't think it's too far off."

Jossa smiled, looking at her slightly curled lips, Alexander couldn't help but glance at the canvas, this familiar smile now appeared in front of his eyes at the same time, which made him wonder how Michelangelo had captured her sweet smile that seemed to be exclusive to him at this moment.

"The Pope has sent someone to summon you," said Jossa in a low voice as she walked over and helped Alexander clean up, "I think you have been in Rome for too long, and the longer you take Caesar hostage, the worse it will be for you, and I think the Pope must not have given up on rescuing Caesar, and if he did it, you would be in danger." ”

"I know, but I have to stay in Rome, Caesar has actually done me a great favor this time, if it weren't for his own recklessness falling into my hands, I would have had to threaten her father with Lucrezia if I wanted to enter Rome."

Hearing Alexander's words, Zhensha's hand paused slightly, and she looked up at Alexander carefully: "But you won't do this, right, you won't use your child's mother to blackmail, so you will take the risk of coming to Rome in the end, this is what I am most worried about." ”

"But now that I have Caesar in my hand, you don't have to worry about it." Alexander smiled and hugged Josha, "Actually, everything you do is the key to my safety in Rome, you make the Romans believe that they need me, let them know that only I can give them wealth, so that the Pope can't take random measures against me because of scruples, it can be said that everything I can get now is obtained with your help." ”

Jisha exhaled softly, and she suddenly felt an indescribable relaxation, as if everything she had done before had paid off at this moment.

"Don't you remember that I'm your sister," said Josha in Alexander's ear, "maybe you'll have a wife, maybe you'll have a couple of lovers, but you'll have only one, sister, and no woman can take away that status." ”

Alexander kissed Josha's sideburns, knowing that Josa was not unconcerned about his relationship with Lucrezia, or that she cared deeply about Barendi, but as she said, neither wife nor lover could replace her as a "sister".

This is probably what Tsusha thinks can comfort herself.

The Pope summoned Alexander in the prayer hall of the Holy Cross, not far from the Sistine Chapel, and I don't know if it was because of the impression of Jisha's previous warning, Alexander felt that there were many more guards in the prayer hall today than usual.

The Prayer Chapel of the Holy Cross is actually a tomb, the small semicircular building on the ground is located in the northeast corner of the Sistine Chapel, and after entering it, you will see a narrow marble staircase leading to the ground, and after going down the stairs, you will come to the catacombs of the prayer hall after a short passage.

There are six marble sarcophagi in a fan shape in the tomb, and the carved figures on the top of the sarcophagus are lifelike, and Alexander knows that over time, two more sarcophagi will be added to the place, and they will be two great people worthy of being buried here.

Alexander VI stood in the open space in front of these fan-shaped sarcophagi, watching Alexander appear, his raised forehead raised, and then staring at Alexander with scrutinizing eyes.

"It is known that many of the greatest figures in Vatican history are laid to rest here," the Pope glanced around, "but few know that this was once a place of execution for prisoners, and that the executioners of the Holy See used the most brutal methods against those declared heretics, and they would have feared even the infidels. ”

Alexander frowned slightly, he didn't know what the Pope was suddenly bringing him here for, listening to Alexander VI's threatening tone, the first thought in his mind was "Could it be that if he was really guessed by Jisha, he had already found and rescued Caesar?" ”

"Tell me, what would you do if you knew that someone had deceived you, whether or not that person had deliberately deceived your trust?"

"If he were my enemy, I would admire his methods," Alexander replied, quickly pondering the meaning of the Pope's words, "If he were a friend, I would regard it as a betrayal, and I would only be angry and hateful to this man." ”

"Well said," said the Pope, walking slowly forward, as he walked slowly around Alexandria, while lowering his voice, "then tell me, are you my enemy or friend?" ”

"Your Majesty, please tell me if there is anything offended, but I must say that I have not done anything to the detriment of you so far, and if you are talking about Caesar, I think we all know that it is only my means of self-preservation, if it is about Lucrezia......"

"Shut up!"

Alexander VI suddenly roared, and his voice echoed throughout the burial chamber, humming and echoing.

"You still dare to mention my daughter, you kidnapped and seduced her, and then left your filthy seeds in her body, and deceived her into leaving offspring for you to blackmail me, and it was not enough for you to use Caesar's wrath to seize him and then use him as a hostage to threaten me to do those things for you, but even then you are not satisfied, you even conspired to collude with my enemies against me, tell me what benefits the Florentines have given you to make you willing to cooperate with them?!"

Alexander looked at the Pope with some astonishment, this was the first time he had seen Alexander angry, although there were not many opportunities to see this old man before, but as far as he knew, even in the face of Gonzalo's public humiliation, Alexander VI was not as excited and angry as he is now.

And what he cared about was the news about Florence.

On the eve of this economic storm that affected the whole of Europe, Florence was going to play a big role, and now suddenly hearing the Pope mention Florence, Alexander's heart jumped.

He didn't want anything to go wrong at this critical time.

But he was also slightly relieved, at least not about Caesar's trouble.

"Your Majesty, it is known that I do business with Florence and make money from them, and if you send a little inquiry, I am not in good standing in Florence, and the Florentines regard me as their enemy, because I have bankrupted many of them," Alexander replied.

"But you also promised them to arm an army for them," said Alexander VI, with anger in his eyes, "don't you know that I have a grudge against that Savonarola, who publicly humiliated me in his sermons, and even called my children the illegitimate sons of Satan, and you hooked up with this man and told me what you want to do, do you want to plot with him to overthrow me, or do you think that he may one day become pope, so from now on you are ready to invest a lot of money in him?" ”

Alexander opened his lips slightly, he didn't expect Alexander VI to be so sensitive to Savonarola, or he really regarded this person as a great threat to his enemy, otherwise he wouldn't have thought that Savonarola would threaten his papal throne.

However, Alexander did not want to take the blame on this matter, and as long as he thought about the consequences of Savonarola becoming pope, he felt that even the greedy, debauchery, cunning and ruthless old man in front of him seemed to be more suitable than the monk.

"Your Majesty, I think you or one of your subordinates have misunderstood," Alexander thought for a moment, he felt the need to reveal something, although it seemed that the Pope would take advantage of the exchange, but in fact he needed the support of Alexander VI more, and if something happened at this time, it would be too bad" I want to support not Savonarola, but some other people in Pisa. ”

"Who?"

"I think you've heard of them," Alexander pondered as he thought he would not reveal too much, he did not want to ruin his plans by saying too much to make Alexander VI feel that he had an opportunity, and he did not want any surprises before the whole of Europe was facing an economic storm brought about by him, "A merchant friend of mine in Pisa, James Columbus, knew one of the treasurers of Pisa, and I think you may have heard of this man's surname, the Sazi family. ”

Alexander VI's expression moved slightly.

Of course, he heard of this surname, and even issued a special order related to this family, that is, to order the destruction of a number of frescoes about the Sazi family on the walls outside the Baptistery in Florence.

The frescoes were painted by the Florentines to commemorate the squeeze for the assassination of Lorenzo Medici, led by the Sazi family and several other Florentine nobles.

In the frescoes, the assassins of the time were depicted as filthy villains, hung from windowsills and in the streets with black dye, and angry people even stabbed their stiff bodies with torches and pitchforks.

It was during the time of Sistine IV, and there were many rumors that the assassination of Medici was related to Sistine IV, and interestingly enough, the Pope was the uncle of old Rovere.

After the Medici family was expelled from Florence, many of the nobles who had been forced into exile for their involvement in the assassination returned to Florence, some of them serving in the new Florentine government.

Among them is the Saqi family.

"You're doing business with the Saqi family?" Alexander VI asked suspiciously, "But, as far as I know, he is now working for Savonarola." ”

"Your Majesty, he's working for the Florentine government, not for Savonarola," Alexander reminded softly, "and if the information you get is accurate, you should know that this man is not the same as Savonarola." ”

"But isn't it the Florentine army that he's going to arm," Alexander asked coldly, "so you're going to help them against me?" ”

"Your Majesty, if, I mean, if I report to you that there may be a small riot in Florence because of the regime change......" Alexander said slowly, looking at the face of a marble sarcophagus relief on the other side.

"Wait a minute, what do you say, you say it again?"

The Pope's face was first a little puzzled because he really didn't understand, and then there was a look of inexplicable surprise because of the surprise.

"Your Majesty, the situation in Florence is not very good, you should know that the Florentines have had a hard time in the months since the last market turmoil, which has caused panic not only among the common people, but also in their government, which has caused some dissatisfaction, and it is clear that Savonarola is not fit to be the consul of a city-state."

Listening to Alexander's words, the Pope couldn't help but gasp deeply, and he told himself not to believe the young man in front of him because of these words, because he was too cunning, but what he heard made Alexander VI can't help but feel excited.

Savonarola was a thorn in Alexander VI's heart, an ordeal that could not be removed or erased.

In addition to the anger brought to him by this man's unbridled public criticism, what really made the Pope want to get rid of him was that this man was so unscrupulously hostile to him, but he couldn't do anything to his prestige.

Alexander VI did not care about infamy, but he could not ignore the resulting provocation to his authority.

On more than one occasion, Alexander VI secretly vowed to eradicate the annoying monk at all costs, but for various reasons he had to endure the humiliation that the man brought to him.

Now, when he suddenly heard Alexander's hint that there might be a riot against Savonarola in Florence, the Pope felt as if he had suddenly heard the Gospel of God.

"It's Sazi, it's Sazi, I know he's not the same as that arrogant Savonarola, they're not all the same as him." Alexander VI paced back and forth, then he paused and said hurriedly, "I am not interested in who will rule Florence and how it will rule, but I will not tolerate that Savonarola continuing to point fingers at me, do you know what I mean?" ”

"Of course, Your Majesty," Alexander nodded, "but as you know, Savonarola still has a high reputation in Florence, and his unwavering self-discipline and his dedication to all worldly pleasures have given him many loyal followers. ”

"That's all temptation and deception!" Alexander VI glared at Alexander angrily, "What do you want to say, do you want to tell me that in fact, the riot will not succeed, but I just heard you say that you are ready to help those people." ”

"Your Majesty, I mean we still have to wait, the support of the people will not last forever, especially when they are facing hunger, and the firm faith cannot fill their stomachs, and may even cause greater resentment at times."

Alexander was tempted to tell the Pope how terrible it was for a hungry populace, but it was clear that Alexander VI could not have imagined such a scenario.

"You mean it's not yet time," the Pope said, looking at Alexander suspiciously, "so tell me when I can, I don't want this day long enough for Savonarola to die quietly in his own bed." ”

"It won't be long," Alexander looked at the entrance of the corridor, the sky outside had already dimmed, and the winter days were short, "our exchange has already started, and soon my friend in Florence will start responding to us there, the James Columbus I spoke of earlier, and he will bring me more news about Sazi, so that we can know if the Florentines are ready for a riot." ”

"It seems that you were prepared, was it at Pisa, when you were ready to deal with Florence?" Alexander VI keenly grasped something: "Tell me Gombray, do you have ambitions for Romagna?" ”

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask Caesar about this," Alexander smiled noncommittally, "and you probably wouldn't believe me if I were not talking to you about Romagna or Tuscany at all, but fortunately I will always be in Rome during this time, so you will see for yourself how I can actually only make money, and be more interested." ”

"Yes, your exchange still has that trade alliance," Alexander VI smiled, "You see how it is, I will fully support you in the name of the Pope, and I can even let Lucrezia marry you, I can see that you both like each other very much, as for your territory, I can give you a piece of land that is no worse than Montina, and you just need to make money with peace of mind, I can protect you now, Caesar can protect you in the future, and you will be the source of wealth for the future Borgia dynasty, Wouldn't that be better for all of us? ”

Listening to the Pope's advice, Alexander looked at him silently, and after a while he gently took the Pope's hand and kissed him lightly on the large signet ring he was wearing.

"Allow me to retire Your Majesty."

Alexander bowed, then turned and walked towards the burial chamber.

Alexander VI looked at the disappearing figure motionlessly, not even paying attention to the footsteps that stopped beside him.

"What is this Gombray thinking?"

Nomelo whispered.

"Whatever he thinks, I am sure that he will never be a member of the Borgia family," said Alexander VI in a gloomy voice, "and I will find Caesar as soon as possible to get him back." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Nomelo replied with a bow.

At the same time, Alexander walked out of the prayer hall and was confronted by a man in a dirty turban from the construction site of the plaza that was being renovated.

When they staggered by, Alexander whispered: "Tell our people, get ready!" ”

"Yes, sir." The man walked behind Alexander without looking back.

Walking far away, the man raised his head slightly, revealing the swarthy face of the Moorish man under his turban.