Old Rovie has not had a very good time lately, although his son has returned safely, but his cousin has been burned to slag, which is a disturbing thing.

The cardinal's age is not young, and he has long passed the time when his blood is boiling and he can avenge his blood relatives.

How much more will you take revenge on your own daughter? Or was it the one who instigated her to do such a terrible thing?

Old Rovere felt that there was no need to make such a big deal for Tony della Rovere, after all, Bishop Tony's death was also self-inflicted, and even Old Rovere himself did not think of breaking with his daughter and son-in-law completely.

What Alexander had done, the elder Rovere knew very well, and because of this, although he was as eager for Romagna as the Pope, he was just as able to keep the last bit of calm.

What's more, Barentine finally released Konstantin unharmed, which made old Rovere believe that Alexander should not have planned to become an outright enemy with him.

As for the hapless Caesar, old Rovere also sent Konstantin to visit him.

This was a bit disgusting, but the meeting between the two brothers-in-law was relatively peaceful, and after some discussion of "your sister is not cute", Konstantin brought back a little news from the Pope.

Alexander VI hoped that the war in Romagna would end as soon as possible, or that there would be a step for everyone to get by, which required the tacit understanding and cooperation of the old Rovere, according to the Pope's intentions, he hoped that the old Rovere would support him to continue to put pressure on Montina, at least force Montina to withdraw from Bologna, and at the same time recognize the direct rule of the Pope over Ferrara, and the city of Ferrara could continue to be self-governing by the locals.

Of course, the elder Rovere was not very reluctant to this suggestion, but he knew that the Pope would put forward such conditions, mainly because of the current war between France and Austria.

Alexander VI believed that Maximian would not be able to hold out for long, and that it was no secret that the Fugger family was bankrupt, and it was clear that the emperor, after losing the support of his big patron, would definitely not be able to continue to support the war because of financial constraints, and then Alexander VI, who had already allied himself with the French, would be able to take the initiative.

Old Rovere was eager to reveal the Pope's plans to Barendi, so that he could also reconcile with his daughter, but he didn't know if Barendi would listen to him at such a time, or if he simply insisted that it was just another plot by her father, trying to deceive her into trust and then plot against Montina.

Just when the elder Rovere was at a loss as to how to regain his daughter's trust, an unexpected visitor came to his hilltop garden.

There were many villas in Rome, some of which were built by later magnates, and a few that have been handed down since the ancient Roman period.

The hilltop villa of the old Rovere family was built entirely in the style of ancient Rome by the original Pope Sistine IV, and it is still decades old.

Ulliu had accompanied Alexander on several visits to the villa, but this was the first time he had walked in as a negotiator.

However, old Rovere did not show the slightest contempt for this young Moor, he was well aware of the position of this young man beside Alexander, and it can be said that it is not uncommon in history to be a servant to be able to be a servant in Ulliu, but it is by no means many.

"Is there something my dear son-in-law has something to tell me," said old Rovere, looking at Ulliu, who was standing respectfully across from him, and then waved his hand slightly to signal him to sit down, "tell me what he sent you for?" ”

Uliu bowed respectfully, then sat down very reservedly, pondered for a while, and then spoke: "Yes, my lord, my lord would like to be able to get your help in matters concerning Ferrara and Bologna, you know that Caesar's purpose in invading Ferrara was to infiltrate the Pope's influence into Romagna, which is not a very good thing for anyone, and my lord is sure that you must have other opinions on this." ”

"Do you mean that I should object to the Pope doing this," asked old Rovere sullenly, waving his hand to stop Ulliu, who seemed to be about to defend himself, "Your master is too greedy, and he is trying to annex all of Romagna and Tuscany alone, which is something that anyone can see, so who do you think will tolerate this ambition of his, the Pope, me, or the Venetians?" ”

Ulliu looked slightly embarrassed, pursed his lips slightly, as if trying to justify something, but then gave up on the futile act.

"In fact, is this happening because your master has too much appetite, and it is impossible for the Pope to see the emergence of a powerful Tuscan-Romagna state, which already directly threatens Rome and the Vatican, or do you really think that this is just Caesar's ambition?"

Old Rovere let out a slightly mocking chuckle as he picked up a pomegranate from the plate next to him and a silver knife to remove the thick skin, then took the string of pomegranate seeds he had pried off and put it in his mouth with his left hand, and after biting the particles hard and sucking the juice in his mouth, the cardinal looked at the Moorish man with a restrained expression in front of him.

"My daughter thinks very well, I am even proud of her, even if I am in her situation, I will not do better than her, I am talking about her timely response to Caesar's invasion, you must know that no one in Rome at that time thought that she would be so decisive to make the decision to send troops to intervene in Ferrara, she grasped the timing is actually very good, but I don't know what happened later, her people will suddenly and inexplicably capture Bologna, believe me this is really not a good idea, Now the Pope is also annoyed by this matter, knowing that this is a direct violation of the dignity of old Rodrigo. ”

A slight smile crossed Ulliu's swarthy face when he heard that old Rovere had used Alexander VI's secular name instead of his Christian name, but he was still so respectful that he looked like a child who had made a mistake and sat in front of old Rovere.

"So apart from that, do you have any other news for me?" Old Rovere asked slowly, of course he knew that Alexander couldn't be so unreliable and only let Ulliu make such a request to him without any quid pro quo, but in the cardinal's opinion, Montina was indeed "angry" because of his ambition this time, so he couldn't imagine what leverage Alexander had to say that he would not only give up his previous plan to try to infiltrate Montina, but even help him in turn.

At this time, Uliuu put away his look that seemed to be a little helpless, he straightened his waist slightly and looked at old Roviere, and then said in a very light but clear and powerful tone: "It is such an adult, the future of the emperor seems to be a little bad. ”

As soon as Uliu opened his mouth, old Rovere was stunned.

The emperor, of course, is talking about Maximian, as for whether the emperor's prospects are wonderful, this is very clear to anyone who knows a little bit about the inside story.

At least old Rovere thought that the emperor would hold out for a few months at most, and perhaps even less, and then he would have to withdraw his troops and go back to Austria to settle his own mess, and as for Ludviko Sforza, no one cared about the hapless Duke of Milan anymore.

But Alexander asked Ulliu to come to himself and say this, what is he doing?

Old Luo Weilei vaguely guessed a little shadow, but he was still quietly waiting for the other party to have a showdown.

This is the case when making deals and negotiating deals, whoever has the showdown first will undoubtedly be at a disadvantage.

However, as far as old Rovere knew, the well-known shrewd governor of Montina had done something foolish this time, and when he heard the inquiry, Ulius showed his cards: "My lord thinks it is dangerous to let the French continue to expand, and he thinks that you will certainly not tolerate the continuation of this situation." ”

Old Rovere's wrinkled, thin face fell into a slight dazed for a moment, and he looked at Uliuu intently, as if trying to see what was going on in his heart.

Or at this time, he was already thinking about whether to smash the cup, calling out the hidden knife and axe hand, and chirping how many pieces the Moors in front of him would be.

But in the end these terrible scenes did not happen, and old Rovere picked up the half-peeled pomegranate again, but this time his hands were so slow that he simply stopped what he was doing.

"What did you just say to me?" The cardinal asked softly, "Tell me what makes your master think that I will oppose the French, maybe you don't know very well, but your master must know the relationship between me and France, I am the archbishop of Lille, and I am a guest of honor at the French court, I am friends with many French nobles, and as for King Charles, I am his personal friend, tell me what makes your master think that I will oppose France, or is it just your misunderstanding of yourself?" ”

Uliuu stood up stiffly, he first stroked his chest and made a pagan salute, and then said very respectfully: "Your Excellency, please allow me to defend myself presumptuously, I have not misunderstood my master's words at all, this is what he wants me to bring you, the expansion of the French in Rome must be contained, he believes that this is also your idea, you do not want to see Rome become a part of France." ”

Old Rovere was silent, he did not know what was thinking in his heart at this time, but from the pomegranate in his hand, sometimes peeling and sometimes pausing, it was evident that the cardinal's heart was not as calm as he seemed from the outside.

After a while, old Rovere slowly raised his head, looked at Ulliu for a moment, then stood up and waved his hand at him, motioning for him to follow him to the garden balcony behind.

When Alexander visited the villa before, he had negotiated and bargained with Constantine, Barentia, and old Rovere on this garden balcony, but at that time Ulliu was not qualified to come near it, so this was the first time he stood here and looked at the city of Rome below.

"It's magnificent, isn't it," saw Ulliu's look of amazement, and old Rovelle smiled meaningfully, "Your master saw the scenery here for the first time, although it was not as exaggerated as yours, but it was also very envious, but all this is illusory, after all, although the scenery here is beautiful, it is too far from the real place of glory." ”

As he spoke, the elder Rovere stretched out his hand and pointed to the Vatican in the distance and said, "This is where the city of Rome has been regarded as the center of Europa for thousands of years, and Gombray is now challenging the owner of that place." ”

"In fact, it was His Majesty the Pope who provoked it." Ulius argued rarely, but when he saw old Rovere turn his head to look at him, the Moors immediately shut their mouths in recognition.

"Tell me about Alexander's purpose," said old Rovere, frowning slightly, still holding the half-peeled pomegranate in his hand, and the knife in his hand unconsciously peeled over the already small coat, "why does he think that I will oppose the French?" ”

"Because the French are now allied with the Pope," Ullius opened his mouth again and lifted the bottom directly, which made old Rovere feel a little uncomfortable with the Moorish way of speaking not so much outspoken as open-mouthed, "My master thinks that if the French continue to expand, they may be able to divide up all of Rome with the Pope, which is obviously not in your interest, and you know that although my master regards His Majesty the Pope as his father, it is also not in Montina's interest. ”

Old Rovere glanced at Uliu, the movement of peeling pomegranates in his hand stopped, he squinted his eyes and said slowly: "But you probably forgot that if a Tuscany-Romagna principality appears, it is also not in the interests of many people. ”

"But my lord, it's at least better than being completely annexed by the French, look at Milan, no one knows where poor Ludvico is now, and he is one of the rare good men I have ever met, but his end is really uncomfortable."

Old Rovere ignored Ulliu's slightly offensive tone, and he walked to the garden wall covered with bouquets and looked at the buildings of Rome in the distance, and after a while turned and asked, "Tell me what Alexander wants." ”

"Yes, my lord, I hope that you will come forward to persuade the Pope to accept Madame de Barentia's proposal, that Metropolitan Mahimo should take over Ferrara and become Bishop of Bologna, and that Montina will bear all the losses of the war concerning Bologna," and in return for a complete showdown between Uliou, my master is willing to do his part to establish a new friendship between you and the Emperor. ”

Old Rovere finally showed a look of surprise this time, he stopped the action of cutting the pomegranate in his hand, took a step forward and asked unexpectedly, "What are you talking about?" ”

"Such an adult, my lord does not think that the power of the Emperor should be weakened, for he is the key to the struggle with the French," said Ulliu, not frowning at the gaffe of old Rovere, but still with a respectful expression, "so he thinks it necessary to help the Austrians, and since the Fugger family is now in trouble, it may be considered that we should provide some support to the Emperor." ”

"Are you saying that Alexander is going to replace the Fuggers as the emperor's patron?"

Old Rovere immediately grasped the crux of Ulliu's words, and he looked at the young Moors in surprise, and was surprised at his words and even more surprised at Alexander's utterly unexpected plans.

As for how the Fugger family was unlucky, old Rovere is actually not very clear, although he knows that Alexander must have played a key role in it, but because the whole process is too complicated, and the people and forces involved are too complex, so old Rovere only vaguely perceived Alexander's seemingly omnipresent shadow, it can be said that in the matter of the Fugger family, he even knew more than Alexander VI.

But in any case, he knew that Maximian's predicament was largely caused by Alexander, which made old Rovere even regret that he had helped Alexander to defeat the Fugger family in the first place, so that now he has lost an important force to compete with the French.

So now, when Ullius said that Alexander was willing to support Maximian, old Rovere was surprised by Alexander's decision.

Being the patron of a monarch who wags war may seem rewarding enough, but if the monarch is defeated, he will often lose all his money, and even victory may not always lead to his share of the profits.

Alexander didn't seem to get much benefit from Maximian, so why should he support the emperor against the French?

"For the sake of Naples, my lord," Ulliuu quickly gave old Rovere an answer that seemed indeed impeccable, "in fact you should know that for my master, the free trade alliance is his primary concern, and Naples is an important part of this alliance, and now that my master's sister Mademoiselle Quessa is the regent of Naples, this is even more important to him, so my master hopes to contain the French by supporting the emperor, and perhaps drive them out of Rome, And you are obviously also a supporter of my master, and you can be fully rewarded. ”

"Oh?"

Old Rovere glanced at Uliu, and it was only then that the conditions were really discussed.

"My master thinks that if you can live so long and healthy, you may not be a great pope in the future, and he would love to see this day come sooner rather than later, and he will do everything in his power to support you for this."

"Support me?" Old Rovere laughed, he did not look happy to hear this, but there was a slight sarcasm in his tone, "Is it when Alexander VI is still alive and healthy, you must know that he is not much older than me, and as far as I know, his body can still allow him to gallop in his mistress's bed." ”

"Of course, this is only my master's hope for the future," Ulliu, unmoved by the cardinal's sarcasm, bowed slightly to old Rovere, raised his head and smiled, "but my master has another suggestion that I hope you will seriously consider, the Duke of Milan, Ludvico Sforza, is now on the run, and his title has been deposed by King Louis of France, although Louis has declared himself the title of Duke of Milan, but this should be opposed by many." So now that the title of Duke of Milan is a fictitious one, if my master can help you to form an alliance with the Emperor, do you think your son Constantine has a chance to claim the title of Duke of Milan? ”

With a "squeak", most of the pomegranate in Old Rovier's hand was instantly crushed by him, and the juice flowed sideways.