In a plain not too far from the ancient city of San Gillignano, the Venetian army had established a short but strong defensive line, which was defended by the Ferrars.

For Constantine, Duke of Ferrara, who arrived in a hurry from Rome, the Venetians maintained a minimum of respect, but that was all, for him, the Venetians were more respectful.

Constantine's takeover of the Papal Army after Caesar's death made his relationship with the Duchy of Rome and Thesia quite delicate, and although everyone knew that there was an old Rovere behind it, as the most likely candidate to become the next pope, the Venetians naturally did not openly associate Constantine with Old Rovere.

But it was enough for the Venetians to be careful with him.

The rise of the Duchy of Rome-Thessia now seems to have become a fait accompli, and for at least for a long time to be foreseeable, this emerging duchy has attracted a great deal of attention as a force to be reckoned with on the Italian peninsula, not only in the Apennines, but throughout Europe.

Therefore, in order to have a good relationship with Rome Thesia, it is not appropriate to go too close to Constantine.

This time the Venetians sent about 7,500 soldiers, and this elite and mostly mercenary legion of Venetian citizens themselves entered the battlefield under the leadership of a prestigious Venetian general, although they did not join directly at first, but only began to get serious when the situation was almost clear.

This behavior somewhat displeased the Neapolitans, so it is understandable that when their envoys came to the Neapolitan military camp to meet the queen, they received a cold reception.

However, the Venetian envoys did not care about the indifference they received, because as far as they knew, the French king had already sent someone to negotiate with the Queen of Naples, so that the Venetians realized that if they did not find a solution as soon as possible, they might not have much benefit in the future.

For the Venetians' robbery, Jisha also expressed his dissatisfaction with restraint but still perceptible, but as the Venetian envoy said, the next war needs the Venetians.

Like many city-states, the Venetian generals were often politicians in addition to commanding troops on the battlefield, so the Venetian generals quickly grasped the crux of the situation facing the Neapolitans.

"Your Majesty, allow me to explain to you where you are now," said the messenger confidently, "our army has arrived, and the Austrians have gone south, and your army has already suffered heavy casualties in the previous battles with the French, and we all know that the Emperor has great ambitions for Rome, do you think that in such a situation Maximian would easily pass up the opportunity to rule the land?" ”

"We can still fight, whether it is the French, the Emperor, or even you Venetians, Rome and Tessia will firmly defend their rights, and as an ally, Naples has no other choice."

Jisha's answer was resolute and decisive, but there was some helpless hesitation, although she disguised it well, but the messenger was still keenly aware of the exhaustion that the queen was almost unable to support.

This exhaustion was not only from physical but also mental pressure, which made the messenger guess that the queen's seemingly determined exterior was actually facing a dazed and uneasy situation that could collapse at any moment.

"I think you are mistaken, Venice is the most loyal friend of Rome and Narles, and we will not do anything contrary to the alliance, but I also ask you to give due consideration to the role played by Venice in this war, so we think that we should be more cautious in negotiations with France, because it will inevitably involve everyone's interests."

The purpose of the Venice envoy's final revelation seemed to put the originally nervous Jisha at ease, obviously, if it was still very unwilling, it would be much better than facing a new enemy before the war was over.

As a result, although she did not immediately agree to the Venetian's offer to occupy an important position in the negotiations, she did not firmly oppose it.

And in the besieged French camp, King Louis of France looked at the few slices of black bread and a little pickled cucumber in front of the cook.

This was the king's supper, with no wine, no bacon, not even a little sweet sauce as a seasoning, and in fact, even this was something that the cook had to find with great difficulty.

After several successive defeated retreats, the French, who had lost almost all their baggage, ran out of food.

"How much more do our soldiers have to eat?" Louis XII asked the people around him, and seeing that they were silent, the King of France gently shook the piece of bread he had picked up and put it back on his plate.

"What other conditions?" Louis looked up at Charlon and asked, after listening to the negotiations with the Neapolitans, who had not even finished listening because of his anger, and now seemed to want to continue listening, "Say it all, let me see how much more I can come up with to redeem myself." ”

"In addition to the previous requests, there is the requirement to open a total of 12 coastal ports along the coast to the Trade Union, including Marseille, Toulon, Brest, Le Havre, and Montleuil, and to allow the Trade Union to exercise the right to do business in the interior of our country, and the Queen of Charlon looked at the King, who demanded the security of the Duchy of Rome and Thesia on the border north of Parma, and the Queen offered to sign a truce with us for three years. ”

"A three-year truce?" The King looked stunned, "Does that woman think that after three years she will not be able to worry about threats from France, or does she really think that I will abide by such an agreement?" ”

Charlain listened in silence to the fact that the King had so openly stated that he intended to breach the treaty before it was signed, and it was indeed not up to him to decide, but he felt that the King seemed to be a little too optimistic.

"I beg your pardon, your majesty, that queen apparently thought of this as well, so she put forward an additional condition."

"What is she going to do?" Louie's expression changed slightly.

"She proposed that from the time the contract was signed, France must pay both countries an equal amount of copper per month for the manufacture of five guns, and that all the artillery of the French fortress west of the Tanaro River to Nice must be dismantled and destroyed immediately after the agreement is signed."

"That woman, is she crazy, this Salope, this ......"

Louis XII, who had always been known for his good temper and reputation, was furious in the jaw-dropping crowd around him, slapping his thighs angrily and uttering a series of curses in his mouth with the characteristic accent of Orleans.

"She's humiliating me, dishonoring your monarch, does she think I'm going to believe her lies," Louis kept roaring at everyone around him, "If I agree to these terms, maybe I will be overthrown before I return to France, and even if my people are willing to forgive me, what awaits France will only be mercilessly dismembered." ”

Louis said as he went back and forth in circles, sometimes stopping to glare at Scharon with terrible eyes, as if he were a traitor in collusion with his enemies.

But in the end he just sat down, put his hand on his somewhat aching forehead and muttered: "I will go down in history for being the first king to sign such a humiliating agreement, no, I can't do this, to tell our enemies that it's better to let them attack, I can't be that ridiculous king of England, even if I die, I will retain the dignity of a French king." ”

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to speak for a while, and the atmosphere in the tent was indescribably oppressive.

Someone outside whispered to each other, and then an attendant cautiously walked in, whispered in Sharron's ear, and immediately stepped back out.

Charlon's eyes narrowed slightly, and he seemed to be playing with the news he had just heard, until he saw the king looking at him, and then he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, after crossing the Arno River, Borwicken's army is surrounded by Pisa and the Venetians. ”

"Oh, that's good news," Louis smiled self-deprecatingly, "it seems that if I want to keep the French army, I will have to agree to these conditions, but if I don't, they can also get what they want by destroying us, so I am destined to become the most notorious king in the history of France." ”

"No, your majesty, this is perhaps good news," Scharlain continued, "for it seems that our enemies do not really intend to stop Borwicken. ”

Louis slowly lowered his hand on his forehead, and he stood up and began to pace slowly, his slightly elongated face changing expressions, as if he was bothered by some incomprehensible problem.

Then he stopped and looked at Sharron: "Do you think they are planning to annihilate us together, or do they have other ideas?" ”

"Your Majesty, I think maybe they want to negotiate with us, I mean with all of them."

Charlon's words brought a smile to the face of the French king, who was already a little desperate, and he began to circle again, and this time around the chair, and after two turns, Louis said: "It seems that you still need to deal with them, go to the Venetians, and negotiate terms with the Austrians before they come in, and as for the Neapolitans, I will send someone to delay them." ”

Scharron immediately took his orders, knowing that a series of troublesome and difficult mediations awaited him, but it was at least a good thing, because it meant that the war was being dragged into a phase that was determined entirely by factors outside the battlefield.

The battlefield superiority of Naples and Rome-Thessia will be gradually evaporated in this intricate web of diplomacy.

Walking outside the tent, Sharron looked up at the sky, the sun was still hot, and he wondered if it was time for someone to prepare some cool clothes for himself, because it would be really hard to follow.

The visit of the Venetian envoy seemed to have put the queen in a bad mood, which apparently affected the mood of the Neapolitan generals somewhat, and the joy of a great victory seemed to be diluted considerably, so that when someone came to the queen to report that the French were secretly negotiating with the Venetians, many feared that the queen might act aggressively out of anger.

After all, no one can bear the blow of being snatched away by a third party who suddenly appears next to him, so it is understandable that he is angry and even crazy.

One of the most worried was Skop, and when he heard that the French were secretly hooking up with the Venetians, a crazy idea crossed his mind, and he wanted to incite the queen to attack the French army, and then sabotage the negotiations between the French and other countries.

It's just that Skober also knows that the cost of doing so is great, and he doesn't know if Jisha will be bold enough to do that.

Especially after the departure of the Venetian envoys, Josa locked herself in her room, which made people worry about the queen even more.

Everyone became cautious, except for the army who did not know the truth, they were still immersed in the joy after the great victory, and even some of the guards around the queen knew that it was best not to make His Majesty angry at this time.

Skop found the lady-in-waiting, and he wanted to ask the queen's cronies about the situation of the prince, after all, the position of the Duke of Parma was of course very important to him, but more importantly, he was now tightly tied to Rome Thesia, and no matter how far the situation developed next, it was bound to have a huge, even fateful impact on him.

It's just that what disappointed him was that the waitress was very strict, and even though he promised enough tempting benefits, he still didn't hear anything useful.

However, the waitress looked at a string of emerald necklaces, and before leaving, she still revealed something that made Skop a little baffled: "Your Majesty has a good appetite, and she drank something called rum last night?" ”

Many people think that Jisha is angry, and even Jisha herself feels that she seems to be really angry in front of others.

But when she lay comfortably in the bathtub behind closed doors, drinking the rum brought by the waitress, the hot water and the slightly drunken feeling that her skin burned her skin like boiled shrimp made Tsusha so comfortable that she didn't even want to move her fingers anymore.

The smoky breeze that blew in through the cracks in the thick curtains of the window brushed through the smooth skin of the swasha, and she leaned her head slightly against the upturned pillow edge of the tub behind her head, feeling the lethargic drunken dizziness, and she remembered what Alexander had told her about the details of life that she enjoyed even if it sounded simple.

That's probably it now, Tsusha asked in her heart, a slight heat of uneasiness hit her body, her face was hot, she knew she missed Alexander.

I don't know how long it took, the water in the tub was already a little cold, and she crawled out of the tub lazily, put on a soft silk robe, and walked to the bed and sat down cross-legged.

Two smooth, healthy thighs protruded from the hem of the robe, and beads of unwiped water slid on the jewel-like knees.

She turned around and looked into a mirror standing in the corner, then smiled with satisfaction.

Although the bohemian girl had an exaggerated figure, she was far away in Wallachia after all.

Lucrezia's woman who only serves men may be a threat, but she's too stupid.

And Barondi......

Jisha thought for a moment and finally shook her head.

She knew her brother too well, and Barondi might have been a good wife, a dutiful duchess, and a qualified assistant, but because of these qualities, she was not destined to be a woman who could make Alexander want more.

"It's still my sister's cutest."

She smiled a little smugly, then moved a small writing table from the side, took out the pen and ink from the hidden compartment, and began to write after a little silence.

"Dear brother, when you receive this letter, perhaps everything that happened in Rome has come to an end completely, and the role we play in this drama is so perfect, and all this is from your pre-arrangement, so before I get down to business, allow me to express to you my heartfelt gratitude and heartfelt admiration, but this is the gratitude of the Queen of Naples, and as your only lovely sister, I just want to say that I am proud of you."

At this point, she paused to read the beginning, then nodded with satisfaction as if boasting about herself, and then continued to write.

"As you said before, any strategic goal has a boundary, and a huge goal that is too greedy will often fail due to the lack of its own strength, and may even burn the previous victories, but the goal we have set so far has been largely accomplished, and we can probably achieve the following most important results, the Duchy of Rome and Tesia has passed the tests that it will inevitably go through after its establishment, and the results obtained so far are enough for those powerful neighbors not to covet, A battle of Liwei has put the principality on its feet for a while, which is enough to bring peace to your country for a while, and for me, I hope that Uncle Modiglo's long-cherished wish will be fulfilled, and I have never been more confident in the unity of Sicily, and all this is due to you......"

"For the French, while weakening the strength of this strong enemy to the greatest extent, we should indeed take into account the important role played by the French in containing other countries, fortunately, the Venetians can't wait, they send people to threaten, and even hint that they may form an alliance with the French if necessary, it is clear that our strength has caused them to be uneasy, but this is exactly what we need, the addition of Venice and Austrians will make the situation of the French even worse, but in this way, They will inevitably fall into the quagmire of the battle for Lombardy.

My brother, you probably can't imagine the eagerness with which I was expecting the Venetian messengers, but I even wondered if the Venetians would not have the courage to reach out to us because our army was too brave, but their greed helped us a lot, but you probably can't imagine how hard it was for me to show great anger and at the same time try to hide my joy in the face of their so-called threats, which made me feel like a natural actor. Maybe one day if we are down, you and I can form a troupe and go from place to place, and I'm sure we'll be more popular than that bohemian woman's performance......"

She paused here, she gently brushed her chin with the silky feathers of her quill, and after thinking for a while, she wrote with a slightly lonely expression: "I miss your brother very much, how are you there, I don't know how I can help you, if you want I can even share my crown, as if everything belongs to you, including myself, but now I only hope that you can return to me safely, come back quickly, brother, because there will be a good show next, And I've booked the best seats for us. ”