Alexander regretted that he hadn't taken Latin, Hebrew, or any other classical language, or else he wouldn't have looked at the crooked letters of the paper and turned his eyes open.

Obviously, the writer of the letter was also very cautious, he did not see the signature on the letter, let alone the most popular seal with the family crest at the moment, and believed that even if such a letter fell into the hands of others, even if the identity of the writer could be guessed, it should not cause any trouble to him.

As for saying that if it falls into the hands of someone like Alexander, then there is no need to worry about leaks.

But Modillo's words were enough to make Alexander think.

Although there were still many people who could correspond with the Count, it was only necessary to consider who would prefer the French to remain in Italy, as the letter said, or who would benefit from it, and the identity of the letter writer was revealed.

On that not-so-long list, there was one man's name that crossed Alexander's mind.

King Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Unlike others, who always had only speculation, Alexander knew better than anyone what Ferdinand II's ambitions were for Naples.

As a descendant of the Aragonese royal family, Ferdinand II's coveting of Naples was more likely to be speculated by, so when the French invaded Naples, he immediately responded to Naples' request for help and sent his wife's favorite general, Gonzalo, who had shined in the Reconquista, to bring enough troops and money to Naples.

And Gonzalo also lived up to Ferdinand's expectations, while fighting with the French, he also hammered the already crumbling rule of Naples, and even in the name of the need for unified command of the army and the stupidity of the other party, he mercilessly deprived Alfonso II, who was still the king of Naples at the time, of military power, so that when the hapless madman Ferdinand succeeded to his father's throne, there were almost no soldiers available except for the royal guards around him.

The result of Gonzalo's arrogance was nothing more than an innocuous rebuke from Ferdinand.

Even after that, Ferdinand acquiesced in this almost rebellious act.

However, what let Alexander know Ferdinand's real ambition for Naples was that a few years later, the king of Aragon, who was the same ancestor as Naples, could not bear his greed, and finally simply turned against Frederick, the king of Naples at that time, and directly annexed Naples.

How many years could Frederick be King of Naples?

4 years or 5 years?

Where will you be then?

Alexander calculated in his heart, and then shook his head slightly, he knew that this loss business seemed to be done.

The 50,000 shephir of wheat, as well as a large quantity of oats and other grains, were to be brought north by James, but the stallions he paid for and the Columbus diaries, which Alexander was concerned about, did not know when they would arrive.

Mordillo seemed to see Alexander's displeasure, which made the Count a little happy, and I don't know when he saw the young man frustrated, the Count felt an indescribable feeling in his heart, and he believed that if he came a few more times, the young man would obediently obey his arrangement.

Now that I think about it, a fairly clever and obedient young man seems to be pretty good, at least much better than a stupid guy.

Looking at Alexander's handsome side face with a melancholy look on his brow raised in depression, a thought suddenly flashed in Modillo's heart that he had never had before, although this thought was only a hurry, but he did not let go of it and immediately grasped it, and immediately decided to give it a try.

"Monastery life has made you a little boring," Mordillo put his hand around Alexander's shoulder, while his fingers tapped him lightly on the shoulder, "You should learn more things to enjoy life, such as attending more banquets, and learning to dress up, I don't mean that your clothes are bad now, but I think of that Osborne, who actually let you come to Naples like this, which is a little strange." Speaking of Osborne, Modillo looked a little strange, but he tried to make his tone sound natural, and then he took out a bulging money bag from the other side of the table, "Don't frown, you know that you have made enough money from me, and I am bleeding a lot this time to feed the Neapolitans." ”

"But this is not my payment for the wheat," said Mordillo as he slipped the money bag into Alexander's hand, "and this is a little bit of my personal affection, thank you for your help to me, I must admit that I owe you a favor in this matter, so go to the city and have fun, and I will arrange for someone to accompany you, and that fellow will not let you down, at least you can avoid the sick secret prostitutes while you are having fun." ”

Alexander looked at Mordillo inexplicably, he didn't know how the count had suddenly become so interested in his personal life, and listening to that tone, it was completely a posture to train him to be a playboy.

Sure enough, seeing that Alexander was still a little hesitant, the count simply ordered the servant to call a guy who looked very smooth, and after giving the order, he patted Alexander on the shoulder and laughed and said, "Go spend it, young man, spend all the money, this is what the Modillo family should do." ”

Looking at Mordillo's smiling appearance, Alexander suddenly had the illusion that he had really become his cheap nephew.

The man who was instructed by Mordillo to be Alexander's sidekick was called Mario, a name that was not only ordinary, but also made Alexander think of a certain person regardless of his size, so he felt that it was easy to remember.

Mario was a local, or rather a customary, and although Alexander soon discovered that most of the places he mastered were not of good taste, it did give him a taste for something even more special about Naples.

Mario knew where almost all the Neapolitan ladies were and knew their schedules, so when Alexander thought he would take him through the streets into the living room of a famous prostitute, Mario led him into a house that looked a little remote and had a somewhat dark living room.

A fat man came out of it dangling, and it was evident that he was doing well in those days of famine, but when he heard Alexander's name, the fat-faced bearded man immediately let out a high-pitched scream.

"My God, is this the nobleman, Lord Gombre of Agri, the hero of Naples and the savior of the Neapolitans?" The fat man exclaimed exaggeratedly, but after a circle around Alexander, his face collapsed, "This adult has a good reputation, but his dress disappoints me too much, you must know that I thought he should be more ......" The fat man raised his hand and made an incomprehensible movement, and then shook his head, "This is not my lord, simplicity is not the style of the Neapolitans, this is not Florence, this will only make people despise you." ”

"That's why I brought him to you," Mario said, smiling, "I promised my master that I would make sure that this nephew of him was dressed up beautifully." ”

"What?" The fat man looked at Alexander again in surprise, "This Lord Gombray is the earl's nephew?" ”

"The dearest kind," Mario deliberately lowered his voice, but the voice could probably be heard even outside the gate, "his mother is the Count's sister, Countess Giorgio Anne of Cosenza, and as for his father, I can't tell you who he is." ”

"Oh~oh~~"

The fat man covered his mouth and let out an exclamation, and then his attitude became more enthusiastic, and before Alexander knew what was going on, he had been taken to a room that looked more than just dazzling, but even completely dazzling.

Coats, shirts, trousers, boots, hats, lace, linings, ribbons, and all sorts of ornaments that few people know what they were used for filled the room.

"A woman's clothes need only be modest, and a man must be the most beautiful," the fat man proudly proclaimed, as if he were a king patrolling his own realm, "My lord, we have the best clothes and all kinds of ornaments here, and if I dress you up, I will surely charm all women." ”

Alexander nodded involuntarily, he was indeed startled by the room full of things, and then he remembered an interesting story that he had heard before: completely subverting the perception that only women needed beautiful clothes, as if men had more colorful styles of clothing than women in this era.

"My lord, I personally insist that you should wear this coat," the fat man ostentatiously carried a hanger to Alexander, "Look at this, a wonderful combination of real Eastern satin and northern velvet, and these beautiful bra buckles that will make you show off to anyone, which are made by the best carvers, and these trousers, which I believe must be a good match for you, this hat seems to have been made for you, my God, these boots have been with me for a long time, Must be waiting for you, the true owner......"

When he finally came out of the fat man's house, and looked back at the two gates, and at the money bag that was almost half deflated, Alexander shook his head, and the tuft of precious peacock feathers in his wide-brimmed hat shook with it.

"Now, my lord, I'm going to show you the real Naples," Mario winked at Alexander, "but before then, the master wants me to take you somewhere else." ”

The so-called other place is a school.

With the breaking of nearly a thousand years of religious shackles, the pursuit of art has become more and more widespread.

The aristocracy and commoners, alike, turned the pursuit of good things into a fashion to prove that they were outdated, and along with this fashion, schools that originally taught only the Bible and rhetoric gradually introduced subjects that would attract more students.

"The Count wants you to study here," said Mario very carefully, as if he was afraid of angering the young man in front of him, and he tried not to provoke Alexander as much as possible, "The Count thinks that you have spent too long in the convent, and you have a lot to learn," and at this point, he thought for a long time before he said something that he thought was not very bad, "At least you have to learn to be careful." ”

In other words, I was treated as a bun by others. That's how Alexander understood the meaning of the words.

Sometimes it is useless to pay attention to this kind of thing, but sometimes it is often a sign of a person's birth status or noble bloodline.

Alexander didn't know if he was a hillbilly in Modillo's eyes, but it was clear that the Count felt the need to show his nephew in front of the Neapolitan nobility.

So when Mario booked courses in more than a dozen subjects including etiquette, rhetoric, Greek literature and philosophy, as well as classical Latin and military science for Alexander, that Alexander couldn't help but suspect that he seemed to be back to his hated student days, through Mario's propaganda in the fat tailor's house, it only took one afternoon for almost all the Neapolitan nobles to know that Gombray, who was now making a name for himself in Naples, was the nephew of the Count of Mordillo.

So, when Alexander followed Mario to the boudoir of a certain celebrity, before he could enter the door, he noticed that many people were saluting him with different looks.

Alexander didn't pay much attention to the gazes of those people, although he didn't quite understand what Modillo was up to, but entering the circle of Neapolitan nobility was exactly what Alexander wanted, and it didn't seem to hurt him now.

As Mordillo said, Mario is a man who doesn't disappoint, at least he has a unique vision.

Therefore, when he walked into a small corner building that was small but decorated quite pleasantly, and looked at the marble reliefs embedded in the wall decorations, and the decoration that was quite pleasing to the eye, although different styles, Alexander could not help but admit that the owner of the house must have been a woman of considerable taste.

In all eras, beautiful women are always surrounded and pampered by a group of men, who will show themselves in front of them in the hope of gaining their favor, just as some male beasts will either sing in front of their mothers or play with their beautiful fur.

A more direct approach is to simply use a duel to get the female's blue eyes.

So when Alexander just walked into the courtyard of the celebrity, he happened to see such a bloodshed in order to win the admiration of the beauty.

A young man in a short cloak was standing in the courtyard, holding two short swords with wide blades in his hands, and as he gasped slightly, the tip of one of the short swords drooped and beads of blood were dripping down the edges.

Blood fell on the smooth stone slabs, splattering into crimson petals.

Across from him, a man was half-sitting on the ground, half of his body stained with the same red blood flowing from under his ribs.

"I have proved with my courage that I am the one most worthy of Lady Olgala," the young man gasped and announced loudly to the people watching the duel, his accent slightly strange, apparently not a native of Naples, "If any of you think you are qualified to challenge me, come here." ”

The young man looked around, a strange smile of pride and contempt on his face, and as his gaze swept over the eyes of the people who avoided him, they did not dare to look at each other.

At that moment, Alexander stepped into the courtyard.

It was nothing, but what was really bad was that Mario happened to be shouting into the courtyard in a very loud voice, "Lady Olgala, in accordance with your wishes, my master has come to your appointment." ”

This shout happened to be the moment when the young man looked around and turned around.

This originally coincidental moment was inexplicably endowed with some kind of unusual irony!

Everyone in the courtyard watched in amazement, Mario was still in a posture to continue shouting, but he couldn't make a sound, looking at the young man staring at them, Mario's throat only gurgling.

"You're going to challenge me?" The young man's gaze paused on Mario's face and then looked away, then he stared at Alexander, his hands stroking the short sword at his waist, and a pair of black eyes flashed with excitement like wolves, "Then say your name." ”

Alexander looked at Mario strangely, and the pimped one was still in a mouth open posture at a loss.

The young man was impatient, and drew his two daggers and said to Alexander, "I have come to have fun, but I don't think any Neapolitan man deserves the favor of Lady Orgara, so if you don't want to be hurt or killed by me, come quickly, or let us hurry to the end of this." ”

Then he exclaimed: "I am Mel de Córdoba of Aragon, and now I challenge you!" ”