"One more thing," Caesar said reluctantly, "your martial arts instructor is here." ”

"Oh, is it 'Fighter'? That's great. Giulio happily said, "I've been waiting for him." ”

"It would have been better if it had been a few days earlier," Caesar certainly knew that the Medici martial arts teacher was a very good warrior, but perhaps because of this, he was loose-hearted, arrogant, and even a little derelict in his duties, and when they lived in the Silver Palace, he often went out and mingled with prostitutes for a few days, so forget it, after all, they were all safe in Cardinal Borgia's sphere of influence. But now that Giulio and Joe are in Perugia, he should always follow the Medici, like the martial arts teachers of Borgia and Baglioni, instead of procrastinating and saying goodbye to his concubines...... For months. Caesar had tried to recruit him, but now he had given up on this idea, and a mercenary who did not care about the life of his employer was useless, and would only consume his assets and connections in vain. At the same time, he was also angry for Giulio, who might not have been hurt at all if "The Fighter" had been here last night.

Giulio didn't mind at all, Ezio wasn't just an ordinary martial arts teacher, he had a career of his own, which could have been quite dangerous, and on several occasions he had returned with almost fatal wounds hidden under his beautiful heavy coat, or that Giulio had borrowed silk threads and needles from Lucrecia to mend him.

Ezio did not come alone, and after examining Giulio's wound and making sure it would heal soon, he brought to Giulio a man with a thick dark brown beard and a crooked nose, and his eyes suddenly lit up at the sight of him. Giulio was still a little baby fat, but after the injury, because of blood loss and pain, his cheeks quickly sunken, and ordinary people would think that he was pitifully thin, but in the eyes of painters and stonemasons, the bones highlighted by the emaciation, and the more distinct facial features could bring them endless inspiration, if it wasn't for Ezio's resistance, maybe Leonardo would have pounced, not only with his eyes, but also with his fingers ** this beautiful face.

"I want to make a picture of him," Leonardo said urgently, "a portrait of a saint, a living ...... of St. John"

Ezio had a terrible headache, though he had expected it...... But he still underestimated Leonardo's fanatical pursuit and demand for beauty: "You should remember what I brought you here for, Leonardo," he turned to Giulio: "This is Leonardo?" Advance? Del piero? Reach? Finch. He was about to say that he hoped that Leonardo, who was extremely thoughtful and innovative, could make a Hidden Blade, soft armor, and some armor and weapons for Giulio, but Giulio had already smiled coldly: "I know the name," he said, "The person with this name should be a friend of the Medici." ”

The words poured on Leonardo's head like a basin of cold water mixed with ice cubes, calming him down in a moment, and then, with great shame, swept over his mind, and he stood in front of a boy who was only a quarter of his age, helpless and with hot skin. Leonardo was a Florentine, his father was a law notary, his mother was only a peasant woman, and there was no formal marriage contract between them, Leonardo was not highly educated, but his talent made him stand out among the many disciples of his teacher Verrocchio, and for this he was awarded Lorenzo. Medici's patronage and friendship, but in the 1478 church murders, he did not have the courage to fight the mob, and while the Medici and his friends were fighting bloody, he fled, not only from the cathedral, but also from Florence - perhaps because he felt that both the victorious Patch and the Medici would try to take revenge on him, he went into hiding for a while, and then ran to Milan, Duke Ludovico? Sforza. At that time, Milan did not have a good relationship with Fiorentina, and Leonardo's actions were more serious than treason.

Ezio shook his head, no one could deny that Leonardo was extraordinarily talented, but his moral character was indeed not as perfect as his work, but in this world, no one can say that he is without flaws. The Medici was willing to forgive this man, and he was willing to continue to serve the Medici, and some embarrassing past was naturally not brought up. Only Giulio, his little disciple, his personality makes many people come to see, can be said to be gentle to almost soft, but if you think he is a submissive, ambiguous dough, then you are very wrong, he has an unshakable foundation, and he also has an unshakable bottom line.

It's just that no matter how much Giulio resists, Lorenzo, who is far away in Florence, and Ezio, who is close at hand, think that he should accept Leonardo's effect, and after spending a few days with Leonardo, Giulio also has to admit that Leonardo is indeed a genius worthy of respect and love to remove that unpleasant memory - many of his ideas have been realized after hundreds of years, and now he can't, not because his thinking is too absurd, but because people today are not too ignorant and short-sighted, It is so smart that it is unwilling to change the status quo, and even wants to destroy the possibility of changing the status quo.

Half out of apology, half out of flattery, Leonardo showed Giulio all the manuscripts he had drawn before 1488 (some of them were strange depictions of demonic acts), and of course Giulio was not as reckless and ignorant as a child of his age, and he was not only interested, but occasionally made extremely revealing comments, such as the fact that he thought that a pair of wings designed by Leonardo could not be able to fly. As Leonardo argued that the data for the pair of wings had been deduced by studying many birds, Giulio pointed to his shoulder: "Muscles. He said, "Maybe you designed wings that can indeed carry a person, but a human with wings doesn't have the muscles to swing those wings." The little Medici put down the mirror he used to read the text—Leonardo either wanted to prevent others from stealing his wisdom, or perhaps he wanted to show off his skills, and all the text descriptions were written backwards with his left hand, and Giulio might have read them directly, but he would have been tired. He put down the mirror, picked up a graphite pen, and sketched a G-covered exaggerated figure on a piece of discarded parchment: "To put it simply, according to the ratio of a pigeon's pectoral muscles to its body, a person must have at least dozens of times more muscles to swing the wings that can carry him to the sky......"

"Oh," Leonardo's expression became serious, "let me think about it......" he said, "yes, muscles, to lift heavy things, or to run faster, to jump farther, or to throw spears, you need muscles, and the arms of an athlete or warrior must be much thicker than those of ordinary people, and even the hand that ordinary people use often is thicker than the hand that they do not use often......"

Leonardo thought about this question until dinner, and he even shoved a spoon into his nostrils while drinking the soup, "What are you thinking?" Caesar condescended to give him a handkerchief, and at first he did not notice the painter beside Julio, until he came across a drawing of Leonardo—a toy-like chariot depicted on parchment, with a wheel loaded with sharp blades in front, rear, and front and rear of the chariot, and when the roller was driven by a horse, the curved blades that protruded like bird's claws were driven by numerous dense pinions, and spun rapidly. One can imagine how many human and horse legs these blades would have cut off the legs of humans and horses when they were able to gallop across the battlefield.

This may not be possible, but Caesar could already smell the blood, and Leonardo was in fact a naïve child, he may not have been bloodthirsty or cruel, but he must have loved to see how his weapons could be slaughtered on the battlefield...... Caesar decided to try to recruit him, but now that he was working for the Medici, he had to wait until the Medici had done what they had given him before taking him under his command, he was not in a hurry, they were still young and had a lot of time.

——————————————————————————————

When Perugia was in the second year of her studies, Lucrecia unexpectedly came to Perugia again, this time not sneaking out, but in the company of her father's secretary Duarte, with her brother and friends, and on the evening of the third day, she slipped quietly into Giulio's room, again spitting bitterness and talking about her heart.

"You know Adriana? Morality? Mira. "She is my father's Spanish cousin, she has been taking care of and educating me since I left my mother's side, I like her very much, Giulio, she is like my second mother," Lucrecia said. She had a son named Orsino, and he didn't like me very much, maybe because he felt that I had taken away his mother's love, and it didn't matter, I could understand it, and then ...... He married Julia. Farnese. The marriage...... It was my father Rodrigo who suggested and hosted the ......"

Giulio's mind was swirling with the surnames of various families, and there was no way, since he was now a Medici and a disciple of a cardinal, he was destined to be unable to get out of the whirlpool of power.

"But ......," said Lucrecia, frowning, "I don't know...... But I ......," she shook in anguish, "Giulio, do you know what will happen to this marriage?" She leaned closer to Julio, her lips pressed against his ear: "Julia. Farnese was my father's lover. ”

Wait a minute!

Julio's crumbling three views were shocked again, and Lucrecia continued: "Orsino went to the army to report without having sex with Julia, and his father found him a position, and then, my father said, let Julia live with me......" She paused, showing an extremely annoyed look: "He wants me to like Julia, and Julia is indeed a good person......"

"He's trying to make Julia your mother?"

"Friend," said Lucrecia, "my father said that Julia knew how to appreciate and master beauty more than anyone else, and he wanted her to teach me something about women." ”

“…… Uh-huh, this ......"

"But I don't like her, no, it's not that I don't, I think she thinks differently than I do." "She loves gems, she loves silk, and she can put on and take off in front of the mirror for hours," Lucrecia whispered...... She thinks I should be keen on things like this...... "Julia is a gentle beauty, she looks at Lucrecia like her little sister, and she is willing to share even the most precious gems with her.

"Don't you like it?"

"I don't know," the girl looked confused, "but I don't think that's what I wanted." Do you think it's possible for me to become a virgin? She asked.

Probably your father will not allow it, before the established legal age of marriage, Lucretia has already been married off twice by her beloved father, although both of these marriages were finally declared null and void, but in Lucrecia's mind, they, especially the latter, have probably become a nightmare, but she cannot become a virgin, without Rodrigo's head, not a single convent in the whole of Europa would dare to accept Cardinal Borgia's daughter, her future fate is predestined - for the ambitions of her father and brother, Again and again, they become hostages, or collateral, or the bond between the two families.

She can continue to be manipulated and controlled by others as ignorant and dazed as Julia, or she can clearly feel the pain of powerlessness, or try to find her own way in the thorns everywhere...... If a rude mercenary like Milan's Sforza was able to climb his way from pariah to duke with his cunning and cruelty, a wise, shrewd, and knowledgeable woman challenged the entire male society—Giulio sent those stories to his cousin Madeleine only to give her courage, not believing that they could shake the first fourteen years of the gentle girl's education, but Luclayia was different.

Giulio could have pushed her back into the derailed car, but just as he couldn't bear to watch Madeleine's flower-like life being destroyed by a scoundrel, he couldn't watch Lucretia suffer the wrongs of her father and brother in ignorance.

"I'll help you," Giulio shook Lucrea's hand, "but the whole process is very boring and boring, Lucrea, you have to promise that you will hold on until the last minute." That was what worried him the most.

"I don't quite understand," Lucretia said, squeezing Giulio's hand, "but I swear, I'll do what you say." ”