"Bang dang!"

Continuously, the loud sound of metal vessels crashing and tumbling on the marble floor came from the closed door, and then the increasingly weak invectives of Pope Alexander VI, and the guards standing outside the door stood indifferent, expressionless, they had long been accustomed to it, in recent years, as long as Caesar. As soon as Borgia came to meet the Pope, the Pope would scold him more and more fiercely and threaten him, but the Duke of Romagna was no longer as afraid of his father as he had been when he was younger, and he demanded that the Pope give him money, support, and the position and authority of the Holy Court...... He was like a greedy leech, clinging to the Pope's body, never giving up until he sucked the last drop of blood.

Although Pope Alexander VI scolded endlessly, he was helpless, the Borgia family now owned a whole Romagna and half of Tuscany, it was impossible to retreat, and his only two sons, one was Caesar, the other was Avery who had never been valued by him, and when he cared about this younger son, he found that he was not as good as Lucrea.

"What more do you want?" The Holy Father, who had thrown everything he had, collapsed into his seat exhausted, his hand on his forehead, feeling only the devil's fork stirring in his head.

"Please declare me the master of Pisa, Lucca and Florence." Caesar said.

The Pope let out a shrill and cold laugh: "And then, Pisa, Lucca, and Florence have been free cities for hundreds of years, and do you think that with a single edict, they will hand over the keys to the city, as Imola or Forlì did?" ”

"I will conquer them." Caesar said.

"Conquer ......them," repeated the Pope, who gazed at his son with mixed feelings, Caesar was always masked and rarely bare in the light because of the ulcers and sores on his limbs and face due to syphilis, but he still looked tall and mighty under the velvet coat and short cloak, but what about his heart? Is it as mature as the body? It was not for nothing that Alexander VI chose Juan over Caesar, in addition to the custom at this time (the eldest son inherited the family business, the second son joined the church, and the younger son joined the army), and the other thing is that Juan was stupid but very obedient, but Caesar was like a wild little bull, and when he went crazy, no one could calm him down - before Lucreia might have been, but now, the body of the Pope's daughter was a hundred miles away in Ferrara, and her heart did not know where it had been left behind.

"Who are you going to declare war on first?" The Pope asked.

"Luca." Caesar replied without hesitation, apparently having thought about it for a long time.

"But I've heard that Lukka has built a double wall thirty feet high, with eleven bastions, and a cannons that can turn."

"I also have artillery." Caesar proudly said, "We will attack their walls day and night, and when they fall, the foolish people will know that they have fallen into the devil's hands." ”

"But you can't fully trust the French," said the pope, "and this election of cardinals, not a single Frenchman, I think you know what that means." ”

"You're biased towards the Spaniards," Caesar paced anxiously, "why, didn't you keep telling me to have a good relationship with Louis XII?" ”

"Because the French have too much of an advantage in Italy," said the Pope, "I will make him feel in danger so that he may be unconditionally on our side, and do not forget that you are the only one who will eventually become the ruler of Italy, whether Spanish or French, and we will drive them out." ”

Caesar gasped heavily, "I understand," he said, "I will continue to correspond with Louis XII, and I will show him loyalty," his lips, hidden behind the mask, raised, "but he wants to get practical help from me, don't even think about it." ”

"It is not enough," said Pope Alexander VI, "that you must always and closely monitor their movements, the Spaniards, the French, and do not show their preferences and tendencies obviously—let me do this, and you may try to get the most out of them." ”

Caesar smiled, "I will, Father." ”

"And," said Alexander VI, "the conquest of Lucca is to be left to your mercenary captain, and you are to remain in Rome." ”

"What?!" Caesar said in disbelief: "I am the commander of the army, how can I not be present in such an important battle?" ”

"You must stay in Rome, my child," Alexander VI had a splitting headache, but he did not want to show it in front of his son, so he had to bear on: "I have had ominous signs in these months, Caesar, as you may recall, that July and August have always been the doom of Rome, and that my five predecessors, Innocent VIII, Sixtus IV, Paul II, Pius II, and my uncle Gallistus III, have all returned to the feet of God during these two months—I am worried, and I do not want to repeat their mistakes, But the fate of mankind has always been so ironic, so you want to stay in Rome, just in case. ”

Caesar was silent for a moment, he didn't believe what the astrographers said, but the slight weakness in the Father's words softened his heart: "Well," he said, "I'll spend these two months with you, and the captain of my army and mercenaries can go to Lucca first, and I'll join them in September." ”

Pope Alexander VI nodded and waved his hand at him, "You go out and let Duarte and Joshua come." Caesar bowed and withdrew, and the Pope's servants soon summoned the two men, and Caesar raised his hand to Joshua, and Duarte immediately walked into the Pope's signing room as if he had not seen half of it.

"I think I want to thank you for my father's health, Joshua," said Caesar, "he was very sick, and you saved his life—I believe you far better than the quacks and wizards," he leaned over slightly, and pressed little Lovere's shoulder, "but I wonder how the Father's health is now?" It's important that you tell me the truth. ”

"The Holy Father's health is not as good as before," Joshua said calmly, "but he is still quite strong and healthy compared to people of his age." ”

"Ah, that's good." Caesar straightened up: "Then I will be much more relieved, Joshua, there is something I think you would like to know earlier, the Holy Father intends to appoint you as the new cardinal on the feast of St. James," he paid close attention to Joshua's expression and found that he was not overjoyed: "I think I have to congratulate you, and my sister Lucrea, she will be happy to know the news, she wrote last time and asked me about you." ”

When Joshua heard Lucrecia's name, Caesar scowled with contempt, and he said in a rare gentle tone: "My messenger is about to leave for Ferrara, and if you wish, I can let him take your letter with you." ”

————————

Duarte handed the Pope a pamphlet, which the Pope read and threw aside: "I thought it was?" He laughed and said, "It's just a cliché!" ”

"But they slandered you." Duarte said nervously.

"So what, you should know that every person who becomes a pope, or rather, every great man, is bound to be slandered by philistines, and it is a common thing that since I put on this white robe, I have become a scoundrel, a thief, a robber, and a criminal who rapes women, and they even compare me to something inferior to the devil, and now it is polite to say that I am a madman," he patted the secretary on the shoulder tolerantly: "Don't pay attention to it, it will die down sooner or later, even if not, wait for me for a hundred years, I'm still a saint. ”

Duarte's words left Duarte helpless, but he also knew that this was exactly the way Borgia had always acted, and they never cared about fame, but Duarte always felt that there was something different about this time.

"Well," Alexander VI still trusted the faithful old fellow, "and since you say so, I'll let Miguel . Corero is going to deal with this. ”

After that, he summoned Joshua. Lovere, it was rare for the Holy Father to find him somewhat absent-minded, but he thought that Joshua was only excited about the imminent appointment of a cardinal—Caesar, who had resisted the path he had laid for him, could barely sleep the night before he was actually ordained.

——————

Miguel. Sharing Duarte's concerns, Corero traced the source of the pamphlet, only to discover that it was the Dominican monk Jacob. Sblenger, he didn't want to believe it anyway, this guy who only knew how to bully the weak and fear the hard, and tended to be inflammatory, dared to challenge the Borgia family, but no matter how tortured, Jacob. That's all Sbrugger knew—he swore that he had commissioned the pamphlets to be printed and distributed just to compliment Caesar, Duke of Romagna. There was nothing to slander or humiliate Borgia's exploits, and he didn't know how the albums that he seemed to have no problem with could have become what they were.

"I don't think I need to interrogate anymore." Caesar. Borgia said in disgust, "Hang him on the bridge of Sant'Angelo, and slit open his belly, and the enemy will see what will happen to him." ”

Miguel. Corero seemed to want to say something, but finally kept his mouth shut.

Jacob. Sbleanger had tormented no less than a thousand witches, and had used many terrible punishments on them, but when it was his turn, a few lashes would have allowed him to pour out all that he knew, and when he knew that he was about to be put to death, he behaved no better than an old woman in the country, and he wept and fussed, and his incontinence was everywhere, and he dragged a dirty trail on the deck of the Pont Sant'Angelo, but this did not help his predetermined fate, nor did he attract too many people's attention, Except for letting the servants who cleaned the bridge of Sant'Angelo curse for several days.