Perhaps because the air in the corridor was too damp and cold, or because of the agitation caused by the killing of the Inspector General, Pope Alexander VI reluctantly returned to the Vatican Palace, and immediately started to heat up, and in the evening, he not only had a more feverish fever, but also muttered, "The devil is sawing my legs!" "While clucking his teeth, when the doctor tried to bleed him, he grabbed him and broke his neck—and later, even Caesar and Lucrecia could not be recognized, and if they came close to the bedside, they would be fatally attacked.

This continued until noon the next day, when Caesar could no longer wait, "Call Joshua, and only he can save the pope." Duarte looked at Luclessia, who lowered her eyes and said nothing.

Joshua. As Lovere walked through the crowd crowded in front of the Vatican Palace, his dense, complex, and lustful gaze reminded him of his biological father, and he felt disgusted, but he had to clutch the box in his hand and hurriedly follow the Pope's secretary into the most noble and humble of places; the brightest, and the darkest; The most extravagant and hollow palace.

The Pope's room was closed with the doors and windows tightly closed, and the tapestries were hung to prevent the poisonous air from entering it, and Joshua insisted that they open half of the windows to let the wind blow in and extinguish the overly exuberant fire, and then threw a strange-smelling potion into the room, which brought the Pope to his senses—Joshua was able to touch his feet to make sure he was feverish, and then he smelled the same stench that he had smelled before—"Look at it however, child." The Pope said that when he awoke, instead of being as angry as Caesar had feared, he was rather pleasant.

The Pope's body was covered with medal-like scars, and compared to them, the carbuncle covered in blue-black and the size of a baby's palm was not so hideous, it bulged out about the height of two fingers, and except for a few ulcers, the skin was tight and shiny.

Combined with hot skin and a swollen stomach (previously thought it was fat) - but Joshua was sure that it was an enlarged spleen when he touched it, and when taken together, he could almost determine the cause - Alexander VI's body was indeed tougher than ordinary people, and if it were other people, he would have fallen into a coma or died, and the Pope not only did not get knocked down, but even fought stubbornly against it.

"Cut it open." Joshua said he could tell that the previous doctors and wizards had applied medicine to it, but that the carbuncle was infected with dirty poison would only aggravate the Pope's condition.

Before he started, he asked the Pope to drink some strong wine to numb the pain, "it would be very painful." ”

Alexander VI smiled: "I haven't closed my eyes when someone is near me with a knife. He said, "Come, son!" ”

Having said that, Alexander VI screamed the moment the carbuncle was cut, and the pus that burst out of the wound pierced the zenith like sharp arrows, staining the angelic statue there and making it dirty, but the Pope did feel much more relaxed at once.

But the stench, a mixture of dead rats, feces, and some disgusting secretions, made Alexander VI himself feel a little suffocated. Caesar and Luclayia frowned, and Duarte retreated to the other end of the room, with only Joshua in the room. Lovere also leaned over the bed, gently pressing the carbuncle bag with a cotton cloth soaked in spirits, squeezing the remaining pus clean.

The Pope let out a comfortable groan.

"I still have some potions here," Joshua said when he was done, "and spirits, which are used to wipe wounds and bodies, and the potion is taken three times a day, one bottle at a time, and taken by mouth." ”

"Give it to Duarte," said the Pope kindly, "and he'll remind me to take it." ”

Of course, the Pope will not drink what others give him casually, these precious potions were first used to feed birds, dogs and cows in batches, and only after they behaved in good condition did the Pope begin to take the medicine according to Joshua's request, I don't know if he was already physically strong, or if the potion had a miraculous effect, but a week later, he was back in sight, and after another week, he was able to suppress Caesar again. Borgia fought against him, and three weeks later he was again busy with his intrigues and tricks, between the bishop and the king.

It is not known how many people were happy or sorry for this, but as Cardinal Picromini had anticipated, Joshua was the best of the story. Lovelle became a close attendant to Pope Alexander VI, a position that was quite special because he had to serve the pope's daily necessities and sometimes keep important documents or tokens for the pope. However, both Lovere and Piccomini knew that Joshua was not there yet, but it didn't matter, Giuliano. Della. Cardinal Lovere was finally able to return to the political center of Rome, and Cardinal Picromini seemed disheartened when he was forced to abandon his two students, and he hardly appeared in public unless necessary.

While Pope Alexander VI was busy with the conferment of the "Golden Rose" (the title and authority of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ecclesiastical Army, the Standard-bearer of the Holy See, and the undisclosed Grand Master of the Knights Templar), Cardinal Picomini was finally able to take off the cardinal's red vestment, change into the clothes of a monk, and ride freely on his mule to Lucca.

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What Cardinal Picromini did not expect was that when he arrived in Lucca, he met a sick Giulio.

"Ahh Giulio sneezed and waved his hand in embarrassment, telling Cardinal Picromini to stay away from him, after all, Cardinal was already in his sixties, and it was not a small problem to be infected, especially in this era when enemas and bloodletting were still the main medical treatment.

"It's all because you insist on going to those places where the displaced people gather." Machiavelli said, bringing hot spiced tea to Giulio and hot wine to Cardinal Picromini, "I said the air was so foul that I was surprised that you were sick until now." Then he bowed to Cardinal Picromini: "Please tell me about him, Your Highness, I really can't help it." ”

It was only when Machiavelli exited the room that Cardinal Picromini turned to Giulio: "Your servant seems to be very interesting. ”

"He's not my servant," Giulio coughed twice, "it's mine...... For the time being, I guess it's a secretary or a courtier. ”

"It seems that you are still a little short of manpower," said Cardinal Picomini with an unchanged expression, "and I will send you some more monks and scholars from the Picomini family." ”

"How can this be?" Giulio shook his head: "You are in Rome, you need them more." ”

"But I don't want my disciple to be elbowed, concealed, or even bullied by his subordinates."

"Teacher ......"

"Thirty days ago, Alexander VI was assassinated by a strange and terrible assassination - the ceiling of the Hall of Monarchy suddenly collapsed, nearly killing him and Caesar. Borgia crushed to death below? Cardinal Picromini said in a tone of coldness that was rare for Giulio: "Although it is said that this is a conspiracy hatched by Alfonso, Duke of Bisapili, in revenge for the Pope's assassination of him, I think, you know what that thing is, you mentioned to me, a very dangerous potion - but you didn't mix it then, and now?" ”

Julio glanced at the cardinal cautiously, feeling that his illness was almost gone.

"I asked Machiavelli to ...... Went to do something dangerous...... So he was given some, well, things to protect himself......"

"Obviously, he thinks his life is nothing compared to you, so," Cardinal Picromini sneered, "and he'll take it against the Pope." He glared at Giulio aggressively: "Thankfully, when you were in Rome, at Caesar's side, you hadn't taken out this or anything like it, or otherwise, would you remind them that you have such a tricky enemy?" ”

Julio pressed the corner of his forehead: "It's me who didn't think about it." ”

"It's not that you're not thoughtful," said Cardinal Picromini, who walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, massaging Giulio's forehead: "It's that they have not fulfilled their duty as a courtier, or rather, they have not yet fully regarded you as a monarch, although they call you Your Highness, so, Giulio, I want to bring to those who really know how to serve you, to make them feel in danger, so that such pretentious things will not arise again." ”

"Them?"

"Ezio. Oritore. ”

"He's not my courtier."

"It is your courtiers who serve you, or else," said Cardinal Picomini harshly, "and don't use them." "And get rid of them, he said in his heart, but he also knew that Giulio still had to learn from the ruthlessness and brutality of a monarch." Your plan was nearly ruined—I had to get Joshua to Alexander VI so he could live. ”

"I'm sorry, teacher," said Giulio, taking the cardinal's hand, apologetically and eagerly, "then, don't you have anyone with you now?"

"I still have minions." Cardinal Picromini said: "Although it is not the same, you know, Giulio. ”

Giulio was even more upset, it was his fault, but he had to pay the price for his father-like teacher: "I explained the situation to them......" he whispered.

"They didn't take it to heart." Cardinal Picomini pointed out mercilessly.

"Alright," Giulio's voice was so low this time that it was almost inaudible, "let them come—thank you, teacher." ”

"What nonsense." Cardinal Picomini said in a warm voice: "But for now, you need to rest, sleep, child, and when you wake up, everything will be fine." ”