Since Pius III's accession to the throne, everyone from cardinals to beggars has speculated about how he will give back to his supporters and allies – especially his two disciples, one of whom is of great birth and the other of great talent, who in their conjecture would at least have a place in the Chancellery or the Salaries Administration – but the Borgia Assassins' arrogance at St. Peter's Basilica has greatly delayed their answers.

So when they heard about the new office held by these two young cardinals, they couldn't help but be surprised, because this position was not very powerful, nor how glorious—the office of the judge of the Inquisition could certainly make the common people tremble and the nobles fearful, but in the end, it was still an instrument of violence, and in the past, such positions were generally held by monks or clergy appointed by the Holy See, not to mention cardinals, and even bishops were rare.

The two young cardinals accepted the appointment without hesitation, and they did not even give much time for speculation – two cardinals were arrested that night, of course, both of whom were close relatives and former supporters of Alexander VI – and they probably expected that Cardinal Isavales even relaxed when he saw them, and he accepted the arrest meekly, and immediately swore that he could hand over all his assets as settlement money, and that he was willing to resign as cardinal.

Pedro. Borgia, one of the thirteen cardinals canonized by Alexander VI, turned blue when he saw Giulio - he also knew about the black-haired cardinal and Lucrea, but at that time no one in the Borgia family thought that a Medici, the illegitimate son of a merchant, could pose any threat to them - he was also the only one who resisted arrest by force, but unfortunately his martial arts were far inferior to his courage, except that he suffered more for himself, Failed to have any effect on Giulio's actions.

The disappearance of these two cardinals was not at all surprising. But what happened next was interesting, because the two young cardinals, having completed their tasks in Rome, went out of Rome.

There were about eleven or twelve churches and monasteries outside Rome that belonged to the Borgia family, and after removing the five outside the Lepuy and Spoleite districts, Giulio and Joshua had to investigate seven of them, and they went their separate ways, taking with them the monks and mercenaries of the House of Lovere and the House of Picromini, who did not even ride on bridges, but on horseback, so that some of the monasteries were kept under control without even understanding what was happening.

Both Giulio and Joshua can be said to have grown up in churches and convents, and they are well aware of the structure of such buildings—such as the one that Giulio is investigating, centered on the Latin cross-shaped church, with the abbot's residence on the right side of the back, and Jesus Christ also sits on the right side of God after his ascension to heaven, and he is the only one who lives; On the left side dwelt the monks, equal to each other, without distinction of rank or inferiority, like the dwelling place of angels; On the east side, the closest to the world, is the dwelling of the guests who come to worship and the poor, because the end of the living is always like the setting sun; On the east side is a group of tombs that symbolize rebirth and resurrection.

The soldiers hired by the Inquisition were already adept at such work, and they quietly caught the monk in charge of the key and opened the door, allowing the cardinals and monks to penetrate into the monastery without alerting the people of the monastery - the laity were not allowed to enter the monastery, but the captain of the mercenaries swore to the noble cardinals that they would not want to slip a single person out of their noses unless the devil turned into a rabbit.

As soon as Julio and the others entered the convent, they heard the lively sound of violins, leather drums, and perhaps one or two flutes or piccolos chirping crisply—the chapel was crowded with monks in black robes and young and beautiful girls in the neighborhood, dancing together, laughing, making noise, drinking beer and wine, and all eyes were on the lively inner circle, not noticing that the originally closed door was gently opened, and a monk found that the beer in the cup was gone, His eyes did not want to take away from the incomparably happy and noisy scene before him, and as he retreated recklessly, he almost bumped into Giulio, but he did not look at it, and shoved the cup into Giulio's hand: "Brother," he said, "bring me some beer." ”

"It's so hilarious," asked Giulio amicably, "are you always like that?" ”

"Only after Lent, maybe Pentecost, or St. John the Baptist, St. James the Day, or the Feast of the Assumption...... Holy Cross, St. Luke's Day......" The monk counted his fingers and said happily, Giulio nodded, that is, every month, there will probably be such a carnival, maybe more, to stop the monks of the Inquisition behind him, Giulio really brought him a beer.

"Thanks, brother." The monk bared his tongue and said, "Are you a new brother?" He looked up along Giulio's hand, and saw not the black monk's robe—the monk's robe was linen or wool, but the new brother's robe was a beautiful black silk silk with a crimson edge—a crimson edge—and the beer he had just drunk suddenly condensed into ice cubes, and dragged the monk's stomach and intestines down, and his hands trembled violently, and the beer spilled, "Lord...... Master ......"

"yes, it's vespers." Giulio said.

One of the monks, finding that his companion had suddenly disappeared, turned his head to look for him, and then he saw Julio dressed in cardinals' robes, and then, starting from them, a sudden silence spread like a plague to everyone—the violin stopped, the drum had a hole broken, and the piccolo had fallen to the ground...... And in the midst of this dead silence where the needles could be heard, I don't know who screamed, as if it was a signal, and everyone, whether monks or worldly girls, subconsciously carried their robes or skirts and ran around, but at this time, without Giuliodo's orders, the monks of the Inquisition had already pounced on them and knocked them to the ground one by one.

"Let them stay here," said Giulio, "one group goes to the monks' quarters, and the other follows me, and we go to visit the abbess here." ”

Although it has been expected, but when it is really seen...... Giulio felt that he could accept the presence of a woman on the bed of a monk or even an abbot, but it was definitely not a girl—she might be only seven or eight years old, and her heart (even if she counted the dull hair) was only up to Julio's chest. The abbot of the monastery had bought the position from Alexander VI, and when he saw Giulio, he panicked, and while he was incoherently justified, he knelt on the ground and pleaded bitterly, so that Giulio was speechless, and the girl actually begged him for intercession—it turned out that this girl was the lover of a minor friar here, and when the little friar hid her in his room, the abbot found her, and on the condition that the abbot wanted her to come to his room—"He is not a wicked man," the girl said innocently: "My lord, He also gave me bread to eat. ”

The girl was nine years old, the minor friar was thirteen, and the abbot was ...... Forty-seven years old.

- This was only the first place, and they searched two more places overnight, one of which only contained women and wine, and the other where they were lucky enough to meet a priest who was performing a Black Mass.

Although the two men who were celebrating the Black Mass were aware of the movement outside, and urgently destroyed something, their movements were still too slow, and a barefoot woman was escorted to Julio, and the priest was also barefoot, with dirt on his feet—for during the Black Mass he had to make a cross on the ground with his left foot, which was opposite to his right hand—and the monks of the Inquisition also found a black bread that had not yet been crushed completely, and it had three sharp horns, which were said to contain filthy feces and menstrual blood of the woman; There is also water from a well that is said to have drowned unbaptized babies to serve as holy water, as well as utensils and potions made of toads, bats, and poisonous snakes, as well as an upside-down Bible.

"The evidence is overwhelming." One of the monks said that the priest's face was as dead as ashes, and so was the woman, his lover, and that she would have been burned as a witch, regardless of the priest of the main parishion.

It took them a lot of time, for the Black Mass was much worse than women and wine, and it was necessary for them to inspect every corner of the church, for the monks had found many vicious symbols and inverted crosses, as well as some indescribable terrible materials and sacrifices.

One of them was a dead baby soaked in wine and covered with a red tumor, and it was said that he was the illegitimate son of the priest.

By the time the search was almost over, and it was nearly dawn, looking at the dark sky, Giulio couldn't help but think of Joshua—glad he was the one who had thoroughly inspected the church.

——————

Joshua was standing in the backyard of a convent, not dressed in his usual garments like Julio, but neatly dressed in crimson cardinal robes and a wide-brimmed hat, whose shadow cast a tight shadow over his face.

The nuns were all driven together, and the abbot of the monastery looked desperately at the men who were casting fishing nets into the pond in the convent.

She slowly knelt on the ground while drawing a cross, and did not see the vicious arrogance of her previous moment: "Please," she begged, "don't let them catch it...... Your Excellency, you are telling us to die, telling us to die......"

"Don't worry too much," came the young cardinal's voice in the darkness, which seemed to have a slight smile, "Mother Dean, maybe there's nothing in there." ”

The end of the sentence still echoed in the air, and the monk in charge of salvaging let out a high-pitched exclamation.

In the light of the torches, they are entangled with aquatic plants and earth...... What is not a baby's skull?

。 m.