Pius III fell without warning before the end of Lent, when he was presiding over a great Mass before the end of Lent, and everyone knew that they might be replaced by a new Pope, some lamenting, some disappointed, some rejoicing, some rejoicing – no more than Cardinal Grand Lovere and his henchmen.

"Come with me, darling." On this day, he went to the convent where Cardinal Lovere the Younger and the judges lived, and said this.

"What's the matter?"

"We're going to make you new clothes." Perhaps a long-cherished wish was about to be fulfilled, and the big Lovere also showed a rare frivolous gesture, he reached out to hold his son, and put on an intimate appearance.

"I've got a lot of new clothes."

"Not those." Cardinal Grande Lovere said: "Don't you understand? Three sets of wool, three sets of silk ......"

"Are you crazy?!" Joshua exclaimed angrily, "My teacher is alive and well!" ”

"I won't live long." Cardinal Grande Lovere said unconcernedly: "We should be ready so that we are not caught off guard. ”

"Are you so sure?" Joshua sneered and asked, "Everything is just in case. ”

"This is for the laity and fools," Cardinal Grande Lovere's eyes shone with a vicious light: "I will not allow any accidents, the new Pope can only be Lovere!" ”

Joshua looked at him coldly, and there was only Lovere-Giuliano. Della. Lovelle probably never saw himself as an independent personality, he was first his son, after giving birth to a devilish tumor, he was a burden to him, and after he recovered, he became his expected heir, but when Cardinal Grand Lovere suffered such a "misfortune" in France, Joshua became his substitute again, Cardinal Grand Lovere watched him ascend to the papal throne as if he had ascended to the throne himself, as Pius III said, and they were tightly entangled before he could become pope. Restrain him and leave him breathless.

"Is there anything else you want me to do?" said Joshua. ”

"Does Pius III still allow you to enter his room?" Cardinal Grand Lovere did not perceive the coldness in Joshua's words, or he would not have cared if he had been aware of it.

"Yes," said Joshua, "I serve him with Brother John." ”

"Very well," said Cardinal Grande Lovere, "then you have to pay attention, to everyone who comes in and out of his room, to whom he has written and received, to whom he has spoken, and I am sure that you can do it, and it is not difficult." ”

"It's not difficult," said Joshua, "are you still worried that he's going to recall the Medici?" ”

"If he really loves Julio. Medici, you should be cautious," said Cardinal Grande Lovere, "but I want you to pay attention to the people of the Picomini family. ”

"What happened to the Picominis?"

"What else could it be? Of course, it is a loss of income," Cardinal Grande Lovere said this, and his face was full of frost: "This time we cannot easily let Pius III go, Alexander VI left us with almost nothing when he rolled into hell, those holy objects, jewels, gold coins...... And the Templar Vault, I swear to the devil that Pius III must have gotten some of it, and I don't believe his about giving up his private possessions to replenish the Vault! Be careful, don't let the Picromini family take it, and when you become Pope, you'll find that you need to do as many things as the stars in the sky! He glanced at his son warningly: "Don't say anything stupid to threaten them with laws and canons!" They are working for you, and you can't just whip the horse with a leather whip without giving him grass and water, and the most docile horse will tear you off your back! As he walked, he counted the benefits that were about to be divided and what was to be divided, but he didn't notice the hatred that was almost overflowing from Joshua's eyes, "And our family needs allies too, and we can't offend them all—again, Joshua, reform is a weapon, not an end!" ”

"Haven't you thought of it?"

"What?" Cardinal Grand Lovere echoed absentmindedly.

"I'm also a disciple of my teacher, Giulio. The Medici has let him down, so can't he turn his hopes to me and give me all his inheritance? ”

Cardinal Grand Lovere paused for a moment, then he turned his head to stare at Joshua, and after a moment he laughed mockingly: "Listen, listen, my stupid son, what kind of idiotic thing has been said? Will Pius III love you? Stop, I don't want a crazy heir! Even if Julio. The Medici abandoned his teacher, and you think you'll be able to take advantage of it? Could anyone know more about Picomini than I do? He was a cold-hearted, eccentric fellow, and he should be grateful that he was born into the Picomini family and had an uncle who was the Pope, otherwise he would have been burned at the stake! He said harshly, "Joshua, you hate me only because I once abandoned you because you were sick, but Pius III, your good teacher also had lovers and illegitimate sons, but he could watch them die!" He's a lot crueler than I am, and although I don't understand what touched him in the Medici, I can only say that the devil attracts the devil, and you, you're just a reptile to show his benevolence and medical talents, and you still want to be his heir, how can you be? If he wanted to, he would have done it a long time ago, and you don't have to pretend to be pitiful and beg for mercy in front of me! ”

"I didn't!"

"Of course, you won't admit it." Cardinal Grande Lovere said bitterly, he couldn't stand Joshua's coy anymore: "You won't admit that you hate the Medici just because he is more loved than you, and you won't admit that you love Lucrecia. Borgia coveted them, and you won't admit that you betrayed them—I mean, about Luigi, did you really confess to me because you had been torn up and down for murder? You were still in the Palazzo Picomini, and Cardinal Picromini, although he did not like you, would not refuse to listen to your confession, so you must say it in your letters? No, you just know that I must have a way to tell Alexander VI about this, and I can try to free you - were you really so reluctant when you were around Alexander VI? If it weren't for Caesar. Borgia left too soon, and perhaps you would have been glad to have taken Giulio's place at his side, and you might have expected Lucrecia to be your lover as well—don't deny it, I know that after Caesar's death, you asked people to inquire about Ferrara, did you suddenly become interested in Ferrara's stone or silk cloth? It's a pity that even though you were already a cardinal at that time, Lucrecia still didn't look at you squarely, to be exact, she probably didn't even think of you, she simply committed suicide, in front of Giulio and the Medici......"

"Enough!"

"Don't fool yourself, my son, you are no more noble than me, or those you have at your disposal," said Cardinal Velvere Grande arrogantly, "and be your Pope, and I will watch you—and when you really sit in that position, you will know that what you have done is nothing more than this disgusting thing...... The true saints are either buried in the ground or carved into the walls, us? We are all mortals, mortals, and we have sins, but we also have to be closer to God than the worldly, and God will forgive us more than others. ”

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Pius III's health deteriorated, and the people of Rome lit candles to pray for him, but their wishes were not conveyed to the merciful God, and Picromini was sleeping longer and longer - he was always in severe pain when he was awake, and the doctor said that his liver and kidneys were cracked, black and yellow bile were flowing into his stomach, the mucus was too thin, and the blood was too thick, and in short, no one could cure him, and God was calling him to see when the angels were free to meet him.

They now only used the potion of poppy 87 corn juice to ensure that His Excellency the Pope could avoid the severe pain of the more frequent attacks by means of lethargy, and some proposed bloodletting and enema, but they were severely rejected by Brother John and Cardinal Lovere, and they suggested that Pius III should be treated with the blood of young boys to draw life and youth, as in the case of Innocent VIII, when he was seriously ill, and they were all thrown out.

In order to prevent Pius III from being caught by the devil in his sleep, Joshua had to sprinkle holy water in the four corners of his room every day, which was a heavy job, because as soon as the water trail dried, it meant that there was a breach in the protection, so most people would put a holy water bottle directly in the patient's room, but Joshua thought that was not pious enough, so he got up every hour, sprinkled water in the corner of the room, and every three hours, prayed, he could have done without it- And after three or four days of this behaviour he himself looked like a dying patient, but he persevered until Pius III signaled that Brother John had put poppy 98 corn juice in his soup, and he fell asleep.

Joshua slept for two days and one night, and when he awoke, he looked out at the sky and was somewhat relieved, but when the monks brought dinner, and he saw the poultry that should not be available during the fasting period, he realized that he had not slept for a short time, but for a long time, and he did not even have time to eat, so he hurriedly cleaned up, changed his clothes, and went to Pius III's room.

Pius III was still asleep, but to Joshua's dismay, Brother John told him that when Pius III woke up, he had asked Joshua to inform all the cardinals in Rome that they should come to the Vatican Palace to witness his deathbed sacrament, and that he had appointed Joshua to listen to his confession.