Michelangelo. Bonaroti stayed in Lucca until December when he heard about Caesar. On 11 December, Borgia had recaptured Imola, a city that could be called an outpost of Forlì, and surrendered with little resistance, with only Catalina resisting. The chief of the guard sent by Sforza to Imola, a man worthy of admiration, who, after having delayed Borgia for several days with three hundred men, did the best he could as a mercenary to his mistress, and of course, probably from a lover, who, in any case, wept bitterly for him when the news of his death reached Forlì, a Florentine man who was entirely worthy of being called a master artistically, but who was extremely repugnable in his personal character, Half reluctantly and half willingly, he packed his bags and ran to Imola.

When he arrived in Imola he was horrified, because he could hardly recognize the once prosperous town - Imola is also a town that dates back to Roman times, its name comes from the name of its founder, the Roman dictator Sulla, it is located on the side of the Emilian Boulevard and has a rich and vast map, which makes it as prosperous as it is agriculture, Michelangelo is familiar with this place because the people here are very good at making ceramics, he has passed and stayed here, where he was well entertained (even to a stranger who was willing and able to serve wine, soft bread and ham) and a few young and close friends – one of the few towns he would be deeply attached to as he walked around Italy.

And now, what he saw was a barren land, with jackals roaming around. As he walked down the street with his horse, a group of mercenaries from France snatched his horse away, and when he shouted, several Swiss people who heard the sound took away his bag and his weapons, and when he lost his weapon, the thieves who had been following him swarmed up again, stripped him of his clothes, and walked down the street naked, with hatred and fear in his heart, and occasionally he could see one or two figures in the ruins, but before he could speak, they disappeared again.

Michelangelo thought he wouldn't be able to see Caesar. Fortunately, when Borgia entered the center of Imola, where the rich and officials lived, he saw Caesar's bull banner fluttering on one of the most splendid and splendid buildings, and he knew that this was the case, and he had to huddle in a dark alleyway and wait—he really waited for a man who could be named, and that person remembered Caesar. Borgia mentioned the name Michelangelo.

He gave Michelangelo a dress to wear and a hat and took him to Caesar.

When Michelangelo first saw Caesar, he thought that if he had come to see Caesar first, he would see Julio again. The Medici would be fine.

Caesar's attire was not unfazive, he was no longer a cardinal, and he was dressed in the clothes of the laity - a dark purple velvet coat quilted with gold thread to create a diamond-shaped lattice, each line crossed with rubies, the buttons were made of diamonds on a gold background, the vermilion silk undergarment peeked out from above the round neck and the cracked sleeves, his belt was made of wide black cowhide, gold buckles, beaded chains wound with coral; A Turkish scimitar hung down from his thigh, its scabbard shining brightly, almost like a weapon, and under the striped leggings was a pair of gold-trimmed buckskin boots, the spurs of which were silver.

He was not entirely lying on the couch, for behind him there were two prostitutes who looked like newborn babies, and he lay in their arms, with his head resting on the most elastic and warm pillow in the world.

Michelangelo was not interested, and asked him to talk about the current Caesar. Borgia was not even as good as what he had seen in the Florentine prison, when Caesar still had some of the sparkle and brilliance of the superior, and now, he is more like a depraved incarnate.

Compared to Giulio, who got up in Lucca and often wore black clothes. The Medici are like a fruit that begins to shrivel and rot before it is ripe, and it is like a smooth pearl that gradually blooms in the dark.

"What's the matter," Caesar asked, seeing that he was motionless, curiously, "Michelangelo, why are you standing there motionless, and what has turned you into a pillar of salt?" ”

Michelangelo realized his mistake, and in any case, he didn't dare to say what was in his heart, so he hurriedly said: "I just can't believe my eyes, you were a prince when I met you in Florence, and now you are a god." ”

Caesar laughed happily when he heard this, and did not even bother to think about the blasphemy of the sentence, he waved Michelangelo over, and let him kneel at his feet, kissed his boots, and then said, "You have carved a statue of Lucrecia," and he complimented him graciously: "Indeed, there is no one of the stonemasons of Rome who can compare with you, and I have thought of asking you to carve a statue of me, but you seem to be in the service of Cardinal George of the French?" ”

"It's also for you, for the Holy Father," Michelangelo hurriedly defended, "it's the statue that the cardinal will dedicate to the Holy See - the Virgin of Christ, it will be placed in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and when you return triumphantly, you will be able to see it in Rome." He paused slightly: "You can go and see the venerable Virgin......"

Caesar immediately understood that people at that time would always leave their faces in stone or on canvas forever in the name of the Holy Spirit and saints, and Michelangelo meant that he not only carved a statue of Lucresia, but also created a statue of the Virgin based on her. His mood grew brighter.

What he didn't know was that Michelangelo was already remorseful, because the statue, the Virgin, did refer to Lucrea, after all, she was the most beautiful woman in the whole of Rome and even Italy, and the problem was that the Christ in her arms also carried the shadow of another person that he could not forget, and he only hoped that Caesar would not see it.

Caesar did not notice Michelangelo's strangeness, and as Giulio had expected, Caesar did not care what these little figures thought, and he and Michelangelo made a small portrait of himself, and sent him away.

Michelangelo was finally settled, and he simply sorted out the room—Caesar's reward was not as generous as he had said, but it was still sufficient for his daily needs, and Michelangelo returned the clothes and hats he had borrowed earlier, and put on the clothes he had sent his servants to "buy" - he was not sure whether they had been bought, for there was still blood stained on the unobtrusive corner of the clothes, but apart from these, he could not find a single dress-making workshop still trading in the streets, and he went to see the tavern he frequented, There were many mercenaries gathered there, eating and drinking, and standing behind the counter was a man he didn't know.

"Do you know where old Amidio has gone?" Michelangelo asked cautiously.

"I don't know," said the man, "there's never been any Armidio here." He looked at the two servants behind Michelangelo, and judged that he was not a civilian to be bullied at will, and immediately looked away in dismay.

Michelangelo didn't speak, he remembered that old Amidio had said that even if he died, he would go to hell with his beloved wine, and the barrels here were still stacked on top of each other, and people kept moving the next one, priing it open, and scooping it out of it - he didn't see the old Amidio's niece and son, maybe they sold the tavern and took the money back to the country, he turned and walked, and couldn't help crying as he went.

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Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci sat stiffly behind Caesar, who was much more favourably treated than Michelangelo, who offered him a position as secretary and occasionally as clerk, but he preferred to be sent out like Michelangelo.

Stand Caesar. In front of Borgia was a side branch of Visconti, which had also faded from Imola since Milan's Visconti family was replaced by the Sforza family, but as a centuries-old nobleman, it is still one of the most respected families in the town. Sforza was also polite to him, apparently, he probably never imagined that he would be treated in such an unbearable and shameful way.

"The ...... you promised us" His hands intertwined, his eyes looking up, tried to meet Borgia's eyes, but timidly flashed away at the moment when their eyes were about to collide: "You promised, if we ...... I would like to serve you as the master of Imola...... You will protect us, everything...... It's all the same as before...... Don't make any changes," he said with some eagerness, "You swore it!" ”

"Oh," said Caesar mildly, "indeed." So, is there any change, I have protected you, don't you also stay in your house? ”

"But the French took my daughter!" Visconti's side parent shouted.

"That's right...... Then there is no way," Caesar gave him a heavy blow calmly: "Those are the French, they only obey the assignment of their king, and I have no right to command and control them. His tone sounded apologetic, but there was not the slightest emotion on his face: "You shouldn't have let the girl go out into the street in the first place, what difference does it make to put a piece of bread in front of a hungry person...... I feel sorry for you, and I will condemn them, but at the same time, you need to be more vigilant and more cautious. ”

"But...... My daughter ......" the poor man whispered, "Can you give my daughter back to me?" Lord Duke, I only have such a daughter......"

Caesar frowned, "It's hard," he said bluntly, "Well, I'll try to talk to them, but if you can manage to finance some of their military expenses, they might be willing to give your daughter back." ”

"I ...... I don't have a lot of money left...... My lord," said the man weakly, "we were ...... before A tribute and settlement of 100,000 gold florins were paid to Rome on your behalf. ”

"Isn't that what you ought to do for your rulers?" Caesar said sternly, and the man could not help but shrink in his fierce tone: "Go back," Caesar said, "If you want your daughter to come back, go and raise military expenses." ”

The man had to go.

Leonardo sat aside and watched the whole process, "Do you know where his daughter is?" ”

"In my bedroom." Caesar said, "Yves. Alegre gave it to me. He smiled: "Do you want to try, Imola First Beauty?" Although I don't think so. ”

"I think." Leonardo said.

But in the evening, Caesar's servants found Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci, conveying Caesar's apology, said, for some reason, the girl struck his sword and died.