The following is the anti-theft chapter, which will be updated by 12 am tomorrow.

Three young men stepped on the heels of the procession into the cathedral, and compared to the beautiful exterior of the beautiful tricolor marble, mosaics and carved windows, and the vermilion octagonal dome, which had been criticized by many conservatives as bright as the setting sun, its interior decoration was almost negligible, the checkered two-tone marble floor, the dark brown beams and columns, the empty walls, the pure and round double dome, the only color and light source came from " The Bible of Fools", that is, the rose window that speaks in symbolic and metaphorical language the basic spirit of Christ.

The second light source was much fainter—the honey-yellow beeswax candles burned on the iron frames on either side of the small altar, and the wicks were cut so short that they illuminated only a small part of the white linen altar cloth and the cross behind it.

The proximity to the altar, that is, the privilege of receiving Holy Communion at the hands of the presiding priest is almost exclusively the bankers living in the center of the city, the directors of the seven guilds, the members, the lawyers, or the officials of the Consulate and their families.

The noble and wealthy ladies were draped in pomegranate-shaped patterns, Cloaks of scopole and vase brocade or shawl tunics derived from vestments, velvet open-breasted dresses with jacquard sleeves, or long skirts with square necks and openwork velvet sleeves with cut-out velvet or satin and linen, sleeves joined by gold and silver strings and pearl buttons at the shoulders of the dress, deliberately reserved gaps to reveal a fluffy white silk or linen lining, and their necklines were more extensive than those of the commoners, so that they were more open than those of the commoners, so that they were decorated with delicate lace, and often clearly see "glittering skin down to the bare half of the breast" (as one Reformer denounced the wide open neckline). Of course, in order not to be kicked out of the church by the angry friars, they had to ask their fathers, brothers and husbands for large quantities of precious stones, pearls, delicate lace from Venice, and gold veils as thin as cicada's wings to cover their chests and necks—you see, they did not intend to violate the law on the restriction of luxury (Note 2).

Of course, their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons were no less than suitable, with six-strand silk brocade in crimson, navy, burgundy, gold, and black, and rows of jeweled buttons around the edges and tears of the embossed brocade coats, and small rings of gold and silver on the velvet cloaks, and robes and capes with filigree and capes adorned with the family crest of jewels, and carved swords that were more decorated than practical.

Lorenzo de' Medici stood in front of everyone, and as the head of the Florentine "brotherhood" (note 3), the Medici parents had the right to be the first to receive Holy Communion.

He was dressed as usual in a drab and solemn manner, black velvet tights, trousers, a coat of the same color embroidered but without jewels, and a gold necklace with a cross that was more of a necessity than ornamentation, though the lavish cloak should have made up for it. Originally belonging to the previous Medici parents, it was made from carefully selected garbo wool, which was dyed a thick and uniform crimson by three of the most expensive oriental dyes before being spun into wool threads, which were then woven into chunks of cloth mixed with countless unrecognizable gold threads, and finally hand-embellished garments, mink lining, and gray squirrel skin trimming, which was more thick and strong than one might think. As a child, Giuliano also used it to stand upright out of thin air and use it as a tent for the main commander in a war game.

When the current Medici parents saw their brother appear outside the church gate, they immediately cast a warning and urging glance. But the church was empty, dark and cold, and after only a brief pause, Giuliano's leg spasmed reflexively, and he shook his head with a pitiful rogue smile at his brother. He was not the head of the Medici family, and it didn't matter when he received Holy Communion, he preferred to bask in the sun by the church door. Patch and his friends seemed to think the same way, and the three young men huddled together by the church door.

Lorenzo pursed his lips in displeasure and helplessness, and while the celebrant and the people were greeting each other, he turned and spoke for a while with Cardinal Rafaelo di Riario, nephew of the Count of Girolamo of Peruga, apparently explaining to Giuliano - a young man of great prominence, who was known to have always had a great deal of curiosity about the second son of the Medici family, before returning to his original position, lowering his eyes and joining in the silent prayer of confession.

Reading the Bible (God's Hadith) and people answer "Amen", and reading the Bible and reading the Bible and people reply, "Praise you are." Preaching, reading the creed, praying, and dedicating ...... The already dull sacrificial rites were made even longer by the excessive use of obscure ecclesiastical Latin, and a considerable number of the populace soon began to snooze, talk about business, and gossip, though their disrespectful behavior was always punctuated by the gut of hunger...... It was not until near noon that the deacons began to deliver bread and wine that would soon become the Eucharist. After repeating a series of uninteresting but necessary steps, such as offering incense, consecration, kneeling, reading the scriptures, chanting, etc., the people who had been fasting according to the canon since last night could not help but watch eagerly as the priest held aloft the gray dough in the silver reliquary.

Giuliano curled his tongue uncontrollably and grimaced with contempt. Each time the Eucharist tasted like brown rice cakes soaked in vinegar, the young man wondered more than once whether the night of fasting before Holy Communion was so that people could swallow this unpalatable thing.

Two deacons walked up to the celebrant, holding the Holy Lord filled with the Holy Blood and the Eucharistic Plate, which contained the Holy Communion.

Giuliano raised his hands, crossed his fingers, clenched his chin into a fist, closed his eyes, and began to murmur prayer.

He felt that beside him, it was Bernardo Bandini, who was wriggling uneasily, as if someone had poured a whole nest of fleas on him, and if it wasn't for the church, Giuliano might have chosen to throw him out.

Lorenzo bowed his head and chanted the scriptures in his mouth, and he was bending his knees towards the kneeling stool to receive the Eucharist—but before that, a blind, slender flash of light glittered the edge of his vision.

The vigilant claws suddenly grasped Lorenzo's heart, and instinct drove him to turn around without warning in a half-rickety posture - the knife that tried to pierce his neck and the hand that grabbed him by the shoulder were all gone, and the eldest son of the Medici had no time to think, he fell backwards, rolled on the spot, knocked over the sacrificial table on the right, and shouted angrily: "Murder!"

Giuliano opened his eyes angrily and horrified at his brother's shouts, and the last sight that came into his light brown iris was the butcher's knife held aloft in Bernardo Bandini's hand.

He didn't even have a chance to raise his arms in farrow, or let out one last roar and curse.

Bandini's strength was great, and the butcher's means of livelihood slashed straight into the forehead of the Medici's second son, Junxiu, like a real weapon, while the young Patch, who was on the other side of the victim, clenched the small left-handed sword drawn from his sleeve and grabbed Giuliano's back like a hyena raiding a zebra, and he stabbed and stabbed without pause - in Bernardo? Bandini confirmed Giuliano's death, and then carefully woke up his friend, who was completely unable to control himself due to nervousness or agitation, before the sword in his left hand was stabbed enough to create a large sieve for macaroni.

Patch stood up dizzily, the reddish hot liquid soaked through the light velvet, and in addition to the blood shed by Giuliano, the poor victim, there was his own- The murderer, who had inadvertently created a slender wound on his thigh, was still driven by intense emotions and rich fantasies, and did not feel much pain for the time being, his facial muscles twisted, his teeth clucked, and he looked to the left and right as quickly as a vulture after a little blood, looking for a second target for the day in the chaos of the crowd.

The Medici attaché and friends rushed to the altar, but the Assassins in the crowd met them. In front of the marble altar, Lorenzo faced three despicable murderers alone: one was the chief priest, who clutched a silver reliquary encrusted with gems for defense, and the other hand was unskillfully grasping a wide dagger with a nervous expression, while the assistant priest, who had already thrown away the sacrificial supplies, took on the role of the main culprit, they were tall, their features were rough under the hood, and they held the stab and dagger in their left hand in a very similar position, Lorenzo remembered, one of them was the martial arts teacher of the Pache family, with whom Giuliano had a brief confrontation during a horse joust。

Lorenzo tried to find his brother, but the Assassins had apparently recovered from a rough beginning, and they pounced ferociously on the Medici's parents, their weapons gleaming in the candlelight, thirsting for noble blood, while the unarmed murderers had to wave their cloaks and wrap them around their arms, the cloak of luxury and status, which had always seemed heavy and inconvenient in normal times, was now the best substitute for a shield.

The people who approached the altar screamed, some brave people drew their weapons, many more desperately tried to escape, and the people behind couldn't figure out what was going on.

Lorenzo's struggle with the murderer continued, and the hands accustomed to wielding the quill and the holy water bottle inevitably looked clumsy when wielding weapons, and naturally the Medici used it as the best breakthrough. He kicked a jug away and smashed it into the priest who was wrapped around his feet with the fallen Eucharistic cloth, who screamed and fell backwards, knocking over the high-speed rail stand and the reading platform where the candles were placed, and the candles on the iron shelves flew out, but fortunately landed on the damp and cold marble floor, and only a few ignited the little silk hanging from the wall.

When the fire was extinguished, only the pale golden sunlight from the rose window illuminated the empty cathedral, and according to the design of the cathedral, almost all the light was concentrated on the altar near noon. Against a backdrop of solemn gray stone, the bright light clearly cut the white-clad deacon and the red-clad Medici, separated at the ends of the great altar covered with three layers of linen, staring at each other in madness and hatred, and the muscles clenched by the clenching of their teeth cast an unusually thick shadow on their faces.

The remaining two Assassins were much more skilled than the priests, they were light on their feet, highly skilled in martial arts, and worked together in perfect harmony, and if it weren't for the sturdy and pliable chain mail and the iron candle stand that the Medici grabbed in time (his saber fell under the altar as it fell), they might have accomplished their task. One or two undodgeable blows pierced through the fine silver-plated iron ring, and the broken metal rings and the tip of the sword were deeply embedded in Lorenzo's body, and blood was pouring out, but the Medici parents had no time to care about it out of anger and nervousness, until the two attachés, who had finally escaped their rivals, rushed to the altar to respond.

"Where's Juni?!" Lorenzo asked aloud as he grabbed the attaché's tossed sword, and drew his weapon. He saw the cardinal, dragging his wide robes, disappearing in panic at the edge of the gate, and the stern face of the painter and close friend Leonadona flashing behind the pillar, but he could not catch Giuliano's blood-red velvet cloak embroidered with a golden coat of arms among the thousands of totes of heads and arms. Although he repeatedly tried to convince himself that Giuliano had escaped danger, he knew that his brother would not leave his brother in a life-or-death situation if Giuliano was safe. "O Blessed Virgin Mary," he prayed fervently in his heart, "let him only be wounded, only wounded, not dead - even if he loses an arm or a leg." ”

No one or god answered him, and more hostile swords rose up, and the clergy who had entered the church in the name of Cardinal Rhofaelo di Riari Audi pulled down their sacred turbans and revealed their faces as Gentiles, brandishing their weapons and carving a bloody path through the panicked crowd to Lorenzo de' Medici.

Loyal subordinates clung to Lorenzo's arm and half-forcedly dragged him back behind the empty altar.

The Basilica of Santa Maria del Flore had no seats, only low kneeling stools, the walls were empty, there was no shelter to use, the back door was always closed and locked, and the entrance was firmly controlled by the enemy - but one of the attachés soon noticed that the door to the reliquary was open. Without thinking, they rushed into what was to say the most sturdy, secret room in the entire church, with its two unusually heavy bronze doors, and it took the last of their strength for the Medici loyalists to finally close them and let go of the heavy latches. (To be continued.) )