The icy water gently lapped against the stones on the bank, and some ice floe floated over the river, making a clattering sound against the stones.

A few children were running and playing on the shore, poking at the drifting ice with the dry branches in their hands, and they burst into laughter when they saw their own ice knocking others crooked or knocked away.

A few women were not far away while doing their work while keeping an eye on the movement from time to time, and when they saw the children having fun, they continued to go about their business.

It was an ordinary winter afternoon, the sun was warm on the body, and while it was warm now, the women all went outside to bask in the sun, after all, the weather had been bad in those days before, not only the house was damp, but even the people seemed to be moldy.

A few men swayed from the field in the distance, their expressions were not very good, and when they saw the women, they were not as shy as before, especially looking at the carefree children, the men seemed to be angry, and one of them was even making a gesture to kick aside a child who was in front of him.

Seeing the appearance of a few men, the women said that their laughter was lowered a lot, and some of them stood up to meet their men when they saw them, but they were rudely pushed aside, and then several men sat down and gossiped.

"Next year's harvest may be even worse," said a stout man, grabbing a rock and throwing it into the river, "I can't stand it if it goes on like this, and then I'll have to take my whole family to beg for food." ”

"But what can you do when you leave the lord's territory, we are not like the Catalans who can serve as soldiers to support their families." Someone next to him retorted.

"Even if I can be a soldier, I won't go, maybe I'll throw my life outside, but I still have a wife and children at home," the man said and beckoned to a woman not far away, and when the woman came closer, he suddenly pulled the woman face down on his lap, so that she raised her plump ass high, and then "snapped" and slapped it, "Look, I don't want to let other men enjoy such a fat ass." ”

The woman screamed, and the people next to her laughed, even the women who watched the excitement laughed non-stop.

The woman struggled to her feet, and a child ran up to her and threw himself into her arms, kicking the man's big thighs with his short calves.

The man was not angry, but grabbed the child's clothes from the back and lifted him up: "Look if my son is strong, but if he can't eat, he will soon be skinny." ”

The laughter was gone, and a group of people sat together with a long sigh of concern.

"The harvest has been getting worse and worse in recent years, and if it continues like this, I may really go hungry."

"What's the solution, we're already good here, I heard that some places in the north haven't sprouted yet, and if you can't stay any longer, you may really have to be wasteland."

Several people sat around sighing, but for a while could not think of any way, in recent years, the gradually bad weather has become a nightmare for farmers, the colder and colder climate has had a huge impact on the crops and damage, the land has become dry and hard to sow seeds, even the seeds planted are often because they can not emerge in the field suffocated, so that the farmers' days have become more and more difficult in the past few years.

A man came in a hurry not far away, and when he saw the man, the men waved to him.

"What's wrong with Juan, in such a hurry?"

"The priest is here," the man gestured like the villagers, turning around and pointing in the direction of the entrance of the village, "everyone hurry up." ”

"What's going on, it's not time to tithe."

Several people muttered as they walked in the direction of the small church in the village, the place was too small, and the priest lived in a larger town far away, and only came to the village when it was time to worship, so the sudden arrival of the priest surprised the villagers.

The priest was not very old, and he was also very strong, which is not the same as the priests who always carried the cross to persuade people to do good, or always viciously threatened to go to hell after death.

"Get ready, you idiots," the priest didn't speak so politely, and even had a bit of a ** flavor, in fact, the pastor was indeed a soldier in his early years, but now he has changed from sending people to hell with weapons to saving souls with the Bible, "There's a noble man passing by here, you all be smart and don't get into trouble." ”

"Who's it, priest?" Someone asked curiously.

"Actually, I don't know," the priest reluctantly jumped down from the high rock, took a sip of the hot ginger wine that had been prepared for him by the side, shivered a little, and then said, "We don't want to get into trouble, do we, so if those noble people have nothing to do and ask this and that, you can tell him that it's good here, and that your life is like being in heaven, understand?" ”

"Is this how heaven lives?" One of the villagers pursed his lips and muttered something in a low voice.

I didn't want his words to be heard by the priest with sharp ears at once, so a series of fierce curses and chases rang out in the village.

The villagers gathered together curiously, they didn't know who the noble man the priest was talking about, but since even the priest was so solemn, he thought it should be a big man.

So the villagers began to get busy according to the instructions of the old priest, although they didn't know what to do to make those big people look satisfied, but it always hurt to be busy, at least they would not be chased all over the village by the old priest with a cross.

Towards noon, a troop of cavalry appeared on the road outside the village.

The cavalry looked dusty, but they were extremely vigilant, and they did not relax because there was a village in front of them, but the brigade slowed down slightly, and the few leading soldiers in front of them immediately rushed towards the village.

The priest, who had already received the news, had already led the villagers to wait near the entrance of the village, and when he saw the cavalry, he took a few steps forward and raised the staff of the cross in his hand to signal to them.

The leading cavalry patrolled the priest and the villagers, and after some negotiation, the forerunner bowed to the priest and quickly ran back to the group.

The priest and the villagers looked at the procession curiously, and as soon as they saw a very sturdy carriage, slowly approaching under the group, the villagers began to whisper.

The priest looked at a badge on the door of the carriage, first at a loss, and then suddenly remembered something and showed a look of sudden realization.

"It's the Queen." The priest looked at the strange-looking army in astonishment, which were obviously well trained, unlike the mercenaries or kings with whom he had dealt in the past, and most importantly he sensed a real danger in these soldiers, who, though they wore rather ornate uniforms, would be wrong to take them for example.

Instinctively raising her hand to shield herself from the sunlight above her head as she got out of the carriage and looked at the villagers before looking at the priest.

At this time, the priest also became a little stammering, he never thought that the queen would pass by their remote village: "Your Majesty, you are honored, oh no, it is my honor to be able to meet you. ”

Josa smiled slightly, she was going to Zaragoza, this village was only passing through, but the news of her departure had already spread, and after she had officially handed over the superintendence of Babiaridot to Don Bandraz, she was about to leave for Zaragoza.

She did not go to Madrid, because she knew that Alexander VI and her still had a "murderous feud" after all, and it would be embarrassing for both of them to go to Madrid at this time.

Along the way, she had already informed the towns along the way, and because what had happened to Juana and her husband had been a terrible example, her guards had been careful to be on the lookout for any accidents that might arise along the way.

It was a turbulent time in which there was no room for sloppiness, and even without the attacks of Ferdinand's supporters, misfortune could have befallen by all sorts of accidents, especially after entering the territory of Aragon, when the cuirassiers were in the face of the enemy, as if they had entered the enemy country.

"The village seems to be pretty good." Jisha said casually.

"God willing, this is the best village in the neighborhood, look at these villagers, everyone eats like pigs." As he spoke, the priest grabbed a villager who looked to him like a pig and asked him to spin in circles in front of him, and then he asked with a little hope, "Then your majesty, I wonder if the tithes of this diocese will continue to be increased annually as before?" ”

Ji Sha thought for a moment and didn't answer immediately, her gaze swept over the villagers with blank expressions, and finally fell on the face of the priest: "Dear priest, I can only say that this request of yours needs to be carefully considered, you must know that Aragorn has lost too many taxes due to the war, and I can't give you an answer until I know the details." ”

The priest looked at the young queen in a bit of a daze, he didn't expect the young queen to be so difficult to deal with, and the priest who originally thought that he might be able to get away with it couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

Tithes have been the primary source of daily expenses for the church for centuries, and adding to the insufficient tax amount each year is a good way to ensure that tithes are not lost due to poor harvests.

As a result, perhaps sometimes because of bad times, the king did not receive as much tax as the church.

Although this famine is not very serious, and the abundant maritime resources that should be surrounded by the sea on three sides have somewhat alleviated some of the food shortages that may be caused by this, but in the face of the situation that there is less and less bread on the table due to the lack of wheat harvest, many people are still worried.

The priest finally breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the huge team disappear in the smoke and dust, but then he raised his wooden staff and thought about the villagers chasing after him: "You pigs who can only eat, won't you beg the queen to raise more taxes, look at the heart I give you all day long, you are helping to set hell!" ”

Of course, she didn't know what had happened to the village she had passed by accidentally, but she had carefully written down a memo about what she had seen along the way, and of all the problems she had encountered along the way, which she would have to discuss with Alexander after meeting him.

Tsusa knew that being a queen was not so easy, and it was not clear how many royalists in Aragon were in Ferdinand, and even those Aragonese nobles who took refuge were not reliable.

As for the Archbishop of Zaragoza, he believed that he would be able to cooperate happily for a while, but after a long time, he might not be able to do it again.

The archbishop apparently had a great influence in Zaragoza, which made him sometimes feel that Alexander had put her on the throne of King Aragon, and that he really had enough confidence in her.

From the moment she entered Aragonese, she sent several messengers to Gael to tell Alexander, she was not blindly confident in the strength of her army, she knew very well how many people were secretly waiting for her to make a mistake.

This mistake includes the fact that she may have lost the hearts and minds of the people by making reckless decisions at court, and that she may have unwittingly put herself in a dangerous situation because of her carelessness.

Alexander was also very careful, he sent his troops early on to keep an eye on Josha's movements, and although he knew that the grenadiers around him were experienced veterans, he was worried that he would not have slept well during these days.

They are in an "enemy country", and Alexander is also very aware of this, it will take too much to change the situation, and it will take a long time, and what they want to ensure is that they must be vigilant at all times during this time.

On January 26, 1503, when the first rays of the morning sun were just shining through the farthest treetops on the horizon to the spires of the walls of the city of Gawell, a procession of hunters and Sicilian "Segaia" veterans hurried out of the city.

They marched west along the road, passing some of the old roads they had pursued the Aragonese army from Roman town, and even saw some abandoned and damaged vehicles and corpses that had not yet had time to collect them, until at last they met the leader of the Quesha team about four or five miles from the city of Garel.

The loud sound of the horn pierced through the early morning mist, and the two sides greeted each other with this loud trumpet.

Alexander rode his horse instead of in a car, and when he saw a procession looming in the distance through the mist, he jumped off his horse and took off his hat and stood in the middle of the road.

One by one, the grenadiers marched along the avenue, and then they spread out on both sides of the road.

A carriage appeared in the middle of the procession, and when there was still some distance to go, Alexander suddenly walked forward quickly, ignoring the snow that had just fallen last night, and strode forward with his boots in the snow, and then suddenly opened the door without waiting for the carriage to stop.

There was a brief exclamation from the carriage, but Alexander ignored it, he stepped into the car and closed the door.

The two armies outside the carriage looked at each other, and everyone felt an indescribable weirdness, but there was really no one to criticize them.

It is well known that the Prince Regent and the Queen have a deep brother-sister relationship, and the Queen has traveled long distances while she is pregnant, and it seems understandable that the Prince Regent is too excited and concerned, not to mention that the Queen is not alone in the carriage, so it seems to be nothing ......

The hunters were obviously much smarter than the Sicilians, perhaps because most of the Balkans didn't care much about etiquette, so after shrugging their shoulders helplessly, they beckoned to the Sicilian officers, who were a little overwhelmed, and the two sides began to regroup and march towards the city of Gawell.

In the carriage, the waitress bowed her head and earnestly embroidered her handkerchief, which she had finished during the journey, but now she had picked some of the stitches back and began to do needlework again.

She gasped sharply, not because of the bumps in the road, nor because of the excitement she felt when she saw her brother, but it was evident from her lips, which seemed to be slightly swollen.

"Do you know how worried I am about you, I haven't slept well these days, and I haven't been so nervous even during the decisive battle with Ferdinand," Alexander took Ferdinand's hand and looked at her carefully, "I really shouldn't have let you travel in this weather, those Zaragoza people are damned." ”

"But they desperately need a queen right now, isn't that what we want to see." Visa smiled and said that she liked to see Alexander anxious for him, and although it seemed a little too much like a little girl, she knew that the days when two people could be together without worries might be few in the future.

They are monarchs, so they cannot waste their time in romance, but must take on the corresponding responsibilities, which is the price to pay for gaining power.

"I'll accompany you to Zaragoza." Alexander said as if he had just remembered something, and he hesitated for a moment before he said, "Barondi has arrived, and not long ago, she was now in Gandino." ”

A strange look appeared on her face, and she glanced at the waitress who had been working with her head down, and then said, "Then you didn't go to see her?" ”

"You know I have to be here, not long ago the Barcelona people tried to rebel, but Ofleuil has cut off their way to Zaragoza, and he has fought two good battles, and now the Barcelona people have retreated to the city and are not coming out."

"Barcelona?"

Jisha thought thoughtfully, then nodded.

Alexander didn't bother her, he knew that from now on Josa had entered the role of regent of Aragonese as king, and that the rebellion in Barcelona was handled in a very different way as a regent and as a queen.

"Well, I'm going to play the role of mistress once," said Josha, giving Alexander a funny look, "I think your wife must be expecting me to be a little ugly when I ascend the throne." ”

Alexander sighed wordlessly, knowing that his "good days" in the future did seem to be coming to an end.

Suddenly, Alexander opened the car door, and he leaned out of the carriage with half of his body, holding the door gang tightly with one hand, and waving his hat vigorously at the team outside with the other: "Long live the Queen!"

"Hooray!"

Cheers pierce the mist and resound across the fields!

On January 26, 1503, the Queen of Sicily arrived in the city of Gaeure, and the regent of Castile personally went out to greet him.

Three days later, the queen entered Zaragoza, escorted by the Kingdom's Guards.

A new era has arrived.