The dinner with Ferdinand ended late, and as the king left, the Rigoletto, who had been with him, noticed a lingering gloom in Ferdinand's expression, and the Rigoletto, who had always won the favor of his master with his gags and innocuous jokes, became cautious.

Ferdinand was not a tyrant at all, at least he never convicted and punished people lightly, and even those who had offended him were not easily dealt with with too harshly.

But if he really angered the king, his revenge was unusually cruel and merciless, and he did not hesitate to throw the Aragonese nobles who opposed him into prison, and even had his opponents locked up in cold, damp dungeons until they soaked in waist-deep pools of water and their bodies festered.

Ferdinand was tolerant but never soft-hearted, which made it even more difficult for him to figure out, and now he didn't seem to be in a good mood when he looked at the king, and the courtier cautiously followed, knowing that Ferdinand suddenly stopped and looked at him and asked, "Did Florenceza send a report before?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, you have asked me to keep it in the secret room of your living room," replied Rigoletto in a low voice, as one of the most trusted men around Ferdinand, this Rigoletto was more of a secretary to the King's side, which may seem strange to others, after all, it is impossible for a Rister like Castile to be so reused" But there was nothing important above. ”

"Whether it matters sometimes depends on what kind of role it plays," Ferdinand said slowly, in fact, he himself knew that he seemed to have missed something very important before, but this time Alexander's reminder reminded him of the report sent by the governor of Sicily before, which made him a little annoyed that he had omitted such an important matter before, but now is not the time to think about it, "Go and get me that report, I want to take a good look at it." ”

Rigoletto nodded his head in response, and at the same time secretly noted in his mind the king's interest in Sicily, so that the next time the governor of Sicily sent another letter, he would immediately present it to the king.

After Ferdinand left, Alexander did not say goodbye and left, he accompanied the Pope to a seemingly flat knoll outside the Palace of Rose Horn, where the evening breeze blew and the slightly hot air poured into his robe, propping up the clothes so that the feeling of comfort made people want to close their eyes and take a break in such a midsummer night.

However, the Pope was clearly not in such a mood, and Alexander VI had a worried look on his face, and his hand was lightly touched on the gem-encrusted cane, which made Alexander vaguely feel the Pope's inner peace.

"Will Ferdinand really deprive his daughter of the regency," although he had known this result for a long time, Alexander VI was still a little hesitant about this judgment, he knew very well what the meaning behind this matter was, especially now that Isabella was ill, what kind of consequences would it bring if he rashly supported Ferdinand, which made Alexander VI a little difficult to decide, "If the queen's condition improves, this is a very bad plan." ”

Alexander nodded slightly, he knew that the Pope was right, if Isabella had recovered in time, and Ferdinand had not had time to start acting, maybe everything would be fine.

But if the queen had been bedridden or even seriously ill, Juana would have to be regent, and at that point, Ferdinand would have to take measures to control Juana.

All of this is under the premise that Isabella may never recover, and may even die, but if the queen finally recovers, then the couple will face inevitable fierce conflict.

At that point, Alexander VI, who chose to support Ferdinand, may be in a difficult position.

Looking at the worried Pope, Alexander couldn't help but think of the Medici brothers, who were now far away in Italy and were still running for the revival of the family.

Compared to the disgraceful Borgia family, the Medici family can even be said to be a group of near-perfect rulers.

Among them, the most talked-about thing is that in addition to their enthusiasm and support for art, it is more because the family is more "kind".

Strange as it may sound, the Medici family had absolutely nothing to do with kindness to the Florentines, but it was a different story with the people they dealt with.

The Medici family is cunning, greedy, power-loving and insidious, which is not denied by everyone, but the family also has another advantage, that is, they are "very righteous" to their friends.

The Medici family does not forget any of their enemies, but they also do not forget anyone who has helped them, which makes the family have many enemies and many friends.

Even people who have lost their usefulness to them will reach out and pull them as long as they have contributed to them.

This is the Medici family, a strange and charming family.

Obviously, the Borgia family does not have such a good tradition, maybe the pit son-in-law is the tradition of this family, but this will be prohibitive just thinking about it.

So now Alexander VI himself has to face the fate that once he loses his role, he may be abandoned.

"I can't take this risk," said the Pope, who finally stopped beating his cane and looked at Alexander, "unless we can know what is going on with the Queen, if I rashly declare that Juana is not qualified to inherit the crown of a Christendom nation because her soul has been tempted by the devil, then without the Queen's intervention, her supporters may tear us all to pieces," and said in a heavy tone, "This is Castile, and I am more familiar with everything here than you do, Trust me, they do this kind of thing. ”

Alexander did not refute this time, he knew that the Pope was right, Iberia is a magical place, the people here are almost fanatical believers in the cross, but on the other hand, they firmly believe that the royal family is above the church, this unique phenomenon that later only Anglican Christianity has now appeared in several countries of Iberia, which must be said to be influenced by too many Moors.

However, this did cause them a lot of trouble, and Alexander wanted to know how Isabella was doing.

"I'll figure it out."

Alexander's only could say that he could not guarantee when Ulliu would be able to hear the news, and that he had a different idea about Juana than before.

Alexander originally wanted to control Juana like Ferdinand, although the princess was not mentally stable, but he was still the rightful heir of Castile, but this status was enough to make people pay too much attention to her, which even made him have the intention of holding Juana in his hands at any cost.

But now, the Pope's worries have given him a new idea.

"Alexander, I think sometimes it might be a good choice to help the weak," the Pope patted Alexander's hand as he held him, "Didn't you ever think that we could help Juana, at least I think she is much easier to deal with than Ferdinand." ”

"That's a good suggestion, but we all know that Ferdinand is not easy to deal with, and if he knew we wanted to betray him, maybe your situation would have been even worse."

"Am I not in a bad enough situation, my child, to know that this is Castile, and to us it is only the stupid people of this place, and to anger them is enough to send us all to hell." Alexander VI looked at his son-in-law with a look of 'you are too young', and then he lowered his voice again and said, "If you want to take the risk of taking the crown of Castile, you should know whose side you should be on." ”

"So you chose Isabella?"

"No, I just chose the side that was in my favor."

Alexander listened thoughtfully, knowing that such inferences were still unfounded until he received the news about Isabella's condition, but he also admitted that the Pope was right, and that the situation in Iberia was much more complicated than he thought, at least from Ferdinand's impatience to want Alexander VI to intervene in the regency of Castile, and even hinted that he was slandering his daughter, that Ferdinand was certainly determined to rule Castile, but the same, He was also wary of the Castilian nobility.

Ferdinand was clearly worried that the Castilian nobles would use Juana against him, and although Philip was no longer a threat now, the Castilian people were certainly still unwilling to obey him.

And there is no doubt that there is Isabella's shadow behind this.

"We must hear from the Queen so we know what to do next." The Pope looked at Alexander with a deep gaze, he already saw that Alexander must have made arrangements in Castile before, and he now needed to know if it was worth the choice between the couple at the risk: "If you want to get the crown, you must be seen to be sincere, and there are more people besides me." ”

Alexander, who understood the meaning of the Pope's words, was silent, he knew that the Pope had not finished speaking, and sure enough, Alexander VI continued: "Barridod is not the only one in Castile, but the nobility and the church in Toledo also have a great influence, I don't think you should ignore them, and I think I should go to Toledo to make a round." ”

After saying that, Alexander VI walked alone with his cane and thought about the Rose Horn Palace, leaving Alexander behind to watch his back slightly distracted.

When Ulliu came to the house of the treasurer Don Makrosbein again, the treasurer happened to be at home.

So he could only hide in the kitchen and eat the freshly picked green grapes with the cook and the servants, which still had a sour taste, while listening to them talk passionately about the new things that had just happened in his home.

"Your Excellency must be very angry," said one of the servants mysteriously, "but this time let him catch it, and I saw that Madame had knocked over one of my lord's favorite vases in a panic, but that did not stop me from chasing the poor knight of Bartow around the courtyard several times." ”

"Yes, poor knight and lady Bato, this time they are going to be unlucky, but the master has been busy and has not come home before, he is careless, who would have thought that the master would come back so early today."

A maid gloated a little that the maid was not at all worried that her wife had fallen into a bad scandal, but was excited about such an interesting topic.

"Actually, that Knight Bart deserves it," the cook said, looking at Ulliu, who was listening to the side with relish, "The lord has come back early these days, but the knight Barto has been pestering and refusing to leave, even if he didn't break them today, one day the lord will know." ”

"The treasurer doesn't seem to be so busy these days, does he?" Ulliu, who immediately sensed something, asked casually as he threw the green grapes into his mouth.

"It seems that he is idle, so he said that Bato Knight deserved it, he was too bold, so this time he hurt them all."

Ulliu slowly stopped as he listened to his mouth chewing on the sour grapes, and he felt that he should tell his master about it as soon as possible, for it didn't sound like good news.

But before Ulius could report to Alexander, a good news had spread from the royal palace in the city of Bararidod.

The Queen, who had performed silent prayers, had fulfilled her wish and, according to Thomas Tongomada, would return to the court after a small private confession.

The people of Bararidod immediately boiled, although the queen had prayed a similar prayer before, but this time it was too long, which even made many people secretly speculate whether there was any accident, and now the queen returned safely, and soon appeared in front of the people, just this news was enough to calm the people who were already vaguely uneasy.

The news was soon sent to Alexandria, for according to Thomas Tongomada, the queen would be presented to the Pope immediately after a private prayer service, which could not be compared to the pomp of the Pope's visit to Castile, but Isabella had ordered another rather solemn audience at the palace.

So when Ulliu finally had a chance to come to Alexander's residence again, he saw Alexander staring at a richly decorated letter on the table.

Ulliu reluctantly walked over to the old man and stood down, his face showing a hint of frustration and frustration, speaking of which was a rare failure since he followed Alexander, which made Ulliu even feel that he was too stupid for everything he had done before.

"You don't need to blame yourself," Alexander said with a wry smile as he comforted his prefect with a wry smile on his face, "this is not Rome, you don't have a chance to show your smile to the ladies and you can easily ask them everything you want to know, this is Castile, even Tygo has to be careful here." ”

"But sir, the Queen's illness seems to be really cured," said Ulliu, somewhat disappointed, "I thought ......"

"Why do you think she died so easily?"

Alexander glanced at Uliu and smiled, although he knew that Isabella's lifespan in history was only about two years, but now he was not sure if this would happen, after all, there were too many things that had changed, since Gonzalo had not been able to defeat the French in 1501 to occupy all of Naples for Ferdinand, then Isabella might not have died two years later.

"But that's too bad for us, isn't it, after all, that Don Bavi is almost out of whack," said Ulliu, a little annoyed, "even if James keeps helping him, those Andalusians are a bunch of fools." ”

Ulliu, who was agitated by his previous defeat, vented his anger at the Andalusian nobles, which Alexander found somewhat amusing.

Alexander knew that Ulliu, who seemed to be always smiling all day long and seemed to be respectful to everyone, was actually a very proud man, and probably in his mind, there were not many people under Alexander's command who could compare with him, but this defeat made him feel so useless, which made him a little self-defeating, and even a little neurotic.

"Uliu, I think we were wrong," Alexander interrupted Uliu's complaints, knowing that the urgency and pressure that Uliuu had been facing needed to be released, he didn't want to see that this method had completely discouraged Uliu, "Maybe you should leave Barriaridot for a while." ”

"Sir, you're saying you don't need me anymore, do you, do you want me to go back to Rome?" Uliuu asked with some disappointment.

"No, I can't do without you here, but I don't think this is the place for you to make a difference," Alexander reassured his Imperial Officer, he didn't want to let Ulliu lose confidence in himself because of this small blow, "I think you need to get ready for a long journey, I have a more important task for you, and if necessary, maybe you have to prepare some thick clothes for yourself, after all, those places can be cold." ”

Uliu looked at the noisy courtyard outside with some surprise, speaking of the Iberian summer reminded him of the season in his hometown, and even sometimes when he walked down the street and saw those familiar fruits, Uliu would have the illusion that he had returned to his hometown.

So when he heard that he was going to prepare a cotton coat for the winter, Uliuu first thought that he had misheard, and then he immediately thought of a possibility that he had never thought of before.

"Sir, do you want me to ......" Uliuu instinctively raised his finger and pointed in the direction he guessed, seeing Alexander smiling and nodding, although the Moors were still a little surprised after guessing, but he immediately bowed and saluted, "Follow your orders, sir." ”

Alexander put aside the invitation from Isabella on the table, and then he took Ulrius by the shoulder and walked out the door: "I am sure that you will be able to do this task, you must know that France is not the same as here, but the valley of the Loire may be very cold in winter." ”

Looking at the figure of Uliu, driving a donkey cart away, Alexander stood on the steps in silence.

He knew that Ulliu had been devastated by not being able to get information about Isabella in time, and in fact this defeat had also caught Alexander by surprise, and he was even a little glad that the Pope had been too cautious, but in this way, his influence on Alexander VI might have been weakened a lot.

Looking up at the scorching sun in the sky, Alexander put his hand in front of him, and he heard Schell behind him complaining about the damn weather, but Alexander had no intention of going back to the house.

After standing in the sun for a while, sweat already soaking his forehead, Alexander turned to Schell, who was standing not far behind him, and said, "Go and find my best clothes, we are going to meet the Queen." ”