It was still Konstantin's hilltop villa, and this time Alexander was taking Carlo with him.

What happened in front of the city hall in Rome made Alexander wary.

Originally, he thought that the maid should just be bribed, and those gangsters were just a group of ordinary robbers who wanted to make a fortune, but the scene of the hijacking of the execution ground made Alexander realize that things should not be so simple.

Those men had apparently had a detailed plan, and they might have even heard the news just when the French had decided to execute the woman, so they were able to make all kinds of preparations at the execution site in advance.

If it weren't for Sophia's unexpected killing of the woman with a short crossbow, their plan would have succeeded.

And for them to be rescued at such a cost, that woman is obviously not as simple as being bought.

In other words, these people have long buried secret agents around Joanna, and now thinking about Joanna's assassination is not so simple.

Alexander was secretly glad that Joanna had stayed in Lucrezia's Palazzo Potico.

At least then they would have shifted their focus to the Borgia instead of staring at Marino Palace.

It was only after the events of the morning that Alexander had to order the fortification of the Marino Palace, and at the same time he became cautious.

Konstantin had apparently heard about what had happened at the town hall, and there were apparently more guards outside the hilltop villa, and looking at the guards with helmets like bulging ship ridges, thick cotton robes with hems down to their knees, and spears and swords, Alexander couldn't help but turn his head to look at Carlo next to him.

I wonder if my Agri will one day fight against these strong-willed Swiss.

Alexander then secretly prayed that this would not happen so soon, for he knew that the Agri, at least for now, were no match for the Swiss.

Konstantin was already waiting at the door of the villa, and it was clear to Alexander that Konstantin's attitude seemed to have changed somewhat.

He knew the reason for this change, probably after he talked to Scharlen and Giovanni respectively.

Although many people already know about the battle that took place in the Bruiny Valley, it is a bit far away, and apart from the fact that it is a topic of ridicule of the French, the impression of Alexander is that of a country lord from Naples.

He may be able to fight, but he is obviously a rude fellow, and in the eyes of many people, he is an adventurer who goes out into the world with a group of mercenaries turned from farmers.

There are many such people in this chaotic era, there are always some people who are unwilling to be lonely and try to change their fate, some people succeed but most people often end up with nothing, or simply lose their lives.

Not everyone can be a Sforza.

But this time was different.

Alexander's request to Charron to increase his guards in order to prevent the gangsters from retaliating was actually a pretext for the Roman nobles to rearm themselves, and his subsequent request to Giovanni was even more unabashedly ambitious to establish an identity among the Romans, which finally made people pay attention to this small country lord from Naples.

Konstantin led Alexander into the villa, but this time instead of stopping in the courtyard where they had last met, he walked through a continuous corridor to a very quiet courtyard at the back.

The courtyard sits at the back of a hill, with a steep descent to the banks of the Tiber in the distance, and its walls are not high, almost to the chest, and there is a long row of chairs under the walls, leaning against the walls to see the city of Rome in the distance.

On the chair under the wall, a woman holding a book was distracted, and she looked up at the sound of footsteps, and then looked at Alexander with a slightly curious gaze.

This is a very elegant-looking young woman, unlike Konstantin's blonde hair, her hair color and eyes are deeply black, and her face is somewhat rounded and peaceful, very different from Konstantin's angular edges.

Unlike Lucrezia's surprising beauty, this is an ordinary-looking and inconspicuous woman, or if you don't know, no one will tell that she and Konstantin are brother and sister.

"Allow me to introduce, my sister Barentia della Rovere." Konstantin introduced Alexander.

"And you, Gombray from Agri?" Without waiting for Constantine to continue his introduction, Barente de la Rovere took the initiative to take two steps forward and said to Alexander: "We have already heard about your feat at the town hall today, and I have to say that you have taken the whole of Rome by surprise. ”

As she spoke, she looked at Alexander earnestly, as if to discern something in his face.

Alexander knew that Barentia della Rovere's alleged feat was apparently not to prevent a robbery, but that he had publicly announced to the French that he would mobilize guards from outside Rome into the city.

This move seems impulsive, even too reckless, after all, the French cannot tolerate someone challenging their authority, but Alexander caught it at the right time, just when the French were overwhelmed by the accidental abduction of the execution ground and could not explain, as the victim of repeated attacks, Alexander took the opportunity to announce this decision, which made the French unable to refute it at all.

"I'm just going to do my duty, after all, Queen Joanna's safety is of paramount importance." Alexander did not deny Barendi's hints, if yesterday he was going to negotiate with the people of the Roveret family was still somewhat suspected of taking advantage of the opportunity to blackmail, after the city hall incident, he found that the identity of the negotiation with the Rovere family had changed subtly.

"I've heard that you've made some suggestions to my brother, and maybe we can talk about them," Barondy invited Alexander to sit down at a table in the middle of the courtyard, and then her smiling expression suddenly said, "I'm a little curious about your suggestion, I think you should know that your suggestion will hurt the interests of our Rovie family, why do you think we would accept such a non-beneficial condition?" With this, Barentia gestured to Constantine, who was about to speak, to stop him, and then continued: "I know that perhaps you think that we need the support of the French, so you must accept these conditions. If you think so, you are wrong, the Rovere family has a history of many years in Genoa, even when our father had to flee to France, which was the most difficult time for the family, the Genoese people still love and support the Rovere family, so even if there are no French, the Rovere family can still have enough prestige and strength to protect themselves, so why do you think we should accept your advice? ”

Alexander had been listening calmly to Barendi's words.

From the moment he heard that it was this illegitimate daughter of the Rowere family who held the power of the Rovire family's trade, he knew that he might have to face a very formidable opponent.

Women who can get ahead in a world where men dominate everything often have much tougher and more powerful wrists than men, and this is the only way to make men obedient, as is Isabella of Castile, and so is the tigress of Foley, and this Barentia della Rovere will not be an exception.

But Alexander didn't expect this woman to be so powerful, she neither borrowed her identity to oppress people, nor did she bother with it, but came up and told the other party directly: Your coercion is worthless in my eyes!

If it were someone else, in the face of this situation, he might have been completely defeated by this woman at the beginning, or at least he would have to be suppressed by the momentum she showed.

Looking at Barondi's ordinary face, which was not outstanding, Alexander understood why Rovelle would leave the family in the hands of this illegitimate daughter.

This is an unusually tough woman, or rather, a warrior.

"Miss Count, I think you have completely misunderstood me, and my suggestion is not a threat."

Alexander knew that the Rovere family had a family title of count, and that Giuliano della Rovere had voluntarily renounced the title to become a cardinal, and that the title was now inherited by Konstantin.

Hearing Alexander's answer, the young woman's face was faintly proud, and she resisted the urge to glance at Konstantin next to her, seeing how difficult the Neapolitan hillbilly he described was, and losing the confrontation as soon as he first clashed, she believed that Konstantin's face should not be very good-looking.

Alexander also noticed the slight change in Barondi's face, and he continued unconcernedly: "I just want to tell you a result, if you reject my proposal, then I can guarantee that it will not be long before you will find that the business of the Rovelle family will become more and more difficult, and this is the threat." ”

Barondi's face was puzzled at first, as if she suspected she had misheard, and then there was a look of astonishment in her eyes.

She stared at Alexander as if she were looking like a madman, and for a moment she seemed to wonder if she had misunderstood or if the other party had really just threatened her with the entire Rovere family's business.

"I think maybe some things are better to be clear," Alexander ignored Barendi and continued, since yesterday he had decided that today's negotiations should be completely unexpected from the beginning to catch the other party off guard, and the sudden city hall incident undoubtedly added a lot of bargaining chips to his idea, but he didn't expect this Barendi and him to think of the same thing as him, and came up and went straight to the point." We all know that the House of Rovere is more interested in doing business with France and the northern lowlands, of course because of the good relations between the archbishop and the French and the location of Genoa, which makes it easier to reach the lowlands from Genoa than other Mediterranean cities. ”

Alexander said and drew a line on the table at random, and when he saw Barentia frowning slightly at his gesture, he continued: "As far as I know, if the French are completely defeated in this war, and maybe even Piedmont cannot control this because of this, then Genoa's passage to the north will be cut off, after all, the Duke of Milan's coveting Piedmont is well known, and King Charles would not agree to my terms if he knew that the Roverlet family would rather sacrifice tens of thousands of French troops for their own interests, I don't know how I feel. ”

Alexander's words made Barondi's face sink for a moment, and Konstantin next to him also showed anger.

Ignoring the change in the expressions of the two brothers and sisters in front of him, Alexander still said to himself: "As for what I don't think the countess said, it doesn't matter even without the support of the French, the other reason is that as far as I know, your father, the Archbishop of Genoa, is seeking the position of cardinal, and you are very important to your family, after all, since Pope Ssixtus, no one in the Rovere family has held an important position in the Holy See for a long time, which is really not a good thing for the Rovere family. After all, the Borgia family does not have a good relationship with your family, and if the archbishop cannot become a cardinal, if the French are completely defeated, then perhaps the archbishop will have to repeat the mistake of fleeing again, only this time I don't know if the French will welcome him. ”

Barondi's originally angry face paused slightly, she frowned and sat up slightly invisibly, her eyes becoming seriously fixed on Alexander's face, as if to tell from his demeanor whether he really knew what he said, or just a bluff after hearsay.

"But that's not the most important thing," Alexander said to himself, "after all, even if the Rovere family suffers heavy losses as I said, it won't do me much if the Rovere family doesn't make a treaty, so I'm going to focus on it." ”

Speaking of this, Alexander picked up the wine glass on the table, and after saying so much, he was inevitably thirsty, and he also asked the two siblings to think about the impact of those words on them.

When he saw the faint impatience on Barondi's face, Alexander knew that it was almost there.

In many things, whoever loses patience first will lose the initiative.

"The Rovere family is indeed a prominent family in Genoa, but it is not the only family, let alone the only chamber of commerce," Alexander slowly stood up, he looked condescendingly at the noble lady in front of him, "I will negotiate with the other families and chambers of commerce in Genoa, and sign the treaty I propose with them, and then my goods can still be stored in the docks of those chambers of commerce in the port of Genoa, and their goods can also get the same preferential treatment in Naples and Taranto, and in the future, there will be Venice and Palermo in these places, There can even be places like Milan and Bologna, and all these merchants have the opportunity to buy more goods for less than the Rovere family, what do you think will become in the future, and while I am constantly looking for business partners, the Rovere family is dealing with all the mess caused by arrogance before," Speaking of which, Alexander glanced at Constantine, who was already a little sluggish next to him, and then he finally changed his expression and said to Barendi, "Miss Countess, please believe me, Unless you are willing to accept my kindness, everything I have just described is completely achievable. ”

After speaking, under the complicated gaze of the brother and sister. Alexander bowed slightly, turned around and strode out of the villa.