There was a crisp sound, but the sound of shattering that made the servants standing not far away tremble in their hearts came from the room.

What was smashed was a precious piece of Oriental porcelain, which had passed through the hands of many merchants and had come to Iberia from far away in the East and had been purchased into the royal palace for a staggering sum of money.

Ferdinand had been so happy that he had been so happy that he had received the real thing, because as far as he knew, there was only a treasure comparable to it in the Doge's Palace in Venice.

But now the treasure was smashed to pieces, large and small pieces scattered all over the room, a small part of which was the bottleneck of the porcelain was barely intact, but although the surface of the wreckage was still smooth and delicate, the edges showed sharp holes and a pale white inner wall.

Ferdinand was furious, or rather he was on the verge of madness.

He never imagined that Alexander VI would give him such a severe blow, and when he heard the news, he was incredulous and kept asking the person who reported to him.

But in the end, the answer he received was still "The Pope publicly announced his reflection on his previous sermons in Toledo", which made him thunderous.

Ferdinand had lost his cool in anger without even waiting for the person who had reported the news to leave, and he left his ministers aside without saying hello, and after returning to his room, he first closed the door and was silent for a while, and then finally could not contain the irritability in his heart, and vented his anger with a burst of destruction like a storm at sea.

Ferdinand's actions were certainly not hidden from Isabella, and soon the queen of the hospital bed was reported to the king of his madness, and Isabella, who was drinking the bitter potion, was silent for a while, she raised her slightly pale face to look at the bed curtain above her head, and then let out a soft sigh.

"Go and invite the king."

Isabella commanded, she hadn't seen Ferdinand for a long time, according to the doctor, she didn't see outsiders because she needed to cultivate, but in fact she never stopped summoning the ministers she trusted, but Ferdinand had indeed not entered the queen's room for too long, so when he appeared at the bedside, Isabella looked seriously at the man who had been married to her for so long.

King Ferdinand of Aragon was Isabella's cousin, and as a common descendant of the Astamara family, their union had nothing to do with love, but with profit.

Isabella stubbornly rejected Enrique IV's marriage to the then crown prince of Portugal, not because she didn't like it, but because she knew that such a marriage would mean that she would have to give up the throne of Castile.

So at that time, Isabella would rather take the risk of choosing Ferdinand than become a comfortable Portuguese princess.

Later it turned out that she had made the right choice, and she ended up defeating Enrique IV, even forcing him to deny her own daughter's descent and inheritance, and then she became queen herself.

Over the next few years, the names of the two kings resounded throughout Iberia, and together they conquered the last Moorish kingdom in Iberia, and together they gradually developed the two countries into a unified and powerful kingdom.

They had a much-anticipated but ill-fated prince, as well as several daughters who now had their own illustrious status.

Now she is sick and knows that she may die soon, but it is at this time that she discovers that her husband, who has been with her for many years, is engaged in some kind of conspiracy.

Isabella never expected Ferdinand to fall in love with her, and they both knew very well that their union was purely a marriage between two countries, and it was because of this that it was difficult for her to understand why Juana was so obsessed with Philip, which seemed unreasonable to Isabella.

But even so, she was disappointed with Ferdinand's performance.

It was clear that in Ferdinand's eyes she was no different from a dead man, and he even instructed Alexander VI to concoct such a sermon in Zaragoza even when she was just falling ill, and Isabella was disappointed by his subsequent actions.

Looking at her husband who stood silently in front of the bed, Isabella leaned out from under the quilt with some effort and handed it to him, looking at Ferdinand's hands holding her hands and kissing gently, Isabella seemed to see the love of their youth again at this moment.

In any case, they had had a rather sweet experience after all, but when the sweetness gradually faded, and then it was only tasteless, even bitter, and Isabella could not remember clearly.

Ferdinand took his wife's hand and sat sideways on the edge of the bed and looked down at Isabella, who was originally beautiful, but after so many years, she had shown her old age, and the torture of illness made her even more depressing, which made Ferdinand realize once again clearly that Isabella was not long left.

"It's hard work, dear, such a country, such a group of people, and so many enemies who want to see our jokes." Isabella said weakly that it would be very difficult for her to say more at this time, which made her look so weak, and she did not have the momentum and strength of the white queen who had brought the whole country to its feet so many years ago.

Ferdinand kissed Isabella's hand again, he knew that his wife should know very well what he had done, even if he was sick and bedridden, the power of Queen Castilla was still remembered clearly by countless people, including Ferdinand himself.

"What are you going to do if I'm gone?" Isabella raised her hand and gently stroked Ferdinand's bare cheek, unlike other men of this age, Ferdinand did not have a beard, which is also the reason why many people think that he looks more or less like a woman, but Isabella likes him very much, because it allows her to regain the shadow of the young cousin back then, "Tell me, do you think those people in Toledo will take the initiative to rebel?" ”

Hearing his wife ask this, Ferdinand, who was also immersed in memories, immediately became energetic, he knew that Isabella did not come to him to remember the sweet past of the two of them, for them those sweet past was just a trivial windfall, what they really gained was a unified kingdom.

But now the kingdom had been shaken by Isabella's serious illness, and if she did die soon, Ferdinand would have only what he least wanted.

"I think they and Don Bavi have colluded too deeply," Ferdinand said in a completely affirmative tone, he believed that Isabella also understood what he meant, in fact, over the years, as husband and wife, they knew each other too well, in order to eradicate dissent, they would use it to attack and slander and frame opponents, this kind of thing they have either cooperated alone or more than once, so he knows that Isabella should be able to see his purpose" In this case, I felt it necessary to send a judge from the court to investigate the matter concerning the so-called 95 theses. ”

"But don't forget, Alexander VI is in Toledo," Isabella smiled mockingly, she felt much better looking at her husband's face that had become gloomy because of self-inflicted infliction, and she even felt that the pain in her body had diminished a lot, "If you publicly announced the trial of Toledo, it might anger that Alexander VI." ”

"And what do you think I should do, my queen?" Ferdinand asked earnestly, he didn't think that Isabella had called him at such a time just to make a few sarcastic remarks, she must have some conditions to propose.

Sure enough, Isabella put down her hand a little tired and gasped for a while, and then said slowly but surely: "I can solve Toledo's trouble for you, and of course it is for my own sake, but I want you to ensure that Juana's throne is unshakable, even if she is really incompetent due to her crazy mental state, but you must ensure that it is our grandson, not you yourself who will inherit Castile." ”

Ferdinand looked at Isabella, he knew that she was serious, she was leaving a last word like she was now, although she didn't know when she would die, but Isabella couldn't wait to prepare for the worst in the future.

"I promise you that your worst fears will not happen, and that I will do my best to preserve our kingdom, which we swore to build a unified and powerful Astamara dynasty, and I will keep that promise." Ferdinand whispered a promise, he knew that this oath was not binding, but Isabella was obviously warning him not to do anything stupid, and he knew that this warning was correct, the Castilians would never tolerate an Aragonese as their monarch, so the only way he could continue to rule the kingdom was to let Juana succeed him as soon as possible.

Isabella smiled with satisfaction, but then she coughed again, but she ignored the potion from the servant whom Ferdinand had rattled, and ordered the ministers to come to her bedroom.

"Don Juliomando is a very patient man, he supported Enrique in marrying me to Portugal, even if I left him in Toledo and rotted with that city because of this, he still refused to give in, so I am not surprised that he would oppose me."

Isabella spoke to her husband as she waited for the ministers, noticing the unease that flashed across Ferdinand's face, and Isabella smiled smugly, knowing that Ferdinand had already heard something else in her words.

Perhaps Don Juliomando's betrayal was not surprising, but the backbite of Alexander VI, who had just taken a lot of benefits from Ferdinand not long ago, was somewhat unexpected.

"But Don Juliomando is a man who is doomed to nothing because of his patience." Isabella's face grew serious, and she looked at the ministers who had come in one after another, led by the servants, and she bred up her spirits and commanded them, "Write a letter to the council of Toledo in my name, and I ask the council to seriously consider the proposal that my daughter Juana be the regent of the kingdom of Castile, and at the same time ask the senators to testify that I am about to give my daughter my full position in the House of Astamara in Castile." ”

Isabella's words gave mixed looks to the ministers, who knew very well what the queen meant by making this decision.

Once such a letter reaches Toledo, it means that Juana's regency has been established, and the queen voluntarily relinquishes her position in the royal family, which is tantamount to throwing the problem to the senators of the noble council of Toledo, if the senators deny Juana's identity in the Astamara family, Isabella will declare the council's guilt as the queen and not as a nobleman bound by the senatorial council, but if she agrees to testify for Juana, it means that the senate council has chosen to support Isabella.

This dilemma was enough to give the council elders a headache, and more importantly, it was tantamount to completely ignoring the question of how Juana could have ended up in Toledo.

Barriaridód could have said that Juana's arrival in Toledo was on the orders of the queen to prepare for the regency, and that the rumors and rumors that had been there would have been self-defeating, at least even if it was doubtful that things were not like that.

The ministers had already shown a look of joy, although Isabella's physical condition was worrying, but a little action solved the problem of Juana's kidnapping, which had plagued countless people, and even threw the trouble to Toledo by the way.

I believe that soon it will be Don Julio Mando who will have a headache.

Ferdinand stood silently and looked at Isabella, he hadn't looked at his wife so seriously for a long time, and at that moment he seemed to see the shadow of the charismatic queen of his youth, and now Ferdinand admitted that even though she was sick on the bed, she still possessed wisdom and extraordinary courage that could not be ignored.

"Go ahead, I hope it's still too late," Isabella waved a little tiredly at the ministers, her body that could not support her too much work quickly became tired, which forced her to put aside the fact that she was going to write a letter to Gonzalo for the time being, and when only she and Ferdinand were left in the space, Isabella looked at her husband with a little worry, "I'm only worried about whether you will do something stupid now." ”

"Don't you believe me, I've sworn to you." Ferdinand sat back on the edge of the bed and said with a pleasant face, "You are right, I should not covet the crown of Castile, it would ruin us all." ”

"No, I'm not worried about this, I know you won't be that stupid, I'm worried that you'll do bad things because of personal grudges." There's a hint of worry in Isabella's eyes, "Don't think I can't see the bad relationship between you and Gonzalo, he's an arrogant and unreasonable person, I know he doesn't take anyone in his eyes but me, including you, and you can't tolerate people like him." ”

Ferdinand didn't speak, he obviously acquiesced to Isabella's words, and he didn't think it was necessary to deny it, almost everyone knew that Gonzalo had a lot of contradictions with him, although many people thought that maybe Isabella was deliberately borrowing her favorite to contain Ferdinand, but now this person's problem was really in front of them.

Gonzalo Córdoba's allegiance to Isabella was unquestionable, because of the queen's appreciation, Gonzalo went from a noble but inconspicuous retinue of cronies to a powerful knight commander, and now the most powerful general in Castile, which was no problem at all when Isabella was alive, but once the queen was away, this person became a big problem for Ferdinand.

"He's a loyal man."

"He is faithful to you."

Isabella smiled bitterly, she knew that Ferdinand was right, Gonzalo's allegiance was indeed only to her, which made her worry that even if there was no conflict with Ferdinand, it would be a worrying situation for Juana to be able to control the arrogant and domineering person after she succeeded to the throne.

"You have to make a decision," seeing Isabella's hesitant expression, Ferdinand immediately lost no time in persuading, "You know him well, you gave him a chance, and he is grateful to you, but because of this, he may not be able to convince himself to be loyal to a second person, so do you think Juana should worry about this?" ”

Isabella was silent, she knew that her husband was right, Gonzalo would be the sharpest sword while she was alive, and they could use it to slash at any enemy, but if she was gone, the blade of the sword would become a threat to themselves.

"Give him a chance and try to convince him that he is not just a good soldier, but also a good friend, and if we can get his friendship, it will be a good result for all of us."

Isabella was helpless to persuade, she also knew that her words were not very convincing, although she was lying in the hospital bed all day, she was still very well-informed, she had heard about Gonzalo's blatant confrontation and even humiliation of Ferdinand, which was why she and Ferdinand mentioned Gonzalo very formally today.

"If that's what you want me to do, I'll do it, even if it's futile." Ferdinand said that Wen gave Isabella a gentle kiss on the forehead, who had closed her eyes from exhaustion, and then he quietly walked out of the room.

The attendant, who had been waiting outside the door for a long time, immediately followed quickly, and the henchman of the part-time ball clown quickly glanced at the look on the king's face, and then reported to Ferdinand: "I have heard that the Pope's fiefdom in Valencia is under construction, and some merchants are also buying precious timber and stone for his villa, and it seems that the Pope is ready to build a big house." ”

Ferdinand glanced at his entourage and knew that he was talking about what Alexander VI might have received from the Toredo, but it was he who had given him the previous land, so the retinue did not make it too clear.

"That despicable priest, I will make him pay for his shamelessness," because of Isabella's sarcasm, Ferdinand, who was annoyed by Isabella's sarcasm, cursed angrily, although Isabella's clever methods seemed to solve Juana's problem, but it could not make Ferdinand eliminate his anger, not to mention that Isabella's doing so was also tantamount to taking the opportunity to teach him a harsh lesson.

Then he frowned slightly, looked at the entourage who seemed to have something to say, and asked, "What else is going on?" ”

"It is a very bad thing, Your Majesty," said the attendant cautiously, and seeing the king's impatient expression, he first took a secret breath to make himself less nervous, and then reported, "Your Majesty, the Viceroy of Sicily, Vlamenza, has sent news that our fleet in the Mediterranean has been attacked by that Redbeard. ”

"Is the loss great?" Ferdinand asked with an ugly face, he knew that this question was actually a bit stupid, and if the damage was slight, Florencea would not have been able to report it to him.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied the attendant, swallowing his spit and with some difficulty, "our fleet in Sicily has been battered and almost completely annihilated. ”

Listening to the words of his entourage, Ferdinand's originally soft face suddenly turned hideous.