Vol 7 Chapter 28: Evora

"Want to know who killed the prince?"
This sentence alone is enough to attract anyone with a little curiosity to explore the secret behind the pending case that just happened.
It is not just cats who are ultimately driven by curiosity, but people are even more so.
Alexander believed that anyone could not help but find out after seeing the letter, but he was not included in it.
After reading the letter with only one sentence, no signature and no logo inside and out, he confirmed at least three things.
The first one, the person who wrote the letter obviously used the hand he was not used to, so as to ensure that it would not be noticed by the handwriting.
The second one, the stationery and ink used in this letter are the most common, and can be bought anywhere in Lisbon, which breaks the source of the clue.
The third one, although not the most important, clearly caught Alexander ’s attention. The child who sent the letter said that the person who sent the letter to him was a well-dressed man with a bald head.
Alexander would not believe that such a careful person would leave such obvious clues, so from the beginning he did not expect any clues to be found from the sender, and the child who sent the letter said that the person was a bald character, but let He seemed to have a trace of doubt.
According to common sense, the deepest impression a person can leave on a stranger is often the most prominent thing on his body. Obviously, a bare head tends to be more than a face that can be described by careful thought. Attractive.
And this attraction can easily make people ignore other things in him, such as what this person looks like.
This made Alexander feel a thought in his heart. The sender may know him, at least he should have seen it, and the reason why this person appears with such a bald head is that the child who sends the letter ignores him. Other places.
Or, can this person be completely invisible, let the child go to an empty house to get the letter, and then just leave the letter and the person does not appear again?
This thought was only flashed in the brain of Alexander and was immediately denied. He knew that this was a plot that only appeared in the story. After all, to let the child go to an empty house, at least he had to tell him.
Or can he wear a mask that is popular nowadays?
But why didn't this person do it?
Alexander pondered the possibilities, and then he came to an answer.
This person, or the messenger behind him, seems to arouse his curiosity.
Alexander decided to ignore the letter.
Since this person wrote a letter to him, he would not stop because of his disregard, I believe he will come to him again soon.
So Alexander is not in a hurry, he has a lot to do now.
For the Kingdom of Portugal, Prince Miguel ’s death was indeed a sad and shocking event across the country, but for Alexander, although he was also surprised, the only thing he could think of was how to use it to promote him s plan.
Contacts with those of Eton Antonio let Alexander know how many of the Portuguese nobility were hostile to Maria, some of them were staunch opponents, and some just did not want Maria to rely on her Their maidens acted as prestige and blessings, while some were purely because of Maria ’s negative attitude towards opening up new colonies that dissatisfied them.
This makes her opponents seem very complicated, or that at some specific time these people may not fall to Maria.
Similarly, the nobles who support the queen are not so determined, and some of them may change their positions.
The key to all of this lies with Manuel.
If the king's attitude is firm, many people who support Maria will choose to change their choices for their own benefit. At least a considerable number of people will remain neutral.
Alexander ’s guess was accurate, both to the Lisbon court and to the mysterious letter.
The death of Prince Miguel grieves the Lisbon people. Both nobles and civilians are immersed in huge sorrow. The churches in the city have been ringing the death knell for 2 consecutive days. It is said that because of this physical work Heavy, already tired of several ringers.
Miguel is the only son of Manuel today. Although he can still have children at the age and body of the king, and he does have a daughter, he does not need to worry too much about the heir, but because the queen is caught in the murder of his stepson Among the rumors, this made the Lisbon court embarrassed.
The interrogation of the people around the queen continued, and after Dr. Hudoka was taken away, the queen could no longer protect the people around them. They were taken away one by one, and then they never came back, and Mary There are more strange faces around me.
Many nobles who supported Maria felt that the situation had become serious. While they kept talking to the king, they sent people to send Castilla news.
This behavior was actually a proper traitor, which naturally aroused the anger of Manuel. He publicly reprimanded those who reported to Isabella as traitors holding his mother-in-law's big white legs, and then ordered them to be banned. Meet Maria.
This was actually a public announcement of the house arrest of the queen, and it was only then that people realized that Manuel ’s attitude in this matter was firm and unquestionable.
Maria ’s request to meet the king was rejected again, and the attendants who nominally waited and were actually monitoring did not even relay her request to the king, and they directly rejected her, while at the same time Manuel was summoned again. Alexander.
At this time interval, the act of summoning a foreigner twice has aroused too many people's attention. Reminiscent of Alexander's identity, many people have come up with an amazing answer: the king seems to be brewing a divorce!
As soon as this statement appeared, everyone couldn't help but be surprised. Even among those who opposed Mary, in addition to the real opponents, many people also closed their mouths at this time.
People dare not imagine what would happen if Manuel really divorced Maria. The thought of the violent anger that broke out between the two kings and couples, people realized that things might be really big.
So when the summoned Alexander came out of the king's room after more than an hour of secret talks with Manuel, people involuntarily surrounded him.
Simultaneously with Alexander was surrounded by the Archbishop of Lisbon, Bronze.
It's just that both the Archbishop and Alexander are silent on the secret talks with the king, which has attracted a lot of speculation.
After returning to his residence, the servant sent Alexander a second unsigned letter. This time it was another child who couldn't tell the other party.
This time, there was only one address in the letter: "Evora".
Alexander knew Evora, a city located in the hilly valleys southeast of Lisbon, about 30 miles from Lisbon.
Évora is an ancient city. From the Roman era, a village was formed because of the garrison fortresses of the Roman legion. Then the village gradually became a lively city because of its convenient transportation although it was not large in size.
Évora is very famous in later generations, but now it is very common.
Manuel hoped that he would become a prestigious monarch in Portuguese history, and he thought that to do this would require the construction of a large number of buildings.
Therefore, since he ascended the throne, whether it was Lisbon or other Portuguese cities, the construction of castles and various buildings that were favored by Manuel became popular. This kind of style is generally known as the Manuel style in later generations, and it has a slightly rough The very grand architectural style later became the epitome of an era.
This style is most prominent in the city of Évora, because about 200 years later, a major earthquake that almost destroyed the entire Lisbon almost completely destroyed the Portuguese capital, while Évora, far from Lisbon, did not After being affected by the perfection, the unique architecture of this era and the entire city are obviously with Manuel style glory.
Only nowadays, Evora is only a city that is ancient but not so conspicuous.
Alexander didn't know why the man asked him to go to Évora, but it was obviously a little impatient with the indifference he showed when he received the first letter, so this was the second letter.
Alexander can probably guess that this person should know himself, or know himself, otherwise he will not write this letter, but what is his purpose?
Alexander still didn't reply, he wouldn't be stupid because he went to a place other than Instant Fali in a sentence and an address to meet someone who didn't know what he was trying to do with him.
This is too dangerous. Who can guarantee that this is not a trap?
Curiosity can kill cats and even people.
In addition to not wanting to shoot out of the holiday, there is another reason why he cannot leave Lisbon for the time being, that is the previous close talk with Manuel.
Few people know what they are talking about, except Archbishop Burrzon, even Don Antonio.
This makes many people wonder whether the king really intends to divorce, and what he needs now is the Roman Duke of Tethys to unblock him to the Vatican.
This kind of speculation made Alexander one of the most noticeable people in Lisbon for a time. It can be said that if he leaves the city at this time, it will definitely attract more attention.
So Alexander stayed honestly in the city and was also waiting for Manuel to summon it again.
Maria was going crazy. She didn't know if she could hold on. When the few people around her heard about the king's possible divorce, she couldn't control her emotions anymore.
The contents of the room were smashed by her, and the shouting could be heard clearly even through the two doors. She was completely irritated.
The few remaining loyal followers beside her tried to appease the queen as much as possible, but it was useless.
When he heard that Alexander was instructed to enter the palace again, Mary immediately ordered the entourage to stop the duke.
Then she simply gave up the original restraint and walked out of the room in person. She stood stubbornly at the door and refused to leave with the helpless but firmly blocked guard.
Then when Alexander appeared, she ignored the guard's obstruction and stood directly in the middle of the corridor, blocking his way.
Alexander looked at Maria helplessly. He actually knew in her heart that she was innocent, or at least she has not proved that she was the murderer behind her stepson and her nephew, but this was no longer important.
"Duke, I hope I can talk to you," Maria finished talking to Alexander, and turned to look at the ugly guard captain standing beside him. Seeing the captain staring at her, Maria suddenly asked him "I Is it your prisoner? "
The captain showed a somewhat overwhelmed look. He wanted to explain that Ke Zhiwu couldn't say a proper word for a long time. He looked at the queen and stared at him for a while. The captain finally nodded: "Your Majesty, according to the king's instructions You cannot meet anyone alone. "
"Then let's talk here," Maria said and turned to look at Alexander. "Duke, I hope you can tell me frankly, what does the king want me to do?"
Alexander knew what Maria meant. He thought for a moment and then calmly answered: "Your Majesty, I can only say that things are not as bad as you think."
There was a sudden surprise on Maria's face. She even reached out to grab Alexander's wrist regardless of the system, staring at his eyes and asking, "Duke, you swear to God that what you said is true."
"Your Majesty, I swear to God that at least your worries are now superfluous. The fact is that the situation you are most worried about does not appear, but please forgive me for not having the right to explain to you in detail."
Maria clenched her hands hard because her fingers were too hard to whitish and tremble slightly.
But perhaps after listening to Alexander's words, her heart suddenly relaxed, her hands were suddenly released, and then a chain link handkerchief also fell to the ground.
Alexander immediately squatted down to pick up the handkerchief on the ground and handed it to Mary: "Your Majesty, this is yours."
"Thank you, Duke."
A strange look flashed in Maria's eyes. When she slowly took the handkerchief from Alexander's hand, her movements were slightly slower, or it was more like a little spread.
In the eyes of many eyes, Alexander bowed to Maria to say goodbye, and his actions were respectful and polite, without showing a little neglect because of Maria's current situation.
But when he turned away, the respectful smile on his face gradually disappeared.
"It's really not that bad," thinking of explaining to Mary, Alexander secretly said, "because there are worse things waiting for you."
The place where Manuel summoned Alexander again was his office.
This is the first time since Prince Miguel's death that he left the prince's room.
Looking at the haggard king, Alexander looked at him and waited for Don Antonio to say hello. Then he walked to the chair opposite the king's desk and sat down.
"Then Duke, how much confidence do you have in your promise?" Manuel looked tired, but his eyes shone with excitement. "Duke, I know your relationship with the pope. This is no secret. , Just like the relationship between the pope and the French, but this does not mean that you and the French can get along well enough. As far as I know, but you have let Louis eat a lot of losses, then how can you guarantee for me Have a relationship with the French? "
Manuel stared at Alexandria closely, even though Don Antonio on the side slightly owed his body due to the accident, he still stared at Alexandria's face.
It was this matter that Alexander had left alone to talk to Manuel after he was called to the Castle of Saint-Jorge late that night.
No one thought that Alexander proposed to Manuel the proposal of "cooperating with the French".
It must be acknowledged that even if you can compete with Castile in the maritime dispute, Portugal cannot compete against two powerful countries at the same time. It is for this reason that Manuel is making the final decision There are still serious concerns.
It was precisely for this that Alexander proposed to him an alliance with the French.
This suggestion seems a little abrupt, but in fact, as long as you think about the close connection between the Porto wine merchants and the French and who are behind these wine merchants supporting them, you can know that there will always be people who will propose to Manuel This suggestion.
Only now, Manuel is facing Alexander.
"Trust my majesty, the French must be very willing to cooperate with you," Alexander said calmly. "You should also be very clear that this is good for Portugal and France, because the ambition of Ferdinand in Aragon also made Louis Unhappy. "
Manuel looked at Alexander silently, although his face was quiet, but he was not calm in his heart.
Manuel knew that Alexandria was right, but the thought of what would happen if he agreed to his advice, Manuel couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
"Can the French support me against Isabella?"
"It depends on what conditions you can provide them."
"Even if you send troops directly?"
"It depends on what agreement you reach with Louis."
"So what do you think the King of France will ask me for?" Manuel finally asked the question he was most concerned about.
Alexander pondered, in his memory many French kings had a strong interest in the future Spanish throne, including a Louis who pretended to be the Sun King, and a French emperor who was not French.
Today, although the French have ambitions for the Iberian Peninsula, they can still restrain themselves if they want to.
"Your Majesty, I think it should be you who put forward the conditions to Louis," Alexander said to the stunned Manuel. "You are helping him to contain Ferdinand's ambitions in Rome, but this is enough for Louis to pay you. Paid. "
Manuel listened carefully. He couldn't help but admit that the young duke had a magical power that was deceptive. Following Alexander's description, he even thought that it was helping the French.
"If Castilla sends troops to the dispute at sea, then the French support is necessary, so whether your majesty cooperates with the French is related to the future of your kingdom, not just one or two colonies ~ www .EbookFREE.me ~ Alexander's last sentence became the key to Manuel's determination. After another anxious silence, Manuel finally pushed an already prepared letter to In front of Alexander: "Take it, if you can help me do this, I will repay you. "
"Thank you, Your Majesty, this is my honor," Alexander took away the order given to him by Manuel, which would allow him to negotiate with the French as an emissary of the King of Portugal. , I will leave Lisbon in the name of building a cemetery for Prince Miguel, and then ... "
"Duke, I actually do n’t want to know who you are going to see next," Manuel interrupted Alexander. "And if your mission fails or leaks, I will not admit that I have given you something like this. Authorize, so the Duke what you should do now is to pray for yourself. "
Looking at the gloomy Manuel, Alexander groaned slightly and smiled.
On November 19th, Alexander left Lisbon.
The destination is Evora, 30 miles away.