Vol 7 Chapter 270: Darkest moment

I don’t know when or who created the famous "bad news plural theory".
This theory is very simple. Simply put, good things do not happen a second time, and bad things come in a basket.
Ferdinand felt that he had been very unlucky. Maximian's cunning gave him a headache. Without the support from the Austrians, it meant that he had to fight against Alexander himself.
Although Gonzalo's army has been fighting with the Sicilians so far, and Ferdinand himself has not received or issued a formal declaration of war, the two sides are actually at war.
The only thing he can hope for is to reach an acceptable agreement with the Queen of Sicily before the two sides start a life and death battle.
Or maybe he can negotiate terms with the Portuguese and French before the Duke of Rome Theesia really threatens his status.
Only then can he go all out to deal with the brother and sister.
Ferdinand thought these were the troubles Maximian caused him, so he hated the cunning family in his heart.
He even suspected that this might be Maximian's attempt to take the opportunity to weaken his strength. After all, he was so firmly occupying the throne of his daughter, which should make Maximian very dissatisfied.
Ferdinand was so crazy about the emperor's thoughts. As for why Bohemia and Wallachia happened to launch a war to regain Hungary at this time, Ferdinand did not pay much attention.
Bohemia is too far away after all. Although the court of Prague is famous in Europe, it seems to the Iberians that it has reached the horizon.
As for Wallachia, although it has been heard that the principality sent troops during the Sicilian Unification War, they have already withdrawn their troops and returned to the country after receiving a large number of lucrative spoils, and it is only a small principality in the Balkans, which is not worthy of attention.
What Ferdinand cares about now is the attitude of Portugal and the French. He believes that after he is willing to pay a huge price, the messenger sent to Portugal should bring him good news.
As for the French, he has nothing to do for the time being, but Andrés Rogge should be able to play a role in Navarre.
Thinking about it this way, the unhappiness caused by Maximian's treachery seemed to have been diluted a lot. Looking at the dark sky and pouring rain outside, Ferdinand suddenly felt a little warm.
In the past few years, he and Isabella have been close together, so although they have many children, in fact the two have not been close for many years.
Isabella didn't make a fuss about his lover. As long as he didn't let those women show up in public, Isabella wouldn't care about this little thing.
Perhaps stimulated by the sultry breath, Ferdinand suddenly felt that he needed a woman to help him vent his anger.
He was accustomed to telling Andres Rogge to help him arrange the evening activities, but before speaking, he saw two figures hurriedly running towards him from a distance under the heavy rain.
When the two ran closer, he recognized that one of his attendants was leading the way, and Ferdinand's face instantly darkened.
Still desperate to report in such weather is definitely very important.
And it is often bad news.
There were noisy footsteps in the corridor, Ferdinand turned and looked at the open door. After a while, two figures appeared at the door.
"Your Majesty, the messenger from Navarre." The attendant reported loudly.
Ferdinand's heart jumped, he already faintly felt that something might have happened.
Andres Rogge is actually a very careful man, because of his humble background, he is always cautious even if he is very favored around Fiji South.
Therefore, if the task is successfully completed, he will definitely tell the messenger not to come to see the king in such a hurry, even in spite of the heavy rain.
You must know that Castile has countless pairs of eyes staring at Ferdinand.
Moreover, the flustered look on the messenger's face also showed how terrible he was.
"What happened, Andres asked you to send the letter back?"
Ferdinand asked a little annoyed, that he couldn't think of any trouble to propose a kiss.
If you fail to buy and sell, you still have righteousness. If you fail to do your in-laws, you will never become enemies.
"Sorry, your majesty, I only brought back a message that Queen Akalina of Navarre rejected the marriage of Princess Maria and the prince," the messenger replied breathlessly, and the messenger who saw the king's frowning eyebrows continued hurriedly Report "The Queen chose to make her son be engaged to the Princess of Wallachia Catherine Alexandra Valleola..."
Then he breathed hard, and added: "The princess is the illegitimate daughter of the Grand Duke of Wallachia and the Duke of Rometesia."
For a while, Li Dinan wondered if he had heard it wrong, the heavy rain outside kept falling, and the cold rain was blowing into the room from the window with the wind, falling on his face and hands.
The damp feeling made Ferdinand sober from his consternation. He took a step forward, raising his hand as if to grab the messenger’s neck, but then slowly put it down.
The room was terribly quiet, and the two men held their breath and stared at Ferdinand's instantly pale face.
After a while, Ferdinand waved his hand gently, and the attendant immediately took out a glass from the cabinet by the wall, filled a glass of wine, and handed it to him.
Ferdinand took the glass and took a sip, then he took the glass in both hands and drank it all, then he slowly put the empty glass aside, and then looked up at the messenger.
"Where is Andres Rogge now?"
"He is still in Navarre," the messenger reported carefully. "But when I left, his condition was not good. Queen Akarina ordered him and his people to be forbidden to leave the residence unless he wants to return home. I was quietly Escaped."
Ferdinand relaxed a little. He knew that since his messenger had not been expelled from the country, it meant that things were not too bad to be uncontrollable, and based on his knowledge of Andrés Rogge, the clown was also Will not give up so easily.
But how could Navarra hook up with Wallachia.
More importantly, how did the Grand Duke of Wallachia give birth to a monkey with the Duke of Rome Thesia? !
Thinking of this, Ferdinand suddenly realized something.
He hurried across the room to his office and retrieved the letter Maximian had sent him before. Looking at the content, an inexplicable chill suddenly rose from his back.
Wallachia and Bohemia, Rome Thesia and Sicily, France, Portugal and Navarre, an invisible net finally appeared in Ferdinand's heart at this moment.
What disturbed him was that in addition to Castile, there was Aragon and even Austria.
At this moment, Ferdinand re-read Maxim's letter, and he seemed to see more from it.
"What does that person want to do, does he want the whole of Europe to crawl under his feet."
Ferdinand murmured to himself, and then he began to flip through other various letters and those sent from various places before that seemed to have little or no relationship at the time, but now it seems that there are all sorts of intricacies. Contact report.
Once many things are connected, you will find that there are surprising truths behind them. Even if these truths may not be facts, they are enough to make people extremely surprised.
Although the appearance of a Castilian prince would inevitably destroy Ferdinand's plan, he always felt that Alexander would not pose too much threat to him.
Because both Sicily and Romanesia, which have just been unified, are still a bit too tender, and they cannot be compared with the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon with a long history and tradition.
Even if it is said that they are rich, but in many cases money cannot solve all problems.
At least those two countries do not have strong alliances to rely on, and their royal family is still too young compared to you. Whether it is aristocracy or the people, it is more because of their personal reputation that they are loyal to follow.
Therefore, in Ferdinand's view, as long as he was given a chance to teach the brothers and sisters who did not know how powerful they were on the battlefield, a nearly decisive defeat was enough to shake their unstable rule.
Ferdinand’s idea is not wrong. It is precisely for these reasons how many emerging forces in history have led to the challenge of the old forces.
Ferdinand did not think that the siblings were an exception.
But now he is not so sure.
What if all this is premeditated?
What if Manuel and Alexander had a deal he could not imagine?
What if the French war between Italy and Austria was planned long ago?
This series of thoughts caused Ferdinand to worry.
He suddenly felt like he had done something stupid.
As the queen of Castile, Juana has this well-known legal status, and as Juana’s father, he is sensitive because of his status as the king of Aragon.
But as long as he is Juana's father, he can rule Castile through his daughter.
This may be troublesome, but it is the best choice at this time.
But he did something very stupid, and his greed for power made him not satisfied with just being an uncrowned king.
Even knowing that it is impossible to be crowned the crown of Castile in his life, he is still bewildered by the beauty of sitting alone on the throne.
Ferdinand is not a person who likes to blame others.
Compared with the monarchs who like to throw the pot to ministers, mistresses, and even the common people, he would often call out "who misled me" from time to time. He is more willing to find the cause of the error from himself.
So he didn’t take it for granted that all of this was Thomas Tongomad’s fault. Although he could treat the priest as a scapegoat without hesitation if needed, he didn’t really think that everything was someone else’s in his heart. wrong.
"Perhaps I should let this end as soon as possible." Ferdinand turned around, his hand tapped the table beside him from time to time, and then he continued to go back and forth.
Finally he stopped and ordered the servants outside: "Go and invite Pastor Tongomada, and ask him to hurry up. I have very important things to discuss with him."
After speaking, he continued to circle around the room again, but this time his feet calmed down a lot.
Tangomada came very quickly, his robe was still dripping, leaving a pool of water stains on the floor under his feet.
Seeing the priest, Ferdinand breathed a sigh of relief.
He has slowly calmed down from the shock before. Although the situation looks bad, he feels that it is not impossible to change.
The key to this change is Juana.
"Tell me, if I want to conduct a public atonement prayer for Juana, can the church prove that she has been purified and redeemed?"
Ferdinand's eyes were deep and gloomy, and that look seemed to warn Tongomada that he must think about it when he answered.
Tango Mada was clearly aware of the warning in Ferdinand’s words. He looked at Ferdinand in surprise, because he couldn’t guess what he was thinking for a while, so he could only answer cautiously:
Of course your majesty , The monarch is born to be protected by God, just like you and Her Majesty Queen Isabella, Juana have the same grace."
Speaking of this, he glanced at Ferdinand and said casually: "Of course, these graces also come from you, after all, God gave her life through you."
After speaking, Tango Mada secretly stared at Ferdinand’s face and saw that he seemed to be satisfied with his answer, so he cautiously asked:
Then are you planning to hold such a purification for Her Majesty? ?"
"That's the idea," Ferdinand stared at Tongomada with a deep face. "Listen to me, pastor, something happened. I must make Juana appear in front of people again, but you should understand that the ruler of this country is still Yes, it can only be me, so I want you to perform such a purification ritual to let Juana be forgiven by everyone, but you must also let people know that she will accept punishment for her past."
"The punishment is that the queen must publicly confirm your regime, right?"
Although Tango Mada appeared to be cautious, Ferdinand still frowned when he heard him.
Although this person is different from Gonzalo, somehow Ferdinand still feels that this pastor does not really respect himself from the bottom of his heart.
But now is not the time to care about these, the important role played by Tangomada’s religious trial in Isabella’s time is even more important to him now.
"Go get ready, go get it as much as you need."
Speaking of this, Ferdinand's face suddenly sank.
He thought of Alexander VI.
The exiled pope who was driven out of the Vatican is now stirring the storm in Seville.
If it is said that because of the loss of Alexander VI, he has no longer paid attention to him, but now Ferdinand feels that he has really made another big mistake.
Alexander VI may have lost power, but if he declares Juana's purification ritual invalid, it will definitely cause a lot of trouble to Ferdinand.
So what if the Vatican is asked to recognize this purification ceremony?
Ferdinand put aside this thought for a moment.
The Duke of Rome Thesia was the son-in-law of the old Rovere, and Giuliano della Rovere was one of the most powerful candidates for the pope.
Ferdinand suddenly realized that although he knew that Alexander was not easy to deal with, he still seemed to underestimate his opponent.
When did it all start?
Ferdinand suddenly discovered that this strong opponent who suddenly appeared from nowhere seemed to be ready for everything.
He weaves his big net patiently, until one day he spotted an opportunity that suddenly appeared and gave his opponent a fatal blow.
This made Ferdinand's already calm mood become anxious again, he even waved to Tango Mada unceremoniously to let him leave, and then looked at all about Alexander on the table in a daze.
A flash of lightning flashed across, and the candle-lit room was pale, followed by dull thunder.
Ferdinand walked to the window and looked at the gloomy night-like sky outside. An unspeakable depression gradually enveloped his heart.
The only thing he can count on now is the negotiations with Portugal.
The French army may use Navarre to continue to harass the north of Castile, but with the war with the Austrians, there are not many French troops able to invest in Iberia.
So now the only people who can contain themselves are the Portuguese.
He had previously given great power to the envoys sent to Portugal in order to reach a ceasefire with Portugal.
So this time even if the goal cannot be fully achieved, at least Manuel should not let the benefits go to his lips.
No, you can’t be so optimistic. Didn’t you take many things for granted before?
What if another accident happens?
Who knows how many methods the Duke of Rome Thesia prepared to wait for him?
Ferdinand suddenly discovered that he had lost confidence in the powers and techniques he was so proud of in the past, which made him start looking forward and looking back.
There was another thunder that rang after a flash of lightning, and the entire yard became bright and clear in an instant.
Ferdinand seemed to see someone running down the corridor of the garden in the rain.
Somehow, his heart jumped for some reason.
Then he slowly turned around and looked at the door of the office.
After a while, the entourage appeared at the door.
"Your Majesty, a messenger from Madrid has asked for an audience."
Ferdinand's heart beat violently a few times, and the news he had been expecting before finally came to fruition.
Walking in was a muddy man.
Except for his eyes, his face was so dirty that he could not see his original face. Although it was raining outside, his lips were dry and licking. Ferdinand even noticed when he walked in. His legs seemed to tremble slightly.
This is the result of a long time riding a horse. Obviously this man ran all the way from Madrid and might not even stop on the road.
Ferdinand did not rush to ask questions first, but waved his hand to let his entourage give the man a glass of wine to quench his thirst, and then asked, "Who sent you?"
"It's the Lord Mayor, Lord Mayor of Madrid," the man took a few sips and took out a tightly sealed envelope from his inside pocket. "It's all on it, Your Majesty."
Ferdinand suppressed the excitement in his heart and tore open the tight skin and took out the unsealed paper from the inside.
The letter was covered with the badge of the mayor of Madrid. When I opened the letter, there was only a short sentence on it.
"The Duke of Rome Thesia was greeted by Gonzalo de Córdoba into the city on July 24, and the Madridians did not resist."
Seeing this sentence, Ferdinand instantly felt dizzy and his eyes turned black.