Creed of the heavens

Missing this Easter opportunity, the already vigilant Medici family could not give Rodrigo a better chance.

Although they felt a little uneasy, the Spaniards could only forcefully launch an attack when the Medici family was not fully prepared this time, and strive to make meritorious deeds with one blow.

Rodrigo insisted on dragging down the Medici family from being the rulers of Florence, not just for the benefit of the Templars, but also for adding more political capital to his competition for the next Pope.

The Pope at this time is Sixter IV, who has been in power for nearly five years since he ascended the throne in 1471.

As the nephew of the first Spanish Pope Calixter III, Rodrigo, who is now a cardinal, is eager to succeed the next pope. For this reason, he must add more glorious deeds to himself as the upper capital.

Florence had publicly expressed its resistance to the long-arm jurisdiction of the Papal State many years ago. If this emerald city can be returned to the "glory" of the Lord, Rodrigo's status as the planner will naturally rise.

The secret battle between the two organizations came to a head when Rodrigo arrived in Florence in person.

The Pazzi family no longer concealed their identity as the bulldogs of the Holy See. Francesco repeatedly attacked Lorenzo in public for not being devout enough to the Lord, thereby attacking the influence and status of the Medici family.

Lorenzo was not a merciful person either. He smashed the criminal records of the Pazzi family that had been deliberately suppressed a few years ago on the desk of Consul Uberto Alberti.

Although Uberto, the standard-bearer of justice, has already turned to the Templars, but in order to maintain his image of justice in front of the public, paralyze Lorenzo's cognition, and betrayal at critical moments to achieve the greatest effect, Uberto can only be stubborn. Scalp summoned Francesco and Vieri, who were accused of multiple crimes, to court.

Vieri's charges were relatively light, mostly accusations of bullying and bullying. With the influence and financial resources of the Patch family, most of them reached a "reconciliation" with the victims on the spot.

But Francesco was not so lucky. He faced multiple homicide charges and was sentenced to prison by Uberto in court.

Uberto didn't know that he had already been exposed in the eyes of Giovanni and Lorenzo. He deliberately pretended to be a man of reason, and persuaded Lorenzo to let go of the possible harm caused by the power and influence of the Pazzi family. Francesco.

Giovanni watched this treacherous clown perform clumsy realistic stage plays with cold eyes. Lorenzo, who is well versed in the way of a politician, still maintained a gentle attitude to appease Uberto, and perfunctorily said that he would find an opportunity to spare the Pazzi family.

The failure of the Patch family in the officialdom naturally also affected Jacob de Patch, who was Lorenzo's adviser. This relatively mild-mannered old Patch family was temporarily dismissed by Lorenzo on the grounds of avoiding suspicion.

While the two sides are coming and going on the surface, the secret intelligence war is also in full swing.

Due to the sudden heavy losses of the Patch family, the manpower they placed in advance near the Church of Notre Dame des Fiores was inevitably affected.

Giovanni took this opportunity to strike hard, and personally led a number of high-level assassins to secretly assassinate the city guards who were close to the Pazzi family when the other party showed their feet due to the turmoil.

Lorenzo also played a role in it. He used coercion and lure to win over some of the vacillating Emerald family, and successfully split the originally united pro-Patch family.

During this period of time, the Templars headed by Rodrigo were not passively beaten. Rodrigo integrated the elite Templars brought into Florence in batches with the help of the Pazzi family.

These Templars, led by some members of the senior order, assassinated Lorenzo's officers in Florence in much the same way.

Later, with the help of Rodrigo's promise of victory as a cardinal, officials who were pro-Holy See took the opportunity to support him.

When Lu Xiao returned to Auditore's mansion, both sides had already made final preparations for the Easter confrontation, and the next thing was to see who could win.

Chapter 37 One Mistake, All Loss

Knowing that Rodrigo was staying in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, Lu Xiao originally planned to use the Assassin's tomb to eavesdrop on their latest plan, but Giovanni's persuasion dispelled his lucky idea of ​​stealing chickens.

"It's useless." Giovanni said with some regret: "Rodrigo is not a group of idiots from the Pazzi family. the archers."

"I sent several groups of assassins to try to sneak in, but every time they were discovered by endless guards, they could only return without success."

Lu Xiao wasn't too surprised by this. After experiencing the crisis of San Gimignano being close at hand, Rodrigo's protection of his surroundings will definitely become stricter.

"Then let's change our thinking."

Lu Xiao pondered and suggested: "There are more than one secret assassin's tombs in Florence. Since the place where the Templars attack is destined to be in the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore, we can use this church to make some chapters."

Giovanni's eyes lit up: "I probably understand what you mean, but we need Lorenzo's assistance."

Since the last incident of rusted iron pipes falling from the sky, Lorenzo kept his promise and hired people to conduct a thorough inspection and renovation of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore.

The architects he hired "coincidentally" happened to be members of the Assassins.

The assassins collected a large amount of treasures in the vaulted tomb of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore, and completed the friendly distribution with the Medici family according to the amount agreed in advance.

Coupled with the treasure of the tomb under the Basilica of the New Virgin, both parties have gained a lot this year.

Now there is only the last bit of finishing work left for the overhaul of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore. It is only necessary to disguise the combat assassins as construction workers and send them inside the church under the cover of Lorenzo. At critical moments, the assassins can use the secret exit to hide from anyone. appeared on top of the church.

Under the secret confrontation between the two sides, Easter on April 4 came as scheduled.

The whole city became very lively under the festive atmosphere, and ordinary people could not feel the undercurrent of the grand Easter event in Florence.

In line with the idea that a gentleman should not stand under a fence, Rodrigo did not go to the front line in person, but stood on the roof of Uberto's house in the central area of ​​the city, overlooking the Santa Maria del Fiore Church, which is the center of attention from all parties.

The Florence guards who obeyed the orders of the Holy See guarded the roof of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore tightly, and they only needed one order to launch a rain of arrows downward.

Rodrigo put down the right hand that was carrying the sun above the eyes, and the subconscious anxiety made him always feel as if he had missed a step.

Francesco has been secretly ordered to be released by Uberto, and Jacob has also arranged for Bernardo, Stefano and others to be the closest to Lorenzo and Giuliano. Where is the omission?

Lu Xiao upholds the idea of ​​an assassin who hides in the crowd, and hides in the densely packed spectators in front of the church, using her clairvoyance to observe the movements of everyone around her without a trace.

On such a crowded occasion, Lu Xiao began to envy the eagle vision possessed by the Auditore family.

Although clairvoyance is more effective than eagle-eye vision in terms of long-distance observation, eagle-eye vision can rely on the powerful sixth sense transmitted to the Isu people to detect the attitudes of everyone around them, and they can identify who they are at a glance Threats to own plans.

However, because the human body structure is very different from that of the Isu, turning on eagle vision for a long time will cause a great burden on the body, and Giovanni will only use this innate ability when necessary.

Federico is following a group of assassins lurking on the dome platform above the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore. He is using the eagle vision that can sense through the wall to record the positions of the archers above his head and the patrol route, and describe them to the assassins beside him. Pass it on to your companions.

As one of the leading figures in Florence, Giovanni, seemingly unarmed, followed Lorenzo.

His mission was so important that during the first Templar raid, Giovanni had to protect Lorenzo and Giuliano from harm until the Assassins surprised them with a counterattack.

Rodrigo, who was looking at the scene from a distance, whispered three words: "It's started."

Lorenzo is an elegant and handsome middle-aged man. He and his equally handsome but somewhat rebellious younger brother Giuliano attended the Easter Mass together with their wives.

Under the auspices of the Archbishop of Florence, the two successfully completed the ceremony in the cathedral and walked out of the cathedral with formulaic smiles on their faces.

Just as the two were supporting their wives and preparing to go down the stairs, monks Stefano and Antonio, who were standing behind the archbishop, suddenly took a step forward.

The two took out a small pocket dagger from their sleeves at the same time, and silently raised their weapons to Lorenzo and Giuliano, who were facing away from them. Seeing that the dagger was about to fall on the back of the Medici brothers' necks, the two ladies subconsciously Let out a scream.

Giovanni, who had been following him all the time, turned off his eagle vision, moved his feet sideways and stopped in front of the two monks, grabbed their hands and twisted them forcefully.

Giovanni, who has been exercising all the year round, is far superior in physical fitness to the pampered monks. The two of them caught off guard were destroyed by Giovanni's center of gravity. Fano's teeth snapped on the stone steps and broke on the spot.

The sudden shock caused the people participating in the event to exclaim, and the crowd subconsciously retreated. The wives of Lorenzo and Giuliano also retreated into the church under the escort of the guards. Targeted enemies move faster.

A cloaked man at the front of the crowd took off his brown cloak, revealing the hideous face of Francesco de Pacchi holding a dagger underneath.

"Medic, today is your end! Go to hell!"

With Giovanni guarding Lorenzo's side, Lu Xiao did not pay attention to Francesco, who was looking for his own death. The mysterious man he was staring at also tore off his cloak, revealing A young face with both excitement and tension.