After Paula's explanation, Lu Xiao knew why she was sent to Xunfang Rose Placement in a comatose state.
In order to ensure the timeliness of intelligence exchanges, Giovanni temporarily transformed the Auditore mansion into a combat command center.
Except for Annetta and other insiders who had already joined the Assassin organization, most of the servants in the mansion were temporarily dismissed and sent to a farm outside Florence to live temporarily in the name of vacation.
In the absence of servants, the sleeping Lu Xiao would inevitably be neglected in the Auditore mansion. At Paola's initiative, Lu Xiao was sent to the top floor of Xunfang Rose for temporary placement.
The top floor of Xunfang Rose is a private floor owned by the owner Paola. It is usually not open to the public. Only Giovanni comes here occasionally...ahem.
Busy Paula specially arranged for three well-received socialites in the store to help take care of Lu Xiao.
These three high-level courtesans are all peripheral members of the Assassin organization. They are usually responsible for collecting important information from high-end customers and are very good at serving people.
Unlike the Renaissance gentry who regarded syphilis as the glory of "conquest", Lu Xiao did not want to contract such a troublesome disease in this era without antibiotics.
After her initial recovery, Lu Xiao immediately requested to return to the Auditore mansion to participate in pre-war preparations.
Paola couldn't persuade Lu Xiao, who was determined to leave, so she could only agree with his decision and send someone to take Lu Xiao, who had not fully recovered, all the way back to the Auditore House.
As Paola said, the usual warmth and leisure atmosphere of the Auditore Residence at this time was no longer there. When Federico, who had always been carefree, came to greet him, his face was full of solemnity and solemnity.
Lu Xiao frowned in confusion and asked, "What's wrong? Why this expression?"
Federico shook his head with a stern face: "Our intelligence war with the Templars has already started in advance. Many brothers have lost their lives for this, including acquaintances I have known for many years."
Lu Xiao suddenly understood that as an aristocratic assassin who grew up in a big city, Federico had never seen a real tragic battle before.
Seeing an acquaintance whom he had known for many years die in front of him, the eldest son of Auditore, who has an open-minded and humorous personality, may have suffered a huge psychological impact.
After patting Federico on the shoulder hard, Lu Xiao did not utter those false words of comfort. He would ultimately have to overcome this hurdle by himself.
'This conflict is both a crisis and an opportunity for the Assassin Brotherhood. Assassins who can survive this war will undoubtedly grow greatly, including noble rookie assassins like Federico who have never had a correct mentality before.
.'
…
As Rodrigo led a large number of Templars into Florence in batches, although the head-on conflict between the two major organizations had not yet completely started, the surging undercurrent in the Florence City had already attracted the attention of many senior officials with keen senses.
Lorenzo is not blind, nor is he a fool. The important information given by Giovanni has been firmly remembered in his mind.
But as the ruler of the Republic of Florence and the focus of thousands of people's attention, he could not cancel the annual Easter Mass because of the threat from the Templars. At most, he could strengthen security during the festival.
Compared with the shrewd and capable Lorenzo, Giuliano, another core member of the Medici family, seems a bit heartless.
He scorned the threat of the Templars and simply did not believe that anyone would dare to assassinate the Medici family in public.
After several generations of accumulation, the status of the Medici family in Florence was no problem even as emperors. This sense of superiority from having been in a high position for a long time made Giuliano lose his vigilance to crises.
If Lorenzo had not issued a strict order to ground Giuliano, the playboy might still be having fun at various high-end banquets in the city.
The arrow must be fired when it is on the string. This principle is the same for the Templars.
By missing this Easter opportunity, the already vigilant Medici family would not be able to give Rodrigo a better chance.
Although there was some uneasiness in their hearts, the Spaniards could only take advantage of the fact that the Medici family was not fully prepared to launch an attack this time, hoping to achieve success with this attack.
Rodrigo insisted on dragging the Medici family from being the rulers of Florence, not only for the benefit of the Templars, but also to add more political capital to his competition for the next pope.
The pope at this time is Sixtus IV, who has been in office for nearly five years since he ascended the throne in 1471.
As the nephew of the first Spanish Pope Calixtus III, Rodrigo, now a cardinal, is eager to inherit the position of the next pope. To do this, he must add more glorious deeds to himself as capital for his ascendancy.
Florence had openly resisted the long-arm jurisdiction of the Papal States many years ago. If this emerald city can be returned to the "glory" of the Lord, Rodrigo's status as a planner will naturally increase.
The secret battle between the two organizations became intense when Rodrigo arrived in Florence in person.
The Pazzi family no longer concealed their status as papal bulls. Francesco repeatedly attacked Lorenzo in public for not being pious enough to the Lord, thereby undermining the influence and status of the Medici family.
Lorenzo was not a merciful person. He dumped all the criminal records of the Pazzi family that he had deliberately suppressed in previous years on the desk of the consul Uberto Alberti.
Although Uberto, the standard bearer of justice, had already defected to the Templars, in order to maintain his impartial image in front of the people, paralyze Lorenzo's cognition, and have the greatest effect of betrayal at the critical moment, Uberto could only force himself
Scalp summoned Francesco and Vieri to court, who were charged with multiple crimes.
Vieri's charges were relatively minor, and most of them were accusations of bullying men and women. With the influence and financial resources of the Pazzi family, most of them reached "reconciliation" with the victims on the spot.
But Francesco was not so lucky. He faced multiple murder charges and was sentenced to jail by Uberto in court, pending further review and the verdict will be announced at a later date.
Uberto didn't know at this time that he had already been exposed in the eyes of Giovanni and Lorenzo. He deliberately pretended to be a client and persuaded Lorenzo to let it go based on the possible harm caused by the power and influence of the Pazzi family.
Francesco.
Giovanni watched with cold eyes as this perfidious clown performed a clumsy real-life stage play. Lorenzo, who was well versed in the ways of a politician, still maintained a gentle attitude to appease Uberto, saying perfunctorily that he would find an opportunity to spare the Pazzi family.
The failure of the Pache family in the officialdom naturally also affected Jacob de Pache, who served as Lorenzo's adviser. This old man of the Pache family with a relatively mild personality was temporarily dismissed by Lorenzo on the grounds of avoiding suspicion.
While the two sides were going back and forth openly, secretly the intelligence war was also in full swing.
Since the Patch family suffered a sudden heavy blow, the manpower they had deployed near Santa Maria del Fiore Church was inevitably affected.
Giovanni took this opportunity to strike hard, and when the opponent's flaws were exposed due to unrest, he personally led a number of high-level assassins to secretly assassinate these city guards who were close to the Pazzi family.
Lorenzo also played a role in this. He used coercion and inducement to win over some of the divided Felengcui family who were wavering in their stance, and successfully split the pro-Pazzi family forces that were originally relatively united.
During this period of time, the Templars headed by Rodrigo did not passively take beatings. Rodrigo integrated the elite Templars who had been brought into Florence in batches with the help of the power of the Pazzi family into small pieces.
These Templars, led by a group of senior knights, assassinated Lorenzo's officers in the city of Florence in almost the same way.
Later, with the help of Rodrigo's victory promise as a cardinal, officials from the pro-Vatican faction took the opportunity to support him.
When Lu Xiaohuo returned to the Auditore mansion, both sides had made final preparations for the head-on conflict at Easter, and it was now up to them to see who could come out on top.