When he was young, Ezio behaved like a playboy. In order to compete for the favor of women, he would be jealous of other suitors, get into fights, and sometimes cause trouble.
It's no wonder that Maria would beat him repeatedly. Ezio's many criminal pasts are enough to make people have a certain degree of inherent impression of him.
However, after all, Ezio was born in a family of assassins. From the time he was young, Giovanni had given him physical training on the pretext of delivering messages, and intentionally or unintentionally guided him to use the "shortest" path to quickly complete the task.
This shortest path is the rooftop that is rarely used by people.
There is no constant flow of pedestrians on the roof. Except for archers guarding certain important places, there are usually no people climbing on the roof and running around.
These archers were city guards controlled by the Medici family. Under Lorenzo's instructions, they turned a blind eye to the Auditore family's kid jumping up and down on the roof.
Without Ezio's knowledge, Giovanni successfully completed the preliminary training of his second son, laying a solid foundation for him to become a member of the Assassin Brotherhood in the future.
Regarding this point, Giovanni spoke frankly and without reservation in his correspondence with Mario, and it was from Mario that Lu Xiao obtained some relevant information.
Giovanni Auditore had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Federico, had grown up and was supposed to join the bank to assist his father in his work.
But Federico is witty and free-spirited by nature, and he doesn't want to let a boring bank job constrain him.
After hiding a bank purse on the roof as a prank, Federico was fired from the bank and became a free man.
Giovanni was quite helpless about his eldest son's lazy character. As an assassin who advocated free will, he decided to respect and support Federico's wishes.
After Giovanni informed his eldest son of the family's true identity, Federico began to use his free time to help his father with the chores related to the Assassin identity.
The second son of the Auditore family is Ezio, who has already met Lu Xiao. His character has inherited the cynicism of his elder brother to a certain extent, and in daily life he looks more like a playboy than Federico.
The youngest son Petruchio was obviously much more well-behaved than his two older brothers, and the whole family loved and cared for Petruchio, who had a considerate personality.
Petruchio also has a sister named Claudia who is about to turn 14 years old. It is said that she has been engaged to a good family and will officially get married in two years.
Among the four children of the Auditore family, only the eldest son, Federico, has been informed of the family's identity and mission. The three people from Ezio on down knew nothing about it.
This decision was made jointly by Giovanni and Maria. They wanted their children to spend their youth carefree and did not intend to place the heavy burden of the Assassin Brotherhood on them until they reached adulthood.
Ezio, who was full of curiosity, originally planned to continue exploring Lu Xiao's identity, but Maria quickly drove him away with a look of disgust and arranged for a maid to take over Lu Xiao's life.
"Huh~"
Lu Xiao was lying in the large bathhouse of the Auditore mansion. The fatigue accumulated from running around and fighting for days was relieved by soaking in the warm water.
Horseback riding is actually not as romantic as described in some literary works.
Since the horse's back will be very bumpy when running at high speed, you cannot sit on the horse at this time. You must rely on the strength of your legs to step on the stirrups to keep your butt suspended in mid-air.
Only when the horse slows down and moves forward at a constant speed can you relax your legs and truly sit on the horse's back to rest.
Speaking of bathing, Lu Xiao had read a lot of rumors about the European Middle Ages. It was said that Europeans in this era believed in not bathing for a lifetime, and it was even related to Catholic teachings and the Black Death.
After more than half a year of real experience, Lu Xiao can clearly conclude that this statement is purely false and is a misinterpretation of medieval history and humanities by later generations.
After the Black Death was raging in the 14th century, the Holy See did ban people from going to large bathhouses to bathe in groups, but private bathing in individual homes was never restricted.
The main factor that restricts people from bathing in the Middle World is the inconvenience of water. In this era, there is no convenient and easy-to-use tap water. If you want to bathe, you have to carry water back from the nearest water source and reheat it, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Ordinary people are busy raising their families every day, and it is difficult to find time to fetch water to wash their bodies and clothes. That's why the lower-class poor people Lu Xiao saw in the outer city were so dirty.
However, the middle and high-level people in Florence, taking the Auditore family as an example, are different. The aristocratic wealthy businessmen who drive a large number of servants and maids even have the energy to build a luxurious bathhouse in the family mansion to meet the needs of ladies and ladies to clean their bodies at any time.
When living in Monteriggioni, due to the laziness of Lord Mario, many infrastructures in the city were not perfect. There was no such thing as a bathhouse in the Auditore Manor, and the bathing process could only be completed by relying on large wooden barrels.
Through the hazy water mist in the bathhouse, Lu Xiao fixed his gaze on the exquisitely carved stone lion by the pool. Hot water continued to spurt from the lion's mouth, and the crisp sound of running water seemed a little strange to Lu Xiao who was relaxing his tension.
Hypnosis.
"Hmph! You look like you're enjoying it."
A familiar voice suddenly sounded from the door of the bathhouse. A naked Ezio walked in with an unhappy look on his face, and jumped into the pool with a "splash", causing a large splash of water and ripples.
"Yes...I'm sorry, I'm coming in too."
Petruchio covered his lower body with a towel and sheepishly slowly got into the water. The completely different performances of the two brothers made Lu Xiao couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.
"why are you laughing?"
Faced with Ezio's displeased questioning, Lu Xiao shrugged and said in a playful way: "I thought of happy things."
Ezio didn't understand the joke and didn't follow up with the next sentence. His curious eyes looked back and forth at Lu Xiao's face, which had removed all restraints.
"Mother said you came from the far east, and indeed your appearance is very different from ours."
"I heard your name is Lu Xiao, right?"
Ezio crossed his legs in the water, raised his head in a high posture and asked Lu Xiao: "Why did you come all the way to Florence, and what is the purpose of staying at my house?"
Lu Xiao didn't pay attention to Ezio's hostile attitude, and said perfunctorily with a smile: "Well, let's ask your father, if he is willing to tell you."
"What do you mean!"
"Wow~"
Lu Xiao didn't plan to talk to Ezio, who didn't know anything yet. Since Giovanni hadn't revealed the truth to him yet, in order to avoid making too many mistakes, Lu Xiao stood up from the pool to end the conversation and prepared to leave first.
Ezio also hurriedly got up and waded into the water to chase Lu Xiao. "Wait a minute! Tell me clearly, what is your father..."
"Ahem~"
The coughing sound coming from outside the bathhouse made Ezio's words stuck in his throat, and his warm words entered the bathhouse through the door.
"Ezio, be polite to the distinguished guests of the Auditore family. Also, have you completed the task of delivering the message I gave you?"
"Tsk!" Ezio smacked his lips unwillingly: "Father, I have sent the letter to Archon Umberto's home, but he was not at home at the time."
"Not at home?" Giovanni, who had just returned home, pondered for a moment: "Forget it, as long as the letter is delivered."
"Come out quickly after taking a shower. We are going to hold a family welcome banquet for Lu Xiao tonight. You should make some preparations first."