Starting from Naples, through the pass of Mount Vesuvius on the east side, a road connects Naples with the inland.

Like most harbor cities, Naples has a busy waterway and enviable geographical location. This city on the northern coast of the Mediterranean has become one of the most prosperous cities on the European continent nearly ten centuries ago.

And this road from Naples to the inland became a bridge over the ocean, wealth from the far east or Africa on land.

It is just that the road is now strictly blocked, and all travelers passing by will be subject to strict inspections, and even the nobles are no exception.

A high wooden stake was erected at the pass halfway up the volcano, and the carriage could only slowly pass through the gap between the wooden stakes. A little higher than the pass, a young man was frowning and looking at a middle-aged man standing in front of him.

"Your Highness, you know that this is the order of the Duke."

Although the young man looked very unhappy, the middle-aged man didn't care much. For him, what is more important now than pleasing the young prince is to fulfill the orders of Duke Frederick.

"Do you really think Ruosha is related to this matter?" Prince Alfred asked angrily. "I know my father has a bad relationship with Modilo, but it has nothing to do with Ruosha. Now she just wants to go back to Kosencha's home, but you actually want to attack her."

"Your Highness is not an attack," the middle-aged man tried his best to explain "we just hope to check the Count's accompanying..."

"But this is a great insult," Alfred interrupted the other party's words angrily. "Although the Sicilian was very upset with her, it was not the same thing. Others would say that I was taking the opportunity to find fault with that person. This would shame me, and it would also make Ruosha despise me. I must not do such a humiliating thing."

Who cares about what others say to you? The middle-aged man cursed in his heart and was tired of the prince's sentimentality, but now he cannot help but comfort the prince as much as possible, because although he does not care about the prince's likes and dislikes, he is now in charge of guarding the pass.

"Your Highness, the death of the Aragonese envoy is very serious," the middle-aged man's expression also became harsh from respect. "Although we do not know whether this matter is related to Count Modillo, anyone may be an accomplice of the murderer before he catches the murderer, and the Count is the most suspicious. So we must check the Count's team, and as for the Sicilian envoy, we feel that the Count's Miss clearly deceived him.

”

"Are you talking about Ruosha seducing that person?" Alfred stared at the other party. "If you are not the person my father trusts the most, I will immediately make you pay for these words."

"Your Highness, maybe my words are unhappy to you, but in fact, our Florentine is probably in the ranks of the Count's Miss, and she has taken advantage of the Kombre in Sicily." The middle-aged man faced Alfred's gaze without any retreat. "So, according to the order of your father, His Highness, the ranks of the Count's team must be inspected, and even the ranks of the Count's himself and her substitute, this order cannot be violated."

Alfred stared at the other party with a ugly face. He did not expect his father to give such an order. When he thought of the person he admired, he had no way to stop him, the young prince couldn't help feeling ashamed of his weakness.

But he dared not disobey his father's orders because he knew very well what the consequences would be if he did so.

Seeing the prince leaving angry but helplessly, the middle-aged man bowed slightly to his back, and then turned around and ordered the soldiers who had been waiting: "Be ready, stop them once the team of the count lady appears." Speaking of this, the middle-aged man paused slightly to look at the prince's back as he left, and continued to say, "Don't be rude to Miss Earl, but be sure to search her team carefully."

Listening to his subordinates' loud response,

"Let's see if Modillo is as smart and stupid as the Duke said this time."

The middle-aged man looked at the rugged and continuous mountain road leading to the foot of the mountain, and could vaguely see the slowly moving black dots on the road, which were waves of travelers walking towards the pass.

On a huge rock higher, Prince Alfred also looked at the squirming black dots, and he kept murmuring to himself: "God bless you, Ruosha, don't do stupid things."

The travelers in groups of three to three stopped in front of the pass, and looked at the slow moving crowd in front of them, and people could only whisper in whisper. The huge power that Duke Frederick had in Naples made even the king Ferdinand have to worry about it. There were even rumors that when he was fighting with the French, the generals of the Aragonese army publicly announced that they would not accept Ferdinand's orders and would rather deal with Duke Frederick.

"When will it take," a young man complained impatiently. "I heard that someone in Bologna created a machine that can scratch his hair by himself. The wool that can be scratched is much faster than using humans, but if I delay this along the way, maybe that kind of machine is called a machine that is taken first by someone."

"I've heard of that machine, it seems to be made by a woman." The man walking in front turned around with interest and said, "Think about it, a woman."

"How is it possible that women can make that kind of thing?" A rosacea man asked in disbelief. "How can women create anything other than the fact that God punishes them for suffering? Just like my wife," he pointed at his carriage with his thumb. "I gave birth to six children, but she still didn't understand anything."

"But that's true," the man in front shrugged. "Although I don't believe it, many people say that this is the case. And I heard that the machine is very powerful. You can do three or four female workers' work with just one person."

"That's amazing," the rosacea man muttered, lifting the pot and drinking, then stuffing the pot into the car. "If you want to say that the only thing my wife can compare with the man is to have a few sips."

Several people next to him laughed wildly, but the young man at the beginning became even more depressed.

"If the machine is really that powerful, I would have to hurry up. Bologna is too far away. Maybe a smart person would have bought the machine by then, and then I would have to spend more money to buy it from that person."

"But it's useless to complain here. Don't cause trouble at this time, look at the soldiers," Rosacea lowered his voice and persuaded the young man, "They are not easy to mess with."

The young man was angry and wanted to say something, but looking at the kingdom army and even the Aragonese on the roadside at the pass from afar, he had to shut up in disappointment.

The team slowly moved forward, and when these people finally walked to the wooden fence, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"God, if I wait any longer, I might be burnt."

A traveler in front of him was used to taking out a few silver coins while talking, preparing to pay the road tax, but his silver coins were directly hit to the ground, and the soft hat on his head was rudely lifted.

"Search everyone carefully!"

A middle-aged man stood at a high place and shouted loudly to the soldiers below, "Don't let go of any suspicious figures, this is the order of His Highness the Duke!"

The soldiers who received the orders were even more unscrupulous. They pushed everyone nearby, removed their hats, overturned the tents of carriages, and amid the complaints, they even pulled the women to pull them out of the carriage.

"This is too barbaric." A follower next to the prince whispered, but when he saw the prince's gloomy face, he quickly fell silent.

“It’s really too savage.”

Alfred shook his head in annoyance, but when he saw a soldier pulling a rosacea man and his staggering wife shouting something, suddenly a horn sound came from the bottom of the mountain.

Alfred's heart suddenly jumped. He looked at the middle-aged man below, and saw that his father's confidant had already taken the man to the middle of the road from a high place and was driving the people near the fence to leave as soon as possible. The prince immediately jumped down from the boulder regardless of everything.

The foot poked the rocks and felt a pain, but Alfred didn't care about so much, and he knew Miss Cosenca's convoy had arrived.

Seeing the messy scene ahead from afar, Ruosha, who was sitting in the carriage, showed an unhappy look.

"This is the Duke's army," Ruosha said to Alexander, who was riding a horse and following the carriage. "I think they must have thought we had the Florentine."

"Why do you think so?" Alexander's heart moved.

"It's very simple. Now the most suspicious one is Uncle Salon, and I happen to be back to the territory. If the Florentines are hidden in our team, this will definitely be the best chance to escape."

Ruosha said as she looked at Alexander and asked, "But I was just wondering, why did you ask to visit my territory at this time?"

Looking at the playful smile of Miss Earl, Alexander had a little headache. He didn't expect that this "sister" was so sensitive.

Although he probably didn't expect that he would indeed use her to send the Florentines out, he still reminded himself to be careful, this sister is so clever.

"But I will not let them search my team regardless of whether they hid the Florentines."

Ruosha suddenly said in a stubborn tone: "This is related to the glory of my family, and to the surname Modilo."

That would be the best. Alexander secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that the Earl Miss would not allow the examination so easily, so he chose to go with her.

Next, it depends on whether this level can pass. Alexander told himself this.

The emergence of the Kosencha family team made the chaotic team that was originally chaotic and messy. Some of the inspected people were driven across the pass, while those behind were driven to the side of the road.

As a flag-raising follower in front called out loudly, the team was blocked and stopped on the road.

"In the name of the Duke," the middle-aged man walked to the Count's ranks and ordered loudly, "Everyone is under inspection."

"Don't do this," Alfred ran over, and he grabbed the middle-aged man's shoulder with force. "Let me go and say to Ruosha, you will only anger her."

"Your Highness, the order I got was to check everyone," the middle-aged man refused to give in. He felt that he had been tolerating the prince for too long. If it weren't for the other party's identity that made him helpless, he had already ordered people to hang up the annoying playboy and bask in the sun. "Please don't interfere with me."

"Are you proud to insult the Modilo family so much?" Alfred asked in a low voice. "Are you still thinking that the family that humiliates my future wife can get any benefits. Don't forget that I will marry that girl in the future."

"Then let's order me after you become a duke."

After saying that, the middle-aged man broke free from Alfred's hand and walked before, he passed the trumpet soldier in front, and when he walked to a place not far from the carriage, he was blocked by Alexander who was slowly driving his horse forward.

"Sir, I don't think you should have blocked me," the middle-aged man saluted for a moment and then raised his head to look at Alexander on the horse. "Your fellow Aragon was shamelessly killed, and I believe you must have hoped to catch the murderer more than anyone else."

"Actually he is not my fellow countryman," Alexander muttered in a low voice, then stretched out his hand and shook it slightly. "No, I can't agree to this. You must know that if I retreat at this time, I will become a coward in front of the lady, so I don't care whether the Aragonese or Sicilians were killed."

"Another idiot who cares about anything to please women," the middle-aged man cursed in his heart. He looked at Alexander coldly, wondering if he should give this ungrateful Sicilian boy a little more power, Alfred had already come over.

"Although you are my enemy," the prince stared at Alexander fiercely. "But I stand with you in protecting Miss Cosenca's honor."

Alexander looked at Alfred with surprise. He really didn't expect that the prince would get out for the woman he admired. After all, although he was Frederick's son, he would be punished if he blatantly violated the Duke's orders.

This has nothing to do with whether he is favored by his father, but if he does not do so, Frederick will face the embarrassment of being questioned by his subordinates.

"I'm willing to fight side by side with you." Alexander nodded slightly. Even though he was purely self-indulgent, he was still moved by the prince's infatuation.

Just thinking that this kid might become his "brother-in-law" in the future, Alexander couldn't help but grin.

For some reason, this thought made him very unhappy.

"In the name of the Duke, advance!"

The middle-aged man drew his sword and began to approach forward step by step. The soldiers behind him followed slowly towards the convoy.

"For Modilo, for the honor of Kosenza!"

The cavalry captain of the Modilo family who was escorting the convoy also drew out his sword. As he moved, the sound of weapons being unsheathed came one after another.

The middle-aged man's face was already ugly at this time. There were dozens of fully armed soldiers behind him, and these people could easily defeat the team of Earl Kosencha, which had only a dozen people.

But what stood in front of him was a prince of Aragon and an envoy of Aragonese, which made him dare not order easily because of his concern.

For a moment, the two sides fell into a stalemate in front of the pass.

The sun above the head shone on everyone's face, and sweat flowed down into the corners of their eyes, irritating the eyes. Some people wanted to wipe off the sticky sweat from their faces, but just this small action caused a commotion.

Alexander raised his head slightly and looked over his head. He knew that the confrontation could not be stalemate. Just as he was thinking about how to break the deadlock in front of him, there was a sound, and then a series of horns continued to ring from the distant mountain road.

Alexander noticed that Alfred's face suddenly turned pale, and his hand holding the sword began to tremble slightly.

The middle-aged man on the opposite side had calmly raised his sword, with a sarcastic look on his face and a little pity, but this pity seemed to be more about Alfred, who was already at a loss next to him.

Alexander slowly retreated to the side of the carriage.

"It's the Duke," Alexander heard Ruosha whisper in the car, "Frederick is here."
Chapter completed!