Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1212 Auction
Marina was imprisoned for several days in a separate bedroom upstairs from the bathroom. Everything here is quite similar to a monastery. The room is simple, but the sheets are soft and comfortable, and there are delicate gauze curtains. Although the windows have cast iron railings, but The sun was shining brightly through the large panes of glass—it reminded her of the Spanish sun.

The most unbelievable thing for her is that there is a separate toilet in the bedroom: all of them are covered with high-quality Chinese tiles, and even the toilet is made of porcelain!

I am now richer than kings, emperors, sultans, and cardinals!she thought in surprise.

Her daily life is very good-although there is no maid to serve her personally, but every day, a Chinese maid will come to make her bed and bring her three meals a day, all of which are simple and novel meals that she has never tasted: Taste Light and tasty.

Although Marina's food in the nunnery was not difficult, the concept of restraint and abstinence had always run through their education, so the food was very meager.The first taste of all kinds of novel and delicious food can not help but whet the appetite.In particular, a risotto made with seafood and rice is her favorite.A cup of "black tea" with lemon slices and sugar cubes is always served after the meal.

Many fresh fruits are delivered every day, many of which she has never seen before.

At noon, after packing up the lunch tableware, a maid would come in to help her put down the delicate and beautiful Chinese curtains with a dim yellow shimmer, to block the scorching sun from the outside, and then bring a beautiful white blue and white porcelain jar, Inside was a large block of ice: crystal clear, exuding wisps of white water vapor.Then she will change into a nightgown made of soft and breathable muslin under the service of the maid, and fall asleep in the pleasant temperature and cozy dim light.

She would be woken at four in the afternoon and taken to a bath by the maids - it was compulsory.If she doesn't go, the strong maids will not hesitate to grab her by the arm and drag her to wash. They bathe her with a kind of soap with some kind of essential oil, which makes her very disturbed: it is said that the Sultan's The harem does the same.

After taking a shower, she was taken back to the bedroom, put on clean clothes, and all the changed clothes were taken away.The clothes are not luxurious, but they are all made of very delicate and comfortable materials - they also feel comfortable to wear.

If it weren't for her captive status, these days can be said to be the most comfortable and comfortable life in the past ten years.Her mood can even
In the past few days, it has been very quiet here, and there are very few people downstairs.But since a few days ago, the yard has become lively, with the sound of people walking back and forth, scolding and crying from time to time.From the window, she could barely see some of the situation in the yard. She saw many women with brown, black and blond hair waiting in the yard. The Chinese maids who "served" her rubbed and scolded-obviously they were captives or slaves.The same process as hers is repeated in this yard.

This made her extremely worried about her own fate: such preferential treatment was obviously not purely "good intentions".She can only wait for her own fate in anxiety.She began to suffer from insomnia, often praying for hours on end.

On this day, Miss Mendoza finally appeared in front of her.

"You're finally here!" Marina, who was suffering from anxiety and waiting, said nervously, "How are you going to arrange me?"

"Do you want to know that much?"

"I just want to know my fate sooner." Marina held the rosary in her hand and looked up to the sky.

"We're not pirates. But you're our prisoner, so you'll have to deal with prisoners according to the rules, that is to say: public auction."

The word seemed to slip from Mendoza's lips with great reluctance.

"God help me!" Marina screamed, as if she was about to faint—this was her worst fear.She couldn't help holding Mendoza's hand tightly, and said in a trembling voice, "For the sake of our compatriots and Christians! Don't let me become a slave in the harem!"

Mendoza's expression gave her a glimmer of hope: "Listen to me, as long as you let me go, my fiancé will pay you a huge sum of money—my fiancé will soon be the richest man in Manila." Perhaps the richest aristocrat in the entire Philippines and even in New Spain!"

Mendoza shook her head: "This is impossible. This is the decision of the Senate!" With a sympathetic expression on her face: "You have a good rest." Said and quickly left the room.

Donna Marina de Arellano passed out.

When she woke up, she was already lying on the bed, and a strange priest was sitting beside her bed, looking at her with a loving expression.

"Father..." Marina couldn't help but want to sit up when she saw a European priest.

"My child, you are still very weak. You should lie down first," the priest said in broken Spanish. "You take a dose of medicine first—it will make you feel better."

He fed her a small glass of bitter potion.

"Father," Marina said, although Marina didn't know why there was a European priest here, but his appearance gave him new hope, but the other party's Spanish was too difficult to understand.So she tried Italian—and the other party could speak it.

"You are Italian!"

"Yes, I'm from Italy."

"For God's sake, please save me!" she begged. "The pirates are going to auction me off! Please don't make me a slave to the heathen!"

As she spoke, she pulled the ring off her finger: "Please find someone and give him my letter and the ring, and he will repay you and your envoy generously."

The priest shook his head: "My child, even if I send someone to deliver the letter right away, it will be too late. The auction will be held the day after tomorrow. They plan to auction you and the slave girls brought from Basra..."

"God!" Marina covered her face and sobbed.

"Don't worry." The priest lowered his voice and said, "Since Miss Mendoza told me your plea, I have been running for your rescue..."

"Speak quickly." The flame of hope ignited in Marina's heart again.

"You are now in Lingao, which is the territory of the Australians. They will auction off the loot the day after tomorrow. However, they do not prohibit other people from buying slaves. So I plan to find a Christian to come forward and buy you..."

"If you can save me from the tiger's mouth, I will be grateful to you forever."

"Don't worry, we have found a suitable candidate for you." The Italian said, "He is the local consul of the Dutch..."

"A Protestant!" Marina almost exclaimed. This is even more terrifying than pagans-the Dutch have a very bad reputation in the American colonies of Spain and Portugal, and they are like fire and water.

"No, he is a real Christian. His name is Leibtrini. He is my compatriot, and I sympathize with you." The priest comforted her, "He painted for Australians here and saved a lot of money. Enough to pay Buy your spend."

"My father and fiancé own a lot of property in the Philippines and New Spain. Tell that good Christian not to get flustered when he bids. Buy it, and I will pay double the ransom to redeem myself. But no matter what, don’t let me fall into the hands of heretics..."

"I'm relieved!" Marina said and held his hand emotionally: "Thank you, I will never forget your kindness." She suddenly remembered that she didn't know the other party's name, "Excuse me Your Name?"

"I am a servant of God," said the priest, "a member of the Jesuits. Now I must go. God bless you."

Quark poorly sat on a chair in the shop, savoring the "cigar" sent by the maid, and had a premonition in his heart that he was going to make a fortune.

Just a week ago, he personally commanded the brig "Lion" to Basra and finally arrived at Bopu safely, bringing 183 female slaves.These are the survivors of the 200 female slaves he bought at the Basra slave market—if it hadn’t been for a storm on the road, perhaps more people would have survived.He tried his best to give each female slave enough space, water and food so that they would not lose too much on the way.

Even so, his income would be considerable, and Minister Skelder promised him fifty stones of sugar, CIF, for each healthy female slave.He almost woke up laughing from his dream about how much money he could earn by transporting this shipment of sugar to Persia.

Slave trading is really a lucrative business!Quark thought with regret that if only their demand for female slaves in Basra was as high as that of slaves in Southeast Asia...

While giggling, Minister Skade walked in with a smile on his face.

"How is it? What's the result of the quarantine?" Quark stood up impatiently and asked.

"All the preliminary inspections passed." Skaide was in a very happy mood, and he brought everyone's long-cherished wish "Ocean Horse" for the Senate. This alone was enough to make his popularity in the Senate skyrocket—although the number of people was a bit small, but He initially went to the quarantine camp to observe the appearance and figure, and thought that the quality was quite good, enough to satisfy most of the elders.

"so……"

"That's right." Skade said and took out a list from his pocket, and Quark knew what it was: a checklist from the customs warehouse.There seemed to be countless silver coins flying in front of his eyes.

"That's the price for the slaves," said the Secretary. "And the price for the Arabian horses you brought along?"

"This is my gift—as a thank you for allowing me to serve the Senate." Quark bowed respectfully, "I am willing to serve the Senate."

(End of this chapter)