Doña Marina de Arellano waited boredly for a long time, until she felt her whole body began to ache before a young woman appeared.
Marina looked at the young "Madam" or "Miss". It was difficult to tell the true identity of this woman. If this was a pirate's den, then the visitor must be a woman of low status, but her clothes and
Her appearance seemed to indicate that she was of noble birth, perhaps a noble lady or woman.
Behind her were two young women with Asian faces, wearing the short and simple cotton clothes of "pirates". They tied their waists with belts and had an earth-yellow, almost triangular hard leather bag hanging from their waists -
―The same thing many male pirates wear on their waists,
Marina's estimation was based on women's clothes. To her, the design of Miss Mendoza's clothes was very strange and even frivolous, but the exquisite workmanship and the special fabric used were dazzling - not cotton.
It's not silk, or rather, even the best Italian, French and Chinese silks don't have the special texture and luster of the clothes she wears.
Ms. Laide is astonishingly beautiful - even by aristocratic standards, her appearance is rare: beautiful, thick, curly brown hair, large almond-colored eyes... But her dark pupils and slightly
The dark skin indicates that she is probably a Kwario, and she may be in her twenties.
But the Krivas she knew - even those second and third generation Krivas who had not had any Indian blood mixed with them since the generation when they started to mix, their appearance was not the same as the one before her.
On a par with other women. She simply combines all the advantages of the yellow and white races.
She is taller than Marina. She is even taller than many men. She stands very straight, with a light and dignified gait. The flame of health and vitality is everywhere in her body. She is full of confidence in her movements.
.Her standing posture, her expression, even the way she raised her head - all of these are silently announcing to the world: I am a big shot. Noble blood flows in my veins.
But why is she here? A noble woman from Kvario was trapped in this pirate den, and Miss Marina couldn't help but feel a little pity for her.
Because Miss Mendoza acted as an interpreter when the prisoners were captured and when they first arrived in Lingao, she was a person whom Marina was familiar with, and her Spanish was her native language, so she accepted the task of the Foreign Intelligence Service.
:Take her for purification, accompany her, and try to get as much information as possible from her.
"I guess I won't get much useful information from her. Just try to understand her background and the purpose of going to Manila."
"If you think the information I got is not enough, will you interrogate her?" Miss Mendoza asked nervously.
"Every prisoner must be interrogated." Li Yan said with a reassuring smile.
"I mean..." Miss Mendoza hesitated, "Are you going to... um... torture her?"
"Diana!" Zhou Weisen, who accompanied her to the Intelligence Bureau, shouted nervously.
"It's okay." Li Yan continued to smile. "No. We don't agree with using such primitive methods - there are many ways to get people to talk." He continued, "Of course, the better you do your job, the better she will
The more you cooperate with our work, the less necessary it is to adopt certain technical interrogation methods - please rest assured. This technical method is not a 'euphemism'."
So Mendoza came here to "serve the Senate" with mixed feelings.
The noble woman of Quevalio made a gesture to her and said in Spanish: "Please follow me."
Marina stood up hesitantly. After sitting for so long, she really wanted to know what kind of medicine the other person was selling in the gourd.
Mrs. Tolosa stood up quickly, as if she wanted to continue fulfilling her obligations. Miss Mendoza made a "decline" gesture: "Please wait here."
Mrs. Tolosa said nervously: "This is my duty."
"It's better for you to follow our arrangements here." Miss Mendoza is indeed a linguistics major, and she speaks Spanish elegantly, euphemistically and yet authoritatively. "You are our prisoner."
Mrs. Tolosa seemed to be suddenly alerted. She immediately stopped and stood there blankly. She was at a loss. She watched helplessly as her escort girl was brought in.
Miss Mendoza led her into a corridor. There was a door from time to time in the corridor. After turning a few corners, the lady opened one of the doors. When they came out, they were already in a courtyard. The wall of the courtyard
Just like Spain, it is painted white. In the middle of the yard, there is a simple-looking two-story red brick building. Its roof is made of some unknown material. Round pipes cover the entire roof, shining brightly.
Just like metal, but the luster looks softer - could it be glass?
She could immediately tell from the strange design and materials that the house had been built recently. The iron pipes protruding from the building and extending into the sky were still shining, untouched by time and weather.
The noble lady of Crivao opened the door - which surprised her because the two pirate maids were clearly standing beside her but did not rush to open the door first. From this, she could not help but feel some pity and contempt for Mendoza.
.
"Please come in." Mendoza didn't know the complicated feelings in her heart, because this aristocratic lady had fully learned how to conceal her feelings under the education of aristocratic women in the monastery for many years, and she was as calm as water.
"May I know your surname?"
"My name is Diana Mendoza."
There is no "Tang" and no "De" - although the surname Mendoza is quite prominent in the Americas. So the other party is a woman of commoner origin. Marina thought, with an arrogant look on her face.
After entering the door, there is another corridor. There are doors one after another in the corridor. The floor is made of square tiles made of clay, and there seems to be water stains in the gaps. Bright sunlight shines in from the glass windows.
Mendoza looked at the metal plate on the door, then opened a door with a key and asked her to go in.
Inside the door is a strange room - very strange, Marina has never seen such a house in the New World or Spain. The room is not big, and the walls and floors here are made of a crystal clear material that is better than the best marble.
It must be covered with smooth and beautiful materials. The materials have beautiful patterns and patterns, a bit like the luxurious Moorish mansions she visited with her father when she was in Spain, but compared to the Moorish mosaics and colored clay tiles,
This material was even more fascinating, and she suddenly thought of something - porcelain!
The dignitaries of Spain and New Spain always collected some porcelain from China to show off their wealth and artistic taste.
She suddenly realized that she was standing in a room decorated with porcelain.
Thinking of this, she almost fainted - could this be the pirate island in Alibaba's story?
"Please take a shower here," Miss Mendoza said. "If you want to be more convenient, the door on the left is...the toilet." Mendoza hesitated for a moment, not using the euphemistic modern term for using the toilet.
Taking a bath? This is really ridiculous. She is a noble and elegant lady. She washes her face and hands every day and her feet at night. Even if it is inconvenient to wash her underwear on the ship, she will change her underwear once every half month.
The habit of bathing is unique to the Jews. And doctors and priests said that frequent bathing can easily lead to the Black Death.
"You're welcome." Marina said elegantly, "I wash my hands and face every day on the ship."
Miss Mendoza shook her head regretfully and said nothing. However, the door suddenly opened. Four Asian women walked in from behind the door. Each of them was short, but very strong and strong. They rolled up their sleeves and held a small rattan bag in their hands.
Basket and wooden bucket.
Marina felt the dangerous atmosphere, took a step back in fear, and said loudly: "Please don't do this!"
"I don't want that either," Miss Mendoza replied politely.
Marina suddenly realized that she had fallen into the hands of Arab slave traders! She had heard several people who had redeemed themselves from North Africa tell stories about Arab and Turkish harems. Almost every harem of an Islamic dignitary had a huge bathroom.
, the female slaves take baths, aromatherapy, and massages there every day, waiting for their masters to come...
She screamed, turned around and wanted to escape. However, the door behind her was locked tightly, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not open it.
By the way, what will happen even if it is opened? There must be two female pirates standing outside the door.
She turned to face Mendoza - this noble woman who could speak Spanish suddenly became her whole support. She stretched out her hands to her and cried out pleadingly:
"For God's sake, help me!"
Mendoza stopped the female staff who were eager to go up to "purify" and took her hands.
"Don't be afraid...we won't harm you, but you have to obey my instructions, otherwise..."
"Yes, yes, yes," Marina was horrified. Thinking of the terrible prospect of falling into a pagan harem as a slave, she could hardly control her emotions and couldn't help but said incoherently, "Please tell your master that I am Spanish
Daughter of a nobleman, my father has enough money to pay the ransom, please do not sell me to the Arabs... Please give me time, I will write a letter to Manila, to New Spain..."
"Please calm down," Mendoza said, "You are now a prisoner of the Senate, and your fate must be decided by the Senate. Before that, you must completely obey me. Do you understand what I said?"