Early the next morning, Harder, who got the news from nowhere, ran over in a hurry.
As soon as he saw Han Du, he burst into tears and hugged Han Du's thigh.
"How brave! Are you looking for death?" He Rong's eyes widened suddenly, and he stepped forward to pull Hader away.
He Rong only knew Hader and knew that he had some relationship with Daming, but this relationship was obviously not enough to make him so presumptuous.
Ever since Han Du promised He Rong to petition the emperor for him, He Rong had regarded him as a hope. How could Han Du be offended in the slightest?
Fortunately, Han Du waved his hand in time, smiled and looked down at Hader...??.
"What are you doing? Get up quickly."
Harder quickly obeyed and stood up, looking aggrieved like a little daughter-in-law, "My Lord Marquis, your loyal servant has finally waited for you."
Servants An Qing and Yao Yue looked at Han Du, waiting for his explanation.
Han Du smiled awkwardly and quickly asked, "What nonsense are you talking about? When did you become my slave?"
"Your Majesty, the Marquis, has saved Hard and is naturally my master." Hard replied seriously.
Han Du looked at him speechlessly, feeling that he had made this slave for himself?
When He Rong saw it, he couldn't help but shouted, "This is the Duke of Daming Town. What do you mean by a Marquis?"
Hader glanced at Han Du blankly, opened his mouth in surprise, and quickly leaned down and bowed down.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty the Duke, I am now your servant, the Duke." Harder looked proud, which made He Rong quite disdainful.
I have seen shameless people, but I have never seen anyone so shameless. My father-in-law said that he had never accepted him as a slave, but he still had the audacity to call himself his slave.
He Rong, a cheap maid, felt a sense of crisis in his heart, and looked at Hader with a bit of hostility.
Han Du did not continue to reject Hade and introduced An Qing and Yao Yue to her with a smile.
"This is Her Royal Highness Princess Anqing of the Ming Dynasty, who is also my wife."
Hader's eyes lit up and he was very happy. Since the Duke of Zhen was willing to introduce his wife to her, it meant that he recognized him as a slave.
"Great Mistress, your loyal slave Harder finally has the honor to meet you."
After saying that, he knelt on the ground and started to kiss An Qing's shoes.
"ah!"
An Qing jumped back in fright, pointed at Hader and said angrily, "How brave, are you looking for death?"
Hader looked at Han Du with innocent eyes.
Han Du quickly stood up and stood in front of Hader, sighing and saying, "Get up, your etiquette is purely a disgrace to the women of the Ming Dynasty, and you will be beaten."
dead."
Hader stood up awkwardly, looking stunned for a moment, as if he thought of something, and quickly took out a delicate box from his arms.
"Hard offended the mistress, this is Hard's apology."
An Qing proudly glanced to the side without even looking at it. She had never seen any treasures before, so how could she care about this little thing from a Westerner?
Han Du reached for the box, opened it and saw two huge pearls inside. They were worth thousands of gold if placed outside. Although An Qing didn't like them, it was still fine as an apology.
"Come on, it's Harder's heart after all." He handed the box to An Qing casually.
When Anqing saw that Han Du agreed, he reluctantly handed over the box.
Hader looked at Anqing expectantly, and his heart dropped when he saw her men apologizing.
Han Du then pointed at Yao Yue and said, "This is"
I originally wanted to introduce Yao Yue, but suddenly Han Du got stuck.
How should I introduce her? Say she is his concubine? Although the two of them can sleep together now, Yao Yue has not officially married her, so it is inappropriate to call her his concubine, right?
What's more, Anqing is still here.
But if she is not a concubine, how should I introduce Yao Yue?
Seeing that Han Du was speechless with embarrassment, An Qing watched from the side but deliberately kept silent, making it clear that he wanted to see how Han Du would introduce.
If she is not satisfied with the introduction, she will get angry.
If the introduction dissatisfied sister Yao Yue, then Han Du's good time tonight might be ruined.
Yao Yue also looked at Han Du with a smile, wanting to see how he would introduce herself. Her fingers wrapped around the belt of her shirt involuntarily, feeling nervous and scared.
"This, um, that"
When Hard looked at it, he immediately gave Han Du a look of understanding, took out a gem, and bowed down again.
"Slave Hade pays homage to the Great Mistress."
Huh~ Han Du secretly patted his chest and glanced at Hard with satisfaction. Although this guy is not smart enough, he is still smart enough at critical times. You can treat him better in the future.
Yao Yue turned her eyes to Han Du, observing Han Du's expression with a smile, and reached out to accept the gift.
Han Du quickly helped Hade up and asked, "I see that Horumos seems to have suffered a lot of losses. Are you okay?"
Hader sighed as if he had experienced too much.
Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty the Duke. The small properties are all in the inner city, so the losses will not be big. It is considered a lucky escape."
"But many people's properties are outside the city, and many people are bankrupt."
Han Du didn't feel much about this, after all, those people didn't know him.
"I heard that many people have fled Khrumos, why are you still here?"
"The Duke is right. Almost all the merchants and nobles in Horumos have fled. Even the Lord of the City has fled long ago."
"The reason why I stay here is because I want to wait until the Duke comes back."
Han Du ignored Hard's little gesture of showing his loyalty while taking advantage of the opportunity. He must have other reasons for staying here, and it was probably not what he said.
And Han Du heard an important message from his words.
"You said the city lord also escaped? Where did he go?"
When the Duke asked him about it, he was eager to make a contribution and answered without hesitation, "I fled to the Ottoman Empire. I heard that the Lord of the City has some acquaintances there."
Han Du nodded clearly. At first, he thought that the city lord had fled overseas like those merchants. Since the city lord had connections in the Ottoman Empire, it was understandable that his first choice was the Ottoman Empire.
Han Du had originally planned to visit the Ottoman Empire. As the saying goes, the enemy of an enemy is a friend. Since both the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty had a common enemy like Timur, they had a basis for becoming friends.
Now that he heard that the city lord had fled to the Ottoman Empire, Handu had an idea in his mind, and his attitude towards Hader became even more kind.
Handu did not stay in Khulumos, and set sail for Tianfang again the next day.
The warship sailed past the island at the mouth of the Red Sea. The Ming Navy was now stationed on it, and the Ming Dynasty's golden dragon flag was flying high.
Just after sailing through Haikou, An Qing, standing on the bow of the ship, was surprised to find it.
"Hey, why is the sea water here red?"
Seeing An Qing's doubtful look, Han Du spread his hands and said, "I was born like this. If you ask me, I don't know what's going on."
"The world is so vast and full of wonders." An Qing sighed, "If anyone had told me that there was red sea water in the world, I would not have believed it."
As the warships continued to sail in, the two sides of the bank that were originally invisible gradually became clear.
"Are we almost reaching our destination?" An Qing asked again.
"Yes." Han Du pointed forward, "The end of this waterway is where we are going, Tianfang!"
The seven governors of Tianfang, headed by
It was Cao Tai, Marquis of Xuanning.
Cao Tai couldn't believe it when he received the news of the arrival of Duke Han Du and Princess Anqing.
Han Du knew that although the two had little contact, Cao Tai's father and Lan Yu were close friends, and they were naturally close to Han Du. But he never thought that Han Du was several years younger than him, but
He is already a feudal lord.
As for Princess Anqing's arrival, he was even more surprised. He didn't understand why the emperor would let Princess Anqing go to sea.
"Come here, the officials of the Governor's Mansion will immediately follow me to the dock to greet Princess Anqing and Duke Zhenguo!"
Arriving at the pier, Cao Tai ran over and bowed down.
"Your Majesty, Cao Tai, is late to greet the princess. Please forgive me!"
An Qing kept staring at this place with eyes full of curiosity, not caring about Cao Tai's late arrival at all. He waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, it's me who came suddenly and I didn't have time to inform Marquis Xuan Ning."
Cao Tai felt a sense of embarrassment on his face and quickly raised his hands and said, "If Your Highness wants to say that, it will really make me feel ashamed."
An Qing waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.
Cao Tai felt relieved and bowed to Han, "Meet the Duke."
Han Du quickly stretched out his hand to support his arm and said with a smile, "No need to be so polite, we are not outsiders."
Cao Tai knew that Han Du was alluding to Liang Guogong Lan Yu. Who in the Ming Dynasty didn't know that Han Du and Lan Yu were sworn brothers?
Therefore, I didn't see him again, and laughed loudly and agreed, "My father-in-law is right, I will listen to him in everything."
That night, Cao Tai prepared a sumptuous reception banquet for Princess Anqing and Han Du.
The next day, Cao Tai took the initiative to find Han Du and asked curiously, "I wonder why the Lord came to Tianfang suddenly? If the Lord has given orders, Cao Tai will obey them."
Han Du glanced at him and asked with a smile, "What? Do you think I came to trouble you with the emperor's will?"
"Haha, if that's really the case, we can't ask for more. We really can't do this governor-general anymore." Cao Tai stroked his beard and smiled. He didn't think it was a bad thing for Han Du to trouble him at all. He even thought it was a good thing.
.
"Oh? Why is this?" Han Du was suddenly curious.
The current position of governor was regarded in the Ming Dynasty as the best way to make a fortune and bring blessings to his descendants. When the governor was re-appointed every five years, many people, whether civil servants or nobles, fought for it and broke their heads.
How did it come to Cao Tai's mouth and turn into a problem?
Following Han Du's inquiry, Cao Tai had nothing to hide and told him the reason.