The orchestra played better than before, but the crowd was no longer as enthusiastic as the one in the garden, but the atmosphere had lifted from the embarrassment created by the Governor's secretary. [No pop-up novel website] The Baroness seized the opportunity and announced that she would present a wonderful drama to the guests. As she clapped her hands a few times, the servants quickly moved away the extra tables and chairs, clearing the place. Set up a simple stage and scenery. The musicians began to play melodious pastoral songs, performing "Cristino and Phoebea" by the great poet Juan de Encina.
The actor who played the role of Friar Cristino caused a burst of laughter as soon as he appeared on the stage, and the audience realized that "he" was actually a girl. The contrast between this girl's darker skin, soft face and sharp facial features all shows the characteristics of mixed race. Her pair of cunning, affectionate, wandering eyes are completely out of character. Her relationship with the fairy Phoebea seems to be reserved, but in fact she is sophisticated. When Cristino finally decided to succumb to love and give up spiritual practice, she sang in a pretentious manner:
monastic life,
Holy indeed,
Just because of them,
All are senior citizens.
While shy, he took off the monk's toga, revealing his slim figure wrapped in men's tights. Cheers, applause and applause suddenly came like a storm. Many people just stared at the girl's two slim thighs wrapped in men's tight stockings.
"Flora is very clever," said the Baroness, "and the cleverest of the girls who serve me."
When Esteban Sanafria heard the hostess's words, he felt that the long-awaited opportunity to show off had arrived. "Okay! Great! Great! Take your reward!" He cheered enthusiastically, while raising the money bag and throwing it at the feet of Flora, who was playing the monk. A loud thud scared the girl away. The gold coins rolled out of the money bag, shining brightly all over the ground. The guests were in a commotion, and the wealthy colonial merchants were elated. Completely unaware of the Baroness's frown.
The count shook his hand, "It was my fault for not preparing a gift for such a lovely girl. Madam, if you allow me, I would like to make up for this fault." He stood up and picked up a few dendrobium orchids from the vase in the corner of the living room. Then she took off the ring from her hand, put it on the bouquet, and threw it towards Flora. The girl caught the precious bouquet deftly. He ran down the stage with it in his arms, stood on tiptoes and kissed the earl on the face, then hid behind the hostess pretending to be shy. He did not forget to give the earl a passionate look.
The Secretary to the Governor exclaimed. He forgot to maintain his aloof image and stared at the dazzling ring on the bouquet. "Oh my God. Such a big diamond must be worth at least a thousand pistoles." !”
The crowd suddenly became commotion - everyone knew how wealthy the Earl was, and the so-called spending money was probably nothing more than that.
Eugenio greatly overestimated the value of this "diamond ring". The gem resources in Hainan and Lechang, Shandong are quite abundant. Various gemstones were not valued much in the Ming Dynasty. The Lechang sapphire was not even noticed in the early 20th century. Of course, such rich gem resources cannot escape the attention of the industry. In addition to using diamonds in cutting tools, Dr. Zhong from the Ministry of Science and Technology has also spent a lot of energy on developing gemstone watch movements, but the advent of the Lingao version of the 24-jewel mechanical watch is still far away.
However, unintentionally, the Ministry of Science and Technology found out a way to heat and color the red zircon, a specialty of Hainan. After being tempered and decolored, the zircon is carefully cut and polished according to modern processing methods, making it look as real as a diamond. Because Chinese people did not attach much importance to gems at that time. The sales prospects of similar zircon jewelry in Ming Dynasty were bleak, so the trading department prepared to send them to Macau and put them on the sample cabinet of Zizhenzhai Macau branch for sale in foreign stores. What Weiss just took off from his hand was such a ring. He glanced at Sanafria with his peripheral vision. The wealthy colonial businessman's face had turned blue, and his eyes were wandering between the Count, Flora and the hostess.
Many guests were very interested in this extra drama, especially when the hostess ordered the servants to collect all the gold coins scattered on the ground and return them to Sanavria. The face of the richest businessman in the colony changed from blue to blue. Pale. There was a malicious chuckle from the crowd. For the rest of the day, Sanavria refused to dance, but buried herself in the card table trying to regain her dignity. By the time the dinner began, he had lost so much that his wallet was empty, with not a single gold coin left.
The Baroness's family dinner was much more high-end and fashionable than most banquets in Manila. Many guests watched the Count's movements intently while fiddling with their silver forks awkwardly. Italians have been accustomed to eating with two-tined forks more than a hundred years ago, but this is still a new thing for Spaniards. As for remote Manila, Weiss Lando had seen many noble Europeans still reaching out to eat meat from the plate and wiping their mouths with their sleeves, not knowing what handkerchiefs and napkins were. The dishes were served in a stream, some of them tasted great, and some of them made Weiss frown: the chef wasted no time in covering the roasted duck with feathers that had been plucked before it was alive; as for the stewed calf thymus, mixed with sheep brains, and celery Weiss refused to accept famous dishes such as braised oxtail, but kept sipping the sweet Madeira wine. This wine is so good, even better than the infamous sherry.
The effects of the delicious wine and food were quite rapid. There was the sound of clinking glasses everywhere, and soon everyone was shouting toasts to the health of the king and the beauty of the hostess. The sound of wine made people fall into an intoxicating frenzy. Alfonso was having a passionate affair with his neighbor, a beautiful mixed-race young woman, whose husband was still far away in the castle in Cebu. Another elderly, gray-haired alderman came straight to Lucrezia's seat with a glass of wine and told her how passionately he loved her and expressed his admiration. The latter responded with a charming smile. . Sanafriya also came up and asked the hostess if she was satisfied with the gift he gave: a pair of huge Chinese porcelain vases with colorful patterns.
To celebrate his promotion, Lieutenant Colonel Alfonso drank a lot of wine, and he was convinced that he had won the heart of the beautiful Creole wife. He laughed heartily: "Sir, it's best to ask His Highness Fananova to open your eyes. In his private residence in Maratha, the entire bathroom is made of ceramic tiles. Not this rough clay block. ," he pointed at the Portuguese painted mosaic on the wall of the baron's living room, and continued drunkenly: "It is authentic Chinese porcelain, as smooth as ice. The washbasin is a large porcelain basin made of whole parts. There is no flaw at all, and the enamel is as smooth as crystal.”
"Isn't that the palace bathroom only owned by the Chinese emperor?" the Baroness asked in surprise.
"I'm afraid the Emperor of China did not have similar enjoyment. If the count doesn't mind, I will continue. In his bathroom, near the porcelain wall, there is a strange large porcelain altar. It is the highest-end Chinese product. Guess what? What is the use of the beautiful china pie?”
The young Creole woman whispered a few words, causing Alfonso to laugh again: "You guessed it wrong, madam. Let me tell you, that porcelain altar looks strange, but the lady sitting on it will know how to do it." It's very comfortable, and men will feel very comfortable standing in front." Facing the mixed looks of resentment and curiosity from the female guests, Alfonso twirled his mustache, seeming to be extremely proud of being the decryptor of a great anecdote.
"And there is no need to worry about dirt. After His Royal Highness Fananova has finished his ceremony, he only needs to pull the handle of a machine, and the machine will spray out clean water, and in a blink of an eye, all the filth will be flushed into the sewer, and the porcelain altar and barrel will be rinsed. It must be as clean as new, whiter than the snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains. So his bathroom is always clean and fresh. Now, Mr. Sanavria, what do you think about using porcelain as a toilet bowl? Yes, Fan Na Has His Highness Novartis lived too luxuriously, or is Chinese porcelain no longer so noble?"
"The count didn't pay much attention to porcelain," Andrade said. "One time, in order to test his shooting skills, he took out an entire set of Chinese porcelain tableware as a target. At a distance of 25 vars, he used his pistol to shoot those beautiful butter balls. The dishes, the saucepans and the soup dishes were smashed to pieces. If I had done the same shooting practice, I admit I would have been broke within a few times."
Sanavria drank too much and his face turned red. He thought he had found a straw to save his face, so he roared loudly: "Nonsense, a complete lie! It is absolutely impossible for any person, using any pistol, to 25 The Vara hit a saucer at range. Only the most shameless liar would boast so absurdly. I believe that even at half the distance of 25 Vara, he would not have been able to hit anything, even if the target was a dining table."
"Hey, be careful, Mr. Sanavria, you are slandering the reputation of a nobleman, maybe two."
The richest businessman in the colony did not take the warning seriously at all, and the resentment accumulated throughout the party burst out together with the smell of alcohol: "The title of nobility in Italy is only worth 100 ducats! And a forged family tree is not worth so much. money."
"That's true," the governor's secretary resumed his spiky discussion: "I stayed in Naples for a long time. When I left there, I had 119 princes and 156 dukes on my guest list. , 173 marquises, and no fewer than three hundred counts. A Genoese broker or a Venetian gambler who uses the money he won from the card table to buy a piece of barren land in Mezzoggiono will earn himself a It’s a noble title. It’s such a profitable business, it’s worth bragging about.” (To be continued…)
