Chapter 456: Doña Marina

“That’s true. Speaking of which, many of the captives this time are not Spanish. I don’t think they are that loyal to the Catholic King—they are just the type who will serve whoever feeds them.”

The two did not continue this discussion. Using European captives was a sensitive topic. Before getting a sense of the Senate’s direction, no one was willing to reveal their true thoughts first.

To change the subject, Chen Haiyang said, “I heard they captured a Spanish foreign woman this time. That’s a rare thing…”

“I find it strange too. Why would a noble lady be on a ship to the Philippines?”

“How do you know she’s of high status?”

“She has several servants, lives in the sterncastle, and has many boxes of valuable luggage,” Qian Shuiting had already read the mission report written by Lin Chuanqing and the others. “She can’t be an ordinary person, can she?”

“No matter how noble, what use is she to us?” Chen Haiyang smiled. “I’m just afraid there will be another commotion over a woman.”

Although the elders more or less had a Han chauvinist tendency, and when they mentioned Europeans, although they didn’t go as far as Liu Zheng and Xiao Bailang, who would say “white humanoid creatures” and “white-skinned pig-devils,” they were still somewhat dismissive. However, they were all extremely enthusiastic about white women. Once, Yu E’shui, after drinking too much, said that many elders were actually followers of the “foreign woman worship cult.” The three words “foreign woman” were like a G-spot trigger. Whenever someone mentioned it on the BBS, there would be hundreds of replies.

This Spanish woman who had fallen from the sky was less of a beautiful prize and more of a ticking time bomb.

“It’s not a big deal. Just sell her off according to the spoils of war disposal regulations. Everyone can bid freely, and the highest bidder wins,” Qian Shuiting said nonchalantly. “If you think that’s still not enough to settle things, just send her to the Zhiminglou in Lingao—serving the public will solve the problem.”

“The Queen would be furious and directly accuse you of insulting women…” The two chatted idly as they walked along the road.

While they were discussing the disposal of the foreign woman, in the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, information about her had been compiled and placed on Li Yan’s desk.

The Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s interest in this young lady was natural. In this era of dangerous sea travel, a noble lady would rarely risk a sea voyage—let alone from the already developed American colonies to a new colony like Manila! Only some very necessary matter would drive her to do so.

Combined with the large amount of luggage she was carrying, it became even more apparent that her trip to Manila had some long-term purpose, not just a short visit.

According to their interrogation of the captain and other senior crew members and a review of the passenger list, they already knew that this young lady’s name was Doña Marina de Arellano, the daughter of a “peninsular.” The captain only knew that she came from a Dominican convent near Mexico City that specialized in taking in girls of noble birth. The person who had entrusted him with her had instructed him to deliver her safely to Manila, and he knew nothing else.

This situation caught Li Yan’s attention. Combined with the discovery of a far greater than usual amount of mercury on the ship, Li Yan believed that something unusual was happening in Manila.

Therefore, he immediately went to meet with Jiang Shan to report this situation, asking Jiang Shan to go to the Executive Committee on his behalf to request that this Spanish girl not be disposed of according to the “Spoils of War Disposal Regulations” for the time being, but be “frozen.”

“She could be very useful!” Li Yan said. “If her hair is shaved, it will be very troublesome to use her later.”

He was referring to the fact that if they were to allow her to be ransomed or to use her for certain tasks, a “purification” measure like shaving her head would be extremely humiliating by the standards of this time-space, and it would be difficult for a family of noble birth to accept.

“You’re right. There are quite a few mysteries on these two ships that we don’t know about,” Jiang Shan said. “I’ll go to the Executive Committee right away.”

All the Spanish prisoners from the two ships were being held in the temporary detention center of the Bopu quarantine area. Yang He had already provided the basic inventory data: excluding those who had died from worsening injuries on the way, there were a total of 289 prisoners who had entered the quarantine area, including 4 women. The rest were men, the youngest being eleven years old, a cabin boy, and the oldest sixty-five, the captain of the San Raimundo.

Although a detailed interrogation had not yet been conducted, from their skin color and appearance, it was clear that not all of them were Spanish. Some had typical yellow-skinned faces and were likely native sailors from Southeast Asia or the Americas.

Although the Executive Committee had decided to screen and interrogate them before deciding their fate, cleaning their filthy bodies was an essential first step. The staff of the quarantine camp quickly got busy.

Doña Marina de Arellano sat alone on a long bench fixed to the ground, waiting for “purification.” Following the education she had received in the convent, she kept her head slightly bowed in humility.

This shed could originally accommodate a hundred “to be purified” native women waiting. Now, there were only her and her three maids.

The three maids sat in a row of chairs behind her—just as on a normal day, maintaining their silence.

Although Mrs. Tolosa said nothing, Marina could still feel her stern and vigilant gaze on her back.

This hateful witch! Marina thought secretly, sincerely detesting this chaperone who had been with her since New Spain.

Mrs. Tolosa was a widow—a widow of many years, deeply religious and very devout, who regarded carnal desires and worldly temptations as the greatest sins. Thus, she had become the ideal chaperone for young ladies and young wives in the eyes of respectable families.

Marina had grown up in a convent in New Spain. This convent specialized in taking in young ladies from noble families, providing them with an education until they could be taken out by their families to be married. Those who could not or would not marry would remain in the convent and take vows to become official nuns.

Because the girls were mostly of noble birth, and their families often paid large donations for them, this convent was not as strict in its rules and austere in its life as ordinary convents. If one disregarded the excessive religious activities and the year-round boredom of not being able to go out, life in the convent was not difficult to bear.

In comparison, the days spent with this chaperone after leaving the convent were even more unbearable. Mrs. Tolosa monitored her every move like the strictest jailer. Any slight gesture that was considered frivolous would be met with her “reminder”—if not a “rebuke.”

She even forced her to keep her hands outside the covers when she slept—”to prevent us from touching our sinful bodies!” Marina remembered how ashamed and angry she had been when Mrs. Tolosa had said such a thing to her face. Although the nuns had said similar things, they had never forced her to do such a thing.

But she knew she had no right to resist Mrs. Tolosa—this woman had been personally chosen by her father, and her entire life depended on her father, so she had to endure Mrs. Tolosa’s “company” with resignation.

Even being captured by pirates couldn’t get rid of her! Marina cursed silently!

Although she had been afraid and terrified at first about being captured by pirates, her mood had gradually calmed down after boarding the ship. Although these pirates looked very strange and had incredibly fast ships that spewed black smoke, they were neatly dressed and disciplined, no less so than the best Spanish troops from the peninsula.

As long as they were not a group of ferocious and ignorant rabble, she had nothing to fear. With her birth and status, any rational pirate would surely treat her with courtesy in order to demand a ransom, and her family would pay a sum of money to ransom her. It was just that she would inevitably be delayed in this unknown, simple, and desolate place for a year or half a year.

As for Mrs. Tolosa, her father would obviously not pay a ransom for this humble woman. You can be a slave here. At the thought of what fate would befall the sanctimonious Mrs. Tolosa, a slight smile even appeared on her lips.

However, it had been several hours since they were brought down from the ship to this “pirate camp.” But not a single “pirate” had come to assign them a place to stay, which Marina found very strange.

The entire prison camp seemed very lively. From the other side of the high wooden fence, the sounds of men and women talking—all in a language they couldn’t understand—could be heard from time to time, interspersed with curses and shouts, and occasionally the wails and cries of people.

These sounds made the originally calm young girl’s heart fill with fear again, and she couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

What she didn’t know was that this delay was due to a dispute between the intelligence bureau and the quarantine camp over “whether to shave their heads.” The intelligence bureau, for certain reasons, believed that only necessary cleaning was needed, but Yang He insisted on shaving all their hair.

This dispute was reported all the way to the Executive Committee before a clear answer was given: “You don’t have to shave their heads, but they must be washed thoroughly!”

“This is an irresponsible order!” Yang He muttered, then called over a few of his most capable and sturdy middle-aged women and relayed the order.

“Wash that young foreign woman’s hair properly!” Yang He ordered fiercely. “Prepare a few more fine-toothed combs and comb it dozens of times! Don’t be stingy with the soap and hot water. Wash it clean!”

The staff nodded. The team leader asked, “What about the other three?”

Yang He sneered. “Do you even need to ask? Shave them all—not a single hair left.”