Chapter 14: The Visitor at Night

By the warm light in the furnace, Zhao Mian was sitting in the corner of the basement making the final trimming of the ribs in his hand, he carefully adjusted the bending degree of the blade with a forging hammer, leveled the small flaws caused by the final quenching, and then began to quietly wait for the blade to cool down completely.

The night in the Middle Ages is always very quiet, and the low-class residents who lack night entertainment always go to bed early, even the only remaining bustling port area in London has now completely entered the dark realm, and this moment of London seems to have stepped into a dark fairy tale, quiet and full of imagination.

But in the middle of the night, there are always some people who have not slept, and Zhao Mian, who is still guarding by the fire, is counted as one, and the two girls in the other room are counted as the other two.

Richelieu was holding peppermint oil and looking for possible loopholes in the room - although she wasn't afraid of rats, or even rat infestations, the other girl she lived with didn't have the same physical fitness as her, even if she looked like she had some kind of feline gene.

Compared to Richelieu, who was already very familiar with this era, Jiu Yuan, who lacked a lot of relevant knowledge, was rushed to Richelieu's bed that had been made and re-made - although it was only a bed made of animal skins and washed cloth, but it was already too much of a pleasure for the ordinary people in this era. She held a thin clean quilt in her arms—though it was only the product of haphazardly filling cotton into a simple quilt cover made of cloth, but cotton was a new thing bought at the market during the day, and it was already one of the most expensive luxuries for this era, and for London now, there was only a small supply—her eyes unconsciously chased Richelieu in a daze as she rummaged through the room, her tail swaying leisurely from side to side. But her eyes quickly slipped away from Richelieu's body, and she was fixed on the naval saber that Richelieu usually wore at her waist, and her eyes flickered, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Miss Jiuyuan, what are you thinking?" Soon, Richelieu, who had finished inspecting the last corner of the room, put down the peppermint oil in his hand, and the situation of the other person in the room naturally caught her attention, and she walked over and waved her hand in front of the other, waking the other person from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Startled by Richelieu's call, the long wagging tail suddenly stopped in the air, and it took her two seconds to realize who was standing in front of her, so the tail behind her began to wag from side to side again, "Ah, it's nothing, just thinking about what kind of weapons and equipment I'll get tomorrow." She gestured to the saber on the table beside her, "I'm not very good at using this kind of knife, although it has the same arc as my usual weapons, but it's not very easy to use, and I think the scimitars or broadswords worn by ordinary soldiers are a little better than this weapon - although not very accustomed." ”

"Well...... Ah......" Richelieu nodded hesitantly, "I think ...... You see, although the weapon is not very handy, Mr. deduced that you are using Japanese kendo just from your body shape and attack style, right? He should have some knowledge of this genre, so even if he can't make a sword that is the same as the weapon you used in the past, it should be something suitable for you. ”

"......" looked at Richelieu wordlessly for a long time, and then sighed slightly, "Forget it, it's useless to complain to you about this, if the weapon doesn't fit, just complain to Mr. Mian tomorrow, anyway, according to his temperament, he will help me modify it." ”

"Yes, yes, if it's a gentleman...... Wait. Richelieu nodded, taking over the conversation as a matter of course, but suddenly reacted halfway through, "What do you mean by this?"

"It's nothing, let's sleep. Jiuyuan shook his head, and then naturally fell back, holding the quilt to cover his body, only the tail stubbornly emerged from the edge of the quilt, and the tip of the tail hung on the edge of the bed and trembled gently.

"......" Richelieu looked at the quilt with his mouth open and stopped, but finally he could only shake his head and give up the idea of continuing to talk. She looked back at the sky outside the window, and a dark cloud was rapidly departing from the corner of the window.

Tomorrow might be a good day, she thought so she closed the window and prepared to change into her pajamas and rest, but it was at this moment that there was a clear knock at the door in the quiet of the night.

Who would it be in the middle of the night?" Richelieu frowned and thought for a moment, but a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts, so she picked up the lamp, put on her saber again, and went downstairs—without exception, the knock came again.

"Who?" Richelieu asked through the door, his right hand, which was not holding the lantern, but already grasping the hilt of his saber—it was not a rare sight to see masked robbers of passing caravans in this chaotic time, let alone two of their three female dependents.

"Ah, beautiful lady, good evening. However, the voice from the other side of the door was not the rude voice of the farmer and the robber, on the contrary, both the wording and the wording showed that the man was quite educated, "I'm sorry to visit late at night, but I have an urgent matter to discuss with Mr. Zhao, if he hasn't fallen asleep, can you tell me what? Of course, if he's already asleep, then I'll come back tomorrow during the day." ”

It sounds like a local official in England, but it's usually not a good thing for these guys to visit in the middle of the night - most of the time because of the bribes and covert dealings that the agents take for granted at the time. Richelieu frowned and thought of this, she knew that Zhao Mian didn't like to deal with these officials very much, so although she knew that Zhao Mian should still be busy with her own affairs now, she didn't want to report this matter, not to mention that it was not a smart thing to open the door in the middle of the night, so she was ready to refuse at her own discretion.

But Zhao Mian's voice came from the basement, "Richelieu, take the guests to the reception room on the first floor, and I will come up after extinguishing the fire." ”

"Yes sir. So the words that were supposed to drive away the guest naturally turned into a response to Zhao Mian before they exited, and she also reached out to open the door.

"Ah, good night to you again, ma'am. Your blonde hair brightens up the night too. Outside the door, a man took off his hat and saluted her gentlemanly.

It was a slick businessman - Richelieu immediately came up with his first image - The man wore a black round hat, a blue gold-veined silk shirt covered by a black cashmere coat, which was one of the most typical and magnificent looks of this era, but this dress revealed a trace of comical feeling on the merchant's body, because he stood up straight, and the top of his head was just reaching Richelieu's chest, his body was like a living tumbler, and there was no hair on his head, reflecting the moonlight in the night, and the hooked nose and thick eyebrows on his face intensified this funny feeling, coupled with the business smile that had not slipped away from the corner of his mouth, it was even more relaxing。

But as Richelieu's gaze took off his body, he immediately tensed his nerves again—around the man, eight young men armed with improvised weapons fell to the ground crookedly.

"Ah, a little gift, don't worry about it, their companions will come and pack it later, that's their rule. The man noticed Richelieu's eyes and continued to smile unconcernedly.

"Inside please. Richelieu nodded expressionlessly, then stepped aside and welcomed the man in. She didn't know where the other party came from, and she didn't know what the other party wanted to do, but since Zhao Mian was willing to see him, then she would welcome him in.

It took less than thirty seconds to lead the way, after all, this room is not too big, but even in this short thirty seconds, the man chattered about all kinds of topics, trying to arouse Richelieu's interest in chatting - but only Richelieu's tight-lipped mouth responded to him, so he could only close his mouth quietly, looking at the hot tea brought by Richelieu, waiting for the appearance of the main owner, fortunately, Zhao Mian did not let him wait for a long time, he quickly extinguished the fire, finished his work, and walked out of the basement.

"Oh, isn't this dear Mr. Zhao? I've admired your name for a long time. As soon as he saw Zhao Mian's figure appear from the door of the room, the man greeted him warmly, he waved his hand, and made a kind appearance, "Down there is Naziza, as you can see, just a humble businessman. ”

"Really?" Unlike Nazza, who looked kind, Zhao Mian had a lukewarm expression, he beckoned to Ricse to leave him to make a cup of coffee, and then sat down on the chair opposite Nazza, "So, what are you doing with this so-called 'humble businessman' looking for me?"

"Since you are a businessman, you are naturally here to talk about business. Naziza continued to smile kindly, looking at Zhao Mian in front of him with his harmless face, "Although it's embarrassing to say, I recently received a very good deal, and I can make a lot of money with a little bit of the procedure." ”

"Oh, isn't that nice? Zhao Mian nodded indifferently and responded insincerely.

"yes, it's not often that a good deal like this is made. Nazza sighed a little and said, "It's a pity that when the deal is about to be completed, someone jumped out and snatched this great deal." ”

"But since you're in business, there's always a risk. Zhao Mian continued to reply expressionlessly, "How can there be a trade in this world that is profitable and does not have to take risks." ”

"If you say so, that's exactly what it is. "But you must know that this is a businessman, but in all business competitions, we can sit down and negotiate a price that is acceptable to everyone." What's more, this goes out by friends, everyone is polite to each other, give each other some face, and there is no need to be embarrassed when they meet on the road in the future. ”

"If it's embarrassing, don't see it, not to mention that peers are enemies, how can it be good to do the same deal, whether it is to raise prices or compete for guests, it is a friendship that will turn its face sooner or later, it is better to tear your face early, and it is better to not get along with each other. Zhao Mian replied coldly.

"Mr. Zhao, you're not right. The competition between doing business is competition with each other, but since we can make money in harmony, then why do we have to fight to the death? And even if we do the same business, we can still do different things, you sell your cotton coat, I sell my silk shirt, and there is no conflict between each other, right? Nazza said with a grin.

"But ah, Mr. Nazza. Finally, Zhao Mian's cold face loosened a little, he sighed a little helplessly, and leaned towards the other party, "Generally speaking, we don't trade human lives and souls as currency and property, after all, the right to life is a right that a person must enjoy as a human partner. ”

"Mr. Zhao, what you said is not right. Naziza's smile became more and more kind, "Isn't the trade going well in the south? Hey, Barbados just bought another 3,000 slaves two months ago, and their sugar there is really very popular lately." ”

"Well, you're right, but that's not about me, and it's not about you. However, Zhao Mian shook his head, "The plundering of the colonies by the European powers is an inevitable thing, but what they capture and sell is only the bodies of black people, and the souls of human beings will not be bound by iron chains, and they will eventually be free." ”

"But where is the freedom after two hundred years?" Nazza asked, "and even the blacks themselves are selling their fellow citizens, who do not deserve the mercy of civilization." ”

"If you have to ask, the slave trade will end in 1890. Zhao Mian shrugged his shoulders and continued unconcernedly, "But about this, I agree with you, they are not worthy of pity, not only them, but any country and merchant involved in the slave trade now are not worthy of pity, they are dressed in the cloak of civilization and do the most primitive and ugly things, and they also use all kinds of luxurious items to decorate their purity, it is ridiculous." — but that's not why I'm going to go along with them, or why I'm going to agree with you. ”

"Okay, Mr. Zhao, it seems that I can't convince you. Naziza looked at Zhao Mian with a blink of eyes, and then sighed regretfully, "It's a pity, if we could have reached a consensus, we could have done a lot of things." ”

"Are you leaving, Mr. Nazza?" Zhao Mian asked.

"Of course, since there is no way to continue my business here, I have to go to the next place. Nazza shook her head regretfully, looking a little pitiful.

"Alright then, but I have something to discuss with you before you go. Zhao Mian stood up, looking like he was going to send off a guest.

"What is it? Mr. Zhao. Nazza also stood up, and he picked up his hat and put it on his head.

"I'll lend you a head. Zhao Mian said this sentence flatly, and before the words fell, Grosag's blade had already cut through the air, and Naziza's flesh and skin, as if it had punctured a balloon filled with black smoke, Naziza quickly dried up, turning into a sky of black smoke, and in the midst of that smoke, a huge monster with two horns on its forehead looked at Zhao Mian with its bright red eyes.

"We don't have to do that. Its voice rumbled, like an echo from hell, and it was still full of regret.

"But I don't see any other way, because I'm not going to cooperate with the devil, and I can't let you hurt anyone else. Zhao Mian stepped forward, and the blade of Grossag split black smoke and passed through the monster's body.

"You can't kill me, human. The devil shook his head, "Don't waste your efforts. ”

"Really?" Zhao Mian shook his head amusedly, and a white flame began to ignite on Grosag's blade, and the black smoke dissipated everywhere.

"What is this?" the devil screamed, and dispersed into a room full of black smoke, which began to rush out from the cracks of the house, but the white flames followed the black smoke closely, and burned all the way, and the devil's screams were far away before they disappeared completely.

Zhao Mian shook his head a little boredly, patted the dust on his body, and then reached out to take the coffee handed over by Richelieu.

"Is that guy dead, sir?" asked Richelieu, standing beside him, with some curiosity.

"It's so easy to die. Zhao Mian shook his head, and then took a small sip of coffee, "It's just to temporarily drive him out of this world, and he will be able to recover in about two hundred years and reappear." ”

"Oh, got it. Richelieu nodded, and began to take out his cleaning tools and began to clean up the black ash that had fallen from the room.

And Zhao Mian drank the coffee in his hand little by little, feeling the silence of the night coming again.