A moment later, the face of the Spanish minister turned gray. He said a few words to the French minister beside him with a serious expression. The French minister's expression was not very good. After the two communicated with each other for a few words, they quickly walked towards the British minister Andrew Russell, who was still entertaining guests, and then left the banquet.

The sudden departure of the ministers of the two countries surprised the others attending the banquet, and everyone couldn't help but whispering to ask what was going on.

"It seems that something big happened." Diaz said softly.

Iprakin felt the same way, but what big thing happened? He couldn't help but frown.

"Don't worry, sir." Seeing Iprakin's thoughtful look, Diaz smiled and said, "Even if there is anything, it's a matter between Spain and France. What does it have to do with us?"

Hearing this, Iprakin immediately laughed, yes! What does the matter between Spain and France have to do with them? For the Ottoman Empire, neither Spain nor France were all ally, and to a certain extent, both sides were still enemies.

If something big happened in Spain and France, the Ottoman Empire would only gloat and not worry about it. Besides, they are now in the Far East, and something happened in the far Europe could not affect the Far East at all, so Iprakin quickly relaxed.

Diaz continued to talk to Iprakin for a while, then said goodbye and left. When leaving, Diaz and Iprakin made an appointment to recommend him, and Iprakin expressed great gratitude for this.

The following banquet was a little boring, it was nothing more than a group of boring people saying boring words together and testing each other.

Iprakin stayed at the banquet for about half an hour. He was a little bored and prepared to leave. Before leaving, he found the British Minister Andrew Russell and once again invited him to come to the banquet to express his gratitude.

Andrew Russell kept the other party out of courtesy, and then personally sent Iprakin out of the banquet hall. When they were about to walk out of the banquet hall, Iprakin saw Mr. Diaz, who had been talking to him well, raising his glass to him not far away. Iprakin nodded to the other party and expressed his gift.

"It seems that you are having a good chat with Earl Fernando?" Seeing this scene, Andrew Russell asked with a smile.

"Count Fernando?" Iprakin was stunned for a moment, and hesitantly asked: "Do you mean Lord Diaz? Lord Antonio Diaz?"

"Of course! Don't you know the name of the father of the Earl?" Andrew Russell was slightly stunned and answered subconsciously.

"I'm so sorry, I met the Earl at the banquet. The Earl did not reveal his identity to me. He just told me that he was a Westerner living in the Ming Dynasty." Only then did Iprakin realize that the so-called Diaz was not an ordinary person, but an earl. The title of Earl already belonged to a superior noble in Europe. From this point of view, the identity of this Earl Fernando is definitely not as simple as he imagined.

"May I ask, is this Earl of Fernando a nobleman of Portugal?"

Only then did Andrew Russell realize that the other party and Fernando had just met, and they didn't even know the other party's identity. But now, Iprakin asked him about this, and Andrew Russell couldn't avoid answering, and Fernando's identity was not a secret in the Ming Dynasty, and there were many Westerners who knew him.

"This count is indeed a nobleman of Portugal, but his title was not granted by the King of Portugal."

"Does he have the title of the Kingdom of Spain?" Iprakins said. Portugal was occupied by Spain for a long time and even merged into the Kingdom of Spain. Therefore, many Portuguese nobles had the title of Spanish. This is not uncommon, but unexpectedly, Andrew Russell's words surprised Iprakin.

Andrew Russell immediately laughed and said in a laugh that he had revealed the answer: "Your Excellency is wrong. Count Fernando's title was awarded by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, Count Fernando is actually a nobleman of the Ming Empire!"

"This... how is this possible?" Iprakin widened his eyes incredibly. Although he knew that there were many Westerners living in the Ming Dynasty, a Portuguese actually held the title of Count of the Ming Dynasty, which was really unimaginable.

When Andrew Russell briefly introduced Fernando's identity, Iprakin realized that the Earl of Fernando was indeed a nobleman of the Ming Dynasty, and was also a former speaker of Macau, now a senator of the Macau Parliament, and even a minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Iprakin knew about the position of the Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since he came to the Ming Dynasty, he naturally had some understanding of the title of the Ming Dynasty. The so-called Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the position of deputy minister in Western countries. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fernando is also the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"It's really surprising..." Fernando's true identity surprised Iprakin. He keenly realized that the other party used this banquet to talk to him and expressed his intention to introduce commercial channels to him. Then this matter was definitely not as simple as he imagined.

Why did Fernando, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, do this? What is his current situation? Iprakin couldn't figure it out for a while, but judging from the conversation with Fernando, the kindness Fernando expressed was real. Could it be that this is the Ming court's meaning? If it is the Ming court's meaning, why didn't he contact him through formal relations?

On the surface, Iprakin did not reveal these thoughts in his heart. He once again expressed his gratitude to Andrew Russell for his warm hospitality today, and then left the banquet.

Seeing Yprekin get on the carriage, as the carriage drifted away in the night, Andrew Russell's smile calmed down, replaced by a hint of solemnity.

Fernando contacted Iprakin in this way today, which made Andrew Russell notice something was wrong. Moreover, the departure of the Spanish minister and the French minister at the banquet just now made Andrew Russell smell an unusual smell.

Although he did not know Fernando's real intention and the reason why the Spanish and French ministers left, he felt that all this was a coincidence.
Chapter completed!