Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 999 Nobles
The carriage passed through the city of Lisbon and arrived at the Royal Palace of Portugal.

This royal palace is not the Gruz Palace located in the suburbs of Lisbon in later generations. At that time, the famous Gruz Palace was not even visible. The king and the royal family lived in the Sintra Palace in the northwest of Lisbon. The construction of this palace began during the reign of John I and was not completely completed until the reign of Manuel I. At first, it was built as a summer palace for the royal family, but later Portuguese kings moved into the Sintra Palace and liked it very much. As time went by, the royal family rarely lived in the Old Palace in downtown Lisbon and lived here most of the time.

The Sintra National Palace is mainly Gothic architecture, which also incorporates Portuguese style. The building has a towering spire and white exterior walls, and can be distinguished from a long distance.

When the carriage arrived at the Sintra Palace, the gate outside the palace wall had already been opened, and two rows of court attendants were waiting there to welcome the distinguished guests.

After entering the gate, the carriage drove along the road further inside, passed through the lawn garden, and then arrived at the palace gate. It slowly stopped in front of the steps, and the waiter in court costume opened the door and invited the guests to get off.

Because of the diplomatic occasion today, Wang Fuzhi specially wore the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty, wearing a scarlet robe, a black gauze hat, a jade belt around his waist, and a fourth-rank cloud crane embroidered on the chest of his uniform. With his official rank, the highest promotion he could have been was only a minister of the imperial court, and he should not have been able to wear a scarlet robe, but before the mission, considering his special status as the chief envoy, Zhu Shenzhu specially granted him the privilege of wearing a fourth-rank scarlet robe embroidered with a cloud crane.

As for Zheng Hongkui, he was much more flamboyant. As a senior general of the Ming Dynasty and a man of nobility, Zheng Hongkui did not wear military uniforms, but instead wore an imperial dragon robe. The two of them stood together, one looked solemn, while the other looked noble. But no matter what, their attire and decorations were unprecedented in Europe at that time, and their clothes, including every detail, reflected the magnificence and mystery from the East, especially the exquisite patterns embroidered on the clothes, which made everyone present stare at them intently.

"Dear Excellencies, please follow me. His Majesty is already in the palace to welcome you." A well-dressed noble stepped forward, saluted politely, and then said with a smile. Wang Fuzhi and his friends had met this man before. He was Count Alfonso who had invited them on behalf of King John IV of Portugal.

Accompanying Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui to the banquet was Viscount Adolf, who was also one of the invited guests today. After meeting, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui saluted each other solemnly, and then followed Count Alfonso into the palace.

When they walked into the palace, the attendants standing at the palace gate "rolled their names" in a high-pitched voice. Although Wang Fuzhi did not understand Portuguese, he could guess something from the other party's posture and style. After all, similar etiquette also existed in the Ming Dynasty. He smiled and nodded slightly, then walked in.

Entering the palace, the first thing you see is a huge space, which is where the king summons his subjects or holds banquets. Because of their arrival today, almost all the prominent nobles in Portugal were invited to the palace for the banquet, and when they heard the roll call at the door, those who were discussing the topic enthusiastically before stopped talking and turned to look towards the door.

With the appearance of Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui, everyone stared at them intently, especially at their un-European attire and manners.

"Are these two the envoys from Ming Dynasty?"

"The one wearing red is a scholar from the highest official literary institution of the Ming Dynasty. He is also a close minister of the Ming Emperor. I heard that he is a candidate for the future prime minister of the Ming Dynasty. The other one is said to be the distinguished earl of the Ming Dynasty. He is also an admiral of the navy."

"Oh my God! Look at their clothes, are they all made of silk? They are so beautiful! And these exquisite patterns, can you tell me how they were embroidered?" Those who subconsciously made such exclamations were a few gorgeous ladies. Unlike other nobles, they did not care more about the other party's identity, but instead focused on the other party's clothes and costumes.

When seeing these clothes which were completely different from those in Europe in terms of style and design, the ladies' eyes sparkled with stars, and they even wondered what these gorgeous clothes would look like on themselves. If it weren't for the guests' distinguished status, they might have stepped forward and asked directly.

Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui were both people who had seen the world, so they were naturally not afraid of the scene before them. They walked forward steadily with square steps, their sleeves waving, and were then led to the front by Count Alfonso.

"Your Excellencies, this is the King of our Kingdom of Portugal, His Majesty John IV." Count Alfonso led Wang Fuzhi and others through the guests and came to John IV who had been waiting for a long time, and introduced him to them with a smile.

John IV is a middle-aged man in his forties. Today, the king is also dressed in gorgeous clothes, with a round red cross medal with a white background hanging on his chest. He has short reddish-brown hair and a neatly trimmed moustache. Although he is not tall, he stands out from the crowd, exuding the majesty and solemnity of a superior.

On the king's left is his wife Queen Louisa, and on their left and right are several young men, women and children, who appear to be the king's princes and princesses.

According to etiquette, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui stepped forward to pay their respects, and King John IV accepted their greetings with a smile on his face, and then took the initiative to communicate with them enthusiastically. "Dear guests from the East, as the King of Portugal, I am very happy to welcome you at the Sintra Palace. I hope you will spend a wonderful day at the Sintra Palace and feel my earnest hospitality as the King of Portugal."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your hospitality. It is our honor to be your guest here." Wang Fuzhi said neither arrogantly nor humbly. He had a very good first impression of the king, and the atmosphere on the scene became more harmonious.

Then, John IV personally introduced his wife and family to Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui. John IV had four sons and two daughters. Except for the youngest, Prince Pedro, who did not attend the banquet because he was too young, all the other children were here.

In addition to their children, there is also a son-in-law, this young baron is the husband of Princess Catalina. At first, Wang Fuzhi didn't care, just thought that the other party was an ordinary nobleman, but when he heard the identity of the other party during the introduction, Adolf showed a look of surprise, which made Wang Fuzhi pay attention to this young nobleman. It seems that this young nobleman's identity is not simple!

After a brief meeting, everyone started chatting. John IV welcomed them for coming to Europe from the Ming Dynasty and talked about their journey.

When two parties meet for the first time, they mostly exchange pleasantries. Although they appear to be very warm, their conversation is superficial, which is normal.

After all, it was the first time for the Ming envoy to come to Europe, and John IV was also the first envoy to be received by the European royal family. For this reason, the whole process was warm but also cautious and tentative. Although John IV wanted to talk more with the other party about the purpose of the Ming envoy's mission and hoped to have diplomatic communication with the Ming through everyone's contact, he was worried that it would be inconvenient to talk about these things on their first meeting, so the conversation was just some ordinary words, or what he saw and heard.

Wang Fuzhi and his friends responded to the other party's questions and talked about the other party's topics without going into details. Overall, the first meeting was very good for both parties. In addition, this was a public banquet, so everyone maintained their own etiquette and stopped at a superficial level.

The atmosphere of the whole banquet was harmonious. Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui were the focus of everyone's attention. Their demeanor and manners also left a deep impression on the nobles present. While attending the banquet, Wang Fuzhi and his companions also brought several gifts to John IV. When they saw these exquisite gifts, everyone was amazed. The value and craftsmanship of these gifts were unprecedented in Europe, and they had never seen them before. Even King John IV was surprised by such noble gifts.

The banquet started in the afternoon and ended in the evening. According to the court banquet in Europe, there should have been a dance party, but considering that the distinguished guests were from the Eastern Ming Dynasty, the customs of both sides were different, so the subsequent dance party was not held.

After the banquet, John IV personally saw them off from the palace. Wang Fuzhi and others bid farewell to John IV at the door, boarded the carriage they came in, and rode back to their residence in the city of Lisbon.

"Adolf!"

"Ah..." In the carriage, Adolf did not talk as enthusiastically as usual. Instead, he looked thoughtful after getting on the carriage, as if he was thinking about something. Seeing his expression, Wang Fuzhi couldn't help but call him, but Adolf didn't react at first, until Zheng Hongkui, who was sitting next to him, gently touched him, and then he looked up blankly.

"My friend, what's wrong with you? What are you thinking about?" Wang Fuzhi asked curiously.

Adolf smiled, thought for a moment and asked back: "Do you remember Princess Catarina's husband when King Joao IV introduced his prince and princess just now?"

"Haha, of course I remember. I still remember that you showed a surprised expression when I introduced you. Although you quickly concealed it, I saw it clearly. What? Is this person of a different identity? Or is there some problem?" Wang Fuzhi asked with a smile.

Adolf smiled bitterly and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this young man's identity is indeed different. I really didn't expect that he would appear in the Portuguese royal palace and become the husband of Princess Catarina and the son-in-law of King John IV."

(End of this chapter)