When she saw the special crossed arc mark on the note, she quickly crumpled it into a tiny ball, stuffed it into her mouth, and swallowed it. Then she quietly asked her female assistant:
“Who gave this to you?”
The assistant replied in a low voice:
“It was your fashion designer. He is just outside the hall.”
Hafsa nodded, tried on the new dress casually, and hurried out to the hall, where she saw a young man bowing respectfully to her.
“Mr. Zaganos, right? I am very satisfied with your dress.” Hafsa put on an air of arrogance and deliberately walked away from the guards, “I would like to order a few more dresses for formal occasions from you.”
“Ah! It’s my honor!” Zaganos promptly bowed his head and followed. If Joan were here, she would have recognized him at a glance as Isaac, the agent from the Police Affairs Department.
Hafsa asked in a low voice:
“What’s the matter?”
Isaac looked back at the guard, spoke in an inaudible whisper, “There will be a rebellion soon.”
“What? Does it involve him?!”
“Don’t worry, he is safe,” Isaac said, “However, he asked me to tell you to find an appropriate time to inform the Bey about this.”
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“Ah? Why?”
“You will know the details later. Right now, you just need to remember to inform the Bey of the rebellion within seven days. Also, there are some clues that you can use…”
“Right, the styles will definitely be close to the latest trends.” As Isaac passed by several guards, he spoke loudly, bluffing his way through, then whispered urgently, “Madam, the crucial part comes after this. Once the war begins, you must convince the Bey as soon as possible to…”
Hafsa kept her composure, but her heart was in turmoil as she committed every word of “Mr. Zaganos” to memory.
After he finished speaking, she quickly interjected, “Tell him I’ll take care of it. He should be extra careful himself.”
“Very well, madam.”
…
Algiers.
On the northwest coast of Dahra.
The sky was overcast. At a three-story palace with high columns and onion-shaped domes painted entirely white, a team of Imperial Guards wearing orange robes arrived at the archway door framed with gold trim. The leading officer politely knocked:
“Lord Eunice, do you have any orders?”
It was labeled as asking for orders, but it was actually a routine check. Such checks were conducted three times a day: morning, afternoon, and evening.
Although Eunice was closely associated with the Algiers Navy, he was also the “cash cow” of the Algiers Guard.
More than twenty years ago, Muhammad Ibn Hussein and his brother Hamoud Ali borrowed the forces of the Algiers Guard to return to Tunisia, seizing the position of Bey.
As per the agreed “borrowing fee,” Tunisia would pay an annual tribute of 50,000 riyals to the Algiers Guard thereafter.
Eunice, as the bargaining chip to assert pressure on the Bey of Tunisia to pay on time, was “protected” by the Algiers Guard.
However, Eunice was also quite influential, managing to establish connections with the Navy, forcing the Guard to allow him to live freely in Dahra but absolutely forbidding him to leave.
There was no response from inside the house, so the officer increased his volume:
“Lord Eunice, are you asleep?”
After asking three times with no answer, the officer exchanged a look with another officer and instructed the soldiers to break open the gilded door.
Inside, the house was empty.
The officer was alarmed, immediately blew his whistle, and in no time, fifty or sixty guards of the Imperial Guard rushed over from various directions.
“He’s gone! Search quickly!”
In less than ten minutes, the soldiers had relayed back: not only was Eunice himself gone, but his son, two daughters, and personal servants had all vanished from the palace.
The bodies of four Imperial Guards responsible for patrolling were also found.
The officer turned pale with fright and personally leaped onto the horse’s back to report to his superior.
Soon, more Imperial Guards arrived, blockading all nearby roads, while Cavalry chased towards the harbor—if Eunice did not leave port, there would still be hope.
In the night, more than twenty horses desperately raced towards Dahra harbor. Given the low responsiveness of the Algiers Guard, only so many Cavalry could be mobilized in a short time, and at that moment, more officers and soldiers were still at home, not even fully dressed.
Twenty minutes later, the Cavalry finally saw flickering torchlights from afar.
The leading officer spurred his horse forcefully and then drew his saber, shouting loudly, “Prepare to intercept! And remember, except for Eunice, anyone who dares resist, kill on sight!”
“Yes!”
Just as they were closing in on seven or eight horses ahead, suddenly, a row of dense flashes popped out of the dark night, followed by a series of thunderous “booms.”
Three members of the Algiers Guard fell off their horses in response, while the others reined in their mounts in terror, dodging to either side:
“It’s muskets. There’s an ambush, be careful!”
“What do we do? They seem to have quite a few people…”
“Eunice has gotten away!”
“I know! Secherie, go back for reinforcements! Piri, sneak over and scope out the situation!”
“I… yes, sir!”
On the other side, Prusper from the Police Affairs Department, after firing once, immediately called his men to mount up and rode in the dark towards the harbor.
They were only 14 men—that was almost the entire police force of the Police Affairs Department in Algiers.
They had no idea how many pursuers there would be and could only hope that firing their two guns per person at the same time in the dark would intimidate the enemy.
By the time the Algiers Guard realized those in ambush had already left, it was already a matter of fifteen minutes later.
And by this time, Eunice had already reached the harbor.
The pursuers from Algiers quickly divided their forces, with some heading straight for the harbor’s cannon batteries and others going to inform the Navy to dispatch ships to intercept.
Before long, an oar-and-sail ship of the Navy spotted a small boat moving. At this time of night, it was unusual for anyone to be at sea.
They immediately sounded the alarm, yet the small boat quickened its speed, heading towards the open sea.
On the oar-and-sail ship, an officer of the Algiers Navy ordered the cannons to be loaded and issued a final warning to the small boat. Meanwhile, at no great distance, a cannon battery that had received the signal also readied itself to destroy the small boat at any moment.
Just then, within the veil of night, a colossal form suddenly loomed, sprawling across the sea’s surface like a prehistoric beast.
The oar-and-sail ship of the people of Algiers hadn’t reacted yet when the massive shadow spouted strings of fire, followed by several columns of water, meters high, erupting in front of the oar-and-sail ship, violently shaking it with the waves it cast up.
“It’s, it’s a warship!” exclaimed the commander of the oar-and-sail ship before hastily ordering his subordinates, “Retreat! Retreat immediately!”
He was clearly aware that the cannonballs were at least 24 pounds. If they had been struck by one just now, their light patrol ship might have been torn in two on the spot.
The sea’s “giant beast” was none other than the “Avant” of the French Navy, a fourth-rate ship of the line!
Seeing the oar-and-sail ship rapidly retreating, the “Avant” also made a slight turn, allowing its port side to face the shore’s cannon batteries, quickly breaking out into a salvo.
In fact, the ship’s cannons would struggle to inflict substantial damage on a cannon battery, especially since the British had recently helped reinforce Algiers’ cannon batteries and added many large-caliber heavy cannons. In a barrage contest, not to mention a fourth-rate ship, even a first-rate ship would be no match for these cannon batteries.
However, the tremors caused by hits on the cannon battery and the dazzling cannon fire and terrible booming sounds in the night frightened the Algiers gunners so much that they couldn’t aim properly and hastily ignited the gunpowder.
The British cannons’ shots mostly fell about half a mile away from the “Avant.” Meanwhile, the small boat carrying Eunice had already reached the side of a French Escort Ship.
Several ropes were thrown down from the Escort Ship. Eunice immediately leaped, grabbed a knot, and climbed aboard.
The French sailors pulled Eunice’s family and the people from the Police Affairs Department onto the ship and immediately set sail for the open sea.
Behind them, the Algiers Navy finally reacted, with seven or eight warships’ oarsmen rowing furiously, while the sails were also slowly hoisted.
However, the “Avant’s” cannon fire soon had them scattering to escape—these light warships, with at most 18 cannons, stood no chance against the 60-cannon “Avant.” Not even the Escort Ship assigned for shallow waters pickups could compete.
The two French naval ships sailed straight north and, upon reaching the high seas, immediately implemented light discipline, leaving their silhouettes to vanish into the dark ocean.