“Iah…”
A low murmur during a rest break echoed within the palace.
A palace servant stepped forward and inquired, “Pharaoh, the Vizier requests an audience.”
“Hmm, let him in.”
Rahotep pressed his forehead. For some unknown reason, after closing his eyes for a brief rest during a break from handling governmental affairs, he woke up with a stinging pain in his temples.
It felt as if he had been struck by something hard.
He withdrew his hand. Though his fingertips showed no trace of blood, his forehead throbbed with pain.
Recently, such hidden pains have occurred frequently. The physicians could not diagnose any illness, leaving only one possible explanation…
His twin brother, with whom he shared extreme pain.
It was precisely because of this that Rahotep’s thoughts grew increasingly heavy.
The Vizier entered the palace and presented a papyrus scroll.
“Your Majesty, the envoy we sent to Nubia has returned a letter today.”
Rahotep swiftly scanned the contents of the letter, and the message within caused his brow to gradually furrow.
The envoy who had reached Nubia had gathered the latest information in the royal capital.
The old king was gravely ill, and several princes were vying for power and influence. The capital had fallen into chaos. At this critical moment, an unexpected event had occurred.
A warrior bearing a token had come to seek an audience with the old king.
Both the golden amulet and the warrior’s golden eyes indicated that he was of the purest royal bloodline.
For some unknown reason, however, according to the accounts of the old king’s servants, one corner of the golden amulet was missing. But this did not shake the belief that the warrior was the son of the old king and his youthful lover, who was also the old king’s sister.
Nubia and Egypt were neighboring countries with similar customs and beliefs. In their view, what could be more pure-blooded than the child of royal siblings? Who could be more suited to inherit the throne?
Rahotep’s eyes darkened as distant memories from his childhood were awakened.
If he remembered correctly, the only sister of the current old king of Nubia had been sent to Egypt during the reign of the previous king to form a marriage alliance, and she had quickly given birth to a child.
However, when Rahotep was very young, he had heard that this consort had already died of illness in the palace, and her only child had been discovered drowned in a pond not long after.
The incident had not caused much of a stir. After all, at that time, the Pharaoh of Egypt had hundreds of consorts and subsequently fathered dozens of children. It proved that even the consort and child from the neighboring Nubia were insignificant.
The death of the Nubian princess in the Egyptian palace…it was hard to say whether this was a significant reason for the exceptionally poor relations between Nubia and Egypt over the past twenty years.
But if that child had indeed drowned back then, who was this token-bearing warrior now?
Rahotep believed the old king was not so ill and senile that he could not recognize his own child. That left only one possibility: this warrior was truly the old king’s offspring, and his death in the Egyptian palace had been faked to facilitate escape.
Golden eyes…
Rahotep recalled a face with Nubian features.
That person often followed beside the Divine Envoy to ensure his safety. Yet, after severely wounding Anaket some time ago, he had vanished without a trace…
Nub.
The slave who had followed the Divine Envoy back from the Aswan quarry.
Rahotep remembered the night he first met the Divine Envoy. An explosion at the Aswan quarry had allowed several Nubian prisoners of war to escape across the border under cover of darkness, returning to Nubian territory.
In other words, Nub might have been involved in the explosion and had the opportunity to return to his homeland that very night. Yet he had chosen to follow the Divine Envoy instead.
It was difficult to believe that this hidden Nubian royal had pure intentions.
And he had actually tolerated this potentially scheming Nubian royal hiding in his palace, right under his nose, for so long!
Rahotep’s expression darkened.
The bronze mirror on the nearby wall reflected a handsome face unable to conceal its emotions, almost consumed by jealous fury.
The papyrus scroll crumpled in his hand, emitting a harsh sound under the force.
The Vizier, unaware of the reason, asked quietly, “Your Majesty, what is your intention?”
Rahotep took a deep breath, swallowing back all his churning emotions. His face returned to its usual calm and rationality.
He asked in a deep voice, “Have you read the contents?”
The Vizier replied affirmatively.
Rahotep: “This newly returned prince is the most likely to inherit the throne, but this is also the most unfavorable situation for Upper Egypt.”
After all, his mother had died in the Egyptian palace. A blood feud was not an obstacle easily overcome.
If Nubia were to attack Thebes from the rear while Upper Egypt was mobilizing forces to attack Lower Egypt…
Rahotep would not allow a third party to profit while two others fought.
“Have the envoys attempt to make contact with that prince.” Rahotep rose from behind the desk and walked to the window, looking north through the shutters. “Just say that Upper Egypt is willing to form an alliance and cooperate with Nubia to welcome back the Divine Envoy currently in Lower Egypt.”
The Vizier straightened up. Although puzzled, he still obeyed the Pharaoh’s command. “Yes, I will reply to them immediately.”
After returning from the eerie temple, Xin Hexue started pondering the words he heard there.
‘Forget-Worry Incense?’
From Taibesha’s account, it was an unusual fragrance that was difficult to quit.
Attempting to quit would drive long-term users mad. That was how the Red King’s mother had died.
The forget-worry herb mentioned by Taibesha was likely the raw material used to make the incense.
And this unusual incense was probably traded by Lower Egypt to Assyria for many years.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain Lower Egypt’s much more magnificent and luxurious palaces compared to Upper Egypt’s, as well as the numerous horses in its territory that were not native to Egypt.
At this time, horses were not native to Egypt. To cultivate large cavalry and chariot forces, horses could only be obtained through trade with distant peninsula kingdoms.
They sold the unusual incense to the Assyrians in exchange for vast amounts of money, treasures, horses, and iron tools.
Servants pushed the small boat into the lake, creating rippling circles on the water.
Just as Xin Hexue stepped into the boat, his hand was grasped by a man who had hurried to the shore.
Shamule stood on the bank, his figure was to the light so shadows fell across his sharply defined features.
His casual gaze swept over the surrounding servants before finally settling on Xin Hexue. “Ankh Ir, where are you going?”
Xin Hexue hesitated for a moment. “Just going to see the view from across the Sacred Beast Lake.”
Their hands were joined, and since the back of his hand was exposed to sunlight outside his white robe, his skin began to feel a slight, uncomfortable itching sensation.
Shamule turned Xin Hexue’s right hand, covering it tightly. With another pull, Xin Hexue had to lean toward him. Shamule then placed his left hand around his waist, half forcing, half embracing as he led him away from the boat.
Xin Hexue stepped back onto the sandy ground.
“The other side is just medicinal fields. There’s nothing worth seeing, and some poisonous plants grow there.” Shamule looked into the distance. The center of the lake held a small island, and beyond it, on the far shore, grew large patches of purple plants. Guards patrolled the paths between them. He narrowed his eyes slightly and mentioned casually, “Uraeus seems to like going there.”
Shamule knew he didn’t like Uraeus.
Or rather, it wasn’t specifically about Uraeus…the Divine Envoy simply didn’t like snakes.
So, by saying this, Shamule’s purpose was simply to prevent Xin Hexue from going to the so-called medicinal fields.
Xin Hexue could now be certain that what grew there was the “forget-worry herb” mentioned by Taibesha that day.
And Shamule was very wary about it.
Having been caught, Xin Hexue temporarily set aside his plan to investigate further.
“It will be noon soon, and the sun will be even stronger. That’s not good for you.” Shamule, as usual, ignored the eyes around and scooped up his Ankh into a horizontal carry. His firm steps left prints in the sand. “Let’s go back. The servants are already preparing lunch. In recognition of Tisis’s recent hard work, I’ve granted him permission to dine with us today.”
As he spoke, he remembered Tisis’s habit of clinging to Xin Hexue without regard for propriety, and dissatisfaction spilled into a sneer. “I want him to remember to maintain respect when he’s with you. To respect the Pharaoh’s Ankh just as he respects the master of Lower Egypt’s lands.”
Shamule planted a kiss on Xin Hexue’s forehead. Then, he tucked up a corner of the white robe’s hood, ensuring no sunlight would touch the Ankh’s skin.
Xin Hexue silently leaned against his shoulder and neck, and the dependent posture pleased Shamule greatly.
Looking over Shamule’s shoulder, Xin Hexue stared at the land across the lake. That was the key, the key to making Shamule completely open his heart to him.
……
Once lunch ended, Shamule couldn’t wait to shoo Tisis away, as if driving off some cattle or sheep. His treatment of this half-brother was consistently cruel.
Tisis swallowed his anger and left. Outside the palace, his personal attendant Kran was waiting for him.
Shamule glanced at the papyrus scroll on a nearby desk.
There was a line of incomprehensible text, characters that did not belong here.
If he could recognize it, he would have known that the Chinese characters written there were: “The noble-minded think of virtue; the small-minded think of comfort. The noble-minded think of the laws; the small-minded think of favors.”
But naturally, he couldn’t recognize it. He merely took it for the Divine Envoy’s special language. Fortunately, its meaning was written below in familiar hieroglyphs.
Xin Hexue seemed to have taken over the role of the teaching scribe, initiating Tisis’s education. However, what he taught were things that scribes neither would nor dared to teach the Pharaoh’s brother.
Shamule twisted the jade ring on his finger. “Has my foolish brother been causing you trouble?”
Xin Hexue looked at him. “There is no need for worry, Your Majesty. Prince Tisis is very obedient and quite intelligent.”
He instructed the palace servants to clean and organize the ink, brushes, and paper on the desk for Tisis’s next visit.
Shamule occasionally listened in, but ultimately did not pay much attention to the ideas and written content Xin Hexue imparted to Tisis. However, there was one phrase he particularly liked.
He stepped forward and embraced Xin Hexue. Before Xin Hexue could avoid it, the distance between them closed instantly, leaving no space for even one more person.
Shamule lowered his head, his nose coming closer. He resembled a large dog, using his nose to approach and explore Xin Hexue’s face until their breaths merged and intertwined, an intangible amorous atmosphere forming around them, making them inseparable.
Their waists pressed tightly together, like twin lotus flowers growing from the riverbed’s silt.
In such a situation, gazing into those tranquil pink eyes, Shamule couldn’t help but have an illusion that…
His Ankh also loved him, just as he loved him.
Shamule’s throat was filled with desire, and he said in a hoarse voice, “Say my name, Iah.”
This distance was too close. Xin Hexue turned his head away somewhat uncomfortably, but his eyes glanced toward the other party, the ends of his eyelashes curling like small fans, which was inexplicably alluring. “…Shamule.”
Shamule tentatively repeated a phrase Xin Hexue had once mentioned in front of Tisis, which roughly meant, “Slap first, then reward with a sweet date?”
Xin Hexue looked at him in confusion. “What about it?”
Shamule smiled. “Let me calculate how many sweet dates my Ankh owes me.”
Xin Hexue pointed to the fruit platter on the table, filled with fresh, glistening fruits beaded with water. “Help yourself.”
Shamule’s smile froze. “No, not those.”
“But since Ankh has already allowed me to help myself…”
The grip around Xin Hexue’s waist loosened. Before he could move away, a hand lifted his chin, followed by a kiss that fell like a thunderstorm. It was as if suppressed thunder had rolled in the sky for several rounds before finally crashing down, pouring torrentially onto the vast ground, drenching Xin Hexue completely.
Thin lips, burning with heat, ground their way from his eyelids to the corners of his mouth.
Shamule pried open the Divine Envoy’s teeth, feeling as though he were prying open a clam’s shell, plunging directly into the tender, soft flesh inside.
The Divine Envoy’s pushing resistance could not withstand his assault, and he soon went limp in Shamule’s arms.
Kissing alone could no longer fully satisfy Shamule’s desire. He caressed the slender body in his arms, feeling the pulse and body heat under his palm. It was so soft, with a thin, delicate back.
He didn’t know how to control his strength between light and heavy, and Xin Hexue suspected his waist and back might have become red from Shamule’s kneading.
“Lighter…” Please
The word was blocked between their lips and tongues, unable to be conveyed.
Xin Hexue was forced to tilt his neck back, his eyelashes fluttering, like a butterfly’s trembling wings in the throes of its death.
His long fingers pressed against Shamule’s chest, curling slightly in agony. “Stop…”
“That was only one.”
Shamule’s voice was low and hoarse as he pulled back slightly.
This did not mean he was satisfied. The brief retreat was only to allow the pitiful Divine Envoy to breathe.
Xin Hexue’s chest heaved as if he couldn’t catch his breath. Something flickered in his eyes, but when he looked back at Shamule, it had vanished without a trace.
Suddenly, Xin Hexue pressed down on Shamule’s hand on waist. He led him behind the curtains, cutting them off from the outside world and leaving only the two of them. Xin Hexue led him by the hand until they came to the bed.
The rustling sound of fabric rang out.
Then, the already thin cloth fell, pooling in a layer around the bare ankles.
The legs were straight and long, and as their owner slowly pressed them together uncomfortably, they looked even more exquisitely shaped.
Shamule’s eyes traveled upward from below, his breathing gradually growing heavier. “Ankh Ir?”
The flowing silver hair, like snow, hid the two rosy points on his chest. The owner of the body, however, swept the long hair aside indifferently, tossing even this last shred of modesty behind his back.
“Shamule.”
Xin Hexue took a step forward. This made it seem as though he were unconsciously thrusting his chest out slightly, the rosy peaks coming into view even more clearly. His body, more perfect than any alabaster statue, was redefining the world’s understanding of allure.
Yet his eyes remained clear and calm. “As you wish.”
His attitude seemed indifferent, no matter how the person before him seized and plundered, biting and licking until not a patch of good flesh remained on his body.
Beads of sweat, tinged with heat, slid from Shamule’s forehead down to his shoulder and neck. He suppressed his breathing, and his shoulders slumped, staring at Xin Hexue for a long time before finally releasing his grip and left without looking back.
Xin Hexue picked up the clothing from the ground and quietly dressed himself.
He had offered himself up, yet the man didn’t want to seize and plunder?
What was the reason for this?
“Strange.”
K muttered: [Perhaps the target person is physically deficient.]
Xin Hexue curved his lips into a smile and let it go.
Shamule’s physical feature was almost piercing through his loincloth. It made no sense to say he had problems in that aspect.
If his performance wasn’t the issue, and Shamule wasn’t the issue either, then what was the reason?
Xin Hexue had found it strange the last time as well. Although he was injured in the leg then, Shamule didn’t seem like the type to restrain his desires.
Could it be that the man’s thing was ugly?
But he had even seen double ones before. Xin Hexue didn’t think anything could be more hideous than that.
Besides, Shamule definitely wasn’t the type to feel insecure about such things.
Could it be related to the Forget-Worry Incense again?
Xin Hexue wasn’t confident about this guess, but he should really go investigate.
He had already found out from the attendants that between early dawn and sunrise, there was a longer shift change period on the opposite shore of the Sacred Beast Lake. Because the night dew was heavy, the path was unclear, and the guards were drowsy, the soldiers on the later shift habitually slacked off, only taking their posts when it was almost light.
This time gap was very advantageous for Xin Hexue.
Moreover, Shamule never spent the entire night in the Meret Palace. He always left in the latter half of the night.
…..
The quiet depths of night arrived. A small boat rowed to the opposite shore of the lake. Near the full moon, the yellow-tinged moonlight was hazy. A slender figure stepped out from the boat.
The purple plants spread out, occupying the entire field. They looked like a lavender field, but they were slightly taller, reaching a person’s waist.
Xin Hexue’s hearing was sharp. Rustling sounds came from afar. Surprisingly, there were several figures busy working in the field.
The previous shift of soldiers had already left. This place should have been empty.
One of them, hearing the sound of waves from the lake, turned to look in this direction.
Strange accents vaguely carried on the wind, seemingly calling to companions, and another voice responded.
The language they spoke was not Egyptian.
‘Outsiders?’
A snow-white long-haired cat hid beneath the swaying Forget-Worry grass, observing the surroundings by moonlight.
The Forget-Worry herb was indeed an unheard-of and unseen plant. Its slender stems stood upright, with leaves concentrated on the upper part. Both the stems and leaves exhibited a purple hue.
Xin Hexue pounced on several stalks of Forget-Worry herb and pinned them under his cat paws, forcing them to submit and lie flat instead of standing tall.
At the top of the Forget-Worry herb were several oval flowers with a fuzzy surface.
The pink nose sniffed, then the white cat retracted its neck and shook a few times.
The small cat’s head shook violently, and a tiny sneeze erupted within the grass!
The startled Forget-Worry herbs bent over in the wind.
Uncertain if those people had noticed the commotion here, Xin Hexue prepared to move to another location.
But as he raised his head, he met a pair of snake eyes.
The white cat immediately hissed and arched its back toward the intimidating object, its fur standing on end like that of an ancient spinosaurus!
Uraeus flickered its crimson forked tongue. Its keen sense of smell detected a familiar scent on this cat. It tilted its head, somewhat confused why the human it liked had turned into another creature.
It slithered forward.
The distant moon continued to shine in the sky.
On the ground, amidst the Forget-Worry herbs, a snow-white cat occasionally leaped up, only to plop back down again.
The busy outsiders did not notice the commotion here, but the distant dawn was approaching. At the end of the path, the figures of soldiers, small as black dots, had already appeared and were walking this way.
Xin Hexue darted around, hiding east and west, leaving afterimages as he scurried through the grass field. His cat paws pushed off against a nearby tree, scratching the bark and leaving several claw marks.
He had just shaken off the snake, which all cats disliked.
While surveying his surroundings, he took a step back and stepped on something unusual.
Before he could react, someone casually pulled the cloth bag. Noticing the soldiers approaching in the distance, they only thought to lower their voice and alert their companions, not even noticing that a cat had fallen into the bag.
The group fled in panic, like thieves sneaking around.
…..
A bonfire burned through the night in the camp.
This place was the border of Buto, a place rarely visited, and was desolate all around.
Several large cloth bags were filled with Forget-Worry herbs, their openings tied with knots, piled in the corner of a tent.
The nine people in the camp chattered while eating meat.
“All ten bags are stuffed full. Even without weighing, it should be at least ten kilograms, right?”
“Returning to the Assyrian capital, we can exchange it for at least five times its weight in gold. Those nobles are completely captivated by this incense and are willing to pay anything.”
“Wealth is about to flood toward us!”
As the sky began to lighten, the bonfire burned down to mere embers. Someone entered the tent, untied the rope of a cloth bag, and prepared to take inventory.
“Ah!”
The person exclaimed in surprise, prompting companions to lift the tent flap to look.
“A cat! A cat!”
“Who brought back a cat?”
The person jumped around and mumbled anxiously.
He was speaking Assyrian. Xin Hexue didn’t understand, but he could sense his panic from his body language.
It seemed it wasn’t entirely because he had discovered a cat in the opened bag.
More panicked sounds came from outside the tent.
The man inside the tent also ran out to look and immediately let out a mournful cry!
The rising sun ascended from the distant hillside, and the darkness was still concentrated on the horizon.
It wasn’t black soil deposited by the Nile, but a dense formation of soldiers!
“Those damned Egyptians! Their ambition has swollen; do they intend to attack Assyria?”
“But this direction… it seems to be coming towards us!”
“Is this necessary? There are only nine of us!!”
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, you forgot the cat.’
“Meow.”
