Unlike the simple loincloths known as kaht, worn by slaves and laborers, the nobles wore shendyts with more design, and the linen material used was vastly different. The fabric was finely bleached, lighter and more comfortable, resembling an elegant pleated skirt adorned with gold thread and inlaid gemstones along the edges. With each step, the fine pleats brushed against the legs, shimmering like the sunlit surface of the Nile.
A servant carefully held up the intricate usekh collar necklace, densely strung with colorful stone beads that jingled as they clinked together. He was about to place it on the chest of the Divine Envoy but was waved away.
Citing physical discomfort as an excuse to rest in the palace, Xin Hexue would not be going out again this evening. He was not eager to adorn himself with elaborate accessories anymore.
The servant gave up on decorating the Divine Envoy with necklaces and other ornaments, instead draping a sheer, cicada-wing-thin outer robe over Xin Hexue and bowing his head to adjust it properly.
“You may prepare the meal now,” Xin Hexue instructed.
Enduring the lingering discomfort in the soles of his feet, he stepped toward the palace entrance where a servant was cleaning up the mess on the carpet.
“What happened here?” Xin Hexue asked, having heard the sound of a cup falling. When he arrived, the wine from the golden cup had already soaked into the carpet, but he was dressing up at the time and hadn’t looked toward the source of the noise.
“His Highness Lord Anakhet was here earlier. I served him the wine from the palace,” the servant replied respectfully, then added uneasily, “He looked like an angry lion but left soon after.”
The servant worried inwardly: Had the wine he served displeased His Highness Anakhet? If so, had he damaged the relationship between His Highness and the Divine Envoy?
Xin Hexue did not pay much attention to the moody royal. After all, he was not a target.
“It’s fine. Next time he comes, let me know first.”
………
In fact, Xin Hexue did not punish Seto after that incident, nor did he forbid Seto from entering the palace.
The situation at the time forced Xin Hexue to focus entirely on cleaning his tail, so he pushed everything else aside.
But when Seto returned from outside, he looked like a guard dog tethered by an invisible chain at the entrance, as if he wanted to replace the guards stationed outside the palace.
Xin Hexue glanced at him and finally beckoned.
Although the royal still stood tall and upright, he inexplicably gave off a dejected air, like a wolf with dull gray hair and dimmed spirits.
Xin Hexue raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise.
It seemed Seto was truly afraid of angering him?
“Hiss!”
Caught off guard, Xin Hexue frowned and spat out a bone trapped in the fish meat.
Seto looked up just in time to see teeth as white as shell fish, and his gaze caught a glimpse of the moist, watery crimson tip of the tongue revealed between them.
The servant attending the meal softly apologized and became even more careful, using a small copper knife and tweezers to separate the fish meat for the Divine Envoy and remove the bones.
But after two or three rounds of this task, his position was taken over by the newly arrived royal.
Seto stood where the servant had been, bending his head to clumsily imitate the actions he had just learned, carefully separating the milky-white cooked meat and cautiously picking out the fish bones.
Only when the tiny bones were removed and placed outside the dish did he seem to have completed a difficult task. Although his expression remained neutral, one could sense his immense relief as he placed the soft, boneless fish meat into Xin Hexue’s bowl.
“Well done,” Xin Hexue lifted his chin and looked at Seto like a noble cat, not withholding his praise.
This was what Rahotep saw when he entered the palace.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, repeatedly confirming that the one using the utensils was his half-brother. Seto was so captivated by the divine envoy he could be coaxed into an embryo.
Rahotep pretended not to notice and stepped into the hall. “The Vizier mentioned the glass during his report today and asked me to convey whether the Divine Envoy would have time in three days to inspect the artisans’ results together…”
“Of course, I am also very interested,” Rahotep said, meeting those calm eyes like the moon reflected in a lake, and chuckled lightly.
………
The finished product was naturally satisfactory. The glass was as transparent as a curved crystal mirror, and the wine in the cup glistened, like freshly picked grapes, still dripping with moisture from the vine.
Rahotep’s fingers brushed against the uneven mark at the bottom of the cup. He lifted his wrist, his little finger supporting the cup right at the uniquely shaped mark.
Golden sunlight streamed through the uneven marks, refracting into Rahotep’s eyes.
He did not comment on it but simply asked the group of respectful artisans, “Can it be mass-produced?”
The lead artisan bowed his head and replied, “Yes, Your Majesty. We have the most exquisite and perfect molds, and our workshops have eternal flames.”
Only then did Rahotep nod in satisfaction. “I want to see people using these at the Sacred Bull Festival celebration. Everyone deserves to receive the blessings of the gods, don’t they?”
He turned to the divine envoy draped in a long robe, only able to glimpse the pink pupils beneath the hood’s shadow.
The divine envoy’s lips were perfectly shaped, with full curves. Rahotep noticed this especially when he caught sight of the faint smile at the corner of Xin Hexue’s mouth under the hood’s shadow…like a crescent moon bay at the heart of an oasis, visible only when the morning mist disperses.
He rarely saw obvious emotional fluctuations on the divine envoy’s face.
By the time he realized it, Rahotep had been staring at Xin Hexue for too long, causing the divine envoy to avert his gaze and the hood fell, obscuring the moon.
“Accompany me for a stroll longer, Iah,” he said.
………
Rahotep soon learned that the surprises Iah brought him extended far beyond this.
For the sake of Iah’s slightly weaker constitution, Rahotep chose a magnificent palanquin for the journey and invited his divine envoy to ride together.
The palanquin was meticulously crafted from resilient acacia wood, covered by artisans with a layer of gold foil that made it gleam like gold in the sunlight. Thin, gauze-like linen fabrics hung from its four corners. The colors were bright, with red, gold, and blue interwoven, embroidered with countless flowers, plants, and a disk-shaped sun.
Only such glorious colors could match the Pharaoh’s majesty.
The velvet cushions were soft and comfortable, stuffed with fluffy feathers and cotton to minimize the discomfort of travel.
When the Pharaoh traveled, his entourage was indeed a spectacular and vast procession. Besides the servants carrying the palanquin, guards, noble officials, and some important attendants walked on either side outside the palanquin.
Xin Hexue glanced outside: the Vizier, Seto, and Nub were walking closer to the inner position.
“The fabrics block much of the sunlight. Does this make you more comfortable?” Rahotep asked the divine envoy beside him in a low voice.
The young man he addressed lifted his hand and brushed back the hood of his white robe, his long hair cascading down like a galaxy. The sunlight, filtering through the colorful embroideries hanging from the palanquin’s corners, dappled his silver hair with gorgeous specks of light.
The hair reached his waist, and as it spilled from the hood, a few strands drifted into Rahotep’s palm.
Smooth and cool.
Due to their close proximity, Rahotep caught a faint scent of sandalwood.
The divine envoy spoke little, and his demeanor was calm. He lifted a corner of the curtain to see the cityscape of Thebes more clearly.
Commoners in the city or servants from noble households drew water from the canals using wooden buckets.
“Do the people of Thebes all rely on this water network for their daily water?” Xin Hexue turned to ask.
Rahotep nodded.
Compared to the former capital, Thebes, as the new capital, still had much room for improvement.
“Do you have papyrus and a reed pen?” Xin Hexue asked.
Rahotep quickly ordered the accompanying scribe to present what Xin Hexue needed. The people here used natural mineral pigments for writing and painting, to be precise, black ink from charcoal powder, and blue ink from cobalt ore.
He spread the papyrus flat and dipped the sharpened reed pen into ink. On the paper, he sketched the city streets and water network they had passed after leaving the palace.
Rahotep knew that since arriving in Thebes, Xin Hexue had traveled a relatively long distance only once, during that trip to the artisans’ workshop with the Vizier. He usually stayed within the palace grounds, so Rahotep was astonished by Xin Hexue’s almost photographic memory.
The streets and water network of the eastern half of the city were outlined in black ink and blue ink.
Xin Hexue lowered his head and lightly tapped with his fingertip. “Small reservoirs can be built at these locations, um…similar to sedimentation ponds, to store excess water during the flood season. After the Akhet season, they can be used for irrigation during the dry season. However, this drainage plan also needs to be integrated with the sluice gate system to achieve precise water level control, and the channel openings must also have filters to prevent silt deposition from entering the main canals…”
He then circled a few other spots.
“If additional branch canals are added in these other areas, water can be distributed to regions far from the Nile. Then, with auxiliary channels and the use of water wheels, water can be lifted to higher arid lands for irrigation.”
‘Considering the preciousness of water resources, further methods like partitioned irrigation would be needed, planning irrigation timing and volume based on land elevation and crop types…’
Xin Hexue fell into thought. He had browsed the crop varieties in the system mall and began considering which high-yield crops could adapt to the local climate conditions.
So much so that his voice gradually trailed off. When he came back to his senses, Rahotep had already filled in this city map, adding the current streets and water network of the western half of the city along his original half-drawn sketch.
Rahotep was familiar with this new capital he had personally chosen. Although he did not possess the divine envoy’s photographic ability, he had measured this land along the Nile River time and again with his own footsteps.
He looked at Xin Hexue, patiently waiting and listening.
Until a commotion of panicked voices arose from the bustling market ahead, forcing the palanquin to an abrupt halt.
Rahotep stood up. He motioned for Xin Hexue to put on his white robe again, then raised his arm and swept aside the hanging woven curtain. After assessing the situation, his face turned cold and stern.
“Anakhet, galloping through the bustling market…is this the royal etiquette you have learned?”
The horse’s hooves rose high and trampled the street, kicking up a cloud of dust in the wind.
Anakhet leaped down from the horseback. Rahotep saw him still holding a man by the collar; the man was prostrate on the road in front of the palanquin, and he quickly raised his head pleadingly to look at him.
“Noble Pharaoh, Lord of the Nile’s lands…”
Rahotep’s eyes narrowed sharply. He remembered this man. He was the envoy who had come to pay homage on behalf of a noble lord during last year’s Sacred Bull Festival celebration.
“Elder Brother.”
Anakhet was about to step forward to explain the situation when he saw the white-robed figure sharing the palanquin with the Pharaoh.
His gaze swept between the Pharaoh and the divine envoy, and a seed of suspicion was planted in his heart.
The envoy’s face was filled with indignation as he reported that the lands of his lord had been frequently attacked and plundered by rebel forces for the past three months. Now, the rebels had also occupied the northern reservoir, controlling the water source of the land.
The military strength within the territory was insufficient to drive away these audacious rebels, which was why he had come to seek the protection of the royal army.
Out of the corner of his eye, Xin Hexue caught sight of a peeper in the chaotic street. When his gaze shifted over, the peeper quickly dodged away, leaving only a swirling cloud of dust stirred up by the fluttering hem of a skirt.
Xin Hexue leaned over and whispered into Nub’s ear beside the palanquin.
………
The peeper was captured by Nub and brought into the divine envoy’s palace after nightfall.
On Xin Hexue’s orders, Nub had carried out both the capture and the escort as discreetly as possible.
The night was deep and quiet.
The slave woman who claimed to be from Assyria demanded to be alone with Xin Hexue.
“I will speak only with the divine envoy.”
She straightened her back, her pronunciation of Egyptian distinct from that of the people of Thebes.
Under Nub’s disapproving gaze, Xin Hexue still dismissed the others, which naturally included Nub as well.
In the flickering lamplight, the slave from Assyria took out the potion she had once shown to the high priest of Osiris, the god of fertility.
The liquid swayed with a mysterious and elusive color in the moonlight.
Using her broken Egyptian, she laid out the old priest’s conspiracy to Xin Hexue in its entirety.
“Why tell me?”
Xin Hexue stood up from his chair and walked over to the slave woman.
She suddenly smiled at him and spoke in a mysterious tone.
It was not the Egyptian language, so Xin Hexue did not understand.
She looked at him, her smile growing even sweeter.
………
The slave woman hid in the shadows of the cliffs far from the palace complex. She bit on a reed pen, rolled up the written papyrus scroll, and tied it to the left foot of a golden eagle with a thin rope.
She patted the golden eagle’s back.
Spreading its powerful wings wide, the golden eagle flew against the wind from the Mediterranean Sea, heading north into the night.
——”You are a beautiful guest from heaven.”
This was what the slave woman had said to Xin Hexue in Assyrian at the time.
Now, she had to think about how to invite this beautiful guest to Lower Egypt?
The smile on the Assyrian slave’s lips was like sweet, dripping honey. But thinking about having to go back and deal with the old priest’s people, her smile disappeared.
………
Nub returned to the palace once again. “Divine Envoy, should we just let her go like this? If you change your mind, I will capture her again. I only need your command.”
Xin Hexue shook his head. “It’s just a misunderstanding, Nub. She is a pitiful person.”
Nub still felt that the slave woman’s behavior was suspicious, but he would not question Xin Hexue’s decision.
As for that potion…
Xin Hexue recalled the eerie color of its swirling liquid.
He already learned its effects from the slave woman.
He didn’t confiscate it and let the slave woman go without any cost. If nothing unexpected happens, things will unfold as the old priest’s conspiracy intended.
But before that happened, he had to consider: since it had such an effect…
Who could serve him?
Without mercy, Xin Huexue threw out the dice that the artisans had gifted him for his amusement.
“Plop!”
With a soft sound, it sank into the bathing pool.
