Chapter 19 Chapter 18 Portraits

Without electrical appliances, the Internet, sound, color, light and shadow, time will always pass more slowly.Ivy broke the crown symbolizing the power of Lower Egypt, and tried to put on a cool and calm look in front of others. In fact, she was very anxious. She lay on the bed and thought she would not be able to sleep, but she didn't know. If you worry too much, you will not worry.After drinking the goat milk tea that she made for herself, she had just put her head on the pillow, but within a few minutes, she had completely lost consciousness and was sound asleep. This time the sleep was deep and long, and she didn't even have a dream. Thinking about it later, she might have slept until the evening of the next day—if Ramses hadn't come back to find her in the morning of the next day.

When he came, she was still curled up in the bed and fell asleep, but she always felt that something was wrong. She opened her eyes in a daze, but suddenly saw Ramses sitting quietly by the bed, his amber eyes flashed. He looked at her for a moment, but said nothing.She was so frightened that she almost didn't come up, but he raised his hand and threw a stack of papyrus onto her bed.What appeared to be portraits of men, at least dozens of them.Ivy looked at the inexplicable portraits in her hands, and then at him.He sat on the stool beside her bed and stared at her, "Look." She couldn't figure it out, so she opened the papyrus paintings and looked at them one by one.It seems to be portraits of dozens of different foreign men. Although they look very different, they have some things in common, such as very white skin, sunken eye sockets, and slightly maroon pupils.

But she still didn't understand why she was asked to watch this.So she raised her head and looked at him again, only to find that he had been watching her carefully—no, perhaps it would be more appropriate to say observing herself.She was taken aback for a moment, and he had already looked away without any trace, and said lightly, "Is there no one you know?" Hearing this sentence, she seemed to finally wake up completely, and then remembered their dispute last night and the incident where she broke the crown.After a long pause, she didn't answer.Seeing her silence, he took those portraits back, gathered them hastily, and said indifferently: "Since there are none, I will take them away."

Ivy quickly received, "Can I see them with my own eyes? Just looking at the portraits is not enough to confirm." He glanced at her, and the corners of his mouth curled into a cold and elegant arc, "It may not be convenient now, but don't worry," he looked at her, and said comfortingly, "If I find someone more similar, I will come back to you for confirmation." .” Ivy felt that his attitude was a little slower today, at least this was the first time after asking him to bring the portrait back to her for so long.A little relieved, he thanked him, returned the painting in his hand, and sat waiting for him to leave.But he said lightly: "Don't worry, talk about something serious."

He threw the painting aside casually, and took out a pair of broken golden crowns from his arms.As soon as she saw the body of the snake that was thrown almost out of shape, Ivy's expression froze there.His voice was very clear, engraved into her heart word by word, "Why did you break Uarras's crown?" Ivy was silent for a while, and finally explained in a low voice: "It's fake anyway." He looked at her for a while, and then moved the tiara a little closer to her line of sight, "Open your eyes and see, this tiara is not a copy." As soon as this sentence came out, her voice suddenly became terribly sober, just like the uneasiness in her heart, she repeated again, "Isn't this a copy?"

"There is only one pair of them in Egypt—now you broke them, what are you going to do?" She looked at him in disbelief, and then her eyes fell on the crown again.Dou mentioned that this was made by Ramses, so it should not be the unique Lower Egypt crown.She looked up at his slightly annoyed face again, and couldn't tell who was lying for a while, so she had to ask again dryly: "What exactly do you want me to do?" "I don't want to say such a thing for the third time." He put the crown aside, "There is still time to repair it, but you explain to me why you broke it."

"I'm not……" "If it didn't fall to the ground with all its strength, it would be impossible for it to shatter like this." Before the words of sophistry could be uttered, he was completely blocked back.After hemming and hawing for a long time, she couldn't even find a clumsy reason, so she could only mutter, "I'm sorry." Then, as if to hide her embarrassment, she raised her eyes again and confessed helplessly, "No matter what you plan to ask me to do , I just don’t want this tiara. It belongs to Her Royal Highness the Queen of Egypt, your great wife, what are you using it to stimulate me to do now. It’s not enough to use me as a pawn to make a layout, even the most basic respect can you give. "

She summoned up the courage to speak, but as soon as she spoke, the room was completely silent. He frowned, looked at her, assessed her thoughts, and after a while, he said, "I don't understand." Ivy was taken aback, pretending to be stupid?It's amazing, to be able to pretend like this. She was silent for a while, and his eyes were still full of confusion.Suddenly, he turned his head and stopped looking at her, "I understand." "you understood?" He stood up and looked down at her.His tall body blocked the light from behind him, and his expression was hazy.

"Please remember what I said. Just tell me what you want. Even if you don't beat around the bush, I will try my best to satisfy you." Ivy didn't understand this time, but before she had a chance to ask the question, he had already turned and left. Since then, he seems to have suddenly become busier, and his visits to her have plummeted.Kemitor still came every day to explain to her the identification and production methods of gems, but he was also very careful not to mention the matter of Ramses that day.Judging from Komitor's few words, she probably knew that he was busy with various matters of the enthronement commemoration ceremony, so she proposed to go out for a walk, or at least have a look at Anafetti, but in the end she was severely punished. dismissed.Before, at least he would find a reason, but now the reply becomes, "Before the enthronement anniversary, I can't go anywhere."

In the name of protecting her, in fact, she has been placed under house arrest.Thinking of this, I feel that "things are not good". When he said "I understand" that day, what exactly did he understand. Once isolated from the outside world, it is easy to lose attachment to the real world, weaken your sense of control over the things around you and become helpless and tense.The days slipped by in the quiet flow of time.Soon, there are still three days until the coronation ceremony.Ai Wei felt that she would go crazy if she stayed like this any longer. She must take the opportunity to sneak out of the palace to have fun and see what was going on in the world.

The day was sunny and breezy.Kemitore was in a good mood and explained the basic polishing theory of gemstones in front of Ivy, and then he took his two little apprentices and prepared to go back home.Before leaving, Ivy stayed behind to drink some wine sent from Upper Egypt, and she couldn't help but feel quite elated.So I didn't realize that one of my little apprentices was tied up by Ivy and locked on her bed, and one of the two apprentices following her was disguised as Ivy. When she found out about this cheating, she had already led the two of them back to Komitor's workshop in the city of Thebes in high spirits.When she quickly explained the task to the two of them as usual, she suddenly realized that one of the little apprentices was exactly Ivy's appearance.She stood there in a daze, pointing her fingers stiffly at that exquisite face, unable to speak, but at this time another little apprentice had already knelt down on the ground and said in a crying voice: "It's really Your Highness! The command……" Ivy blinked, patted Komitor's petrified shoulder, and said with a smile: "Forget it, I forced them, and I didn't want to learn more about gems from you." Ke Mituoer was a little happy when he heard this compliment, and then suddenly sank down, "Although you are happy in this way, if His Majesty finds out, I won't be enough to die ten times..." Ivy paused, then smiled, "He's so busy, he won't know. Besides, I'll be back on time." Kemitore scratched his head, and then said to the bewildered little apprentice standing beside him, "Go to Mick and bring me back ten rubies, and buy me two pieces of sandpaper." The little apprentice nodded hurriedly, wishing he could get out of the wrong place. "Wait." Kemitor stopped him impatiently, "Just pretend you don't know what happened just now. No one came to my place this afternoon." The little apprentice was stunned for a while, then nodded frantically again, and then quickly ran out the door. She turned her head again and said: "Your Highness, I think you didn't just come here to see the gems. You can go wherever you want, but you have to go back to the palace as soon as possible. My little apprentice is tied to your on the bed, probably fainted from fright." But Mitoer is very smart, and Ivy finds it easy to talk to her.So she didn't say any extra explanations, she just grinned and patted her on the shoulder, "Then I'm leaving, I'll be back before sunset." Although after several twists and turns, she finally gained a short period of freedom. Her footsteps could not keep up with her happy and relaxed heart, and she almost started to trot. Ascension Day sounds like an exciting celebration.Ramses ascended the throne at the age of twenty-five, followed by a long reign of sixty-seven years.October 22 in the Gregorian calendar every year is the anniversary of his acceptance of the red and white crown that unites Upper and Lower Egypt.Ivy couldn't figure out the difference between the ancient Egyptian calendar and the modern one, but from this celebration, it can be roughly explained that it is autumn in Egypt. After stepping out of the gate of the studio, and walking not far, the festive atmosphere immediately greeted me.Although not comparable to the commercial metropolis of Memphis, Thebes is also the largest political, cultural, religious and economic center in Upper Egypt.This time, because of the visit of diplomatic missions from various countries, Egyptian businessmen also made great efforts to set up various stalls.The cries of selling came one after another, and the exhibits were unprecedentedly internationalized. People from all over the world walked back and forth excitedly in front of the booth, and Ai Wei nimbly shuttled through the gaps between them relying on her thin stature.Occasionally looking up, a huge fortification was being built near the temple in the distance, and she would occasionally hear reverent comments from passers-by as she walked, such as the young man standing in front of her carrying fresh fruit. "Your Majesty is going to expand the Temple of Karnak this time." "It's really exciting. Your Majesty is the incarnation of God. He will definitely bring us the prosperity of Egypt and the love of God Amon." "I heard that His Majesty is going to build a new temple in Abu Simbel." "Really?" "Cush has surrendered, of course we need to put something up there to let them know that Egypt is not easy to mess with." "Your Majesty is so great!" "Hey, stop chatting and come over here to help!" When they spoke, their eyes sparkled with excitement, and their words were filled with supreme respect for Pharaoh.If their father hadn't called them to help in a rough voice, perhaps they would have continued to talk so excitedly. It's an amazing feeling.She seems to be experiencing every scene described in the book - live version.The great achievements of Ramses, the peak period of Egypt's New Kingdom era, the establishment of Karl Medina, the reconstruction and development of the temples of Karnak, Luxor and Abu Simbel, every scene is as accurate as expected, and vivid Live as if beyond imagination. History has finally returned to its proper path.She replaced a real person in history, small but truly embedded in this time and space. If history continued, he would have ruled the country for another sixty years before succumbing to dental problems.He would marry a hundred concubines, including his sisters, daughters, Hittite princesses, daughters of prominent nobles and even beautiful dancers. He will have six children with Nefertari. Although the last one who inherits the throne is the child of an unknown concubine, everyone knows that he only loves his queen. On his newly built Abu Simbel Temple, there will be a The statue of Queen Nefertari - the only large statue of a royal family member in Egyptian history. "I really wish I had a bad memory." The surrounding crowd flowed slowly like a tide, and Ivy looked at the Karnak Temple under construction.Attack Syria in the east, conquer Cush in the south, and the battle of Kadesh that will take place three years later.Everything is advancing relentlessly.No matter how many there have been in the past, there will only be one in the future, and that is the truth infinitely proved by the remaining ruins three thousand years later. It remained deeply in her mind, coldly engraved in the truth of history. "Hey, why are you here?" A sarcastic neutral voice suddenly rang in his ears.The familiar voice made her startled instinctively, but she didn't immediately realize who was speaking.Before she had time to look for that person, she was turned around by someone holding her head. Then, she saw those eyes that were like deep black stones in the cold stream. "Little girl, you can make a lot of trouble. I haven't seen you for a few days and came to Thebes." Nasar lowered his eyelids, pulled her face indifferently, and watched her grinning with interest. "I heard that you were personally spotted by Ramses? You have been here for so long, your identity hasn't been exposed yet, wait..." He let go of her face, took a half step back, held his right arm with his left hand, and propped up his chin with his right hand, looking at her. "Why are you wearing a dress that only maids wear... No, you give me a different feeling. Are you really working in the construction institute?" "That Sal?" Ivy paused for a long time before popping out such a word. Nasar was very disappointed, his face sank suddenly, "You are so happy that you don't remember who I am after only ten days." But then, Ivy rushed forward crying, and hugged him tightly, "Na Sal, where have you been? You disappeared suddenly, I thought I would never see you again." Nasar's heart softened, but the people in the surrounding market looked at them and couldn't help joking with him with kind smiles.He rubbed his temples, let her hold her, and said briskly, "I didn't expect you to mean this to me." With just this one sentence, Ivy let go of him like an electric shock, and just as he was in a hurry to explain, he smiled and said: "Just kidding, kidding. Don't you know if you stay here? Now it's Ramesh It’s the anniversary of King Si II’s enthronement, at this time, of course I will be in Thebes, and it’s not for you.” "Why are you 'of course' in Thebes?" Ivy looked up, repeating his last words. Nasar said that he gave him a different feeling than before. In fact, for her, Nasar who appeared in front of her made her almost unrecognizable.Although he was wearing a long white robe that seemed to be very common in Egypt, he had a very exotic machete pinned to his waist, and on his wrist was an ornament she had never seen before.Even if she doesn't understand gems, she can tell at a glance that they are excellent things.The golden-green headband that he had taken off after arriving in Deir Medina was now put on his forehead again, and the golden thread was thinly embroidered with the pattern of a lion waking up. I seem to have an impression of such a special painting style in my mind, but it is not very clear.Coupled with the many doubts he left before, Ivy is sure that there is an unusual background behind him, but her knowledge is not as rich as an encyclopedia, and she can guess his life experience by seeing his attire and habits. Nasar was stunned for a moment, but it was only for a quick second, probably because he didn't expect Ivy to ask himself in this way.Soon, he resumed his daily ridicule, "Well, you stupid girl would ask this, and I didn't realize it all at once. But you should answer me first, how is your life? The Egyptian Academy of Architecture There can be no women." He looked at the costumes of her Egyptian palace maids again, and his slightly raised eyes showed his doubts about her.Ivy's scalp was numb, and it was indeed difficult to explain.She was a little embarrassed, and Nasar didn't urge her, but just looked at her with a smile that was not a smile.The two were silent for a while, but he suddenly changed the subject, "Princess Ivy, who you care about so much, seems to be back." "what?" He chuckled, and then said slowly: "The Egyptians believed in the theory of reincarnation. They seem to believe that her soul returned to Pharaoh's side through other bodies. The whole of Deir Medina is talking about this matter." He raised his head. Looking at Ivy's blue eyes, "They said that although Princess Ivy has a brand new body, her facial features are surprisingly similar to before. Except for the color of hair and eyes, it can be said that she is the same person." Ivy looked back at him, not knowing what he wanted to do, she didn't dare to answer rashly. So Nasar continued: "I was very curious, so I dragged my friend to find me a portrait of Princess Ivy." As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized clay tablet from his chest, and covered it Chao Shang handed it to Ivy, "As a result, I didn't expect that it was not the first time I met that princess. This world is really small, isn't it?" The clay plates are finely crafted, with fine lines and almost lifelike colors.However, the moment her eyes fell on it, Ivy couldn't help covering her mouth tightly, almost screaming like that. Skilled craftsmen carefully draw a delicate face on it.The girl was thinking sideways, her straight silver hair made her clean face softer.The thick eyelashes blocked a pair of slightly drooping eyes, and the exquisite lips were slightly pursed, as if he hesitated to speak. The person who drew this girl must have observed her very carefully. From this simple picture, the viewer can even feel the faint sadness surrounding her and the deep loneliness emanating from her. This girl is herself. The clay version itself is light golden yellow, and under the sun, the girl's hair looks like the sun's rays.No, the artist deliberately used a thin layer of gold to make her hair shine golden against the silver background. She was too surprised, she couldn't hold it firmly, and the clay tablet almost fell off. The young man next to him reached out to take it, and held it together with her hand, "Be careful, I have to return this painting to the master." Her panicked face was reflected in her dark eyes, and a faint mocking smile appeared on the corner of Nasar's mouth, "Nefer Tali, I didn't believe it at first, but now I see you walking around in such a skirt Go, I have to believe it. It turns out that you are the reincarnation of the so-called Princess Ivy. Did you sneak out this time? Could it be that you also sneaked out in southern Egypt to be in danger?" He spoke as if he knew everything, his handsome face had an expression of indifference, but at this moment, he looked particularly terrifying in Ivy's eyes.Ivy stuffed the clay version back into his arms, pulled out her hand, took a step back in a panic, and tried to deny: "Princess Ivy and I are completely different. But you, where did you get such a portrait?" .” Princess Ivy lives in the deep palace. If it is not for the royal family of Egypt or the personal maid, no one can reproduce her appearance so realistically—gold color is used for hair, and blue ink is used for eyes.What's more, the painting materials are clay plates - she was sure that when she returned to Egypt, she had no chance to contact any Hittite people. "As I said before, a friend lent me." She spoke again, with expectations in her voice, "Who is that person?" "You don't know him anyway." "So, where is he?" Nasar tilted her head, as if she was curious why she was more interested in the artist than in this painting, and at this moment of indifference, she had already clasped his arm, "Take me to see him, now ,please!" "He didn't come himself, this painting was brought over by someone." "Then I at least want to meet the person who brought the painting over." "What do you see him doing." Nasar didn't seem to want to help her, "He's just a servant and doesn't know anything." Having said that, Ivy has no choice but to continue. She lowered her head, but her eyes never left the clay tablet in Nasar's hand.He finally sighed in frustration, "Okay, okay, I really can't do anything about you." "You promised me?" "Oh." He responded, and then began to whine again, "Really, I asked me to help you again before I asked why you kept hiding your identity. Forget it, I'll figure it out tomorrow. But, Well, no matter what, you can’t get to the bottom of it.” "why?" "Do you want to see me or not?" Having said that, Ivy immediately agreed to him almost without thinking. Wearing a black wig, she nodded vigorously, and the lapis lazuli decoration on the side of her hair jingled with her movements.He raised his lips and smiled, reached out to touch her hair, messed up her wig, and didn't stop until she protested dissatisfied, "Okay, then tomorrow afternoon, you will be in the palace of Thebes." in the front garden of the Pharaoh. Pharaoh will summon all the messengers there, and anyone you want to see will go." "Nasar, are you an envoy from which country?" "Yeah, you're so stupid, you still can't see it." Nasar satirized her mercilessly, and Ivy couldn't help but muttered in her heart.It would be fine to just tell her no, but Nasar has never been the kind of character that makes people easily get what they want.Sure enough, he looked at Ivy and said slowly: "I'll find out tomorrow. You have to come, or I won't care about you." "However, it's terrible to be discovered by Ramses." Ivy said hesitantly, but she felt that it seemed inappropriate to say that she was under house arrest, so she added, "You know, there is no Pharaoh's Allowed, I can't casually show up at such an important event." "Hey, what are you talking about." Nasar gave her a white look, "You are still pretending to be stupid with me now. People all over West Asia know that Pharaoh valued you after the Battle of Cush. Some people said that before he Your all kinds of difficulties and grievances are because you want to cover up your importance." He saw that Ivy's expression became more and more ugly, so he stopped talking, "In the final analysis, you are the one who knows best It's fine if you don't tell me, and it's not interesting to ask me if you pretend to be confused." "But..." Ivy wanted to argue, but when she saw Nasar's dissatisfied face, she retracted her words as soon as she reached her mouth.She might be able to guess a little of what Ramses was thinking about, but she really couldn't figure it out. Nasar's gossip left her really speechless.While hesitating, the instigator of his troubles squinted his eyes at the position of the sun in the sky, then hurriedly lowered his head, held her cheek, and politely kissed her on the side of the cheek, "Okay, I have to go back. Really No, you can pretend to be a man, which is what you are best at." "What did you say!" "That's it-" He turned around quickly, and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.Ivy was a little dazed looking at the direction he was leaving.That portrait was so lifelike, who ever got so close to her to paint her as she really was.And how could this frighteningly real picture fall into the hands of other countries.All kinds of questions came from all directions like tiny threads. She was expecting, but also a little uneasy. She hesitated and turned around, but unexpectedly saw Duo standing not far from her side, which shocked her. "Your Highness... I'm sorry to surprise you." Duo quickly apologized, and then explained, "Today is the day when the slaves enter the palace, but when they arrived at His Highness, they found...you are not in your bedroom. The slaves are very worried, but dare not Tell others, so come out and find..." "Ah, I'm so sorry." Ivy quickly apologized to Duo, but she couldn't help complaining in her heart.Because of seeing Nassar, he originally ran to see Anafetti, who was temporarily living on the west side of the Thebes royal city, and his backup plan of investigating the route to escape from Egypt was completely ruined.Although I still hold deep regrets in my heart, if I can't go back sooner, if Ramses finds out, I will probably be skinned.Thinking of this, she nodded to Duo, and obediently followed her back to the palace.