Chapter 29 Chapter two

Seldon strolled with his heart full of thoughts, and everything in the imperial garden seemed quiet and peaceful.It's hard to believe that this is the foot of the Son of Heaven. The planet he lives on is completely covered by a dome except for this square inch of land.Here, it felt like Helicon, his home planet, or Anacreon, Gullab's home planet.Of course, this feeling of peace and tranquility is nothing more than an illusion.The Imperial Gardens are actually guarded - heavily guarded at that.Once, more than a thousand years ago, the Imperial Garden—at that time was far less magnificent than it is today, and on the planet where the construction of the dome had just started and only sporadic areas were covered by it, it was far from being as isolated as it is today —is open to all citizens, and the emperor can walk on those garden paths in person without guards, nodding his head to his subjects.This scenario is gone forever.Now it's heavily guarded, and no one can get into the Gardens from Trantor.The danger, however, was not eliminated, for when it came it came from disgruntled court clerks and bribed or instigated soldiers.The greatest source of danger for the emperor and his staff was inside the forbidden palace.Just nearly ten years ago, what would have happened if Dors Vanabili had not been by Seldon's side that time?It was his first year as Prime Minister, and that was natural enough, he guessed (with the benefit of hindsight), that someone might have been a little jealous of his surprise election to the post.Many people, obviously far more qualified than Seldon—whether in terms of training, seniority, and of course more in terms of self-esteem—were resentful of this appointment.They didn't know about psychohistory, or its importance to the Emperor, and the easiest way to rectify this would undoubtedly be to bribe some of the Prime Minister's defenders who had sworn allegiance.

Dors was clearly far more alert than Seldon himself.Or to put it another way, Demerzel's order to protect Seldon was intensified by her withdrawal from the stage.And it was true, too, that during the first few years of Seldon's Prime Ministership, she was by his side almost every step of the way. On a sunny and warm afternoon, Dors noticed a glint as the sun was setting—the sun was never seen under Trantor’s dome—that was from the metal barrel of the blaster. reflective. "Get down, Harry!" she yelled at once, rushing towards the guard, crushing the grass under her feet.

"Give me the gun, guard," she snapped. The attempted assassin was first stunned by the sight of a woman rushing towards him at an astonishingly high speed, but immediately reacted and raised the drawn blaster gun. But Dors had already restrained him in time, her hand clasped his right wrist like steel vices, and lifted his arm high. "Throw away the gun." Her voice seemed to be squeezed out of her teeth. The guard tried desperately to free his arm, only to contort his face in pain. "Don't struggle, guard," Dors said. "My knee is now only three inches from your groin. If you ignore this, your lifeblood will become a thing of history. So you'd better not move." .Yes. Well, let go now. If you don't drop the gun at once, I'll break your arm."

A gardener came running up with a rake in his hand.Dors motioned him to stay away.The guard finally dropped the gun to the ground. At this time Seldon also arrived. "Leave it to me, Dors." "No. You take a gun and hide in the bushes. Maybe there are other people involved—they may do something else." Dors didn't let go of the guard's hand.She said: "Now, Guard, I want to know who ordered you to take the Prime Minister's life—and who else was involved with you." The guard was silent. "Don't be a fool," said Dors, "speak!" She twisted his arm, and the guard fell to his knees with a thud.Dors stamped the toe of his shoe on his neck. "If you think silence is more suitable for you, I can crush your throat and keep you silent forever. Before that, I plan to repair you-I will not leave you with a whole Bones. You'd better speak up sooner."

The guard finally spoke. Seldon had said to her afterwards: "How could you have done that, Dors? I never believed you could be so...violent." Dors said coldly: "I didn't really hurt him, Harry. Threats are enough. No matter what, your safety is the most important thing." "You should let me deal with him." "Why? In order to maintain your masculine dignity? First, your actions are not so fast. Second, even if you can do it, it is expected by others, because you are a man. And I am a woman. According to people's usual thinking, Women can't be as cruel as men, and most importantly, don't usually have the strength to do what I do. The stories about me will get weirder and weirder until everyone is afraid of me. Then no one will Dare to hit your mind."

"Afraid of you and even more afraid of the death penalty. The guard and his accomplices are all going to die, you know." Hearing this, Dors's usually calm face could not help but cast a cloud of bitterness, as if she couldn't bear the thought that the traitorous guard would be pushed to death, even if he would kill all her enemies without hesitation. Dear Harry. "But," she exclaimed, "there's no need to make those accomplices capital punishment. Exile should be enough." "No," said Seldon, "it's too late. Kryon doesn't want to hear anything but a capital sentence. I can quote him—if you want."

"You mean to say that his will has been decided?" "It was immediate. I told him that exile or imprisonment would be enough for those people, but he said no. He said: 'Every time I want to make a quick cut, it's Dammerz first. Er and then you always talk about "tyranny" and "tyranny". But this is my palace, this is my land, and these people are my guards. My personal safety depends entirely on the security mechanism here and my The loyalty of your subordinates. Do you think there is any better way to deal with those who commit troubles than kill them without mercy? Otherwise, how can your safety be guaranteed? How can my safety be guaranteed?'"I said that must be There is a trial. 'Of course,' he said, 'there will be a brief court-martial, and I don't want any votes on the jury for anything other than capital punishment.I will explain this clearly below. '"

Dors looked deeply shocked. "You speak so nonchalantly. Do you agree with the emperor's point of view?" Seldon nodded reluctantly. "yes." "Because someone is trying to kill you. Are you willing to give up your principles for sheer revenge?" "Listen, Dors, I'm not a man for vengeance. But it's not just me, nor even the emperor, who's under threat. If there's anything to brag about in the recent history of the empire, it's the revolving door. The throne has changed. Psychohistory is what really needs to be protected. There is no doubt that even if something goes wrong with me, psychohistory will mature one day, but the empire is rapidly declining, and we can't wait any longer — and now the only one who has progressed in time for the necessary technologies to be realized is me."

"Then you should pass on what you know to others." Dors said with a serious face. "I'm doing that. Hugo Amarel is an ideal successor, and I've assembled a staff of technicians who will be useful someday, but they won't be like—" He paused. "They're not going to be as good as you—as smart, as capable? Are they?" "That's exactly what I happen to think," said Seldon, "and I happen to be human. Psychohistory is mine, and if I can get it out, I won't hand that honor away." "Alas, human beings," Dors sighed, shaking her head almost mournfully.

The execution was finally carried out as scheduled. There hasn't been a purge of this magnitude in a century.Two ministers, five sub-officials, and four soldiers, including the hapless guard, were executed.All those guards who could not stand the strictest scrutiny were dismissed and exiled to remote outer planets. After this battle, everyone in the palace was cautious in their words and deeds, and the Prime Minister's guard work was also strengthened to the point of notoriety, not to mention that there was that terrifying woman - known as the "Mother Worm" - watching from the sidelines.This made it unnecessary for Dors to be by his side all day long, and it was more deterrent for her not to appear in people's sight, and Emperor Kryon was also satisfied with the peaceful and stable life for nearly ten years.

However, now, psychohistory has finally developed to the point where it can predict the future to some extent, when Seldon walks through the imperial garden, from the office (Imperial Prime Minister) to the laboratory (psychohistorian), he is disturbed Faintly aware that this period of peace may have come to an end.