Desert Rhapsody - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

The ship came to a halt before dawn the next day after a collision. It was Abal who woke Jiang Yuan from her nightmare. When she opened her eyes, she felt her body rocking on the water. The thin mist before daybreak and the glow of fire lit her eyelids together. Outside the ship came terrified, indistinct shouts, and the transparent air whispered beside her ear, “Crocodiles.”

Sleep vanished at once. Her body still ached, but screams sharp enough to pierce the eardrums could make a person forget every trace of exhaustion. Jiang Yuan leaned against the gauze curtain and peered outside. Torches had been lit all around the ships, forming a circle as everyone stood ready for battle. For some reason, several ships had strayed from the formation and gone deep into the reeds. She could see fire and oil igniting the upper half of the swaying grass, falling onto the river like burning rain. But the flames could not spread downward. Black, twisted shapes surrounded the ships, and someone, unable to bear the terror, jumped into the water. In an instant, crimson stained the surface.

Jiang Yuan looked for Thutmose first. Fortunately, he was here, not far from her side. The young prince stood at the bow with a long spear in hand, staring solemnly into the distance. Loyal soldiers crowded around him, nervously waving their weapons. Far away, splashes and oil-fed flames burned together on the river, with mangled bodies and crocodiles churning in the middle. Clearly, they had already beaten back one attack. Abal said, “The navigator led us the wrong way. By the time anyone realized, the ships in front had already run aground and entered the Crocodile Shoal.” Air and warmth rested on Jiang Yuan’s shoulders, giving her a trace of heat in the chilly air.

Jiang Yuan studied their surroundings. They were actually among the reeds as well; it was just that the reeds here were sparse, so it was hard to tell. She looked back and could vaguely make out the broad river. “How could they not tell the difference when it’s so different from the open river?”

“Maybe it was too late, and everyone was asleep,” Abal said. “I called you for a long time. You were dead to the world.”

Jiang Yuan did not want to talk about what she had seen in the nightmare. Only now did the cold sweat covering her body begin to cool, chilling her to the bone. She had not heard a single sound from outside. If Abal had not woken her, she might have been bitten to death by crocodiles in her sleep. She tried to find Abal’s eyes and meet his gaze, only to remember that he could not see at all. Thutmose had already begun ordering a retreat. The ships that had gone in too deep had been abandoned, while another group was ordered to line up across the water as a buffer bought with their lives. He was a prince, and people instinctively obeyed his commands-until they realized they had been left in place to face the crocodiles coming at them again. Then their cries rose to the sky.

Jiang Yuan’s ship was among them. The boatman had collapsed to the deck, limp and unable to move. Overhead, whistling arrows flew like rain. Countless candles drifted across the water; some had gone out, while others were still burning, sending up black smoke and a pungent fragrance. The ships behind them were rowing backward. The prince ordered the cheetahs and lions released from their cages, and the hawks’ piercing cries tore through the sky. Slaves jumped into the river and swam toward the rear of the ships to lighten the load and speed the retreat. Jiang Yuan ran to the bow and heard Thutmose’s calm, crisp commands spreading over the river. “Those in front, listen! Douse the ships in candle oil, set them on fire, then jump!”

Egypt was rich in bees, and fine beeswax candles were a household necessity. On the fleet of a prince and priests, there were even great fragrant candles meant to burn through the night, as tall as a person and so thick one could barely wrap both arms around them. In the darkest hour before dawn, they toppled over, carrying a rush of fire as they burned fiercely across the water. Abal said, “Something’s coming up.” Jiang Yuan had also realized Thutmose’s intention and shouted, “Light it!”

They both felt the bow sink. A black segment of death was dragging down the front of the ship, and they lost their balance, falling backward. This was only a mobile residence used to serve the priests; no soldiers had been stationed aboard. Two maidservants had already lost their footing and fallen into the river, clinging to the ship’s side as they wailed. The others either collapsed with weak legs or fled in every direction. Jiang Yuan rushed over with practiced speed and shoved whatever was near her-whether candles or divine statues-straight at the crocodile. She shouted, “Abal, order them to light it! Burn the ship! Now!” She bent down and hauled at the maidservants while Abal stayed beside her, relaying her command loudly in Egyptian.

The air seemed to burst in the flames. Jiang Yuan’s vision blurred, and the maidservant was suddenly standing before her, drenched from head to toe. At the critical moment, Abal had acted. Jiang Yuan immediately turned toward the gauze drapes and oil by the ship’s side, tearing at them and pushing over the furnishings. Candle oil and shattered jars scattered across the deck, cutting off half the ship. Before she even had time to look for a flame, a flaming arrow shot through the air with lethal force, and the sudden blaze that surged up nearly burned her.

Jiang Yuan stumbled back two steps before realizing that arrow had almost pierced her nose. She glanced to the side. Thutmose was lowering the bow in his hand. She nodded, gathered up her skirt, and sprinted toward the stern.

She felt Abal fall into the water with her. In the chaos, they slapped hard against the surface, the impact so violent she could barely open her eyes. Though it was only the fire from candles and torches, even the icy river seemed to carry an unsettling heat. She kicked in the water, still choking down several mouthfuls in a row, coughing so hard it shook her whole body. Abal was not very good at swimming and clutched at her in the water like a drowning ghost. At a time like this, being blind was anything but helpful. She struggled to feel for his body, shifted his weight onto herself, paddled forward, and ordered him, “Relax!”

Abal’s arm tightened, nearly crushing her to death. Gasping, he said, “I really should have learned how to swim.” Exactly. If Jiang Yuan had not been strangled around the neck until her face turned bright red, she would have loved to snap back, “Then what were you doing all that time in Baghdad and Alexandria?”

Thutmose ordered the ships to continue retreating while having the boatmen lower their oars, and people swam with all their strength toward the hope of survival. By the time Jiang Yuan dragged herself onto the deck, utterly spent, her legs finally began to cramp with agonizing pain. She looked back once. At least she had not died miserably in the fire, in the river, or in a crocodile’s jaws.

Still shaken, they retreated a long distance before the ships finally anchored in the Nile River. The temple was not far ahead, a small dot standing on a low hill. Supposedly, another morning’s travel would bring them there. But they stopped on the river, and the survivors began searching for the culprit. The boatman who had led them aground at the Crocodile Shoal had already become crocodile feed, so the remaining survivors desperately tried to recall his every move. In hindsight, even the incense aboard the ship had carried a faint, elusive scent-a scent that should never have been used on a boat, because it could drive crocodiles into a frenzy.
“That could not have been an accident.” Thutmose’s voice was cold. “No accident could have taken them so deep into the shoal that the fleet ran aground. He was acting under orders! Tell me every abnormal thing you noticed. If it is verified, you will be rewarded with a bag of gold coins. Soldiers will be promoted five ranks, and slaves will be granted their freedom.”

Wrapped in a blanket and drinking hot milk, Jiang Yuan watched Thutmose perform. As a priest whose status was second only to his, she had the perfect seat for it. Soon, people began speaking over one another, confessing everything they had seen. The boatman had suddenly grown rich recently and often went drinking. Friends from Thebes had been coming and going. In the end, someone identified one of them as a guard from the Queen Mother’s palace.

The moment that answer came out, the air above the entire ship seemed to tighten.

The future pharaoh sat in the center of the boat, surrounded by kneeling slaves. Beneath his hand was a cheetah whose fur was still dripping water. The beast was clearly used to such scenes. It licked its mouth as it studied the trembling soldier before it, weighing where best to bite. Beside Jiang Yuan, Abal gave a silent snort of laughter. His presence was even stranger; a patch of water appeared out of nowhere where he stood. Thutmose said, “Is what you said true?”

The soldier kneeling on the deck shook uncontrollably. He was the prince’s deputy captain of the guard, entrusted with heavy responsibility. With Thutmose questioning him, his expression had gone more than a little ugly.

“Do you understand that you are accusing my mother, the Queen Mother of Egypt, the Daughter of Ra, the great regent Hatshepsut? For such disrespect, you should be sentenced to death.”

A rift between the two highest-ranking members of the Egyptian royal family was the kind of thing that made one grateful it had happened aboard a ship. The vessel was stopped in the middle of the Nile River. None of this would reach outside ears. The loyal deputy captain steeled himself, struck his chest, and shouted with grim determination, “I can swear to it! That man truly was a guard from the Queen Mother’s palace!”

Perhaps from this moment on, the bloodiest struggle within the royal family was about to begin.

Thutmose said softly, “You are lying.”

The young prince held his divine staff in hand. He was still dressed in the white robes of a priest. After the frantic battle at dawn, his body was covered in soot and blood. He rose and walked to the guard’s side, the hungry cheetah padding close at his feet. Knowing it was about to feed, it let out a pleased, low growl.

“The Queen Mother has no reason to kill me. I am her son, bound to her by blood. I am the husband of her daughter. She personally announced to Thebes that I would succeed my father and become the pharaoh of Egypt. We depend on each other, our lives twined together as we grow. The bond between us is as strong as a mat of papyrus reeds.”

He drew a blade and sliced the purse from the man’s body. The pouch fell onto the deck, and coins rolled out with a clatter, shining a charming yellow-gold beneath the sun.

What reflected on Thutmose’s young face, however, was a seasoned, sinister gloom.

“These are coins from Nubia. The rebels were people from Nubia. Since the Queen Mother was not the one behind this, and you leaped out to accuse the Queen Mother, then you are the traitor.”

He raised a delighted smile, one exactly like the cheetah beside him. Standing beneath the sunlight, with peacock-green and gold powder lining the corners of his eyes and gold and gemstone ornaments covering his body, the prince shone with such majesty that no one dared look directly at him. He had just commanded the fleet’s escape from Crocodile Shoal. His authority had reached its peak. He no longer seemed like a puppet under someone else’s control, but the future supreme ruler of Egypt.

Jiang Yuan straightened slightly. She had already guessed how this would end.

From the young prince’s somewhat full lips came the order: “Eba.”

The cheetah pounced like lightning. Blood splattered across the deck. The convulsing body and faint screams left everyone silent as cicadas in winter.

That corpse probably ended up feeding the fish and shrimp in the river, because even after they sailed away, they did not see any crocodiles following. That was certainly good news. The second bit of good news was that the wind was with them. Two hours later, they arrived at the temple.

The pier where they docked had been built directly into the rear hall. Calm, swaying waves extended all the way up the stone steps. Slaves pulled ropes and chanted as they waded ashore, struggling to tow the ship into its berth. There was no sign at all that they had just survived a disaster. Apart from the smoke-scorched marks on the vessel and the traces left by savage beasts gnawing at it, the fierce battle seemed to have vanished like smoke.

Jiang Yuan watched Thutmose leap nimbly ashore. Priests who had heard the news came forward to salute him. He had no interest in empty formalities and dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Because the Nile River had cut off the road, the temple had gone largely without maintenance. The elderly priests could hardly even speak clearly anymore, so Thutmose automatically took over as high priest. This was probably also his final period as a priest before ascending the throne. Once the rainy season passed, he would marry his sister and become pharaoh.

For him, this was likely only the beginning.

Thutmose turned back, found Jiang Yuan’s gaze, and nodded to her.

Jiang Yuan straightened. Beside her, Abal drawled lazily, “Stealing a ship is much harder than I imagined. I don’t know the route. If we run aground, I won’t be able to deal with the crocodiles. Maybe you should go down and negotiate with that little prince. Ask him for a ship and some men.”

Jiang Yuan neither agreed nor disagreed. “And you?”

“I’ll stay here. If negotiations fail, we’ll continue with the original plan.”

The food pouch half-visible in the air floated up and swayed. If anyone could see it, they would probably be scared to death. Abal laughed. “But I don’t think you’ll fail. Aren’t you best at dealing with brats like that?”

Jiang Yuan shot back, “Are you referring to yourself?”

A frivolous breeze skimmed through the air, stirring the hem of her skirt.

“When I met you, you weren’t dressed nearly this beautifully.”

Jiang Yuan could not be bothered with him. After thinking for a while, however, she realized there really was no other option. She loosened her body, summoned a maid to tidy her clothes and wig, then rose and left the ship. The light linen was cool against her skin. Her white dress swayed with each step. Jiang Yuan followed the steps of the pier up the slope and soon arrived at a splendidly decorated courtyard. Marble lined the edge of a fountain pool, where lovely blue water lilies bloomed in the water against pale stone.

Compared with the temple’s remoteness, the beauty of the scenery was even more astonishing. This was an Egypt she had never seen before, utterly different from the towering Karnak Temple and Thebes-gorgeous, mysterious, and strange.

Perhaps all the scenery along the river was this damp and elegant. Statues of Horus stood everywhere. When Jiang Yuan walked along the wall, she measured herself against them. They were only about as tall as a person, their sharp falcon heads staring her down. In the polished bronze mirror, she could vaguely make out her own appearance: heavily painted eyes, gold bands clasped around her upper arms. Her black hair fell to her shoulders, and her crown was dazzling. She was thin enough that the jut of her bones held up the dress, making it look exceptionally beautiful.
After all, she was a woman too, with a perfectly normal streak of vanity. She smiled and walked over, passing through the pomegranate trees and the lush date palms. The walls of the layered palace halls were covered in brilliant murals; pale yellow stone bricks and snow-white plaster sculptures were accented with dazzling colors ground from gemstones. In the shade of the trees, the young prince stood by the water, looking down from above at the rippling light on the Nile River.

He did not turn to look at her, not even when Jiang Yuan came to his side and sat down on the ground. She was exhausted, and injured besides. If she could sit, she absolutely would not stand. He said, “The Nile River is beautiful. This is my country. Egypt will be mighty forever, and the Nile River will surge forever, nourishing its people. No matter how the Queen Mother and I fight over the throne of pharaoh, we will never forget that.”

Jiang Yuan was genuinely a little surprised. If his height had not happened to put him level with Jiang Yuan after she sat down, she might have forgotten he was still a child. But if she treated the future pharaoh of Egypt like a younger brother, she would probably suffer a terrible loss. Thutmose gave a soft snort. “The Queen Mother will not kill me. She would much rather control me. Without me, she cannot sit securely in the regent’s seat. But I have no such scruples. With your help, I can kill her at my leisure.”

His tone was full of confidence. He was still dressed as a priest, holding a divine staff, without a single hair anywhere on his body. Yet the arrogant, solemn look in his eyes already held the first shape of a pharaoh. He gazed at the river for a long time, as if he were gazing at the country he loved, and at the power of life and death that came with it.

Jiang Yuan avoided answering. “You are very intelligent, and very confident. The talent you displayed today has truly made me see you in a new light.”

Thutmose said, “Is that not why you chose to follow me?”

Jiang Yuan realized he was no longer speaking to her with respectful forms of address. Perhaps it was a coincidence of translation. Perhaps it was not. Thutmose finally turned his gaze from the waters of the Nile River to her. “After you vanished from the Observatory, I should have known you would appear before me. You knelt to me for the second time. What did you want to say to me? Did you originally intend to display your divine power to me and proclaim the Goddess’s oracle? How honest must I be before you are willing to tell me why you have come?” His gaze swept over Jiang Yuan’s skin, made translucent by the water that had melted it.

“Or,” he said, “like all the unpredictable Egyptian Gods, like the competitive and cruel Sphinx, must I guess your identity before you will show me your true face, Meretseger?”

Perhaps it had to be said that a pharaoh was still a pharaoh; their methods were all the same. …If she said no, she would probably be killed. Jiang Yuan calmly maintained her silence. Thutmose did not need her reaction. Ever since their last meeting at the temple, his attitude had shifted with unshakable certainty. Even if Jiang Yuan had the features of a foreigner, people always tended to believe what they wanted to believe. A god had descended before him and said, “You are the pharaoh.” The Solar Barque had knelt before him, and all of Thebes had said, “You are the pharaoh.”

Thutmose said, “I grant it to you. You will become the mightiest Goddess beneath great Amun-Ra, and our child will become the greatest pharaoh of Egypt, ruling the Nile River, continuing the golden age of my Egypt, and winning immortality.”

His face was filled with hope, victory, and a fanatical gleam. That delighted ambition did not make him repulsive. Instead, it made her truly feel that he and the Queen Mother far away in Thebes did indeed come from the same bloodline. “I am sorry, but I must decline Your Highness’s favor,” Jiang Yuan had no choice but to say. “My status is low. I am not qualified to give birth to a pharaoh’s child. My purpose in following you remains the same as before. I want the offering. That gem has not yet been returned to the Rootless Water, and my mission is not yet complete.”

Thutmose’s breath stopped for an instant in surprise. It was easy to imagine that he had not expected the answer he received to be a refusal.

“I can send someone to return the gem.”

Jiang Yuan laughed softly. “Your mother, Queen Mother Hatshepsut, made the same request of me. And you saw what happened afterward. I left the Observatory and came to your side.”

She shifted her posture, turning sideways where she sat at his feet. This position made her lower than him, looking up at him, yet her gaze was neither humble nor arrogant, only calm and indifferent. “In truth, you only need to know one thing. I do not necessarily need your assistance.”

After what had happened at the Observatory, her words were highly convincing. Thutmose’s expression turned somewhat ugly. “Then why not stay after you complete your mission? Bear me a child, and I can give you the most supreme status. Do you not want to become the most powerful Goddess beneath Amun-Ra?”

“You already have a wife-the eldest princess of Egypt, the future queen, your sister who will govern Egypt together with you. Do you think Hatshepsut will simply sit by and watch our union?” Jiang Yuan said with a smile. “As you are now, can you protect me from the Queen Mother?”

A trace of humiliation flashed across the young boy’s bronze face. He truly could not. Compared with Queen Mother Hatshepsut I, he was still far too weak. How dignified and noble was Hatshepsut? She was the daughter of a pharaoh, the wife of a pharaoh, the mother of a pharaoh. She had assisted the previous pharaoh for decades. She was already Egypt’s uncrowned ruler. He truly was still too young, and youth and weakness were fatal original sins. He stood there, fists clenched, staring fixedly at Jiang Yuan. For an instant, a hint of killing intent seemed to pass over his face. He said, “Are you not afraid that I will kill you first?”

Jiang Yuan did not take it to heart either.

“You cannot guarantee you will kill me completely, and you cannot guarantee I will not strike back.” She smiled. “Do you want me to kill you here, or do you want me to go back and join the other side?”

Thutmose said, “…Your attendant. Where is Shepre?”

Jiang Yuan only smiled without speaking. The expression on the prince’s face before her suddenly changed into wariness. “You said you wanted to send the gem back, but it does not appear to be on you,” Thutmose said in a low voice. It was as if the beautiful dream of ambition had suddenly been punctured. He quickly recovered his reason and became the silent, obedient prince once more. “It is on that attendant of yours, Shepre.” Thutmose looked at her for a long while. In the end, he gave up.

“What does the Goddess want?”
Jiang Yuan smoothly picked up the cue. “The Goddess wants a boat to sail along the Nile River toward Memphis. When the time is right, I will leave, and the boat may return.”

Thutmose said, “I will give you what you want.”

Thutmose asked Jiang Yuan when she wanted the boat. Jiang Yuan answered, “The sooner, the better.” The boat was already available; once it was refitted, it could set out. He escorted her to the dock and ordered the vessel’s ownership transferred to her. But he did not order it to return as Jiang Yuan had said. Instead, he instructed the captain of the guard, “When you reach the destination, kill the slaves, scuttle the boat, and offer them as sacrifices to the Goddess Meretseger.”

Jiang Yuan said nothing. Thutmose stood before her. In truth, he was still only a child, yet such a heavy burden already rested on his shoulders: politics, schemes, assassination, and threats to his life. And he had already learned to use many methods, skillfully wielding the rules to achieve his own ends. Jiang Yuan could not quite remember whether he had become a pharaoh. Among the most famous pharaohs, his name did not stand out much. Had there been a pharaoh named Thutmose in history? Jiang Yuan said, “I told you that you are a pharaoh.”

“A puppet dragged by strings is still a pharaoh. The Queen Mother will never hand power back.” His voice was low, and there was even a trace of anger in his expression. “I do not want a child with Neferure.”

“It will not be like this forever.” She smiled. “You only need to wait patiently.”

She hoped there had been. So even if this was only a performance, it cost her nothing. “Then.” Jiang Yuan knelt at his feet, took his hand, and gently kissed his ring. She realized with absolute clarity that everything she did would become history. Even if it had already sunk into the Nile River, never to be known by anyone again.

“In the name of Meretseger, I bless you.”

“You will become pharaoh. You will rule Egypt.”

Thutmose raised the divine scepter before his chest and accepted her obeisance. His lips pressed together, then lifted slightly. What flickered in his eyes was ambition.

“May Ra make the land fertile and abundant. May he make the sun rise in the east each day. May he make the waters of the Nile River surge, rushing on from generation to generation without end. May your blessing and protection come true, Meretseger,” the young pharaoh said. “And I will make Egypt immortal.”

I don’t even know what I’m writing anymore!

Let’s go over the historical life of Thutmose III. He and his stepmother Hatshepsut were practically an inspirational drama all on their own. Actually, the entire 18th Dynasty of Egypt was a huge drama. As for Ramesses, the most famous figure of the 19th Dynasty, in my eyes his melodramatic plotline really isn’t worth mentioning…

This starts with Amenhotep I, his great-grandfather.

Amenhotep I founded the 18th Dynasty, but tragically had no sons, only one daughter. So he married his daughter to the military leader Thutmose and had him inherit the throne. This was Thutmose I.

Thutmose I and his legitimate wife had Hatshepsut, but tragically, they had no sons, only one daughter. So he had the son of a concubine-whose bloodline was not pure enough, after all-marry Hatshepsut, meaning a sibling marriage, and inherit the throne. This was Thutmose II.

Thutmose II existed mainly to continue the Egyptian dynasty. Although he did try hard to be pharaoh and suppressed a Nubian uprising, he was frail and sickly, and before long his wife controlled the government. In other words, Queen Hatshepsut ruled. Even more tragically, they also had no sons, only one daughter, Neferure. He died too quickly to sow any more seeds, so Hatshepsut had no choice but to have the son of a concubine-whose bloodline was likewise not pure enough-marry Neferure. This was Thutmose III, the important supporting male character of this extra.

If that was too convoluted to follow, you can compare it to Liu Che and Chen Ajiao. To sum it up: the legitimate wife being unable to bear a son caused a major problem.

When Thutmose III was ten, he married his older sister and became pharaoh of Egypt, but in reality, Hatshepsut ruled. A few years later, he was sent off to the temple to become a priest, and a few years after that, he was sent to the remote army. He was almost kicked off to suppress the Nubians. During this period, Hatshepsut even put on men’s clothing and a beard, wore the crown of an Egyptian pharaoh, declared herself pharaoh, and became the first recorded female monarch in world history. Wu Zetian loses to her in terms of bloodline.

Historical records say Thutmose III endured for twenty-two years, and then Hatshepsut suddenly died. No one knows how. Afterward, he destroyed many statues and traces of this stepmother and mother-in-law throughout Egypt and officially began his own reign.

He was one of the most valiant and battle-hardened pharaohs in ancient Egyptian history. In his lifetime, he launched seventeen campaigns and once expanded Egypt’s territory as far as Syria. The Egyptian empire of the 18th Dynasty was founded by him. He even fought all the way to Mitanni and the Hittite lands. The powerful Egyptian empire in Red River was built on the foundation he laid with his own hands. The Egyptian pharaoh of that period was a late 18th Dynasty pharaoh-one of his descendants. Also, in the actual historical period, the national strength of the Hittite state was already inferior to Egypt’s. It wasn’t like in the manga, where the two sides could still go toe to toe.

If you’ve read Red River, then the life of that Queen Mother Nefertiti with only one obsidian eye-called Nefertiti in official history, though there are many translations of the name anyway-was also extremely melodramatic. Unlike Thutmose III’s inspirational brand of melodrama, this Queen Mother’s life was drenched in gossip and scandal. If you’re interested, we’ll talk about it in tomorrow’s update.

Thank you to the little angels who voted me Overlord Tickets or watered me with nutrient solution~

Thank you to the little angels who watered me with nutrient solution:

sigh, 20 bottles; Ye, 2 bottles;

Thank you all so much for your support. I will keep working hard!