[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

Babylonian king Hammurabi didn't like the idea of ​​receiving Egyptian envoys very much.

Egyptians are alert and cunning by nature, and they never let people down verbally.Talk to them, and always beware of them digging holes for themselves.

Take the last time when this group of envoys came to visit, Hammurabi did not suffer much in front of them:

King Hammurabi had a biological daughter who was married all the way to Egypt, but there was no news for many years.

When he saw the envoy, Hammurabi would of course accuse Egypt of treating his precious princess harshly.

Unexpectedly, these envoys argued in every possible way, saying that the princess of Babylon lived very comfortably in Egypt.

Hammurabi immediately asked: Since the life is so comfortable, why the princess never writes to her father?You know, his princess, when she was not married, could write and count, she was the most capable girl.

Unexpectedly, the Egyptian envoy immediately asked Hammurabi: Since the king missed the princess so much, why didn't the princess' brother ask to see his sister when he was on an envoy to Egypt?Didn't help my sister send a letter to my father?

Hammurabi was speechless because of such eloquent rhetorical questions: I asked why there was no letter from the princess, but you pointed out that the children under my knees are not friendly and harmonious enough?

However, most of his children were from different biological mothers, and they were not so friendly and harmonious-the Egyptians knew it well.

Hammurabi was very annoyed by such retorts, but could not refute.

Therefore, on the day when the Babylonian king received the Egyptian envoys, generally speaking, he would be in a bad mood and would be particularly prone to anger.

There is one more most annoying thing about these Egyptians.

In addition to all kinds of ridicule and retort, the Egyptian envoys also especially liked to exchange various puzzles popular in Egypt with the king.In order to answer the riddles brought by the Egyptians in front of the envoys, Hammurabi even had to secretly bribe the members of the Egyptian envoys to "buy questions" and "buy answers" from them.

For example, today, after the two sides met, exchanged greetings and greeted each other's kings, the Egyptian envoy really spoke again:

"During the days when I couldn't see you, the king of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt happened to solve the question asked by a monster near Thebes, thus successfully solving the monster."

Upon hearing this, Hammurabi knew that there was no problem with the information purchased this time, so he immediately smiled and replied kindly: "Let's hear it."

The "question" relayed by the Egyptian envoy was exactly the same as the intelligence report: "At that time, the monster asked the king: Is there any animal in the world that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night?" Walking on legs?" ①

Hammurabi had the bottom line in his heart, and deliberately pondered: "What kind of animal is this, so strange?"

The envoy was not in a hurry, and looked at Hammurabi with a smile.

"By the way, that's - a person!" Hammurabi pretended to have just thought of it, suddenly realizing it.

"Only humans walk on four legs when they are young, on two legs when they are young, and when they are old, they walk on three legs. Needless to say, this third leg should be the crutch used by human beings!"

Amidst the admiration of the Babylonian courtiers, the Egyptian envoy applauded Hammurabi unhurriedly and congratulated with a smile:

"The king of Babylon is indeed wise, just like my king, he answered the monster's question—"

Hammurabi actually heard ridicule and sarcasm from the ordinary congratulations; looking at the smile on the messenger's face, he immediately knew that his practice of "buying the title" had been seen through by the other party. The other party saved some face for Hammurabi, and they just didn't want to expose it on the spot.

Of course Hammurabi was unwilling to let it go, he had to get the place back.

So Hammurabi also smiled and said, "It's a coincidence. Last time, when I was on a tour, I also encountered a monster..."

The ministers looked at each other: Why are there so many monsters in the world?

"...The monster asked me: What is the hardest and most fragile thing in the world?"

Hammurabi stretched out his hand to stroke his beard, and asked the emissary with a smile: "This king happened to answer the monster's question, and also made the same monster jump off the cliff in shame..."

When he said this, he suddenly paused - after all, the other party's envoy did not say that the "problem beast" that came out of Egypt ended up jumping off the cliff to death in shame and anger; now that Hammurabi leaked his mouth, he leaked it even more The fact that he "buys a question"—but it doesn't matter, as long as this question can stump the other party, he will have the upper hand in this "battle of wits".

"The hardest and most fragile thing?"

After hearing the translation, the Egyptian envoy finally showed a very confused look.He thought about it for a long time, then turned around and asked all the other people in the mission—everyone shook their heads at him: After all, they didn't expect that the king of Babylon would also challenge them with questions?

So, the Egyptian envoy replied with a sad face: "I have little talent and little knowledge, and I really can't solve this riddle like the king of Babylon."

"If the king of Egypt hears about it, he will be able to answer it. But if the minister doesn't even know the correct answer, the king will definitely punish him severely. Dear King of Babylon, your wise minister is beyond his reach, please Tell Xiaochen the answer to this riddle!"

Just as Hammurabi was about to speak, he heard a sudden "boom" outside the palace, as if something had collapsed.

He was displeased in his heart and signaled with his eyes.A captain of the palace guard standing in the distance had already bowed to the king, and then went out to inquire.

The Egyptian envoy was still waiting for the king of Babylon to tell him the answer to his question.

Hammurabi pulled his mind back, collected himself, and said, "The hardest and most fragile thing in this world is naturally the human heart!"

"As long as a man has made up his mind, a hundred cows will not be able to bring him back."

"But no matter how strong a person is, as long as they hear that the person or thing they love the most has been hurt, they will feel heartbroken without exception."

Therefore, Hammurabi believed that the human heart is the hardest and most fragile thing in the world at the same time.

After he made this conclusion, all the courtiers in Babylon stretched out their thumbs together and praised the king's wisdom in unison.

The Egyptian envoy heard it, and felt that there was no way to refute it: the human heart is like this, sometimes fragile and fragile, and sometimes stubborn to the end.But... if he doesn't say something bad at this time, come to kill King Hammurabi's majesty, he is not an Egyptian.

Before the envoy opened his mouth, he heard another "boom" outside.This time the source of the sound was closer.The captain of the guard who had just gone out to check had already returned, leaned into Wang Hanmurabi's ear, and whispered a few words.

Hammurabi's eyes widened with anger.But he obviously didn't believe what the other party said. He glared at the captain of the guard and said something in a low voice. The captain of the guard immediately saluted the king, then turned around and walked out quickly.

This can't help but make people wonder: what happened in the end.

The Egyptian envoys did not know, and neither did the Babylonian ministers.

But the king's displeasure was evident at a glance.Although he seemed to suppress his anger in an instant, he even had a smile on his face when he turned to the Egyptian envoy.But a gloomy atmosphere began to shroud the sky above the palace, and then there was another loud sound: "Boom——"

This is the third sound.

There were voices outside the palace, and the chaos seemed to be getting bigger and bigger.

But Hammurabi maintained his demeanor as a king, still smiling at the Egyptian envoy: "Please send my regards to the king of Egypt, I hope he can answer such tricky questions like me."

"But……"

The Egyptian envoy began to use his talent for polemics: "Dear King of Babylon, have you ever tried to open a person's chest, have you tried to examine a person's heart? Did you use a hammer or a knife? When did it It is hard, and under what circumstances does it become fragile... You say it is the hardest and most fragile in the world, do you have any evidence?"

Everyone scolded the Egyptian envoy in their hearts: Is there such a braggart?

You can use "morning, noon and evening" as a metaphor for people's "young, mature and old" when you make a question. Can't we use another meaning of "strong" and "fragile" instead of the literal meaning? ?

Hammurabi also looked very irritable: "Do you have any special intentions when you say that? Do you think this king is too cruel, or your Egyptian kings have long been used to opening a person's chest at will and using his heart? Verify the answer to this question?"

"Young minister has no such intention..."

The fourth sound of "Boom" came.

The Egyptian envoy was much closer than the first time when he heard the loud noise, and answered the question more tremblingly: "...The young minister just said that the king's answer cannot be verified by experiments."

The fifth sound of "Boom".

The people in the palace even felt the shock this time.

The captain of the guard rushed in from outside the palace gate, glanced at Hammurabi, saw that the king's expression was not right, had to salute again, and ran out again quickly.

Hammurabi pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.

The envoy didn't dare to say anything more.He looked down at his feet, and even calculated in his mind when the sixth and seventh sounds would appear according to the rhythm just now.

"Boom—" the sixth sound came as promised.

This time it was obvious which building near the Babylonian palace collapsed—judging from the reaction of the Babylonians, the collapse of this building should be man-made.

However, what kind of power is this that can collapse buildings one after another?

By now, Hammurabi had calmed down instead. He even casually picked up a crystal glass placed on the table beside him, and shook it slightly, so that the rose red wine inside reflected the dazzling color and light—— This is a proper way to show off in front of the Egyptians. After all, there is only the Kingdom of Babylon in the world that can produce cheap and good crystal glasses.

"Boom", the seventh sound sounded.

The voices outside are getting closer.The Egyptian envoy's ears moved, as if he could hear a woman's voice.

Why is there a woman's voice? ——The arrangement of the Kingdom of Babylon this time is really confusing.

"No, the king is summoning the Egyptian envoys, you can't go in." It should be the captain of the royal guard yelling loudly.

"Why?" A delicate female voice rang out, "I just want to see the king. He met his Egyptian envoys, and I just waited - not talking!"

The girl's voice was very cute. When she said the word "don't speak", she deliberately lowered her voice, as if to indicate that she would be able to keep her promise.

"I've met the king before anyway... Lord Captain, let me go in and meet the king!"

"This one……"

The girl acted like a baby, and the captain of the royal family was in a dilemma.

The successive noises outside were no longer heard.

Hammurabi put down the glass in his hand, and called out to the captain of the guard outside the door: "Let him in! Anyway, you can't stop him."

He knew well that everyone had already arrived here, and his guards were absolutely unable to resist, so he might as well be more generous.

Besides, since the girl said that he had seen it before, it didn't sound like she had any malicious intentions.

Sure enough, the next moment, a young woman wearing a traditional Sumerian costume, the Pala, walked in from the door.Her beauty and the vitality on her body made the entire royal court instantly dazzled by her.

The Egyptian envoy looked straight ahead: "God, there is such a beautiful woman in the world..."

Hammurabi was finally a little proud: such a beautiful woman was a subject of his Kingdom of Babylon.

"King of Babylon, why don't you use her to marry?" The Egyptian envoy Hun'er seemed to be gone, and for the first time he spoke rashly, uttering a remark.

"nonsense!"

"Think beautifully!"

"Could it be that in Egypt, there are still beautiful young men who are worthy of this beauty?"

"You deserve it too!"

The envoy quickly shook his head and explained to Hammurabi: "Your servant, once you see a beauty, you will lose your word."

It made Hammurabi very happy to let the Egyptian envoys admit their mistakes.

He first recognized the woman who walked slowly into the royal court, then turned around and asked the people around him, "Herod, where is Herod? Where is Herod?"

The royal ceremonial officer serving on the side would never have thought that Hammurabi would actually ask Herod at this moment—he lowered his head, so how could he dare to say a word.

"Oh, look at the king's memory—without Herod, I really can't remember for a while, you are..."

"Did the king forget that you passed by Uruk on your tour last year, the evil dragon eclipsed the sun, and the amulet made of brass..."

"I remember," Hammurabi's memory wasn't that bad, and after being reminded, he really remembered, "I...Miss Ishtar."

Inan saluted slowly, sending a flowery smile, expressing his gratitude to Hammurabi for remembering him.

"How did you come here?" Hammurabi asked seemingly benignly.

"Me?" Yi Nan rolled his eyes, and his eyes fell on the Egyptian envoy who was dressed completely differently from the people in the royal court.She decided to save some face for Hammurabi, so she said, "I heard that the king wants to meet the Egyptian envoys. I was curious, so I came here?"

This is a "forced" face - the captain of the guard behind her turned red and then pale: there are so many of them, and they didn't stop a single girl, so they rushed directly to the door of the royal court, and...

Hammurabi also knew that "Miss Ishtar" was showing mercy to save face for him, so he asked, "Did you come up from the 'Seven Doors' just now? Did you have a temper tantrum with the guards there?"

The Egyptian envoy answered blankly: "How can there be such a stupid guard in the world who offends such a beautiful beauty."

Yi Nan smiled immediately, and replied: "Yes, I said I wanted to come to the royal court to have a look, but the guards said that wearing so many jewelry to see the king is not in line with the rules, so I reasoned with them." Reach out to hold a gold leaf hanging from the temples.

So far, Hammurabi has roughly guessed what happened: the "seven doors", seven loud bangs... He was so angry that he couldn't vent his anger.But the timing of the girl's appearance was so unfortunate that the Egyptian envoy was here.If something goes wrong, the reputation of the Babylonian kingdom in neighboring countries will become very bad.

Now the only thing to do is to stabilize her first.

"I remember you, your family has a jewelry workshop, right?" Hammurabi really chatted with Inan in front of the Egyptian envoy.

"Now it's a glass workshop." Yi Nan bowed very modestly.

"Really?" Hammurabi lost his voice, "These glassware in the palace are all produced by your workshop?"

Inan smiled and nodded.

Hammurabi immediately turned to the Egyptian envoy and said loudly, "Look, this young beauty is the owner of the only glass workshop in our country specially for the royal family."

After the interpreter translated these words to the Egyptian envoy, the envoy was also very impressed. He bowed to Yi Nan, praised Yinan's beauty and youthful promise, and then proposed to Yi Nan the possibility of doing business with Egypt.

Yi Nan was noncommittal, and asked with a smile: "Before I came, everyone seemed to be talking about it very lively. I'm really curious, what are the king and the envoy talking about?"

Hammurabi's face has finally calmed down, he wished to turn the topic back to the battlefield just now, so as to avoid the topic of the "seven loud bangs".

So Hammurabi cheerfully recounted the argument with the Egyptian envoy just now, and asked Yinan with a smile: "Young girl, you can judge, the hardest and most fragile thing in the world is what is it?" What?"

Yinan rolled his eyes and said, "What both of you said just now makes sense. The 'hard' and 'fragile' mentioned by the king refer to the abstract 'hard' and 'fragile'. But the Egyptian envoy asked the king, is there any truth?" To take out people’s hearts is to make abstract concepts concrete.”

The ministers pondered together: abstract... concrete...

"So this is not the same question at all. What the envoy asked the king back is another question at all!"

Yi Nan relieved the siege of both sides lightly and deftly.

Who knew that the Egyptian envoys were so aggressive, and Yinan used the two concepts of "abstract" and "concrete" to go around again and again, and now he was really dizzy, and asked again as soon as he opened his mouth: "So, according to what Miss Ishta said Yes, 'concrete', that is, things that can be seen and touched, what in the world is so hard that it cannot be damaged, and so fragile that it will break when touched?"

This made everyone ask.

Even Hammurabi felt that this time he dug a hole by himself and then fell into it.

Who knew that the corners of Yi Nan's lips rose, and he said, "I know."

She said: "It's in my glass shop... oh, no, it should be my sister's glass shop in name..."

As she spoke, she looked past King Hammurabi to a royal courtier in black standing behind him.The ceremony officer was stared at by her, his knees softened, and he almost knelt down.

Hammurabi is not a king who is good at guessing riddles, but he is scheming and good at observing words and deeds. In such a short moment, Hammurabi has roughly figured out the whole story, and has already guessed the road that Yi Nan forced his way through. The real reason why the "Seven Doors of Justice" went straight to the palace.

He wanted to explode instantly - for any reason, he shouldn't forcefully barge into his royal court at this time.

But at this time, the Egyptian envoy heard the words of the interpreter, and cried out in surprise and joy: "Really? This beautiful lady like Isis②, you can really show us such a spectacle—— A magical object that is hard...and fragile at the same time?"

Yi Nan nodded as if he could understand what he said.

The Egyptian envoy was amazed, and then turned to Hammurabi: "Dear King of Babylon, please do as this lady invites, and let this little minister also witness such a miracle!"

Hammurabi nodded patiently, and turned to the royal court official—he paused, then turned to his own guard, and ordered the captain of the guard to go out, listen to instructions from Inan, and then go to the glass palace in Babylon. shop to pick up things.

"Rupert's Tears." Inan told him, "Tell the artisans of the shop. Please be careful when you bring the item—because it is very strong, but it is also very, very fragile."

"Rupert's Tears", the name, together with Yinan's exhortation, immediately aroused the curiosity of everyone in the royal court, including Babylonian King Hammurabi.

The captain of the guard was ordered to leave, and the rest remained in the royal court.

Yi Nan looked around as if remembering an old friend, pretending to be naive, and asked: "Dear king, last time you passed by my jewelry workshop, where is the ceremony official who is responsible for the settlement with our workshop?" ?”

After Hammurabi reminded him, he remembered again: "Herod, where is Herod?"

The royal ceremonial officer who had been serving behind Hammurabi scrambled out at this moment, lying on the ground and addressing the king: "Herod...he has some other chores to do..."

"Where is there anything more important than the king receiving the envoys?"

Herod was well-read and well-remembered, and Hammurabi relied heavily on him.

"Hurry up and bring Herod to the king!" Hammurabi gave a kick, and the royal official scrambled away again.

Not long after, Herod appeared outside the royal court.

His face was ugly, and he was already looking around nervously when he was outside the door—until he saw Yi Nan.

His eyes widened in astonishment, as if the scene he least wanted to see had finally appeared——

But when he took a closer look, he saw that her whole body was intact, still bright and charming, not even a single piece of the gold leaf on the headdress had fallen off.

She stood slim and graceful in the middle of the royal court, and the Egyptian envoys beside her were looking at her with incomparable reverence and love.

Herod bowed his head at this moment, hiding the violent emotion in his eyes.His knees felt weak and he could barely move—but his worst fear was gone.

It was as if his life, his soul, returned to his body in an instant.

The next moment, when he raised his head again, he was still the calm and calm official of the royal family.

He walked steadily, stepped forward to salute Hammurabi, then turned his head to look at Yi Nan beside him, and said:

"Miss Ishtar of Uruk, you are here too."