[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

The succession case was successfully resolved, and everyone in the royal court breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Miss Ishtar's words immediately caused an uproar.

"What I want is not just justice for me alone."

The captain of the palace guard immediately knelt down again—he was responsible for the "seven doors of justice" matter—but who could have imagined that this Miss Ishtar would return to the court after her own case was resolved? Looking back, have you pursued the matter of the "seven gates" again?

Hammurabi, king of Babylon, also felt ashamed.

He's the king of Babylon—and today he's being manipulated by the young girl in front of him.Does Hammurabi have to give what she wants?

Please, it was the other party who destroyed the "Seven Doors of Justice" first.

Hammurabi thought to himself: I just gave her a good face, so she dared to open a dyeing workshop?

At this time, he had forgotten all about the Egyptian envoy and "Rupert's tears".The Babylonian king snorted coldly, and said, "Miss, don't think that your beauty, small mouth and eloquence will make the king tolerate you forever."

"What you have done today, despising the kingship, also insulted the theocracy of Marduk, the god of Jupiter."

Hammurabi's complexion became more and more unkind.

In fact, the king has the greatest power in the country.Now, Hammurabi can completely announce that Miss Ishtar's glass workshop will be directly expropriated, and on the grounds that the royal family will provide it with "protection", the workshop will be taken as his own, and Miss Ishtar's property will be wiped out.

It was easy for Hammurabi to punish this girl with a small punishment.

Even Herod realized that the king was really angry at this moment.Although he bowed his head like other colleagues, he quietly stretched out his hand from the black robe at this moment, and made a gesture to Yi Nan.

Accept it as soon as you see it, and maybe you can consider handing it over to Herod for the next one.

Unexpectedly, Yi Nan burst into laughter when he saw Hammurabi's furious appearance.She seemed to feel shy again, and quickly turned her face away, covering her mouth with a smile.

Hammurabi froze on his throne.

Is it necessary for him to reprimand a little girl in such a big way?

And it's not too late to make a decision after listening to what she said.

Yi Nan smiled and said, "I'm not asking you for anything, I'm giving you advice!"

"An idea?"

Inside and outside the royal court, they all fell together.

"What idea? I think it's a bad idea!" Hammurabi snorted.But it’s strange to say that facing such a girl, he couldn’t harden his heart and ordered the guards to throw her out—probably because he thought of the Babylonian princess under his knees earlier, Hammurabi also gave birth to the young woman in front of him. A subtle touch of empathy.

"Today I broke your 'Seven Doors', oh no, the 'Seven Doors' built by the oracle of the god Marduk was broken, I was the first to do it..."

Inan said lightly.

But a large group of palace guards and "gatekeepers" who were kneeling and kneeling outside the royal court were all horrified when they heard it-as long as they recalled the scene at that time, they felt terrified: it was terrible, it was terrible.

A delicate little girl passed all the way and knocked down seven gates with her own power. The guards of hundreds of people couldn't stop her alone.

Hammurabi pursed his lips tightly, just to see what kind of idea she could come up with.

"...However, you can say that this 'seven gates' has long since lost the mission meaning given by the oracle of the god of Jupiter. Therefore, it is you who ordered the demolition of this 'seven gates' for the sake of the residents of Babylon. !"

As soon as Yi Nan finished speaking, there was a soft "Oh" sound from the royal court.

This is indeed a good idea.

The "seven gates of justice" in front of the palace suddenly collapsed one day, and the sound shook the whole city. It must have spread throughout Babylon.The people in the city didn't know how to arrange this.However, Yi Nan proposed that the royal family should demolish it by themselves, which is indeed a good idea.

Hammurabi also thought it was good when he heard it at first.But as long as he thought about it for a while, he was immediately laughed out of anger.

This girl is really full of ghost ideas.Doesn't she use this kind of rhetoric to show that she wants to lead her by the nose, and to do what she wants to do according to her request?

How could it be so grandiose... Also, give the king an idea? !

Hammurabi was so angry that he couldn't utter a word. He stared straight at Yi Nan, as if saying: "Speak, speak, continue!"

Unexpectedly, Yi Nan gave in at this time, just like when she met Hammurabi on the roadside of Uruk, she poured out all her little thoughts bit by bit.

"When I just learned that all the properties under my name were awarded to my sister, I also felt very wronged. I wanted to find a place to appeal when I was wronged. They told me that the god Marduk pointed out the direction. As long as you pass 'Seven Doors of Justice', you can meet the king and appeal to the king..."

"I came to the 'Seven Doors', but they told me that it was such a 'rule'."

"I'm really angry..."

"Thanks to the brute force that my parents gave me, I have the opportunity to overthrow such obstacles, rush to the palace, and be able to meet the king..."

Yi Nan's words were full of grievances, which made people feel pity.

But if you think about it carefully, this girl's "brute force" is really not a simple "brute force".

"But before me, how many people have been blocked by this 'seven gates', how many people have given up all their belongings, and have been humiliated before passing through this 'seven gates'."

"And among them, how many of them really saw the king and were able to clear their grievances."

Yinan's tone was sad and sighed.

Hammurabi looked around, finally his eyes fell on the captain of the palace guard, and he snorted in a low voice: "Tell me, how many people have passed through the 'seven gates' and wanted to see the king?"

The captain of the palace guard muttered.

He is not one of the "gatekeepers", but he knows the situation of the "seven gates".Even the guards would send some "stolen goods" such as gold and silver jewelry to bribe him from time to time.

But at this time, the incident has already happened, and all the "gatekeepers" can't be kept; moreover, even the "seven gates" have been destroyed, and there will be no "benefits" in the future.The captain of the royal palace guard was cruel, and confessed honestly: "There are about ten people every month!"

Hammurabi gasped.

"A dozen or so people a month, that is, more than 100 people a year, come to the king to complain? But the king has never seen them or heard of them. If there is no Miss Ishta today... the king, you will all be in the dark In the drum?" Hammurabi was so startled that even his beard was almost pulled off.

The captain of the palace guard was embarrassed and reported in a low voice: "Every year... there should be nearly 200 people."

Hammurabi slapped the low table next to him hard with his right hand, but the slap was in vain.The short table in his hand had already been smashed by him and removed.

The words of the captain of the guard had a great impact on Hammurabi: 200 people a year tried to complain to him through the "seven doors", hoping to be treated fairly and justly - but he never failed for any of them. Justice.

He never saw these people at all!

It is conceivable that there are multiple levels of grievances among the people for this matter.

The "Seven Doors of Justice" is not a road to "justice" at all, it is a road for the royal family to expose its ugliness - Hammurabi thought very angrily: Before this, the Babylonians must have thought it was him Instigated by the king.

From this perspective, Miss Ishta's suggestion is indeed a good idea.

Because this puts Hammurabi aside and clearly shows that the king did not know about it; after the king knew about it, he destroyed the "seven gates" in a righteous way and severely punished the "gatekeepers".

This will further win Hammurabi's popularity in Babylon, allowing him to continue to be a king trusted and relied on by the people.

But this also means that he has to punish the palace guards who committed crimes, and at the same time, he also faces a large number of retrials of past unjust, false and wrongly convicted cases-these are really headaches for him.

Hammurabi raised his eyes secretly, and glanced at Miss Ishtar standing in the royal court.

I saw that the girl was full of anticipation, and a pair of beautiful eyes were looking at him.

As soon as Hammurabi saw her eyes like this, he naturally wanted to agree.As soon as the words came to my lips, I quickly changed my words: "I am not a king who is headstrong and does not listen to opinions. But what you said, the king also needs to think about it."

"Well, tonight the royal palace will host a dinner for the Egyptian envoys. You also come - after all, the Egyptian envoys admired you earlier. If you can promote the normal diplomatic relations and business exchanges between the two countries, it will be a good thing."

"Oh!" Yi Nan nodded.

"The king will tell you the king's decision at that time." Hammurabi said rather annoyed.

At night, the condescending Babylonian palace is brilliantly lit.No matter where you are in the city, you can easily see the lights in the palace and imagine the grand banquet in the palace as long as you look up.

In the palace, there are scenes of fragrant clothes, shadows on the temples, and intertwined cups of wine everywhere.The gorgeously dressed maids decorated the crystal clear glass wine set on the low table in front of every guest.Amidst the sound of music, people were talking, shouting, and toasting each other everywhere.

Herod was still wearing his black robe of a ceremonial official, serving quietly in a corner behind Hammurabi.

But Hammurabi ordered him: "Herod, go and see what Miss Ishtar is talking to the Egyptian envoy."

Herod was startled, and thought to himself: Those two can communicate directly in the local dialect of Thebes, so what can he understand?

But Hammurabi grinned, repeated the request, and said at the same time: "Herod, you helped Miss Ishtar earlier, and she will tell you what they were talking about-by the way, why don't you drink ?You get a glass of wine."

In this royal palace, the words of the king are equivalent to orders.As soon as he said it, a charming maid immediately poured the wine from the jug into a chic goblet, and handed it to Herod with both hands.

"Go!" Hammurabi said with a smile.

So, Herod, who never drank alcohol, held a tall glass with wine-red liquid dangling in it.So he walked towards Miss Ishtar and the Egyptian envoy.

Sure enough, as the king had predicted, Inan interrupted the conversation with the Egyptian envoy and turned to Herod.

In fact, her eyebrows and eyes could speak, and Herod's heart could already be shaken by the movement of her beautiful eyes.She spoke immediately, and greeted Herod with a smile in the language of the Babylonians.

"Lord Herod, I am talking to the envoy about building a 'Road of Glass'."

"Yes, Lord Herod," the Egyptian envoy greeted with difficulty in an extremely jerky local dialect, "I am talking with Miss Ishtar that if a series of post stations can be built on the commercial road between the two countries, suppliers Changing horses, repairing vehicles, taking a short rest... and having a garrison to drive away the thieves... just fine."

This is what she was talking about - Herod thought, no wonder Miss Ishtar said so happily: if her glass products can be shipped to Egypt smoothly, it will indeed make her another big profit.

Who let the entire Mesopotamia, only Miss Ishtar's shop, be able to produce such exquisite glassware?

"I'm not the only one who makes money," Yi Nan said with a smile as if he could see what Herod was thinking, "After all, I employ craftsmen in my workshop; it's the business of the caravan to transport and sell goods; this road If it can be opened, if the business is good, it can support many people, such as porters, boatmen, innkeepers, and livestockkeepers..."

"Yes, yes... If you have money, everyone, let's make money together!"

The Egyptian envoy finally finished his sentence with great effort.

Herod: ...

This has refreshed Herod's cognition to a certain extent. He has never been good at doing business, but after thinking about it carefully, it is indeed the truth.

"Lord Herod, do you also like to drink this wine?" Inan asked with a smile.

When Herod was asked by her, it seemed that the secret in his heart had been exposed. He quickly raised his glass and took a big sip. He only felt that the wine was sour and slightly spicy, until it reached his throat.But as soon as he drank the wine, it was as if a fire had burned into his stomach.Let his whole body heat up.

"Oh, Lord Herod, you are here." A maid found Herod, "Your Majesty, please go over and have a word."

This was a signal that Hammurabi had arranged in advance, and it happened to arrange for Herod to withdraw so that he had the opportunity to report to himself.

Herod immediately raised the empty glass in his hand to Inan and the Egyptian envoy, followed the maid, returned to Hammurabi, and reported to Hammurabi the conversation between Inan and the envoy. .

"That's true!" Hammurabi sighed. "If there is a smooth trade route between Babylon and Egypt, without banditry, many people will benefit from it."

"Why did such an idea come from such a beautiful mind?" Hammurabi asked himself, "Why do all the ministers and officials under my command have gray hair and white beard... Everyone claims to have seen people, but they can't think of such an idea... Well, open a business!"

Next, Hammurabi thought for a while, and suddenly said: "No, this girl—I can't let her live outside the royal family!"

When Herod heard this, his heart skipped a beat.

He suddenly remembered what he said when he handed over the payment for the brass amulet to Miss Ishta in the jewelry workshop in Uruk:

"You can only be the king's 'mistress'."

It wouldn't be because of his words. Hammurabi took a fancy to Miss Ishtar's talent and decided to bring her into the harem and make her the king's "mistress".

Over there, Hammurabi could not care what Herod was thinking, and immediately reached out and summoned a maid: "Go, go and bring Miss Ishtar to the back garden, and tell her that the king has something to say to her."

The maid went to take orders, and Hammurabi continued to say to himself: "Well, I have to go and prepare."

Hammurabi called a few officials at random and told them to "greet" the envoys from Egypt.After that, Hammurabi left.

Herod still felt that sip of wine was burning in his heart at this moment, making his heart ache.

He looked back to the way he came, and saw that Yi Nan had been led to the king's back garden by the maid.The Egyptian envoy's expression was a little confused, but immediately other officials came forward with an interpreter and stumbled the envoy again.

By a strange coincidence, Herod put down the empty wine glass in his hand, picked a secluded path, and went to the back garden of the palace.

As one of the court officials of the royal family, Herod also went to the back garden of Hammurabi with his colleagues to report to the king on domestic government affairs. This road was familiar.

He still remembered what Hammurabi said before he left, "Get ready", and thought: Could it be that King Hammurabi would woo Miss Ishtar in the back garden.

Thinking of this, Herod's heart seemed to be pulled.

But—he believed in Miss Ishtar, that woman was a very independent person, and she insisted on her own opinion in everything.

Herod didn't even think about what he was going to do in the back garden. After all, he alone couldn't help Miss Ishtar in front of the king or the palace guards.

But he just couldn't control his actions, and in the end he followed this path and quietly entered a corner of the back garden.

At this time, Hammurabi was already in the back garden, and Miss Ishtar should have been there too.Wang let out a long and proud laugh, and said to Miss Ishta in a loud voice:

"Look—that's all the princes at the king's knees."

In the distance, covered by green trees in the garden, the young princes were standing or sitting, all appearing in front of Yinan with their most elegant posture and etiquette.

"Which one do you like?"

"Any one is fine, you can marry whatever you want!"

Hammurabi announced proudly.

I see--

Herod, who was hiding in the corner of the garden, let out a long sigh of relief, and thought to himself: I didn't want Miss Ishtar to be the king's mistress.

He was worried for a long time in vain.

He quietly retreated back the way he came, and returned to the bustling royal court—but the bustle had nothing to do with him.

There was only one thought in Herod's mind: So, what the king said, to keep Miss Ishtar in the "royal family", meant to let Miss Ishtar choose a prince as her future husband.

The king obviously recognized Miss Ishtar's ability - needless to say, she is beautiful, smart and straightforward, and can speak the prophecies of the Egyptians.

Any prince who can get the favor of Miss Ishtar and marry such a wife will surely gain the upper hand in the battle for succession.

Let's put it this way, Miss Ishtar is the future queen, and the prince she chooses will naturally become the future king.

Herod felt quite uncomfortable, so he went directly to his superior and asked to leave the table and go back to rest.After the previous incidents, Herod's superiors were already obedient to him, and they didn't dare to say "no" again.

Herod staggered back to his "bachelor's dormitory", feeling that the glass of wine that he had drank earlier was not a glass of wine—it was simply a fire, and it was burning all over his body.

Miss Ishtar...she will make a wise choice, right?

It's best to choose a prince who is assertive but also listens to his opinions-this will be good for her future.

Herod thought sadly: After all, those princes were descended from the knees of King Hammurabi, and their status was even higher than that of the noble Avelur.

And he, he was just a Mushchinu.

What did he compare with those princes?

Is it because he took in and protected her with such simple courage in the past night?But why... He could clearly feel the beast that was about to move in his heart, but he never dared to take that step... Even if it was just to kiss her lightly?

Will she remember all this in the future, will she still smile and reach out to him after becoming a queen, and call his name——

"Herod!"

Herod stepped into his house.

"Herod!"

"Herod is good! Herod is good!"

The budgerigar jumped happily on the window sill when he heard the movement.

Herod's heart felt as if it had been run over by a wheel, and he recalled what happened in this house last night, as if it had happened in a lifetime ago.

After this night, these memories should be dusted—he is still Herod, the Royal Courtesy Officer, and he will be respectful and respectful when he sees Miss Ishtar, so that no one will suspect that the two of them had such a relationship. In the past, Miss Ishtar would not find that his heart would still be beating for her.

Herod sat for a while before his parrot, and finally went back into the bedroom and blew out the lamp.

His alcoholism no longer allowed him to sit like this.

He lays down, he relaxes, he tries to fall asleep, but he wakes up more and more.

—Herod!You are making trouble with yourself.

Herod, go to sleep!Until tomorrow, you will be that stern and selfless black-robed ceremony officer again. You will not do favoritism for anyone. The only meaning of your existence is to let justice exist in the world and bring fairness to everyone.

"Herod!"

"Herod! Herod!"

The budgerigar outside called again.

No, no, that's not the sound of a budgerigar.

Herod turned over and sat up abruptly: he was so familiar with this voice, as if it had been engraved directly in his heart.

He got up quickly and rushed out of the bedroom quickly.

"Ishtar, what's the matter, what happened?" After recognizing her voice, he was completely panicked and bewildered.He stretched out his hands, but he didn't know how to help her and protect him.

But a pair of soft arms suddenly hooked his neck and shouted in his ear: "Herod!"

She is really happy, there is infinite joy in her voice, full of pride brought by success.

"Herod, Hammurabi has promised! . . . The king has promised!"

"Starting tomorrow, we will have a new 'Gate of Justice'. I will pay for the construction of this building. And you, Herod, will be able to bring justice to more people in this world by your ability and justice."