[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

Herod really didn't want to let Miss Ishtar leave.

It was getting late, and after the woman beside him left, he was the only one left in this long night.

At this moment, Herod once again felt that there was a strange beast in his heart ready to move.He himself didn't expect to reach out his hand.

Only the gods knew that there was such a shadow in Herod's deep heart, and as he presided over the "Gate of Justice" for a longer and longer time, that shadow would expand accordingly.

Every night when he was looking through those "precedents" in the clay warehouse, he could clearly hear a voice saying to himself:

"Where are these... people?"

"Obviously they are beasts—"

Greedy people, fickle people...

Jealous, insidious, and insatiable world people.

The more he reads, the shadow in his heart will expand accordingly.

The more he was exposed to gloom, the more gloomy he became.

He—is he also one of the "beasts"?

Gradually, he felt that he couldn't believe that human beings had ever possessed "goodness".

Perhaps the human heart is sinister by nature—he can feel that when he decides the case, he will think a little bit darkly about the starting point of the person involved.

Even more frightening to him was the fact that most of the time his assumptions turned out to be correct.

Whenever the night falls and the shadows widen, he needs Miss Ishtar all the more—this girl is like a light, she has not only intelligence and beauty, but also a bright light that dispels the darkness.With her around, he would clearly feel that he was still alive, like a good person.

However, when he stretched out his hand to hold her little hand, just as he felt the warmth, there was another voice in his heart reminding: Herod, you are just a Mushchenu.

So Herod was stunned, then got up, let go of his hands, brushed off his black robe as if nothing had happened, and said, "It's getting dark, I have to take you home."

Inan was still shocked by the cry of Herod's budgerigar: As God bears witness, she never taught this guy her own alias—who taught it, isn't it just a glance?

She turned her face away, looked at Herod, who seemed to be innocent on the surface, nodded, and said, "Okay!"

In the city of Babylon, is there anyone who can threaten her safety? ——But Herod offered kindness, and Inan didn't think about rejecting it at all.

So the two of them walked through the bustling streets and alleys of Babylon together, and went to the house that Yinan had bought at the beginning.

Just passing by the door of a tavern, he suddenly heard a noise inside. The door of the tavern was knocked open with a "bang", and a man was thrown out, facing Yi Nan's direction, and fell on his back.

Herod snorted, and opened his arms to protect Ainan first——

Yi Nan stretched out his hand and picked up the man's collar——

"Abu!"

Yi Nan recognized this glass middleman who was loyal to him.

After Abu stood firm, he called out in surprise and joy: "Miss Ishtar!"

Before he finished speaking, the people inside were thrown out one after another, and Yi Nan grabbed them by the collar one by one to help them stand firm one by one.

"Abu, what's going on?"

"The fourteenth prince, it's the fourteenth prince, who was drunk and beat someone." Abu hurriedly explained to Yinan.

The fourteenth prince he was talking about was one of Hammurabi's several sons, named Samiyeh.From his ranking, we can know that Hammurabi is a father with many children. However, the extremely high child mortality rate and war death rate in this era also indicate that the fourteenth prince may also be quite high in the order. candidates for the throne.

Yi Nan could immediately match this name with a shrewd and powerful face in the back garden of the palace: it turned out to be him.

The door of the tavern was open, and there was constant wailing from inside.

"What, is anyone injured?" Yi Nan asked Abu quickly.

Abu replied sadly, "Yes, the owner of the shop was injured by the prince—not seriously."

Inan and Herod looked at each other, and it was clearly written in their eyes: there is trouble.

The next day, the owner of the tavern forced himself to be carried to the "Gate of Justice" with his broken leg, and complained to Herod, the royal official in charge of "administering justice", that he was beaten by the fourteenth prince Samier. He was seriously injured and asked Herod to do justice for him.

The boss is a good old man. Under his request, all the drinkers who visited the tavern last night stood up to help the boss testify, including Abu.

And because the prince was involved in this case, it immediately attracted the attention of the whole city.People want to know, since it was the fourteenth prince who injured others for no reason, can Herod, who presided over the "Gate of Justice", still maintain the justice of the judgment as he did before?

You know, the status of the fourteenth prince is even higher than that of "Honorable Avell", and he is a nobleman among the nobles.

So Herod, who is an ordinary royal official, and King Hammurabi standing behind Herod, Marduk, the god of Jupiter... can they really maintain "justice"?

Herod was very calm. He first ordered all the witnesses to be separated separately, and then they were interrogated separately.He asked many details, such as how the prince got drunk, under what circumstances the beating started, who annoyed him.

The witnesses answered honestly, and they answered exactly the same and completely consistent on these details.

Finally, the tavernkeeper emerges on a stretcher and answers Herod's questions.The doctor in charge of setting the bones of the tavern owner also came along, and briefly explained the tavern owner's injury.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that with so many witnesses, and the tavern owner who was indeed seriously injured—it is impossible for so many people to lie at the same time and say exactly the same in details.

Therefore, the facts of this incident are very clear: the fourteenth prince was immoral after drinking, and the tavern owner was beaten and seriously injured innocently.

Everyone wondered what Herod would do.

Herod immediately asked the palace guards guarding the "Gate of Justice" to invite the fourteenth prince Samier to come over.

Unexpectedly, at the first request, Samier sent a personal attendant, Mushiqinnu, over.This Mushchinu lowered his eyebrows and was pleasing to the eye. When he saw Herod, he knelt down on the spot, and only asked Herod to take a lighter punishment for the sake of serving the royal family together.

Everyone felt a "cut" in their hearts: Sure enough, with a good dad, he can do whatever he wants.Samier even arranged for a personal valet to accept the punishment.

The tavern owner was lying on a stretcher, looking worried and frightened.Who knows if Prince Samiye will come to the pub again to seek revenge?Anyway, even if something happened to the prince, there would be servants to punish him for him.

The witnesses watched from the sidelines, and all shrank back in embarrassment, as if they all regretted that they stood up to testify for others so recklessly, what should they do if they were retaliated by the prince?

All eyes were on Herod, and everyone wanted to know what action this royal official, who was charged with "justice", would take, and whether he would accept the step that Prince Samier gave him.

Seeing that Herod thought for a moment, he decided to invite the palace guards again.

The second time I went to ask for it, Samier asked someone to bring a message: One Mushchenu is not enough, two are enough, right?

As a result, the Mushchenu kneeling in front of Herod changed from one to two.One of them may have been following Samiye and was used to arrogance. Even when he knelt in front of Herod, he shouted arrogantly: "You don't look at yourself, but you are just a Mushchenu like us. What qualifications do you have?" Trial the aloof Prince Samiyeh?"

Herod didn't say much, just made a gesture.

The palace guards immediately rushed forward, stripped off the robes of the two Mushchinnus, overturned them on the ground in the middle of the square, and beat each of them ten sticks.

Herod then declared that the two Mushchenu were "interfering with official duties."He ordered that the palace guards go to invite Prince Samiye for the third time.This time, if the palace guards fail to invite the prince, even they themselves will be punished by public flogging.

The Palace Guards knew that Herod was a one-sided personality, and that he was indeed qualified to punish the Palace Guards.No one dared to be negligent at the moment, and they all rushed to the residence of Prince Samiye, thinking about it: if you ask, you must ask someone to come.

"Herod—"

Not long after, Prince Samier's angry voice sounded in the distance.

The prince led a large group of Mushiqinnu and rushed towards the "Gate of Justice".

The palace guards who went to invite someone earlier all followed behind the visitor with pale faces: they had already realized that the visitor was not kind, but after all, Herod had repeatedly invited this person.Besides, the other party is a prince, and they don't know what to do with the other party.

Herod's face sank like water, he adjusted his black ceremonial robe slightly, and greeted Prince Samier.

"His Royal Highness Prince--"

Before Herod could speak, the two Mushchinnu who had been stripped of their robes earlier and received ten sticks had already snatched them up and complained to Samiye:

"Your Highness, Lord Herod beat us!"

"Your Highness, people don't take you seriously at all. You must be the master for us!"

Samier was about twenty years old, with a strong physique like a bull, with his upper body naked and a leather whip pinned to his waist.Seeing Herod, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked coldly, "You are Herod? It's you, and you have repeatedly invited me to come here to accept your sentence?"

Herod nodded calmly: "Exactly."

"Tell me, what crime did I commit, and how do you plan to punish it?"

Samier folded his arms lazily, as if he could not believe it at all: How dare Herod punish him?Is this eating the bear heart and leopard gall?

"After interrogation, the evidence is convincing. The prince beat someone for no reason, causing him serious injuries." Herod announced calmly, "Even the prince should be punished—just be beaten to the same degree."

"it is good!"

For some unknown reason, the Babylonians onlookers heard this and applauded in unison, stomping their feet and applauding desperately.The witnesses standing in front of the crowd, such as Abu, were all beaming at the moment.

But the tavern owner, who was lying on a stretcher and suffered an indiscriminate disaster, was so excited that tears filled his eyes.

Homogeneous revenge is justice—even if you are as expensive as a prince, you cannot escape punishment.

Hearing this colorful sound, the corners of Samier's mouth suddenly pulled back, and it took him a long time to laugh out loud.The Mushchinnu behind him stood in a half circle, faintly surrounding Herod in the circle and not letting him leave.

Samier reached out and untied the whip from his waist, and lightly whipped it in the air.The whip immediately made a loud "snap". People in the small square behind the "Gate of Justice" were startled and fell silent.

"Herod, come here!" Samier said to Herod with a smile.

Herod knew that Samiye's call would do no good, but at this juncture, he could not avoid it.

"Who gave you the qualification to try this prince?" The prince's tone gradually turned fierce.

Herod already knew that today's conflict was inevitable, but he still answered bravely: "Judging every dispute fairly is the power and responsibility that King Hammurabi bestows on the ministers. Such divine power comes from Jupiter. God Marduk."

Samiye choked, turned his eyes, and said, "But do you still remember that you are a Mushchinnu? In front of the prince, this is your etiquette as a Mushchinnu?"

Herod bit his lower lip and knelt down on one knee towards Samier.

There was an uproar in front of "Gate of Justice".

People failed to think of this: even though Herod had the power to judge given by the king, he was still an insignificant Mushchenu; he was still a humble servant in front of the prince.

"Now I remember that I am a servant..." Samiye smiled disdainfully, and turned his face to see that the two Mushchinnu he had sent earlier were stripped of their jackets and robes, and there were marks of torture on their backs, and they were furious. Pointing at Herod, he shouted, "Take off the coat of this lowly servant!"

The two Mushchinnu had just been "wronged", and now the prince finally took over for them. At this time, how could they dare to be negligent? They rushed up, one held Herod down, and the other nimbly lifted the ceremony official on his body. The black robe was torn off.

Herod's overly white back, which had not seen the sun all year round, was exposed to the world.

"Lord Herod!"

The Babylonians who were on the sidelines couldn't sit still any longer.At the beginning, some people tried to break through the barriers of the palace guards and rushed into the square, trying to avoid the public humiliation of Herod, the official of ceremonies who had been helping them solve their problems and uphold justice.

The duty of the palace guards is to stop them.Furthermore, some of them were also given by Herod the day before yesterday, and were flogged in public.Some of them were dark, and most of them were waiting for Herod to suffer in public.

Among these palace guards, there were some Mushchinnu brought by Samier, who mixed with the palace guards and fought black fists.Just hearing the voices of "Aiyo" and "Oh my god" one after another, many Babylonians suffered a dark loss.

When the palace guards blocked the Babylonians, Prince Samiye shot.

The whip in his hand flicked across the air, and there was a "pop" sound, and a purple bloodstain immediately appeared on Herod's back.

Herod lowered his head, the muscles on his face were stiff, but he did not make a sound.

"You damn slave, if you have the guts to say it again, what do you want to do with this prince?"

Herod turned his head and repeated stubbornly: "The prince beat others for no reason, causing serious injuries. According to the principle of 'homogeneous revenge', the prince should be severely punished and a leg should be broken... This is the power bestowed by the gods. It is the justice that Herod needs to administer."

Samier didn't expect Herod to be such a hard-headed person, and he didn't have any intention of changing his words after being humiliated in public.

He immediately raised the leather whip in his hand, and lashed Herod's back fiercely.In a short while, there were seventeen or eight bloodstains on Herod's back.

He stopped and asked again: "Say again, what do you want to do with this prince?"

Herod bit his own tongue when he was about to bear the pain. At this moment, he spit out a mouthful of blood, took a breath, and said the same words when he spoke again: "The prince has no reason...beats others...revenges in the same way..."

Samier was so angry that he whipped two more whips in his hand.

He turned his head, just in time to see the palace guards struggling to resist the Babylonians rushing towards him.

Samier saw with his own eyes those ordinary people dressed in ordinary clothes who seemed to be civilians with red eyes, yelling loudly at him and shaking their fists vigorously.He suddenly felt fear in his heart - if there were no these palace guards, the Babylonians in front of him could instantly overwhelm him.

But the more this happened, the more Samier wanted to humiliate the royal ceremony officer in front of him—he was not too stupid, and he knew that the key was to make Herod bow his head.

It's only because this tough royal official is still here to hold on, that people are so angry.

But once Herod bowed his head and confessed his weakness, the Babylonians in front of them would lose hope, and thus give up resistance, letting the nobles flatten and round them.

Samiye suddenly became angry. Even if he was scolded by the prince, he would beat the courtier whom the prince always liked until he was subdued.If you don't give in, you will be beaten to death.

Otherwise, anyone will be able to climb to the top of the royal family in the future, and the Babylonians will be able to rush into the "gate of justice" and demand "justice" from the members of the royal family-is this not a mess?

He gritted his teeth and lifted the whip in his hand again.

"Herod, do you bow your head?"

"I..." As a matter of fact, Herod kept his head down, looking at the ground precariously.

He was a Mushchenu who had to bow his head before the prince.

But justice cannot bow its head.

"Even if I can't...the gods will still punish you, Prince Samiye...Your Highness!"

Herod gritted his teeth and spat out another mouthful of blood.

At this time, under the "Gate of Justice" in the distance, a clear female voice said loudly: "You guys should give way!" The voice was full of eagerness and annoyance.

Most of the citizens of Babylon turned their bodies to make way for a passage.

None of the palace guards dared to give in, they still stood in front, blocking the woman's way out—then they were thrown out.

Suddenly someone recognized her.

"The woman who knocked down the 'Seven Doors'!"

The Babylonians were a little stunned when they heard this: Didn't the "Seven Doors" be knocked down by the order of King Hammurabi?

The palace guards were shocked when they heard it:

"Run!"

"Who can afford that woman?"

She not only overthrew the "seven gates", but also overthrew all the "gatekeepers" and a bunch of corrupt royal officials.

In the end, she even asked King Hammurabi to cover the truth for her, declaring that it was the royal family's decision to tear down the "seven gates".

Who would dare to provoke such a woman?

For a while, the guards of the palace had the idea of ​​leaving their posts without authorization.

But in just such a gap, this woman had already come to Herod's side, and turned her eyebrows coldly at Prince Samier.Several Mushchinnu who dared to stop her fell directly and lay on the ground, unable to move.

Samier recognized the beauty in front of her—Miss Ishtar.

The king's father said that whoever can marry Miss Ishtar is equivalent to getting half of the throne.

Samier didn't dare to neglect, and greeted Miss Ishtar with a smile on his face, but slowly hid the whip in his hand behind him.

Inan approached Herod and asked in a low voice, "How many times did he hit you?"

Herod said with difficulty: "Twenty...27 strokes..."

Yi Nan nodded: "I knew you knew it."

Herod: ...

In order to be able to accurately "homogeneous revenge", he of course recorded every whip he received.

Yi Nan added: "I'm sorry, I'm late."

She felt apologetic in her heart: after all, Herod was a royal official who was constrained by social status. Hammurabi granted him the power to judge justice, but did not provide him with sufficient protection.

Yi Nan turned to the tavern owner lying on the stretcher.

"Uncle, where are you hurt?"

The tavern owner looked at the sky: "Broken right leg... broken thigh bone..."

"Okay!" Yinan said he received it.

She finally turned to Prince Samiye and even gave him a friendly smile first.

Samiye was fascinated by her smile, and blurted out: "Let's just forget about today's matter, this prince is willing to..."

Before he could finish his sentence, and before he could say the words "peace the matter," the prince suddenly let out a miserable howl, and fell down with his right leg in his arms.

The change happened so suddenly that only some people saw it clearly:

Miss Ishtar stepped forward, and suddenly kicked the prince's right leg.

Immediately afterwards, Prince Samiye rolled on the ground with his legs in his arms, only to hear him crying in pain: "My leg is broken, this prince's leg is broken."

In front of the "Gate of Justice", there was a moment of silence, only the screams of Prince Samiye resounded through the sky.

Yi Nan even stepped forward to check it, then turned to the tavern owner and said, "That's right, he also broke his right thigh."

The owner of the tavern was stunned on the stretcher, and he didn't recover for a long time: This justice...does it always come so suddenly?

Yi Nan didn't finish yet, she reached out to pick up the leather whip that the prince threw at her feet, weighed it in her hand, and said, "There must be 27 whips, it seems that I have to be gentle, don't beat it two or three times." Cut off the whip."

Prince Samiye: ...

"Miss Ishtar, it's only natural that the prince wants to punish a Mushchenu..." Samiye just howled out this sentence.

"You'd better say a few words less, so as not to distract me and make a wrong count, and give you two more lashes." Yi Nan had already begun to concentrate on revenge for Herod: "One, two, three..."

While whipping Prince Samier mercilessly, making him roll around on the ground with a broken leg in his arms, she counted earnestly, saying that "homomorphic revenge" should be accurate: what Samier did before Evil, no more, no less, will be done on him.

The Babylonians standing in front of the "Gate of Justice" are all happy. The wicked have their own grind—no, this is the grind of the wicked.

Miss Ishta is beautiful, but she is ruthless in attacking. Men can't beat her, isn't she a fairy?

They even shouted in unison, helping Miss Ishtar to count together, "...25, 26, 27!"

When the counting was over, everyone let out a "wow" together. Seeing that justice was done, they were even happier than celebrating the festival.

After Yi Nan finished the beating, he threw the whip casually, and threw Prince Samiye on the spot without looking back.She just helped up Herod, who was seriously injured, and said in front of everyone:

"Herod, you should add one more principle to your judgment."

Herod asked tremblingly, "Add... what?"

"The prince broke the law and committed the same crime as the common people."

When the Babylonians heard this, they applauded in agreement.Hundreds of thousands of people shouted in unison at the same time: "The prince broke the law and committed the same crime as the common people." The sound shook the city, and even the high palace must have heard it clearly.

Amidst the joyous shouts, Inan supported Herod and walked towards his small courtyard behind the "Gate of Justice", wanting to help him check the injuries on his back.