Double Heart Break
The night was as dark as ink. A fast horse galloped out of Ding Wei's camp. Its hooves broke the silence of the sand and shot towards Thebes like an arrow.
The messenger on horseback carried in his arms a piece of hard sheepskin map fragment and a postscript that was cold and sharp.
At the same time, thousands of miles away in the city of Thebes, the high priest Amenhotep was walking alone on the deep stone steps leading to the temple cellar.
His footsteps echoed in the empty corridor with an unusual heaviness.
The secret letter sent by Ding Wei during the day kept circling in his mind: "Under the dark fire lamp, there is a list of traitors."
The so-called "black fire lamp" is a perpetual lamp in the temple cellar that never goes out. It is named so because its lamp base is carved from rare obsidian.
It has witnessed hundreds of years of temple secrets and is a sacred object that is only mentioned when successive high priests take over.
The air in the cellar was cold and damp. Amenhotep pushed open the heavy stone door. The dim light of the black lamp was as small as a bean, burning quietly in the darkness.
He walked forward, his eyes as sharp as a hawk, and examined the lamp holder carefully.
His fingertips stroked the cold obsidian, finally stopping at a tiny crack at the bottom of the lamp holder that almost merged with the carved patterns.
He followed the ancient mechanism in his memory and pressed hard with his fingertips. With a slight "click", a small secret compartment popped out from under the lamp holder.
Inside the secret compartment, a roll of parchment that was half burned lay quietly.
Amenhotep's heart sank suddenly. He took it out with trembling hands and slowly unfolded it.
In the dim light, lines of names written in Hittite language came into view, and behind each name was the quantity of a batch of military supplies.
When his eyes reached the end of the list, his pupils suddenly contracted!
——Seti!
The name of the prime minister of the time and one of the pharaoh's most trusted ministers was listed alongside the names of two high-ranking priests of the temple. It was so clear that it seemed like a brand, burning Amenhotep's eyes.
A cold rage rose from the depths of his heart and instantly swept through his body.
No wonder there were so many mistakes in the deployment of military equipment inside the temple, and no wonder the border defense map was leaked. It turned out that the termites had already been hiding deep inside the temple, and even entrenched themselves beside the throne!
Amenhotep's face turned pale. He took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to make the matter public immediately.
He understood that Seti had a deep foundation and many followers. There was no foolproof plan. A rash attack would only alert the enemy and even cause turmoil in the government.
He carefully put away the incomplete list, and then ordered his most trusted confidants to completely seal off the cellar and not allow anyone to approach.
Then, he personally copied a copy of the list and secretly sent it to Isis through the most secret channels.
After receiving the list, Isis did not hesitate and sneaked into the heavily guarded Seti mansion like a civet cat that night.
She avoided the patrolling guards and quietly approached a remote courtyard in the backyard of the mansion.
Fire was dancing in the yard, and Seti's most trusted confidant was squatting in front of the brazier, burning documents one by one.
Isis held her breath and hid behind the rockery. In the light of the fire, she saw that the confidant's face was full of anxiety and cruelty.
A gust of wind blew a piece of paper that had not been completely thrown into the brazier to her feet.
She took a quick glance—"Hittite ironware... three thousand sets... already in storage..." The words exploded in her mind like thunder.
Temple passage!
Seti actually used a secret passage known only to the temple's top brass to smuggle Hittite-made weapons into the country, and then disguised them as Egyptian armaments and stored them in storage!
This is not only treason, but also the ultimate blasphemy against theocracy!
Isis's heart was beating like a drum. She saw that the confidant was about to pick up the fragment, so she made a quick decision and picked up a half-used account book that was left beside her from the other side. She flashed and disappeared into deeper darkness.
"Who!" The confidant turned around suddenly and saw a black shadow flash by.
"There's an assassin!" The shrill alarm pierced the night sky.
Several secret sentries emerged from all directions, shooting cold arrows at Isis with the whistling sound of death.
She was nimble and moved between the eaves and pillars, but the enemy was outnumbered and a poisoned dagger still cut her arm.
Severe pain and numbness came over her instantly. Just when she was about to be captured due to exhaustion, several more swift black shadows fell from the sky. With a few dull sounds of weapons clashing, all the secret sentries besieging her fell to the ground.
The leading guard supported Isis and said in a deep voice, "Lord Ding Wei anticipated that you would be in danger and ordered us to meet you here."
Isis was safely brought back to Ding Wei's temporary residence. When she presented the half page of the account book, there was no surprise in Ding Wei's eyes, only a bone-chilling chill.
She unfolded the account book, looking at the details of the arms smuggling. A cold smile curved her lips. "He used the temple passage to smuggle arms, then pinned the blame on me for leaking the border defense map. Once I'm convicted, he can easily take over border military control and ally with the Hittites. What a trick to commit 'treason'. What a calculated plan."
"Sir, shall we present the evidence to Pharaoh now?" Isis asked anxiously.
"No!" Ding Wei shook her head, her eyes as deep as the night.
"Evidence can be destroyed, witnesses can be silenced. To deal with an old fox like Seti, you have to make him confess his crimes in front of everyone, without any possibility of rebuttal."
The next day, Ding Wei asked to see Pharaoh Ramses. Instead of presenting evidence directly, she made a suggestion that no one expected - to hold a "divine fire to test loyalty" ceremony.
She claimed that the leak of border military intelligence must have been caused by a traitor, and that such treasonous acts had angered the gods.
In order to appease the wrath of God and distinguish between loyalty and treachery, they begged the Pharaoh to order all the high-ranking nobles and temple priests in Thebes to place their hands on the sacred fire in front of the temple of the sun god Ra.
If one is a loyal and innocent person, the holy fire will not hurt him in the slightest; if one harbors evil intentions and blasphemes the gods, the holy fire will backfire on him and leave the mark of divine punishment.
Ramses looked at Ding Wei deeply, and he understood everything from her calm and determined eyes.
He immediately approved the request and ordered the high priest Amenhotep to preside over the ceremony personally.
When the news came out, the whole city was in an uproar.
The nobles were talking about it, some were calm, some were nervous.
When Seti, who was far away in his mansion, heard the news, he was struck by lightning. He froze in place and the wine glass in his hand fell to pieces with a clang.
Divine fire to test loyalty?
Others may not know, but he knows it very well!
In order to investigate the secret smuggling route, he had led people into the temple's forbidden area several times and even destroyed the seals of several altars.
This is an unforgivable blasphemy in the temple's teachings!
In front of the divine fire, he has nowhere to hide!
Cold sweat instantly soaked the back of his clothes.
He prepared a large sum of money overnight and secretly sought an audience with the high priest Amenhotep, hoping to obtain asylum.
However, what awaited him was Amenhotep's cold face and a tightly closed door.
Only a cold and hard voice came from inside the door: "No one can be deceived before the divine fire. Prime Minister, please return."
Despair overwhelmed Seti like a tide.
On the day of the ceremony, Temple Square was packed with people and the atmosphere was solemn and dignified.
Ramses sat on the platform, while Amenhotep, wearing a priest's robe and holding a scepter, stood in front of the burning sacred fire.
The nobles and priests lined up according to their official ranks and came forward one by one.
Most people were safe and sound, their palms passing over the flames without any damage, drawing applause from the crowd.
Finally, it was Seti's turn with a pale face.
Every step he took was extremely difficult, as if he was walking on a sea of fire and a mountain of swords.
Under the gaze of thousands of people, he forced himself to remain calm and slowly stretched out his slightly trembling right hand.
At the moment when his palm was about to touch the flame, the originally golden-red holy fire suddenly exploded with a "boom", and a wisp of ink-black flame rose from the center of the flame, wrapping around his palm like a poisonous snake!
"ah--!"
An extremely shrill scream resounded throughout the entire square.
Seti suddenly retracted his hand, and saw that his palm was already charred black. The black flame mark was like a hideous curse, deeply imprinted on his flesh.
He was in great pain and fell to the ground screaming, his whole body twitching.
The whole audience was silent for a moment, and then erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Divine punishment! This is divine punishment!"
"He is indeed a traitor! The Sun God has brought down punishment!"
The people's voices were like a wave, completely breaking Seti's last psychological defense.
Amenhotep raised his scepter high and spoke in a voice as loud as a bell, resounding through the sky: "Seti! You have colluded with foreign enemies and desecrated the temple. The evidence is conclusive! The gods have delivered their verdict!"
On the high platform, Ramses' face was as gloomy as water. He issued an order in front of the crowd: "Prime Minister Seti, your title will be stripped immediately and he will be imprisoned in the temple dungeon! As for Seti's family, all their fiefdoms and military power will be temporarily controlled. We will discuss this matter again after we have thoroughly investigated his accomplices!"
An order that seemed to leave some room for maneuver, in fact, completely deprived the Seti family of all their power in the most irresistible way, in full view of the public.
It's late at night and the noise has faded away.
Amenhotep stood alone in the main hall of the temple. Instead of looking at Seti who was imprisoned in the dungeon, he looked up at the ancient mural of "The Two Kings of the Red River" on the wall.
In the painting, the king of ancient Egypt and the king of Hittite stand side by side, symbolizing a long-forgotten period of peace.
He whispered to himself, a complex sigh etched in his voice. "You, in the name of God and through my hands, have eradicated this great threat, leaving me with no reason to blame you... Ding Wei, are you the savior who ends this disaster, or... the source of an even greater storm?"
At the same time, on a high platform far away on the border, Ding Wei stood facing the wind.
The night wind from the northern desert blew her long hair, and her eyes were as sharp as a knife, pointing directly in the direction of the Hittite camp in the north.
In her hands, she tightly grasped the complete draft of the peace treaty that had been prepared long ago.
Isis stood behind her and asked softly, "My Lord, what's the next step? War or peace?"
Ding Wei's eyes flashed with a dangerous yet charming light in the night. She spoke slowly, each word as cold as ice: "The peace treaty must be signed. But before signing—I want to let them first taste the taste of war."
Before he finished speaking, in the distance, in the direction of the Hittite camp, flames suddenly shot up into the sky, illuminating half of the night sky in blood red. The shrill sound of horns and chaotic roars pierced the silence of the desert from a distance.
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