Final Chapter (Completed)
The raging fire burned for half the night, and the Hittites' wailing and roaring also lasted for half the night.
For the next two days, the entire border fell into an eerie silence, like the last calm before the storm. The air was filled with the burnt smell of kerosene and the bloody smell of rust, making it hard to breathe.
On the morning of the third day, when the sun first shone its golden rays on the white stone steps of the Diplomatic Hall of Thebes, the Hittite envoys finally arrived.
He was no longer as arrogant as when they first met. His gorgeous court robes were stained with dust and sand, his eye sockets were sunken and bloodshot, and he was followed by only two followers, looking as humble as a lost merchant.
He bowed his head to the ground and, in a trembling voice, almost pleading, declared the Hittite king's wishes: "Great Pharaoh, noble Queen, the Hittites... are willing to sign an unconditional peace treaty, only asking for an end to the war."
There was silence in the hall. All the Egyptian officials held their breath, unable to hide the joy of victory on their faces.
Unconditional?
What a humiliation, and what an honor!
However, there was no smile on Ding Wei's face.
She sat quietly beside Ramses, her eyes as cold as ice.
She didn't respond immediately, just waved her hand gently.
The two attendants understood and came forward carrying a long table, placing it steadily in front of the Hittite envoy.
On the table, there are two things side by side.
On the left is a parchment map that has been burnt black and curled up. On the remaining fragments, the outline of the Egyptian border fortress can still be vaguely recognized.
On the right is a copy of an account book, each page of which clearly records the arms trade and financial transactions between Seti and the Hittite general.
When the Hittite envoy saw the half map, his pupils suddenly contracted and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
He thought the fire had burned away all the evidence, but he didn't expect...
"You burned my map, but you didn't know that fire can destroy paper but not evidence." Ding Wei's voice was not loud, but it was like an ice pick, piercing the heart of everyone present.
She slowly stood up, her eyes sweeping over the messenger with a sullen face, and finally falling into Ramses' deep eyes.
"Your Majesty!" She spoke each word in a sonorous voice.
"If we surrender so easily today, the blood of our soldiers who sacrificed their lives defending the border will have been shed in vain. And the wealth and dignity lost by the looted caravans will be lost without compensation."
Her words instantly cooled the joy that had just risen in the hall, and replaced it with a more solemn and murderous atmosphere.
Ding Wei turned to the Hittite envoy, her momentum rising sharply: "The treaty can be signed, but the Hittites must prove their sincerity with the 'three certificates'!"
She raised her first finger. "One certificate for the return of prisoners of war. Within three days, all Egyptian soldiers and civilians captured in the war must be returned to the city of Avaris unharmed."
She raised a second finger, her voice growing sharper. "Second certificate, the ironware is sealed. The Hittites' proud ironworks must be sealed immediately, and inspectors sent by Egypt and the temple must be stationed there. No more weapons may be forged within ten years."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar!
Sealing off the iron workshop is equivalent to cutting off the claws of the Hittite Empire!
The Hittite envoy suddenly raised his head, his lips trembling, and he almost fainted on the spot.
Ding Wei ignored him and raised her third finger, her eyes piercing. "Three princes as hostages. The Hittite king must send a direct descendant prince to Thebes to learn Egyptian culture and laws. He can return home after ten years."
"This... this is absolutely impossible!" The Hittite envoy screamed. Which of these three points was not a blow to the Hittites' hearts?
Especially with the prince as a hostage, this is the ultimate humiliation for an empire!
However, before his desperate roar could be uttered, Ramses on the throne, the Pharaoh who had remained silent from beginning to end, nodded slightly at this moment and uttered a word with an unquestionable majesty.
"……Can."
Although the voice was soft, it was like a mountain pressing down on their heads, instantly breaking down all the psychological defenses of the Hittite envoys.
He collapsed to the ground, his face ashen.
In order to prevent the Hittites from pretending to obey but secretly delaying, Ding Wei did not wait for news in Thebes.
She immediately went to the border and found Isis in a camp where many caravans gathered.
With the help of the temple business network throughout West Asia and North Africa that was connected by this temple saint, an invisible giant net was quietly spread.
Within two days, news came back like snowflakes: the seven most secret military stations in the Hittite territory had begun to quietly withdraw troops and seal up the baggage.
"They are really scared." Ding Wei sneered and then gave orders to Thutmose beside her.
"They want to retreat quietly, but I want the whole world to watch them. I'll lead a squadron of light cavalry and attack the fake camp at Tona Pass at night. We'll make a big noise and 'rescue' our hijacked caravan and the three prisoners inside."
Thutmose's eyes lit up and he agreed without hesitation.
At dawn the next day, a wounded but high-spirited Egyptian caravan, escorted by elite cavalry, appeared at the gate of Avaris.
In front of the entire city, Ding Wei personally untied the symbolic shackles of the three rescued captives and loudly declared, "If the Hittites truly seek peace, they should act like me, earning trust with swift action rather than playing tricks in the dark! I rescued three people today, and in three days, I want to see all my compatriots return!"
When the news reached Thebes, the generals who advocated war were excited and wrote letters requesting to fight, believing that they should pursue the victory and flatten the Hittite capital in one fell swoop.
Memorials flew into the palace like snowflakes, but they were all suppressed by Ramses.
He looked coldly around at the generals at the court meeting and said, "The princess has laid out the overall situation. All you need to do is polish your weapons and wait for orders."
Although the generals were unwilling, the Pharaoh's majesty and the princess's mysterious methods made them dare not raise any objections.
The night before the peace treaty was officially signed, there was a quiet knock on the side door of the palace.
Isis, dressed in moonlight, brought Ding Wei a fragment of an ancient temple secret book.
In the flickering candlelight, Ding Wei could clearly read the words on it—it was from the "Oath of the Balance," a chapter that recorded an ancient prophecy: "Foreign nations will break their swords at the gate, and the two kings will hold the Fire Seal in the palace. For ten years, there will be no war, and good weather and harvests."
Two kings holding the fire seal... Ding Wei's heart skipped a beat, and a bold and sacred idea took shape in her mind.
She understood that this was Amenhotep guiding her, not only to win political victory, but also to win theocracy and the hearts of the people.
The next day, when the Hittite delegation was trembling with fear waiting to sign the peace treaty, Ding Wei ordered that the huge parchment scroll of the peace treaty be respectfully delivered to the sacred fire altar of the Temple of Amun.
She ordered Isis to lead the priests around the sacred fire and chant scriptures and pray for seven days for this contract that concerned the fate of the two countries.
After seven days, the ceremony ended.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Ding Wei personally held a red-hot brand burned in the sacred fire.
She did not use traditional ink and seals, but instead imprinted two parallel marks at the end of the treaty.
The flame burned the sheepskin, making a sizzling sound, and the brand slowly took shape.
On the left is an eagle-head seal representing the power of the pharaoh, belonging to Ramses.
On the right, a brand new emblem was born—it was the outline of an eye, but in the pupil was a winding red river.
"Eye of the Red River!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
This is the emblem Ding Wei created for herself, symbolizing her soul from another world and the turning point she brought to Egypt.
With the divine fire as witness, the two kings stand side by side and will never break their alliance!
The people in the square were shocked at first, and then they burst into thunderous cheers: "Two kings, one light! Two kings, one light!"
On the day of the signing, inside and outside the diplomatic hall, on one side were the Pharaoh's guards holding spears and looking murderous, and on the other side were the temple priests holding scepters and looking solemn.
The Hittite envoy was forced to personally deliver a pale, terrified young prince into the palace.
Ding Wei stepped forward, not with the slightest air of triumph, but gently caressed the boy's shoulder. "Child, you are not a hostage, you are a messenger of peace. In the ten years in Egypt, you will learn how to govern a country and how to care for your people. In ten years, you will return home with true friendship and wisdom."
This action and these words startled the humiliated Hittite delegation. Even the fear in the young man's eyes dissipated a little, replaced by a hint of confusion and touch.
Ramses slowly stood up, his resounding voice echoing throughout Thebes: "From this day forward, the Hittites and Egypt shall observe a ten-year truce! This agreement is witnessed by the gods and witnessed by all people. Anyone who violates it will be punished by both gods and men!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the bells and drums of Thebes rang out, and the powerful sound spread in all directions.
At night, thousands of river lanterns are lit on both sides of the Nile River at the same time. The bright lights are like stars falling into the earth, illuminating the river water, which has not yet completely faded its red color, like a dream.
That night, Ding Wei and Ramses stood side by side on the highest observatory in the palace.
The evening breeze blows, bringing with it the moisture of the river water and the joy of the festival.
He took out a rusty bronze plate from his arms - it was the fragment of the inscription that Seti had given him and was inlaid on the "war drum".
"You beat everyone!" he whispered, with a hint of emotion and relief in his voice.
"Including me, I won over all my initial doubts about you."
Ding Wei turned her head and looked at his handsome profile outlined by the stars and lights, and smiled: "I don't want to beat you, I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and go to the end."
He stared at her, and his eyes, which were once as sharp as an eagle, now only contained inextricable tenderness.
Suddenly, he raised his arm, and the bronze medal, a symbol of suspicion and old grudges, drew an arc in the air and sank into the star-studded Nile River below.
"From now on, there will be no more lonely drums, only the sound of the heart."
Deep in the dark cellar of the distant Temple of Amun, the high priest Amenhotep slowly extinguished the black flame lamp in front of him that had been flickering for months.
He raised his head for the last time and looked at the newly completed mural on the wall. In the painting, a goddess-like woman stood beside the pharaoh, and her face was Ding Wei.
In the last moment before the lights went out, the face of the person in the painting seemed to tremble slightly in the firelight, and finally returned to eternal peace.
The wind and sand gradually subsided, the red water faded, and a new and peaceful era finally began slowly on the land of Egypt.
Congratulations on the end!
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