A Pharaoh and Her Beloved Queen - Chapter 11

After the storm, the golden rays of light circling above the city of Tanis grew more merciless by the day. The once lush ferns in the center of the inner courtyard now drooped listlessly toward the ground; the cool, sweet wind hid within the crevices of the alabaster steps, and a stifling atmosphere permeated everywhere.

Ye Zhiqing wore the simplest flaxen-colored long robe, with stray hairs falling by her ears and no ornaments upon her person. Her well-proportioned figure stood beside a massive circular stone pillar under the corridor, holding documents that Edith had reviewed the previous night.

Listed upon them were the distribution treaties between Egypt and the Hittites regarding various coveted resources and ports in the Nusya region, following their ceasefire agreement.

She flipped through them in quiet silence, her movements gentle and slow, reading meticulously.

“Miss Ye, General Heshi wishes to see you. She is waiting outside the courtyard,” Lamassu said, lowering her voice intentionally as she entered the courtyard with light steps.

Ye Zhiqing raised a hand to rub her somewhat dry eyes. After a moment of silence, her voice was soft and calm: “I will not see her.”

Not expecting Ye Zhiqing to refuse so bluntly, Lamassu froze for a second before quickly nodding and heading outside to turn away the waiting Heshi.

Lamassu’s retreating figure was cut straight by the primitive white doorframe. Ye Zhiqing’s gaze was slightly cool and indifferent as she stared blankly at the empty space ahead, lost in thought.

When she woke up, the side of the pillow was cold. She had thought it would be difficult to fall asleep last night with only scattered drowsiness, but she hadn’t expected to sleep exceptionally deeply. Upon waking, her whole body felt the refreshing comfort of a sound sleep following exhaustion.

During this half-month of leisurely recovery, the string that had been pulled tight in Ye Zhiqing’s mind had completely relaxed. She had simply moved all the documents regarding the ceasefire agreement from Edith’s desk. Since Edith tacitly allowed her to browse them, Ye Zhiqing did not shy away; the more she knew, the more beneficial it was for her.

Edith’s purpose in deliberately allowing her this freedom was obvious. From the start, there was a pure transaction between them, and both knew clearly where the untouchable bottom lines lay.

Within the permitted limits, one had to exchange the smallest possible chips for the maximum value.

“Miss Ye,” a clear, neutral voice abruptly pulled Ye Zhiqing’s drifting thoughts back.

Heshi had actually intruded on her own, standing below the steps. She placed her right hand over her heart and bowed her body slightly, performing a respectful salute to Ye Zhiqing. Behind her followed a helpless and flustered Lamassu.

Ye Zhiqing nodded to Lamassu, silently signaling her to withdraw, while her black eyes met Heshi’s in a calm gaze.

“Miss Ye, Heshi begs for your forgiveness for her brashness.” In her memory, Heshi’s bright eyes were now clouded, and her sharp, efficient aura had withered significantly.

Ye Zhiqing raised her eyebrows slightly, paused, and intentionally mocked herself: “General Heshi, I am merely a concubine of humble status. For you to salute me is perhaps a bit too inconsistent with etiquette.”

Heshi looked up at Ye Zhiqing, who stood with a composed posture and a faint smile. Her knuckles trembled. The humiliation and annoyance simmering in her deep pupils were suppressed into the depths. When she turned her gaze to the documents on the side, shock flashed in her eyes; her lips moved a few times, but she made no sound.

Although Heshi tried her best to conceal the stiffness beneath her hard armor, Ye Zhiqing still keenly detected her unnaturalness.

As the commanding general stationed in Tanis, holding a quarter of Egypt’s army in her hands, she was renowned across the Mediterranean battlefields and Egypt for her outstanding military talent and tactics.

A Theban noble born with a halo of glory, Ye Zhiqing thought Heshi likely never expected a day when she would have to be so humble to anyone other than Edith. Egypt’s hierarchy was strict; most Egyptian nobles felt instinctive loathing and contempt for captives and slaves.

From the fall of Punt until now, Edith had protected Ye Zhiqing well, isolating her from the majority of malicious, prying eyes. Yet when Ye Zhiqing had followed the army led by Heshi to the battlefield alone, even though Heshi kept Ye Zhiqing by her side at all times, the feeling of being scrutinized by contemptuous gazes was particularly strong.

The curve at the corners of Ye Zhiqing’s eyes deepened unconsciously. She lowered her head to smooth out a curled corner of the papyrus document, a sharp edge hidden within her plain statement.

“General Heshi, you should seek forgiveness from Her Majesty Edith, not from me.”

“For your stupid, inflexible behavior during the battle with the Hittites, and for the consequences resulting from your offense against me.”

To Heshi, that cool and soft voice felt like receiving a priest’s judgment in a temple—unceremonious, peeling away her layers to reveal the brashness and arrogance she refused to face. Like a series of sharp knives, it poked directly at the weakness hidden beneath her hard shell.

Her body trembled violently several times, and the blue veins on her wrist faintly surfaced. Giving Ye Zhiqing a deep look, Heshi bowed once more in salute, turned, and walked quickly out the door.

The rhythmic sound of metal friction gradually faded. Ye Zhiqing no longer had the heart to look at the documents; she set them aside and lay down on the soft couch outside the corridor. The extremely comfortable and soft sensation rose from beneath her, silently soothing her nerves, which were becoming tense again.

Ye Zhiqing had ordered someone to move that soft couch from the outer courtyard to the inner courtyard a few days ago. For the past half-month, she had been recovering in the inner courtyard and had never gone out.

About three or four days ago, Heshi had requested to see her. Perhaps deterred by Edith’s power, she had gone quiet after Ye Zhiqing refused. She hadn’t expected that today, with Edith away, Heshi would barge right in.

Ye Zhiqing closed her eyes lightly, lying motionless on the soft couch, attempting to suppress the trace of restlessness rising in her heart.

However, her mind grew clearer. Connecting the fact that she was knocked unconscious and abandoned on the battlefield by Heshi’s people to today’s direct intrusion into her residence—the urgency of having her life constantly held in another’s hands had never been so intense.

In contrast, when she was with Edith, Ye Zhiqing rarely felt this suffocating sense of urgency. It was as if she were standing on the edge of a bottomless abyss; a gentle push from someone would leave her without even a corpse to bury.

“Miss Ye.”

After seeing General Heshi leave with a grave face, Lamassu hurried in, looking at Ye Zhiqing on the couch with a nervous and worried expression.

Ye Zhiqing’s forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat. Her expression, a blend of endurance and anxiety, was visually striking.

“Lamassu, move these documents back to their original places.”

“Yes.”

Having no time to attend to Lamassu’s emotions, Ye Zhiqing closed her eyes again after speaking. She felt as if she were sinking into a quagmire, and the only life-saving straw was gripped tightly in Edith’s hand.

It was a deep unease she hadn’t felt in a long time.

It didn’t come from Edith, but from her limited knowledge of this strange land found only in books.

The Golden Empire—Egypt.

The stone eaves blocked the sunlight, making the restless, pale expression of the person on the couch look even more obvious. A sudden pang of pain shot through her heart. Edith approached silently and spoke abruptly: “What are you thinking about?”