Pharaoh’s Concubine - Chapter 20
In the past few days, the Libyan border General Penggu had been especially proud of his success.
This was not only because they plundered a colossal amount of gold and silver jewelry during the aggression against the Mule Village, which filled his pockets with loot. What pleased him more was the news reported by the spy on the side of Mule Village in these recent days:
“I heard that the Pharaoh has already dispatched a massive troop to Mule Village. Memphis will most likely be left unguarded.”
Every time he thought of this, Penggu would unconsciously touch the furry beard on his wide chin, and his thoughts would wander to the promise of the Libyan King to him half a month ago: “Penggu, if you can attract Memphis’ army to the border and make our plan to threaten the east and strike to the west [1] successful, I will reward you two ranks, and marry you to the tenth princess.”
Gee, that’s really a meteoric rise. At the thought of the tenth princess’s beauty, Penggu’s mouth almost drooled. He had originally considered that if the Egyptian Pharaoh brought massive troops to the border himself, he might have to ask for support and share the work with others. But now, according to the news of the spies, the Egyptian Pharaoh only dispatched a massive troop, and he stayed in the empty city of Memphis!
Perfect, that’s really perfect!
“Hey! Wouldn’t you be wrong with this news?” Penggu asked the spy fiercely.
“No,” the spy kneeled down on the ground respectfully. “I heard the person holding the village chief’s token telling the entire village. It wouldn’t be wrong.”
“Well!” Penggu sat back on the general’s chair with satisfaction. He signaled the soldiers on both his sides to fan him.
It seems that the position of the first general of Libya is within reach!
Penggu closed his eyes with a gleeful smile, and not long after, a faint sound of snoring could be heard.
On the other side, in a residential house in the Mule Village, Ivy and Buka were sitting on the floor.
“Hey, Ivy, is there no problem in doing this?” Buka said nervously as he wrapped a cloth around his arm.
Ivy took a sip leisurely: “As the saying goes, if you want to deceive others, you must deceive yourself first. Right now, the villagers in Mule Village and the Libyan side must be convinced that the Pharaoh will dispatch a massive troop to come and stay in the empty city himself. ”
“What’s the reason for doing this?” Buka looked at Ivy, puzzled. Sometimes speaking to her really made him feel that his intelligence was lacking.
“In order to…” Ivy smiled. “I ran out of water, give me some more!”
You water-belly! Buka mumbled and turned around and took a pot of water. “If you don’t tell me, I won’t hand it to you.”
Ivy sighed and reached over to grab the kettle. “It’s very simple. It’s so that all the villagers can evacuate safely.”
“If we scare the Libyan people, will the villagers be able to evacuate safely?” Buka scratched his fiery short hair and asked, puzzled.
“If we calculate the time and retreat in an orderly manner, they will not chase us.” Ivy sipped the water. In the desert, if there’s not enough water, one would feel like their life would be drained, “I speculate that there will not be many troops dispatched from Libya because they are only baits. A few days later, there will be a report from Memphis. If they get news of the Pharaoh personally leading the troops, they will ask their country for help, lure the enemy in, and finally send a large army to wipe out the Pharaoh’s army in one fell swoop. At the same time, with a coup or a siege on Memphis’ side, even if Libya lost to the Pharaoh’s army, the overall victory is still theirs. But it would be better if the Pharaoh simply dispatched troops to come. This group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals [2] would have won precious time and resources for the unrest in Memphis, so that they could directly attack the Pharaoh. They will not take the risk to battle with the Egyptian army here. On the contrary, they will withdraw their troops as soon as possible, because fighting is meaningless. In short, they just want to divide the Pharaoh’s troops, wait for an opportunity to capture Memphis, and inflict heavy losses to Egypt. Did I make it clear?”
Buka looked confused.
“In any case, we must take the lead here. We cannot wait for them to get real news before taking action. Otherwise, it will be very dangerous. Counting the time, it’s been ten days since Lu went to report. Let’s wait for a few more days and organize everyone to set off. ”
Suddenly, there was a low cry outside the door, mixed with the sound of flapping wings. Buka suddenly jumped up from the ground and crazily rushed out of the door.
“Buka?!” Ivy watched his movements in surprise, and climbed up from the ground in panic, trying to keep up with him. “What’s wrong?”
Buka ran quickly, “Lu! Yes, Lu is back!”
As soon as the door opened, they saw Lu’s figure hovering not far away. Buka put his thumb and index finger of his right hand into his mouth, struggling to blow out the loudest whistle, and at the same time extended his left arm to the sky.
Lu landed firmly on Buka’s arm.
“Lu!” Buka caressed his close companion lovingly. Its originally shiny feathers were already dirty because of the long journey, but its sharp eyes were still bright, “Good job, Lu! You’re great! ”
Ivy ran after Buka and saw him happily talking to Lu, and she felt a little comfort in her heart. “Buka, how much faster is Lu than the army? ”
Buka checked to see if Lu was injured as he answered: “It’s about twice the speed of the army.”
Ivy calculated quickly in her heart. Her big blue eyes blinked. “Okay, we will start in four days.”
General Penggu finally got the long-awaited report.
“General, the villagers of Mule Village are marching in an orderly direction towards Memphis.” When he heard the news, Penggu was enjoying a delicious barbecue. Hearing the words, he could not help but stand up, his huge body almost toppled the table in front of him. Fortunately, the surrounding attendants were quick to help.
“Why? They started to retreat?” Penggu said loudly, approaching the spies kneeling in the tent. “When did it start?”
“Just a day ago.”
Penggu’s eyes, as big as a bell made of copper, rolled. The Pharaoh’s army should have arrived. Since these villagers dared to retreat boldly, they must have a complete grasp of the situation. Or perhaps they want to tempt me and make a fool out of me by sending an Egyptian army which could just barely fill the gap between my teeth [3]? How foolish! Dare to look down on me, Penggu!
“My orders! We’re retreating to Libya!” Penggu shouted loudly. If we go back early, we can be a lot safer. Anyway, our task has been completed. Why do we have to go there and unnecessarily muddy the waters [4]?
But just as the entire Libyan army was ordered to pack up and start retreating, another spy rushed over. Riding a swift horse, he hurriedly entered the barracks, attracting everyone’s attention, “General! The latest report! From Memphis!”
Penggu walked out of the tent, glared at the man, and asked, “What’s wrong? Has the upheaval succeeded?”
The spy turned over and landed on the ground, and stammered with his words because of anxiousness:” General, Memphis, Memphis… ”
“Say what! Hurry up!” Penggu said fiercely.
“General! The Pharaoh didn’t even dispatch troops to rescue the Mule Village. He and the army remained in Memphis.”
“What?!” Penggu heard what the spy had said, and blue veins involuntarily appeared on his forehead. So the upheaval failed? No! It didn’t matter. What annoyed him the most was the retreat of the Mule Village.
“Damn Mule villager! To actually dare deceive this father! Wait for me to catch up with you and I’ll chop you into minced meat!”
Ivy and Buka were organizing the villagers to walk orderly towards Memphis.
“Ivy, you’re not actually sure if the troops will come for us, right?”
Ivy wiped the sweat from her forehead. That’s right. She didn’t even know if there would be an army reinforcement. Aside from the two possibilities that the Libyans were expecting, there is another one: the Pharaoh will not send troops to rescue them at all. If this is the case, once the brutal Libyans get a report from Memphis, they will definitely attack and devastate the Mule Village. Calculating the time, if the reinforcements departed the next day after receiving Lu’s note, then they should more or less be here. So now is the best time to retreat, which is the least likely to make Libya suspicious, but…
“I am anxious whether the Pharaoh has dispatched troops. Calculating the time, the Libyans should have received the Memphis report. If the Pharaoh did not send troops, they would now catch up in a hurry, and we would be over. ”
“What then?” Buka had no idea.
Ivy also shook her head, what should I do? All she could do now is to buy time and lead the villagers as far as they could go. If they could take one step further, the hope of survival would increase by one point!
Watching her sinking expression, Buka’s eyes showed a little tenderness. He didn’t know why. The petite, weak-looking boy in front of him sometimes behaved like a little girl. Frail and rather delicate. It makes me want to protect him, make him count on me, and rely on me. If Ivy was a woman, then I’d be willing to protect her for the rest of my life! Thinking about this, Buka said aloud: “Ivy, you can rest assured that even if something dangerous happens, I will definitely protect you at all costs!”
Ivy suddenly raised her head and looked into the bright eyes of the red-haired boy. He thought from the heart! Ivy couldn’t help but feel a little moved. She mumbled: “Thank you, Buka.” — Once all of this is over, I will always remember that in this distant 3,000 years ago, I once had a friend like you! Such a good friend like this. She thought, but she didn’t say anything.
Suddenly, the villagers at the back of the line yelled in horror: “It’s the Libyans!” The orderly queue immediately fell into a panic. Ivy turned around hurriedly, and there was a burst of dust at the end of the desert, the flag of Libya faintly discernible in the distance .
Was it too late? The Libyans got the message from Memphis. Did the Pharaoh really send troops to rescue them? Ivy thought in desperation, and she shouted loudly: “Don’t panic, keep the queue, the reinforcements are in front!” But the villagers of Mule Village, who were in panic, completely ignored her command and escaped in all directions. The Libyan army was getting closer and closer, and Ivy could almost feel the murderous Libyans glaring at them like tigers eyeing their prey, wielding all kinds of weapons.
“Ivy, run quickly.” Buka clenched his machete and hurriedly said to Ivy.
Ivy shook her head. She couldn’t run away. A man only had two legs. How could it be possible to run past the four legs of the war horse? When she decided to come back, why didn’t she think of bringing an extra rocket? What should we do now? She watched dumbly as the Libyan army approached quickly, and she felt chills in her heart. So arrogant! Without correcting the history back, now more people would lose their lives! She despised history too much! She’s so stupid!
She closed her eyes in despair, and suddenly there was a loud cry of joy behind her, drowning her like a wave, “The Pharaoh’s army!”
What?! How come! Ivy turned back in disbelief, and she saw a golden flag above the hill. Under the reflection of the sun, she almost couldn’t open her eyes. A neatly dressed Egyptian army lined up and surrounded almost half of the desert. In front of the camp, on top of a graceful black horse, sat an imposing man. He looked calm and dominating, observing the overall situation.
Ivy hurriedly pulled out the telescope from her backpack. She could not wait to put it on her eyes and looked at the extraordinary general.
Up until now, Ivy could still remember those unforgettable moments in the twinkling of an eye.
The handsome figure in her memory now stood like a god on the hill in front. The golden sun behind him seemed to be his own divine light, shining on the vast desert land. He is Ramses II! The monarch in the book, known as the most brilliant and glorious Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, the great pharaoh known to everybody, known to everyone!
Looking at the unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar face through the telescope, her blood seemed to flow in reverse. Her heart pounded violently, and her body was burning, getting hotter and hotter, and she found it hard to repress it. The memories of a few months ago rushed to her mind again and again. The scenes that she discarded into the corner of her mind seemed to play right before her in this very second, flooding her brain, making it almost explode! Thousands of thoughts merged into one sentence within that short time:
——Finally, finally!
TL Note:
[1] 声东击西 (idiom) — to threaten the east and strike to the west — to create a diversion
[2] 虾兵蟹将 (idiom) — shrimp soldiers and crab generals — ineffective troops; hopeless soldiers
[3] 塞牙缝 — barely enough to fill a tooth gap — very sparse and extremely little
[4] muddy the waters — to make a situation unnecessarily complicated and less clear