6 Defection

The lesson was scheduled to last until Ra-her.

But after what Bay had said, the boy was so furious that he had no desire to speak to him, let alone continue the lesson. Bay, for his part, was quite happy with the ease of it.

The two sat on opposite sides of the room, ignoring each other entirely.

Ra-her opened his book and began to copy the characters, never having expected that anyone would genuinely help him. Even the Temple, which stood by him on the surface, only wished to use him to restore its own status. Ever since Merit had taken control of the court, the Temple’s influence had withered, and it could now only struggle to survive within the narrow confines Merit had carved out for it.

He did not recognize a single character in the book, so he simply copied them, carving the shapes into his mind, hoping that one day he would be able to understand them.

Across the room, Bay picked up a book from the shelf at random. He appeared to be reading intently, but in reality, his mind was busy calculating his next moves.

The position of a prophet was a civil post with no real power. He received a small allowance of daily necessities each month—barely enough to satisfy his hunger—and could do nothing else. His current understanding of Egypt was limited to the explanations given by his guide, but the historical interpretation of Ancient Egypt was itself incomplete.

Therefore, gaining a deep understanding was his most urgent priority. Only with sufficient knowledge could he find a foothold, strike roots, and draw nourishment.

"Click." A soft sound rang out.

Bay glanced to the side and saw a reed pen rolling to his feet, splashing ink across the floor and leaving scattered spots.

The little Pharaoh, who had been fierce and stomping his feet only moments ago, was now slumped over the desk, fast asleep. His cheek was pressed against the back of his hand, slightly distorted, his mouth pursed into a pout. The crown on his head had tilted to one side, resting precariously on his hand, ready to fall at the slightest movement.

A beautiful child remains beautiful even when his face is squashed.

Bay offered his praise without hesitation. His criteria had always been simple: good is good, and bad is bad. There was no ambiguity. Although the child was a weakling, his appearance was truly beyond reproach.

As for the attendant standing nearby, he had pretended not to hear when the child tried to pick a fight, and now he was acting blind as well, showing no intention of waking the Pharaoh to continue his studies.

Considering the palace servants he had seen earlier, whether they were Merit’s people or not, he hadn't seen a single one who truly cared about Ra-her.

Bay felt perfectly justified in slacking off. He had no intention of waking Ra-her. Besides, Merit hadn't really expected him to teach the young Pharaoh anything of value. If this attendant reported his conduct back to her, Merit might even reward him for it.

Understanding the boss's true thoughts, taking initiative, and precisely executing the boss's plans—that is what makes a top-tier corporate drone.

Time flowed silently. The shadows of the trees crept across the window like a tide reaching his feet, rustling and swaying with the breeze, the mottled light dancing along with them.

Ra-her did not know how or when he had fallen asleep. When he opened his eyes, the sky outside was filled with the glow of sunset, spilling onto the desk and bathing the characters on the papyrus in an orange light.

The scene was beautiful, but the crooked, ugly characters—each distorted in its own unique way, unrecognizable from their originals—only made him angry.

He looked up and found the palace empty. Upon asking the attendant, he learned that the slave who called himself his prophet had slipped away as soon as the time was up, showing no regard for him as the Pharaoh.

Ra-her's face darkened immediately.

That damned slave.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked the attendant.

The attendant knelt immediately, pleading, "Forgive me, Pharaoh."

Ra-her felt even more stifled. The palace servants were all like this; they banked on his lack of real power, kneeling to apologize the moment they made a mistake, apologizing quickly, only to repeat the offense next time. After all, even if he ordered them to be dragged out and beaten to death, no one would listen to him.

—

When Bay left the palace, the attendant waiting at the door immediately stepped forward to hand him his outer robe and thoughtfully prepared a veil. The wind was strong at night, and sand could easily get into one's eyes, so the attendants always carried them whenever they went out.

Bay smiled and thanked him, lamenting inwardly that the Temple service was indeed excellent. No wonder they had turned it into a chain enterprise, spread across the entire country.

"You have worked hard, Lord Ay," Bar said. "Shall we return to the Meneu now?"

Bay sighed. "It is my blessing to teach His Majesty; how could I call it hard work? However, His Majesty’s foundation is a bit weak. He has been practicing for a long time, but his characters still lack finesse. It seems I will need to put in quite a lot of effort."

Bar and Bat exchanged surprised looks.

As far as they knew, this Ay was born a slave and was a male favorite of Merit. How could someone with such a status be genuinely teaching the Pharaoh? Although they doubted the truth of Ay's words, they did not show it. Even if they were all aware of each other's true identities, they were officially Ay's attendants, and attendants should never question their master's words.

The three returned along the path they had come.

Bay had a mediocre sense of direction. Most of the time in the past, he had relied on Xia Xing to find his way. Now, it was the same; he couldn't remember the path he had only walked once, so he relied entirely on Bat to lead the way.

"Bat has a very good sense of direction," Bay observed.

When they had come over in the morning, he had noticed that Bat and Bar were also memorizing the route, which meant they hadn't walked the path from Meneu to the Temples before. Bar would occasionally show a hint of hesitation at intersections, but Bat walked without a single doubt, certain at every turn.

"Yes, Lord Ay," Bar said. "He has had a great sense of direction since he was a child."

Since he was a child?

Bay raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting between the two. "Are you brothers?"

Bar paused and nodded. "I am the older brother, and he is the younger."

Egyptian names were highly similar, so Bay hadn't thought of that initially. Of course, the main reason was that they didn't look alike at all. Bar looked older but was thin and frail, with typical Egyptian wheat-colored skin and features, while Bat was taller, darker-skinned, and had features more reminiscent of modern Africans.

Bay examined them carefully, confirming that his eyes were fine; he truly couldn't find a single similarity between them.

"Then what are you good at?" he asked Bar.

Bar pressed his lips together, showing no intention of revealing his hand to an opponent.

Bay looked at him with sympathy. "It must be hard for you to be the older brother without any strong points. But it's alright; life can still be good without special talents. It doesn't mean you're useless."

At fourteen or fifteen, an age of youthful arrogance and intense pride, how could they withstand such provocation? Bar’s ears turned red as he argued, "Who says I don't have any skills? I am very good at calculations."

"That's right, that's right," Bat added, defending his brother, who had almost been labeled useless. "Brother's calculations have even been praised by the High Priest."

Bay nodded with a smile. "Alright, alright, I know now."

Just like that, they had revealed everything. Even knowing they were from the Temple, this self-destructive outburst revealed the simple and cute nature of the younger brother.

It turned out these two were not mere minions, but people who had direct access to the Temple's top High Priest. He liked dealing with people who were so transparent.

Bar was the first to realize he had been tricked. It was too late to stop his brother, and he bit his lip in frustration. What was going on? He was usually a cautious person; how had he fallen into this slave's trap?

"Did you grow up in the palace?" Bay asked, putting on an air of wanting to confide in them.

Bar wondered, was this the kind of relationship where they could confide in each other?

The simple-minded Bat smiled honestly. "No, we grew up in Memphis and were brought to the palace as attendants after we came of age."

Bar wanted to cover his face, scolding in a low voice, "Bat."

Hearing the tone of his brother's voice, Bat immediately tensed up. Usually, this meant he had said or done something wrong. But the problem was that he hadn't even mentioned the word "Temple," so how could he have been wrong? Even the High Priest himself couldn't find a fault in that.

Bay nodded slightly, his smile gentle.

Memphis was a certain distance from Thebes, which suggested that the Temple likely selected and cultivated talent through its branches across the country, inputting them into the palace at certain points.

Bar thought vigilantly: he absolutely must not fall for this slave's tricks again.

Unexpectedly, this person didn't play by the rules at all, shifting the topic: "Why are your accessories different from the other attendants? I thought the palace standards were uniform."

Bay was referring to the armbands on their arms. Most palace servants and attendants wore armbands with lotus patterns, but the two of them wore vine-shaped armbands—one on the left arm and one on the right. If you looked closely, they wrapped around a strange staff in the middle. The design was slightly feminine, a very rare style.

Bar secretly wondered if this question had any deep meaning, but no matter how he thought about it, there didn't seem to be anything wrong.

So, he relaxed his tone slightly and said, "These are our mother's keepsakes. The Pharaoh is merciful and allows us to wear them in the palace."

Bay nodded, signaling he understood. It seemed Bat hadn't lied. He had seen the staff in the middle of the vines in a museum; it was the scepter held by Ptah, the god of craftsmen, and Ptah was the deity worshipped in Memphis.

Bay’s conversation jumped from one topic to another, lacking any logic, and Bar gradually relaxed from his initial wariness.

Most of the journey was over, and as the Meneu Palace came into view, Bar secretly sighed with relief. He felt something was wrong with this slave, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

As the three entered the palace and walked through the garden, Bay suddenly turned his head and asked, "Are you still recruiting people?"

"Re-recruiting?" Bar was confused. Recruiting for what?

Bay smiled. "Is your Temple still recruiting? I want to defect to you."

Bar suspected he had misheard. Didn't the High Priest say this man was Queen Merit’s favorite?

Bat, being more straightforward, just let out an "Ah."

Bay said with a beaming smile, "Convey my message, name your price. If the stakes are right, I can join the Temple's ranks at any time."

Bar studied his expression, highly suspicious. "Are you serious? The Queen choosing you as a prophet should mean she values you quite a bit."

Bay: "In the Queen's eyes, I will always be nothing more than a male favorite. I hope to pursue my ambitions from a fairer starting point."

He paused, then chuckled, "Besides, the Queen is nearly sixty, but I am only sixteen. I must plan for my own future."

Bar was half-convinced, but Bay was right. Amenhotep I died in his twenties, and the second died in his thirties. Merit had lived into her fifties, which made the forces relying on her feel secure, yet also anxious, fearing when she might go to meet Ra. Queen Merit didn't even have an heir. Once she died, the entire power structure would collapse. The people she had offended over these years were as numerous as the carp in the river, and the existing power structure would inevitably face a massive backlash.

"Aren't you afraid the Queen will find out?" Bar asked.

Bay: "Wealth is sought in danger. If you do not enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub?"

Bar was stunned, repeating the phrase to himself, surprisingly shaken. What kind of resolve must one have to say such things? The person before him was, by his count, only one year older than himself.

"The task Merit gave me is to monitor His Majesty, interfere with his learning process, and report to her at fixed intervals," Bay said. "I can't guarantee that my information will always be correct; after all, the Queen is always cautious and rarely confides in anyone. You will have to judge that for yourselves, but I can tell you everything I know."

Bat: "What if you're intentionally lying to us?"

Bay raised an eyebrow. "The foundation of cooperation is trust, and surely such a vast Temple has its own information channels, doesn't it?"

Even if the Temple was heavily suppressed by Merit, a lean camel was still bigger than a horse; it should have some depth.

"But..." Bat wanted to say more, but Bar reached out to stop him, shaking his head to signal him to be quiet. Only then did he say to Bay, "I will convey this. Whether to cooperate or not will be decided by those above."

"But he doesn't look like a good person," Bat muttered softly.

Bar glared at him, and Bat pouted, staying silent.

"Go back," Bay chuckled, and without caring about their reaction, he returned to the palace on his own.

Once the sky grew dark, the entire Pharaonic palace gradually fell into silence. The four attendants of Meneu were also dismissed by Bay to rest.

Lying in a strange bed, Bay suffered from his usual insomnia. He was very particular about his bed and couldn't sleep in strange places. He had never told anyone about this, not even Xia Xing, who followed him everywhere. The Temple people thought he woke up early, but in truth, he hadn't slept a wink the night before. His eyes were closed, but his mind was clear; he even knew that two people had passed by his door the night before, sneaking out for a midnight snack.

Having gone two days and one night without sleep, his body was exhausted to the limit. His chest felt heavy, and his temples throbbed faintly.

Bay closed his eyes, thinking, two more fainting spells should be enough.

The human body has a self-protection mechanism. Even if he couldn't fall asleep subjectively, his body would enter a state of dormancy once it reached its breaking point.

The palace was not large, and the four attendants lived in the same room.

Just as Bat finished washing up and was about to lie down, he felt someone poke his arm. He turned his head and saw the face of the attendant stationed in the palace.

He frowned and asked fiercely, "What do you want?"

The young attendant was only thirteen. He was stunned by the shout, taking a while to recover before stammering, "I just wanted to chat with you, why are you so fierce!"

Given that Ay was Merit’s bedmate, Merit’s cautious nature meant she would inevitably plant her own spies in this palace. Bat didn't want to talk much to someone who might be Merit's spy, but seeing the young attendant almost in tears, he felt a bit guilty. "You're a big boy now, still crying? Aren't you ashamed?"

The young attendant rubbed his eyes and said unhappily, "Do you live by the Nile? Why are you so bossy?"

Bat couldn't be bothered to argue with the kid and asked, "What do you want to chat with me about?"

As he spoke, he glanced to the side. The other young attendant in the palace was also sneaking glances their way, seemingly very interested in the content of their conversation.

His heart immediately tightened. Were these two attendants trying to fish something out of him?

The young attendant had no idea that Bat’s wild imagination had already jumped to scenarios of being assassinated for leaking Temple secrets. He looked outside and whispered, "Did Lord Ay say anything to you?"

"Say what?" Bat felt he was doing a great job, being extremely vigilant.

Young attendant: "Like, did we make any mistakes, or does he not want us anymore?"

Bat: How is this different from what I thought?

"He didn't say," he shook his head. "He didn't mention you two at all."

Hearing that he hadn't said anything, the young attendant breathed a sigh of relief, but upon hearing the latter part, his heart immediately tightened again.

He hadn't mentioned them at all—did that mean he didn't mention them, or he didn't want to mention them?

"Why would you think that?" Bat was quite curious. These two kids had been in the palace for a day, and this was all they had come up with?

The young attendant pouted, very disappointed. "Lord Ay didn't even ask our names today, didn't let us serve him, and didn't talk to us."

But Lord Ay had asked Bat and Bar's names in front of them, and he had been smiling the whole time.

Bat was stunned. He thought, could this kid be trying to trick him because he thought he wasn't very smart? But the look on the person's face seemed quite genuine.

The morning bath time had been quite long, and he hadn't spoken at all?

"If he doesn't talk, he doesn't talk," Bat thought for a moment and patted the kid’s shoulder. "Maybe he just had a dry mouth while soaking and didn't want to talk. It's nothing."

When the young attendant heard this, he became even more dejected, his face so miserable he was almost crying. "That won't do. I emptied my family's savings to get this job. If Lord Ay doesn't want me, all my efforts were for nothing."

He had heard that the work at the Pharaonic palace was easy and clean, and the salary was high. He had only been there for half a month and hadn't even received his first paycheck yet. If he were transferred away, he would die of grief.

Bat was stunned. "Ah? You're not one of Merit’s people?"

The young attendant looked confused. "Ah? I'm one of the Pharaonic palace's people." After saying this, he looked around. Wasn't this the Pharaonic palace?

"That's fine then." Bat cheered up. "Then we're good friends from now on. What's your name?"

"Tanaro." The young attendant didn't understand how they had suddenly become good friends, but it didn't stop him from looking miserable. "Sigh, my golden rice bowl."

Getting no answer, the young attendant went back to his own bed.

As soon as he returned, the other young attendant leaned in, asking anxiously, "What did he say?"

Tanaro said with a bitter face, "He says Lord Ay didn't mention us."

The other attendant looked as if his world had ended. "Then it's over. We wasted all our efforts."

Tanaro let out a long sigh.

At the door, Bar walked in with a basin and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

As soon as he walked in, he saw Bat and the palace-stationed attendant whispering together.

Bat pulled him aside and said mysteriously, "I have inside information."

"What?" Bar didn't have much hope, but he cooperated.

"That kid named Tanaro is not one of Merit’s people." He recounted the conversation they had just had. "I think the credibility is quite high."

Bar listened intently, and only after he finished did he speak: "What about the other one? Do you know him?"

Bat: "I didn't ask."

Bar: "..."

Seeing that his brother had given up on him, Bat quickly tried to save the situation by adding, "Tanaro also said that Ay didn't talk to them while bathing today."

Bar pondered for a moment. "Are you saying Ay is intentionally giving them the cold shoulder to show his sincerity to the Temple?"

Bat was stunned. He hadn't meant that, but it sounded very reasonable, so he nodded. "Yes."

"I see. I will report this to the High Priest. Go to sleep; I'll find a time to go out tomorrow," Bar said.

"Good."

The night passed without incident.

When he opened his eyes again, the horizon was already turning white.

When Bay stood up, his head spun, and he almost failed to stand steady. Fortunately, the attendant next to him was quick-witted and supported him.

"Is Lord Ay’s head ailment acting up again?" the attendant asked with a worried expression.

Bay raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is your name?"

The attendant whispered, "Tanaro."

Bay nodded slightly, pushed his hand away, and said, "Come with me. I need help with some books."

Tanaro said "Alright" and followed him into the study.

After closing the door, Bay sat at the desk and beckoned. Tanaro walked over, not knowing what to expect.

"Help me pass a message to Queen Merit," Bay said.

Tanaro paused and lowered his voice. "What?"

Bay curled his lips. "The Temple people want to win me over. I’m prepared to agree and act as a mole for the Queen inside the Temple."

Tanaro frowned slightly and asked disbelievingly, "The Temple will believe you?"

Bay looked at him with a smile. "Why don't we try and see?"