novelWhen the Royal Makeup Artist Meets the High Priest (2)
| ← Ch.296 | Ch.298 → |
Marduk is the god of Babylon. The Babylonians believe the king's power is granted by Marduk, and the monks are the god's servants. People in Babylon must get protected by the god, so they try to please him as hard as they can, hoping to obtain his grace to protect their city and country.
The Temple, as a place where Marduk comes down to stop temporarily, is a sacred place that only the king and monks are allowed to have access to it. Only on special days can the king go into the temple with his wife—in this case—Amytis, the princess of Medes to get Marduk's blessings.
The ritual is long. Lin Luoran has nothing to do, but to pretend to be faithful, and wait outside the Temple like others.
Besides the Temple stands a stone tower. It is about fifteen or sixteen meters tall, only a head taller than the towering and solid inner city wall. It is not conspicuous, and even looks a little shabby compared with the majestic Temple.
All the constructions in the inner wall are colorful and magnificent. By a glimpse, Lin Ruoran even finds out the top of the Temple is made of gold, so it's very strange to have a common stone tower in this particular area. Lin Luoran has to get something to think because the ritual still has a long way to go.
It is impossible to ask the maids beside her. The maids do not have the courage to look up, let alone talking with her
The monks outside the temple look at Lin Ruoran in an unfriendly way. They think it is a blasphemy to Marduk if she looks over the Temple during such an important ritual.
Something strikes Lin Ruoran's mind when Nebuchadnezzar II walks out with his wife. Babylon's constructions use bricks made from clays because stones are scarce in the country. However, this ordinary stone tower and the marvelous Temple are exceptions.
Why precious stones are used on the seemingly inconspicuous stone tower?
The monks come up to the priest and whisper something, then an experienced look comes to Lin Luoran. All she can see is the wrinkled eyes and a face that is shaped by the time. The woman surnamed Ji leaves and doesn't come back. So Lin Luoran is somehow afraid of the priest.
She sneaks into the queue of maids.
"My Princess, is the one who wears the silk clothes also the maid you brought from Medes?" The priest asks Amytis, seeming to decide not to let Lin Luoran go. Lin Luoran is very regretted that she wears silk clothes. It makes her conspicuous and she has nowhere to hide.
With her hand held by her husband, Amytis is sniffing the scent of the spice from him and seems distracted, "Lin is not my maid. In fact, she is a distinguished guest of Medes." "My lord, it is she who does my beautiful makeup, " She says to her husband, lowering her voice.
Nebuchadnezzar II smiles, and his old look seems younger.
"Your guest can find a place as a court painter, Amytis." He says. Painting and wearing makeup make no difference to this king who experiences a lot of fights. Lin's look doesn't fit Babylonian's aesthetical standard either, so the king does not look at her for long.
"My priest, I plan to rebuild the Tower of Babel to consecrate god Marduk. What do you think?" The king stands in front of the temple and talks with the priest.
When "Tower of Babel" is spoken, Lin Luoran starts to pay attention.
There should not be any reason for the priest to reject the plan, because the more importance the king attaches to religious activities and devotes himself to Marduk, the more interests of the monastic group will be guaranteed and enlarged. So, it's best for the priest that the king decides to build temples all over the country. However, after hearing the king's proposal, this priest who has already got one foot stepping into his grave has an obvious hesitation before he nods.
The king holds Amytis's hand and walks to the edge of stone power."My queen", he says, "This is the gate to god in Babylon. I will build it to heaven and Marduk will be in it to be consecrated. We can also go on to the top and overlook the whole nation."
The king looks ambitious and omnipotent at this time. Amytis looks at him with expectation and enchantment.
However, Lin Luoran is very astonished. The inconspicuous stone tower is in fact tower of Babel! To be more specific, it is the predecessor of the Tower of Babel because it does not have the momentum to skyrocket. Only this reconstructed tower of Babel can bring her back to the 21st century? She seems to fall into chaos.
Priest's experienced eyes catch all the joyful and sad looks on Lin Ruoran's face.
"My king, it's time for you to receive your people's congratulations with your queen." The priest interrupts the king's meditation. The cheer outside the wall never stops, and people of Babylon are expecting their king and queen. Nebuchadnezzar II steps on the sedan chair, holding Amytis, looks contented.
Slaves, musicians and guards follow the two men. Lin Luoran is stopped by two monks while she is about to join them.
She looks surprised and becomes vigilant, but she has no idea why they stop her.
The priest smiles, "Court painter? You Huaxia cultivators can really pay everything to get access to the tower."
Lin Luoran has the feeling of being exposed and is very scared. Several solutions come to her mind. Shall she deny firmly, install or go to search for the protection from Amytis? Meanwhile, the idea of taking a risk occurs though she is prudent in nature, because maybe it's the best chance for her to enter the tower.
The priest stares at her for a while and suddenly asks, "Where do you come from?"
She instinctively responds before she is thinking about whether to hide or fight. With the most gentle and harmless smile, she answers, "I come from the east, my priest." Mrs. Lin says she can gain love from the elderly easily. May the Taoist ancestors bless that all her mother's words are true.
The priest with wrinkles on his face shakes his head, "You are not the same as the arrogant eastern cultivators who attempt to acquire tower of Babel. So tell me, little girl, are you really from the east?"
Lin Luoran is nervous, but still insists, "I am from the east, my priest, please do not make jokes." She adds in her heart, "I do come from the east two thousand years later, so I am not lying."
The priest doesn't express any opinion and continues to speak, "Your personal ability is low, but you can still see the tower since you come for it. Do you want to go?"
Lin Luoran thinks she mishears. The old man invites her to enter into the tower? Have the Taoist ancestors really heard her praying? She believes it is more of a trap. The priest silently looks at her without any emotion. Lin Luoran feels frustrated because it doesn't matter whether she agrees or not. The priest's personal ability is a mystery, too high to measure. Rebellion means nothing to him.
"There is a saying in Huaxia that obedience is better than politeness. So after you, priest." Such a saying does exist in Huaxia, but not in the Spring and Autumn period. As long as there are no other Huaxia people here and the Babylon monks do not know that. Lin Luoran prates, not being afraid that the lie will be revealed.
The monks return to the temple, and the priest walks first with his bare feet. Lin Luoran feels nervous. Her guessing has been proved wrong. As long as the tower of Babel has existed for a long time, it cannot be built by the Huaxia cultivators. In fact, the women cultivator surnamed Ji maybe wants to seizure what belongs to Babylon. She tries to success by doing it in a circuitous way, not sparing to make Amytis, the princess of Medes to be her apprentice. She must be planning it for decades.
Has anything bad already happened to Huaxia that forces the woman cultivator surnamed Ji to use the interstellar transmission circle? Lin Luoran seems uneasy. The priest seems to be unaware of what she thinks, just pacing in a steady way, not being afraid of her running away.
The stone tower at this time cannot be described as magnificent and is very different from the tower of Babel that floats in the air when they come to this world. However, Lin Luoran somehow feels nervous when she enters the tower. There is no guiding light and crystal ball, so it is definitely that tower 2, 600 years from now.
Lin Luoran feels a little disappointed. The door shuts after a wave by the priest. She doesn't sense the signs of Wakan using.
There is a dome inside the tower and it sheds lights after the door is closed.
The fascinating shining spot and the track seems familiar in Lin Luoran's eyes. She is astonished and blurts, "The star atlas!" The shining spots on the dome are the first-level star atlas on the jade stairs that almost makes her lost!
The wrinkle on the priest's face deepens, "Can you understand the star atlas?" he asks.
Lin Luoran wants to bite off her tongue to prevent blurting. The possibility of her liar being bluffed out in front of the mysterious priest is even smaller than she traverses to the real world immediately!
| ← Ch. 296 | Ch. 298 → |