When Ra's solar barque had sailed to the zenith above the people's heads, Nitocris finally arrived, somewhat late.
Surrounded by palace maids and soldiers, she walked out of the palace and ascended the high platform that had long been built in the center of the square.
There stood a throne decorated with gold, which was her seat. From there, all the people in the square could see her clearly.
As Nitocris appeared, the densely packed crowd around the square erupted into excitement.
They cheered for the Pharaoh, shouted her name, praised her past good governance, and also praised her for allowing them to participate in such a grand event.
The people held deep expectations for this Pharaoh, and those expectations were reflected in their words.
They hoped the Pharaoh would restore order from chaos, reverse the current decline, and make Egypt prosperous once more, restoring its former glory.
They hoped she would abolish the harsh taxes and corvee of the past, punish corruption and dereliction of duty, and allow them to live better lives.
Nitocris saw their cheers and hopes with her own eyes and kept them in her heart.
To receive such heartfelt acclaim, it would be false to say she was not happy. But from it, she also felt a profound sense of responsibility.
At this moment, she once again thought of Thoth, the man from a foreign land, and what he had told her, the power of the people and their simple, sincere expectations.
"The people's demands are very simple: they want food to eat and a way to survive.
As long as this basic need is met, they will endure even harsh conditions and remain patient.
But once even this simplest requirement cannot be fulfilled, the people who once bore everything in silence will rise in rebellion.
At that time, those who were once bullied will unleash a power capable of destroying everything. No kingdom can withstand that force."
In fact, in the original history of ancient Egypt, Nitocris had not survived after her successful revenge.
After her death, Egypt's officials turned the nation into a place of suffering.
The final result was the collapse of the Old Kingdom.
Although the current Nitocris did not know this, it did not prevent her from wanting to stop such a future.
Looking at the people before her, she silently swore to change the heavens and the earth, so that these ordinary citizens could live better lives.
Leaving aside Nitocris's thoughts on the platform,
Such a scene of countless people cheering made the officials below change their expressions.
Although most of them had already reached a consensus about what would happen and did not believe the Pharaoh could truly regain power through these appointments, the overwhelming momentum of the people and their fanatic support for her still shocked them deeply.
"It seems we must never give that little girl any opportunity in the future," a finance official said seriously to his colleague.
"Look at these foolish commoners. If we allow that girl to incite them further, we might end up in serious trouble."
The frightened officials silently became even more wary of their Pharaoh.
However, they did not know that today's gathering was not the beginning, but the end.
On the platform, Nitocris waved in response to the people's cheers and then slowly sat down.
On her left stood a handsome man in robes.
The officials all knew him, he was the foreign bard who had recently received great favor from the female Pharaoh, Thoth.
Just as the palace maids had whispered, this foreigner was indeed handsome and elegant. Yet none of the officials present dared to underestimate him.
In their view, the assassinations that night were most likely his doing.
Such ghost-like infiltration, stunning everyone in a household without detection before killing the target, was something they had never seen in Egypt before.
Many of them had already decided that once they gained power, they would drive him away under charges such as "foreign swindler" or "disaster who seduced the Pharaoh."
No matter how skilled he was at assassination, as long as that power could not be displayed openly, it must still be constrained by social rules.
No one stood on Nitocris's right.
Even though palace maids had wept and confessed in front of her after hearing the rumors of the assassin, she still did not truly trust any of them.
However, what no one saw was that a god stood there in an invisible state.
It was Medjed.
Protected between a man and a god, Nitocris felt filled with courage.
Thus, facing tens of thousands of people and hundreds of officials, she spoke.
"Everyone, please be quiet, "
Through an amplification spell, the Pharaoh's voice spread across the entire square. Everyone fell silent.
The cheers stopped, the whispers among officials ceased, and all eyes turned toward Nitocris, waiting for her speech.
This was the influence of the Pharaoh.
Among those before her, some were sincere, some hypocritical; some truly respected her, others looked down on her.
But regardless of their thoughts, before the Pharaoh, the earthly incarnation of a god, they had to obey her decree and listen.
Then Nitocris spoke.
"People, soldiers, and officials present here, I am the incarnation of Horus, Nebty, the protector of Upper and Lower Egypt; Golden Horus; Nisut-Bity, King of Upper and Lower Egypt; the Son of Ra, your Pharaoh."
The crowd looked at her with burning eyes.
"Now, standing on this high platform before you as Pharaoh, I offer you my deepest apologies. Egypt today is not prosperous.
Many live in hardship. Unreasonable taxes and corvée leave countless people barely able to survive.
Many nomes no longer obey the royal capital. In short, everyone is suffering. This is my responsibility. Here, I offer my sincere apology to all."
With that, Nitocris truly bowed to the people.
How could this be?
A ruler apologizing to the people, this had never happened in history.
Her action moved the people deeply. Many already believed the chaos in Egypt was not the Pharaoh's fault but the ministers', and someone immediately shouted:
"Your Majesty, you are not at fault!"
"Please do not apologize!"
"It is the crime of those treacherous ministers, why should Your Majesty apologize?"
The people's voices surged like a tide. Soon the square grew noisy again, first with forgiveness, then with fierce condemnation of the "traitorous ministers."
The ministers sitting below the throne, guarded by soldiers, immediately felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles.
The Pharaoh had apologized, so why were they the ones being cursed?
Among them, quite a few had already begun to sense that something was wrong.