Chapter 4 The Witch and 12 Gold Plates
Rhine was stunned for a moment.
Am I the one who named Sleeping Beauty?
Personally participated in a familiar and well-known fairy tale and named the unborn heroine in the story.
Such a legendary experience gave Rhine a strong sense of unreality.
The queen nodded slightly.
The king also smiled and extended his hand to the slightly surprised Rhine to name boldly:
"The ancient sages said that the name is the starting point of the destiny of a newborn. A good name determines the direction of life. .
“It is the tradition of the kingdom to let learned sages name newborns.
“In my kingdom, there is no one more suitable to name our daughter than you, Lord Rhine!”
The little magician lowered his head and thought, his eyes dancing with thoughts.
"Sleeping Beauty" has had countless versions in history.
The name of the heroine of the story is not fixed in different versions.
Even in some versions, the heroine is called "Princess".
After thinking for a short time, Rhine had the answer in his mind.
"Let's call the little princess...Aurora."
Rhine opened his arms and his tone suddenly increased:
"It means morning light, the dawn of dawn.
“Even in the deepest and darkest night, dawn will come!
“May hope and light illuminate the future of the little princess.”
This name was not chosen by Rhine casually.
The name Aurora originally belonged to the daughter of Sleeping Beauty in a certain version.
In his own ballet, Tchaikovsky turned it into the name of the princess who was Sleeping Beauty herself.
Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" also used this name.
Since then, whether it is translated as "Aurora", "Aurora" or something else, the beautiful name Aurora has become the most recognized Sleeping Beauty name in the world.
Rhine simply complied with the will of fate and chose this nice name.
"Aurora, what a beautiful name." The queen clapped softly and was full of praise.
The king was also quite satisfied:
"Your Excellency Rhine, after Princess Aurora was born, I planned to hold a grand banquet.
"At that time, I 12 witches in the kingdom will be invited to baptize the newborn princess and offer their blessings!
"Please also ask you, the learned magician, Your Excellency Rhine, to bless the princess together!"
Rhine stroked her chest and smiled:
"This is my honor."
After saying that, the little magician looked a little more solemn.
He knew clearly that the future would be the familiar story of "Sleeping Beauty":
During the celebration to celebrate the birth of Princess Aurora, the 13th uninvited witch in the kingdom, the notorious black witch, burst into the scene with resentment.
The black witch cursed the newborn princess, causing her to prick her finger on a spindle and die when she was 15 years old!
In some versions of the story, the reason why the king did not invite the last 13th witch was that there were only 12 plates for entertaining distinguished guests.
To put it simply, it was a murder caused by a gold plate!
But now, this is not the whole reason. What's more, the king himself doesn't like the black witch.
Thinking of the curse that had not yet come, Rhine's eyes narrowed slightly.
Is this a fate that can be changed?
Rhine raised his head, his face under the hood was solemn, and as a sage of the kingdom, he persuaded him nicely:
“Your Majesty, since there are 13 witches with powerful magic powers in the kingdom.
“If only 12 of them are invited, will the one who is ignored be dissatisfied?
"Especially, considering Maleficent's character. She is not someone who tolerates a lot of people...
"Ignoring her deliberately, not knowing whether it will bring disaster. "
Maleficent is the name of the black witch that Rhine recently learned about.
When Rhine said it, the old king's eyes suddenly solidified.
The monarch of the kingdom felt numbness in his back and a chill in his bones.
yes!
I just ignored such a big problem!
After Rhine reminded him, he realized how much hidden dangers there were in his reckless decision-making.
The notorious black witch Maleficent is the most powerful, yet most cautious among the 13 people.
The princess christening ceremony, such a big event, must be known to the whole country.
At that time, if Maleficent is not invited, she will definitely be dissatisfied.
The old king broke into a cold sweat when he thought of the disaster he almost caused.
He is just a mortal monarch, and he does not dare to provoke the powerful black witch.
Legendary magicians have long and almost eternal lifespans, enough to witness the rise and fall of kingdoms. The power of secular kings is not worth mentioning to them.
If they want, they can curse or even destroy the entire kingdom according to their own will!
Even if the props they create are picked up by someone with evil intentions, they may bring disaster to a kingdom.
In the history of the mainland, there are often stories like this - a poor boy accidentally picked up a magical prop left by an ancient magician, easily killed the nobles and kings who oppressed him, and became the leader of the country. The new king.
Although the old king was not sure whether Maleficent, the dark witch, was as powerful as in the legend.
But he didn’t dare to gamble.
Thanks to Rhine’s timely reminder!
The old king recovered from his fear:
"Your Excellency Rhine, thank you for reminding me. If Maleficent is not invited, she will definitely hold a grudge! In this case, I want to treat everyone equally and invite everyone in the kingdom Witch!" Normally, the old king would never dare to invite the black witch to his palace.
But on the day of the little princess’s christening ceremony, with 12 other witches and His Excellency Rhine present, Maleficent will definitely not do any evil, and there should be no accidents...
At least that’s what the old king believed.
Seeing that the king followed his advice, Rhine nodded lightly and stopped talking.
He has plucked the strings of fate.
The original reason that caused the Black Witch to curse Sleeping Beauty no longer exists.
Will the direction of the story change?
……
In the blink of an eye, several days have passed since Rhine put forward his advice.
The old king kept Rhine's advice in mind and planned to invite all 13 witches to the palace after the little princess was born, so that they and Rhine, who was already a palace magician, could offer blessings to Princess Aurora.
In the past few days, he has been preparing for this grand ceremony.
However, the old king soon discovered a problem.
The tableware prepared for the most senior guests in the palace is a gold plate with exquisite and luxurious patterns.
No more, no less, just 12.
If you want to invite all 13 witches, 12 gold plates will not be enough.
We can't let the other 12 witches use gold plates, and let Maleficent use silver plates...
The black witch will definitely get angry and directly curse the entire kingdom!
It is better not to invite in the first place!
As for Sage Rhine, as a member of the royal court, although the tableware used is exquisite and gorgeous, the style is different from that of the guests, so there is no need to prepare it specially.
So, the king recruited old craftsmen who had served the kingdom all their lives and issued an order:
“You and your craftsmen will imitate the original style of gold plates prepared for distinguished guests. , use this gold to create another gold plate.
“The new plate must be exactly the same as the existing plate! ”
……
The old craftsman received the order and returned home, where he met his younger brother Oz who happened to be home today.
Unlike his elder brother, the old craftsman’s younger brother Oz is a gifted magician.
Oz hates the fate of his family being craftsmen in the kingdom for generations, and has longed for the powerful magicians in legendary stories since he was a child.
He always imagined that one day, like the witches in the kingdom, he would have the magical power to control wind and rain!
However, as little Oz slowly grew up, he gradually realized that he, like most people, was just a member of the crowd, and had no chance of magical magic throughout his life.
However, Oz is still unwilling to leave behind his childhood dream.
He took the next best step and studied magic. He learned how to use gestures, props and performances to deceive the audience's eyes, achieving skills that were close to those of a magician.
In this way, Oz became an excellent magician.
Unlike his staid brother, Oz is a magic genius with endless fresh ideas and creativity.
Using chemical reactions, stage lighting and shadow matching, and special performance techniques, he invented hundreds of novel magic tricks and gradually became the best magician of this era.
In this way, Ozzy became more and more famous and toured several kingdoms.
Under the stage, men and women from different walks of life praised him and screamed because of his performance.
Amidst the flowers and applause, Oz seemed to feel that he had become a real magician with extraordinary power!
Today, after the middle-aged Oz learned about the new mission his brother had received, he joked:
“The king really trusts you, so he gave the gold to you and your men like this.
"If I were you, I might consider taking part of the gold for myself!
"Hahaha, who told me that I am a guy who relies on deceiving people to make a living.
"Look at me, I deceived everyone on the stage. And the people I deceived were willing to pay for me."
Oz said it casually, not taking it seriously. and went back to sleep.
But what he didn’t know was that his careless words would echo in the old craftsman’s heart for a long time.
Yeah, why have I never thought of pocketing some for myself?
The jesters in the court, as long as they know how to flatter themselves and tell a joke, they can get rich rewards.
But I have served the king diligently all my life, but my wealth and status are not as good as theirs.
I deserve better!
Creating a gold plate is a task that could not be easier for skilled old craftsmen.
Over the years, the old craftsmen have become extremely skilled in their business.
He is familiar with every manufacturing process, knows every step of the inspection process of finished products, understands which details have loopholes, and which process steps are most likely to be overlooked.
Therefore, the old craftsman is very sure that he just embezzled a little bit of gold and mixed a little bit of cheap metal in the finished product. There is no possibility of being discovered!
......
While the old king was preparing for the christening ceremony of the little princess, Rhine also accepted his new identity——
Advisor to the king, magician of the court, sage of the kingdom!
Today, his power is only under the king.
Of course, Rhine didn't think this was anything special.
Such a small kingdom is not worthy of praise in terms of population or area.
Forget about becoming a sage of the kingdom, what if you become a king?
Now that he has come to a fantasy world with extraordinary power, compared to secular power, there are only two things he is most interested in: the magical power and the world itself!
As soon as he took over as the palace magician, Rhine immediately issued two orders.
The first order is for the attendant to go to the depths of the library to get the magic book that has been passed down in the kingdom for hundreds of years.
That is the key to him becoming a truly powerful magician!
The second order came with the most detailed world map in the kingdom. And from the palace collection, he obtained a large stack of documents and books recording foreign countries and the general situation of the world.
What kind of world have I traveled to?
What is it like outside the kingdom of Sleeping Beauty?
Rhine is hungry for answers.
Originally it could be translated as Aurora, but this would be mistaken for some people as the sister of the heroine of "The Ring of Destiny", so the Chinese name "Aurora" was used.
Definitely an important person. In a novel where most of the characters' names are "King", "Queen", "Witch" and "Soldier", there is gold in the name.
(End of this chapter)