[Story tags] Epic fantasy | Political intrigue built around institutions | A blend of sweetness and angst
Part One is complete. Part Two is currently being updated.
[Part One blurb]
An emperor for the ages × clear-eyed heroine
If love had long ago been etched into the currents beneath 3,500 years of changing royal power, into the stone walls of Karnak Temple, and into the curse of the Heavenly Sacrifice, then it was more than a moment of attraction. Shen Xingran was brought to ancient Egypt by a pair of snake-shaped earrings, arriving at the beginning of Thutmose III's rule in his own right during Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty. The histories recorded the pharaoh's great achievements, but not the ending in which he wagered his life to love someone. From mutual scheming to entrusting their lives to one another, this was a meeting spanning 3,500 years. When the very existence of two people becomes a burden to each other, which takes more courage: staying or leaving?
[Part Two blurb]
Versatile heroine × cool, aloof male lead
Setia's birth mother died early, and when she was young, her stepmother drove her away to the countryside.
She watched helplessly as her stepmother seized the family fortune, her younger sister bullied her, and her father ignored it all.
As Setia lay dying, with nowhere to vent her resentment, she met Shen Xingran, who looked exactly like her. Clutching Shen Xingran's hand, she said, "You must get justice for me. Otherwise, as the Book of the Dead says, I will have no next life."
Later, Shen Xingran, having long since forgotten what had happened here, returned to high society under Setia's name. She beat her scumbag father senseless and took the matter to court. But she never expected her scumbag father to have powerful connections and twist the truth. With nowhere left to retreat, Shen Xingran turned the tables and seized the initiative, escalating a family scandal into a threat to the country's reputation. She used public opinion as a weapon to reclaim Setia's family fortune.
But Shen Xingran did not know that the trial was presided over by the vizier, and the pharaoh she had already sacrificed was listening from the gallery above.
Updates begin July 17, 2026. Stay tuned!
[The Nile Journey: Reading Guide]
Inspired by real historical circumstances at the beginning of Thutmose III's reign in his own right: the growing power of the priesthood, an imbalanced distribution of power, rebellions in neighboring kingdoms, and a lack of records about his private relationships. This is an original work of fictional history about an emperor's centralization of power and military expeditions.
The male lead is the real historical figure Thutmose III, known as "the Napoleon of ancient Egypt." He was one of the greatest military commanders in ancient Egyptian history, an outstanding statesman of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and the founder of the Egyptian Empire. So, the story is entirely fictional (I didn't dare make things up too wildly). It is divided into two independent parts. Part One is modeled on serious historical dramas. Political intrigue is not a backdrop for romance, but its sole driving force. Part Two has a lighter tone, with both leads pursuing each other, while political intrigue remains woven throughout.
The political logic is based on the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt's system of "divine right of kings," not Eastern-style political intrigue. This is a historical romance and political intrigue story driven by the pharaoh's centralization of power and foreign expeditions.
The ultimate theme is how we make choices within unequal power relationships to prove that our agency cannot be taken away.
No women competing with one another for a man, no love-addled characters. Everyone is a "villain"!
How to read it
You can pair it with background music, such as Ender Güney's "Call of the North", and savor it slowly. Don't rush. Pay attention to the deep affection hidden in political decisions and unspoken words.
Perhaps you'll see your own shadow in this story, or his.
I hope you enjoy it. Happy reading!
[Weibo: @Qixia By the Riverside, Qixia Zhao] Videos featuring the leads are available.
[Douyin: @Qixia By the Riverside] Short videos about the work are available.
[References for the story]
"Military Annals of Thutmose III" (Annals of Thutmose III)
Translations of the inscriptions accompanying the Karnak Temple series
"The Battle of Megiddo and the Transformation of New Kingdom Egyptian Military Strategy"
BBC documentary "The Battle of Megiddo"
BBC documentary "The Ancient Egyptians"
Barry Kemp, "Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization"
Karl Butzer, "Early Hydraulic Civilization: Environment and Agriculture in Ancient Egypt"
Ian Shaw, "The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt"
Liang Tongyao, article on the status of women in ancient Egypt, "Shenzhou", October 2020 issue
Documentary "The Discoverers of Egyptian Civilization"
Baidu Baike, Wikipedia, and materials from the Baidu Thutmose III forum
Related materials on ancient Egyptian politics, religion, economics, and other topics
All available historical sources and documentaries related to Thutmose III
Theme: Take control of your own fate
I read the latest chapter in one breath, and there was something stuck in my heart that I couldn't help but feel unhappy about. This story is different from those time-travel novels on the market that talk about modern love in the guise of ancient sayings. It throws you into the real whirlpool of power 3,500 years ago, allowing you to see with your own eyes how a modern soul survives inch by inch in the cracks between divine power and royal power. There are many novels with Thutmose III as the male protagonist. He was the most martial pharaoh in ancient Egypt, a conqueror, and a man known as the "Napoleon of Ancient Egypt" in history books. Such historical figures can easily be written into two extremes in romance novels: either they are overlords in the garb of a pharaoh, obsessed with love, or they are ruthless. But the male protagonist of this book is neither. This is the only Pharaoh I have read who does not wear the cloak of a Pharaoh. He is not a love brain, but a real Pharaoh and a real man. The author adds emotional drama based on historical records. He breaks down the heroine's defenses bit by bit, falls bit by bit, and treats the heroine well in his own way. Especially the sentence "Even if he is doomed, he still has to take a bite", it's really awesome! The heroine Shen Xingran is the most "genuine" heroine I have ever read. She is not a heroine of cool novels, but a subject who remains a modern person at all times. In an unfamiliar environment, she was fearful, vulnerable, and had her own thoughts and calculations when faced with power. She was also shaken by the historical figures. At present, the emotional line between the male and female protagonists is still advancing, but you can clearly feel that both of them are excited and restrained. The sweetness is really sweet, and the cruelty is really cruel, which makes people addicted. The author said that this is a work based on institutional machinations. I read it carefully and found that the author extracted the real historical background of the Thutmose III period, that is, the struggle between royal power and divine power. The feeling that all the members have online IQs is very addictive. The supporting characters are not tool men, and everyone has their own position. Many scenes in the story are described with a sense of imagery, giving people the feeling of being immersed in the scene and being resurrected. It is a space that really exists around us. If there is a shortcoming, it is that the background of this story is ancient Egypt. The last time I read ancient Egypt was "The Pharaoh's Beloved" more than ten years ago, but that was a long time ago. Another possibility is that the author strives not to waste his pen in every sentence, so each sentence has a meaning to be expressed. The information density is relatively high and it is a little difficult to read, but the overall storyline is still very smooth. If you like a historical texture rather than an empty plot, an imperfect but real imperial male protagonist and an independent female protagonist who is always growing - this book, the collision of modern and ancient civilization, still shocked me, and I look forward to the day when the female protagonist will turn around.
Damn, the writing is very good! After writing the first and second parts of Thutmose III, can you write a fanfic about the heroine traveling through time and the male protagonist being the Leper King Baldwin IV from the movie Kingdom of Heaven? 😣
After reading this ending, I just regained my composure today [covering my face], and the big writing really hit me! There are a lot of descriptions of the environment, descriptions of temples and sacrifices, and descriptions of taste. Through the words, I felt like I had entered a real ancient Egyptian society. In the story, conspiracy, fate, and two-way sadomasochism run parallel. The characters are so three-dimensional that you can see the yellow sand of Thebes and the sacred fire of Karnak Temple! Let's talk about the heroine first. This is the most sober time-travel heroine I've ever seen. She has no love brain and is mentally strong. She just came to the museum to view the exhibition, but because of a pair of snake-shaped earrings, she was forcibly dragged into ancient Egypt 3,500 years ago. It was a life and death situation when he landed. He was pushed by the rebels to become a false priest and faced the famous Pharaoh Thutmose III, the god of war in history books. Others traveled through time, were assimilated and favored by the group, but she only had one obsession from beginning to end - to go home. Even though everyone around her is evil, she refuses to be assimilated and always maintains independent thinking. During the questioning, the high priest did not play his cards according to the routine, did not be led by others, and followed his own rules. The high priest was speechless. The chariot racer saw through the Pharaoh's political calculations with a cold eye. Even if he was trapped in a cage and shackled by fate, he never lost the bottom line in his bones. And later on, she will have a career, and she will be a leading heroine in the field of power, and she will have a proper career. What struck me the most was her sense of conflict: while she resented the male protagonist's control and calculation, she couldn't help but crave his protection in a desperate situation, while she was persistently searching for a way back in time and space, while at the same time she was trapped by the child in her belly and the fate of reincarnation. This dilemma was written so realistically. The male protagonist Thutmose III is not greasy, he is very manly. From the words, I feel that he is a dignified, elegant, well-behaved, ruthless but decent person. He is the ideal image of the pharaoh in my heart. He is not perfect but very attractive, especially the dignity of a high-ranking person. He is the best pharaoh I have ever seen. The author should have consulted a large amount of foreign information and wrote that the Pharaoh ascended the throne at the age of three. In fact, foreign archeology speculates that Thutmose III ascended the throne at the age of 3. The BBC has a documentary about him, and the actors chosen are exactly the age when he took office. Later, after he took charge, he was ostracized by the theocracy and the old aristocracy, and had to break the situation to establish his authority and take power into his own hands. The surprise attack on the narrow passage of Aruna, the clearing of the chariot race, and the encroachment of the temple's power, every step of the planning is hidden with the emperor's forbearance and ruthlessness. The plot line of the court is written with strict logic and a sense of research. The Karnak Temple, Thebes Bazaar, and the royal etiquette are very elegantly written, and I feel like I am getting closer to that long-lost civilization. There are annotations for the dialogues in it, and there are a lot of inscription-style dialogues of the pharaohs. I asked why it felt so solemn when I was reading it. It turned out to be so! On the emotional line, the male protagonist's attraction to the female protagonist is also very special. That part is so touching to read. He saw his own loneliness in the heroine, and would rather have a taste of it than to recover it, starting with Plato. As the story progresses, he is truly doting and tolerant towards the heroine. From thinking that the heroine's origin is unknown, he can only give him a concubine (although she was rejected by the heroine), and then he goes to great lengths to give him land and power, and the heroine successfully pulls him off the altar. Especially the day before the heroine's sacrifice, he said to the heroine, "Tomorrow, I will send you off in person, in my name, with all the dignity I can give you. I will not let the world down, and I will not let you down." There is also that monologue - don't look back, once you look back, I can't let go. Really makes people cry to death! There is also the plot of the heroine being sacrificed, and the plot of the confused look on her face after returning to modern times, which made my hair tremble. The supporting cast is completely non-human! The maid Haya is the only warmth in the heroine's other world, and the two of them act like sisters; the priest Sarenni is also a character I like very much, full of compassion and abiding by the divine rules. Queen Neferullah was a victim of a political marriage. In the scene where she defended the hero from the sword at the end, she said, "In the next life, I hope you and I will never meet again." This made people feel very heavy and she was also a pitiful person. Finally, let's talk about the writing style. The atmosphere is amazing. The ancient battlefield filled with yellow sand, the temple of Karnak filled with incense, and the courtyard in the middle of the lake by the Nile River at dusk. The descriptions of the scenery have a sense of movie shots. In just a few sentences, the magnificence and desolation of Thebes three thousand years ago can be outlined. The psychological portrayal of the characters is delicate and nuanced. The heroine's longing for modernity when she is alone, the hero's loneliness when looking at the royal city, and a few words describe the fate of the two people who cannot help themselves. All in all, this is a story that I will return to again and again, especially the Machiavellian part, to see if my brain can keep up with the text of the story. By the way, when will the second part start?
In fact, I was mentally prepared starting from the next few chapters, but the last few chapters still deeply shocked me. I couldn't calm down after watching it for a long time. Although they each got what they needed, they still made me feel indescribable sadness and loss. By the way, when will the next part be updated? Okay, let's get to the point of the review. I'm just an ordinary reader who was taken advantage of by my friends, then really liked it, and now I want to curse others while beating the wall. I will praise the good points, and I will never hold back the bad points. I focus on the truth. In fact, from a real perspective, the situation of time travel may not be as good as we think. Imagine a gangster of unknown origin who has just arrived in a strange environment. How can others assume that you, a foreign monk, can recite sutras? You can't do it step by step. Looking back at this article, I feel like I have followed the whole article. Chapter by chapter, I feel that it is not enough. Fortunately, the first part is finally finished. I read it in one breath. As other readers said, I just wandered into space for a while, and after reading a few lines, I was pulled into the story again. The plot content in the first 15 chapters felt too real to me. Without Mary Sue and Goldfinger, it was all about the heroine licking blood from her knife and taking care of everything. It was not easy to survive. The same goes for the male protagonist. He is too un-Jinjiang-like and too political. He starts to plot against the female protagonist from the very beginning, but he can also understand his difficulties. They are really two pitiful people. Let's talk about the biggest drawback first: this article is not suitable for sisters who just want to watch sweet pets. If you want the kind of "Pharaoh's love brain, a time-traveling woman who is arrogant and arrogant, and a harem who is jealous", you can check it out now. It is about how two adults fall in love in a real operating power system - the male protagonist is not a tyrant, but a real emperor engaged in politics; the female protagonist is not a spoiled wife, but a modern woman who really uses her brains to survive. Both of them have their own bottom lines. Thutmose III, the male protagonist, I would call him "the least human-speaking male protagonist in Jinjiang." He never said "I love you" from the beginning to the end. The closest he came to a confession was "I will not let the world down, and I will never let you down" on the eve of the sacrifice - using a negative sentence. Negative sentence patterns, folks! This man has to use double negatives even when he expresses his love, and the Chinese teacher has to circle it and mark it for him. But what he did makes you unable to stop loving him. When the heroine fell from the stage at the national ceremony, he rushed to catch her in front of all the people; when the heroine was besieged by the divine power, he blocked all the open and secret arrows for her with one word. It's not that he isn't affectionate, he is affectionate but can't express it. In reality, this kind of character is the type who "silently does everything for you but you ask him and he says it's easy." It's very exciting, but sometimes in the article, it also makes people want to rush in and shake his shoulders: Can you open your mouth and hit a straight ball?! I'm so anxious! The heroine Shen Xingran can talk, and she is very good at it. Her strength is using rules to fight back - using ledgers to expose nobles in court, using facts to defeat high priests in questioning, and using intelligence networks to disrupt opponents' blockades in business wars. It was really satisfying to watch her drive a bunch of old foxes into silence in the court room. But her weakness is that she "dare not rely on anyone." She is restrained in her feelings for the male protagonist from beginning to end, sometimes so restrained that people want to ask her: What are you afraid of? Later I thought about it - what she was afraid of was not him, but dependence on herself. Once she admitted this feeling, her status in ancient Egypt changed from "an independent traveler" to "the woman favored by the Pharaoh". She didn't want to live like the latter. Therefore, all her restraint is essentially to protect her independence and subjectivity. The thing about this book that makes me feel that "the author has something" the most is the treatment of "rules and beliefs". In the first half of the upper part, the heroine uses the rules to win battles. But when the oracle intervened later, the rules became invalid. The old aristocracy no longer accused her of "fraud," but of "blasphemy." Several people knelt outside the palace gate and shouted "sacrifice". No one could speak for a person who would attract divine punishment. She can win the rules, but she cannot win the faith. This turning point upgrades the entire work from "a cool article" to a "deep narrative". But the price is - it's depressing to watch later. The heroine changed from active to passive, and the villain changed from Hutt to "Oracle". She had no way to fight back and could only bear it. On the one hand, I felt that "the writing is very realistic", but on the other hand, I thought, "Can we give the heroine a way to survive?" Let's talk about a few minor flaws: In fact, starting from the time when the heroine takes over the property given by the hero, the highlights of the heroine are chapter after chapter, which is very enjoyable to watch, and there is no water-filled plot. She is a proper heroine. It's just that after she took the order from the male protagonist later, the entire business front expanded a little faster. Although she also wrote down the core manipulation methods, nearly a hundred difficult old fritters wouldn't be so easy to manipulate, right? I hope that if there is a similar plot in the future, there will be more specific game processes. Finally, although the ending of the first part is BE, it is not torture for the sake of torture. It is inevitable for the characters and the times. The female protagonist recited a spell on the altar, and the male protagonist was blocked by the barrier. The two looked at each other through a layer of blue light. She said silently "Goodbye, I will remember you." Then she disappeared, and he guarded the courtyard alone, waiting for her to come back. After I cried through an entire pack of tissues, I discovered there was still a lower part. It is said that the lower part will be HE, but when will the update start? Finally, after all the nonsense, I can summarize: Reading this article can help you gain some brainpower, but you have to prepare tissues and chase while scolding. This is probably my highest evaluation of it.
You can love someone, but you don't have to give up yourself for him; you can be in trouble, but you can find a way out in your own way.
[Orange Candy] I've got it ||Thank you to God, thank you to earth, and thank you for your hard work~
The male protagonist finally broke his guard and took a bite of [Orange Candy]
I have always liked ancient Egypt, and I found it very interesting when I read The Age of Thutmose for the first time. This is a more serious plot story. The heroine Shen Xingran was regarded by the rebels as a miracle that came out of thin air, and she put on priestly attire. This was the first time I had seen this kind of story. It's very special, because usually the female protagonist descends like a god and becomes the male protagonist's support. The horror of the battlefield, being brought back to Thebes, and the outsmarting of the priest group, the whole story line is intertwined with ups and downs, and it is very exciting. The emotions of the male and female protagonists are relatively restrained, and there is a feeling of secret emotions and sober sinking in the game between smart people. I know I shouldn't, but I still feel my heart move for you. This kind of tension is very good ヾ(❀^ω^)ノ゙ The heroine Shen Xingran is very thoughtful in her portrayal. Every break and every piece of thinking is very rigorous. There is a kind of stubbornness that is struggling in the ancient real world, uncompromising and unyielding. And he will also fight back against the male protagonist. The scene from a high position is so beautiful~ At first, I was always curious as to why the heroine could speak ancient languages by herself, but later I found out that she was summoned. The power of the mysterious ancient country, my lover after a thousand years, has a strong sense of fate. I am very curious whether it will eventually return to modern times ~ PS: I really like the conversation between the heroine and the priest. It feels like the author has deep thoughts. The author has very deep thoughts on kingship, divine power, life, etc. The male protagonist is a typical iron-blooded emperor, extremely manipulative and emotionally restrained. It feels like the empire is gradually being built in his hands. Every step is within his calculation, not the kind of author who shouts that he is so strong or awesome. Rather, it is hidden in every power game, every decision, and every overt and covert struggle. The priests took over the power here, but the divine power counterattacked, and the granaries were burned. The priests thought they had won, but it turned out to be the key blow for the Pharaoh to restrain them. This is an article that is very enjoyable to read with your mind. It is not just about love between you and me, but it feels like an immersive ancient Egypt. However, it is indeed thrilling to survive, and every step of the way is thrilling. It can be seen that the author has done a lot of homework and strives to present a realistic and atmospheric world of ancient Egypt. There are many fantasy romances, but this one is more realistic. It starts from the thrilling time travel, from the pharaoh's doubts, and gets involved in various palace secret battles. Step by step, the conspiracy is shattered, the doubts are shattered, and step by step, another iron-blooded pharaoh, a rational man who is supreme, gradually compromises and falls. A story well worth reading, recommended~ The author will update it soon, it's very exciting 💪 Come on, come on
This is my first time reading a story with an ancient Egyptian background! Quite interesting
Thanks to all the angels, I have recently been adapting the comic script of the previous part. The content in the script is more exciting and three-dimensional than the novel, so I will revise the content of the previous novel again after I finish revising the script in the near future. However, this is not an update to the lower part of the movie, it will be updated every week (usually on weekends), so stay tuned, friends.