Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 32 Hilla
As the black funeral procession drove by, there was no need to continue the ceremony to welcome Lu Lin's triumphant return. Everyone was losing interest, but Lu Lin noticed a group of dancers in traditional costumes in the distance dismantling decorations. Clearly, the royal family had prepared other ceremonies.

"Your Highness, according to the traditional procedure, there will be a dance and a prayer next." The envoy caught up with the messenger, holding a gilded program book.

"Let's skip it. The atmosphere isn't right today." Lu Lin didn't want to socialize anymore anyway; he just wanted to find an excuse to run away as soon as possible.

Just as the envoy hesitated, Lu Lin had already strode towards the parking lot. He happened to see a maid dressed in simple clothes and instructed her, "You, come and open the car door for me."

In Shuangzhi, ordinary or high-status women generally wear black robes and traditional clothing to attend more formal occasions, while maids do not, because most of them come from other countries or poor local families, which is easier to distinguish by their clothing.

The maid who was stopped by Lu Lin was stunned for a moment, and then glared at him fiercely.

"Uh? Was my tone disrespectful enough?"

This made Lu Lin a little insecure. He was originally a fake dual-person, and he thought he had said something wrong.

His response was a precise kick to the shin of a pointed leather shoe. Lu Lin gasped, the pain in his shin igniting a nameless anger within him.

What are you doing?
Are the maids of this country allowed to be so disrespectful to a victorious general?
But when he saw the maid opposite him looking so self-righteous, a familiar figure appeared in his mind. He also had a younger sister in his previous life, and his diary also mentioned that he had a younger sister.

That familiar little expression, that domineering attitude even when bullying someone at home.
You wouldn't happen to be my Imhotep, would you?

At this moment, Sultan also came over. When he saw the maid, his face immediately turned stern, and he scolded in a low voice, "Sila, how can you dress like this for such a formal occasion? Where are your clothes?"

Lu Lin suddenly realized, and then deliberately put on a serious face, with an expression that said, "Yeah, yeah."

The little girl, who had been pouting just moments before, immediately pouted.

Sultan opened the car door, pushed his sister, dressed as a maid, inside first, and then said fiercely, "You get in the car with Amir first, and then reflect on your actions when we get home!"

Lu Lin also got in, and Hilla, who was sitting opposite him, immediately turned her head away and pressed herself against the car window like a cat with its fur standing on end.

A tense silence immediately filled the car.

He sighed inwardly, wondering why his real-life sister couldn't be as cute as the ones in anime.

Have you heard the story of the camel and the scorpion?

Sheila had her back to him, and even the back of her head seemed to scream "angry."

Lu Lin ignored her and continued telling the story: "Once upon a time, a Bedouin chief was going to slaughter a camel for meat, but the camel could be kept if it could carry a hundred pounds of goods. One camel tried, but could only carry ninety-nine pounds, so it cried sadly. At this moment, the camel saw a scorpion on the ground, and the scorpion asked: 'My friend, why are you so sad?'"

The camel told the scorpion what had happened, and the scorpion flicked its tail and said, "What a coincidence! I weigh exactly one pound. Let me hide in your ear, and we'll try again!"

So the anxious camel returned to the chief's tent with the hidden scorpion. This time, it indeed carried a full hundred pounds of goods, escaping slaughter. But the chief was puzzled: 'Strange, it was clearly a pound short just now.'

The timid camel was startled and dropped the scorpion out of its ear.

The chief discovered the scorpion and shouted, "What are you doing in the camel's ear?"

"The scorpion said."

Lu Lin stopped talking at this point, but Sheila couldn't help herself and turned to ask, "What did Scorpion say?"

Lu Lin leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Scorpion said I'm telling a story to the camel!"

"Oh." Sheila mimicked her brother's serious expression: "Boring."

But the more she thought about it, the more something seemed off. After a moment, she finally understood and began kicking wildly at Lu Lin in the confined space.

"No, this is my new military uniform." "No way! You dare call me a camel!"

After the two played around for a while, Sheila stopped, looked at Lu Lin and suddenly said, "You never used to tell jokes."

Lu Lin's smile faded. He knew he would inevitably experience this moment. His family, who were with him day and night, would easily notice the change in his personality, and he needed to give a reasonable explanation for it.

He took out a bullet and handed it over: "This is for you."

"what is this?"

"A talisman."

She reached out and took it, playing with it with some curiosity. Such a thing was a rare commodity for a girl living within high walls and courtyards.

Lu Lin recalled: "When I was fighting in Nukoshir, I once charged forward sitting on a tank. The enemy machine guns were firing at us, but I didn't feel anything at the time. It wasn't until after the charge was over that I realized that the bullet was stuck next to my chair."

This was a bullet that had been blessed with good fortune.

Of course, he made these up, but he wanted his family to get used to Amir's personality change.

Sheila was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Amir, did you really kill a lot of enemies?"

Lu Lin did not answer directly, but said, "I would rather have never killed any of them."

The car rolled over the rutted dirt road, kicking up a cloud of reddish-brown dust.

As the capital of Shuangzhi, Riyadh had not yet developed into the prosperous Riyadh of later times. Low mud-brick houses could be seen everywhere, and the whole city showed no design or planning, with everything arranged in a chaotic manner.

However, in the distance, one can still see many new buildings under construction, as well as several brand-new government buildings.

As he passed a market, Lu Lin noticed that the stalls were piled high with American-imported radios and Japanese-made plastic sandals. The vendors were using old tires to start fires and brew tea. Curious, he rolled down the window, only to squint at the pungent smell.

It tastes a bit like a mixture of unleaded gasoline, roasted lamb, and stale cement.

Sheila covered her nose: "What are you doing? Close the window right now!"

Lu Lin quickly rolled up the window. He had originally wanted to experience some "exotic atmosphere," but now he was completely obedient.

The car carrying Lu Lin drove through the bronze gate, and the group finally returned to the manor. Unlike the sandstorms outside, the manor was a lush and green place.

It's like another world.

Equally spaced bronze lampposts stand on both sides of the road, each topped with a gilded falcon. Gardeners in uniform kneel by the flowerbeds pruning shrubs, turning their backs immediately upon hearing a car.

Lu Lin then felt that he was somewhat ignorant and couldn't help but look around.

Seeing how engrossed he was in watching, Sheila didn't think much of it, assuming her brother was just homesick.

The air was filled with the fragrance of grass. The circular plaza in front of the main house was paved with large marble slabs, and in the center was a fountain pool with twelve gilded spouts silently spouting water.

After the car came to a stop, four servants dressed in snow-white robes jogged over, carrying silver trays with chilled towels and rose water on them.

Not far away, at the main gate, a beautifully dressed woman was smiling at them.

(End of this chapter)