The young woman looked at several strangely laughing large men and unconsciously shrank back, covering her face more tightly. Over the long ten-thousand-li journey, they had suffered too many hardships. Beautiful Egypt was no longer suitable for spreading truth. The nations in the desert had all gone mad—they stubbornly believed that deities ruled the sky, that their happiness, suffering, joys, sorrows, separations, and reunions were all arranged by the gods.
Hypatia would never believe until death that after a man died, a garden full of fruits and flowing with milk and honey awaited him, much less that there would be ninety-nine women who remained virgins no matter how many men they had served. Thinking of these things, deep sorrow rose in her heart.
Buildings that had been glorious for over a thousand years collapsed in flames, and one hundred fifty thousand books were burned. The earliest Hypatia had worked hard to restore Egypt’s intellectual glory, but unfortunately, ignorance had defeated reason. After being cut by clamshells yet remaining unrepentant, those thugs had actually used axes to hack off her limbs and thrown them into roaring flames while her hands and feet were still spasming…
A sentence in the latest Quran had saved this declining school of thought: “Seek knowledge even if it be in China.” These words from Muhammad had given everyone their final hope. Following the trade routes from the distant desert to this magical land, after entering the Great Tang, all suffering seemed to vanish in an instant.
Though those people liked looking at her, she could feel it was only from carnal desire, without other malice. Having finally reached Chang’an with great difficulty, their last bit of money was also gone. The people here seemed unaware of the importance of learning—they had their own academic system and cognition. She had no way to make a living through wisdom.
With no other options, she could only try this kind of dance—the last capital she had learned in the desert. Performing in a pleasure house was inappropriate, but for survival, what couldn’t be endured?
The arrogant man before her—his powerful nation had given him absolute confidence. His country was indeed something to be feared. From seeing the first city in the desert, she could no longer remember how many places she had passed through before arriving at this metropolis. When she first saw the towering city walls, she was so shocked she nearly knelt down. This was divine handiwork. She, who never believed in deities, had almost begun doubting her own persistent faith.
A strange nobleman actually knew of Hypatia, actually knew of Euclid, actually knew of the *Elements*—how miraculous! Hypatia, were you blessing your student? In despair, were you giving us final hope?
“The ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, that is, the ratio of a circle’s area to the square of its radius—do you know it?” Hypatia very much hoped the person before her was a learned scholar rather than a profligate young master, so she tested Yun Ye with this unsolved problem of hers.
Li Huairen said rudely, “Doesn’t even know Zu’s ratio—what scholarly pretensions! Hurry and change clothes to dance. If you dance to satisfy this lord, I’ll tell you later in bed.”
Li Chengqian and Zhangsun Chong both froze for a moment, then broke into lewd laughter. A singing girl who knew Zu’s ratio was relatively rare, but it was still just that—there were plenty of refined young ladies in pleasure houses. Discussing poetry and literature while… that was far more interesting.
“I see this woman has closely set brows, breasts like doves, and unfaded down—she’s actually a virgin. Even rarer, she knows some mathematics. I like that most of all. I plan to invite her tonight to study Grandmaster Zu’s *Zhui Shu* together. Brother Gao Ming, what do you think?”
Zhangsun Chong nudged Li Chengqian’s shoulder while drooling and winking, causing goosebumps to rise all over the Great Tang Crown Prince’s body. Moving away, he said, “Chong’zi, if you like her, take her—as long as Ye’zi doesn’t compete with you. Though I think your plan is going to fall through.”
Zhangsun Chong looked again at the two conversing and discovered that in the pleasure house, there was actually an air of solemnity. He heard Yun Ye say, “My brother spoke correctly. We call this ratio the circular ratio. Because Grandmaster Zu discovered it two hundred years ago, it’s also called Zu’s ratio. Its value is three point one four. Anyone in the Great Tang who has read books knows this—there’s nothing strange about it. If you like research, I invite you to look at the book *Zhui Shu* in the academy library and you’ll understand.”
“The Tang nation also has academies and libraries? In my teacher’s era, the Alexandrian Academy had one hundred sixty students—what a glorious age that was! I never expected that in the isolated Tang nation, academies also exist. How miraculous!” Hypatia expressed her delight to Yun Ye with surprise. However, judging from the several men’s tightly furrowed brows, she seemed to have said the wrong thing.
Li Huairen curled his lip, spat out a grape seed, and said arrogantly, “An uncivilized savage dares speak of academies? I’ve heard Ye’zi say before that your largest city, Rome, only has a prefecture city’s population. Wearing clothes that expose skin and flesh, running around everywhere, eating worse than pig slop, waving axes and howling while being pirates—now you want to act civilized?”
Hypatia slowly stood up, removed her veil, and stood in the center of the space. Immediately, other women draped a white long robe over her, tied a knot at her chest, combed her hair into a high bun, inserted a thorn hairpin, and placed a crown woven from withered yellow laurel branches on her head. She took a piece of cucumber from Yun Ye’s table, chewed it a few times in her mouth, then spat it out to substitute for fragrant spices, then took a cup of clear water to rinse her mouth. Afterward, facing the five of them, she placed her hand on her chest in salute.
Under the powerful presence, even Li Huairen, whose nature was like a wild boar, bowed his head in return. Li Chengqian’s gaze sparkled as he watched the woman before him, wanting to see what she would do. Zhangsun Chong also sat up from the singing girl’s embrace. As for Cheng Chumo, he was already lying on the carpet asleep.
This woman possessed a soul-stirring beauty. Her green pupils were like cat’s eyes, her brown hair was combed without a strand out of place, her slender neck and rosy earlobes appeared especially beautiful in the candlelight. Official speech with a slight accent slowly arose: “I come from great and glorious Egypt. It doesn’t have the Great Tang’s vast territory or so many subjects. Now it is shrouded in the shadow of tyranny. They have destroyed all beautiful things—only tall, cold temples stand there. God has become the sole master there, and all dissenting voices have been thrown into fires and turned to ash.”
“This is not my reason for agreeing with this gentleman’s slander of Egypt. Egypt is a beautiful place. Six thousand years ago, we already had civilization. The pyramids still recount our past glory in the wind and sand. They are built from two million three hundred thousand stones weighing five thousand jin each. The heaviest stones exceed one hundred thousand jin. The gaps between them cannot even admit a blade. As for height, according to the Great Tang’s calculation method, they are fully fifty zhang tall.” Speaking to this point, Hypatia stopped and looked at Yun Ye. Since he knew of Hypatia’s existence, there was no reason he wouldn’t know of the pyramids’ existence. She needed to find confirmation for her claims.
Li Huairen asked Yun Ye, “Ye’zi, is she bragging?” His words lacked confidence. Hypatia’s words seemed very sincere. Li Chengqian and Zhangsun Chong also looked at Yun Ye together.
Yun Ye touched his nose and said with a bitter smile, “I also want to say she’s bragging, but my master said the same thing. The old man wouldn’t be wrong. There’s also a huge sphinx she didn’t mention.”
Hypatia bowed to Yun Ye and continued, “Thank you, honest sir. The sphinx you mentioned is called the Sphinx—just a fool who knows a few riddles.”
“What I want to discuss is civilization, not irrational myths. The square of the pyramid’s height equals the area of the pyramid face triangle. The base perimeter divided by the tower height exactly equals the circle’s circumference divided by its radius. Our other speculation about the pyramid was just confirmed from this gentleman’s mouth—that is, the base perimeter divided by twice the tower height exactly equals the Zu’s ratio this gentleman mentioned. Do you believe this is coincidence?”
“Gentlemen, not mentioning our sages as numerous as stars, please tell me, gentlemen—when buildings like the pyramids were constructed by our ancestors four thousand years ago, will you still say we are merely a group of uncivilized savages? Those wielding axes and howling are Nordic pirates; those with wine barrels tied to their bellies are Gauls. Don’t confuse noble scholars with crude savages. If not for this gentleman knowing of the sage Hypatia’s existence, I would have almost thought this place was also an academic desert.”
Li Huairen looked at Hypatia gloomily and finally discovered several white pockmarks on both sides of her nose. He immediately cheered up—this woman wasn’t flawless either.
“Beautiful female scholar, your eloquent oration makes me ashamed. But what you’ve said is all speculation. People of the Great Tang pay more attention to evidence. What you said could be coincidence. My master once said that the pyramid’s construction exceeded the Egyptians’ capabilities, because that era couldn’t possibly have had twenty million people for the Pharaoh to command, so its origin is still open to discussion.”
“However, your understanding of mathematics makes me admire you. Your teacher Hypatia had very profound understanding of *Conic Sections* and *Arithmetic*, so there’s reason to believe you’ve inherited not only her beauty but also her learning. If it’s convenient for you, I’d like to invite you to be a visiting scholar at Yushan Academy. Yushan Academy is not what you described—a few people or a dozen people. It’s a comprehensive academy. Currently, over two thousand one hundred students study there.”
For the first time, Hypatia showed a surprised expression. She knew very clearly what it meant for this era to have such a huge school.
“My salary won’t be low—I need to support sixteen people, so the compensation you offer must match my status and learning.”
“Please rest assured, there’s even an extra stipend here for your beauty.” Yun Ye showed his white teeth and said to Hypatia with a smile.
Zhangsun Chong painfully banged his head against Li Chengqian’s shoulder. Now that she’d become an academy teacher, who could still chase this girl? Li Chengqian didn’t care—he was also an academy leader. Besides, he’d never had any interest in foreign women. Only Li Huairen didn’t know what he was thinking about as he laughed foolishly.