In the early morning sun, Lake Texcoco undulates with bright light. And in the bright light, there are reflections of countless flowers. This is the Great Botanical Garden of Tenochtitlan, a place that symbolizes the royal family and nobility.
Under the sunshine and unknown shadows, among the sea of flowers and trees, a beautiful lantern crabapple is blooming. There is a deep golden edge wrapped around the flower branches, and the red flowers are like hanging upside down lanterns, exuding a pleasant honey fragrance.
A young blue-green hummingbird was attracted by the fragrance of honey. It danced quickly among the flowers, making the sound of flapping wings like brilliant lightning. Then it suddenly stops and hangs in front of the flower, stretching out its slender beak and happily sucking the sweet nectar.
However, at the moment when the hummingbird stopped flying and drank happily. The golden edge of the flower branch suddenly jumped up and turned into a golden stream of light. The stream of light swept through the flowers in the blink of an eye, and the hummingbird disappeared, leaving only a golden javelin snake.
The javelina snake closed its bright red mouth, and a bulge slowly slid down from its throat to its abdomen. Then its forked tongue stretched out, licked a large mouth, and exhaled the air in its belly with satisfaction. Eaten to make it feel lazy and comfortable. Just then, a shrill sound of wind came from the sky, and the shadow in the sky quickly expanded until it was drowned. It raised its head in shock and opened its red mouth with fangs.
An old eagle descended from the sky, pounced with lightning speed, and pecked seven inches of the javelin snake. The red mouth trembled, and the long tongue dropped weakly. Then, the eagle took the golden snake in its mouth and flew away without leaving any trace. There are only lantern flowers trembling slightly in the wind.
The murderous intention is hidden in the beautiful capital, and who knows his identity?
When the sun slanted slightly in the east, two thousand family warriors gathered outside Montezuma Palace. Afterwards, Avitt said goodbye to his daughter and took away Shulott. Surrounded by family warriors, the group headed to the chief minister's palace.
The palace of the chief minister is not far to the east of the great temple. The size of the palace is not large, but it is extremely high, almost the same as the large temple. There is a special passage directly between the temple and the palace to facilitate communication between people on both sides.
In fact, during the decades that the elders were in power, the palace of the chief minister was the center of imperial politics. The messengers went to the great temple through this passage and conveyed the orders to the priests at all levels. The warrior guards of the Great Temple also obey the orders of their elders.
Arriving at the chief palace, Shulot saw hundreds of elite warriors at a glance. These warriors hold sharp and strong copper weapons, wear leather armor, and wear animal helmets that cover their faces, and they remain motionless in the sun. This is the Elder Guard, equivalent to the King's Praetorian Guard.
The family warriors stopped here. Avitt and Shulot continued to go up with their important entourage. Climbing tens of meters up the stone steps of the palace, you will find another heavily guarded hall. Then the messenger came forward and announced that the elder had only summoned Avit and Shulot. Intelligence officer Gillim, personal guard Stanley and warrior chief Bertard can only stop here.
The two of them put down their weapons, took off their leather armor, and wore only the noble clothes. They walked into the corridor behind the hall, followed by the elder guards holding gifts. There are huge murals on both sides of the corridor, depicting majestic gods, magnificent temples, tall kings, and simple warriors. At the bottom are various fallen enemies.
Xurot observed the murals, all of which were chapters of the patron saint Huitzilopochtli. From when He defeated the gods on Snake Mountain and became the God of War, to when He ascended to the sky instead of the Sun God, and then came to earth to promise the Mexica ancestors, granting Mexica the authority to lead the world, and then to issuing decrees to command the Toltecs and the surrender of the Tepaneks, and finally the great sacrifice of the king's conquest of the south. There is still a large blank space behind to be painted.
Shulot nodded. These murals are a treatise on how gods were created. This is the development history of the Mexica people and the most immortal achievement in the elder's life.
Then, as the corridor reaches the end, there is the flat roof of the large temple in the west, facing the red temple of the patron saint. On the other side, which is level with the temple, an elder who spans centuries is sitting quietly on the stone seat of the god, looking at the crowd entering.
Shulot quickly looked around and saw that the elder on the stone seat was extremely old, reminiscent of an ancient sacred tree. His face was calm, as indifferent as the lightless deep sea. The body is tall and straight, and the momentum is like a towering mountain. His eyes fell, giving people a heavy pressure, cold and without any emotion. In his hand, he held a small copper bell.
Behind the elder, standing with hands tied, a smiling Kechar and a slightly fat Ugel stood. Further behind, there is the elder's guard, as well as the sculpted warrior at the head and his clay pot.
Seeing the elder, Avitt looked solemnly and kneeled down respectfully with Shulot to salute.
"The great Civacohuatl, the immortal sun of the Mexica people, the supreme elder! Your most outstanding descendant, Avit, offers you the most sincere respect and blessings! May the patron saint be with us, and the sun will always be with us. Don’t fall behind!”
The elder nodded and waved. The two stood up and presented their gifts.
"May flowers always accompany you and your elders be immortal!"
Avitt first presented flowers, which he had picked in the royal botanical garden early in the morning.
The elder's eyes were calm.
"This is the flag of the Otomi Legion-level commander, which I captured during the war."
Later, Avitt presented a three-meter-long command flag. Apart from the Herotepec sacrificial plate, this was the highest-grade trophy in the entire Otomi War. This level of trophies was actually not uncommon in the Mexicans' decades of vast wars.
"This is the equipment of the high-ranking warriors of Tarasco, from a hearty victory!"
Finally, Avit presented a bronze helmet, a pair of bronze shoulder pads, and a bronze axe.
The elder's eyes finally fluctuated. He looked at the bronze helmet and shoulder guards and nodded slightly. This is a new creation of the Tarasco people in the past ten years.
Then it was Shulot's turn to offer the gift.
"This is the trebuchet I invented. It can throw 20-pound stone projectiles to 300 meters and 50-pound stone projectiles to 150 meters." He first presented a small trebuchet model.
After a series of structural optimizations, the trebuchet's range and power have been improved. Xiulote has sent people to the market to purchase copper nails, customize copper connectors, and try to further improve and strengthen the trebuchet.
The elder nodded. A stone bullet weighing fifty kilograms cannot effectively destroy a solid stone wall several meters high, but it can destroy the simple wood and stone walls of the southern city-states.
"This is a longbow I invented. It can injure unarmored militiamen within a range of 270 meters. It can injure low-level warriors in cotton armor within a range of 200 meters. It can injure elite warriors in leather armor within a range of 150 meters."
Shulot presented a gilded long bow and then confidently declared its power.
The elder's eyes narrowed. He stared at the longbow and Xilot for a moment, taking in his Teotihuacan attire. After beckoning, two warriors came forward, placed their leather armors, and tested the power of the long bows.
The main hall plus the corridor is more than 100 meters long. The samurai who performed the test was in his prime. His upper body spine was slightly arched, and his hands were obviously calloused. He was a veteran who was good at Tlaxcala bow. He tried shooting twice first and was quite surprised to feel the strength of the bow. Then he drew the bow to 70% and shot an arrow like lightning, penetrating the leather armor a hundred meters away and nailing it to the wall. The tail of the arrow kept trembling.
The elder's gaze stayed on the leather armor. He stared at the two arrow holes on the front and back of his chest and pondered silently.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Kechar bowed forward with a smile and whispered softly: "Elder, the power of the long bow is indeed impressive. King Tisok died under the arrow of the long bow."
The elder's eyes dropped slightly. He said nothing, but simply waved.
The warriors put away their long bows and bowed to retire.
"This is the paper I invented, which can be used to record all kinds of information. Just cheap bark, jute, bamboo, and reed can be made into tens of thousands of papers. These three loads of paper only require ten craftsmen and two weeks time, and it will be even faster in the future!”
Shulot presented three loads of paper and a thousand-character scroll written in Chinese characters. He pulled the roll open to show the writing effect, and then pulled it again to prove the toughness of the bark paper.
The elder motioned for Shulot to come forward. He took the paper and looked through it, then carefully looked at the paper book with Chinese characters written on it. This time he didn't nod, just pondered something.
"This is a script I invented. It has clear condensation of meaning, writing standards, and combination shapes. Nobles, priests, warriors, and even village residents in distant city-states can clearly understand the writing on paper as long as they master this script. laws and orders, myths and history, and major alliance events!”
Shulot finally presented a set of wooden boards with corresponding hieroglyphics and regular Chinese characters, and pointed at the paper book in the elder's hand, proudly proclaiming the great writing. This is the true foundation of the empire, and everything will change from here!
The elder lowered his eyes and fell into deep contemplation. There was solemnity in the hall.
Kechar looked closely at the words in front of him. He was thinking a lot, then his eyes became serious, his face was serious, and the smile disappeared from his face for the first time. When he looked at Shulot again, he also deliberately lowered his eyelids to cover up the deep coldness in his eyes.
Ugel next to him was completely unaware. He just touched the soft paper and felt that if this thing was cheap, it would be convenient to use in some daily life. Well, certainly better than leaves and twigs!
After a while, the elder finally waved his hand. Shulot then respectfully resigned. He has great pride in his heart and is confident to open up a culturally brilliant future!
Suddenly, a bell rang. Shulot heard the sound and looked around, only to see the elder shaking the small bell in his hand. While he was puzzled, the sculpture-like warriors in the hall seemed to have heard the spell and instantly gathered around the two of them.
"Take it!" The elder spoke for the first time. His voice was like an eternal rock, old and emotionless.
The elder guards swarmed forward and subdued Avitt and Shulot. Then, a side door opened, leading to the deep interior of the palace. Shulot was in confusion and shock, and was led into unknown depths.
Before entering the door, Avitt glanced at the expressionless elder, but he was confident and calm.
