"Come on, come on, Your Highness has spoken, everyone should go back and sit down and continue drinking!"
Izel, the leader of the Mountain Clan of the Glory Family, put on a smile and gave instructions loudly.
"Let the Huastec dancer come over and dance something charming. Then play the music, and then dance!"
Soon, the charming Huastec girl came to the middle of the banquet wearing a scantily clad shell. They stretched their waists happily, lifted their toes lightly, and danced the imaginative cat dance.
The atmosphere in the venue was once again cheerful. The western nobles watched the dance, talked, laughed and drank as if nothing happened. From time to time, someone would come up to him, toast the king, say a few words of congratulations, and then naturally retreat.
"The Lord God bless the Alliance, and the King shines in all directions! The respected King Avit has sent envoys to all states to summon nobles to the capital to meet and participate in the celebration. Your Highness, your wedding soon will become a grand event for the Glorious Alliance!"
Izel raised his glass, bowed his head in greeting, and drank it all.
"Congratulations to Your Highness!"
Hearing this, Shulot pursed his lips, a smile appeared on his face, and his heart was full of expectations. He raised his glass, nodded with a smile, and drank the remaining wine in the glass, but his expression became solemn.
"Izel, congratulations to you too! I'll never forget your bravery when we say goodbye to the Western Expedition. When we meet again, your face is clear and your eyes are as sharp as an eagle!"
Hearing these profound words, Izel hesitated slightly. The meaning of his name is "dark eyes, blurred face". The difficulties of being a concubine in the past came to mind, but he never regretted the decision he made that night. Now, a new choice lies before us.
After a long silence, Izel made his choice again. He calmly stepped forward and came within two steps of Shulot. Then, under Bertard's vigilant eyes, the young mountain chief whispered in an incomprehensible voice.
"Your Highness, Commander Shusok... Tepetel's death... was all planned by the Alliance Intelligence Corps... Chief Intelligence Officer."
Hearing this, Shulot nodded lightly. The answer did not surprise him. Seeing Shulot's calm expression, Izel gritted his teeth and continued to remind him.
"Your Highness, my respect for you has never changed! The Snake Chief Intelligence Officer... is interested in Your Highness... please be careful!"
"Huh? Are you interested in His Highness?"
Shulot raised his brows and remained silent. The only ones who can bear the title of "Little His Highness" are the thirteen-year-old Montezuma II, the son of the late king Asaya Cattell, and the eight-year-old Chimalpilly II, the son of Avit. There is no doubt that Gillim's intention is the latter, Alyssa's biological brother. And the so-called "intentional"...
After thinking for a moment, Shulot nodded calmly. He reached out and patted Izel on the shoulder.
"Izel, my appreciation for you has never changed! God bless you!"
"God bless you!"
The two toasted and drank together, and their conversation became a little more intimate. Shulot asked softly, remembering his previous confusion.
"The high priest has a merciful temperament and has always been on good terms with the western nobles. Why are everyone so afraid of him?"
"..."
Hearing Kanren's comment, Izel was speechless for a moment. He looked at His Highness' puzzled expression, lowered his head and answered respectfully.
"Your Highness, the high priest is in charge of religious law, has implemented strict reforms, and has consolidated the religious power of various parts of the alliance into the capital. It is now quite effective! In the past three years, no fewer than two or three of the great nobles and priest families in various parts of the alliance have been ordered to be exterminated because they violated the religious decrees. Ten families. In the western city-state, five families were also wiped out... and the title of the high priest in the alliance is 'The Bloody Sun, the Sacrifice of the Gods'..."
"Ah? The bloody setting sun, the sacrificer of God..."
Shulot's eyes widened, and it was hard to accept it for a moment. He could not connect the kind and kind grandfather in his memory with the cold and ruthless high priest that Izel described. But he clearly knows that if the alliance's religious law and centralization reforms are to be effective, they must be stained with the blood of the old aristocracy. And the reaction of the western nobles at the banquet really proved this point...
Shulot returned and sat down, thinking silently and not speaking again. Izel also returned and sat down, asking the maid to bring fresh fruits, chatting and laughing with the surrounding nobles, maintaining the atmosphere in the venue.
The cheerful bamboo flute played, and the dance music surrounded me. Before I knew it, it was already dark. When the maids once again presented carefully prepared cocoa, the banquet came to an end. Many nobles raised their glasses to drink together and prayed to the emblem of the Lord God.
"Praise the Lord God and drink this cup! He protects the alliance and promises us Mexica to be above all others in the world!"
As the host, Izel raised his glass and shouted with a smile.
"Pray to the Lord God! May He bless us!"
"Pray to the Lord God! May He bless us!"
Many nobles shouted together. Shulot smiled and raised his glass, looking across the field. Everyone prayed to the Lord God sincerely and with great respect and solemnity.
"Praise the elders, drink this cup! He is the immortal sun, and will always shine on the Mexica Alliance, go through the next reincarnation, and light the sacred fire of the sacred mountain!"
Izel paused and praised sincerely.
"Pray for the elder! May he always be healthy!"
"Pray for the elder! May he always be healthy!"
According to the league calendar, a reincarnation lasts 52 years. The beginning of the previous cycle was 1454, and the next cycle is 1506. Although news of the elder's serious illness vaguely spread among the nobles, most nobles still stubbornly believed that the elder would recover again like he had done many times before.
Xiulote nodded. In response to the elder's prayers, the nobles' faces showed a mixture of respect and fear.
"Praise the king and drink this cup! He is the supreme king and will lead the entire alliance on the road to strength and unify all parts of the world!"
Izel looked solemn and turned towards the east.
"Congratulations to the king! May he rule the world!"
The western nobles present did not respond immediately. Everyone looked at each other until a few noble elders took the lead and then faced the east one after another.
"Congratulations to the king! May he rule the world!"
Shulot saw everything. Regarding the celebration of King Avit, the nobles were half in awe, half in obedience, and half in secret dissatisfaction. The source of this dissatisfaction was precisely the king's centralization reforms. Whether it is the priests who go to villages in various places, the successive recovery of business taxes, or the interference in the inheritance of the nobility, it all means damage to the interests of the great nobility.
These contradictions were temporarily suppressed by the powerful central government and continued to be alleviated through wars and transfers of seals, maintaining the surface calm.
"If the elder goes to the Kingdom of God, will the powerful nobles everywhere still be so obedient?"
Shulot lowered his eyes and thought silently until Izel walked over again.
Izel raised his wine glass and bowed respectfully to His Highness, making Shulot the center of the banquet.
"Praise His Highness, drink this cup! He is an invincible commander and the future sun of the alliance. The grand ceremony is coming soon, let us celebrate His Highness's wedding!"
Everyone gathered around, with smiles on their faces. Now that His Highness is so close, the faces of the nobles are naturally full of joy and sincerity!
"Congratulations to Your Highness! I wish you and the princess will lead the alliance side by side to a more glorious future!..."
At noon the next day, Shulot woke up from his deep sleep. He opened his eyes suddenly and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the warrior captain standing at the door. I drank too much yesterday. Although the tequila at this time was not high in alcohol content, I could still knock someone down if I drank it repeatedly.
Shulot shook his head with a wry smile, rubbed his brows, and looked at the warrior commander.
"Did I say anything I shouldn't have said last night?"
Bertard smiled slightly and shook his head.
"Your Highness, no. When you were drunk, you didn't say anything. You just seemed to be mumbling something, reciting some incomprehensible... scriptures?"
"Huh? A cadenced, indecipherable verse?"
Shulot was stunned and had some vague guesses.
"Yes. There is a sentence that is repeated over and over again. It's a big concept dozens of times, and I can remember it."
Bertard opened his mouth with a smile and repeated the "verse" that he couldn't understand but could remember.
"...The so-called beauty is on the side of the water~The so-called beauty is on the side of the water!~~"
"Well..."
"By the way, there is another sentence at the end that you can understand."
Bertard raised the corners of his lips and repeated in a low voice.
"The so-called beauty is on the water side. Alyssa, here I come!~"
"ah?..."
"Your Highness, what is the meaning of this verse?"
Hearing this, Shulot was a little embarrassed and managed to answer calmly.
"The meaning of that sentence is to pray to the Lord God, may the wedding go well!..."
"Okay. Your Highness, I remember."
"..."
Relaxing time is always short. Shulot did not stay in the western city-state for long. At noon on the third day, he was escorted by Iser, boarded the galley, and once again led three thousand guards to Lake Texcoco, a hundred or two hundred miles away.
A few days later, the waves of Lake Texcoco flashed before the king's eyes again. The Texcoco Lake District is the heartland of the Union and the most prosperous place in the Mexica Valley.
Along the way, the surrounding villages are bustling with people, and business travelers on the lake are intertwined. Gorgeous flowers bloomed on the islands in the lake, which were the gardens of the nobles. A large area of Milpa farmland is green and lush on the shore of the lake, and farmers are busy in the fields from time to time. Rich Chinampa floating fields alternate on the lake, growing expensive herbs, cocoa and spices. Everything before everyone's eyes was filled with the prosperity of early summer.
Starting from Lake Texcoco, the kingdom's fleet turned south. When the sun sets in the west, the holy city of Teotihuacan appears in the east of the lake shore, dozens of miles away.
Shulot ordered the ship to be stopped. He climbed onto the land on the east bank of the lake area and looked at his hometown in this life. Memories from childhood come to mind, which makes people feel a little emotional for no reason. Soon, dusk is approaching, and the golden-red glow covers the lake. Shulot then took three hundred guards and found a village by the lake to rest for a night on land close to his hometown.
Compared with the villages in the Patzcuaro Lake area, the villages on the shores of Lake Texcoco are obviously much more prosperous. In addition to barns, you can see many stone houses and many small wooden houses in the village.
When His Royal Highness arrived, several "three elders" who managed the village greeted him respectfully and bowed to the ground. According to the tradition of the alliance, one person is the village priest, one is the village leader, and the other two are qualified warriors or militia leaders.
Shulot looked gentle and comforted the "three elders" with a few words. Later, he invited the young village priest Yoloki to inspect the village together.
A statue of the main god is erected in the center of the village. Under the statue is a stone altar, on which are placed some natural rosin, fragrant herbs, dried bacon, and some scattered gold particles. Yes, the villages of the Valley of Mexico were so wealthy, with precious metals decorating altars to the gods.
It was the time for evening prayers, and many villagers were kneeling in front of the altar, praying devoutly to the Lord God. Shulot watched from a distance for a moment and did not come forward to disturb. He nodded with satisfaction and said to the young priest with a smile.
"Yes, the believers are very devout. Rocky, next, take me to the barn in the village!"
Hearing this, the young priest Yoroki pursed his lips, bowed his head and obeyed.
The group of people headed towards the barn built with blue bricks. The rainy season in the valley is very hot and the rainfall is very abundant. The barn must be strictly built with bricks and stones and covered with thatch leaves to preserve the grain for a long time and prevent it from getting moldy.
Shulot checked the perimeter of the barn, stretched out his hand to touch the thick wall, and nodded with satisfaction again.
"Ask Rocky to take me to the warehouse and take a look!"
"Sir, the sect leader..."
Yoroki gritted his teeth and wanted to say something, but didn't. He opened the barn door silently and walked in first.
"Um?!"
When Shulot entered the barn, his expression suddenly darkened. The walls of the barn were empty, with only a few scattered bags of dried beans, a few baskets of dried pumpkins, and some dried insects, but not even a bag of corn! You know, it's only mid-to-late July. There are still more than two months until the corn harvest, and more than a month until the pumpkin harvest.
"Damn it!"
Hearing the angry shouts of the sect chief priest, the young priest Yoloki fell to his knees with a "pop".
"Sir, the sect leader..."
"Joloki, according to the teachings, there must be at least one year's worth of grain stored in the barn to prepare for the famine in the coming year!"
Shulot's face turned livid, he pulled out the bronze sword from his waist with a "dang" sound, and asked with murderous intent.
"Tell me, where did the food in the barn go?...Did you embezzle it?"
"Ah! Dear sect leader, I didn't, I didn't..."
Yoroki's face turned pale. He kowtowed to the ground and hurriedly defended himself.
"Witness the Lord God! I have not misappropriated any food!... Lord Priest of the Sect, all the food in the village has been confiscated by the nobles who originally enfeoffed it!"
"Um?"
Hearing this, Shulot's expression moved slightly.
"They were all taken away?"
"Exactly, exactly!"
Yoroki nodded repeatedly, clenched his fists and swore.
"Master Priest of the Sect, four months ago, this place was just under the direct control of the alliance! The hereditary nobles who were originally enfeoffed here finally collected a wave of tribute and took away the food and valuable property. Even the tributes dedicated to the Lord God , all sifted out from the river near the gold mine in the past two months..."
"... Damn it! Which noble family dares to be so bold!"
Hearing this, Shulot's face turned angry.
"Tell me the names of the hereditary nobles here! I will report to the alliance and punish them severely!"
"Ah? Lord Priest of the Sect..."
"What, you don't dare to say it?"
"...No, it's not."
Yoroki licked his lips and answered carefully.
"Two months ago, that hereditary noble family was annihilated by the high priest's decree!"
