The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
In the next few days, Emperor Wayna Capak's condition continued to worsen. His body was hot and cold, his face hurt like needles burning, he was sleepy all day long, had constant nightmares, his breath was weak, and he couldn't eat. But his mind was still clear. He knew that the day was approaching and his return date was not far away, so he could only think about what else he should explain to his children. What worries him the most is whether Prince Atahualpa and Princess Parlia will enjoy the same glorious life after his death as they did when he was alive. In fact, he had negotiated with the future heir to the throne, Prince Huascar, and obtained his consent to obtain a vast and fertile land for his beloved woman, Princess Palia, and his beloved son, Prince Atahualpa, or perhaps Not a small kingdom.
Although his actions not only violated the traditional inheritance laws of his ancestors, but also made Prince Huascar feel unfair, he could only do this because only in this way would the mother and son not be ostracized by the direct relatives after his death. and strike without a foothold. It can be said that this was the most important thing he did before his death, and it was the most satisfying thing for him. Therefore, except for this matter, after thinking about it, he didn't feel that there was anything else that needed to be explained to future generations. Even if there was something, it was no longer a big deal.
As a result, his mind began to think elsewhere. What he thought about most were the nightmares and ominous omens that confused and frightened him. Because it heralds a bloody massacre that will lead to the annihilation of the Incas and the annihilation of his empire and family. The Incas were often able to predict the disasters and good fortunes that would happen in the future decades or hundreds of years ago. They called this prophecy oracle. The eighth Inca king, Viracocha, received an oracle from the god Viracocha Inti. After quelling the rebellion of the Chanca people, he prophesied to future generations that after several generations of rule, the Inca Empire would surely People never seen before came here to seize their thrones and destroy their empires and idols. In this regard, he wanted all subsequent generations of Inca kings to pass this message down from generation to generation and keep it in mind, but not to spread it among the people. This prophecy has been passed down for more than two hundred years, and the Inca kings of later generations have almost forgotten this prophecy.
Just now, he had another dream. He dreamed that he was walking in the forest at a clear and quiet night, and suddenly he heard a sad and plaintive bird cry piercing the sky. When he walked to the tree where the bird was chirping, he saw the bird chirping and flying away. He looked up toward the sky where the birds were flying, and saw three large rings around the moon. The first ring is blood red, the middle one is dark green, and the outermost ring is smoke-like. The Incas were very good at observing celestial phenomena and could see signs of what would happen from the celestial phenomena they observed.
The Inka people calculated the months according to the phases of the moon, and each new moon was counted as a month. Therefore, just like calling the moon, they called the month Kylia and gave each month a name. Normal months are calculated based on the waxing and waning of the moon. A quarter of a month is used as a week, but the days of the week have no names. They knew about solar and lunar eclipses, but they didn't know their causes. Concerning eclipses, they say that some people have done evil and offended the sun, and the sun becomes angry, becomes sullen like a man when he is angry, and predicts, like astrologers, that they will be severely punished. Regarding lunar eclipses, when they see the moon gradually dimming, they say the moon is sick. When the entire moon turns dark, it is said that it must be dead. If it falls from the sky, it will crush everyone to death and the world will be destroyed. Out of this fear, when the moon was first waning, they blew horns of all sizes, beat big and small drums, and all the tools they could find that could make noise. They tied up all the dogs, big and small, and beat them hard with sticks. , let them bark and call for the moon. Because they believe that the moon likes dogs, once it hears the whining of dogs, it will have compassion and wake up from the lethargy caused by disease.
They judge the severity of the moon's illness based on the size of the eclipse phase, but when the eclipse reaches its peak, they say the moon is dead, and are always worried that she will fall and crush them to death. So he cried bitterly, as if he had seen all the people die and the world destroyed with his own eyes. When the moon regained its sight, they wished her good health and sincerely thanked her for not falling. Therefore, the Inka people always regard the moon as a harbinger of their misfortune and good fortune.
However, the omen that the king saw was obviously not a good omen, but he could not judge what evil sign this omen portended. But this dream made him feel very frightened and sad. The cold sweat on his forehead was like rapid raindrops, which Princess Anna beside him could not wipe away with a towel. He struggled to open his eyes, hoping that the fear and sadness in his heart could be calmed and comforted by the care and comfort of his relatives. His relatives gathered around him with concern, asking him what was wrong, what he wanted to eat or what he wanted to say. He moved his lips with effort and shook his head.
In fact, he really wanted to tell his relatives about his nightmares and worries, and he also wanted to tell the princes and princesses about the warning prophecies of his ancestor, Emperor Viracocha. However, he felt that if he told them these words at this time, it would definitely cause a stir. Extreme panic among the royal family and the entire empire. Therefore, he decided not to tell them about his nightmares and the prophecies of his ancestor Viracocha, but to silently bear this huge pressure by himself.
However, he still wanted to find out the truth of this omen, so he moved his eyes towards his beloved daughter, Princess Anna, because he knew that only his beloved daughter could understand his meaning best. Sure enough, Princess Anna put her ear to her father's mouth and listened to what her father wanted to say. After hearing what her father said, Princess Anna asked Haya to call the palace fortune teller Faldoka.
Faldoka was born as a commoner, his family was poor, and he loved music. He could make a musical instrument called a flute by tying two reed rods together, and he could play very beautiful music. Therefore, when he was very young, he was called into the palace with his father to perform for dignitaries and princes and ministers. Because he often came to the palace to perform for the king and the princes and princesses, he soon got acquainted with the Kachaba wizard who was beside the king. The Kachaba wizard is not only proficient in medical skills and sacrifices, but also very knowledgeable in divination and music. Therefore, the two often get together to chat about everything. Later, after his father passed away, Faldoka regarded the Kachaba wizard as his father. He often followed the Kachaba wizard into and out of the palace to offer sacrifices, cure diseases and perform divination for the princes and ministers. Over time, I learned a lot about medicine, sacrifices and divination.
Many years ago, when the Incas were holding a grand annual celebration of the Sun God in Cusco, Kyoto, they saw a precious eagle flying in the sky and circling back and forth, followed by several ferocious kestrels and small peregrine falcons. He chased him closely and attacked him in turn, hoping to kill him. Unable to resist, the eagle fell to the center of the city's main square. When people picked up the eagle and took a look, they found that it was a sick eagle. It was covered with scabies and almost all its down had fallen off. Someone took it home and carefully fed and treated it, but the eagle died a few days later.
When news of this incident reached the palace, the Inca king, princes and ministers all thought it was a bad omen, and specially appointed some senior and famous fortune tellers to observe and explain it. Recommended by the Kachaba wizard, Faldoka was among them. At that time, many seniors had already divined the bad omens predicted by the sick eagle, but everyone was pushing and shoving and did not dare to speak out. However, Faldoka, who was inexperienced in the world, did not know the depth and did not care about the consequences. He immediately stepped forward and made a bold statement without any subtlety, saying that the empire would decline and the idols worshiped by the kingdom would be destroyed. In addition, there will be a series of bad omens such as earthquakes, rising sea tides, and the appearance of disaster stars.
If these words came from the mouth of a senior and elderly fortune teller, Emperor Wayna Capak might believe it with suspicion, but Faldoka was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child at the time, so his words were very confusing. Hard to convince. When Emperor Huayna Capac heard this, he was furious on the spot, saying that he was inciting terror, cursing the empire, and ordered someone to take him immediately and behead him.
When the fortune tellers present saw that Emperor Wayna Kapac wanted to kill Faldoka, they were all trembling with fear, and together they begged the king with frightened pleas to spare his life. The Kachaba wizard also walked up to the king and whispered to the king, "The king must not kill the fortune teller, otherwise, who will dare to divine for the king in the future? Even if the king wants to kill, he must first confirm his prediction. A lie and a curse indeed."
Emperor Wayna Kapac felt that what Wizard Kachaba said was reasonable, and saw that all the diviners were interceding for the ignorant little boy in front of him, and he also knew that diviners could not be killed casually, so he Still angry, he said to Faldoka, "Since many masters are interceding for you, I won't kill you yet. I will deal with you later after hearing the prophecies of the masters."
After that, the king listened to the divination of various masters, and the results were similar to Faldoka's explanation and conclusion. After that, there were many strong earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the empire. The tides along the coast also exceeded the usual limits many times. Moreover, creepy comets appeared in the night sky from time to time. All of this made Emperor Wayna Capak not only believe in Faldoka's prophecy, but he also began to worry about the future of the empire. However, his worries and uneasiness were gradually eliminated and forgotten because there had been no serious disasters that threatened the empire for many years.
When Faldoka came to the palace, it was already dark. He stood respectfully beside the bed of Emperor Wayna Kapac, not daring to raise his head to look at the man lying on the bed in front of him, and timidly said, "Faldoka pays homage to the king."
The king nodded, and then waved his hands to the princess and children beside him, signaling for them to leave. The prince and princess both stood up timidly and quietly walked out of the room. Princess Anna was left alone to sit by the bed.
After everyone left, the Inca king told Faldoka his nightmare through Princess Anna and asked Faldoka to divine the fortune. After listening to Princess Anna's narration, Faldoka turned to Emperor Huayna Capak with a sad face, and with tears streaming down his face, he replied silently, "Supreme King, your kind Moon Mother is predicting the world to you. The gods are threatening your royal family and empire. He will bring great disasters to your relatives. The blood-red ring indicates that after you go to rest with your father, the sun god, a war will break out between your kings and children. In a cruel war, the royal family members will kill each other and blood will flow like rivers, and they will be killed within a few years. The second black and green ring indicates that cruel war and fratricide will lead to the destruction of religion and empire. . If the third ring looks like clouds, it indicates that everything in the Inca Empire will turn into smoke and disappear."
After listening to Faldoka's divination, Emperor Huayna Kapac was stunned and horrified, but he did not want to show weakness and blind faith in front of others, so he waved his hand towards the diviner and told Faldoka to step back. .
But Faldoka thought that the king refused to believe his words, so he knelt on the ground and said to the king with sobs, "If the king refuses to listen to the slave, you can summon other diviners and listen to their divination and predictions." explain."
But the supreme Emperor Wayna Capak had closed his eyes and didn't want to listen to his words anymore. Princess Anna said to Faldoka, "The king is tired, you should leave." Faldoka then stood up and walked out of the room sobbing.
Faldoka's divination was another fatal blow to Emperor Wayna Kapak, who was already seriously ill and in danger, and kept him unable to sleep for another night. His eyes were open almost all night and were very bright. He didn't speak or move, his eyes blinked towards the dark room, he just kept coughing and moaning in a low voice.
