The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
One day two months later, before it was fully bright in the early morning, the city of Quito was bustling with activity. The entire royal marching avenue and even the streets and alleys of Quito were crowded with people who came from all over to attend Prince Atahualpa’s parade. People at the enthronement ceremony. The men wore costumes of various colors and cloaks. The women wore colorful short tops, skirts of various colors, hats or scarves, and walked toward the palace square with singing and dancing in a revelry and excitement.
At this time, the palace square was already crowded with people. The square was surrounded by various flags and filled with palace guards. The tall stone platform in the center of the square was newly decorated. Flowers and ribbons made the stone platform colorful and eye-catching. In the center of the high platform is a golden table about two meters long and less than one meter wide. There are two items on the table that symbolize the highest royal power, one is a red tassel, and the other is a two-meter-long and two-finger-thick golden staff. There is a large open space under the stage, which is guarded by soldiers and the public is not allowed to enter. The marching avenue surrounding the palace square was also filled with soldiers. Because the Palace Square could not accommodate too many people, those who could not enter the square had to stand on the roads and streets, and some even stood on hillsides and grass.
At noon, a large group of princes and nobles, as well as governors and chiefs of various provinces, dressed in rich costumes, walked out from the main entrance of the palace. They lined up to the open space under the high platform and stood neatly in a neat formation. At this time, the soldiers standing in the audience blew the festive and loud horn horns. Prince Quito sat on a sedan chair lifted by eighty people, followed by a gorgeous and beautiful sedan chair, and Princess Anna Yama sat on it, escorted by more than 200 soldiers, walking towards the square. . Arriving under the high platform in the square, Prince Atahualpa got down from the sedan chair and led Princess Anna Yama who came out of the sedan towards the stone platform. When the prince and the princess arrived on the stone platform together, there was a roar of cheers inside and outside the square.
At this time, Prince Atahualpa was wearing a yellow crown on his head, a red coat with the royal emblem printed on his chest, and the big red cloak worn by the Inca King. The cloak was very long and dragged all the way to the ground. Wearing purple trousers on the lower body, there are many traditional Inca patterns on the trousers, showing a heroic and heroic spirit. Princess Anna Yama is wearing a light green tight-fitting skirt, a light purple dress, and a pure white cloak. She looks elegant and holy.
The prince and princess walked up to the stone platform and stopped in front of the golden table. The princes, nobles and governors of various provinces in the audience began to salute the prince and princess respectfully. At this time, Prince Quiskis, the auxiliary minister of the Kingdom of Quito, announced loudly, "Everyone, be silent. Now I am reading the will of Emperor Huayna Capac. After the death of the supreme Inca king Huayna Capac, His beloved son, Prince Atahualpa, will serve as the Great King of the Kingdom of Quito. Now please ask the High Priest of the Royal Palace, Riti Kaleba, to consecrate the Great Prince Atahualpa."
The distinguished and elderly palace priest Leticaleba walked to the table from the side and announced to the people, "In accordance with the last words of the supreme Inca King Huayna Capac, I give the red crown of the King of Quito and the symbol of The golden scepter of supreme power is bestowed upon our Prince Atahualpa of Quito." As he spoke, he took off the yellow crown from the prince's head, placed it on a tray held by a woman, and then picked it up and placed it on the table. The red tassel with two gorgeous feathers was solemnly placed on the new king's head, and the golden staff on the table was held in both hands to the new king. As Kiskis shouted, "Long live the king!" all the people present lay prone on the ground, put their foreheads on the ground, and bowed to the king.
King Quito, who had just received the golden staff, led the young queen with one hand and held the golden staff tightly with the other. His expression was very solemn and solemn. He said in a very gentle and powerful tone, "Princes of Quito and provincial leaders, today I Wearing the crown of the Kingdom of Quito, taking over the golden scepter, and taking charge of the military and political power of the Kingdom of Quito, I want you to be loyal to me and obey me just like you are loyal to my father. And I will do the same. My father led you to expand your territory and seize more treasures and women. As long as you are loyal to me and obey me, and follow me in battles and battles, you will have countless treasures and women."
As soon as the new king finished speaking, thunderous cheers rang out inside and outside the square, "Long live the king, long live the king!" The cheers were like a mountain and a tsunami that lasted for a long time.
The horn sounded again, and Prince Kiskis announced the beginning of the military parade. From the palace to the marching road next to the square, army soldiers began to pass by in formation. The first ones to pass through were the royal guards of the palace. They were wearing red military uniforms, holding battle axes in their hands, and marched through the marching road in neat steps. Next, there was a team of brave Liwa soldiers, wearing red tight-fitting military uniforms, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, passing by the square with their heads held high. Behind them are the formation of the northern army led by King Atahualpa himself, the formation of soldiers of Prince Quito's army of Quiskis, and the formation of soldiers of Luminavi, the central army.
The entire military parade lasted for about half an hour. When the military parade ended, the newly enthroned King of Quito, Atahualpa, held a golden staff in his hand and led his queen, Princess Anna Yama, down from the stone platform to the square. Surrounded by hundreds of Quito princes and nobles, they walked out of the square and got on the sedan chair. Queen Anna also got on the sedan chair and was carried into the palace by the soldiers.
After the king and queen left the square with the princes and nobles, the entire square became a place for people to sing and dance. Some ethnic groups even stayed in the square for several days and stayed in the square all night, singing and dancing around the bonfire.
King Atahualpa left the palace hall with Queen Anna Yama. As soon as he entered the palace, the king was surrounded by a group of beloved concubines and welcomed him into the Royal Dining Pavilion for dinner. King Atahuallpa inherited all the power of his father in the Kingdom of Quito, as well as his father's Palace of Virgins and all its maids and servants. Even the princesses around him inherited it from their father. Because he had grown up by his father's side for many years, and the princesses around his father loved and respected him very much, so after his father's death, he did not drive them away, but continued to stay with him. Although he wanted to make some adjustments to some of the princesses, send the older ones back to their hometowns and give them generous treatment. Then choose some younger princesses from the Virgin Palace or the private sector. However, because I have been very busy recently, I haven't taken it into consideration yet.
Other maids gathered around Queen Anna and returned to Yafei Pavilion. But at this time, Yafei Pavilion has been renovated. Not only the rooms are exquisitely decorated, but also many flowers and plants have been planted in the courtyard, and some strange rocks and trees have been placed. There are many more guards in front of the door than before.
Dinner has been prepared, including pig's trotters, wolf meat, and corn, all of which are Quito's local delicacies. There are also some fish, shrimp and sweet potatoes sent from the coast, and even grapes and fresh peaches from the south. He used to eat from the same plate as his father all year round, so he developed the same taste as his father, and also liked Quito's pig trotters and wolf meat. He sat at the dining table, and more than a dozen concubines began to wait on him.
After the meal, he wanted to take a nap. Because he had been too greedy and indulgent recently, and he had sex too frequently at night and lacked sleep, so he always felt sleepy at this time. He returned to his dormitory and fell asleep under the service of his concubines.
However, as soon as he fell asleep, his attendant Haya came to report urgently, saying that Prince Huascar would hold a coronation ceremony in the capital city of Cusco in the near future to be crowned the king of the Inca Empire. An Ibay envoy had been sent to Quito to invite him. Prince Atahualpa and Princess Anna traveled to Cusco to attend. Because it was the Ibay envoy sent by the Inca King Huascar, Haya did not dare to neglect, so he hurriedly came to report to the king.
The beloved concubine who was guarding the king while he was sleeping immediately woke up King Atahualpa. When the king heard that this was the case, he immediately became agitated. However, he could not neglect the Ibay envoy from Cusco, because this was sent by Huascar. And Huascar was still his lord. He woke up for a while and thought that he would not be able to go to the Inca King's coronation celebration under any circumstances. If Huascar detained or placed him under house arrest, his end would be near. However, he felt that this matter should be discussed with his uncle and ministers. So, he asked Haya to entertain the messenger of Yibai warmly, saying that he was ill in bed because of the cold. He would summon him to the palace to see him when he felt better tomorrow.
As soon as Haya left, Queen Anna came because she had also heard that Huascar had sent an envoy from Yibai. So the king asked the queen to come to see him in the court room in the council chamber. As soon as he saw Queen Anna, he asked, "Huascar is about to ascend the throne, and we are asked to go to Cusco to attend the ceremony together. Do you think we should go?"
Queen Anna was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you think we should go?"
Atahualpa frowned and said, "It stands to reason that he must go. But I'm afraid he will regret it."
Queen Anna asked, "What are you regretting?"
Atahualpa said, "He was able to give me the Kingdom of Quito only because of his father's will. Now that my father is gone, he will definitely change. So that he can catch me when I get to Cusco." , one exemption, one pass, one kill, the Kingdom of Quito belongs to him again."
Anna said, "Prince Huascar is polite, honest, and kind. It is impossible for him to do such a thing of enmity and destruction of relatives."
But Atahualpa still shook his head and said, "For the sake of royal power and interests, it is not surprising that a father and his son would kill each other, let alone brothers?"
Queen Anna heard this and said, "Then don't go."
It's not enough to just talk to the queen about such a big matter. He should let the ministers know so that he can think of ways to deal with it. So, he sent someone to find his uncle, the high priest Chalkuchma, to discuss the matter. High Priest Chalkuchma listened to his story and said that the king could not be allowed to take this risk. Because regardless of whether this was Huascar's plan, as long as King Atahualpa did not go to Cusco, there would be no risk. After listening to his uncle's words, King Atahualpa had actually made up his mind and decided to ask the High Priest Liticaleba, Prince of Quito, to go to Cusco to attend the ceremony on his behalf.
However, he still felt that he needed to discuss it with the three ministers again, because on the one hand he wanted to inform them of the matter, and on the other hand he wanted to make them feel that he valued and trusted them very much.
After the high priest of Chalkuchma left, King Atahualpa sat alone in his court room, chewing coca leaves. This coca leaf is both a stimulant and a refreshing herbal medicine. Therefore, Inca nobles often regarded it as a kind of chewing gum similar to that eaten by modern people, and chewed it in their mouths when they had nothing to do. But don’t eat too much of this thing, as eating too much will have a stimulating effect and cause excessive sexual intercourse.
