The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
When Atahualpa heard Pizarro mention the name of his brother Huascar that day, he immediately felt extreme fear in his heart. Because he knew that Huascar was the true Inca King, and his Inca King's crown was only snatched from Huascar's head by force. Today, Huascar is still imprisoned by him in the Bambamarca Castle not far from Cajamarca. There were four of his most trusted princes and ministers and 3,000 Inca palace guards guarding the place day and night.
Of course, the reason for his fear was not that Huascar would escape from prison, but that Huascar would collude with the Spanish. In that case, the Spaniards would definitely abandon him and support Huascar. Because Huascar not only has more gold than him, but is also more honest and loyal than him, and he is also the natural Inca emperor. If Huascar once became the Inca emperor again, he would definitely come to him to settle accounts. After capturing Huascar alive, he almost killed all his wife, children, sisters, uncles, aunts, princes and ministers, and even the maids and servants of the palace. It is conceivable that once Huascar comes back and counterattacks, not only will Atahualpa die without a burial place, but all his relatives and ministers will also be executed. So, how could he not be frightened when he thought about this? This incident made him toss and turn and stay awake all night, but it also prompted him to make a bold decision.
In the morning, he got up very early. The two concubines who were sleeping with him helped him get dressed, and then entered the meeting room. After breakfast, he sat blankly in the large meeting room, and considered the decision he had made over and over again to see where there were loopholes. Because he knows that there cannot be any loopholes in this kind of question, and every link must have a sufficient reason as an explanation. Otherwise, it will easily lead to death, or it will cause very passive and serious consequences for himself.
More than twenty princes and ministers had already walked over from all over the city of Cajamarca and were standing in front of his house waiting to attend court. Since he moved to the Temple of the Sun God, the place has become bigger and the treatment has changed. Therefore, he began to restore all the official duties and etiquette performed by the Inca King in the past, because in this way, the Incas and Spanish could feel the respect of the Inca King. Only with nobility can we value and respect the Inca King more.
After a while, a prince came in and said, "Your Majesty, the time for morning court has come, and the ministers are waiting outside."
Atahualpa responded numbly and said, "Let them in."
So the prince who was guarding the door opened the door of the house and said to the princes standing in front of the door, "Please come in."
The princes entered the house respectfully and barefooted one by one, lined up in two rows and knelt down according to their duties and dignity, and then shouted together, "Good morning, your Majesty."
Atahualpa straightened his clothes, assumed a posture of sitting upright, and replied to the princes, "Welcome, my ministers." Then he asked, "Fellow loyal relatives, what do you have to report to me? Something about?"
The chief of Tungula Province, Prince Beskara, was a survivor of the massacre in the square. He knelt down and said first, "Report to your Majesty, the Spaniards are slaughtering llamas at will, thirty to fifty of them every day, and if this continues , it won’t be long before the llamas of the Inca royal family will become extinct.”
Atahualpa's heart was in such a mess that he had no time to care about the llamas. But he still nodded listlessly and said, "I understand."
Then, Sulucek, the general manager in charge of palace affairs, said, "Report to the king, the bitch Gina who did not keep her chastity and betrayed the king has been detained in solitary confinement. How to deal with it, please let the king know clearly."
Atahualpa looked like he had a severe headache and said, "Then keep it closed."
But the princes shouted in unison, "If you betray the Inca King, you will be buried alive!"
Atahualpa said impatiently, "Where do you think she should be buried alive? In this temple of the Sun God?"
Everyone was silent. Because they really couldn't bury her alive in the Temple of the Sun God, and it was impossible for the Spaniards to let them take her out of the small courtyard.
Everyone was extremely angry that the bitchy concubine named Gina betrayed the king, because in the hundreds of years of history of the Inca Empire, no woman in the palace had ever betrayed the Inca king, let alone the Inca king's close beloved concubine? However, they felt extremely sad and devastated because they had no way to deal with this kind of woman.
But the steward Sulucek said, "If the king agrees, I can strangle her to death with a rope."
The king asked, "What will happen after strangulation?"
The palace steward was stunned by the question, but he didn't know that Atahualpa had already considered this question many times.
Everyone said sadly, "Then let her continue to live like this?"
Atahualpa didn't know how to deal with it, but this kind of thing could only make him upset, but there was no better way. So, he sighed and said, "If you humiliate the Inca King, you must be severely punished. However, let me put it aside in advance and let me think about a more appropriate way."
The princes all said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Atahualpa motioned for his concubine to bring him a glass of water, took a sip, stood up, and paced in front of the minister with his hands behind his back, as if thinking about some important issue. Suddenly, he asked, "How is the gold collection going?"
Sulucek, the general manager in charge of palace affairs, immediately replied, "The ministers sent to Cusco and all over the country have been away for many days. However, because of the long distance, there is no news from those who went there; but there are also people who have left from The response from Cusco was that Huascar had already had all the gold taken away and hidden, so there is not much movement at the moment.”
Atahualpa's face turned gloomy, his eyes were filled with fierce blood, he stared straight at the palace manager, and said fiercely, "I'll tell you what is the most important thing, this is the most important thing. If If I cannot transport enough gold and silver in two months, then I will be executed by the greedy Spaniards. As soon as I die, they will make Huascar king. Have you ever thought about it, once Huascar becomes king? What will happen to you if you become king?" As he spoke, King Inca looked at the steward in a serious tone and said, "I tell you, my fate, and the fate of all of you, hangs on these golds. Above. You have to be more attentive to me, and I will reward you heavily when things are done."
The palace manager was so frightened by the king's fierce expression and tone that he knelt on the ground, trembling all over, and swore to the king and said, "Please rest assured, the king, I will try my best to complete the task assigned by the king."
Atahualpa nodded and said, "Once the Spaniards release me, I will still be the Inca King. By then, you will be the number one hero of the Inca Kingdom."
Prince Suruchek knelt down and prostrated repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Usually there is nothing major going on in the morning, so the king only chats with the princes, or they accompany him and say some words to reassure and comfort him. However, today, Atahualpa has been worried about Huascar's affairs and feels uneasy. He wants to let the morning show off and disperse. However, he did not expect that there are so many things today, and they are all important things. , especially the gold shipment was not going smoothly, which made his mood even worse. However, he still felt that Huascar's matter was more urgent than the gold matter. He knew that Pizarro would be fond of Huascar after seeing him, because Huascar had a docile temperament and could serve as a taming tool for the conqueror. If that happened, the whole world would be turned upside down. Therefore, he felt that he could no longer hesitate and must execute Huascar as soon as possible to completely eradicate this henchman.
He asked the other ministers to disperse from the court, leaving only Prince Beskara, the chief of Tungula Province, and asked him to rush to Bambamaka City immediately to summon Usaka, the palace guard responsible for guarding Huascar. He said that he had a very urgent matter and summoned him, and asked Prince Beskara to keep the matter absolutely confidential and not to reveal any trace. Prince Bescarra expressed his stance to Atahualpa very solemnly, and then knelt down and said goodbye to the king.
After seeing off the Prince of Bescarra, he still couldn't relax. He sat alone in the meeting room, feeling upset: there has been no news from the people sent to Quito, and there is no big deal about the gold collection. There was a lot of movement, and the fact that the concubine named Gina was hooking up with others also made him uneasy. Now Huascar was giving him another terrible headache. These things made him really upset and restless. He is still waiting for the opportunity to do other things, but Gina's matter must be taken care of first. Otherwise, if this big matter cannot be resolved, what will the other concubines think?
So, he asked Wu Ga to notify all the concubines to come to the meeting room, and he wanted to lecture them. After a while, all the concubines, about twenty or so, entered the meeting room. When everyone saw the king's gloomy face and curtsey, they stood aside respectfully and politely, not daring to say a word.
These concubines were the concubines that Atahualpa had taken with him when he came from Quito. After his arrest, they have been confined in the Spanish military camp, but they are all women, so the Spaniards take better care of them and allow them greater freedom and room for movement. It was during this period that Gina and the translator named Martin had the opportunity to hook up. But after Atahualpa was transferred to the temple of the Sun God, the concubines followed him here. Therefore, the other concubines told the king about Princess Gina's hookup with others.
When Atahualpa saw that all the concubines had arrived, he said with a sullen face, "I think everyone has heard that there was an Inca king's concubine who got together with an Inca scum and had an affair, which made the whole country miserable. Everyone in Hamaka City knows about it and is talking about it."
The more he spoke, the more excited he became. He even raised his hands and said, "It has never happened before in the hundreds of years of Inca history that the king's concubine had an affair with someone else. But among us, Someone has ruined the pure and noble family tradition and reputation of King Inca, which makes me sadder than being imprisoned."
At this point, he felt a little whimpering in his throat, as if he was blocked by something sour. However, he still resolutely suppressed the pain and said solemnly and passionately, "Think about it, what am I doing to you?" Which one of you does not show favoritism and care for you in every possible way? Which one of you does not favor ten times more than my closest minister? Which of your parents and brothers does not give the highest gifts? However, someone is betraying Me, humiliate me, when the Spaniard stabbed me in the chest with his knife, she stabbed me hard in the back with her spear.”
At this point, he was so painful that he wanted to cry loudly. However, he felt that he was a man and an Inca king, and he could not let women see his vulnerability. He tried his best to hide his sadness, but he failed to hide it and let tears well up in his eyes. He knew that the tears did not flow from his eyes, but from his heart.
The extreme grief left him speechless. He wanted to endure it but couldn't help it, so he had no choice but to rub his eyes, raise his hands to everyone, and go straight out the door. When he just walked out of the door, he heard that the concubines were crying.
