The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Petya arrived in front of the cell, which was brightly lit by torches. At this time, the soldiers of Captain Hernando, who was responsible for guarding the Inca King, were standing guard in front of the house. Another second lieutenant asked Petya, "You have been laid off, so why are you here again?"
Petya said, "You don't know yet? You want to imprison the Inca King in the temple. You want us to help you escort the Inca King to the temple."
The second lieutenant said, "The temple is far away from our military camp. I'm afraid there will be more than 100 guards instead of 60 people."
Peterya said, "The Marquis said that from now on, there will no longer be three shifts of guard duty every day, but will be divided into two shifts, with each shift requiring sixty people."
The second lieutenant said, "Then we have to stand guard every day."
Petera said, "That's not the case. The Marquis said that from tomorrow onwards, the Inca King will start sending people to carry gold for us."
After a while, Captain Hernando came over with Martin. He asked the guarding soldiers to open the door of the prison where the Inca King was held. After the cell door opened, he took a torch from a soldier's hand and entered the dark room.
At this time, the Inca King was sitting on a chair. When he saw Captain Hernando leading the soldiers into the house, he stood up from the chair.
Hernando said to the Inca King, "Mr. Atahualpa, come on, we have prepared your new residence. From now on you are the Inca King again."
Atahualpa seemed pleased and said, "Really? Shall we leave now?"
Captain Hernando said, "Leave now, please."
Like a free bird, Atahualpa stepped out of the cell in a few steps. When he got outside, he looked at the quiet and peaceful sky full of stars, and breathed deeply the outdoor air, which he felt was cool and refreshing. Give him the joy of being reborn. However, this beautiful feeling was quickly broken by the scene in front of him.
Outside the cell, two small groups of soldiers lined up holding torches, waiting for him. Seeing him come out, two soldiers came over to him and tied him up with a rope. He was very annoyed and said to Hernando, "Sir, are you going to take me to my new house?"
Hernando said, "I'm sorry, in order to prevent you from escaping, we have to do this. Please be a little aggrieved."
After the Inca King was tied up, the soldiers handed the rope to Petera, who was held by Lieutenant Peteria. Petera let the Inca king walk in the middle of the team and asked two small groups of soldiers to surround him. They were afraid that he would suddenly fly away from them as soon as he grew wings.
As soon as the team escorting the Inca King left the military camp, they saw that the road from the military camp to the temple was under full martial law. The Spanish soldiers held torches in one hand and long swords in the other. Anyone walking around. Moreover, Captain Juan also came from other places with a cavalry detachment, following the team escorting the Inca King.
The Inca King said to Hernando, "Mr. Hernando, don't worry, I won't run away. Once I run away, your gold will be gone."
Hernando said, "Unless you really don't want to live anymore. For your safety, all of us are out."
The Inca King said, "Why don't you see Mr. Marquis?"
Hernando said, "He is leading a small team to patrol around the small town of Cajamarca to prevent your large army from attacking."
The Inca King said, "Without my order, they would not come here to attack you."
It's not very far from the military camp square to the temple courtyard, it only takes a few minutes. There are also lights in front of the small courtyard, and a small team is already on guard here. When Captain Hernando and Peter Yago brought a small team, the number of people in front of the courtyard reached 60, and dozens of torches illuminated the door and the courtyard brightly.
Hernando asked Petya to lead four or five soldiers into the small courtyard holding torches, and then asked the Inca King to look at all the rooms one after another. Finally, he returned to the sacrificial hall. Hernando said to the Inca King, "Mr. Atahualpa, this largest room can be used for you to summon princes and ministers. The hut on the left is your kitchen, and the hut on the right is your bedroom." Then he took the king into the bedroom.
The dormitory is about fifteen or six square meters, with a large bed and several large wooden boxes. On the bed were some blankets and felts taken from the Inca warehouses for bedding. Hernando asked the king, "Are you satisfied, sir?"
Obviously the Inca king was not satisfied. He said, "This is as crude as when I used to fight." Then he asked Hernando, "When can my queen, concubines, and children come over?"
Hernando said, "I can come here early tomorrow morning."
The Inca king said, "Okay."
Hernando said, "We are leaving, so you can go to sleep. There is no need to worry about safety. We will have one hundred and twenty soldiers guarding the temple courtyard every day. If no one comes to attack, you will be very worried." Be safe, if an Inca army comes to attack us, your life will end soon."
The Inca King said, "Don't worry, no one will attack you without my order."
After the Spanish left, the Inca king lit an oil lamp in the house and lay on the bed without taking off his clothes. He felt that the Spaniards did not deceive him, and the Spaniards fulfilled all his requests. Thinking that tomorrow morning, his queen, concubines and children would be around him, he felt like he was really an Inca king again.
The Inca king's queen, concubines, and children were imprisoned in four or five larger rooms in the Spanish military camp. Their room was not far from the cell where the Inca King was imprisoned, but because they could not leave the room without permission, they did not know where the Inca King was locked up.
These concubines who followed the Inca King from Quito were all the King's favorite concubines. Here are the biological sisters Yina and Uga, the twin sisters Kuta and Maka, as well as Kajiana, Gina, Michalika, Shishi Viraj, Gutaya and the princes. Some new lovers, more than twenty people in total. In addition to the queen, Princess Anna Maya, who had a four or five-year-old girl, a concubine named Rashauta also had a girl, and the concubine of Chalakamaba had a boy.
These queens and concubines were usually the most beautiful and noble women in the Inca Empire. However, since they were locked up in these rooms in the Inca Apartments by the Spaniards, they seemed like golden pheasants that had fallen into the water. Not only do I no longer have the hobby of putting on makeup, I even no longer have the energy to do so. Because they usually put on makeup and dress up to please the Inca king. But after the Inca king was captured alive by Spain, they no longer wanted to dress up. Because they are afraid that dressing up will attract the attention of the Spaniards and bring trouble and disaster to themselves. However, the princess who no longer wears makeup sometimes looks just like an ordinary Inca woman.
It is said that they will soon move to the temple to live with their king. They are like dry flowers that suddenly become alive again when they meet the warm and humid spring rain. However, they wanted to put on makeup but had nothing, because everything they had was left in the room in the original palace courtyard, and that place no longer belonged to them. They can only wash their faces cleanly, comb their hair neatly, and put a charming smile on their faces like ordinary Inca women.
(Please pay attention to Zhang Baotong's signed work "Poetic Emotions", which includes short prose, life essays and short stories. Today's release is the life essay "The Good Old Days")
