The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
The four of them were the people appointed by Atahualpa to guard Huascar. The King decreed that no one should approach Huascar without the presence and consent of all four of them. Therefore, all four of them must be present when Huascar is arraigned today.
However, the older prince sitting in the middle looked familiar to Huascar, as if he had seen him somewhere. He thought for a while before he remembered that he was Prince Beskara, the chief of Tungula Province.
The prince leaned up in his chair and said to Huascar, "The supreme Inca king, Prince Bescarra, the chief of Tungula Province, is here to visit." As he said this, Prince Bescarra looked toward Huascar arrogantly. Skar smiled slightly and said, "Is your Majesty always okay?"
In the past, everyone in the Inca Kingdom would lie on the ground in front of him, with their faces on the ground and not daring to take a breath. However, now that the prince actually used this method to humiliate him, this made him feel very He was furious, but there was nothing he could do because he was now their prisoner.
Huascar glanced at Prince Beskara without any expression, then turned his head to the side and asked, "Prince Beskara, the chief of Tungula Province, why do you want to visit me?"
Bescarra said hypocritically, "The Inca King, your brother Atahualpa, asked me to come to visit you."
Huascar smiled coldly and said, "I don't need him to send someone to visit me. I just want a quick death." He thought that if there was nothing important, Atahualpa would not send him here suddenly. Did Atahualpa want to kill him immediately?
Prince Beskara said, "The king does not want you to die, but he wants you to admit your mistake to him and regain your freedom. Furthermore, he wants to know where you have hidden the gold in Cusco."
Huascar felt strange and asked, "What does Atahualpa want gold for?" Because in the Inca Empire, gold was only used for palace decoration and had no other uses.
Bescarra was stunned by Huascar's words, because he could not tell Huascar about Atahualpa's capture by the Spanish and the agreement with the Spanish to exchange gold for freedom. He thought for a while and said, "It's of no use. It's just that our king likes gold. He said that the light of gold is like the light of the father of the sun."
Huascar shook his head and said, "It's not like he doesn't know that there is gold in the palace, the Sun Palace and the temple in Cusco."
Beskara said, "But some people say that you have hidden all the gold. For example, the gold chain that is as thick as an arm and cannot be lifted by more than two hundred princes. The king sent people to look for it for a long time, but no one found it. Not found. However, that golden chain was a birthday gift made by Emperor Capac when you were born."
Huascar said, "I have never seen these things. I heard that they are all kept by the Inca Governor of Cusco, Prince Cucabala. You can ask him." He knew that Prince Cucabala was already in Cusco. Before the capital fell, he led people to transport the treasures of the capital of Cusco to a mountain castle not far from Cusco and hid them there. And the Incas who transported the treasures all took an oath of allegiance after transporting the treasures, and then jumped under the cliff next to the castle. And Prince Kukkabala is hiding in that castle. It is impossible for anyone to know about this matter except him and Prince Kukabala.
Bescarra said, "However, I heard that Prince Cucabala left Cusco before Quito's army entered Cusco. We thought maybe you knew where he was. The king said, as long as you tell him Wherever the whereabouts and the gold are hidden, King Atahualpa will absolve you of your sins, restore your freedom, build you a palace, and let you live a life like the Inca King again."
Huascar didn't believe this nonsense at all, but he said, "I really want to do this, but I really don't know the whereabouts of Prince Cucabala, nor where the gold is hidden. Because I fell in Cusco I was caught by you before."
Bescarra said, "This is an opportunity given to you by King Atahualpa. Don't miss it. As long as you tell us about hiding the gold, King Atahualpa will let you go free."
But Huascar still shook his head and said, "I long for freedom, but I really don't know what you are talking about." As he said that, he coughed loudly and violently, and then began to vomit blood.
When Bescara saw Huascar vomiting blood, he asked Usaka, "Did he have the plague?" The plague was smallpox, which was highly contagious, because the Inca people had no immunity to smallpox, and as long as they got the disease, they would It will kill you.
Usaka didn't want Beskara to know too much, because he didn't know what made him dissatisfied. If he went back and reported it to King Atahualpa, it would be very detrimental to him, so he quickly replied, "It seems so." .”
So, Beskara said to Huascar, "Think carefully about what the king has said, and tell us when you have thought about it. The king will let you out soon." After saying that, he waved his hand and asked the soldiers to quickly Take Huascar away.
Huascar returned to the small round stone house on the top of the castle. However, he was still puzzled as to why Atahualpa needed gold. Did he want to rebuild the palace? In fact, the lack of gold did not prevent him from building the palace. If he needs gold, there are many palaces and temples throughout the country, and there is a lot of gold in the Palace of the Sun God in Cusco alone.
One morning a few days later, there was a knock on the door outside. He knew that food was being delivered from outside. So, he walked to the heavy and thick door with several large locks and took a silver jar through the hole. At the same time, he handed another silver jar containing urine and urine through the hole.
The silver can that he received contained some semi-thick and semi-thin corn paste. The paste had a musty smell and was unpleasant to drink. However, he closed his eyes, turned to his mouth, drank most of it, and then, Use your hands to dig out the dry and thick paste inside and stuff it into your mouth. After a while, the meal was finished. At this time, he heard another knock on the door, so he handed the silver can with which he had eaten through the hole in the iron door and took the toilet can. In this way, for how long, no one inside or outside the door said a word.
However, that day, someone suddenly called him outside the door, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty." He did not respond, thinking that he had heard the wrong voice. Because no one has spoken to him since he came here.
When he heard the knock on the door again, he realized that someone was actually calling him outside the door. He felt that he was dreaming, because no one had called him king since he was imprisoned here, and he was now a prisoner waiting to die, not an Inca king.
He asked, "Who are you?" The man said to him through the hole, "I am Usaka, the guard of the Palace of Quito." Of course he knew this man, he was the four sent by Atahualpa to guard him. One of the closest confidants.
When he heard that he was the loyal lackey of the King of Quito, Huascar was particularly hateful and wary, and he immediately felt an extreme fear in his heart, because he wondered if Atahualpa was going to take action against him. But the strange thing is why he doesn't open the door, but talks to him through the hole?
(Please pay attention to Zhang Baotong's signed work "Poetic Emotions", which includes short prose, life essays and short and medium-sized novels. Today's release is "The Harem of the Ming Dynasty (5)")
