Crete·Royal Palace·Banquet Hall
The palace is a rectangular garden. The king's palace, the queen's palace and the banquet hall are all distributed around the garden. The buildings are connected by corridors, foyers, compound roads and stairs, with thousands of doors and households, like a maze.
After Pei Ziyun had sacrificed to Hera in Crete, King Idomeneus sent someone to invite Prince Paris to the palace for a grand banquet. At this time, he saw King Idomeneus reclining on a chaise longue directly above the hall. It was covered with soft animal skins, and the maid poured wine into it and put it into the king's mouth.
The banquet hall was filled with many nobles from the kingdom, drinking wine. The banquet was coming to an end.
King Idomeneus straightened up and said with a smile: "Prince Paris, I hope you can drink our Cretan wine and enjoy our food."
Pei Ziyun saluted slightly and said: "Dear King Idomeneus, thank you very much for your warm hospitality."
"Come, Prince Paris, drink to friendship." King Idomeneus raised the golden cup and drank the wine in one gulp, and Pei Ziyun also drank the wine.
"Prince Paris, I have heard of your reputation for bravery a long time ago. You have killed sea monsters, two-headed lizards, and werebears. You even love the gods. Everywhere you go, you must sacrifice to the local temple. I can see you today." , it’s really something that makes people happy.”
When Pei Ziyun heard the compliment, he stood up and said, "King Idomeneus, everything I do is guided and protected by the gods."
"Your compliments and warm hospitality scare me. Is there anything I can do for you, the king blessed by our common ancestor Zeus?"
Pei Ziyun looked at it coldly. King Idomeneus of Crete was very powerful. He was a descendant of the gods who was loved by Zeus. The warehouses in the palace were filled with wine, olive oil, and grain, and the treasure house was filled with gold, bronze and arms.
With two thousand well-equipped warriors and a large number of ships belonging to the king, they set out to trade across the Aegean, bringing huge profits to the king!
But Idomeneus was still troubled, because in this era, Crete had declined, while Mykena was prosperous, and King Agamemnon had gained hegemony.
The two descendants of Zeus, Agamemnon of Mykena and Idomeneus of Crete, have been fighting openly and secretly. Idomeneus has been trying to restore the glory of the Minoan dynasty.
"There is something. The caravans who came back told me that the Trojans have recently increased their control over tin and imposed heavier taxes on tin. Do you know this?" Idomeneus said with a smile and eyes. But it's a bit cold.
This had a certain impact on Crete, whose income was decreasing. At this time, he was thinking: "Damn Trojans, give me trouble!"
"Dear Your Majesty, I don't know this matter because I have been out for half a year." Pei Ziyun said politely: "But I personally think that we are all descendants of the great Zeus and should have more contact with each other. close."
“We can even reduce taxes on each other and increase exchanges.”
"I have some ideas about this, please take a look." As he said that, he waved his hand and respectfully handed over a parchment.
"Taking tax cuts for each other's ships, not blocking navigation, free trade, providing necessary conveniences, and enjoying certain privileges." Idomeneus only took a glance and felt good, because his smart mind immediately figured it out. Ritter gained greater benefits.
The reason is very simple. Troy controls the Dardanelles Strait and has frequent commercial activities with the Greeks. Mutual reductions and exemptions seem fair, but in fact it is Troy's unilateral concession of profits. With this, it can even be obtained by selling tax-reduced tin. Extra profit.
"Is this true? Prince Paris?"
"Of course, but this requires signing a peace alliance treaty with Troy. No matter what the reason, you are not allowed to join the hostile camp against Troy - we cannot support the enemy and let it benefit, right, great King Idomeneus ?”
"Yes, yes... I have to discuss this matter again, but for the sake of our friendship, I want to give you some gifts." After Idomeneus finished speaking, he clicked "papapapa" three times, and a servant held the gift. File in.
Pei Ziyun looked around and saw that the gifts included gold, bronze, ivory, and furs. They were actually gifts in return for the goods given to Crete.
Pei Ziyun stood up and bowed: "Dear King Idomeneus, thank you very much for your generous gift. May our friendship last forever, and may the gods protect you forever."
"Prince Paris, I said, for the sake of our friendship, if you have any trouble in the future, just come to me." The king said enthusiastically.
The banquet was held in a cheerful, joyful and relaxed atmosphere. Everyone drank happily. During the period, Pei Ziyun also drank a lot of wine.
About an hour later, Pei Ziyun said goodbye to King Idomeneus, and the king personally sent him out of the banquet hall.
Pei Ziyun left the palace, got on the carriage, and said to the driver: "Go to the Temple of Hecate."
"Snapped."
There was a crisp crack of the riding whip, and the carriage headed towards the Temple of Hecate. At this time, Pei Ziyun's face darkened and he shook his head: "It doesn't seem to work!"
The peace alliance treaty seems to be a loss for Troy, but during the war, Troy could not collect taxes, so there was no loss at all, but it could disgust the Greeks. When the time comes, will Idomeneus participate in the war, or not
But Idomeneus was a descendant of Zeus after all, and he seemed to have caught wind of it. Although he was tempted, he declined the peace treaty when he heard it.
"But I finally gave some more gifts. In total, I still made a profit."
Pei Ziyun no longer thinks about this, but thinks about the following goal.
Hecate, the goddess of hell, is the goddess of the underworld. She once helped Zeus defeat the Cyclops, so she has the power of the giant, even Zeus gave her some face.
"Is she the mysterious lady from last time?"
"It's not like that. Although she is not a direct descendant of Zeus, she has not fought against Zeus and will not take action for me."
"This time when I go to sacrifice, I will find out whether she gave me the secret medicine last time."
Temple of Hecate
The chariot approached and gradually stopped, and Pei Ziyun got down.
In front of the Temple of Hecate is a large sacred forest. The sacred forest is full of towering ancient trees. Birds are chirping happily, and women are picking flowers. Although they are the gods of the underworld, the entire sacred forest gives people a sense of tranquility.
Behind the sacred grove, a temple stretches in front of you.
The priest and his assistants were waiting in front of the temple gate. When he saw Pei Ziyun, he said, "Prince Paris, the great god has known about your arrival and specifically asked me to wait."
"Really? When did I receive the attention of Hecate, the goddess of hell?" Pei Ziyun thought to himself: "Could it be that the lady last time was really her?"
The immediate answer: "Thank you to the great goddess Hecate for your favor."
The priest nodded slightly and led Pei Ziyun into the temple.
The gate of the temple is a circular arch, 16 meters high and 8 meters wide. When people pass through the gate, they will feel small.
Inside the Temple of Hecate, the entire dome is also engraved with murals, and reliefs can be seen everywhere on the surrounding walls. However, unlike other temples, the content of the murals and reliefs are mainly black and gray. Most of them are scenes of the underworld, which give people a chilling feeling.
Passing through the long corridor, you see an altar with a statue of Hecate in the center.
After killing a cow, a piece of the sacrifice disappeared. It seemed that Hecate still had a good impression of him. The priest smiled: "Prince Paris, the gods are very satisfied with your sacrifice."
Pei Ziyun said: "Thank you to the goddess Hecate for your blessing."
After the sacrifice was completed, a young girl came over. She was slender and light-footed. She bowed and said, "Medea heard that a young prince was coming and wanted to meet him.
"Medea?" Pei Ziyun was confused. This person is amazing. In mythology, she shouldn't be here!
Just as I was thinking about it, a plum appeared in front of me, and it quickly enlarged into a translucent data frame, floating in the field of vision with a faint sense of light, and the data appeared in front of my eyes.
"Explain your position to Medea without reservation."
Under the guidance of the girl, we walked through the corridor and came to a room. This room was high and narrow, with a wooden window and a bed. On the bed was an old woman.
Not far away was a leviathan clay oil lamp and a vase with flowers in it.
Pei Ziyun looked at the woman on the bed. Medea, who was once powerful in the world, has now become a dying woman. She is full of wrinkles, and the years have carved indelible marks on her body.
The girl took out a silver bottle and opened it, and a wisp of rich fragrance flowed out. She carefully took out some and applied it on her face. It was not too much.
In an instant, a miracle occurred. Medea's wrinkles quickly diminished and she turned into a middle-aged woman. Although there were still fish lines at the corners of her eyes, she regained some of her youth.
"It seems that you are a little surprised!" Medea said, as light as the passing breeze: "This is just part of the power of the goddess I serve, Hecate - she can make the secret medicine for rejuvenation."
"Can it only last for one day?" Pei Ziyun asked.
"You are really keen and know a lot, and you are young and handsome." Medea did not answer directly, but looked at Pei Ziyun intently: "Same as before..."
"I'm not Jason." Pei Ziyun interrupted her recollection.
"Oh, why, you are all princes, so young and handsome." Medea said: "I have seen many heroes, but not many are as handsome as you."
"Because I don't know how to imitate Jason and leave everything to women and friends. As a result, even with the blessing of the great Hera, I can't even sit on the throne."
Jason was the hero who captured the Golden Fleece, but he abandoned Medea and his son, and eventually died of the curse.
"Really? So you think so."
"That's right. I heard that you killed sea monsters, two-headed lizards, and bear-men without the help of other heroes. If Jason had been as brave as you, he wouldn't have ended up like that."
"In the end, even Hera, who favored him, gave up on him early."
(End of chapter)