Achilles listened and did not refuse. He ordered the soldiers to carry down the gifts as ransom one by one from King Priam's car.
Most of the gifts were gold and bronze, with a few spices and rare treasures.
All the gifts were removed and placed on Achilles's ship, leaving only a cloak and a doublet, which were used to cover Hector's body.
Priam was able to see his son. There were drag marks on Hector's body, and he gently stroked the wound. Priam could imagine what kind of abuse Hector's body had received after his death. He was so old for a while. Tears flowed freely.
Achilles called his friend by name: "Patroclus, if you hear in the underworld that I gave Hector's body back to his father, please don't be angry with me! He brought the ransom." It’s very rich, and you have a share of it.”
"Furthermore, Zeus also gave me an order not to abuse Hector's body, and not to keep his body with him. Now I follow the will of the gods and return his body to him. Father."
Achilles called to Patroclus, hoping that Priam would understand his act of returning Hector's body.
Hermes stood invisible beside Priam, watching him cry, and said secretly: "Old king, you bought your son with a lot of money. But when Agamemnon and others When the Greek princes and heroes know this, they will detain you and demand triple ransom from your son at home!”
Priam was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly called his followers. Together they put Hector in tight clothes and a cloak, and quietly drove out of the Greek camp with the body.
And Hermes, just as he had come, lowered the mist so that the Greeks could not see it, and soon he was far away from the Greek camp.
Priam and his entourage drove the chariot toward the city of Troy. They hurriedly and slowly arrived at dawn outside the city of Troy.
At dawn, everything was sleeping except for Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, who was watching from the tower.
When she saw her father sitting in the chariot from a distance and Hector's body placed on the chariot, she couldn't help but burst into tears.
Hector was her eldest brother, and he took special care of these younger brothers and sisters. Now seeing his body lying on the chariot as if sleeping, Kassandra was heartbroken.
Pei Ziyun had been waiting on the city wall very early. When he saw the car coming back, he ordered the soldiers to open the city gate.
The chariot slowly drove in through the city gate. Pei Ziyun waved his hand and soldiers protected the chariot. At the same time, they drove the chariot to guide Priam's chariot toward the palace.
As soon as the team arrived at the gate of the palace, Andromache, who had been waiting for a long time, greeted them. When she saw her husband's body lying on the chariot, she held Hector's head and cried hard.
Everyone couldn't help but shed tears when they heard Andromache's heartbreaking cries, and King Priam also wept.
Pei Ziyun was silent. Although he was not crying, he was affected by the atmosphere at this moment and felt a trace of sadness in his heart.
"My dear husband, you have made me a poor widow, and left me alone with my poor children."
"Alas, I'm afraid your son won't be able to raise him, because Troy will soon be destroyed, and you will no longer be able to protect the city and the men, women, and children in the city."
"Soon we will be captured and put on a Greek warship, and I will not be spared."
Andromache cried to her son Astyanax and said: "And you, my poor son Astyanax, will also serve a cruel master and share your mother's hard labor. shame."
"Or you will be pushed from a tower to death by a Greek, because your father killed his brother, or his father, or his son!"
Pei Ziyun listened to Andromache's words and knew that what she was talking about was fate. He sighed: "Andromache, don't worry, I will protect you and your son."
"My husband, Hector, you see, ultimately it is Paris, whom I have always been hostile to, who protects me and your son, but Troy is about to be destroyed and Paris is powerless to protect us."
"How can you protect us because you have no control over your own destiny?" Andromache said, crying bitterly, as if she had lost all hope.
Pei Ziyun shook his head slightly, knowing that no matter what he said, Andromache would never believe that he could protect them, and she would not believe it if he wanted to protect Troy from destruction.
Pei Ziyun did not intend to persuade, and relied on facts. He turned to Priam, who had a tired face and gray hair, and said: "Father, you haven't slept all night. Go back and rest. The next thing will be give it to me."
With that said, Pei Ziyun called a herald: "Go and order people to prepare firewood, find craftsmen to make wooden beds, and build a cremation platform in the open area of the palace garden as quickly as possible."
"Okay, Prince Paris." The herald immediately accepted the order and bowed to leave.
Pei Ziyun ordered people to move Hector's body into a room, wiped the body himself, and sewed up the wounds and cuts on the body with needles and threads.
After cleaning and cleaning, Pei Ziyun carefully applied ointment on the body and put on luxurious clothes. Everything was taken care of. Hector's body looked brand new and no longer in a mess. He seemed to be lying down as if he was asleep. on the bed.
"Prince Paris, the cremation platform has been set up." A herald came in to report.
"Well, you go find a few people to move Prince Hector's body to the wooden bed of the cremation platform." Pei Ziyun ordered.
Everyone obeyed the order with dignity, and the power was transferred to Paris without realizing it.
Historically, Paris had a bad reputation, so even if Hector died, it would not be his turn. But now, Paris is good at resourcefulness and has great military exploits. When Hector dies, it can be said that everyone has returned.
Royal palace garden·open space
A two-meter-high cremation table stands. The palace craftsmen built this cremation table with wood. On top of it is a beautiful wooden bed. There are many flammable firewood piled around the cremation table.
There is a temporary altar next to the cremation platform. The middle altar of the altar is also two meters high, with statues of Zeus and Apollo on it.
Hector's body was brought up by a ladder and placed on a high wooden bed.
In front of the altar, the priestess Princess Cassandra was standing quietly while servants came up carrying gold and leading the bull.
Kassandra took the tray, put the gold into the altar, and slaughtered the bull for sacrifice.
"Dear God Zeus, God of Long Shot Apollo, you are so noble, I hope you can give grace and let Hector's soul rest in peace in the underworld."
After the sacrifice was completed, everyone stood in a circle around the cremation platform, moving slowly, looking at Hector lying quietly on the wooden bed, and paying deep remembrance.
"My dear son, Hector, how cruel you are to leave us so early. The safety of the city of Troy and the safety of the people of Troy are still on your shoulders. If you leave, what will happen to Troy? , how can you bear to watch Troy be destroyed at the hands of thugs?"
Priam couldn't help but burst into tears as he spoke. The elders around him wiped the tears from their eyes with their hands.
Hector's mother Hecuba cried heartbrokenly, and she still can't accept the fact that Hector is gone.
Pei Ziyun held a torch in his hand and gently lit the firewood pile. The fire shot into the sky, and the blazing flames made the surrounding area red.
"Hector, my son, my son!" Hecuba cried miserably and fainted suddenly.
"Queen, Queen." A maid quickly caught the body.
"Take the queen to rest." Pei Ziyun ordered. The fire burned for a long time, and everyone quietly remembered everything about Hector's life.
Gradually, the flames became smaller and smaller, and only a pile of ashes remained on the high cremation platform. Everyone used sweet wine to extinguish the remaining embers.
Some unburned bones were picked up from the ashes, wrapped in purple cloth, put into a small gold box, and sent for burial.
Pei Ziyun then turned to Priam: "Father, I want to talk to you."
Priam was startled. He followed Paris through a flower gallery and listened to his son ask: "Father, when Troy was destroyed by that man, what was the biggest difficulty for you in rebuilding it?"
Priam was shocked when Paris suddenly asked this. He never expected that Paris would ask this. As he thought about it, he realized something and said: "It is not easy to build a city-state. Talents, materials, authority , strength, are all indispensable.”
"But Paris, we are the children of God, and force and authority are within ourselves and are not lacking."
Pei Ziyun nodded seriously. He was a master of politics and military art. Of course he understood that the foundation of all political power is force, and the prince of this world was not a mortal in the world of Xu. Without people, he would become a chicken and duck. The prince was full of energy. With his bloodline, it is not difficult to suppress mortals.
"With force, money is not very difficult. Only craftsmen, doctors, prophets, and scholars are relatively difficult. With them, even if the prince loses his city-state, it will not be difficult to build another one."
Having said this, Priam had understood clearly and looked at his son with sad and tender eyes: "Paris, I will prepare these for you. You can take Oenone and go."
"Pfft" Pei Ziyun laughed after hearing this. Priam was indeed a good father. He thought that Hector was dead and Paris wanted to escape, so he still gave him convenience.
At this time, he said: "Father, you are wrong. I have to prepare these, but this is to be prepared. Don't wait until it is too late in case something changes."
"How can I leave on my own? If I want to leave, I have to kill Achilles before leaving."
Priam was shocked when he heard this. He was still about to speak, but saw Paris turning around and saying word by word, "Besides, can I leave?"
After hearing this, Priam was speechless and let out a long sigh.
(End of chapter)