The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 973: The Qarth Government Affairs Conference

Arrows stuck in his waist?

King Hoen and his entourage had obviously never heard of such a thing.

This was simply unbelievable magic.

Being able to turn arrows into something like daggers and stick them in your waist without having to carry them on your back.

Hoen looked at the soldiers beside the Mountain, and found that the soldiers did not have any unusual expressions, as if these people all believed the unbelievable things their king had said.

This was like listening to a mystical myth.

"If Master Polio hadn't died, perhaps he could have foreseen the future I spoke of," said the Mountain.

King Hoen, sitting across from him, felt a thump in his heart.

He had not seen this future that the Mountain spoke of.

Nor had he seen the so-called arrows that could be stuck in the waist in the fragments of the future.

The shortcomings of the all-knowing Master Polio began to appear.

Not being a child of the Witch God meant he could see everything in the future.

Everything new that the Mountain spoke of, new weapons, was something the Witch God had never prophesied to Master Polio.

King Hoen understood that he could not see most things about the Mountain clearly.

Assuming that the Mountain was telling the truth, then Master Polio would be just like an ordinary person, ignorant of the new world the Mountain spoke of.

This made King Hoen feel uneasy.

It would shake his sacredness in the hearts of Haji and others.

Master Polio and the Immortal Temple held the highest position among the nobles and royals, but in the hearts of ordinary people, it was a place to be respected but kept at a distance. The proverb that the Immortal Temple was piled with lies and bones spread among the common people.

But even among the nobles, if unpredictable things increased, Master Polio's reputation for being all-knowing would gradually become a burden that lowered his prestige.

Quexi, who had been sitting, did not know when she had stood in the shadows beside the Mountain. Almost no one noticed this, not even the Immortal Warlock and Master Polio disguised as King Hoen.

Quexi's shadow magic was superb, unmatched in the world, and hiding herself was like an innate instinct. She stood in the Mountain's shadow and observed King Hoen.

Any subtle changes in the king could not escape her eyes.

As a believer in the shadow of the Red God, Quexi's insight was like a gift.

*

The next day, the Mountain led his army into the city.

The vanguard was led by Gomez Kao, with ten thousand Dothraki cavalry in rows of five, entering the city.

The gates of Qarth had been taken over by the Unsullied and the Dothraki yesterday. The palace guards had also been taken over.

The hooves of the horses pounded the ground, and the streets of Qarth were trembling slightly.

The Dothraki were almost uniformly bare-chested, revealing their developed muscles. Scimitars at their waists, dark skin, and long braids over their shoulders were the hallmarks of the Dothraki cavalry.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing was the quivers full of arrows and the longbows slung across their backs.

The Dothraki were good at riding and shooting.

With the entry of the two thousand Dothraki legions into the city yesterday, people had a psychological preparation for seeing the large-scale entry of the terrifying Dothraki cavalry today, and no one hid their daughters anymore. The shop owners dared to open their doors and do business as usual.

There had not been a single robbery by the Dothraki who entered the city yesterday, and there had not been a single spear incident at night.

The rumor that the Dothraki would not loot the city spread rapidly among the people. It was said that their king, the Mountain, had iron discipline and would not allow the Dothraki to loot cities that had sincerely surrendered.

Ten thousand Dothraki cavalry entered the city, and this one team alone was equivalent to the number of mercenary legions hired by Qarth.

This team entered the city through the north gate, passed through the center of the city, exited through the south gate, and took over the port of Qarth and hundreds of docks.

Behind this legion were the Mountain, King Hoen, Daenerys Targaryen, and Arianne Martell. The four rode horses, the Mountain was fully armed, with a giant sword on his back, and the dragon Sheepstealer flew overhead, like a huge golden-red cloud, slowly moving from outside the city to inside.

The dragon flew over the city wall, darkening the eyes of the people under the city wall.

The huge wings blocked the light of the sky, as if even the sun was overshadowed by her.

Jorah Mormont, Asha, Grey Worm, Hero, Jon Targaryen, Missandei, Lenn, and a group of fierce generals led ten hundred-man teams to protect the king and them into the city.

On the city wall stood an Unsullied hundred-man team.

The Mountain entered the city, and the city gates up and down were all controlled by the Unsullied and the Dothraki cavalry. All the dragon-hunting crossbows in the city had been dismantled and piled in the royal square, not yet burned. The Mountain believed that those dragon-hunting crossbows could be installed on his naval warships to deal with enemy warships, and could also be used to attack cities. It was a pity to burn these weapons, so it was better to use them for himself.

Above the Mountain's group, Sheepstealer was in the center, followed by the black dragon Drogon, the white dragon Viserion, and the bronze dragon Rhaegal. The three dragons were like three guard dragons, only one position behind Sheepstealer.

The four dragons flew in the low sky of Qarth, and all the citizens of the city saw them no matter where they were.

Although the dragons were flying at low altitude, they were actually very far from the ground.

The nobles, assassins, warlocks, wealthy merchants, slaves, and free people of Qarth all held their breath.

Regarding dragons, whether warlocks or assassins, they all held awe in their hearts.

Dragons were the highest magical creatures. The extinction of magic in this world originated from the disappearance of dragons; the revival of magic originated from the appearance of dragons. The magic of the warlocks and the mystery of the assassins could not withstand a mouthful of dragonfire.

Four dragons, one of which was so huge that it was frightening. The four dragons were in the air, and the pressure was overwhelming.

Tens of thousands of people looked up at the sky, forgetting to breathe, forgetting to move, forgetting the things in their hands, they almost forgot everything.

The dragons were beautiful, and the scale armor of each dragon was very colorful; the dragons were also ferocious, the dragon heads were terrifying, the dragon teeth were like knives and swords, and the dragon eyes glowed like gems.

The dragons stole the Mountain's thunder as he entered the city!

Behind the Mountain's thousand-man guard legion was a three-thousand-man Unsullied legion.

This time, six thousand-man teams of Unsullied came to Qarth with Queen Daenerys. In Slaver's Bay, Daenerys had twelve thousand Unsullied warriors.

She left six thousand Unsullied to guard Slaver's Bay and sent half of her forces to attack Qarth.

The three thousand Unsullied's spears were erected, advancing into the city at a uniform speed, without any noise, only the sound of footsteps clanging. The Qarth soldiers standing on the city wall saw a moving forest of spears below.

The Unsullied's combat power was the most powerful in the hearts of the Qarth people, surpassing their awe of the Dothraki.

Behind the three thousand Unsullied were another ten thousand Dothraki cavalry.

And outside the city, there were still twenty thousand Dothraki cavalry. They lived outside the city and would not enter the city in large numbers until they received the Mountain's royal order. The rear camp of these twenty thousand Dothraki cavalry was commanded by three people: Duke Gendry Baratheon, weapons master Tobho Mott, and the Grand Sage of the Alchemist's Guild. Hundreds of blacksmiths and thousands of apprentices were forging ironware day and night, as if a great war was coming.

*

A team of two thousand mercenaries came out of the west gate, detoured to the dock, and boarded ships to leave.

Another team of three thousand mercenaries came out of the east gate and went to the avenue outside the east gate.

Another thousand-man legion and a five-thousand-man legion also came out of the west and east gates respectively. They all detoured to the dock and boarded ships to leave.

A total of eleven thousand mercenary legions left Qarth from the east and west gates at the same time as the Mountain's legion entered the city.

This was the Mountain's order. From the first day the Mountain entered the city, Qarth was no longer allowed to have its own city defense team. The Mountain only allowed the private guards of the major nobles and royals to be retained. This force was also not small, adding up to more than ten thousand military forces.

Twenty-four thousand soldiers entered the city from the north gate, and it took them from morning to evening to complete their entry into the city.

In the city, people stood on the streets, windows, balconies, city walls, roofs, trees, and other places to watch the Mountain's legion enter the city, and the surprise and unease on their faces gradually disappeared...

After several days, the hostility in the hearts and on the faces of the Qarth people also dissipated invisibly... Their homes were not robbed, their women were not speared, their families were not killed, their money was not extorted, and no one was forcibly conscripted into slavery. The business of selling grilled bread on the street became popular, the women's courtyards were full of patrons, and various restaurants were crowded with officers and soldiers who came to drink. The wine merchant's sour wine, wine, wheat, and dark beer were swept away, and he had to urgently restock... All walks of life and all kinds of businesses had a surge in customers, and business exceeded ten times what it used to be...

*

Seventeen days later, in the Hoen Palace in Qarth, the Mountain convened the first government affairs conference.

In the seventeen days since entering the city, the Mountain and his courtiers and generals had only done three things: taking over all military defenses and security patrols in the city; holding the highest-standard Red God faith funeral for the one thousand Valantis soldiers who were annihilated, and Valantis's magistrate Joshur became the hero of the entire army; holding a seven-god sacrifice ceremony for the soldiers of the Summer Islands and Westeros who died in the naval battle.

The seven-god sacrifice lasted for seven days.

After these three things were completed, seventeen days had passed.

The Qarth soldiers who slaughtered the Valantis people were not subject to revenge, and the Qarth navy was not subject to retaliation.

On the eighteenth day, the Mountain convened the first government affairs conference after Qarth's surrender in the Hall of a Thousand Seats, the center of power in Qarth.

The Hall of a Thousand Seats amazed the courtiers and generals who entered it for the first time, and even the Dothraki Khals and bloodriders were stunned.

The Hall of a Thousand Seats was the highest center of power in Qarth, where the Hoen royal family ruled the entire Qarth.

The seats of the royal family in the hall were the huge wooden chairs left by their ancestors. They were arranged in an arc, rising in tiers from the marble floor to the high circular dome. The chairs were not only huge, but also strangely carved. The gilded surfaces were bright and brilliant, inlaid with amber, agate, jade, and emerald. Each chair was different and competed with each other for beauty.

The circular dome was painted with the glorious scenes of Qarth and the legends of the gods.

The Khals, bloodriders, and Kos sat on the thrones of these royal family members. Their hands on the chairs touched the pearls, agates, emeralds, gold decorations, and other beautiful jades that they had to fight to the death for in the past.

In addition to the Qarth people, Jon, Asha, and Arianne were also surprised.

They were shocked by a corner of the wealth displayed by the Qarth royal family.

This was just a hall where the royal family held meetings. It was unknown how luxurious and prosperous the interior of the royal palace was, and how mountainous the reserves of gold and silver jewelry were.

There was a rumor that the wealth of the nine free trade city-states combined was not as much as that of Qarth alone. Now it seemed that the rumor was true.

The Mountain sat on the throne at the highest point.

His courtiers and generals stood in front of and beside him, without any Qarth people.

King Hoen, as the native king of Qarth, sat on the Mountain's left hand.

Daenerys Targaryen sat on the seat of honor on the right hand.

Arianne Martell stood on the right side of the Mountain's seat, serving as the Mountain's guard.

All the nobles and wealthy merchants in Qarth came to the hall.

In addition to the Qarth courtiers and royal generals, there were more than three hundred Qarth nobles and wealthy merchants.

They collectively sat on the wooden chairs on the Mountain's left hand, while the Mountain's own courtiers and generals sat on the right hand.

Although the Mountain's propaganda had not stopped for seventeen days, propagating that Qarth's business and trade rules would not change, propagating that the army would not take revenge, and propagating that taxes would not increase, the nobles and wealthy merchants were still uneasy.

Qarth's city military force had been completely disbanded by the Mountain. The city's guard legions, patrol legions, garrison management on the docks, the outer guards of the palace, and the sentries on the streets had all been replaced by the Unsullied and the Dothraki.

Life in the city had become several times more vibrant, and the common people were no longer afraid of the 'invaders', but because the nobles and wealthy merchants could not leave the city, they could only take a walk on the docks and were not allowed to board ships, even their own ships, which made the nobles and wealthy merchants uneasy.

*

The Mountain raised his hand, and the mosquito-like sound in the whispering hall immediately disappeared.

After seventeen days, the Qarth people had learned the habit of being silent when the Mountain raised his hand. This habit came from the reaction of the Unsullied and the Dothraki. No matter how noisy, no matter how many generals, and no matter what the occasion, when the Mountain arrived, as long as he raised his hand, the whole place would become quiet.

The Mountain slowly lowered his hand and said, "Everyone in Qarth, I am a rough person, so I will get straight to the point." His voice boomed in the Hall of a Thousand Seats, and the echoes collided back and forth, as if a small muffled thunder could not find an exit.

"I will not change Qarth's power personnel for the time being. The highest ruler of Qarth is still King Hoen."

There should have been applause, but the Mountain was too majestic, and no one on King Hoen's side applauded.

Missandei took the lead in applauding, followed by Daenerys, Arianne, and King Hoen. Then, nearly a thousand people applauded together, and the atmosphere became lively.

The Mountain looked at King Hoen on the left: "Your Majesty Hoen, the combined strength of the royal family, the city's nobles, and the wealthy merchants' guards exceeds ten thousand people. This number is too large, which is not conducive to Qarth's security and stability. We have fully taken over Qarth's military and security, as solid as Qarth's triple city walls, so I have a small proposal for the king."

It was said to be a proposal, but the Mountain did not mean to discuss it at all.

"Please command, Your Majesty!" said King Hoen.

"I suggest that the total number of private guards of the Hoen royal family be limited to 500, with no more than 300 war horses. What do you think?"

"I have no objections, Your Grace."

The Mountain's expression was calm: "Thank you for your understanding, Your Grace." He turned his gaze towards the Qartheen nobles and wealthy merchants…