"We have arrested some suspects, but we have not found enough evidence to prove that these suspects were involved in the assassination," Harry said, lowering his head. "Your Majesty, we still need some time to infiltrate Qarth..."
Daenerys said with great dissatisfaction, "Still need some time? Do I have to die at the hands of assassins before you can discover those poisonous snakes hiding underground?"
Harry felt inexplicably nervous, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Your Majesty, we are not intentionally delaying; it's just that we are not familiar with Qarth, and it is very difficult to integrate here and find useful intelligence. Moreover, the people here are very hostile to us, especially the slaves and servants controlled by the Thirteen whom you released. They often cover for each other, leading our searches into traps. We have already lost over a hundred good men."
Daenerys paused, then said, "I released them from the Thirteen's enslavement and gave them human dignity. They are still hostile to me?"
"Dignity cannot fill an empty stomach," Harry said seriously. "After the Thirteen died, although we received their wealth, we did not acquire the various trade projects they controlled. A large number of shops in the city have closed, and many people are out of work and without food supply. If this continues, I fear..."
Harry Strickland did not continue, but everyone understood what he meant to convey.
Daenerys also fell silent, seemingly startled by the terrible situation at hand. She had always believed she had completely controlled Qarth, that Qarth was still operating normally, and everything was developing according to her plans. Now she realized how bad the situation had become.
"Why didn't you tell me these things?" Daenerys couldn't help but blame everyone.
Sister Lemore reminded, "Your Majesty, Halton reminded you of this more than half a month ago, but you were busy dealing with the sneak attack from Khal Drogo and his men at the time, so you didn't notice. Princess Arianne also reminded you a few days ago, but you were attacked by assassins then and learned of Jorah Mormont's betrayal, so you also overlooked it."
Daenerys paused after hearing this, unsure what to say for a moment, and the room fell silent.
After a long while, she asked, "What should I do to resolve the current crisis?"
Everyone exchanged glances, none speaking, because they all did not know how to solve the current problem, except for one person.
Then, Arianne spoke, "Actually, solving this is not very difficult; it mainly depends on your Majesty's attitude towards Qarth."
"What do you mean by that?" Daenerys looked at Arianne with a bewildered expression.
"Actually, the core of this matter is how your Majesty plans to develop in the future," Arianne said with a serious expression. "If your Majesty still has designs on the Iron Throne and wishes to conquer it in the future, then Qarth is definitely not a suitable place to serve as a rear base. Therefore, we can conduct a grand pillage of the entire city, taking all valuable treasures and supplies that can be carried, incorporating all people who can be recruited, and then executing all the city's nobles and those suspected individuals, leaving only the lower-class citizens who cannot be taken away. In this way, those lower-class citizens will kill each other for control of Qarth. Ultimately, even if someone successfully takes control of Qarth, he will be unable to retaliate against you and may even worry about you returning to plunder again, making it very likely he will voluntarily submit to you. At that time, you only need to control this person to control all of Qarth, and you won't have to worry about being assassinated."
Hearing Arianne's method, everyone present could not help but gasp. The few Bloodriders who had initially tried to show closeness due to Arianne's beauty could not help but step back a few paces.
They had all not expected such a beautiful woman to be so ruthless. If her method were truly followed, at least hundreds of thousands of people in Qarth would die, and it would be a good outcome if only tens of thousands remained in the entire city.
But it was equally undeniable that this method was also a permanent solution. Once implemented, Qarth would no longer be a burden to Daenerys, and Daenerys would not have to worry about being assassinated again.
However, as everyone expected, Daenerys did not agree with this idea. She shook her head with almost no hesitation, saying, "No, this method is absolutely not acceptable."
Arianne seemed to have anticipated Daenerys's rejection of her proposal, so after Daenerys objected, she immediately presented a second method, saying, "If you are no longer interested in the Iron Throne and wish to establish your own kingdom with Qarth as its core, then you must stabilize Qarth as quickly as possible and clear out the hidden dangers within the city. Since we cannot solve these matters ourselves, we can seek assistance from other forces."
"Seek assistance from other forces?" Daenerys's face showed a thoughtful expression.
At this point, others also thought of Arianne's method and said, "Princess Arianne, do you mean the Miracle Merchant Guild?"
"Yes," Arianne nodded and said, "As far as I know, the Miracle Merchant Guild is an important collaborator of Prince Linde's intelligence network. Almost all places with a Miracle Merchant Guild will be infiltrated by intelligence personnel from Summerhall. We currently know nothing about the internal situation of Qarth, but Summerhall's spies and informants are different. As long as we can cooperate with the Miracle Merchant Guild, then those poisonous snakes underground in Qarth will have nowhere to hide. And more importantly, we can also take over the trade projects left by the Thirteen and do business with the Miracle Merchant Guild. As soon as the Miracle Merchant Guild profits from Qarth, other merchants will flock in. We won't need to actively recruit them; they will proactively contact us, begging for trade relations."
Hearing Arianne's analysis, Daenerys was quite moved. She could feel that Arianne's method was the most suitable for her current situation, and the addition of the Miracle Merchant Guild could also alleviate the pressure on her.
But her biggest problem now was that she was still undecided whether to stay in Qarth and establish her own kingdom or to continue aiming for an expedition to the Seven Kingdoms and reclaiming the Iron Throne, developing her own power.
Actually, according to her own thoughts, she was unwilling to contend for the Iron Throne again, because with Lynd in front, even with dragons, it would be difficult for her to reclaim the Iron Throne. More importantly, she did not wish to be hostile to Lynd.
But whether it was an obsession with the Iron Throne inherent in the Targaryen bloodline, as her power grew, she often fantasized about sitting back on the Iron Throne, fulfilling the Targaryen family's long-held ambition to restore their lineage, and fulfilling the last wishes of her brother and nephew. She could still hear the screams of her brother Viserys and nephew Aegon as they were burned to death in her dreams, mixed with the word "Iron Throne."
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"