Dany had never planned to ask Xaro to spend money to pull strings for her, but that fellow kept professing his admiration for her, yet never once took the initiative to offer help.
The money for greasing palms had to come from Dany herself; he only took responsibility for pointing out who she should bribe.
The first step: Dany brought with her a chestnut-colored young mare, a gray-furred wild bull hunted at the edge of the Red Waste, and a large black dog purchased from the market, and went to the Qartheen temple.
The Milk Men worshipped a "God of Memory" she had never even heard of, and so she offered sacrifices to the priests of that god.
The young mare represented an offering from the Dothraki. The wild bull followed an ancient custom—so it was said—dating back to before this trading city-state was founded, when the primitive Milk Men survived by hunting creatures from the Red Waste.
Mm, the Red Waste also grew hotter and harsher the closer one went toward its center. By contrast, the coastal plains had abundant water resources, allowing large numbers of wild plants and animals to survive.
As for the black dog, it was rather special. Like the people of the Great Celestial Empire, the Qartheen had a particular fondness for the taste of dog meat.
The priest was very pleased with Dany's tact and understanding. That elderly Milk Man, whose hair and skin were as white as snow, told Dany that she could come to the Temple of Memory to seek the memories of time.
Only after questioning him in detail did Dany understand—this place was also the Qartheen library. The priests of the Temple of Memory simultaneously served as the city's historians.
For thousands of years, they had recorded every major event that happened in Qarth.
"Mother of Dragons, you and your dragons, your Dothraki warriors, your great feat of crossing the Plains of Purgatory to reach Qarth—even your visit to this temple today—have already become, or will one day become, part of the God of Memory," the old man said with a kindly smile.
If this were the original Daenerys Targaryen, she might not have cared in the slightest about historical records. But the current Dany was screaming with joy inside her heart:
Worth it! Absolutely worth it! Those two thousand Qartheen gold coins paid for themselves completely!
Uh—on the surface, she had only offered three animals. But in truth, the night before, Aggo had led four Dothraki and quietly carried two chests of newly exchanged Radiant Coins into the old priest's backyard.
Yes. A true backdoor deal—entering through a rear door that opened into an alley, straight into the backyard of the residence belonging to the old priest's most favored thirteen-year-old little mistress.
Qarth used Radiant Coins, a circular currency that had been in circulation since the days of Old Valyria. On the front was a crown; on the back, a ferocious skull.
Radiant Coins were relatively small—each weighed only one-third as much as a Gold Dragon.
Two thousand coins had roughly the purchasing power of2000 × 4000 = 8 million RMB.
This place was effectively equivalent to the Middle Ages. Productivity was far inferior to that of the modern Celestial Empire. Two thousand Radiant Coins was unquestionably a massive fortune.
With that, it became easy to understand why the old priest treated Dany with such warmth and courtesy.
After obtaining the Temple of Memory's "reading permit," the second backdoor Dany walked through was that of Qarth's "Register Keepers"—that is, the city's administrative officials.
Bag after bag of gold coins was handed out, and Dany suddenly realized that she had used up half of the gold she had secretly taken from Drogo.
With a face full of misery, she told Xaro, "I'm out of money. All I have left are some antique jewelry excavated from the City of Bones."
Faced with a plea from an unparalleled beauty, Xaro's heart was colder than ice. Not only did he have no intention of paying out of his own pocket, he even offered her a terrible idea:
"The news that true dragons still exist has spread throughout the East. More and more dragon-seekers are coming to investigate. Right now, countless people in Qarth want to see you and your dragons. Why not grant them audiences—and demand a gift from each person who meets you?"
Dany thought about it and realized this plan was beneficial to her.
Putting aside how many "zoo tickets" she could collect, simply spreading her fame—making it widely known in the East that she and her dragons existed—would make certain people hesitate to use the most direct and brutal methods against her.
Wasn't that the very reason she had Jorah spread news of the dragons in the harbor district and street taverns?
When no one knew she had dragons, she would rather hide in White Cloud City for a long time, doing everything possible to prevent the news from leaking.
But once even a single outsider knew about her and her dragons, the plan of secrecy was completely shattered.
When no one knew dragons had been born again, she was safest—threat level: one star.When only a few knew of the true dragons' return, she was in the greatest danger—threat level: four stars.When everyone in the Far East knew her story, certain people would grow cautious, and her danger would actually decrease—threat level: three stars.But once the news crossed tens of thousands of kilometers and reached Westeros in the far west, the danger would rise again—threat level skyrocketing to the maximum five stars.
However, whether only a few knew or all of Qarth knew, the speed at which the information reached Westeros would not change.
Given the distance from Qarth to King's Landing, she had a buffer of roughly two years created by the flow of information.
Either her dragons had to grow up within those two years, or Dany had to establish a complete security system within two years—commonly known as building her own power base.
And for that, she needed money.
Dany agreed to Xaro's plan to establish a "Great Dragon Zoo."
That very afternoon, Jorah brought a ship's captain to her palace reception hall.
"Princess, I have brought you a sea merchant from the Summer Isles."
He was a Black middle-aged man, his dark skin like polished obsidian—black, glossy, and shining.
"Your Majesty, my name is Quhuru Mo, captain of the Laurel Wind, from Tall Trees Town in the Summer Isles."The man, draped in a yellow-and-green feathered cloak and dressed like a flamboyant peacock, bowed deeply as he introduced himself.
"He brings you news from King's Landing," Jorah said.
"You came from King's Landing?" Dany asked.
"No. I departed from Oldtown half a year ago, carrying a full hold of Arbor wine. You have been away from home for a long time—surely you miss the taste of home, just as the people of the Seven Kingdoms miss you," Quhuru said.
His gift to Dany was three barrels of fine wine. If sold on the Qarth market, they could be exchanged for four Radiant Coins.
A bit stingy, she thought.
But then she realized that this captain's business was not large. Four Radiant Coins were already a considerable sum for him.
"Thank you for your gift," Dany said, seated upon a sofa made of piled cushions. She nodded to the man from the Summer Isles."I am more interested in the news you bring from the Seven Kingdoms. Ah—if only you had come from King's Landing itself."
"Your Majesty, King's Landing is facing war. No foreign merchants dare go there anymore—and even if they did, it would be pointless. After the Usurper's death, the city has fallen into chaos. They can barely feed themselves, let alone sell goods to us."
Seated on a small stool below her, the Black captain spoke with unconcealed disdain for the current rulers of King's Landing.
"Oldtown has the Citadel. News from all across the Seven Kingdoms flows there. Every noble has a maester, and all maesters come from the Citadel. During my stay in Oldtown, I made many inquiries about the current situation in the Seven Kingdoms."
Dany found him a bit long-winded and asked directly, "How exactly did the Usurper die?"
"Killed by a beast as monstrous as a demon."
"I want to know who plotted his death. You don't truly believe he died from a boar's tusks, do you?" Dany said coolly.
Sensing her impatience, the captain of the Laurel Wind spoke rapidly:
"There are indeed many conspiracy theories surrounding the king's death.
"The fourteen-year-old Joffrey has ascended the throne, but everyone knows that power lies firmly in the hands of House Lannister.
"Maester apprentices in taverns swear that the queen betrayed the king. They say she even bore incestuous offspring with her own brother, and when the truth was about to be exposed, she resorted to murder and killed her royal husband.
"Thus, the throne fell completely into Lannister hands.
"That would explain why Robert's two brothers fled King's Landing.
"There are also rumors that the Baratheon brothers intend to march back and claim the throne for themselves.
"When I left, there were whispers that Duke Renly planned to ally with House Tyrell of Highgarden and rise in rebellion.
"With Highgarden and the Stormlands combined, the little king's seat is very unstable.
"Besides the rumor of the queen murdering the king, some also say the Hand of the King killed him.
"The new king and queen immediately announced that Eddard Stark had murdered his king. Some believe it, some doubt it—but it's said that the majority of King's Landing's citizens actually believe it.
"Gods above, I clearly remember that the Hand was King Robert's closest friend. How could anyone believe he committed treason?"
"Yes," Jorah nodded in agreement, his tone firm."Even the Others wouldn't believe Eddard Stark would betray his king. Have the people of King's Landing gone mad—or stupid?"
"Ha," Dany chuckled. "Didn't Eddard Stark commit treason once fifteen years ago? To the people of King's Landing, he lost his honor long ago. Losing it again hardly matters."
Jorah immediately shook his head."That's not the same, Princess. Though it may be greatly disrespectful, you must understand—King Aerys murdered his father and brother, and openly demanded that the North hand him over.
"His rebellion against your father was an act of honor, not a loss of it."
It was only because he had spent several months with Dany and understood her character that Jorah dared to say such words. Had she been the original Daenerys, he never would have spoken so freely.
"After Stark was imprisoned, how did the North respond?" Jorah asked the captain, his expression tense.
He was a Northman. His family were all Stark bannermen.
"It is said that the Young Wolf, upon learning of his father's arrest, immediately summoned his bannermen and prepared for war. Roughly twenty thousand Northmen crossed the Neck and marched south."
"Ah…" Jorah sighed, his eyes unfocused as he murmured,"I wonder how many of my cousins will die this time."
It seemed only one little girl named Lyanna remained. Dany looked at her knight with sympathy and asked, "How many children does your aunt have?"
"Five. All daughters. The youngest is about six years old," Jorah replied.
How tragic… only that six-year-old child left alive.
Before long, his father would also die miserably at Castor's muddy castle because of the violation of guest right.
Thinking of this, Dany nearly told him to accept her condolences in advance.
This was also because she had only watched the television series—where, for the sake of simplifying characters, the directors had cut out many of the Mormont daughters.
In the original A Song of Ice and Fire, House Mormont lost only one person at the Red Wedding—Jorah's eldest cousin.
So there was really no need for her to worry about him at all.
"The Young Wolf is Robb Stark?" she asked the Black captain.
"Yes. Robb Stark is the commander."
"He's only fourteen, isn't he?" Jorah's expression dimmed."I've seen that boy. He's half a year younger than the Princess—tender as a summer flower bud.
"What is to be done? This time, that greenhorn will probably drag the entire North to its doom."
What a prophetic statement…
"Perhaps he's a born military genius?" Dany tried to comfort him.
"That only makes me worry more," Jorah rubbed his face and said quietly."If he loses as soon as he leaves the Neck, the Northmen will immediately retreat back behind it—and then they will never lose this game of power.
"For over ten thousand years, no army has ever defeated the defenders of the Neck in a frontal assault.
"But if that boy gets lucky, wins one or two battles, and his confidence soars—then the Northmen will truly be finished."
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)