Chapter 203: The Thousand Seats Palace
Chapter 201 The Palace of Thousands of Seats
The Palace of Thousands is the center of power in Qarth, where the royal family manages city-state affairs.
In reality, they were rulers in name only.
Several powerful merchant guilds, such as the Thirteen Giants, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, and the Spice Ancient Guild, control the actual power of the city.
These merchant groups formed the aristocratic class of Qarth and competed with each other for power.
At this moment, both the nominal and actual rulers could no longer care about the pride and reserve of the past, and gathered in panic in the Thousand Seats Palace.
The seats in the hall are huge wooden seats from the ancestors, arranged in an arc, rising step by step from the marble floor to the high circular ceiling, which is painted with paintings of Qarth's past glory.
The carving of the seat is exquisite, and the gilded surface is bright and brilliant, inlaid with amber, jade and emerald.
Moreover, each chair is different and dazzles each other, with the royal family members to which they belong sitting on them.
Some looked angry, some were trembling, some could still maintain a trace of elegance in the panic, and some were still as tired and world-weary as ever, as if they were sick.
The merchants and nobles stood on the marble floor, but they no longer had the usual humility and gentleness, and their speech was no longer the way and tone advocated by the people of Qarth, which was stern and urgent.
"We support you as kings, descendants of the ancient kings and queens of Qarth, but when important things happen, you are of no use at all!"
"The reputation of Qarth has been ruined by them. There is a saying everywhere that making money from the royal family is harder than milking a stone cow. They even provide poisonous wine to guests."
"Marthos Marajoven, if only he had not been killed, Mathos the Fearless, what a pity he died!"
Amid this mass of complaints and anger, a thin figure walked in from outside the hall.
He wore flowing purple silk, a silver necklace studded with amethysts, and a black and white pearl hanging from his nose.
"Everyone, the royal family is the king of Qarth, not the king of Dothraki. No matter how smart, wise, brave and fearless they are, they cannot let the Dothraki retreat to their own country."
The visitor scanned everyone with sharp eyes and pointed out the facts in an unceremonious tone:
"Although we are not sure whether the dragon is related to the Dothraki outside the city, we have to prepare for the worst. The outer wall has been destroyed by the dragon, and there is nothing that can stop the middle and inner walls. Its fire and claws."
"A smart person would not stay here in the hope of confronting the Dothraki and restoring peace and prosperity to Qarth."
Everyone looked in the direction of the visitor's finger. There was a port where thousands of ships were vying to cross. Merchant ships from all over the world were scrambling to escape from Qarth.
"Xaro, do you have any good ideas? I propose to find the dragon and Dothraki generals and hire Regrets to assassinate them!"
A businessman from the Ancient Spice Guild spoke first.
This organization is very powerful, with nearly 1,300 ships. Their style of conduct is also very radical, and they often fight against other organizations.
"This behavior is inappropriate. Once assassination is used, there will be no room for relaxation between us and the Dothraki."
"That's right, send people to find the dragon and let the royal family do it. It's time for them to dedicate themselves to Qarth!"
Businessmen from the Tourmaline Brotherhood thought that the assassination was too radical and put forward new ideas, which scared the royal family sitting in high positions to tremble all over. The dragon would not be kind to their identities.
The Brotherhood is a powerful merchant guild in Qarth, with approximately more than 800 ships. They are not as tough as the Spice Guild, but they are not gentle either.
At this time, the man named Zaro finally spoke. He suddenly stood up and said in a bell-like voice:
"Please allow me to ask you, why don't we ask for help from the Palace of the Immortal? Magical creatures like dragons in ancient songs have come true. Who should we ask for help? Who should we ask to help us deal with the evil dragon?"
Everyone realized that it was not without reason that the merchants in the hall were the best. They immediately turned their attention to the Palace of Immortality.
It is the gathering place and center of power of the Immortals, which is the honorific title given to the wizards of Qarth. They are highly respected, even feared, in the eastern world.
However, the power and prestige of wizards have gradually declined over the centuries, and their remaining role in Qarth is probably similar to that of the maesters in Westeros.
Therefore, they sip the water of Night Shadow every day in an attempt to restore their magic power.
But compared with their predecessors, they are still nothing but empty shells, leaving only the nickname "Qarth Blue Lips".
That is a side effect of long-term drinking of potion, and eventually even the skin and the whites of the eyes will turn blue.
But things are different now. The dragon has appeared, and the wizard may no longer be a loser who only reads rotten scrolls.
Thinking of this, the businessmen immediately had new ideas, but they suddenly became hesitant again.
It’s the fear of the unknown and the imminent loss of power.
The Immortals were once powerful, and there was a saying in Qarth: "A wizard's house is made up of bones and lies." Qarthians lowered their voices when talking about wizards.
But to be honest, they have not respected wizards much in the past hundred years. They feel that wizards are as ridiculous as those weak veterans who only show off their bravery, regardless of the fact that their strength and skills have long since left them.
This disrespect made the merchants even more afraid, and they all looked at Zhalo.
His full name is Zhalo Zhanwang Dasos, from the Thirteen Giants.
This organization, as the name suggests, has thirteen members, and Zhalo is one of them, and is also the representative of the organization.
Although they only have thirteen people, they have thousands of ships and are the most prominent force in Qarth.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhalo did not refuse, and stood up and said:
"Everyone, this is not the time to be afraid or worry too much. We must ask for help from the immortals. Please consider my suggestion. I can take those who are willing to follow me to the Immortal Palace together."
Everyone nodded and shook their heads hurriedly. They agreed with Zhalo's suggestion, but they were not willing to follow him to the Immortal Palace.
In the end, Zhalo came alone and left alone.
Leaving the other merchants standing motionless in the palace, their eyes flickering, their heads turning constantly, and I don’t know what they are thinking.
As soon as Zha Luo walked out of the Hall of Thousand Seats, he was stopped by someone, who reminded him:
"You must be especially careful with Blue Lips, they are all cold-hearted people."
"If the wizard's spell could take a person's life, we would have been dead bodies long ago."
Zha Luo's tone and voice were full of distrust of the immortals.