As a former magnate of Kohor, Kos Soed now looked much older, his face devoid of its former arrogance and confidence, with only fear and unease in his eyes, no other superfluous emotions.
When he was brought to Lynd's study and saw Lynd, he immediately knelt down, bowing to Lynd with unprecedented humility.
After signing the documents in his hand, Lynd handed them to an attendant to be sent to Moose, then looked at Kos Soed, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "A person's character, formed over a lifetime, cannot change in just a few months. It doesn't matter to me whether you have truly submitted or are merely feigning submission."
Saying this, he pulled a piece of paper from his desk and threw it to Kos, saying, "This is how your people will be dealt with. Take a look! Go persuade your clansmen; I don't want anyone to cause trouble during the process."
Old Kos quickly picked up the paper from the ground and read it carefully, word by word. The fear and unease on his face gradually dissipated, and the immense emotional fluctuation made him unable to maintain his composure, causing him to burst into tears.
On the journey from Kohor to Summerhall, old Kos had already prepared for the worst, because if such a thing happened to him, he would never forgive the thieves and their families. He would deal with them using the most cruel methods, making everyone who knew about it fear him and dare not repeat it.
Therefore, on the way, many people in the family had already committed suicide due to the unbearable pressure, which forced the escorts to protect them; otherwise, if they were all dead by the time they reached Summerhall, the escorts would not be able to explain themselves.
When they were imprisoned in Summerhall, all their family's servants, hired laborers, and so on were taken away. Afterward, distant relatives, collateral branches, and so on were also taken away, leaving only the family members imprisoned, with no news. This invisible pressure also caused some clan members to commit suicide.
Kos also wanted to commit suicide, but he dared not, not because he was afraid of death, but because he worried that if he, the culprit, died, Lynd would vent his anger on others.
In fact, his humble bow to Lynd just now was completely sincere, because Lynd summoning him to the castle was a release for him.
And his current emotional breakdown, weeping bitterly, was not only due to extreme emotional fluctuations but more so for the clan members who had died on the road and in prison.
Lynd did not impose the death penalty on the Zoid family; instead, according to their respective abilities, he dispersed them to various territories controlled by Summerhall to serve their sentences. The farthest were assigned to the Stepstones, and the closest were in Redemption Town.
Their sentences ranged from several months to several years. Old Kos and a few other Zoid family leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment, spending their lives in the Tranquil Court's library, responsible for copying books, cleaning, and other tasks. After serving their sentences, they could leave Summerhall or continue to live in Summerhall.
Lynd had never intended to execute the Zoid family. What he wanted were the artisans, scholars, and the thousand-year family heritage under the Zoid family. The Zoid family members and others were just incidental. Now that the Zoid family had been completely emptied by him, their wealth and books were stored in the treasury, and their talents were dispersed throughout Summerhall. Therefore, he no longer needed to keep the Zoid family imprisoned.
He was also not at all worried that the Zoid family members would rise again after serving their sentences and leaving, because it was impossible for the Zoid family to regain their former power. They would only become more miserable, not better, after leaving Summerhall.
In fact, there were many intelligent people in the Zoid family. The vast majority recognized the reality and did not resist the subsequent arrangements, honestly accepting the assignments. They even worked hard during their sentences, showcasing their talents and abilities, striving to be hired by suitable departments after their sentences ended.
It didn't matter to Lynd whether these Zoid family members truly abandoned their hatred and worked for him, or whether they were biding their time, infiltrating various departments of Summerhall, and seeking to rise again, as long as they diligently did their work at hand.
After resolving the various matters of the Zoid family, Lynd's daily tasks became singular and monotonous: dealing with various miscellaneous affairs, inquiring about the progress of projects such as the Sphinx Academy, various temples, and the Tranquil Court, playing with Augustus, training the Longwing Dragon, and so on. It wasn't until he received a letter from Nameria that his stagnant life saw a ripple.
Since Nameria left Summerhall, she had not sent Lynd any news. Only the people who went with Nameria to Na Sa Star would periodically send back some intelligence, allowing Lynd to generally understand Nameria's situation.
This time, Nameria wrote a letter for the first time. The content of the letter was simple and direct, narrating what had happened since she left Summerhall, with most of the content being about her experiences in Volantis.
What surprised Lynd was that she had actually gotten involved in Volantis's internal politics, and at her urging, the Tiger Party and the Elephant Party had actually resolved their long-standing disputes and reconciled. Moreover, from the hints in her letter, it seemed that Volantis, after the reconciliation, was preparing to attack Tyrosh after the Dothraki left the Disputed Lands.
According to current intelligence, the Dothraki horse king competition in the Disputed Lands was nearing its end. Ultimately, as Lynd had predicted, Drogo became the final victor. According to tradition, he would take his Glory to Vis Dothrak for sacrifice and to meet the Dosh Khaleen for prophecies.
The reason Drogo had not left yet was entirely because he was waiting for Tyrosh, Myr, and Pentos to pay tribute to him and prepare enough provisions. According to the latest intelligence Lynd received, Drogo had as many as 100,000 Dothraki warriors under him, not counting the accompanying slaves. If slaves were included, the number would be at least around 200,000.
Such a massive migration, without sufficient provisions, would undoubtedly be a huge disaster, not only for the army itself but also for the towns along its route, as the Dothraki have always had the custom of living off the land.
Therefore, the merchants sent by Tyrosh, Myr, and Pentos to Westeros to purchase grain increased exponentially. Even Pentos was preparing a large amount of provisions, because under normal circumstances, the Dothraki would definitely go to Pentos after leaving the Disputed Lands, then take the Valyrian Road, pass through Norvos and Kohor, and return to the Dothraki Sea. So, preparing tributes in advance and sending the Dothraki away as soon as possible was Pentos's most important task now.
Because of this, Nameria also asked Lynd in her letter to temporarily dispatch Ge Dohe's people to Na Sa Star to assist her in rebuilding Na Sa Star, to avoid conflict with Drogo and unnecessary casualties.
"Why did Nameria suddenly decide to rebuild Na Sa Star?" Lynd asked the Redemption Sisters who delivered the letter.
"Because when Nameria arrived at Na Sa Star, many Loisne survivors had already gathered at Na Sa Star, and Nameria was immediately elected as the Loisne Queen," the Redemption Sisters said, revealing something Nameria had not written in her letter and was not mentioned in the intelligence sent.
"Elected as the Loisne Queen?" Lynd was completely bewildered by this news, but he quickly sobered up and said with a serious expression, "Explain the process in more detail."
Hearing Lynd's command, the Redemption Sisters, who were protecting Nameria's safety, immediately recounted in detail what she had seen and learned.
It turned out that this matter was related to Lynd. After Lynd reached an agreement with the Old Man of the River, the Old Man of the River conveyed the news of the Loisne Queen's descendant rebuilding Na Sa Star to His followers through dreams.
Among His followers, the vast majority were Loisne descendants. So, through these descendants, the news spread from person to person, eventually reaching all the Loisne survivors living along the Lorne River. Thus, these Loisne people gradually rushed to Na Sa Star, preparing to clear the ruins of Na Sa Star and prepare for its reconstruction.
By the time Nameria arrived at Na Sa Star, tens of thousands of Loisne descendants had already gathered there. When Nameria appeared before them, everyone recognized Nameria from her identical appearance. And at that time, by such a coincidence, the Old Man of the River, who had forged an agreement with Lynd, appeared and bowed to Nameria. A series of coincidences gathered together, making the emotions of all the Loisne people at that time incredibly excited and fervent. Nameria had no choice but to agree to become the Loisne Queen to quell the restless atmosphere.
When this Redemption Sisters left Na Sa Star, 100,000 Loisne descendants had already gathered at Na Sa Star, and it was said that a large number of Loisne people were still arriving, with the final number possibly reaching around 200,000.
After listening to the Redemption Sisters' narration, Lynd couldn't help but rub his forehead, because Lynd's plan was to rebuild Na Sa Star after reclaiming the Disputed Lands, but the sudden situation on Nameria's side completely disrupted his plan. However, he couldn't let Nameria stop the reconstruction and abandon the Loisne people to return, so he had to re-plan some things.
For example, the funds and materials needed for the reconstruction of Na Sa Star were not prepared at all and could only be sourced from other places. Fortunately, the Zoid family's accumulated wealth over a thousand years was extremely substantial, coupled with his own capital reserves and trade profits, which meant Lynd did not have to worry too much about funding issues.
As for materials, it was difficult for him to allocate them from Summerhall, because there were many ongoing projects in Summerhall, and all kinds of materials were already tightly budgeted, with no surplus whatsoever. So he could only purchase them from Volantis and Norvos, and then transport them directly to Na Sa Star via the Lorne River.
Subsequently, for several months, Lynd closely followed developments on Essos, even moving his office to Miracle Port, so that he could be informed and react immediately if anything happened on Essos.
In fact, his approach was very correct. Soon after he moved his administrative center to Miracle Port, Drogo led his Dothraki army out of the Disputed Lands.
However, Drogo did not take the northern Valyrian Road as Lynd had expected. Instead, after receiving the tributes transported by Pentos, he went directly south, along the Orange Coast. Before Volantis could react, he plundered Velys, crossed the Lorne River through the swampy shallows, passed by Volantis City via Sa Mel's Valyrian Road, and then moved towards Slavers Bay along the southern Valyrian Road known as the Demon Road.
Lynd initially did not quite understand Drogo's actions, and it wasn't until various messages came from the Disputed Lands later that he realized Drogo's choice of a more difficult route was entirely due to the impact of some of Lynd's previous actions.
The Greenblood River Orphans sent by Lynd to Ge Dohe and the Loisne people gathered by Nameria at Na Sa Star totaled over 100,000, many of whom were warriors. And such a large force was precisely located near the northern Valyrian Road.
Even though Lynd had already ordered Ge Dohe's people to retreat to Na Sa Star before the Dothraki arrived, the Dothraki did not know this. What Drogo knew was that there were over 100,000 people of unknown intentions stationed in the north.
Although Drogo was known for his bravery, he was not foolish. He knew very well that although he claimed to have 100,000 warriors, only 20,000 to 30,000 of them were truly under his complete control. The remaining tens of thousands were defeated Khals he had temporarily incorporated, who had not yet fully integrated into his Khalasar. These people had low morale and could only wave flags and cheer; pushing them onto the battlefield would only drag him down.
So, after obtaining sufficient provisions, he chose to avoid Nameria and others in the north and take the southern Demon Road, incidentally plundering the towns of Volantis.
In this Dothraki migration, Lynd also indirectly suffered some losses. A portion of the provisions he purchased in Volantis had not yet been transported away and were piled up in Velys, only to be completely seized by the Dothraki. Some people from Summerhall were even captured by the Dothraki.
If there were no other matters, Lynd might have directly led the Miracle Fleet to Slavers Bay to intercept this Dothraki army, rescue his subordinates, and incidentally teach Drogo a lesson by cutting off his braid. But now Lynd's attention was entirely focused on the Disputed Lands, and the captured people could only be rescued through other methods.
Therefore, when Lynd received the news, the Miracle Merchant Guild in Volantis immediately sent a raven to the Miracle Merchant Guild branch in Slavers Bay, instructing them to keep an eye on Drogo's army, because after those Dothraki reached Slavers Bay, they would surely sell off any surplus captives and slaves, and at that time, the Miracle Merchant Guild could redeem the captured people.
Approximately two months after the Dothraki left the Disputed Lands, Lynd sent someone to deliver the previously prepared Tyroshi bonds to the Tyroshi Grand Prince. At the same time, he moved the headquarters of the Miracle Fleet to Black Stone Island and, under the guise of maintaining and repairing the docks, dispatched five thousand Chosen Legion warriors to the Tyrosh port docks.
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