Take the white-bearded man currently in disguise, Barristan, for example. He had served four monarchs and three royal houses, and now seemed to be seeking employment with a fifth master—Daenerys.
Was his record more scandalous than Lu Bu's, the notorious turncoat of the Three Kingdoms?
Not really. Setting aside Barristan's merit in suppressing the Ninepenny King's rebellion, and not even mentioning how he had single-handedly saved the Mad King Aerys during the Duskendale riot...
Consider the War of the Usurper. He fought alongside Prince Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident. Rhaegar fell at the Ruby Ford, and Barristan himself did not emerge unscathed. By the time he recovered from his grievous wounds, the Targaryen Dynasty had already fallen.
As for why he didn't kill Robert Baratheon to avenge his former master... remember Prince Duncan the Dragonfowl, the first-generation "engagement-breaker"?
Because Daenerys's great-grandfather Duncan had broken his betrothal to the Baratheon family, the King at the time had no choice but to marry Princess Rhaelle to Storm's End to appease the Duke of Storm's End. Robert was Rhaelle's direct grandson.
In normal times, this distant bloodline would have been utterly useless. But at a critical moment, it provided a convenient excuse for subjects to console themselves into submission to the new king.
"Khaleesi, could you give me a few more wives?" Avanti asked Daenerys, leaning in with a bashful grin.
In the first phase of implementing the marriage system, the few couples chosen as examples were all older Horse People.
Daenerys knew her people's penchant for promiscuity all too well. If she had chosen young couples, the young and beautiful mares would have had several, if not a dozen, lovers. If widespread infidelity were to occur, what would be the point of her "model couples"?
So, she had deliberately paired up a group of older Horse People. The mares, having lost their youthful beauty, were unlikely to have many lovers—Horse People lacked concepts of chastity and marriage, and mares generally wouldn't refuse stallions. Having extra bedfellows was purely to their benefit. And with young, beautiful mares available, who would choose to hold hands with an old stallion?
The old stallions, on the other hand, were too old and lacked the strength for such pursuits.
This way, after marrying, the two old Horse People could live their lives in peace!
"Have you forgotten so soon?" Daenerys glared at the old stallion, brandishing the *Horse People Code* as she rebuked him. "Your signature is on this! You swore an oath to abide by the *Horse People Code*."
"What does the Code say?"
"A Kals is not permitted to marry more than one wife until there is a major war or the gender ratio exceeds 1:1.2!"
In truth, as long as the male-to-female ratio was below 1:1, taking multiple wives would benefit the tribe's development. However, a transition period had to be considered.
If the ratio of unmarried men to women was currently 1:1.01, a single wave of collective second marriages would instantly flip it to 1:0.9 or even higher. Such a sudden shift would only disrupt the Kals' harmony.
"Heh heh heh, I know, I know," Avanti rubbed his hands together, nodding like a chicken pecking at grain. "Khaleesi, there are hardly any old people among the new batch of slaves. I don't know how to calculate that ratio, but there are clearly more women than men!"
Hearing this, Daenerys's expression froze. The old bastard was actually right!
Among the newly joined Horse People, there were almost no old men. Instead, there were many women whose faces were weathered by wind and frost.
*Could it be that women have stronger survival skills than men?*
"Are you even capable?" Jorah sized up the old man, who wore a single pig-tail braid hanging from the back of his head, with a contemptuous gaze. "I see you're already ancient with only a few years left to live. Don't waste what's left of your dwindling lifespan!"
"You—" The old Horseman's face flushed red. If he were a few years younger, he would have drawn his blade and charged.
"Why do you want so many wives?" Daenerys asked.
"To help me raise horses!"
"Aren't your *Niru* all horse herders?"
"Sigh, even as Commander, I still have to work. If I had a few more wives, they could help me herd the horses."
Daenerys asked with a wooden face, "Then what would you do?"
"I'd direct them to feed the horses! I'm old, I don't have many years left to live, so I need to focus on preserving my health," the old man argued plausibly.
*Is this like me directing you to herd horses, sitting in a comfortable office and giving verbal orders?*
Daenerys's lips twitched.
Sir Jorah stared dumbfounded, "This old bastard, what a beautiful dream he has. He wants to be a noble lord!"
"I can allow you to marry two wives, but they must be willing. And given your extravagant lifestyle, you cannot choose wives from the newly joined Horse People. As long as women with white hair born in our original Kals are willing to marry you, you can marry two wives," Daenerys said.
As a result, Avanti asked around, and not a single one was willing to be his wife.
When he asked for the reason, a fifty-something-year-old woman of the Horse People said, "I have my own work assigned by the tribe. Marrying you wouldn't help me with my work, but instead, I'd have to help you herd horses. In Kals, we don't lack food or drink, so why should I suffer with you?"
These words made Avanti's old face blush with shame, and he almost covered his face and fled.
Daenerys, who was next to him, laughed heartlessly, seemingly not worried at all that her "model couples plan" had fallen through.
The Horse People woman had spoken the truth!
The Horse People were savage, that much was true. Kals's backward system was also true. But their primitive society was close to a communal system: the Horse People worked for the tribe, Daenerys ensured everyone had enough to eat and wear, and the old Horse People didn't need to raise children to support them in their old age, nor did they need a spouse to lean on.
At least, that was the case for now.
"Alright, any Horse People woman who marries will be allocated an extra cup of mare's milk wine every morning," Daenerys said, offering a solution after her laughter subsided. "Their husbands cannot snatch their mare's milk wine, nor can they interfere with their work."
Before her voice had even faded, many of the old Horse People women's eyes began to glow.
But Daenerys wasn't finished yet!
"For any marriage formed under the witness of the Great Dragon and myself, the husband must entrust his property to his wife for safekeeping, while the wife has the responsibility to guard her husband's chastity and property. If a child is born, Kals will help raise it and reward the mother with half a jin of horse meat every day."
"Avanti, I'm willing to marry you!" the Horse People woman who had just dismissed the old man with disdain shouted excitedly.
"Avanti, marry me! I know you're poor, but I don't mind!" another old Horse People woman jumped up and down.
"Avanti, I want to marry you! I'll even be your second wife!"
"Avanti—"
In an instant, Avanti, the old bachelor, seemed to have acquired the aura of the Nation's Husband.
"No, I don't want to!" Avanti pleaded, looking at the cheering women Horse People who wanted to marry him. To him, they looked like a swarm of female demons with claws and fangs.
*Yes, demons like the Old Demon of Black Mountain, not Xiaoqian.*
"Khaleesi, I won't get married! I don't want a wife—not even one!" he begged Daenerys, his voice cracking.
"No, you said it yourself: you wanted two wives, and not one less," Daenerys replied, stifling a laugh as she tried to keep a stern face, her tone a mock reprimand.
Ultimately, Avanti resignedly chose two gray-haired women Horse People. Besides him, the twelve old Horse People—herders and craftsmen Niru—also successfully escaped their single status. However, they each chose only one wife.
Afterward, Daenerys called Dahei out and placed him on the table. She sat to one side as the dozen or so joyful women Horse People led their miserable-looking husbands forward in pairs to perform the kowtow ceremony.
They first bowed to Khaleesi, then to Holy Mother Mountain in the northeast, and finally knelt before Dahei.
Dahei did not accept their grand gesture without a return. His paw flew across a sheet of parchment, sketching a portrait of the couple and writing the three characters "Marriage Certificate" in the Chinese script Daenerys had taught him.
Like a printer, Dahei worked at a blistering speed, completing all thirteen marriage contracts in just over half an hour.
To celebrate this epoch-making mass wedding, Daenerys had people go into the city to buy a dozen or so cattle and sheep, and dozens of barrels of wine. From five in the evening until nine at night, the sailors from all four ships let loose and relaxed completely.
Yes, even Youlun, who was locked in a cage, was given a roasted lamb leg and a large jug of wine.
The moon and stars shone faintly in the night sky. To the north, the sea shimmered, reflecting the pale, cold moonlight. To the south, the tops of the towering pyramids glowed with brilliant lights. On the decks, the Horse People and sailors were celebrating, while the great slave lords of Apostta, as they had for countless nights over a thousand years, lived and died in their drunken stupor within the Sky Palace.
The pyramids of Egypt were built for the dead, but the pyramids of Apostta were the residences of the wealthiest slave lords. Their pyramids had no pointed tips; instead, the empty platforms on top were transformed into magnificent hanging gardens.
Every evening at dusk, the Good Lords ordered silk lanterns to be lit on every level of the steps, making all the pyramids glow with colorful lights.
But the streets, squares, and arenas at the bottom were plunged into darkness. One could imagine that in the darkest of the barracks, some young boys were feeding leftovers to little dogs—pets they had received on the day they were castrated.
Even from the merchant ship, Daenerys and her companions could see yachts adorned with colorful lanterns drifting slowly down the Worm River. Faintly, the sounds of soft music and the laughter of men and women reached their ears.
These Ghis slave lords would moor their yachts by the small islands in the river. Young men and women with black and red hair, their robes fluttering, strolled along the shallow shores, indulging in endless feasts, fine wine, and adult pleasures, utterly unconcerned by the gaze of others.
On the upper deck, Daenerys gazed at the distant, decadent lights and remarked, "The lives of the Astaporian slave lords are more extravagant than even the Trade Princes of the Free Cities."
"The Good Masters' sky-high pyramids are built upon the bones of countless slaves," Whitebeard said, his brow furrowed. "The crimson wine in their cups is like the blood of their slaves. Brick and blood built Astapor, and brick and blood built her people. A Maester taught me that ancient poem when I was a child. Until now, I never knew its description was so true."
"Your Highness, you may not wish to hear this, but I must still urge you against purchasing those slave soldiers. Anyone who participates in the slave trade is guilty of a crime. That is also what the Maester told me. The buyer fuels the market; purchasing slaves actively promotes the slave trade."
"Haha, how rare," Jorah said with a wry smile. "Ordinary people aren't privy to a Maester's teachings."
Daenerys smiled faintly. "Astam, I have already made my decision."
"Sigh..." The white-bearded man tapped his cane lightly, clearly unsettled.
"Apostta's defenses are so lax," she asked, seemingly in passing. "Why hasn't Kals sacked it yet?"
"Your Highness, there are two reasons." Jorah walked to the railing, looking down at the boisterous Horse People on the lower deck. "First, Apostta has Unsullied. The story of three thousand Unsullied defending Kohor is true."
"Second, Slaver's Bay is close to the Dothraki Sea, making it convenient for Khals to come here to sell slaves. A stable trade relationship has already been established between the two parties."
"Why do the Horse People sack cities?"
"For nothing more than gold, silver, and slaves."
"If they were to enslave the people of a slave city, who could the Horse People sell those slaves to?"
"Furthermore, just as the Magisters of Pentos, Norvos, and Myr do, the Sons of the Harpy will only host banquets for passing Horse Kings and bestow upon them lavish gifts."
"And after receiving the gifts, the Khals will quickly continue on their way, because they have already obtained what they wanted—at a far smaller cost than attacking a city."
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