Lo Quen merely lifted a hand, and two Dragon Soul Guards stepped forward, swiftly binding the pampered members of the Pureborn.
"Let me go, you damned Yi Ti people! Qarth will never submit!"
Igon Emeros struggled violently, his bloated face contorted with rage. He tried to claw at the guards with hands heavy with jeweled rings, only for the cold chains to cinch even tighter around him.
Sandor Clegane stepped forward with a feral grin.
He did not even bother drawing his sword, instead driving a brutal punch straight into Igon Emeros's abdomen.
"Gah!"
Emeros let out a muffled cry of pain and collapsed to his knees.
Lo Quen walked up to him and looked down at the once-arrogant Pureborn, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Do you really believe the dignity of your Pureborn houses matters more than the survival of Qarth? How foolish. Without parasites like you clinging to its flesh, Qarth would still be a city of wealth and spice. Merchant ships would still come and go. The markets would still roar with life.
"But without Qarth… you so-called Pureborn would be nothing. Just a herd of fat sheep that have lost their pen. That is what you truly fear. You are afraid of losing the privileges and riches you have sucked dry for a thousand years."
Igon Emeros lifted his head, his eyes filled with venom, but he no longer had the strength to argue back.
Lo Quen ignored them after that. He immediately sent men to the foot of Qarth's walls to announce that the Pureborn had been captured and to order the city to open its gates.
When the news spread through the city, the leaders of The Thirteen, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, and the Ancient Spice Guild quickly gathered to confer.
Facing the massive army outside the walls and the dragons circling overhead, these shrewd merchants soon showed their practical nature. Resistance meant annihilation. Surrender, on the other hand, might preserve their wealth and perhaps even earn them a place in the new order.
Half an hour later, Qarth's massive outer gates slowly creaked open.
Luo Wen led the vast army into the unimaginably wealthy city.
The streets were packed with Qarth's common folk, their faces filled with a mix of fear and curiosity. They had fair skin and wore brightly colored garments of strange and exotic cuts. The women, in particular, wore robes with boldly revealing designs across the chest.
Lo Quen, riding Blooddancer, flew directly over the city walls and descended into the largest square at the city's center.
Blooddancer's enormous body and thunderous roar sent the surrounding Qarth people dropping to their knees in terror, none daring to lift their heads.
Soon after, several Queens descended one by one into the square.
Their breathtaking beauty, intertwined with the overwhelming presence of the dragons, left every Qarth onlooker deeply shaken.
Representatives of the merchant guilds, led by The Thirteen, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, and the Ancient Spice Guild, lined up trembling as they came forward to offer their welcome.
Among them, a bald man with milky-white skin and a massive jewel set into his nose forced a humble smile. He stepped forward, bowed deeply, and spoke with exaggerated reverence.
"Great Dragonlord! I am Xaro Xhoan Daxos. Welcome to Qarth! Your arrival is like the blazing sun dispersing the clouds, bringing an end to the Pureborn's endlessly greedy tyranny! Qarth is a city of commerce. What we desire is free trade and a permissive environment, not the Pureborn's ceaseless exploitation and arrogance. Seeing their fate today, I… I cannot help but grieve for the suffering Qarth once endured…"
As he spoke, he even managed to squeeze out a few tears, dabbing at his eyes with a silk handkerchief.
"Please forgive me, Your Grace. We Qarth are naturally emotional people, easily moved by beauty and brought to tears by painful memories."
His tone was utterly sincere, as though he truly supported Lo Quen's rule from the depths of his heart.
He then accepted an exquisitely crafted traditional Qarth women's robe from a slave behind him. Holding it up with both hands, his face piled high with obsequious smiles, he said,
"Your Grace, this is one of Qarth's most celebrated traditions. When worn, this elegant robe enhances a woman's nobility and beauty. I had it specially made as a gift for your esteemed Queens. I humbly ask that they wear this garment, a symbol of Qarth's highest reverence, and receive the homage of the entire city. That would be the greatest honor Qarth could know!"
The robe was indeed magnificent. The silk was smooth, the embroidery intricate and lavish.
But its cut, especially the deliberately exposed design across the chest, struck Lo Quen as nothing short of a grave insult to him and his Queens.
He recalled how Daenerys had once worn similar attire here in the original story, and a nameless fury surged up within him.
Lo Quen's expression hardened as he fixed his gaze on Xaro.
"The traditions of Qarth are worthy of commanding me and my Queens?" he said coldly. "Xaro Xhoan Daxos, you have one thing very wrong. It is Qarth that now submits to me, not me humoring your backward customs. In my eyes, this garment is nothing but an insult to me and my Queens!"
He snapped his hand downward.
"Guards! Take him!"
Several Dragon Soul Guards moved at once, seizing Xaro in an instant.
The sudden reversal terrified Xaro out of his wits. The robe slipped from his hands and fell to the ground as he cried out in panic.
"Your Grace, please quell your anger! This… this is merely a tradition our Qarth people have upheld for a thousand years. There was absolutely no intention to insult you! Please, for the sake of Qarth opening its gates willingly, grant us your mercy!"
"Hopelessly stubborn!"
Lo Quen looked down at him, then swept his gaze across the surrounding Qarth merchants and civilians, all dressed in similar traditional clothing, their faces pale with fear. The sight of the women with their chests deliberately exposed only deepened his revulsion.
He raised his voice, and it rang out across the entire square.
"From this day forward, there will be no such thing as Qarth traditional attire. In Qarth, and in every land under my rule, all Qarth people will wear Yi Ti clothing and Yi Ti headgear. All former Qarth garments and adornments are hereby abolished. Those who defy this order will be executed!"
The moment the words fell, the Dragon Soul Guards tasked with enforcing the decree noticed Lo Quen's icy gaze settle on Xaro, who was still begging for mercy. They understood at once.
One guard drew his Valyrian steel sword without hesitation. Cold light flashed.
"No—!"
Xaro Xhoan Daxos's plea was cut off mid-cry.
His jewel-studded bald head separated from his body in an instant and rolled across the ground. Blood sprayed outward, soaking the magnificent robe he had just offered and splattering across the smooth stone pavement.
Every Qarthian present stood frozen in shock.
They had never imagined that this conqueror would not only reject their traditions, but crush them outright with such brutal finality, forcibly imposing foreign customs upon them.
Keep your head, lose your clothes. Keep your clothes, lose your head!
Standing to the side, Luo Wen watched the scene unfold and could not help voicing his concern in a low tone.
"Your Grace, is enforcing a change of dress by force not too severe? After all, they opened the gates willingly and spared us the fire and blood of a siege."
Lo Quen turned to look at him.
"Luo Wen, remember this. The Qarthians are merchants to their core, driven purely by profit. They opened their gates not out of loyalty, but because we have dragons and their Pureborn are already in our hands. As for the change of dress…"
He paused, his voice calm but cutting.
"A people's clothing and customs are the outward expression of their spirit. They are the backbone of a culture. Break that backbone and force them to accept a new order, and it is far more effective than slaughtering them all. I do not want a crowd of merchants who might betray us the moment profit beckons. I want them to remember, deep in their bones, who the true masters are."
He did not voice the other, more personal reason.
Years ago, he himself had been sold to Volantis by Qarth merchants. And now, for Xaro to dare present clothing that exposed his Queens so shamelessly had left him with nothing but contempt for this place. Showing mercy had never crossed his mind.