The king on the Great Wall

Page 195

He put the queen's interests second only to his own life, taught meticulously, assisted Daenerys unselfishly, and helped her avoid traps one after another; he devoted himself to serving the queen. To make suggestions for the great cause of the unification of the country, to win over all possible forces with sincerity, and to fight against Varys who has evil intentions openly...

Everything he did was fighting for one goal: to return the Queen to the Iron Throne.

It's just such a simple, non-malicious goal and desire, but it happens to meet unreliable accomplices.

I will not mention Daenerys, due to the side effects of the real dragon blood, her wisdom and temper are jumping back and forth between the "virtuous king" and the "mad king", sometimes wise and decisive to accept advice, sometimes loyal It doesn't matter, it comes out when you think about it...it looks like a dragon when you think about it, and no one can tell what she will do next.

It was not easy for her to get back the loyalty of the Night Watchman and the support of the Land Grant Army by her blind cat and dead mouse. Petyr thought he had finally found an ally with good sense and ability, whoever thought it would be a coincidence The master who will explode on sparks——Varys' slight provocation can make Iger go crazy in public, commit crimes, and even scare his own accomplice... With this emotional management ability and self-cultivation, If you really want to take him to the Seven Kingdoms, besides fighting, what else can you expect from him?

Anger returned to anger, but Petyr, who had already withstood the test of Daenerys' temper, remained sober.

He understands that with his background, family strength, and dark history, he has no qualifications to change his family and the freedom to choose allies. Even if he feels that his allegiance is not clear and his teammates are bastards, he can only treat them like giant babies. Stroking along the fur, carefully comforting and inducing, pulling the Queen and the Land Grant Army in the right direction bit by bit.

and many more.

After a quick mental struggle, he suddenly realized that he should ask one more question.

"Will His Majesty attend this luncheon?"

"No, the commander-in-chief said it was just the three of you."

Petyr breathed a sigh of relief: If Daenerys is also invited, then he has to wonder if Iger wants to take the Queen's power away and start a new one, since there is no...

Varys will definitely do something when the nobles from the north arrive. At this critical juncture that must be guarded, he must not waste his energy on dealing with his own people.If you don't accept the invitation today, go face-to-face and make it clear what Iger wants to say and do, and I won't be able to sleep peacefully for the next two days.

He dared not, and could not refuse!

"Go report to your commander and tell me that I will make some preparations and be there later."

After dismissing the messengers of the Land Grant Army, Petyr summoned a few familiar Unsullied and ordered them to go to various parts of the castle to inquire and observe.After learning from their reports that Daenerys was indeed not invited, and that there were no abnormalities in the camps of the Land Grant Army in the city, he gritted his teeth, called two Unsullied, and went to this most likely battle. No good lunch.

……

The scene along the way was the same as in the past. The drillers were practicing, and the dragon feeders were feeding the dragon. When they arrived at the Land Grant Army restaurant, there were even two familiar Unsullied soldiers standing and chatting with Iger’s guards— —The eunuch actually arrived earlier than himself.

It seems that even an octospider with supernatural powers would not dare to openly offend a lord leading an army in this unreliable Winterfell city.

With a mocking attitude, he opened the door and entered the house, took off his hung coat, and Petyr glanced at the situation in the dining room: it was obvious that the rearranged room, the air was warmed by the fireplace, and it was usually used for officers to have meals. The tables and stools have all been moved to the wall and piled up together, leaving only the last table in the open space in the center, on which there are rich wine, meat, vegetables and water.

There is neither a mezzanine darkroom nor a screened wardrobe, and the layout is clear at a glance—it cannot hide half an ambush.

As for those who were not hiding, apart from a servant standing by the table, there were only the Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watch and the Chief Intelligence Officer who had already taken their seats.Petyr was keenly aware that the last vacant chair was opposite the eunuch, while Egger was sitting at the end of the long table, at the same distance from the other two... on the main seat that symbolized neutrality.

This is not a good signal, but he can't guess what it means for the time being.

"The trifles are delayed, and I am a little late. Please forgive me, two adults."

Petyr apologized, but he walked straight to the remaining empty seat with a big grin - after all, he is the Queen's Hand, and his status is half a level higher than the other two, no matter how uneasy and nervous he is, as long as the knife does not If he stabs it in the stomach, he can't show his timidity.

"It's time, please sit down, Prime Minister." Iger nodded and said, then turned to the attendant: "Pour wine."

Petyr sat down in the chair, watched silently as the attendants circled around with the jug and poured wine for everyone present, each with their own thoughts, no one said the first sentence, but took the first action.

"My lords, good afternoon." Iger cleared his throat and stood up from his seat after the three glasses were filled with wine and began to steam, and waved his hand to let the attendant leave. The two of you are invited to have lunch because I have discovered some problems that exist within His Majesty’s imperial court—that is, among the three of us. Out of loyalty to the Queen, I feel that it needs to be resolved as soon as possible.”

Even with the minds of Varys and Petyr, they couldn't guess what kind of medicine was sold in Aiger's gourd. Naturally, they couldn't talk about receiving and responding. They just watched Iger quietly, waiting for his next move. if.

"After several conversations with the Prime Minister, combined with my observation and analysis over the past few days, I now have reason to make a judgment: the two of you are 'whether you want to recognize the identity of Prince Aegon', and 'what attitude should you take? Only when there are differences and disagreements on these two issues, will there be conflicts, and then this antagonism will be brought to the north, and it will be mixed into the advice and suggestions for the queen." Egger Putting his hands on the table, leaning forward slightly, relying on the advantage of standing, he looked down at the expressions of the two sitting people, and then continued, "Excuse me, I think this kind of bringing personal feelings to work What you have done here is very disrespectful and stupid, which damages the status and image of the two adults, and even makes me doubt your loyalty to His Majesty. Therefore, today I decided to use a completely neutral attitude and act as a mediator to resolve the issue. The bad situation and mentality between the two who opposed each other for the sake of opposition made this royal servant return to the right path of reason and wisdom in serving the Queen."

……

The firewood crackled slightly in the fireplace, and the chatter between the soldiers of the land army and Varys Petyr, the two Unsullied guards, could be faintly heard across the wall. Varys secretly glanced at Petyr for no reason. , but found that the other party seemed to be more at a loss than himself.

For the first time since Daenerys landed on the shores of the Crabclaw Peninsula in Kingland to announce her official return to Westeros, they were all on the same page at the same time.

What nonsense are you talking about, the goddamn night watchman?

The two of them are nothing... Couples who have conflicts on non-principle issues due to lack of communication and become emotional, and lack of mutual trust and understanding lead to marriage crisis. They need the guidance, consultation and mediation of a third party-just the opposite: They have a thorough familiarity and understanding of each other, guessed about each other's thoughts and goals, and clearly realized that each other's interests are opposite and the conflicts are too great to be reconciled... Only then are they driven by reason Next, calmly and without emotion classify the other party as an "enemy".

This kind of confrontation is endless, as long as one party does not surrender or completely fails and is eliminated, it cannot be resolved. Now, someone actually called them here in a serious manner and said that he would mediate for them?

It's really a big joke in the world!

However, the person who was doing this was someone they would never dare to laugh at right now.The Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watchman may be a little irritable and irritable, but he is by no means a fool, and he decided to do this stupid thing after calming down for a whole day and night. What kind of thoughts and plans did he have, but it really called the other two in the room... ... The first and second cunning people in the Seven Kingdoms are completely unable to figure it out.

-

Chapter 550

If you can't guess it, you can't guess it, but Littlefinger and the eunuch have seen so many worlds, so naturally they won't easily become "masters" who were beaten to death by random punches.Once again, they unanimously chose a coping strategy that would never go wrong: respond to all changes with the same, make a fortune in silence, and wait for the next article.

Varys and Petyr didn't dare to offend Iger at the moment, they were not afraid of him personally, but the soldiers of the Land Grant Army, but if the night watchman thought he could fool them with tricks, he would be too confident.

After a pause, Iger spoke again.

"Master Varys advocated the marriage between the Queen and Aegon, hoping to integrate the power of the last two Targaryens, win over the Reach and Dorne, and make the process of the Dragon Dynasty's reunification of the Seven Kingdoms smoother. There is nothing wrong with that. "

"Lord Petyr firmly opposes it because he is worried that after His Majesty marries with her, he will be controlled or evacuated by her husband and king due to her gender disadvantage, which will cause the power to fall, and the Queen's status will exist in name only... This consideration is also reasonable."

Of course, the matter is not that simple. He knew the truth clearly in his stomach, and chose to turn a blind eye to it because—if he really analyzed it deeply and found out that the contradictions between the two parties cannot be reconciled, then the excuse of mediation would be useless.

"The two lords have great wisdom and experience, and they are both serving the queen. Do you plan to be hostile to each other and attack each other for the rest of your life just because of such a disagreement... treat your colleagues as Qiu Kou, are you wasting your precious time and energy in internal fighting?"

Putting the cart before the horse, disregarding cause and effect, full of nonsense...

After listening to his call, Varys and Petyr were still in a fog.

Disagreement on Aegon's issue is just a small but inevitable intuitive manifestation of the conflict of interests between the two. How did it become the source of conflict in Iger's mouth?

Is this trying to fool yourself by talking nonsense?Varys didn't bother to guess whether Iger really couldn't see through it or was pretending to be stupid. Anyway, as long as the other party didn't mobilize the land-grant army or order Melisandre to force it, nothing would shake his determination to eradicate obstacles.

If you want to play, I will play with you.

"Then, what is your opinion, Commander-in-Chief?"

Ignoring the vivid smirk on the eunuch's smooth face, Iger shrugged and gave the answer: "It's very simple. Your Majesty and Prince Aegon are two living people. They have sentience, thoughts, and feelings. It is by no means a simple 'black and white'-either give up the throne or become enemies. In this era when the real dragons have withered away, there is no need to fight to the death, we try to find a way for the queen and the prince If we take a step back and ensure that His Majesty enjoys the benefits of forming an alliance with him, while mitigating the disadvantages of acknowledging his identity as much as possible, wouldn't everyone be happy?"

Under the eyes of the two audience members, the Night Watchman continued to speak in a continuous manner.

"After I came up with this idea, I conducted some investigations, and first discovered an important detail: Aegon actually landed in Westeros earlier than His Majesty, but he has not officially become king yet, and is still in Rhaegar. The son of Targaryen—a nephew, a 'crown prince' rather than a 'king', communicating with His Majesty through envoys and letters, peacefully coexisting on this continent." The dining room has become the commander-in-chief's personal stage, he He didn't intend to observe the expressions of the other two banquet participants, take care of their feelings, or wait for their response, "I'm a foreigner, and I don't know much about the customs and habits of Westeros, but in Caina where I come from, this kind of Actively showing weakness in politics, lowering one's status to avoid disputes, is a strong signal of goodwill and goodwill. Just for this kindness, I think His Majesty should at least give Prince Aegon a chance to meet her and prove his identity , this is what he deserves!"

……

Varys was even more confused.

(Does this guy really think so, or is he pretending to fight the injustice, but in fact he is deceiving himself?)

If it's the former, a living ally who commands the strongest army north of the Neck is of course far more useful than a dead former Lord Commander of the Night's Watch... Otherwise, remove him from "must eradicate" off the list?

Even with his octospider's judgment and concentration, he really moved his heart. For a moment, his murderous intentions towards Iger almost disappeared, but this weakness only lasted half a second before he was smashed by his heart of stone. A pulpy.

Now he doesn't have the mind and energy to bet on what the commander-in-chief of the night watchman thinks: the other party has soldiers, food and territory, and holds real strength and power.This means that even if Egger really supports the Queen's reception of Aegon at the moment, if he wants to go back on his decision to prevent the Queen from acknowledging Aegon's identity and marrying him once his interest needs are not met in the future, he has no obvious means to do so. against him.

Instead of killing Littlefinger out of a momentary fluke and greed, one day he will have to devise a new plan to deal with this timid and cautious person, why not take advantage of this opportunity to kill both of them, Once and for all!

The eunuch had made up his mind, but the eunuch showed a happy and approving smile: "Who said no, I persuaded His Majesty in the same way before, but unfortunately I finally persuaded the queen to let go, and was haunted by strange ghosts to invade the Great Wall again. It's messed up! Hmm... the prime minister is firmly opposed to it, but you're trying to persuade him?"

……

Iger nodded, turned to look at Petyr, his posture seemed to be asking for advice, but for some reason, an inexplicable coercion spread over the dining table.

Littlefinger quietly swallowed his saliva and stabilized his heartbeat.

(This guy, is he really turning his back on the dead eunuch, or is he playing tricks to fool Varys, so as to trick him into giving up playing tricks in the upcoming loyalty ceremony of the northern nobles?)

If it's the former, then losing an ally and adding an enemy is simply terrible; if it's the latter, it's self-assertive and naive to stupid, and it's a complete pig teammate. A phone call to coax people to change their minds?

He thought about it, and came up with an inexplicable argument: "If Prince Aegon is true, he is naturally entitled to be received by the Queen. But the fact is: His Majesty has never heard of or understood him since he was born, let alone We met... nearly 20 years have passed, whether it is true or false, who can tell, and what can prove it?"

"Lord Varys rescued him from the Red Keep with his own hands, and Earl Connington pulled him up with his own hands. I believe he is real, Lord Petyr." Iger interrupted Little Finger with a sullen face, looking down condescendingly, His right hand moved to his waist casually, but happened to press it on the hilt of the sword: "Whether it is true or not, Your Majesty knows it well, if you insist on discussing this topic, then forgive me for my incompetence, and I will not be able to discuss it." This mediation... is going on!"

Petyr was terrified.He came from a humble background, and in the process of trying to climb up, he encountered countless threats and intimidations that were more direct than this one, but he was seldom really intimidated like today.In addition to being forced by the more obvious might of the other party than Daenerys, the more important reason is to know this point—Iger, at this moment, there is really a reason, motivation and ability to turn the threat into reality. If you say something wrong, you may lose your life.

This kid didn't want to do any "mediation" at all, but to force Varys and himself to obey him obediently - when the monarch everyone is loyal to has not left the castle, or even is nearby!

Rao was well-informed with Petyr, and he never thought that people could be so arrogant and arrogant.And myself, I actually thought of this person as my little brother before!While secretly smacking his tongue, he also secretly decided in his heart: No matter what Iger said next, he agreed to it. There is no need to take the risk of arguing with a lunatic before returning to the protection of the Southern Unsullied Army. .

"As you wish, Lord Commander." Littlefinger shrugged, "I have no objection to the queen's reception of Prince Aegon, but then, what you said before - 'a solution to the disadvantages of recognizing his identity', again Where is it?"

"After seeing Aegon, will your Majesty recognize his Targaryen origin and whether to form an alliance with him... As subjects, we can only give advice, and the queen should make the decision herself. But women are more important than men. After all, there are too many disadvantages. In order to prevent the loss and transfer of power from Your Majesty, we, as the Queen's staff, should work closely together and reach a complete agreement with the outside world: Regardless of whether Your Majesty and Aegon form an alliance or marriage, after marriage, the Queen will be the leader. Zun still shares the throne and governs the Seven Kingdoms. The first prime minister of the new dynasty must be Petyr Baelish. Among the first batch of important ministers, the number of the queen's direct subordinates must also exceed half. how?"

……

Hey, is this a trick of hitting a stick and giving a candy?

Having someone from the Queen's team as Prime Minister and in charge of the Queen's Court is indeed a good way to stop the loss of power to the spouse - ideally.

But how can the reality be so simple?

To put it lightly-what is the function of the prime minister, and the extent of the power of the imperial council, isn't it the king above who has the final say?As long as you make a small plan to override the first two, even if you are the prime minister for the rest of your life, the imperial council will be full of Queen's people, so what?

And think about it more seriously... For many nobles, especially kings, "wife" is just a tool used to stabilize the rule, give birth to heirs, and create heirs. There is a case where the wife is secretly poisoned and killed immediately after giving birth. , Is it still rare throughout the ages?Once the Queen "died unexpectedly" and lost her backer, what would happen to the loyal Prime Minister who had more power in his hands?

There was a lot to pour out, but Petyr finally resisted the urge to refute and criticize. After a slight hesitation, he nodded slowly but without hesitation: "I have no objection."

Holding the same thought, Varys also smiled and made a look of complete conviction: "I'm afraid the other 'Hand of the Prince' will not be very happy, but I understand Lord Clinton. For the sake of the overall situation, he will agree and made concessions."

A strange situation formed: Although all three regarded the other two as threats, the scene became harmonious.

"Very well, look, it's so simple to reach a consensus, why bother to fight?" Iger's tone relaxed, but he didn't let go of his hand on the hilt, "Since the misunderstanding has been resolved, the mediation will stop here, and we enter The next topic - the families of Mandalay, Glover, Lathwell, Dustin, Talha, Hornwood, and Seven have clearly replied, expressing their willingness to recognize the Queen as the legal ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, Amber The only remaining members of the family have also appeared in the land-grant, and are now under my protection, but the Karstarks have clearly declared that they do not support the queen... Except for these families that have expressed their views, Flint's Finger and Widow's Watch, Old Town And Greywater Watch, and Mormont's house on Bear Island, because it is far away from Winterfell and communication is inconvenient, so there is no news for the time being."

"It's a conservative estimate. In the end... there will be at least one family in the northern border that is our enemy, and two or three families will find excuses and refuse to stand in line." He looked around and raised his voice again: "And my opinion on this is: this A small group of people will not affect the macro fact that we already own the North. The Queen and the Land Grant Army can no longer waste their time in the desolate ice and snow here. Tucker and some scumbags are thrown aside for the time being, and they will be cleaned up after the war-the priority is to go south to conquer the other two-thirds of the kingdom!"

Iger straightened up, stretched his back, and glanced at the two conspirators sitting: "Who is in favor and who is against?"

……

It was so!

Varys and Petyr, who had been in a state of confusion for a long time, finally felt some clues.

The so-called mediation before, the so-called solution to the dispute between the two dragons, are all deceptive means... From the very beginning, Iger's real purpose was to propose this one.He didn't want the land-grant army to continue eating horses and chewing horses in Winterfell to waste food and time, so he deliberately acted as if he couldn't bear it and lost his patience, and used methods of deterrence and psychological pressure to force Varys to—— Create obstacles in the matter of the Southern Expedition!

Petyr is loyal to Daenerys, and naturally he will not object to this obviously correct decision; as for Varys...he has already used the time he successfully bought by persuading the queen to take over the northern border, and has set a trap for the two stumbling blocks .So, no surprise...they all nodded in agreement happily, expressing their support and support for the decision to start the southern expedition as soon as possible.

The mediation was successful, and the request to start the southern expedition as soon as possible was also met. The stern expression on Iger's face finally dissipated, and he let go of the sword hilt at his waist. A smile appeared on his face. He picked up the table Putting the wine glass on the table, he raised his arm to the two people sitting down: "I knew that the two adults were reasonable and would be able to make the right decision. Now, I apologize for the previous rudeness, and let us resolve the conflict and misunderstanding successfully." , and the successful achievement of an important consensus on the Southern Expedition, let's drink this cup together to celebrate!"

Everything seems to be the truth, but for some reason, Varys always feels that there is something wrong. He quickly reviewed everything that happened after entering the room to find out the problem from the details, while lowering his head in Iger's voice, watching To the glass of wine that was poured at the beginning of this luncheon.

The color is light and elegant, the texture is clear, but the aroma is rich and tangy. It is probably the best Qingting Island golden wine, and his plump and round face is reflected on the smooth mirror-like liquid.

Looking at "myself" for half a second, a flash of spiritual light flashed across the cloud-shrouded ocean of consciousness, and the octospider suddenly understood where the strangeness he had sensed came from.

All of the above, from the "mediation" that was completely nonsense at the beginning, to the declaration of the Southern Expedition that seemed to "reveal the true intention" at the end... are actually for this purpose: to distract him and Petyr's attention, Finally tricked them into drinking this glass of wine!

-

Chapter 551

There is poison in the wine!

In an instant, Varys and Petyr made the same judgment next to each other. They looked at each other quietly—they were obviously irreconcilable enemies, but now they were on the same boat, and they were in the same boat. On the contrary, there was a feeling of sorrow for the death of the rabbit and the fox, and the feeling of hurting its own kind.

This bastard is murderous!But for the two who became the targets, guessing that there is something wrong with the wine is only the first step to escape. They have to think about it next: If they refuse to drink this glass of wine...

Does Iger have a backup plan?

Will he become angry from embarrassment and turn to force?

Are the Night's Watch prepared for the Queen's suspicion and wrath?

The four Unsullied brought by the two outside the door, caught off guard, can they deal with twice as many Land Grant Army soldiers?

The atmosphere that had suddenly become extremely harmonious one second ago fell into the deadly silence of a pitch-black ice cave the next moment. The two top power players who had been in the power field for decades were both chilled and stiff, and they began to frantically Think about ways to escape.

Varys reached into the hem of his shirt with trembling hands, and took hold of the dagger hidden in his bosom.

Want to kill me?It's not that easy!

The world only knows that the eight-clawed spider is the chief intelligence officer of the two kings, Aerys Targaryen and Robert Baratheon, but few people know about its life trajectory before it came to Westeros.

He is not a weak scholar who is pampered and has no strength to restrain a chicken.

Because of the thin blood of the black fire, he was discovered by a blood mage when he was young and selected as a material for casting spells. The enigmatic being made the sacrifice and received a response.

However, after being driven out on the street with a wound that was not even bandaged and left to fend for himself, he did not choose to surrender to fate and accept death obediently, but survived strongly, and began to rely on begging, stealing and even selling himself To make a living... Relying on his clever mind and agility, he soon became a well-known thief.

After Mir was targeted and couldn't get along, he drifted to Pentos and became friends with Illyrio, who was just a young assassin at the time.

During the difficult years when they were upgraded from thieves to thieves, then promoted to thieves, and finally became well-known information dealers and local snakes, half of the thieves in Pentos wanted to kill them, and the other half sold their stolen goods through them... In the process, Varys not only understood the truth that "the value of information is far above gold and gems", and thus accumulated considerable wealth and ambitions, but also learned many methods to deal with others, and concluded that he could save his own life. A set of basic principles--among which are incomparable caution, careful observation and judgment, and the maintenance of a certain level of force.

That's right, although he looks bloated and inconvenient to move, he can actually skillfully use various weapons ranging from bed crossbows, catapults, down to slingshots and daggers, and his level is definitely above the average; not only that, In addition to taking a bath, he will definitely wear a layer of top-quality soft armor under his clothes and a pocket dagger on hot days... Of course, he can't get on the stage when participating in martial arts competitions, but in a small space with bad frames and Desperate, ordinary people will pay the price in blood if they think he is an eunuch and a fat man and underestimate the enemy carelessly!

But today, could this little preparation save his life?