Chapter 192 The Lion's Response
(Volume 3 The Dead Don't Die)
Lancel Lannister rode east along the Green Blood River, and finally a city appeared at the end of the desert—
Yangji City.
He tightened his grip on the horse's belly, speeded up, and soon came to the first level with heavy soldiers.
The road was blocked by a five-foot earthen wall, above which flew the banner of House Lannister with a golden lion on a red background.
Sir Lancel rode forward and said loudly:
"Who is in charge here?"
The captain of the guard soon appeared, recognized the nephew of the Duke of the West, and quickly sent someone to **** him to the army station.
Lancel walked forward in silence, frowning tightly, thinking about how to report to Duke Tywin about what happened in the sky and the city...
The smell of blood filled the air, and carrion crows wandered by the side of the road. Obviously, there has been a battle here recently.
Passing a row of fortifications made of sharpened wooden stakes, Lancel finally saw the camp stretching for miles.
Wisps of cooking smoke rose up like a black forest. A gallows stood ahead, with a dangling corpse covered with crows.
Going a little further, Lancel saw the tall city wall of Sunspear City, with blood stains on it. It seems that the army has already begun to attack the city.
The progress of the Iron Throne's second army is really fast, and they have already reached the old lair of the Martell family.
But thinking about the messy things that happened on the side of the First Army... Lancel was completely lost in the mood again.
Walking into the Chinese army camp, Lancel saw Duke Tywin drinking and chatting with his younger brother, his father, Ser Kevan Lannister.
"Lord Tywin, father." Lancel stepped forward to salute.
"Lancel?" Sir Kevan was surprised to see his son, "Why are you here?"
"I'm here to deliver a letter."
Duke Tywin suddenly had a bad feeling:
"What letter requires you to go there yourself?"
Lancel took out a roll of parchment from his arms, stepped forward and handed it to Duke Tywin:
"My lord, this is a letter from my cousin Cersei..."
He didn't say much, and maybe he didn't know what to say. Everything that happened in Tianjicheng was so absurd, which made him feel very unreal.
Duke Tywin read quickly. After reading, he stared at Lancel with those golden eyes:
"Joffrey is dead?"
"Yes…"
"Joffrey is dead?" Kevan exclaimed.
Duke Tywin handed the letter to his younger brother, then looked at his nephew:
"Cersei talks too much nonsense, and it's mixed with personal emotions. I want you to tell the story from beginning to end, remember, I only want facts, unbiased facts!"
"Yes..." Lancel had no choice but to tell what happened in the sky and the city.
Joffrey's various coquettish operations are not hidden.
Lord Tywin listened quietly, with no expression on his face. He didn't even show any expression when he heard Duke Eddard Stark declare that Cersei's three children were not of royal blood. He didn't even blink his eyes when he killed.
But when Lancelle mentioned that Samwell Caesar hatched a dragon, the guardian of the western border finally couldn't help asking:
"Are you sure Caesar hatched a dragon?"
"Thousands of soldiers have seen it with their own eyes." Lancel's throat rolled, "It is said that the raging fire devoured Samwell Caesar and a dragon egg, and when the flames subsided, a huge dragon was entrenched on his shoulder. "
"This is impossible!" Kevan slapped the letter on the table again at this time, "The Targaryen family has tried for hundreds of years. The fire at Midsummer Hall burned the entire palace and hundreds of princes and nobles, but there is still nothing. Hatch it. How can he, a Tully, bring the dragon back to this world!"
"He's not Tully, he's Caesar." Duke Tywin corrected his younger brother.
Kevon froze for a moment.
Of course he knew that his brother would not correct himself on such a small problem.
Kevon said thoughtfully: "Brother, do you want to say that Samwell is actually not a Tarly, but a Targaryen? Could it be the Mad King...but the Mad King has never been to Hornhill."
"Black Fire." Duke Tywin spat out two words.
Among the several Valyrian steel swords inherited by the Targaryen family, the [Blackfyre] sword is the most famous one. It was once the sword of Aegon the Conqueror.
Later, the sword was passed on to his illegitimate son, Daemon Weshui, by Aegon IV, the "Mediocre King".
Weishui is a common surname for illegitimate children of kings, but after accepting the [Black Fire] sword, Damon changed his surname to Black Fire and established his own family—
Before his death, Aegon IV, the "Yong King", did an extremely stupid thing. He legalized all his illegitimate children.
This also means that Damon Blackfyre officially has the right to inherit the Iron Throne.
In the beginning, Daemon Blackfyre had no ambitions, until the successor Daeron II married Princess Miria Martell in order to make Dorne surrender.
This behavior greatly dissatisfied the nobles of the other six countries, and they did not want to see the Martell family gain power in King's Landing.
And the vassals of the Targaryen family didn't want to see the crown prince with Martell's blood sit on the Iron Throne, so they gathered in Daemon Blackfyre (although Damon was an illegitimate child, his parents were all Tanners). Gryan, who is pure blood of the true dragon), eventually sparked the Blackfyre Rebellion.
This rebellion spread widely and had a great impact. It took five generations of Targaryen kings to finally suppress it completely.
The last Blackfyre was killed by the current captain of the Kingsguard, Barristan the Fearless, in the "Battle of the Nine Copper Kings".
"Impossible?" Kevan frowned, "Samwell is the Black Flame? But hasn't the Black Flame died long ago?"
Duke Tywin said indifferently: "It may not be impossible. The paternal line of the Blackfyre family is extinct, but the maternal line still has inheritance."
"So...Samwell Caesar is the illegitimate child of Randyll Tarly and a certain female black fire?" Kevan muttered to himself, and then the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this guess was probably true, "That's right! No wonder at the beginning Randyll Tarly wants the eldest son to go out to develop, because that child is not his legitimate son at all! What Caesar! It is black fire at all!"
Lancel saw that his father and uncle were struggling with Samwell's background, so he couldn't help but remind him:
"Lord Tywin, father, should we be more concerned about what Ed Stark claimed, that..."
"That lie?" Duke Tywin said indifferently, "When will you be able to deny the king's legitimacy with a book written by a former grand scholar?"
Lancel froze for a moment.
However, seeing Duke Tywin's understatement, his heart that had been hanging before finally fell to the ground.
But Lancel still reminded: "My lord, what Duke Eddard said...that lie, I am afraid that many people will choose to believe it."
Kevon calmly said to his son:
"Don't panic too much. The truth can be distorted in the face of power. Eddard Stark can't make too much trouble, but that dragon... If there is another 'conqueror', we are really helpless. However, fortunately, it will take a long time for the dragon to grow, so there is no need to worry about Caesar for the time being."
As he spoke, Kevan turned to Duke Tywin: "Now we still have to deal with Eddard Stark first. Although we can claim that those are lies, it is inevitable that some ambitious people will still use this to make trouble.
Especially the two brothers Stannis and Renly of the Baratheon family, if people believe Eddard Stark's lies, then these two are the legitimate heirs to the Iron Throne. "
Duke Tywin looked at Lancel with shining golden eyes, and asked:
"How many days ago did this happen?"
"Five days. Immediately after the incident, I rode to look for you day and night. We also killed all the ravens in Tianjicheng."
Duke Tywin nodded: "Fortunately, you came fast enough. The envoys from the north should be a step behind. And there are no ravens. It will take some time for the news to spread. Now we have the upper hand."
The guardian of the western region pondered for a moment, then stood up, as if he had already made up his mind.
"The situation is indeed not at its worst yet. Ed Stark may seem menacing, but in fact he may not get much real help. Moreover, King's Landing is now in our hands, who will sit on the Iron Throne is natural It's up to us.
The key to the victory of this war lies in whether we can correctly choose our allies, and more importantly, whether we can correctly choose our enemies. "
With that said, Duke Tywin looked at his younger brother, and ordered: "Kevon, you immediately take all the cavalry in the western region, go into battle lightly, and go to King's Landing as quickly as possible, so that the archbishop can crown Tommen Baratheon. "
"The Archbishop..." Kaifeng considered, "What if you don't want to cooperate?"
Duke Tywin said coldly: "He just accepted a crystal crown from the Lannister family, so he should know what to do. If he forgets, you remind him that this crown can also be given to others by the Lannister family .”
"good."
"That's right." Tywin remembered something again, and added, "I remember that Ed Stark still has two daughters staying in King's Landing, right? Remember to control them."
"yes."
Duke Tywin looked at Lancel again: "Lancel, you should return to Skyreach City immediately and find Duke Mace Tyrell. If he withdraws, you should go after Highgarden and tell him that Tommen will replace him." dead brother to marry Margaery Tyrell."
Hearing this, Lancel reminded: "Lord Tywin, Miss Margery has eloped with Baron Caesar..."
Duke Tywin snorted and said, "The Tyrell family should be more grateful. The king is willing to marry a woman whose reputation has been tarnished."
Afterwards, he seemed to feel unsafe, and added, "Moreover, after King Tommen succeeds to the throne, he will appoint the Duke of Metz as the Minister of Justice."
Lancel was stunned again: "My lord, the Minister of Justice is Duke Renly."
"It won't be soon." Duke Tywin said indifferently, but without much explanation, he just waved his hand to let the two leave.
Afterwards, Duke Tywin unfolded a piece of parchment and began to write a letter.
After writing three letters, sealed them with melted gold, and stamped them with the seal of a roaring lion, Duke Tywin called three knights and handed over one of the letters:
"This letter is sent to the Twins, to Lord Walder Frey."
Then, he walked towards the second knight: "Send this letter to the Dreadfort and deliver it to Lord Roose Bolton."
Then came the third person: "Send this letter to Iron Oak City and deliver it to Countess Anya Waywood."
Sending off the three messengers, Duke Tywin ordered the attendants:
"Go and invite Lord Renly."
(end of this chapter)