Chapter 243 Endless life
Lady Egwene Oakheart stormed down the corridor of golden roses.
"Where is Madame Olenna?"
"Madam went to the Bridge of Bitterness." The butler didn't know why the Countess of Ancient Oak City was so angry, so he had to carefully accompany her smiling face.
"Bitter Bridge? Why did you go to Bitter Bridge?" Mrs. Aiwen still had that vicious look.
"Miss Margery cruised the river bend and delivered a letter to High Court after arriving at Bitter Bridge. After receiving the letter, Mrs. Olenna left in a hurry."
"Do you know what was written in the letter?"
The housekeeper shook his head.
Madam Egwen snorted softly: "Is the inflatable fish there? Take me to see him!"
The butler didn't care about Madam Egwene's contemptuous title for her lord. In fact, since that hunting party, many nobles in the River Bend have even called the Duke of Mace that way in person.
"Please follow me."
Led by the butler, Madam Aiwen came to the banquet hall, where a banquet was being held, the harp was playing melodious music, and a dozen dancers in light clothes were twisting their bodies.
The adult inflatable fish blushed from drinking, his head shook slightly with the rhythm of the music.
"Mace!" cried Lady Egwene.
At least he didn't call the inflatable fish, the butler thought to himself, and stood aside secretly, not wanting to get caught up in the fire.
"Mrs. Egwene." Duke Mace said with a smile, "Why don't you tell me in advance when you come to Highgarden, so I can arrange entertainment..."
"My son is dead!" Madam Egwene interrupted angrily.
"Your son is dead?" Duke Metz was a little dazed. In his opinion, Lady Egwene's youngest son had already died in Tianji City. Why are you making trouble at this time?
Madam Egwene looked at the confusion in Duke Metz's eyes, and suddenly became out of breath, and said:
"It's my eldest son Omer! He died in Tongmen City! Inflatable fish, haven't you read the letter for a few days?"
The old Duke of Metz blushed. He remembered that the bachelor found him a few days ago, saying that there was a letter from the front line of the Copper Gate City, but he kept forgetting to read it when he put it beside his bed.
"Sir Omer actually..." Duke Mace hurriedly remedied, "Oh, what a pity, may the Holy Mother take care of him..."
"Inflatable fish!" Madam Egwen interrupted again, "Do you think my son died in battle normally!"
The Duke of Metz was stunned for a moment, he wasn't too stupid, and finally realized something was wrong, so he waved his hand to signal the others to leave first.
The guest dancers ran out of the hall as if they were being pardoned.
The Duke of Mace said: "Do you think Landau and his son deliberately arranged for your son to die in battle?"
"Otherwise?" Madam Aiwen gritted her teeth, "The Battle of Bronze Gate City was obviously a great victory, and there were not many casualties at all. Why did my son die? Tully and Caesar deliberately wanted to make the Oakheart family extinct! "
"Actually... that may not be the case. Maybe it was really just an accident..."
"Accident?" Madam Egwene sneered sharply, "Garlan Tyrell also went to the battlefield, right? You won't wake up until he has an accident like this!"
"No, no..." Duke Mace waved his hands weakly.
Madam Egwene stepped forward a few steps and came to Duke Metz.
She is obviously petite, but the fat inflatable fish looks like an underage doll in front of her.
"Did you forget the insult at the hunting meeting? You can't really ride that deer as a horse? Is it true that Caesar will be the master of High Court from now on? Inflatable fish, can you really swallow this breath? "
"I..." Duke Mace muttered a few times, and said with a sad face, "What can I do? My mother refused to help me and told me to be honest, what can I do?"
The disdain in Madam Aiwen's eyes became more and more intense, she said:
"You are the Duke of Highgarden, the governor of the River Bend, why don't you take the initiative to stand up against Caesar? He is just a little Viscount, but still your vassal, what are you afraid of? As long as you nod, there will be a large number of lords in the River Bend willing to follow you .”
The Duke of Mace curled his lips and cursed secretly. When he was humiliated at the hunting meeting that day, he didn't see a few river bend lords standing up to speak for him.
"Hey, what can we do now? My daughter is already engaged to Caesar." The Duke of Mace sighed, "Let's forget it. Let them make trouble, I don't want to worry about it anymore."
As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass again and brought it to his mouth.
Madam Aiwen knocked down the wine glass: "Inflatable fish, you are going to be a complete waste from now on, right?"
The Duke of Mace was also angry, and his fat palm slammed on the table, making a loud bang:
"Enough! Egwene Oakheart! For the sake of your son who just died, I don't mind your rudeness, but don't take it too far!"
"My sons are all dead, the inflatable fish are all dead. I'm still afraid that you will care about me?" The cold light in Madam Ewen's eyes made people dare not look directly, "So I will ask you one last time, are you Are you really not going to continue fighting with Caesar?"
"Fight!" Duke Mace said angrily, "Margaery is already pregnant with that kid's child!"
Madam Egwen's eyes were fixed, and she immediately came to her senses: "It turns out that Madam Olenna rushed to Bitter Bridge for this matter."
The Duke of Mace did not deny it.
Madam Aiwen continued: "But they are not yet married, this child is an illegitimate child! What is Madam Olenna going to do with it? Moon Tea?"
The Duke of Metz twitched the corners of his mouth: "Why is my mother willing? Eighty percent of them will let them get married early. So you don't make trouble, go back and adopt a child as an heir."
Madam Egwene stared at Duke Metz coldly, and said after a long while:
"I also heard that you are planning to renegotiate tariffs with the Martell family?"
"This is actually Caesar's idea..."
"Caesar, Caesar, Caesar!" Madam Egwene's voice became louder and louder, "Inflatable fish, who is the master of Highgarden? Tyrell or Caesar!"
Duke Mace waved his hand and said: "Mother said that kid has the hope of sitting on the Iron Throne in the future. Of course, the Reach will still belong to the Tyrell family in the future. Just bear with it now."
"There are some things you can bear, but I can't bear it! Especially Dorne! Have you forgotten our blood feud with them?"
"It's just a little tariff reduction, there is no need to make such a fuss."
"It's just tariffs? How come I heard that High Court is going to buy grain and sell it to Dorne?"
Duke of Mace scratched his head: "Is there? Mother doesn't seem to have told me."
Madam Egwene was so angry that she didn't speak for a long time.
When she spoke again, her tone became extremely tough:
"Master Mace, the Tyrell family can forget their hatred with Dorne, but the Oakheart family will never forget it."
The Duke of Mace couldn't refute this. He knew very well that the Oakheart family could be said to be the lords of the bay who hated Dorne the most.
During the Dorne War launched by Aegon the Conqueror, Reach also contributed a lot. As a counterattack, the Dornish people launched a **** revenge. One of the most brutal atrocities was the notorious Wedding Massacre in Ancient Oak City.
On the day of the wedding, the Dornishmen rushed into the banquet, killed many guests, castrated the groom, raped the bride—the daughter of the Earl of Oakheart at that time, and sold her to Myr as a skilled girl.
Since then, the Oakheart family has been at odds with Dorne.
The Duke of Mace has been to the ancient Oak City, and he has seen with his own eyes that the oil paintings on the walls of the castle hall are all about the Oakhearts who fought desperately with Dorne in the past.
There are several Dorne spears in Lord Alister's body of "Leaves of the Prince's Pass", but he blew the horn with his last breath;
And Ser Olyfar the Green Oak, in white armor, died beside King Daeron I...
"I understand the feelings of the Oakheart family." Duke Mace sighed helplessly, "But this is a decision agreed by my mother, and there is nothing I can do about it."
"The Oakheart family will never forget their hatred, whether it is the hatred of the Dornishmen or the hatred of Caesar." Madam Egwene looked at Duke Metz solemnly.
The Duke of Metz was stunned by this look, and tried to persuade him again:
"Egwen, how about this. I can exempt the ancient oak city from taxes for one year... or two years? In addition, this time we should be able to occupy a lot of castle land in the Stormlands, and I will ask them to share some with Oakhe The Te family..."
"Will they listen to you?" Madam Egwene interrupted with a sneer.
Duke Metz felt a little guilty, but he coughed twice and said:
"I'll let my mother coordinate...Huh? Mrs. Egwene?"
But Madam Egwene no longer paid attention to him, turned around and strode away.
—————
Bitter Bridge, formerly known as Stone Bridge, is the key passage of Rose Avenue across the Mande River.
During the reign of Maegor I Targaryen, the royal family was determined to ban the religious orders of the Church of the Seven Gods—"Sons of Warriors" and "Assembly of the Poor".
Of course, the religious militias will not sit still. More than 9,000 soldiers of the "Poor People's Assembly" led by "Lumberjack" Walter marched towards King's Landing along the Avenue of Roses, intending to overthrow the cruel and untrustworthy king.
The two sides met at the stone bridge, and the "Assembly of the Poor" was massacred. The corpses blocked the Mande River, and the blood dyed the river for more than 20 miles upstream and downstream red.
After the **** World War I, the stone bridge was also renamed Bitter Bridge.
It is said that walking on the bridge, you can still hear the wailing of the ghosts who were massacred back then.
"Sister, it's windy by the river, let's go back." Loras Tyrell persuaded.
Margaery Tyrell wrinkled her delicate nose: "What's wrong with the blowing? How can I be so fragile."
Loras had no choice but to follow his sister for a few steps, and said again:
"Grandmother should be here soon, have you figured out how to explain to her?"
"How else can I explain?" Margaret laughed, "Could she really give me a cup of moon tea?"
"But you are not married after all, the identity of this child..."
"Then hurry up and tie the knot." Margaret said with a smile, "Brother, don't you want to see me in a wedding dress?"
Loras sighed: "Yes, of course I want to. Wearing a wedding dress, your beauty will surely make the stars pale."
Margaret took her brother's arm and said, "Loras, what about you? Have you thought about marrying a young lady?"
Loras fell silent.
Margaery also felt her brother's sadness, and when she realized something, she stopped talking.
Brothers and sisters walked across the Bitter Bridge, and the field was full of sunflowers as tall as a person, a piece of yellow.
Loras suddenly blocked his sister behind him, and asked in a concentrated voice:
"Who's up there?"
"It's a person who deserves to die but hasn't died." An old voice came from the sea of sunflowers.
A gust of wind blew the sea of flowers, and the two brothers and sisters saw an old woman with a hunched body and wrinkled face, leaning on a lumpy black walking stick.
Her white hair is so long that it almost reaches the ground, and the breeze blows, and the long hair flutters like a white cloud. Her skin was whiter, almost transparent, but her eyes were blood red.
"Grandma." Margaret said softly, "Why are you here alone? Where's your family?"
"Dead, all dead." The old woman murmured, "A fire swallowed everything, all dead."
Margaery felt pity: "Then is there anyone to take care of you now?"
"The ancient old gods are watching over me." The old woman said, "They are just about to move and won't let me sleep peacefully."
The brothers and sisters looked at each other, and began to feel that the old woman's mind seemed a little out of order.
"Is there any wine? I haven't had a drink in hundreds of years." The old woman said kindly.
Loras shrugged, and handed over the wine bag at his waist.
The old woman couldn't wait to drink a few swigs, and then showed a satisfied smile:
"What a drink. In return, I'll tell you about my dream."
Loras didn't want to know the so-called dream of this strange old woman at all, but he didn't say much out of politeness.
"Did you dream about your family?" Margaery laughed.
"No. I dreamed of blood, conspiracy and death." The old woman's red eyes seemed to bleed.
The siblings frowned. Before they could open their mouths, they heard the old woman speak again, as if the winter wind and snow were hidden in the low tone:
"I dreamed that lions rushed from shadowy castles, biting their trapped prey;
I dreamed that packs of wolves were wandering in the cold wind, unable to find their way home;
I dreamed of a maiden without a face, with deadly poisonous snakes hidden in her golden hair;
I dreamed that the eagle was swallowed by flames and ice, but broke free and turned into a roaring dragon;
I still dream of you, beautiful rose..."
"Dream about me?" Margaret asked with great interest.
"Yes. The golden rose, the delicate rose, will drop dust from its boughs and be drowned in sorrow and tears."
Loras was a little dissatisfied: "We give you good wine, and you give us back such a nightmare?"
The old woman suddenly began to cry: "It's my fault, it's my fault, I always bring misfortune, it's my fault..."
Now Loras felt a little embarrassed.
"Grandma, it's not your fault. It's just some nightmares, nothing." Margaery comforted.
"What a kind lady." The old woman approached tremblingly, took out a wreath from her bosom, and handed it to Margaery.
"Is this a winter snow rose? It's so beautiful!" Margaret took the wreath, only to feel a burst of icy and cool breath coming from it.
"Don't be afraid, Miss Rose, don't be afraid." The old woman said kindly, "Live forever."
Margaery smiled and put the winter snow rose wreath on her head, and then spoke the language of the Tyrell family:
"Life goes on and on."
There was a whole day of meetings yesterday, and there was another dinner in the evening. I really didn’t have time, so I only coded one chapter. I'm so sorry. Fortunately, I will return today, and the update will return to normal tomorrow.
(end of this chapter)