Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 172: Minister of Finance (Part )
The king sat at the Dragonstone seat at the map table and began to tell what had happened in Braavos.

"What I am about to tell you is very important and serious," Viserys said solemnly. "A White Walker appeared in Braavos. I guess the real White Walker was half-human and half-ghost, so it could cross the 'line' that blocked the aliens at the Wall. When I arrived in Braavos, it resurrected thousands of dead people hidden underground by the House of Black and White, and used evil ritual magic to bring severe cold to Braavos, freezing the sea water and summoning the legendary ice dragon. It was because of these that I happened to save Braavos from being destroyed. The people of Braavos thanked me and were willing to sign a long-term peace agreement with us, and were willing to give up their interests to express their gratitude."

The sudden explosion of words made the ministers look surprised and confused: "White Walkers?"

White Walkers, The Wall, Resurrection of the Dead, Evil Magic, Freezing Sea Water, Summoning Ice Dragons.
Every word sounds so explosive.

But if this is true, except for the young Admiral, everyone else has thought of many things. If there are really White Walkers, then the call for help on the Wall is very reasonable.
If the world is in crisis
They looked at Viserys. They knew the structure of Stannis' army. They had heard about it more or less. There was a group of people under Stannis who believed that Stannis was the 'legendary hero who ended the darkness'. So maybe Viserys was the one.
When he thought of the Great Wall, Illyrio felt a sudden tightness in his heart and began to panic.

But then, the king's words made him explode.

"According to the confession of the Faceless Man who managed to survive." The king said. Illyrio's face turned pale, and the hair on his neck stood up. The king's expression was serious, and his eyes swept over him from time to time. He didn't dare to look directly at him, but only lowered his head and swallowed his saliva. "The Faceless Man confessed to me and the ruler of Braavos that their patriarch sailed to the north of the Shivering Sea about a year ago during the hottest ghost summer, and brought back a baby of the White Walker from the white wastes of the Far North, and hid it in the underground dark room of the House of Black and White. The White Walker should be a very important chess piece for the evil forces of the Far North to invade the world. Its power is very strong. Although not as strong as the ancient legend that the Children of the Forest destroyed the Arm of Dorne and summoned water to flood the swamp. But freezing the canals of Braavos and a large area of ​​sea water is also beyond the power of ordinary magic."

Prince Oberyn smacked his lips: "This..." He was the only one in the group who had some knowledge of the Dark Arts, but when King Viserys started talking about magic and White Walkers, he had no idea what to do.

"I might as well be frank. As far as I know, there are many prophecies in this world that point to the time after this long summer when the stars will bleed. Only in legends will the White Walkers, who have disappeared for eight thousand years, return and bring darkness to the world. The Wall is the bridgehead to stop these alien creatures, so I attach great importance to sending supplies and new Night's Watch to the Wall this time. I might as well tell you again that I think Stannis is the hero who can end the long night, but he took the wrong path before. He was going to the north to meet his destiny at the Wall. But he was wasting time in the struggle for royal power in the south while avoiding the fate of a hero, so I followed the instructions I saw in the Dragon God prophecy in Valyria and sent Stannis to the Wall."

The Wall, Stannis the Hero, and the Dragon God Prophecy of Valyria
Another bunch of explosive information.

"Your Majesty, these words." Earl Gunther was a devout believer of the Seven Gods. He found it difficult to accept them for a moment, but he did not question them in the end, because the king undoubtedly had magic and what he said was very likely true. He only murmured, "Oh, gods above."

Illyrio turned pale when he heard this. He wanted to ask about the Golden Company and how to deal with Aegon, but he didn't dare to ask, fearing that it would arouse Aegon's suspicion.

He gritted his teeth and asked with a pale face: "Your Majesty, will there be insufficient manpower to go to the Great Wall this time?"

The king narrowed his eyes and looked at him. He did not answer immediately, but just played with the dragon egg in his hand.

Illyrio swallowed, his scalp tingling.

The information released by the king was so explosive that no one noticed Illyrio's abnormality and just thought that he was shocked by the king's explosive information.

After a long while, the king finally answered: "The letter from the garrison of the Great Wall said that the wildlings were heading south. I think the aliens are still accumulating strength outside the Great Wall. This also explains why the wildlings chose to march south in large numbers. It is still autumn now, not winter yet. The critical moment predicted has not yet arrived. The threat to the Great Wall this time is still the wildlings. But we have to consider incorporating living forces into the defense of the Great Wall. So I would like to give the garrison of the Great Wall a suggestion. If they can surrender, I hope they will try to surrender the wildlings and let them serve as the first line of defense when the aliens invade, and then incorporate them into the formal defense system after they have made contributions. Of course, if you can't reason with the wildlings, then try to eliminate them as much as possible and try not to let them escape back to the north as little as possible, because the wildlings who escape back to the north will definitely become servants of the White Walkers. I saw with my own eyes in Braavos countless corpses resurrected, became servants of the White Walkers, and attacked the living."

These were spoken in front of all the ministers at the royal court. Illyrio chose to believe the king's words and felt slightly comforted.

Finally, Oberyn could not help but ask, "Your Majesty, regarding that 'prince', this matter also concerns my sister Elia. May I know your attitude? To be honest, I do not believe he is real. I might as well be frank, Your Majesty, I personally think that he may be a 'Blackfyre' disguised as Aegon."

Illyrio's heart was lifted, he was nervous and afraid, but he was also grateful to Oberyn for asking him the question he wanted to know most. Although asking this question meant that even if Aegon's identity was confirmed, Prince Oberyn of Dorne had already cut ties with 'Aegon' on the surface.

"I might as well be frank, my Hand. I truly cannot judge whether he is true or false, so I can only trust the decision made by the oldest and wisest man in the Targaryen family." The oldest and wisest man that Viserys mentioned was not Master Aemon, but the Three-Eyed Raven who lived not far from the Wall and had Brynden's memories.

Aegon was no threat to Viserys. Viserys had no blood relationship with Aegon. But after all, Viserys was now the Targaryen king. From Viserys's perspective, he didn't know whether Aegon was real or not. He had to consider the possibility that Aegon was really the son of Rhaegar. There was a curse for parricide in this world, and he didn't need to take the risk of the parricide curse for something that was irrelevant to the overall situation.

Of course, Viserys could try to ask the truth directly through the weirwood. But in this way, Viserys would owe the Three-Eyed Raven a favor for nothing. Instead of this, it would be better to let this unclear prince go to the north to seek answers by himself, and by the way, he could use Aegon's supporters to place some idle pawns.

Oberyn was the first to get anxious: "Your Majesty, please forgive my bluntness, but what if Master Aemon is wrong?"

"We should all trust Maester Aemon's judgment, my Hand. I believe that the Targaryen who has lived for more than a hundred years must have the ability to read people's hearts."

The king's certainty made Illyrio begin to worry, but after careful consideration, he became more certain. No matter who verified it, even if it was verified by magic, Aegon was undoubtedly of the Targaryen family.

Shilla. Shilla, his beloved. She had the blood of the Blackfyre and the blood of Aerion the Brightflame in her.

Aerion Targaryen was the second son of King Maekar I Targaryen and the older brother of Maester Aemon and King Aegon V.

Aerion was exiled to Essos and stayed in Lys for several years, leaving behind a bunch of illegitimate children. Silla is the descendant of one of these illegitimate children. Her grandmother was born to Aerion and a Lys merchant who claimed to be of Valyrian descent. It is said that the woman was extremely beautiful because she had Valyrian features and was Aerion's favorite mistress.

Later, Shilla's grandmother deliberately approached and offered herself to become the mistress of Daemon Blackfyre, the son of Hagen Blackfyre during the Third Blackfyre Rebellion.

Unfortunately, this branch of the family fell into poverty and Xila became a prostitute.

Although the bloodline may have been diluted, looking back at the past, Aegon has the blood of Aerion and Daemon Blackfyre. Silla is proud of this and even wants to use her bloodline to gain power. Perhaps it was because of her delusional but firm attitude, her pride and madness in her bloodline, and her ambition even though she fell into prostitution that touched Illyrio, who had risen from a small figure.

And Varys.

Who would have thought that the eunuch was a descendant of Blackfire?
As Illyrio fell deeply in love with Shilla and Varys became the Mad King's chief of intelligence, their ambitions began to expand and they planned to support a descendant of Blackfyre to ascend the throne.

And with the Targaryen usurpers launching a rebellion and Prince Rhaegar being defeated at the Three Forks, they all seemed to see some possibility.

They felt that everything was the will of the gods, and the birth time of Princess Elia's son was almost the same as the birth time of Illyrio and Shila's son.

Thus, a huge lie had the opportunity to be prepared and carried out.

They prepared for seventeen years to achieve this goal!
However, all preparations were wasted when the dragon appeared.

ended.

Varys is a smart man, Illyrio has always known that, in Illyrio's eyes, he is like an omnipotent magician. Varys's judgment is always right. After Varys learned that Viserys had a dragon, he once asked to abandon the original plan, saying that he had to find a way to land smoothly and make up for this big lie.

However, Illyrio had paid so much and waited for so many years, how could he be willing to give up at that time?

He proposed the assassination.

Varys did not respond, but he acquiesced to the matter.

Illyrio felt a little painful when he thought of this. He knew that he had never been a smart man. In order to ensure that his plan was foolproof, he had been cautious and treading on thin ice for more than ten years. Every time Varys asked him to act quickly, he dared not make a decision.

At this moment, Illyrio finally realized that he was just a mercenary and assassin who was ambitious and ruthless in his youth. He was short-sighted and was not suitable to play chess in the game of thrones. He was clearly an ordinary person who was timid and worried about gains and losses. He was lucky to be led by Varys and had his current status.

At the most critical moment, he chose to make an impulsive decision.

"Illyrio?"

There was a voice in his ear. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw the king looking at him sternly, his tone concerned and his eyes cold: "Are you still sick? You look very bad. Why don't you go to Maester Pylos to get some medicine and rest?"

By this time, Prime Minister Oberyn, Gunther, and even the Junior Sea Lord were looking at him.

He realized that he had been in a trance just now, his face turned pale, cold sweat broke out, and his forehead was covered with sweat.

The king stood up and moved closer to him.

The fat minister's breathing became tight, his heartbeat stopped, and his whole body trembled, but he dared not move at all, not even to breathe.

But the king just put his hand on his forehead and said, "You are so hot. You have a fever, Illyrio, my finance minister. How can you not take care of yourself? How can you help me with my worries?" The king's tone was unhappy, and his words sounded like complaints, but to others, they were full of concern. "You can leave the royal meeting today. I order you to go down and rest and see the maester for treatment."

Illyrio's lips trembled as he tried to calm himself and look back at the King with a little dignity.

He saw that the king's eyes were indifferent, and there was a hint of disappointment in the serious expression on his face.

He moved his lips, and finally answered, "Yes, Your Majesty, your finance minister will comply with your wishes." He found that his tone sounded strangely sad, and also felt relieved and liberated.

"Come here, Godian," the king ordered, "take the chancellor to see the maester."

The captain of the king's guard nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Just like that, Illyrio stood up in a daze, left the royal meeting early, and went to the Maester Tower accompanied by the captain of the king's guard.

Behind him, the king and his ministers continued to communicate: "By the way, where were we just talking about?"

".Your Majesty, we just talked about the next plan."

As he walked out of the drawing room, Illyrio gradually could no longer hear the voices above.

He suddenly felt extremely sad, his legs went weak and he almost fell down the stairs in the main hall on the second floor.

A strong hand grabbed him.

It was the captain of the king's guards. His expression was serious and calm, and he asked without any emotion: "Sir, are you okay? Do you want me to help you to the Maester's Tower?"

The gods are my witnesses. Godian treats everyone in this way.

But Illyrio sensed something else. He closed his eyes tightly and sighed deeply. Then he opened his eyes and said solemnly, "I want to go back to my room. I have my own medicine."

Godian has also learned how to deal with important people these days: "Well, if you insist."

Illyrio replied: "I insist."

Godian just responded as usual: "Okay, then I'll take you back to your room."

Illyrio smiled weakly. "Okay."

His room was the master bedroom on the first floor of the main castle. Even when there were many guests, this whole large room was reserved for him. Above him was the master bedroom in the main hall on the second floor. This was a special honor granted by His Majesty the King.

When his eunuchs saw their master being helped back weakly, they hurried forward to take him from the captain of the king's guards and said, "My lord, what's wrong with you?"

"The Chancellor of the Exchequer has caught a cold and is running a fever." The captain of the guards said briefly, "Please take good care of him. Then, sir, I will take my leave first."

As the captain of the guards saw the man being brought in, he stood there motionless.

Illyrio saw that he had said goodbye but was still standing there. He asked him, "What is it?"

The captain of the guards answered with a serious expression and a little stiffly: "I am waiting for you to enter the room, sir. This is my habit. I am sorry if I disturbed you. I will leave now."

Having said that, he was about to leave.

Illyrio smiled bitterly. "That's all right, Captain Godian. You have your duty. You may wait if you wish."

The captain of the guard nodded solemnly: "You are very kind, sir."

Kind? Illyrio blinked and said nothing. He just let his followers help him into the room in silence.

One of his closest associates asked, "Sir, would you like to see the castle's maester?"

Illyrio looked at his followers with pity. They were all unaware of what had happened. He said, "No, prepare a sleeping wine for me." After a pause, he said, "Use white wine from Lys and strong wine from Myr, one part to two."

"Yes, my lord."

When his followers had finished their orders, he ordered, "All of you, get out."

His followers never asked why.

After all his followers had gone out, he carefully took out a highly effective potion produced by Rees alchemist, which was indeed for curing colds.

But when combined with strong alcohol,
The fat minister swallowed the potion first, then sat on the bed, undressed and lay down. He held a pendant tightly and took a last look at the box on the bed in the room that he always kept in the room.

He took another long look at the pendant in his hand but did not open it.

He drank the liquor.

Fall asleep.

In his last moments he thought of his poor, melancholy child.

(End of this chapter)