Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 256: The First Snow in King's Landing
"Well, the North fought well. I didn't expect that boy to have some of the Targaryen spirit. I thought that even if they won the field battle, Winterfell would have to enter the siege stage and it would take more than a month to capture it."

Viserys couldn't help laughing as he held the battle report that described the process in detail.

Regardless of whether that sharpness was inherited from Daemon Blackfyre, who was known as "the living warrior" at the time, or from the Targaryen family, they are all of Targaryen blood now.

"It's a good idea to recognize this nephew." Daenerys commented lightly as she rocked the crib in the room.

"Ahem," Viserys paused, trying to hold back her smile, "Here's another secret report. Do you want to see it?"

Daenerys was curious: "What?" She stood up and took the thing in her hand.

After reading the content, Daenerys was shocked: "When did you plant intelligence personnel in Aegon's team?"

Viserys shook his head. "I only grant permission to a few aspiring riders to pass on information to me."

Daenerys couldn't help but say, "Isn't this just following Varys' old path? Don't you hate him?"

Viserys disagreed: "The power vacuum that was vacated must be filled. It's either the 'little bird' or the 'crow with a thousand eyes'. I have to try my method first. Don't worry, I don't give them too much power."

Viserys was referring to the "secret memorial system" of a certain dynasty. In short, no matter what system it is, these things exist to allow the king to obtain enough information, eliminate information gaps with local authorities, and make himself the person with the most information.

At the same time, the essential power of the king and ministers in Westeros belongs to the king, so the combination of them actually gives a sense of déjà vu.

Daenerys knew what Viserys meant. She read the letter carefully. "When Jon Connington was resting after the battle, he threw something into the lake south of Torrhen's Square while his horse was drinking water. Is there anything worth talking about this?"

Viserys explained to her, "Jon Connington secretly took that thing from the cargo that Illyrio arranged for Aegon to take north. Illyrio had hidden that thing in the ginger candy for Aegon."

Daenerys was curious: "What is it?"

"A key," Viserys said. "It should have been a key that could have been taken directly to Braavos and opened a strongbox in the Iron Bank. Jon Connington cut it in two and lost it."

"Illyrio, Aegon, and Jon Connington," Daenerys said, trying to piece together the clues.

"If we discuss the three people you mentioned together, there should be three different statements. They each hold a different truth. Now that Jon Clinton has lost his key, it means he has made a choice."

"Did you have the keys retrieved?"

"I won't pick it up. I can guess what the key can open. But Jon Clinton, I don't think he knows what the key represents. I dare say that if he knew what was there, he would definitely hesitate and would never be so decisive. But that thing is meaningless to me. I can't take care of everything. I have to leave some trouble for future generations. Maybe it will involve a legendary story in the future."

Daenerys looked at his evil smile and continued to ask, "What is in the safe that the key can open?"

"A dragon egg, a Valyrian steel sword, Blackfyre, and perhaps some treasure."

Daenerys was curious: "How do you know? You have other sources of information. How did you investigate so thoroughly?" She now has divine power, and she and Viserys took time out to go to Valyria a while ago. Now a dragon egg and a Valyrian steel sword - even the famous Blackfyre sword - can no longer shock her.

Not to mention the "Blackfyre", even if Aegon the Conqueror himself and his dragon Balerion were alive now, they would not pose any threat to Viserys' current position.

Viserys smiled. "There are some things I just know."

"Is it because you have entered that kind of [conceptualization]?" Daenerys' eyes widened. "Can the gods really know everything?"

"There is no god who knows everything." Viserys did not answer directly, "But I do have more sources of information."

Daenerys didn't ask any more questions, she just chatted with him: "Although the war in the North and the Riverlands has come to an end, it is still unclear whether they can keep up with the pace of preparations in our jurisdiction. Time is running out."

Coincidentally, the wars in Hejian and the northern border ended only about three or four days apart.

Of course, Aegon won the battle in the North, and with the Manderly family's backstab, Roose Bolton was defeated and trapped in the Tomb of the First Men. The coalition forces pursued him vigorously, making sure that no messenger would be faster than the coalition forces to pass the news of Roose's defeat to Winterfell.

With the opportunity to fight fleeting, Aegon and Sansa had a brief discussion and directly appointed Dustin and Ryswell, who surrendered at the last minute. Aegon himself led a group of soldiers and pretended to be Roose Trampled, and rushed to Winterfell with Dustin and Ryswell's surrendered soldiers in a defeated manner.

With the big news of Roose Bolton's defeat and Manderly's defection, they tricked the gates of Winterfell open. Although Ramsay Bolton, the Flayed One, realized at the last moment that the people of Aegon's tribe spoke the dialect of Winterfell instead of the dialect of the Dreadfort, and realized that it was a trick, the gates were not closed in time and were caught off guard by the influx of the coalition forces.

Ramsay actually still had a thousand soldiers - five hundred Boltons and five hundred Freys. If they had held Winterfell, they might have had a chance to fight, but unfortunately they had no chance to resist.

As for the Hejian side, the war ended even faster than the war in the North. However, it is worth mentioning that the Manderly family had not heard the news of the fall of the Hejian Twins. It was because Wyman Manderly saw the situation and had to make a choice. Thinking that he still had two direct granddaughters, he decided to sacrifice his last son and heir to save the family. But later, when they heard that the Hejian Twins had been broken and the captives had been rescued, it was a blessing.

As for the Twins, Edmure and Arya were unable to capture them for a long time.

"Lady Stoneheart" was determined to make amends, so she went alone, on horseback, to the top of the Twins in her true identity and demanded a confrontation with the old Freys. She wanted to reason with the Freys about who had broken their oath and who betrayed whom first.

You can imagine the scene: Catelyn, who was bloody, resurrected from the dead, and like a devil from hell, appeared on the battlefield and stood under the Twins. What a horrible mental shock she brought to Arya's coalition forces and Frey's garrison.

It was Catelyn's terrifying appearance that scared the 90-year-old, frail old Walder, who was standing on the top of the city wall, so much so that he screamed and ordered people to shoot arrows.

Caitlyn was shot into a hornet's nest and a sieve under the city.

But it was snatched back by the soldiers, and within a moment, the bloody "Lady Catelyn" appeared again at the foot of the city, demanding an explanation.
Old Walder Frey was so frightened that he suffered a stroke on the spot and died that night.

After the death of Walder the Elder, the Twins fell into chaos. The children lost their backbone, and the heir Edwin Frey, although he used to be quite imposing and ruthless, was at a loss when he took over as the lord of the city under such circumstances. In the end, he could only decide not to announce the death and continue to defend the city.

On the second night after old Walder's death, which was kept secret, chaos suddenly broke out in the castle.

The news of old Walder's death was eventually leaked in the castle. Some Freys who were dissatisfied with Edwyn directly connected the surrendered Frey family members and some soldiers who wanted to survive, took Edmure's pregnant wife Roslin Frey and a large number of captives from the Red Wedding hostage, and directly seized the castle on the other side of the west of the Twins that was in contact with Edmure's siege army.

While they shouted and begged Edmure to give the Frey family a way to live, they also fought a civil war in the middle of the river with the diehards led by Edwin.

The situation was urgent at the time, and Edmure Tully chose to listen to Blackfish's advice to prevent these crazy Freys from slaughtering Edmure's pregnant wife and captives. He agreed to some of the demands and let the Freys who cried out for surrender open the city gates.
So, Edmure led his troops into the western fortress of the Twins without bloodshed. Not only that, he and the Freys who begged for mercy occupied part of the central bridge of the Twins and fought against Edwyn Frey.

As the saying goes: The strongest fortress is often conquered from within.

When Arya saw the fire in the middle of the bridge of the Twins at night, she reacted quickly and immediately mobilized her troops to beat drums outside the east fortress in response to the siege.

This time, without any prior communication, Edmure and Arya formed a team with internal and external support.

The Twins City, which had been under siege for months, was breached overnight.

However, Edmure and Arya had a disagreement on how to deal with the Frey family and those Freys whom Edmure promised to spare in desperation. As for Catelyn, Arya gave her the head of old Frey, the heads of some participants in the Red Wedding of the Frey family, and the Northern captives from the Red Wedding, and asked her mother Catelyn to take these things north in the name of the Protector of the North to help Sansa recapture Winterfell as soon as possible.

Edmure agreed.

What Catelyn did before forced Edmure and Arya to find a way to transfer her away.

Originally, Catelyn wanted to take all the Frey family members to die in the Twins when the city was about to fall. She felt that she should have died long ago. But after all, the situation in the North was still unclear at the time, and this lady, who was not very smart but always felt that she had a good sense of the overall situation, was persuaded to go north first.

The Frey family has nothing else to offer except that they have a large number of people.

How to deal with this family and those who surrender will be the next headache for Edmure and Arya.

This matter is very complicated to handle. Although the wedding of Edmure and Roslin Frey was full of blood and betrayal, it was that night that crystallized. And among those Freys who begged Edmure to live, who knows which of them had participated in that infamous wedding?
After being a duke for several months, Arya gradually figured out: for a ruler, fighting and killing on the battlefield are the easiest things. The difficult thing is always when there are various conflicts of interest and hatreds. As the representative of the family and the lord of a land, her choice seems to be contrary to the joy of revenge.

To be honest, Arya had enough reasons to convince herself that she wanted all the Freys to pay with their lives, to kill them all, leaving no one alive. Her uncle Edmure might have some resistance in his heart, but as long as Arya returned to the North, what did the situation and political situation in the riverlands have to do with her?

It is only natural for Stark to avenge his family, and it can even win the hearts of the people in the North. Even some river lords are eager to see the entire Frey clan be wiped out.

But politics is complicated, and in this battle, Arya experienced three spiritual cleansings.

At first, she was filled with rage and hatred, and vowed to slaughter every Frey.

But later, as the war became stalemate and the princes were unable to fight to the death to attack the city, when she joined forces with Edmure, she took a step back, wanting to only kill the main culprit and force Frey to surrender.

Later, her mother Catelyn killed the captives, forcing the entire army to continue the stalemate for her momentary pleasure and to argue with the Frey family. She began to wonder whether she could capture the Twins before the time announced by King Targaryen. Did she forget that at first, she just wanted to go north to the Wall to find her illegitimate brother Jon Snow?

And now, some of the Freys offer Edmure's wife and captives as conditions for survival, and Edmure accepts it as the Duke of Riverland. What should I do to find a solution that satisfies everyone?

A long time ago, Arya couldn't understand why her father Eddard had a complex and deep expression when he talked about the battles in the south, King's Landing, and Robert's coronation. Now, Arya seems to have a vague grasp of her father's feelings. Victory on the battlefield is not the end of everything. After the celebration, there are still various complex problems and contradictions.

At one point, Arya thought she understood why King Robert was the way the Targaryen king railed against him in his “open letter.”

She was thinking what Robert must have been thinking: If only everything in this world could be as simple as fighting on a battlefield or as easy as a tournament.

Father must have faced a similar situation, Arya thought, but his choice must have been different from Robert's, so they parted ways, and so father was frowning all day long in King's Landing.

Recently, she heard a piece of gossip from the Hound. Her father had a big fight with King Robert in the throne room in King's Landing because Lord Tywin offered the bloody children of Rhaegar to Robert. Her father thought it was dishonorable, but Robert thought it was better to cut the grass and root it out. If Tywin didn't do it, would Robert do it himself? Her father left King's Landing alone and went south to find Aunt Lyanna.

She asked the Hound what he meant by telling this gossip at this time?
The Hound only said: "You are the Duke of the North. You should set off immediately to return to your damn North to find your sister who may have been bewitched by the son of Rhaegar!"

About a day later, Edmure found her: "I found Robb's body. The Freys originally buried him in a mass grave outside the city, but after King Targaryen wrote the Letter of the Northern Union, they moved him to a forest. But his head... Arya, I know the tradition of the Stark family. Do you want to take him back to the North?" Robb's head was sent to King's Landing by the Freys.

Arya was hesitant. She was tired of everything that happened after the war. She couldn't help but wonder: "If it was my father, what would he do at this time?"

"Uncle." Arya paused and said, "Yes, I should go back to the North. I should take Robb back to Winterfell and go home."

"Arya"

"No need to say more, uncle. In our parting words, I hope we are family."

They tacitly did not talk about the Freys who surrendered to Edmure.

But Edmure couldn't help but say, "When you have pacified the North, and I have settled the Riverlands, I will personally lead a group of criminals from the Night's Watch dressed in black to the Wall to help you."

Arya replied: "Thank you, uncle. I will get ready and leave the day after tomorrow."

Edmure looked at his little niece who was only twelve years old, and said nothing more. He just stood with her silently by the Green Fork River, watching the endless flow of the river.

-

King's Landing.

With a sad face, Jaime was called back to this stinking city again. He entered through the Gate of the Gods. The golden cloaks cleared the way for him, driving away the noisy people, allowing him to ride directly to the Red Keep on Aegon's High Hill.

From time to time, one could see warriors wearing the seven-pointed star symbol patrolling the streets, walking along Nun Street into the slums leading to Flea Bottom or Muddy Road.

James narrowed his eyes. It seemed that the Warrior Sons and the Gold Cloaks had secretly divided their patrol territories. The Gold Cloaks roamed the streets, while the Warrior Sons roamed the slums.

The security is better than expected.

It may also be that Jaime did not go to the southern gates and ports, which were said to be the most strictly inspected.

When he arrived at the Red Keep, Jaime was at the gates and walls, and could see with his own eyes that the Red Keep had a lot more defenses than when he had left.

Even Boros Blount in white robes was seen guarding the inner gate of the Red Keep.

When entering the inner court, there were many more knights in strange and unfamiliar attire among the guards.

Even after entering the throne room, Jaime did not see Osmund Kettleblack, the White Guard who seemed to be deeply trusted by Cersei.

In the throne room, Jaime sees a nervous Cersei with bandages on her hands and legs.

"You're back, Jaime, that's great." "Who are they?" Jaime looked at Queen Cersei's side with a bad face. There were several tall men with dark and dangerous auras, with eyes hidden in their helmets. "Whose men are these?"

"Them?" Cersei waved her hand. "Don't worry about them. They are protecting me."

James asked: "Where are the Iron Guards? Isn't this the Iron Guards' duty?"

"At this time, even the Iron Guard has become untrustworthy, Jaime." Cersei's eyes were a little crazy.

James seemed to see the shadow of an old friend in her, and he frowned.

Cersei called to him, "Come here, Jaime. I've missed you so much these days. You should stay in King's Landing and keep me company, okay?"

"What's wrong with you?" James stepped forward, wary of the strange knights around him.

Cersei waved her hand: "Go away." The strange and dangerous knights were silent and left Cersei without a doubt.

James watched them leave.

Cersei suddenly uttered a conspiratorial whisper: "She's back. I know it's her. She's here to take everything from me."

"Who?"

Cersei said viciously: "She! Margaery Tyrell!"

James asked, "Sister Margaery, isn't she a nun at the Cathedral of Baelor?"

"Sister! No, she's a bad woman!" Cersei said angrily, "She's contacting Tommen. She thinks I don't know. I know everything!"

James looked at her and asked helplessly: "What's going on?"

"Tommen has been going in and out of the church frequently these days, and it was Margaery who was receiving him. That damn old archbishop actually secretly allied with Tyrell! I'm so stupid that I didn't realize this earlier and let him pull together the Warrior Sons team."

"." James looked at her, not knowing what to say. He was stunned for a long time and asked, "What do you need me to do for you?"

"Jaime, I want to expose the conspiracy of the Vatican. I need an army, your army. You and Osfryd, come with me to the church. That old man doesn't listen to me. I want to replace him with a new bishop. And Margaery..." Cersei's eyes turned cold.

"Since you have doubts." Jaime didn't know what to say. He felt that Cersei was going crazy under the pressure. "Just don't let Tommen go to the church."

"No, Tommen is the king! He doesn't listen!" Cersei said sadly, "The Bishop placed Lancel beside him."

"Who? Cousin Lancel?"

"No, he is not your cousin. He is crazy. He now considers himself the son of a warrior. The High Septon arranged for them to protect Tommen, but he actually wanted to snatch Tommen away. I knew their conspiracy very well, so I asked Osmund to kill a few people and drive them away. But Tommen resented me for this, and the armed forces of the Order had a grudge against me because of this. But I am doing this for Tommen's own good, I am doing this for him!"

Jaime wanted to cover his face. These days, he could hear rumors about King's Landing from time to time when he was away. Now that he came back, he saw that Cersei was not only making stupid moves, but was simply making a fuss. It was a miracle that there had been no riots in King's Landing until now.
Jaime evaded the question, "Don't worry, Cersei. I'll talk to the High Septon. No one can take Tommen away from you and me."

Cersei smiled: "Okay, okay, I feel relieved when you say that." She pretended to stand up, her face flushed, "Jaime, come, I want you."

James thought she was losing her mind, and he refused: "It's an emergency, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is an emergency."

James saw the dark circles and bloodshot eyes on her face: "How long have you not slept?"

"I can't sleep, James. I can't sleep without you protecting me."

James replied to her, as if he was comforting a girl: "I'm back, I'll protect you, how about you go and rest for a while?"

But Cersei refused, her eyes widened: "Deal with the High Septon first, and Margaery!"

"I'll help you go to rest first."

After much persuasion, Jaime managed to send Cersei, who was not sure whether she was talking nonsense or not, back to her bedroom, and then he left.

Soon, Cersei's chief of intelligence, Qyburn, found him and said, "Ser Jaime, the Queen Mother asked me to assist you."

James looked at him. He felt extremely disgusted by the appearance of the man who had treated his injured hand. "I know, but wait a minute. I have something else to do. We'll talk about it when I come back."

Coben said anxiously: "Sir, the Queen Mother has ordered——"

"I know!" James interrupted him, his eyes showing a bit of coldness. "I said, let's talk about everything after I come back."

Coben shrank back and answered, "Yes." He said no more, made way, and watched James leave.

Jaime first went to the captain's room, changed his clothes, and then moved to the Hand's Tower. It was now vacant, so Jaime walked in directly and arranged for his Lannister guards to guard the door.

Not long after, James saw a man peeking around the stable.

"Sir Adam?"

The man immediately leaned forward and greeted him: "Sir James!"

"Thank you for your hard work." James stepped forward and supported the man, "Come on, change your clothes and talk in a safe place."

The so-called safe place is the sacred forest in the Red Castle.

Only there was the grounds spacious enough to easily spot peepers and eavesdroppers.

James and Adam strolled into the godswood like two contact persons.

James asked first: "What did you find out about the wildfire?"

Adam Marbrand had been the commander-in-chief of the Gold Cloaks for a while. Taking advantage of this relationship, Jaime arranged for Adam to secretly enter the city these days to inquire about information in King's Landing, especially to investigate the wildfire that Cersei secretly planted in King's Landing.

Sir Adam said, "It's very difficult to investigate the Pyromancer Guild right now. The Queen Mother killed many people, and most of the surviving Pyromancers are hiding in Flea Bottom. Moreover, the surviving Pyromancers seem to have a more complicated connection, so I dare not contact them rashly."

"did not find?"

"No, I still found some clues, but I found that there are still people investigating, and the location I found has been processed."

"Who's checking?"

"Son of a warrior."

Jaime was stunned for a moment: "They?" Various pieces of information put together seemed to explain why there was no riot in King's Landing despite all the trouble Cersei had done.

"Yes," Sir Adam continued, "but from what I have observed, they have not found all the locations. The Queen Mother killed many people who knew about it. The burial methods are very covert, even in the cracks of the sewer walls and in the sewage pools."

Jaime felt a stranger to Cersei. The person he loved so much seemed to have merged with the devil and madman in his memory.

"How did the Warrior's Son know that?"

"Not sure." Sir Adam paused, "But."

James asked, "What's going on?"

"A while ago, when I was investigating, I discovered that the Alchemist's Guild Hall was being used secretly at night. The hall was a large maze made of cold black stone. I could not investigate deeply and could only observe people coming in and out from the outside. I found that many pyromancers were quietly continuing to produce large quantities of wildfire, which would then enter Flea Bottom from the sewers of Silent Sister Street, and eventually become 'wine' at a certain merchant's place, flow into the port, and then enter the Blackwater River trade route via merchant ships at the port. From what I have seen these days, every day a large amount of 'wine', enough to fill a river ship, passes through every checkpoint in King's Landing secretly, and finally enters the Blackwater River and disappears.

I can guarantee that the Warrior Sons are assisting in this. Every time they come back, they bring back a large amount of food. The food is received at the Mud Gate in the name of a certain Chamber of Commerce, and the full amount of tax is paid. Finally, it flows into Silent Sister Street with great fanfare. "

Who is buying wildfires in bulk?
"Is it the Targaryen?" Jaime wanted Adam Marbrand to investigate the wildfire that Cersei had buried in King's Landing, but Adam actually discovered the secret that the Targaryens were buying wildfire in large quantities. It sounds like the Warrior's Son and the Targaryens have reached some kind of secret agreement.
Sir Adam replied: "I'm afraid so."

James subconsciously asked, "He has a dragon, why does he need so much wildfire?"

Ser Adam replied without hesitation: "I guess it should be preparing to fight against the White Walkers. Hasn't the Targaryen always been promoting this, the 'Anti-White Walker Front'?"

Jaime looked deeply at his childhood friend, the loyal Ser Adam Marbrand, with whom he had a deep relationship since the days at Casterly Rock, and tried to read his thoughts from his thick eyebrows and big eyes. "What do you want to say?"

Adam looked back. "I'm stating my guess, James."

Jaime was silent for a moment, and did not discuss the matter further. He asked, "What's going on between Cersei and the Church?"

Adam answered, "The Queen Mother had several Warrior Sons warriors killed. Osmond Kettleblack was responsible. That's all I know."

"Looks like I have to look for this Kate Black."

Adam glanced at Jaime and said, "You can't find him. He left King's Landing."

"how do you know?"

"My informant saw him dressed in sellsword clothes and boarding a ship bound for Braavos."

"Braavos, what to do?"

"I don't know, but Jaime, I heard that your brother Tyrion is now in the Night's Watch in charge of a logistics ship with Braavos."

"Good boy, he's the captain now?" James smiled subconsciously, but soon realized something was wrong. It all seemed to have a hidden meaning. He asked, "How do you know so much?"

Jaime's heart is cold, Cersei is to Tyrion
"My informant—" Adam said.

James looked at him suspiciously: "How does your informant know so much?"

Adam spread his hands. "I'll just pay, James."

Shenmulin soon fell silent.

After a long while, James asked, "Adam, regardless of your status, as a friend, do you have anything to say to me?"

Adam was silent for a long time, and finally said, "James, I can be your William Darry."

Jaime laughed in surprise: "You are William Darry, then who am I?" Mad King Aerys, or Queen Rhaella?
Adam stopped talking.

Suddenly, a piece of ice crystal swayed in the air, swirled in the wind, and fell on James' face.

James looked up. The godswood was bare and silent, with black branches stretching towards the sky, and white snowflakes were slowly falling from the infinitely high sky.

James murmured, "Is it snowing?"

Ser Addam said, "The Citadel's white ravens have come. Winter is here."

Suddenly, James asked softly, "Adam, when you mentioned the 'anti-white walker front' just now, do you want to fight those legendary ghosts on the battlefield?"

Adam was speechless for a moment, and after carefully looking at James's expression, he answered seriously, "I'm not sure, James."

James fell silent, watching blankly as white snowflakes fell on the white robe he had just put on and on the muddy ground covered with rotten leaves.

(End of this chapter)