Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 151 The Art of Negotiation (Two in One)
The door to the Obsidian Throne Room slowly opened, and Revil Haydn walked in with his chest held high and his head held high, carrying the Valyrian steel giant sword "Steel Flame" on his back and holding the family flag of the Vareses family. As a newly promoted noble and Dragonzel's blood-sworn brother, the young squire was dressed particularly solemnly today, wearing a red silk robe over a chain mail lining, with the Haydn family's emblem painted on it - three whales connected head to tail. On his shoulders hung a half-length robe interwoven with blood and silver, the symbol of the blood-sworn brothers.

Following behind Revil Haydon was Joffrey Cavallen in a green tunic. His waist was hung with the Valyrian steel sword Nightstar, which was inlaid with sapphires. His tunic was painted with his personal emblem, which was a long sword and a shield in the middle of the two fawns facing each other, which were originally the original style of the Cavallen family. Next to him was York Weawater, who had the Valyrian steel sword Tidecaller hanging from his waist. After becoming a bloodsworn brother, the young sellsword also designed a personal emblem for himself - a crab. The complex pattern of the long sword and the horn formed the pattern on his black tunic.

Longzier followed the three bloodsworn brothers and walked into the hall surrounded by Hoffa Lawbearer and Azor Celtigar. Behind him followed Valar, who was wearing Valyrian steel armor "Silver Shield" and holding Samantha's hand, and Rey, who was wearing a slim robe. Ringol was wearing a purple robe and had a serious face. He followed his uncle seriously. That look made Samantha look at her brother from time to time, fearing that he had some problems with his brain. The two ladies of the Varese family, Diana and Leila, followed Valar and Leila. The two ladies were also dressed solemnly today. Diana wore a loose long dress that was half purple and half green. Her personal emblem was painted on her cloak - the two-part emblem of the walking hunter of the Tully family and the silver dragon laurel leaf of the Varese family. Like her sister-in-law, Lady Leila's silver long dress was also painted with the two-part emblem of the red crab and the silver dragon, but Leila did not have a slightly bulging belly like Diana.

Behind the two ladies was Jochi, who was in charge of the rear guard. The group slowly entered the venue to the melodious music of the musicians in the second-floor attic. Longzel walked up to the high platform and stood in front of a fish beam wood throne, while Lady Diana stood in front of another throne. People, led by Valar and Rey, stood in two teams on both sides of the purple carpet, waiting for the arrival of the main person.

"Here comes Aegon II of the House Targaryen, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms." The gentle but epic music sounded again. This time it was Aegon and his Kingsguard who came in. Ser Tyr Templeton and Ser Stephen Darklyn led the way for the king. Every few steps, a Kingsguard would be left to stand beside Dragonzel's bloodsworn brothers. When they arrived in front of the dragonglass throne, only the captain of the guard, Ser Stephen Darklyn, was left by Aegon's side.

The young king threw aside his black and red cloak, propped Blackfyre on the ground, and slowly sat down.

Longzel and Diana bowed slightly to Aegon before sitting down.

Lysandra looked at the warriors in two rows, his eyes suddenly changed. What did he see? Not only did the warriors in red and silver robes each have a Valyrian steel weapon, but even the Kingsguard - Lysandra knew the existence of the Kingsguard, seven highly skilled white knights, defending the safety of the royal family, which was also a good story in the nine free trade cities - even they had three Valyrian steel swords in their hands. When did Valyrian steel weapons become so rampant? Even the Rogael family, which was rich enough to rival a country, only had one Valyrian steel sword, "The Truth", and a dragon bone Valyrian steel scimitar.

"Welcome, Lord Lysandra Rogar, Governor of Lys." The young king said in High Valyrian, "As descendants of old Valyria, we welcome your arrival and hope you have a good time." Aegon was immediately attracted by the seven-foot tall giant standing behind Lysandra. The giant had black hair and dark skin, and his scarred face was covered with a black scarf. He was wearing an oriental-style lamellar armor and a tower-shaped helmet decorated with feathers, which made the giant look taller and more powerful.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty." Lysandra glanced at Longzel, who kept his eyes on Aegon, and noticed that Aegon was looking at his followers. He also spoke in High Valyrian: "Your Majesty, he is 'Shadow' Dandorke. He was a gladiator in the Meereen Arena and won a hundred life-and-death duels. He sipped the blood of his enemies. He once tore his opponent's throat with his teeth after breaking his long sword. The person who sold him to me said that he killed lions, bears, wolves, winged dragons and other beasts in the arena with stones he felt in the sand."

"I've heard of him." Valar looked at the giant with burning eyes: "Giant, I am looking forward to your martial arts." Shan Duoke lowered his head in silence.

"Your Highness Valar, Shan Duoke's tongue has been cut off by his former master. He cannot respond to your words. Please forgive his sin." Lisandro said sincerely, and then brought the topic back to the purpose of their trip.

The governor signaled with his eyes to Drazek and his eldest son Lysanlo beside him, and the two men immediately carried the prepared golden treasure chest in front of Aegon. Lysanlo carefully opened the treasure chest. They knew that the customs of Westeros were relatively "conservative" and would not accept the popular gadgets in Lys, so the things they prepared were very practical.

A box full of gold.

"Your Majesty, due to the stupidity of the Three Cities Alliance and the looting of Dalton Greyjoy, our contact with Westeros was unfortunately cut off. Fortunately, Dalton has recently turned his target to Myr, so we have the opportunity to re-establish contact with Westeros." Lysandra lowered his head, opened his arms, and told Rees's difficulties with some grievance. Rees must establish an alliance with the Iron Throne before Myr. He slowly calculated in his mind that the little king was not the final decision maker. Whether the Iron Throne could be persuaded to establish an alliance with Rees and marry Lara Rogare to Viserys, the most critical thing was the attitude of Dragonzer. But it was obvious that Dragonzer was not an easy person to persuade. It could even be said that if he wanted to achieve this goal, Dragonzer would most likely make Rees pay a heavy price in the end.

Thinking of this, Lysandra was not so entangled, and continued to tell the tragic situation of Lys being robbed. Aegon sighed and shook his head, and tried to squeeze out one or two tears from time to time. It was a pity that the little king failed. In the end, he could only sigh and watch Lysandra's performance. The more Lysandra thought about it, who cares if Lys dies? What does the Rogaer family do? Bankers and brothel madams do money transactions and sex trade, and bankers are the main business of the family. Banks can be opened anywhere. As long as the economy is developed and the lords are more tolerant, bankers can lie on it and suck blood to feed themselves. Of course, they will also help the circulation of local money. After all, these bankers also earn hard-earned money, right?

So, let Rees be played with however she likes. Anyway, boys and girls who master the seven kinds of spring cry techniques are Rees's specialty, and the deity who uses the name of "Weeping Lady" to cover up the reality of "Goddess of Lust" is also Rees's belief. Isn't it normal for Rees to be played with there?

Longzel watched with some amusement as Lysandra diligently introduced the miserable situation in Lys, and from time to time responded to the questions about Lys that Aegon raised according to last night's script, including which prominent families in Lys were there, how many fleets did Lys have, what was the distribution of Lys' ports like, how many people did Lys have, how many land forces did Lys have, and how much income Lys had. These were very sensitive questions.

It seems that Governor Lys is not stupid. He knows very well that Lys's interests cannot be defended under such a big disadvantage. What he needs to do is to prove his value to the Targaryens and Vareses. The value of the Rogar family is higher than that of Lys, who may be plundered by the Red Sea Monster at any time. After all, Lys not only has a bad relationship with Volantis because of the war in the disputed lands, but also has a bad relationship with Braavos because of the slave trade. Now Tyrosh has been burned by the Red Sea Monster, and Myr is also unable to take care of itself because of the broken alliance. Lys has become a discarded child.

Dragonzir gently rubbed the handle of the weirwood throne and listened quietly to Lysandra's speech. There was nothing new, just clichés. The Governor of Lys started from the time of the Freehold of Valyria and praised the glorious deeds of the ancestors of the Vareses and Targaryens. To be honest, Dragonzir, who was familiar with family history materials, had never heard of some of the deeds mentioned by Lysandra. Ringol beside Dragonzir was even stunned.

Didn’t Uncle Rey talk about this? Didn’t old Dr. Vesalius talk about this either?

After talking on and on for a long time, starting from the period of the Valyrian Freehold and Aegon's support in their fight against Volantis, and deliberately skipping the conflict over the Stepstones during the Kingdom of the Three Daughters, and emphasizing many times the close economic exchanges between Lys and Westeros, Lysandra finally stated one of the ultimate purposes of their trip.

"Your Majesty, the people of Lys crave your mercy. The fleet of the Red Sea Monster has plundered our town, turning the prosperous shipping route into hell for merchant ships, and turning the workshops that once produced precious perfumes into ashes. The city is wailing, and they have paid a painful price for being an enemy of your kingdom. Lys is willing to offer half of the city's annual income as tribute, begging for your forgiveness, and giving you the title of 'Protector of Lys'. Let those bloodthirsty monsters leave, Lys can no longer bear their ravages."

Lysandra was so sad that he almost shed tears. Aegon was a little overwhelmed, but he remained firm in silence and did not directly respond to Lord Governor Lys's plea.

Longzel continued to extend his thinking. He wanted to judge what price Lysandra could pay and where his bottom line was. Since it was confirmed that Lysandra wanted to tie the Rogaer family to the chariot of the two Dragon King families by completely betraying the interests of Rees, then some things had to be considered. Half of Rees' annual income was a huge number, but the problem was whether Lysandra could guarantee that all the money would be delivered to the Iron Throne on time. Longzel guessed that Lysandra's current power was enough to influence the political situation in Rees, but it was unlikely that he would completely control Rees. These tributes The money might be paid on time in the first few years, but as the wound caused by the Red Sea Monster gradually healed, Longzel was not worried that the Red Sea Monster would refuse to withdraw. They were ironborn, not those knight lords who were greedy for land. Few of the Ironborn were interested in territory. They were more interested in whether they could plunder and how much wealth they could plunder. The plundering of Tyroshi had already kept the Ironborn busy. Even so, the remaining iron fleet still relied on its speed and crew combat effectiveness to rub the navies of Lys and Myr at sea, which was enough to prove the current weakness of the two city-states.

Some of the thoughts are far-fetched. Back to the Red Sea Monster himself, he is a smart man. It can be seen from his choice to plunder the Kingdom of the Three Daughters and to send part of the spoils to King's Landing that he is smarter than the previous Greyjoys and Howl-except for Gorn Greyjoy who expelled the Church of the Seven from the Iron Islands and Wicken Greyjoy who cautiously dealt with the Conqueror and temporarily stopped the Ancient Road. King's Landing and Dragon's Nest have acquiesced to his plundering for two years. Now it's time to stop. If they don't stop, the dragon is waiting for them. With the withdrawal of the Red Sea Monster, there will definitely be voices of dissatisfaction with Lisandra in Lys. How will they solve this problem? Longzel doesn't want to go into it, but Longzel can be sure that as bankers, one thing they will definitely do is to send this part of the tribute to Westeros through their own bank. In the meantime, the Rogaer family can do too much. As long as they promote the covenant between Lys and Westeros and successfully marry the Targaryen family, this situation is inevitable. The Luojiaer family will also transform itself into the agent of the two Dragon King families, thus achieving a win-win situation for both parties.

As for how they wanted to achieve this result, Longzel could already guess what would happen after this pilgrimage. Forget about Rey and the others. This guy hid in the library or the dragon's lair. Even if they find him, it would be difficult. But there are too many people they can find. As long as they can influence themselves and make them think that this covenant is beneficial to Vareses, then they will be close to victory. Thinking of this, Longzel actually felt a little bit of anticipation. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. As expected of the big family that once forced the Dagareon family to sell even their son, they are still very smart. The Rogar family is a very interesting opponent.

Just fun.

Not proposing the marriage on the spot was a very correct choice for the Rogaer family. If it was not accepted, there would be no room for turning things around. However, if it was proposed in a secret agreement, the Rogaer family could use their influence to the fullest and ultimately push things in the direction they wanted.

Longzel smiled and took over Lisandro's words: "Governor Lisandro, we sympathize with Rees's loss in the recent looting incident, but." Longzel shook his head, and Lisandro showed an expression of "as expected". Unfortunately, this expression was fleeting, so most people didn't even realize that Lisandro made this expression. "The kingdom also has its own difficulties. We need to discuss it with the Imperial Council, so please wait for a while. Don't worry, during your stay in Midsummer Hall, we will cover the accommodation expenses of the Rogaer family."

Being evaded by Longzel did not discourage Lisandra's expectations. After a complicated ceremony, everyone left the Obsidian Throne Hall. When the crowd had left, Longzel silently led Tigaro Dagareon into the Five Finger Hall.

"Your Highness, you guessed correctly." Tigaro said, "After Governor Lisandro left, he sent an invitation to His Highness Sebastian, Valar."

"Sebastian, I understand." Longzel understood why Lisandro approached Sebastian. After all, he was now in charge of the wealth of the Varese family. Lisandro wanted to sell Reese for a good price and could not get around him.

"Valar, what are they looking for him in the name of? The black warrior?" Longzel couldn't help but press his head. Tigaro nodded: "Lisandro's son Lisanlo and Fredo suggested that Dan Duoke and His Highness Valar should have a fight. His Highness Valar had no reason to refuse, so Hoffa asked Shuchi to go with him."

Longzer nodded. "Hoffa did a great job. Who else did they find?"

"Madam," Tigaro said, "Madam Rogare invites you to go to the water garden of the Summer Hall tomorrow at sunrise to taste the specialties of Lys. It is difficult for you to refuse."

Longzel smiled and nodded. This was also within his expectations. "What else?"

"And me, Your Highness." Tigaro whispered. This gloomy young man actually had some rare emotion called "anger", but he quickly suppressed it.

"How do you plan to deal with them?" Longzel really laughed this time. Their Luojiaer family was smart and knew who to look for. But unfortunately, the person they couldn't avoid had a grudge against them and had destroyed the entire family, almost putting the young Tigarogouzi in danger. Longzel was looking forward to what would unfold next.

"I will make them spit out more, Your Highness." Tigaro also smiled: "At least let them feel what my father felt back then."

Longzel nodded: "Go ahead and do it. Remember to keep your breath. We still need the Luojiaer family."

"I understand, Your Highness."

Tigaro disappeared into the darkness of the Five Finger Hall in a sinister manner.

A moment later, the Faceless Man Kungur Porter emerged from the shadows.

“Your Highness,” the Faceless Man said, “We have found the target of the Faceless Man who came to Westeros.”

"Who?" Longzel asked.

"Lady Jeyne Arryn, and her heir, Joffrey Arryn."

(End of this chapter)