Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 57: Longzel in Thought
The room that Lord Tully prepared for Longzel was not big, but very comfortable. Jacaerys's room was right next to it. The Tully family knights guarded the corridor all night to prevent any girls from sneaking in and causing any bad things.

Longzel also flipped through the intelligence held by the Tully family. After a quick glance, he found that the intelligence was not much different from that held by his own family, except that there were many more details. The core of the conflict between the princess and the queen was still the issue of succession rights. King Viserys confirmed Princess Rhaenyra's succession rights in the form of a king's law and required all lords in the realm to swear an oath to her.

In fact, when Dragonzel went to King's Landing, he also took an oath. One of the passages in the oath that the king asked him to recite was: "I recognize Princess Rhaenyra of Dragonstone's right to inherit the Iron Throne, and will be loyal to Her Majesty the Queen in the future." After reciting the oath, King Viserys also publicly announced the news that Prince Jacaerys and Prince Lucerys would serve as his brothers' squires.

Longzel still remembered the expressions of the people present after he and Valar finished reciting the oath. Prime Minister Otto had a solemn face, Earl Jasper and Captain Kerston Cole had expressionless faces, Earl Linman smiled and applauded, and Ser Tyran's face changed again and again. Queen Alicent pursed her lips, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she couldn't say it. Great Aegon threw himself on his gift without raising his head, and Aemond had the same expression all the time. Longzel could feel the ambition and indifference deep in the child's heart.

The two princes were servants, and in fact, hostages, which was seen by the outside world as a way of winning over Princess Rhaenyra. Longzel certainly understood this. But after all, Viserys was not dead yet, and the issue of succession had not yet exploded, so there was still room for maneuver.

But this is also where the details of Lord Tully's intelligence come from. Longzel saw the complexity of the problem from the complex situation detailed in this intelligence. King Viserys's behavior actually challenged the Andal inheritance law tradition of Westeros. The lords who promised to be loyal to the princess did not necessarily accept this oath in their hearts. They questioned the bloodline of the three brown-black-haired princes, and then questioned the princess's authority. Although the three princes all had dragons, rumors still grew secretly. Among the nobles of the River Reach, the Hightower family semi-publicly supported Great Aegon to replace Princess Rhaenyra's inheritance rights. The Tyrell family was pretending to be dead, and under the influence of Hightower's tyranny, a considerable number of lords in the River Reach held the same view, especially Earl Ulwin Peake of the Peake family. This great lord who owned three castles and whose territory spanned the Marches and the River Reach publicly declared: "How can a woman rule a man."

The same is true in the Stormlands. Borros Baratheon has always been profit-driven and doesn't care about oaths. Longzier remembered that he once wrote to him after the Dondarrion family changed their allegiance, asking him to pay "the price of the lost vassal in the Stormlands." His price was not high. He just asked Longzier or Valar to marry one of his daughters and live in Storm's End for a long time.

Naturally, Longzel politely rejected it.

The richest territory in the kingdom holds such a view, which naturally breeds endless undercurrents. Princess Rhaenyra, Longzel, really doesn't want to comment on her behavior. He doesn't understand why Daemon didn't remind her that it was a wrong decision to stay away from the political center, although he learned from Jacaerys the reason why Rhaenyra's family left King's Landing and a series of misfortunes that happened before and after that.

"Foolish princess." Longzel defined Renyla after reading the intelligence. "Does she think that the oath can support her to wear the crown safely after the king's death? She has dragons, and the queen's descendants also have dragons, or does she think that I will ride a dragon unconditionally to claim power for her? Although I am indeed on her side now." Longzel sat cross-legged on the bed, gently rubbing the silk sheets. This was his bad habit when thinking. He always liked to rub something, whether it was the hilt of a sword, the sheets, or the handles of a chair. In short, anything would do. He had not changed it in so many years. So Longzel gave up changing it.

"But she was willing to send Xiaojie and Xiaolu to me, which means she was able to perceive the impact of our arrival on the situation." Longzel continued to whisper in a voice that only he could hear. "But if it was Xiaojie who acted first and asked for permission later, it only means that Xiaojie's ability is far superior to his mother. It was Xiaojie who keenly discovered the fatal problem of the princess."

Longzel thought of this and lay on his back on the bed, his brain still working rapidly. "Lord Tarly's intelligence mentioned the Velaryon family. Unlike the intelligence we have, the intelligence of the Tarly family mentioned that Lord Corliss Velaryon has never given up his ambition. He does support the princess, but the fundamental reason is that the three princes are named Velaryon, and Xiaojie and Xiaolu are engaged to the real Velaryon bloodline, Miss Bernilla and Miss Rhaena, respectively. As long as the Iron Throne is smoothly passed on, the Velaryon family's tremendous power will not decline."

Longzel grabbed the quilt and covered himself. "This shows that Corliss actually supports male inheritance in his heart, but it is only beneficial for him to have the princess succeed him." He looked up at the decoration on the ceiling and smiled. No wonder the Tully family carefully selected this room for him. The mural on the ceiling was a picture of a man and a woman.

It's not like I haven't seen it. Longzel would never admit that he had seen similar things when he was very young due to the opening up of Volantis, and that he had heard his father sigh when he looked at similar murals in his own palace. His brain quickly threw these things out and continued to think about the problems he would face next. "The Hightower family brought Prince Daeron to Highgarden, probably to make Prince Daeron gain my favor and thus to bring the two sides closer, especially since Sir Mond wanted to become my brother-in-law."

Longzel thought about this and understood that this was the necessary price to maintain his rule. Although the Tully family was not a first-tier noble in the River Bay, it was indeed one of the strongest in the borderland. With the loyalty of the Tully family, Longzel could be said to have directly won more than half of the borderland. He also had a strong enough army.

After all, Viserys is still alive, and the two families have not torn their faces apart. Longzel swallowed his curses hard. Viserys would not intend to make himself the middleman to reconcile the two families. He did not even look at his own identity and current situation. But in the current situation, Viserys agreed to the two princes' behavior of being servants in name but hostages in reality, and also arranged the marriage plan between himself and his brother. In the future, a Targaryen princess will definitely marry Rey or his son. No matter whether it is the princess or the queen, as long as this marriage is completed, he cannot remain neutral even if he wants to.

Especially now that outsiders think that I am on the princess' side. But to be honest, there are also advantages to the princess' succession to the throne, that is, the female inheritance rights have been improved to a certain extent, and the matrilineal inheritance that is inseparable from it has also become an option.
Forget it, there is no need to think so far now. The key now is to conduct on-site inspections of the entire Westeros, find allies for the family, and complete the suppression of Dorne.

"Another point, Oldtown." Longzel thought of another pressing problem. "If Mond goes to Highgarden on behalf of the Hightower family, then I have no reason to fly to Oldtown. The only reason why a person has no reason to go to a place is if there is something hidden in that place. What exactly does Hightower want to do? The Church? Or the Citadel?"

Longzel's eyes suddenly widened. "City of Learning!"

He remembered a point he had always overlooked. His scholars, Dr. Vesalius and Evans, had left the Citadel for a long time. In fact, they were both marked with the symbols of his family. But what would happen after Dr. Vesalius died? What would happen after his castles gradually became more and more? More scholars would come to serve in his and his vassal's castles. Who would they be loyal to?

Considering that Earl Tarly ordered the literate knights of the family to obtain the intelligence instead of the scholars, as well as what the two scholars of the family said before, Longzel already had a possible answer in his mind.

"Perhaps the Citadel is not as simple as it seems on the surface." Longzel knew that he could not hide the fact that he knew magic. This matter would definitely reach the desks of various lords with his arrival. And the Citadel. "The Citadel fears magic, and the Citadel hates magic." This is what Dr. Vesalius said. He never returned to the Citadel after leaving it for decades. Even though he still had many students, this also shows Vesalius's complicated view of the Citadel. Then he must cultivate a bachelor who is completely loyal to him. Use the contract wine? No, that magic is time-consuming and laborious. Once you stop taking it, it will soon become ineffective. The magic that transforms Brother Coerlen, no, now Bishop Coerlen, will not work either. The essence of that magic is to directly connect Longzel with the "victim". The "victim" actually accepts Longzel's full-strength spell, and must have a fanatical obsession. If Bishop Coerlen does not have a devout belief in the Seven Gods, this magic cannot succeed.

Of course, if Korron really didn't believe in the Seven Gods, things would be much easier.

We can only train new bachelors ourselves.

"Mund Hightower hopes you can offer me a price that satisfies me." Longzel raised his hand and grabbed in the air.

"dong dong dong"

There was a gentle knock on the door. Longzel frowned. Judging from the smell outside, the person coming was Jakaris.

"Please come in."

The same moon also shines on the towers of Dragon's Nest.

Valar led his guests down the long spiral staircase and came to a storage room.

"Lord Cavron, inside are the spoils of the previous wars." Valar placed the torch on the lamp stand beside him and pushed open the door of the storage room. At the dinner just now, Valar accepted the loyalty of Lord Randyll Cavron of Fawntown on behalf of Longzel. Lord Randyll strongly requested to see the spoils of the Weir family.

Valar met his request. After all, it was at the dinner that he learned about the blood feud between the Cavron family and the Weir family. In the 12th year of the Conquest of the Christian era, Sir Jon Cavron, the heir of Young Hart, was ambushed by Lord Weir at his wedding. Most of the guests were killed, Sir Jon was castrated, and his wife was abducted by Lord Weir. The Cavron family engraved this incident on the family castle.

Today, they can finally wash off the engraving.

Lord Randyll Cavallen recognized Wylan Weir's head immediately, even though it had been pickled and skinned to the point where only the skull remained.

"We all know the Weir family's children even if they turned into ashes." Randall gritted his teeth and picked up the skull. "Your Highness, I ask to take this head away. The Cavallen family is willing to pay any price."

Valar thought about what his brother would say, and replied carefully: "You have already shown loyalty to Vareses, and that is enough."

"Your Highness, the Cavolen family will always serve the Varese family." Randal stared at Wylan's skull. "It's a pity that the Weir family's children were burned to ashes. It's a pity for them."

"You intend to"

"I'm going to make it into a urinal." Lando said, "It's time to pay the bill, son of the Weir family."

Update, I reflect that I will fix the update time in the mortal world today and tomorrow, which is about 15:00 and 21:00. Unless I am sick or have a report to make, I will not stop updating, so you can rest assured.



(End of this chapter)