The Mountain of Ice and Fire

In the early morning, sunlight, like gold, sprinkled across the avenues and fields.

The Mountain's Legion, nearly four thousand strong, escorted hundreds of Northern prisoners of war back in triumph.

Hutt and Robert, two Northern knights of considerable standing, rode on horseback alongside the Mountain. They were not bound, nor did they suffer the treatment of prisoners in a cage. According to the customs of this world, the Mountain had Hutt and Robert swear before the Northern prisoners and the Clegane Legion, on their honor as knights and their family's name, and in the name of the Old Gods of the North, that they would not escape, in exchange for the privilege of not being caged or bound.

Hutt and Robert swore.

The Mountain demanded that the Northern prisoners of war also swear with their generals, and then the Northern soldiers were spared the treatment of being beaten and driven on with sticks and swords.

Leading the way were the mounted archers, who were also light cavalry, followed by the Northern prisoners of war. Behind the prisoners were the Mountain and his generals, closely followed by the Clegane heavy cavalry.

The Mountain was in a good mood.

He gazed into the distance, where the fields of crops stretched as far as the eye could see, a golden expanse. The air was fresh, the sky was blue, and white clouds drifted lazily, creating a self-deceiving feeling of a dreamlike paradise.

The Mountain knew that now was not the best time for fighting, but rather the best time for harvesting crops.

The last season's crops of the year were more than ninety percent ripe, and in at most a week, they could be harvested on a large scale.

Large tracts of fertile land west of the Gods Eye were planted with all kinds of crops.

In the summer, at the Gods Eye, each season's crops were bountiful. Even in drought, even if it didn't rain for a year, the water of the Gods Eye could guarantee sufficient irrigation for the surrounding fertile land.

The Riverlands were the granary of the Seven Kingdoms, and the banks of the Gods Eye were the granary of the Riverlands. Unfavorable weather conditions rarely affected the harvest of the crops around the Gods Eye. The water source was too abundant, and there were small ponds everywhere. A single cast of a net would bring up fresh fish.

Although Harrenhal was rumored to be a cursed castle, the crops within the Harrenhal lands had bountiful harvests every season during this long summer.

Harrenhal was a treasure trove of geomancy, assuming that the curse of Harrenhal was nothing more than superstition.

The Mountain hoped it was superstition. However, over hundreds of years, six families had successively owned Harrenhal, and to this day, all of those families had been wiped out.

The Mountain was not superstitious, but he did not want to be wiped out by fate. He was only ordered to occupy Harrenhal; Harrenhal was not yet his territory. Thinking of this, the Mountain felt much more at ease.

Because of the war, all the villagers in the villages on both sides of the Gods Eye had fled and hid in King's Landing, except for the eastern bank, where Amory Lorch had burned most of the crops and villages. The crops on the western bank and the villages and farmlands around Harrenhal were well preserved by the Mountain.

Food was combat power in war, even more important than weapons and armor.

Harrenhal had an astonishing reserve of food. After more than a thousand carts of grain were transported to supply Duke Tywin, Harrenhal, while not lacking in food, still required the Mountain to consider the issue of replenishing supplies.

The Mountain was in a good mood now. He knew that Roose Bolton would not dare to cross the river to attack Harrenhal, firstly because of morale, and secondly because Harrenhal could not be broken by manpower. When King Harren built it, his goal was to build a miraculous fortress that could not be breached. He succeeded, but he didn't consider that dragons would fly in the sky.

Whether his opponent Roose Bolton attacked or retreated, it was very difficult. Attack? The Mountain's heavy cavalry, supported by mounted archers, could break through his infantry formation hundreds of times. Not attack? Was he planning to build ships and fish in the Green Fork? Bypassing Harrenhal to pursue Duke Tywin would be purely suicidal. The Mountain had heavy cavalry and light cavalry, while Roose Bolton had only infantry. On the plains, heavy cavalry and light cavalry pursuing infantry, once they caught up with the tail, it would be a one-sided massacre.

"Father, what are you singing?" Julie asked.

Julie's mounted archers were clearing the way in front, but she herself liked to stick close to the Mountain.

The Mountain shrugged his shoulders: "Just humming!"

He was in a good mood, humming 'Let's beat the drums and sing, sing of our new life' from Earth civilization. Just a few lines, just humming casually.

Before transmigrating, the Mountain was a college loser who liked to sing very much, but he couldn't remember the lyrics to many songs. He could usually only sing the first three lines of his favorite songs, and the rest would still be humming.

Last night's massacre dampened the spirit of Roose Bolton's army, and the capture of Hutt Tawney and Robert Glover was a deterrent to all of Roose Bolton's generals. His effect of establishing authority was already very obvious, and there was no need to fight Roose Bolton desperately. The Mountain decided to withdraw his troops back to Harrenhal, sharpen his scythe to harvest the crops, and train his troops well, carefully preserving his strength.

Hutt and Robert were important figures in the North, one the Earl of Torrhen's Square, the other the heir to Deepwood Motte. The Mountain was thinking about finding a way to make these two guys surrender and submit, and then scatter the hundreds of Northern prisoners of war into various military branches, so that they could not form a joint force.

However, now the Northern prisoners of war could first be made farmers for a period of time: harvesting the crops around Harrenhal, and of course, the large tracts of crops on the west bank of the Gods Eye.

Northern soldiers were hardworking, tall, and honest in character, making them good hands for farm work.

*

Afternoon.

Ahead, the quartermaster Mark appeared again. This guy was always thinking about fighting, and the Mountain felt a headache looking at his shrewd and eager face. It seemed that he had to find an opportunity to fulfill the quartermaster's wish, so that he could safely hold Harrenhal and do a good job in logistics.

The quartermaster rode up, and the Mountain put on a stern face.

"Lord, I have something important to report." The quartermaster felt his lips bitter. After being reprimanded by Lord Mountain last time, he came out again this time.

The young man was smart and could see that Lord Mountain was not happy to see him.

"What is it?"

"It's important, I must speak to you alone, Lord."

"Alright!"

The two of them rode their horses to the side of the road, while the team continued to move forward.

"A urgent letter from Bernie in King's Landing." The quartermaster took out the letter, held it in his hand, and handed it to the Mountain.

The quartermaster knew mathematics, which was the basis of his skill as a quartermaster. At Clegane's Keep, because of the Mountain's orders, Scholar Hally taught him to read and write every day. He was one of the Mountain's few 'literary and military' confidants.

And everyone knew that the Mountain could not read, but the quartermaster, as a confidant, already knew that Lord Mountain could actually read. As for why, this was not a question that the quartermaster should care about, and he had never asked why, or even thought about it.

The Mountain spurred his horse further away, using the cover of the trees on the roadside, and unfolded the letter.

The letter was sent by Bernie. The 'Little Bird' teachers in the Flea Bottom orphanage were all Bernie's subordinates, and they were all cultured people who understood accounting and coded letters, and were quite knowledgeable. These excellent teachers and intelligence-gathering Little Birds were all thanks to Varys, the Spider, who had fled across the Narrow Sea.

Bernie, with the ten guards that the Mountain gave him, took charge of the Flea Bottom orphanage. He hadn't changed his banditry, and because he had the Mountain as his backer, he became very courageous. After a bloody battle for the safety of the Little Birds, Bernie and his brothers killed several famous bosses in Flea Bottom, and transformed themselves. In addition to gaining the 'prostrate' respect of the teachers and Little Birds, he also became the new big gangster boss in Flea Bottom.

*

0332 Chapter 2 Little Imp vs Littlefinger

The Mountain quickly finished reading the secret letter—a coded letter—a form of secret letter that Varys, the Spider, had created himself that others could not understand. When the Mountain sent Varys on the ship to leave King's Landing, all of Varys' 'inheritance' was given to the Mountain, including the map of the secret passages in the Red Keep that he had treasured.

The letter was written in great detail, and the question it raised was—Littlefinger was in trouble, and the one who was making things difficult for him was the Imp whom he had framed. The Imp had a group of mountain bandits around him who would kill without blinking an eye. Littlefinger was worried that 'a drunken street brawl or arson at night' would put his life in danger. And Bernie and Scholar Qyburn had joined forces. Bernie asked Lord Mountain, should they help Littlefinger? And how should they help?

Littlefinger was the Mountain's secret ally, and the Mountain controlled the secrets of the conspiracies and tricks that Littlefinger himself had confessed, which could discredit Littlefinger at any time.

Littlefinger was still useful, and the Mountain decided to help him.

After this period of training, Bernie was doing very well in King's Landing. With the orphanage and Flea Bottom as overlapping places to cover his identity, he and his brothers had successfully taken over Varys' entire 'Little Bird' intelligence system in King's Landing and were running it smoothly.

Through Bernie's letter, the Mountain knew everything about the Imp's actions in King's Landing. His eyes looked at the sky through the branches of the big tree, and the figure of the Imp appeared in the sky, just like a movie clip.

*

King's Landing. Red Keep. Throne Room. Small Council Chamber.

Gate.

The dwarf stood next to Ser Mandon Moore, clad in the snow-white uniform of the Kingsguard, and had to look up at this very gloomy and cold Kingsguard.

"Ser, please let me in." This was the third time the Imp had made the request.

Ser Mandon Moore was still as cold as steel: "The Queen Mother has ordered: No one is allowed to enter during the meeting, no matter who it is."

The dwarf had three real killers around him: the mercenary Bronn, who dared to do anything for money; Shagga, a fierce man from the Stone Crows; and Conn, the equally brave second-in-command of the Stone Crows.

Tyrion knew that any one of these three could easily cut Mandon Moore's throat, but on his first day entering the Throne Room and participating in the Small Council meeting for the first time, killing the Queen Mother's confidant Kingsguard would have too great an impact on the future relationship between the siblings. Therefore, Tyrion decided to be polite first...

"Ser, I only have a small matter," Tyrion decided to use his last resort, which was the ultimate move that even the Queen Mother Cersei would have to listen to seriously. He took out a piece of parchment from his sleeve, "Ser, this is a letter written by my father Tywin Lannister, who is now the Hand of the King. Look, it has his seal on it."

Not long after Joffrey sat on the Iron Throne, he appointed his grandfather Tywin Lannister as the current Hand of the King.

"During the meeting, the Queen Mother said that she doesn't want anyone to disturb her." Ser Mandon repeated slowly, his tone lazy, as if he thought Tyrion was an idiot who couldn't understand what he was saying.

Tyrion's politeness and patience were finally exhausted.

He was appointed by Tywin to be the Hand of the King, but if he couldn't even enter the door of the Small Council meeting...

The dwarf showed a friendly smile: "Ser Mandon, I don't think you've met my companions yet. This is Shagga, the leader of the Stone Crows. He has a bad temper, and even the Mountain has to take his heavy axe seriously. This is Bronn. You should still remember Ser Vardis Egen, the captain of the guards of Lord Arryn, right?"

"Of course I know." Ser Mandon's eyes were light gray, and his gaze was lifeless. "He was a good knight, and he and I were both from the Vale."

"Ser Vardis Egen no longer exists." Bronn's lips curled up, showing a smile that wasn't a smile. "I killed him in the Eyrie in the Vale, and won freedom for the Imp!"

However, Ser Mandon didn't seem to hear this naked threat.

"So..." Tyrion smiled lightly, "I really want to see my good sister, and by the way, deliver this letter. Ser, could you please do us a favor and open the door?"

The white knight remained unmoved.

So, Tyrion took two steps back, and Bronn also stepped back, standing against the wall, his hand gripping the horn-tipped dagger behind his waist.

Tyrion said, "Shagga..." Shagga's eyes widened, and he took off the heavy battle axe on his back. Just as he took half a step forward, Ser Mandon suddenly stood aside. "Dwarf, you can go in, but they can't."

Although it was only a small victory, the fruit was still sweet. Tyrion didn't think he was threatening Mandon Moore, he felt that he was defeating the Queen Mother Cersei's privilege, which made the dwarf feel quite comfortable.

Tyrion Lannister pushed open the door and walked into the hall. The important ministers who were originally discussing state affairs were all surprised and shut their mouths.

"It's you!" There was half disbelief and half extreme disgust in his sister Cersei's tone.

"I finally know where Joffrey learned his good manners from." Tyrion stopped and looked directly into Cersei's eyes, revealing complete confidence. Cersei was extremely sensitive to weakness, just like a dog could smell fear. For his debut today, his tone, words, expressions, all... must not show any weakness.

"What are you doing here?" His sister scrutinized him with those beautiful blue eyes, without a trace of emotion.

"Helping our dear father deliver a letter." He swayed to the conference table, wiggled his butt, moved his small body onto the high stool, and then placed the tightly rolled parchment in front of Cersei.

Cersei unfolded the letter with a face full of negative energy, while Tyrion took the liberty of looking at the important ministers: in the position of Grand Maester Pycelle, sat a kind-faced stranger with a smile in his eyes. Tyrion was very surprised to notice that this scholar was not wearing a scholar's chain.

"You are..."

"My name is Qyburn, Lord." The scholar bowed slightly, very politely. "I am acting as the Grand Maester until the Citadel sends a new Grand Maester."

"Oh!" Tyrion was alarmed, but he quickly let go of Scholar Qyburn, who had no scholar's chain, and locked his gaze on Littlefinger, who had a mischievous smile on his face. He had been captured by Catelyn Tully in the Vale, imprisoned in the sky cells, and suffered all kinds of torture, all thanks to Littlefinger.

Littlefinger told Catelyn Tully that the Valyrian dagger that assassinated Bran Stark was what he lost to Tyrion in the tournament.

Littlefinger confirmed: the murder weapon belonged to Tyrion!

Because of Littlefinger's confirmation, the Imp was arrested, and Tywin, to protect the honor of the Lannister family, started a war. This led to a civil war in the North and West, and the Riverlands were also drawn into it.

"Lord Petyr Baelish," the Imp said with a smile, "I heard you have a Valyrian dagger, very sharp, perfect for murder and silencing people. Who did you lose it to in a bet at a tourney? If possible, please tell me that person's name, and I'm willing to pay ten times the price to buy it."

Littlefinger remained impassive, smiling: "My Lord, you may be mistaken. I have never owned a Valyrian dagger. In tourney bets, I only like to bet gold dragons, never weapons. I don't like weapons, and I haven't practiced martial arts. I like mathematics."

Tyrion was about to lash out when Cersei threw a letter down: "Tyrion, so it seems I must welcome you?"

"I didn't want to come to King's Landing, sister. This is all our father's order."

"In that case, I think you're better suited for the battlefield. Stannis of Dragonstone has already declared himself king. He has joined forces with some pirates to form a massive navy. News indicates he is preparing to attack our Blackwater Bay harbor. Renly Baratheon of Storm's End has also declared himself king. Margaery Tyrell has married him, and the Tyrell family of the Reach has sworn allegiance to Renly as a result. Renly has gathered a hundred thousand troops from the Stormlands and the Reach at Bitterbridge and will soon march north to attack King's Landing. Tyrion, you fighting on the battlefield would be more beneficial to us."

Cersei's words successfully diverted Tyrion's attention from Littlefinger.

The dwarf quickly realized that he had become everyone's target in the small council. The people he had to deal with… seemed a bit too numerous… but he decided to resolve the issue with Littlefinger first.

*

"Lord, how should the reply be written?" the scribe asked.

The Mountain collected his thoughts, speaking casually and confidently: "Have Littlefinger remind Tyrion that if Tyrion moves against him, the entire country's finances and trade will suffer: the city watch soldiers won't be paid, the citizens won't be able to buy food, and the Queen Mother's and the King's wine supplies will quickly cease. Before the Baratheons even attack, King's Landing will collapse from internal strife."

"Is that all? Just one sentence?" the scribe asked in surprise.

The Mountain looked at the scribe: "Tyrion is a smart man; he just needs a little reminder. Given the current situation, with a slight reminder, he will know what he should do first, what he should do later, and what he should not do."

The scribe bowed and was about to leave when the Mountain said, "Wait a moment." The Mountain missed the fleshy aroma of 'his wife, Jeyne Westerling'. "I want to write a letter back to Clegane's Keep."

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