The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 387: Shadow War

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*

The first to stand up and applaud was Lord Gavin Westerling of the Westerlands, the father-in-law of the Mountain.

The new lord of Stokeworth—Ser Bronn, knighted of the Blackwater—also clapped enthusiastically.

The Mountain's generals: Captain Alyn, Vice-Captain Grald, Baron Anguy, the commander of the archer cavalry, Vice-Commander Julie, Heavy Cavalry General Rafford Sweetmouth, Vice-Commander Polliver, and Dunsen… all the generals of the Westerlands applauded loudly.

"Congratulations, Lord Mountain," Lord Petyr Baelish, Master of Coin, also slowly stood up, smiled, and applauded.

Maester Qyburn, at the table of the Small Council, maintained a polite smile and remained still.

The leaders of the mountain clans, including Shagga and Conn, who were loyal to the Imp, applauded vigorously. Their meritorious service had earned them the right to stand in the back row of courtiers in the Throne Room.

The courtiers of the Crownlands, all the knights, generals, and lords who had participated in the great battle, stood and applauded for the Mountain.

A wave of enthusiastic applause echoed in the Throne Room.

Joffrey scanned the room, his eyes filled with the arrogance of 'everything is under my control.' He also deeply despised these dog-like courtiers in his heart. He smiled wryly and applauded for the Mountain.

Lord Tywin remained silent and motionless.

At the entrance, a young boy pushed a wheelchair in, and Tyrion Lannister, the Imp, sat in the wheelchair.

The boy pushing the wheelchair was Podrick Payne.

His face was without bandages, the terrible wounds a scarlet red. The catgut sutures held the everted flesh together, like the hundreds of legs of a centipede.

His nose was almost gone, just a black hole. Because a piece of his upper lip was also missing, his gums were exposed, along with a few pale yellow teeth.

The Imp's injuries were horrific, making people feel very uncomfortable at first sight.

Joffrey stared at the Imp's 'beautiful' face in disbelief.

Cersei was completely stunned.

She had not expected the Imp to come to the Throne Room at this time.

The noble ladies covered their eyes!

Lord Tywin's expression also hardened. Tyrion's appearance at this time was very inappropriate!

Podrick pushed the Imp to the foot of the steps. The Imp stood up from the wheelchair; his injury was on his face, not on his legs.

He bowed to His Majesty the King, then to the Queen Mother Cersei, and finally to the Hand of the King, Lord Tywin.

The Imp and Lord Tywin's eyes met. He saw that the Duke was very dissatisfied with his arrival and had no concern for Tyrion's injuries. The Imp could see this from the Duke's eyes. This made his heart ice cold: the Hand of the King only wanted Tyrion to leave as soon as possible.

His father regarded him as a nuisance.

"Congratulations, Lord Mountain," the Imp said. "From Earl to Duke, it's what you deserve. The only regret is that Dragonstone has more stone than soil."

The Imp's words were harsh from the start. He thought Dragonstone was barren and should have been given a better territory to the Mountain. The Imp's sarcastic tone was consistent.

"Your Majesty, I have also performed meritorious service. I want some reward for myself," the Imp said.

"Tyrion, the most important thing you should do now is to rest," Queen Mother Cersei said indifferently. "Where is Maester Ballabar? I have ordered him to take care of your injuries with all his might. If he fails in his duty, I will punish him severely."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty," Tyrion said. "I asked Podrick to tie up Maester Ballabar. He wouldn't let me out, so I had to tie him up."

"You need the care of a Maester, Tyrion," Cersei involuntarily raised her head, her neck as slender as a swan.

"Yes, thank you, my good sister. Rather than lying in bed, I would rather come to the Throne Room to get a title or reward. So, King, Queen Mother, Hand of the King, take pity on the injury on my face. Where is my reward?"

"We will give you a reward, Uncle Imp," Joffrey said.

"Very good, do you need to have a meeting to discuss it now? Or have you completely forgotten about me? During the great battle with Stannis, I led the army out of the King's Gate to attack the right flank of Stannis's army."

"Tyrion, we will give you a fair reward, but now, can you let us deal with other government affairs first?" Lord Tywin said indifferently.

"Oh, Father, of course!" Tyrion said. "Then, can I listen in here? After all, I was still the Hand of the King yesterday. Hehe, I must be the shortest-serving Imp Hand of the King in history!"

Some courtiers and generals chuckled.

In Tyrion's eyes, his father, the Hand of the King, was a stone, his sister, the Queen Mother, was a poisonous bee, and his nephew, the King, was a monster. As for the others, Littlefinger was a liar, Qyburn was a dark doctor, and the Mountain was… a beast in human skin.

Lord Tywin looked at Tyrion indifferently: "Tyrion, there is a place for you in the Throne Room. It would be even better if you could keep your mouth shut while listening to government affairs."

"As you wish, Lord Hand of the King. You can see my injury. It's not good to talk too much. Podrick, come, push me into the ranks of the courtiers."

"Yes, my lord!"

Podrick pushed Tyrion into the first row of courtiers. The courtiers avoided him. Podrick kept nodding and apologizing. He felt that the eyes of the entire hall were on his face, which made him feel hot all over.

*

The Mountain returned to the long table where members of the Small Council were entitled to sit.

He was the Master of Ships, a member of the Small Council, and from then on, he had the legitimate right to participate in the formulation, proposal, and voting of national affairs.

When the Mountain sat down, he was like a mountain.

Lord Tywin stood up: "Your Majesty, many important positions in the Royal Court are vacant, which will lead to the smooth operation of national affairs being hindered, and the petitions of the people cannot be dealt with quickly. I propose that Lord Mace Tyrell of the Reach serve as Master of Laws…"

"Lord Hand of the King, you can handle these small matters," Joffrey abruptly interrupted Lord Tywin, causing Lord Tywin to choke, and a bellyful of words were blocked in his throat.

Tywin met Joffrey, which was like an experienced craftsman encountering a new problem!

Joffrey sat down, carefully placing his hands on the twisted blade-forged armrests. The coldness of the iron made him feel very comfortable, and the sharpness of the sword made him feel sharp: "My courtiers, I now want to deal with a more important matter. Lord Mountain, your army has captured a prisoner named Brienne. She is the murderer of my uncle Renly. Although my uncle was a rebel, his surname is Baratheon. At the request of Ser Loras Tyrell, I want you to hand her over to be executed."

The child king cared about fun things, not government affairs.

Killing people was obviously more interesting than those government affairs.

The Mountain said, "Your Majesty, I have already brought Brienne of Tarth."

"Where is she?" Joffrey thought she was tied up with ropes, but he didn't see her.

A person strode out of the Mountain's general's ranks, with a long sword at his waist and shoulders that were half a head taller than most men.

Brienne walked out and knelt on one knee: "Brienne of Tarth, I salute Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Queen Mother."

Joffrey looked at Brienne and was secretly surprised. What a tall woman, what broad shoulders, what protruding teeth, what blue eyes... but, so many freckles on her face... Well, just kill her directly...

"Come, take Brienne down," Joffrey shouted.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent," Brienne said in a deep voice.

"You murdered Renly. A vassal murders his lord. Death penalty."

"I did not murder King Renly."

Joffrey had no interest in the trial and didn't want to get entangled with Brienne: "Ser Loras Tyrell, Brienne says she is innocent. I will hand her over to you. If you want to do it yourself, cut her down now. If you don't want to do it yourself, the Royal Executioner will cut her down."

Figuring out a boring thing would only make people more bored. Seeing blood directly was more straightforward and fun!

Loras Tyrell walked out of the courtiers. He had a calm, handsome face, and his armor was embroidered with white roses. The hilt and scabbard were carved with intricate flower patterns.

"Brienne..."

Brienne stood up abruptly: "Ser Loras, Stannis's shadow killed King Renly."

"Kill her. She publicly said here that Renly was the king. Kill this rebel," a general shouted.

"In the Throne Room, publicly calling a traitor the king, her tongue should be cut off," another nobleman immediately followed.

"I was loyal to Renly. Although he is dead, he was my king when he was alive," Brienne retorted.

"Those who immediately defected when their lord died should have their tongues cut off," the Imp turned to look at the few people behind him who were making noise.

The few people who were making noise suddenly choked.

"People who don't have an old master in their hearts will not be loyal to a new master. Loyalty and honor do not exist for these hypocritical liars and opportunistic spineless people," the Imp's sharp tongue has always been like a knife, offending many people, but he never changed.

"Halfman, who are you loyal to?" someone retorted.

"I was loyal to Renly the day before yesterday, Stannis yesterday, and King Joffrey today. Who do you say I am loyal to?" the Imp said coldly.

The nobleman was speechless... his face turned blue...

This sentence was too powerful, but it also hurt all the nobles who had turned to Joffrey after the defeat.

The Imp didn't care and looked at Ser Loras Tyrell: "Knight, if I were you, I would know with my toes that Brienne could not have killed her master. She still called Renly the king here just now. Many people took the opportunity to seize this handle to please our king and the Hand of the King, in exchange for perhaps a small eye reward. If it didn't hurt my wound to laugh, I would laugh at you."

Loras Tyrell said, "Brienne, how can you prove what you said?"

"My loyalty and honor."

"You ran away in the first place, and you have no loyalty or honor."

"You killed two Rainbow Guards in anger, and more people rushed in. The scene was chaotic. If I didn't escape, what else could I do? Fight with my own people? I want to keep my life to assassinate Stannis and avenge Renly."

"Even if you didn't kill Renly, you were Renly's guard on duty. Your lord was assassinated, and you are also derelict in your duty," Loras said coldly, "A guard who allows his lord to be assassinated, death penalty."

Brienne stared at Loras: "Are you sure you want to kill me?"

"You are guilty! Death penalty!"

In the Throne Room, the important courtiers all knew that Renly and Loras grew up together in Storm's End. Loras was sent to Storm's End by Duke Mace Tyrell at a very young age to be a servant to Renly's father. He and Renly were inseparable and had a deep relationship.

Renly was dead. It was very inappropriate for Renly's two vassals to fight each other for Renly's death in the Throne Room, but the King, Queen Mother, Hand of the King, Master of Ships, Master of Coin, etc., did not stand up to stop the improper remarks of these two people, and no one else dared to say a word.

However, this matter was suddenly triggered by King Joffrey not playing cards according to the normal routine. The Hand of the King was expressionless and did not speak. Who would dare to say no in the entire court of courtiers and generals?

Joffrey did not have as much 'political' wisdom as the adults. When he heard Brienne say trial by combat, he was overjoyed: "Okay, I approve. Brienne and Ser Loras, trial by combat. The Seven Gods will make the fairest judgment. Start! Start quickly!"

Loras Tyrell faced Joffrey and bowed: "As you wish, Your Majesty."

Clang!

Loras Tyrell's long sword was unsheathed, the sword light like autumn water, a good sword, but not a Valyrian steel sword. Every Valyrian steel sword is a famous sword, very rare. After the Lannister family's 'Brightroar' Valyrian steel sword, which was as rich as an empire, was lost, one of Lord Tywin's brothers went to sea to find it, and both the person and the sword disappeared.

A Valyrian steel sword is priceless. The Tyrell family is so wealthy, but they don't have a Valyrian steel sword.

Brienne said, "Your Majesty, according to the ancient way of trial by combat, do I have the right to find a champion to fight for me?"

"Of course, you all have the right to find a champion to fight for you. You also have the right to pay tribute to the Seven Gods according to the ancient way and find six helpers to form a seven-star team battle," Joffrey said with great interest, hoping that more people would participate in the fight.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Queen Mother, Lord Hand of the King, all courtiers and generals, when Brienne of Tarth was wronged by everyone, there was an adult who guaranteed me in the name of the old and new gods and the honor of the family, and that is Duke Gregor Clegane."

Boom!

The Throne Room suddenly exploded.

Everyone suspected they had misheard; disbelief rippled through the crowd.

Even Littlefinger glanced at the Mountain, surprised that the Mountain recognized Brienne's innocence?! This guy's judgment is almost catching up to mine! But what does Brienne mean by suddenly saying all this?

Joffrey and Cersei were both stunned.

Tywin and Loras, however, were not surprised. They knew about Brienne's situation and that the Mountain believed in Brienne's loyalty and innocence, even stepping forward to stop Loras Tyrell from arresting her.

"Ser Gregor Clegane, in the name of the Father's justice, the Mother's mercy, the Crone's wisdom, the Warrior's skill, the Smith's courage, the Maiden's purity, the Stranger's mystery, the honor of House Tarth, and my own loyalty, will you, Ser, be my champion, to demonstrate your valor and prove the impartiality of the Seven Gods?"

Complete silence fell over the hall.

Everyone was utterly astonished.

Lord Tywin watched the Mountain impassively.

The Mountain slowly rose to his feet. "Lady Brienne, in the name of the Old Gods and the New, in the name of justice and fairness, I am honored to be your champion!"

Lord Mace Tyrell, Ser Loras Tyrell, Cersei, Tyrion Lannister, and many other courtiers and warriors alike, all paled.

Lord Tywin remained expressionless, his gaze indifferent!

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