Chapter 18 Countermeasures
The cold dagger is stuck to his neck, and the approaching feeling of death will always make people fearful. Littlefinger has tasted this feeling before, when he challenged Brandon Stark, the running wolf of the north, at a young and ignorant age. , he still recalls that feeling of fear that made him unable to escape no matter how hard he struggled.
The running wolf is dead, but this feeling is found again in a young eagle.
Littlefinger put down the dagger. His plan had been brewing in his mind since his beloved Lysa gave birth to the Prime Minister's youngest son, Robin. His ambition to pursue power reached its peak when the Prime Minister's eldest son, Attis, first arrived in King's Landing.
"That young eagle must die!" Littlefinger thought in his heart at that time under the Prime Minister's Tower.
He has been preparing for this for several years.
Littlefinger is always taking risks when he goes out. Whether it is his contact with Lysa or his investigation of the situation of the princes in the valley, these will leave traces, but Littlefinger will always give these traces appropriate reasons or secretly erase them.
The eldest son of the Arryn family was protected by the Royce family in the traditional and rigid Runestone City and could hardly come out. Just seeing the contemptuous eyes of Bronze Yohn would awaken the deep inferiority in Littlefinger's heart. What's even more terrible is that this young eagle traveled around the valley several times when he returned from King's Landing. Littlefinger was stunned and didn't know where he flew to.
The territory of the valley is often split into small pieces. The peninsula where Runestone City and Seagull Town are located is one of the few flat lands in the valley. The rest of the territory is wrapped by the Mingyue Mountains. It is very troublesome to communicate with each other, and even fly to The ravens in the Eagle's Nest City have been specially trained by the bachelor, and most people don't know this information.
He tried to find loopholes in the ancient and closed valley. This place with closed terrain and relatively closed culture was difficult to understand the basic situation, the demands of each prince, the ambition of each noble, the friction between them, the mountains The role of clans in the valley.
Littlefinger can only be obtained in one place, which is the third largest city in Westeros, Seagull Town, where the customs is managed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. This is a place where a few valley princes often gather and cross paths. Trade is prosperous because the valley is important for coastal defense. Attention, almost all military nobles and even knights will bring their children or family members to observe the coastal defense, port and fleet here.
It was there that Littlefinger met Harlan, the youngest son of the Hunter family, and learned of his ambitions.
"Love breeds hatred. The stupid old Earl Hunter left his love to his youngest son, Harlan, and his truly valuable power to his two older brothers. How could there not be trouble?" Littlefinger thought to himself.
Longbow Hall is very close to the Five Fingers Peninsula. As a native nobleman of the Five Fingers Peninsula, he was called "Little Finger" by the ignorant and ridiculous Edmure Tully. He was the smallest thumb from the Five Fingers Peninsula.
The hopelessness of the class made him forge ahead, and a careful plan took shape in his hands.
His connections in the Free Cities brought him into contact with a group of eccentric assassins, a group of killers who would say "I'm sorry" before killing, the Regret Guests of Qarth.
As a man who has been running customs trade for many years, it is impossible for him not to pay generous tolls to the greedy pirates on the Narrow Sea. Even under the long-term supervision of Stannis's Dragonstone fleet, Littlefinger actually still left money for some pirate leaders. Living space, which is also convenient for little fingers to use.
The ambition of Harlan Hunter in Longbow Hall, the relationship with the pirate leader, and the regretful guest in Qarth. Littlefinger only blames Harlan for doing this. He could have completely tricked his second brother Eustace and Attis into the city before taking action. Harlan's cronies in the city and the pirates outside the city who were ready to move around, all worked together to kill Ah Lan. The hundreds of cavalry led by Tis are definitely not a problem.
Harlan can seize all the horses in advance before taking action, or even arrange for Attis to be in a separate room before sending out the regretful guests. He has to be smart and take action at the moment when people enter the city. They are fully armed cavalry. Ah, no matter how hard the pirates outside the city and the soldiers inside the city try, they can't take down all the hundreds of valley cavalry.
At that time, even killing Eustace and Attis was useless. Harlan could not continue to deceive. Next, he would be chased by tens of thousands of valley knights.
Fortunately, he had asked Regret Guest to poison Harlan at the right time in advance, otherwise he might have been exposed.
If this happened, at least it wouldn't affect me, but I never expected that this young eagle's eyes were so sharp, and could see through good and evil at a glance.
And when she looked at him at the tournament and the banquet, the fear that Brandon Stark once brought to her suddenly reappeared.
But this time, it didn't come from bravery, but from resourcefulness, which inevitably gave Littlefinger a sense of crisis.
"This young eagle must die!" Littlefinger thought again, this time not entirely because of the plan, but because of a sense of self-preservation.
The little finger put down the dagger in his hand and curled his mouth slightly. People's attention is always divided into front and back, as long as.
New plans are quietly unfolding.
Stannis, the sea lord, escaped from the endless echoes of the party. He sat on the bed, his eyes closed, and Littlefinger's words rang in his ears.
"Look at our Prince Joffrey, with his blond hair, he looks more and more like our beautiful Queen Cersei." Littlefinger said drunkenly while drinking red wine. Stannis ignored him at the time and drank to himself, his eyes always wandering away from the banquet. He was wondering whether the Dragonstone fleet's capture of the smuggling ship had any results, so he had no intention of listening to Littlefinger's nonsense.
"Our Prince Tommen and the lovely Princess Myrcella, ha, they both have blond hair like a lion, and they look more and more like their dear uncle." Littlefinger lowered his head, eyes blurred with drunkenness. "Twins, hiccup!" Little Finger leaned on the table as if asleep.
Stannis originally wanted to leave this drunkard immediately, but at this time, clues were forming in his mind like snowballs. In an instant, his pupils widened, and he looked in shock at Joffrey and Cersei in the distance, as well as the people standing in the distance. The Kingslayer looked at Joffrey with a smile.
A terrible thought formed in his mind, and he wanted to tell his brother about this doubt immediately, but then he suppressed the thought. Robert never listened to his suggestions, any suggestions!
"I need proof.", Stannis muttered.
Jon Arryn, Lord Hand, could convince Robert.
After confirming his idea, Stannis lay down in bed and tried to fall asleep, but he still couldn't fall asleep. He knew what the consequences would be if the investigation was clear. Lannister and Baratheon would even go to war. Destruction was hard-won. The kingdom is at peace, but Stannis is not interested in it. Peace cannot be based on lies and incest.
And if the truth is really like that, the four alliances of the Deer Family in the Stormlands and the Kingdom, the Wolf Family in the North, the Eagle Family in the Vale, and the Fish Family in the Riverlands are still there. No matter how strong the Lannister is, they can't resist this force. Great power.
By then, it will be the rainy season at Casterly Rock, not Castamere!
Stannis even thought about who Robert should marry after Cersei was deposed. Thinking of himself and the possible changes in the future, he couldn't help but feel ripples in his heart.
Eddard Stark in the north leads an army quite well, Brynton Tully of the Fish family is still there, Robert will definitely lead the expedition himself, the bronze Yohn of the Vale, and even the eagle of the tourney champion can be stretched out. See and feel the confrontation and command of a large army, not as simple as a small Longbow Hall battle.
Although Stannis was impressed by Attis's martial arts, the miraculous suppression of the Longbow Hall rebellion was nothing more than a small fight in his eyes. Presumably, Attis was also suspected of seeking fame.
At this time, Attis was soaking his body in the hot water of the barrel, enjoying the rare pleasure.
He was processing the information he had received from Robert and his father in his mind. The information was not complicated, and it all pointed to one person, Lord Petyr Baelish, the little finger of the valley.
If he had the ability to bring the unfortunate guests from Qarth to the Valley, at least he would have people in the customs and coastal defense. Thinking of this, Attis frowned slightly. What if it was King's Landing that he was more familiar with and had been operating for a long time?
Littlefinger became the Chancellor of the Treasury on the recommendation of Lysa. His relationship with Lady Lysa when he was young is still used by the princes of the valley to ridicule his father behind his back. His father also admitted that Lysa often influenced his decision-making. There are people so close to him. With this suspicion, Attis couldn't help but worry about his father's safety in King's Landing.
The evidence must be obtained as soon as possible to destroy Littlefinger's power in one fell swoop.
Littlefinger manages the finances of the Seven Kingdoms, people in contact with Qarth, customs officers in Seagull Town
But didn’t Varys already report to customs that there was no suspicion of contact with Qarth? Attis closed his eyes and thought, lies are sometimes made up of the truth. The incomplete truth is more harmful than pure lies. Maybe Varys underreported a little, maybe Varys and Littlefinger are in the same group?
Attis didn't dare to think that if this was the case, he might not be able to survive the venom of the eight-clawed spider.
The blue-robed soldiers of the Arryn family remained vigilant even at night, and the procedures of patrolling, guarding, and changing shifts were strictly implemented. This was my father's trump card in King's Landing.
The Golden Robe Guards, Attis has not yet met the military commander of King's Landing. If his father also has the support of this team, the threat will be reduced a lot
But it’s still not as poisonous as the intimacy of those close to you.
Thinking of Lysa's past madness, Attis's desire for stability, which belongs to the ancient tradition of the valley, once again aroused a sense of crisis. Littlefinger must have left traces. He must find the answer quickly, and such an investigation in King's Landing will definitely not be hidden from the party members. With Littlefinger and Varys everywhere, the best way is to untie the bell and return it to the place where it is tied. Littlefinger settled in Gulltown, the most powerful place in the valley.
The idea was also taking shape in Attis's mind. His father, who was familiar with the situation in King's Landing, must understand King's Landing's power game better than he did. He could not act rashly, and in the valley, there was an eagle's sky.
Thank you readers for your suggestions, a chapter of inspiration
(End of chapter)