A Thousand Layers of Tricks to Coax an Old Father

"That's more like it."

Daeren smiled too.

Among the six Kingsguard, Barristan, Arthur Dayne, and Ser Gerold the White Bull were at the forefront. They had discovered the secret of Vitality long ago and mastered it ahead of others.

Prince Lewyn, Ser Jon, and Oswell Whent had similar talents, their progress depending entirely on opportunity and personal effort.

Prince Lewyn was the maternal uncle of the Prince of Dorne. After his nephew, Prince Doran, ascended the throne, he constantly supplied Lewyn with special crops for his cultivation.

This allowed him to succeed several years prior.

Oswell and Jon also came from noble families, both being great lords of the Riverlands. However, as Kingsguard, they found it difficult to receive substantial support from their families in an era when special crops were incredibly rare and hard to come by.

The former was somewhat better off. He had a close relationship with Rhaegar and frequently sparred with masters like Arthur Dayne and Prince Lewyn, accumulating his strength until he broke through.

The latter, however, was in a dire situation.

He needed resources, but lacked them.

He needed time, but his father, Aerys, was erratic, requiring the Kingsguard to protect him twenty-four hours a day. Even with three men rotating shifts, there wasn't enough time.

Daeren timed it perfectly.

Ser Jon was currently by his side, with time to train.

Hearing that Oswell Whent had mastered Vitality, it was hard for him to refuse the special crops, which were like timely aid.

"Your Highness, I'll set off now."

Ser Jon felt he couldn't accept benefits for nothing and stood up to fetch his horse.

Daeren chuckled, "Remember, deliver the letter to the Hand of the King personally."

Ser Jon hesitated for a moment, then untied two horses, leaving one for Daeren's use.

The man rode away, leaving only fallen leaves stirred by the horse's hooves.

Daeren watched the receding figure, his smile fading. "I hope you'll be a good man, Ser."

He revealed his secret to test a person.

If his teacher, Tywin, knew, he would surely scold him for his foolishness.

One cannot test the human heart.

"But I desperately need someone trustworthy."

Daeren stood up and picked up the slightly burnt rabbit.

The test was simple: it depended on whether the letter would reach his father, Aerys, first, or the recipient, Tywin.

One was a Prince, second in line to the throne, valued by the King. The other was a powerful minister, feared by the King.

The two maintained a teacher-student relationship in private and had even conspired to acquire a fief.

He believed this information was enough to conjure a grand scheme of usurpation in Ser Jon's mind.

"Let's go, I'm going to fish on the beach."

Daeren shook his head and smiled, not taking heed.

The content of the letter was unimportant.

If it reached his teacher, Tywin, first, it would prove Ser Jon's loyalty to him, and from then on, he would be one of them.

If not, it would prove the man was a loyal and upright knight.

Given his knightly honor, he would surely not reveal his secret.

Half an hour later.

The Red Keep.

In the empty Throne Room, the light was dim and heavy.

Aerys sat on the Iron Throne, leaning forward and staring at the letter in his hand, his eyes flickering with an unreadable expression.

In the hall below, Ser Jon's head was bowed low.

The atmosphere was oppressive and stagnant.

His gaze shifted downwards; Tywin stood expressionlessly to one side of the hall.

On the other side stood two bewildered ministers.

After a long pause, Aerys suddenly looked up and burst into laughter, "Tywin, come and see what wonderful surprise my good son has brought me."

His laughter broke the tension.

Tywin's expression was stern. Dressed impeccably in black, he strode before the Iron Throne.

The other two ministers stood opposite, keenly aware of the Hand of the King's gaze sweeping over them.

"Your Majesty, what surprise is it?"

Tywin asked calmly.

Aerys ignored him and turned to call out, "Grand Maester, come read this to the Hand."

Grand Maester Pycelle hurried to look up, his frail body trembling as he shuffled over.

"Do you need me to help you?"

Varys feigned support, but his words were laced with hidden barbs.

Before the appearance of a certain little finger, within the court of the Targaryen royal family, aside from the Grand Maester who disdained eunuchs, no one would incur his hostility.

"No need!" Pycelle snorted, and he knew to quicken his pace.

Varys smiled faintly, then turned his gaze to the King Aerys, the Hand Tywin, and Ser Jon of the Kingsguard, his eyes lingering on them meaningfully.

Prince Daeren's letter, Ser Jon hadn't submitted it to the King first, but instead handed it over via the Hand.

Isn't that interesting?

"Does the Master of Whisperers have something to say?"

Tywin, with his keen senses, immediately fixed his gaze on the plump eunuch.

Varys's round face stiffened, and he quickly forced a smile, "Not at all, my lord."

He didn't want to court death and become the next example of Casterly Rock.

Tywin turned back indifferently, already mentally flagging the plump eunuch with a label of caution.

"...The farms are well... grateful for father's benevolence... wish to contribute my humble efforts..."

Pycelle squinted his dim, old eyes and slowly read the letter.

The general meaning was:

The territory is vast, the farms are doing well, and I am very grateful for father's generosity and care. I have specifically procured an item from distant Pentos to offer to father as a small token of repayment, to help you better govern the Iron Throne and gain the love of the people...

All the nice words, designed to scratch the right itch.

After Pycelle finished reading the letter, he wiped the sweat from his brow with his linen sleeve, thinking that Prince Daeren truly maintained his style as always.

"I didn't raise my son in vain; he knows gratitude and how to repay."

King Aerys was overjoyed and said, "The letter mentions an accompanying blueprint for a device that can weave ten times faster than a loom. Quickly, see if it can be made."

"Hmm?"

Pycelle, only then realizing, took out a blueprint from the envelope.

Prince Daeren, as expected, was an excellent artist. The blueprint was drawn very realistically, with intricate details for every part.

The blueprint was for a spinning wheel.

However, unlike the hand-cranked spinning wheels popular among nobles, this spinning wheel was more compact, with three additional spindles and a foot pedal at the bottom to drive the spindles.

A three-spindle spinning wheel!

The inventor was the famous textile innovator and reformer Huang Daopo from the Northern Song Dynasty of China.

Daeren's mentor's family had one, an old item from when his wife was young.

Westeros was a feudal system with very low productivity.

Commoners, let alone weaving cotton and wool, even saved their cheapest coarse hemp to wear.

And to make a bolt of cloth, common women had to spend a long time accumulating hemp threads, spinning them by hand, and producing the finished product.

Noblewomen had it much better, usually wearing dresses made of wool, silk, or the like. They could buy finished products or hand them over to tailors for making clothes.

However, most women in noble families learned needlework from a young age.

It was hailed as a virtue.

The hand-cranked spinning wheel also came from across the Narrow Sea, from Essos, a long time ago. It quickly became popular in Westeros, becoming a sought-after item that noblewomen vied to purchase.

By today, over half of noble families owned a hand-cranked spinning wheel.

Of course, for many, buying one was more for show than for practical use.

The three-spindle spinning wheel on Daeren's blueprint was a spinning wheel with three spindles, an advancement that freed up the hands by adding two more spindles.

Compared to the hand-cranked spinning wheel, it was quite advanced.

He didn't expect to make money from weaving, as productivity was limited, and there weren't enough materials to weave.

But he could produce finished products and sell them to the noble lords.

It was just an opportunity to show off to his old father and make him happy in front of the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms.