Bastards and Remarried Women

Not only Stannis, but also the King's faction Queen's faction vassals harbored hostility towards Tyrell.

When Littlefinger Petyr entered the dragon-shaped Stone Drum Tower, he felt as if he had truly stepped into the dragon's throat, with the raging Dragonfire ready to incinerate him at any moment.

He kept his eyes fixed ahead, while glancing at the knights and nobles around him out of the corner of his eye, and found that most of them were people he had never seen before, or even remembered.

After all, he was promoted to the Hand of the King by Arryn, and he saw renowned nobles every day. In his eyes, the people around Stannis were nothing but rabble.

"If it weren't for Jon, all of you would be prisoners!" Petyr thought bitterly, lamenting the injustice of fate.

All the calculations and schemes ultimately came to nothing.

"Ah, so it's Lord Littlefinger from the Imperial Household Department." At that moment, someone suddenly spoke up sarcastically, mentioning his nickname.

Petyr's nickname comes from two main reasons: firstly, because he was somewhat thin, and secondly, because his family's fiefdom was located on the Fingers in the Vale, which was small and barren.

That's why he's called Littlefinger.

However, Petyr merely smiled at this derogatory title and did not react excessively. He approached Stannis and respectfully knelt down to pay his respects.

"Your Majesty Stannis, I am Petyr Baelish, and I have come to pledge my loyalty to you, and also to negotiate peace on behalf of House Tyrell." As soon as Petyr finished speaking, someone shouted, "Tyrell is a traitor!"

"That's right!"

We'll have to punish them sooner or later!

Hearing the clamor of the crowd, Petyr felt nothing but utter contempt. "What a bunch of fools! If it weren't for the threat from the Dornishmen in the south, would Tyrell care about the attitude of you defeated foes?"

Petyr, of course, wouldn't voice these thoughts aloud, but remained kneeling on the ground, respectfully awaiting Stannis's decision.

He believed Stannis wouldn't be that stupid, no matter what.

After a moment, Stannis finally spoke, "Petyr, I already know that it was Cersei who ordered you to win over the Tyrell. The responsibility for this does not lie with you."

"Your Majesty is wiser than anyone else." Petyr breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed he had nothing to worry about.

However, the next second, Stannis switched to a questioning tone. "Even though you were coerced by Cersei, I ask you, outside of King's Landing, was anyone else coercing you? Why did you still choose to serve the Usurper King at that time?!"

Furthermore, Cersei has already told me that Lord Eddard was killed in a coup, and your involvement was undoubtedly crucial in that!

Stannis's tone carried the rage of an impending storm; if it weren't for Tyrell, he could have conquered King's Landing himself.

He could already foresee that historians would record that his throne was seized for him by a bastard, and although he wouldn't hold a grudge against Jon for it, it would be a disgrace for the rest of his life.

Petyr's face turned deathly pale. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance and quickly said, "Your Majesty, Cersei has sent Lannister warriors with me, so I can't leave. And as you know, the House Tyrell are obsessed with making Margaery Queen. Even without someone as lowly as me, they would find a way to make peace with the Lannister. Besides, I've already spoken to Jon about Lord Eddard's matter, and I've obtained his forgiveness. I'm just a 'coin-counting' Master of Coin. Getting Lord Eddard to wear black and go to the Night's Watch was the best I could do. It was Joffrey single-mindedly murdered Lord Eddard!" Petyr said, producing the letter of forgiveness Jon had written to him.

Before Stannis could give his servant a signal, Davos quickly stepped forward and presented the results to him.

"Your Majesty, Jon is still young, you—" Davos said in a low voice, hoping that Stannis would not misunderstand Jon because of this.

Stannis didn't speak, but simply opened the letter of understanding, glanced at it briefly, and handed it to Davos before speaking again seriously, "Petyr Baelish."

"Your Majesty." Upon hearing Stannis call him by his full name, he quickly lowered his posture even further.

Whether what you did before was right or wrong, whether it was out of personal gain or honor, is difficult to ascertain. However, your coming to negotiate on behalf of Tyrell is a merit in itself, and I will retain your fiefdom and title.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Although he knew Stannis hadn't finished speaking, Petyr quickly expressed his gratitude, hoping that Stannis would stop there.

Seeing his expression, Stannis's deep blue eyes flashed with disgust. He continued, "But the Bitterbridge Mutiny caused immense losses to me and my army. Your actions constitute treason!" Stannis paused, then said, "Guards!"

Petyr shuddered violently, feeling a tightness in his throat, a tremor in his cheeks, and a sensation as if an electric current had passed through his entire body.

"I, Stannis Baratheon I, hereby decree the removal of one of your hands as punishment!"

"Your Majesty!" Petyr looked up sharply at Stannis, his voice trembling, his words choked with sobs. "Your Majesty! I am willing to offer the fine, Your Majesty!"

Petyr pleaded, but two fully armed guards had already come to his side, one on each side of the small Petyr, and soon someone brought out a wooden stump from somewhere.

"Your Majesty! I am willing to offer the fine, I am willing to offer the land Your Majesty, Your Majesty—" He was only halfway through his sentence when someone stuffed a stinky piece of burlap into his mouth.

"Lord Petyr, I am truly sorry, for the sake of your ears." The speaker was none other than Penny had approached Jon Snow with Davos that day.

Petyr struggled, but it felt as if a thousand-pound boulder was pressing down on him. He never expected to pay such a heavy price.

Because his view was obstructed, he couldn't even see his left hand, which he was about to lose.

With a snap, he felt no pain as the axe fell; it felt like someone had ripped a piece off his clothes.

But then, blood gushed out, and a pain so intense it could numb half of his body spread rapidly. In the blink of an eye, Petyr's face lost all color, turning pale and contorted.

A faint smell of blood could be smelled by everyone in the hall.

Upon witnessing this scene, Davos subconsciously rubbed his severed finger.

In his view, Stannis was like that: mistakes must be punished, and merits must be rewarded.

Stannis cut off four of his own knuckles to punish himself for Flea Bottom, but later elevated himself from a commoner to a nobleman.

At least in Davos's opinion, it was worth it.

Stannis's punishment did not make him resentful; on the contrary, it made him even more loyal.

In the main hall of the Stone Drum Tower, Petyr, with a coarse cloth in his mouth, roared in agony from his chest. Fortunately, a maester soon appeared, fed him Milk of the Poppy, and bandaged his wounds.

After a frantic fifteen minutes, Petyr looked at his severed left hand with a forlorn expression. He could feel that his severed hand was still warm.

But instead of picking them up, his thirst for power and ambition surged to a new level. In an instant, many names flashed before his eyes: Aerys Targaryen, Jon Arryn, Brandon Stark, Eddard Stark, Robert, Rhaegar—

At this moment, Petyr desperately wanted to be one of them.

He wanted power, enough power, enough to change the world!

He wants a kingdom that is absolutely his own!

After cutting off Petyr's hand, Stannis seemed to feel a little better and steered the conversation back to Jon's marriage.

As for the captive nobles brought by Petyr, Stannis decided to set them aside for now and ignore them.

As for what conditions to discuss, Tyrell had already sent Raven to Dragonstone, and Stannis had already accepted them; Petyr was merely there to make a show of it.

The group started arguing again about Jon's marriage. Petyr watched all this with a somewhat indifferent expression, when suddenly an idea struck him. He knew that now was definitely not the time for self-pity; he had to prove his worth as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty," Petyr said weakly, clutching his severed wrist.

The King's faction and Queen's faction's vassals all stared in surprise at the newly surrendered official. Stannis wouldn't listen to their advice; how could someone like Stannis, whose hand had just been cut off, possibly accept their opinions?

But seeing Petyr clutching his severed wrist, his face pale, everyone put away their contempt and disdain, and watched him walk to the center to face Stannis.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to offer you some insignificant advice on this matter."

"Speak, Petyr," Stannis said, looking into Petyr's grey-green eyes.

"I think Jon should marry Margaery Tyrell."

As soon as Petyr finished speaking, the hall fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of armor rubbing together and breathing. Then, a burst of laughter followed.

"Littlefinger, everyone says you're a smart person, but do you think with your hands?"

"How could the House Tyrell possibly bear to marry their precious daughter to a bastard?"

"It would be better to just declare war on them!"

The royalists Queen's faction the King's faction's faction all thought Petyr was delirious from the pain and talking nonsense.

They were well aware of Stannis's current strength; forcing Jon and Margaery into marriage was tantamount to slapping Tyrell in the face.

During the Targaryen era, members of House Baratheon challenged the Dragon Aspect over a marriage dispute.

Ultimately, the Targaryen king at the time had no choice but to marry his youngest daughter, Lerei Targaryen, to the House Baratheon.

In fact, Robert was able to become king instead of Arryn or Eddard because Lerei Targaryen was the grandmother of Robert two brothers!

Seeing the merciless ridicule, Petyr remained unmoved and stated his opinion. "Your Majesty, the Tyrell ' terms for peace are to retain all their lands and titles, but their treason is undeniable and must be punished as well." Petyr looked at Stannis, implying that he couldn't just bully Stannis; to demonstrate royal authority, he should confront the Tyrell, a force to be reckoned with! "I believe that allowing them to marry Margaery to Jon would both show Your Majesty's favor and reward to Jon, and punish the House Tyrell— "

Upon hearing this, everyone realized that it made sense, but the two sides were still somewhat mismatched in strength.

"As for Jon being a bastard, I think you've already decided to legitimize him. Why not just appoint him Lord of Casterly Rock? Wouldn't that solve the problem?" Petyr's words shocked everyone once again.

Casterly Rock is still under Lannister control; how can they reward their loyal subjects like this?

"By granting Casterly Rock to Jon, you can resolve Jon status issue. Furthermore, once Jon and Margaery are together, the House Tyrell House Tyrell will inevitably help him conquer the Westerlands, allowing you to weaken their power. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?"

Silence fell over the hall once again.