The Future of the Westerlands

The black White Wolf Banner fluttered and roared atop the walls of Golden Tooth, marking the first time in a thousand years that the Golden Tooth had changed hands.

Golden Tooth was merely a military fortress in the Westerlands, and although it was surrounded by the rich Golden Tooth gold mines, these were all Lannister assets.

The House Lefford was not wealthy, and Tywin had never given them any subsidies.

Inside the hall, Jon was receiving Alysanne Lady Lefford.

At this moment, Lady Lefford's cheeks were swollen high, and she dared not breathe too heavily. Daven's kick had been extremely hard, and she felt pain in her lower ribs with every breath.

Lady Lefford told Jon that she had stabbed Daven, and this was confirmed by Daven's body.

However, such merit was clearly not enough for her to retain Golden Tooth for the House Lefford. In the future, Jon planned to build a trading town facing the Riverlands from Golden Tooth.

In short, this place is no longer a military fortress; he needs to take direct control.

"Earl Leo Lefford was merely doing what a vassal should do. I can no longer hand over Golden Tooth to you, but for you and your child, I will give the House Lefford a manor where you can raise your child."

"Thank you, sir."

With all the men in her household dead or wounded, and the castle breached, Lady Lefford never even considered saving Golden Tooth. All she wanted was Jon's assurance that she and her son could continue to live.

After all, she used her looks to please men in the first place, all for the sake of her child.

After Lady Lefford left, just as Jon was about to depart, Robert Frey suddenly announced that Brynden was coming to see him.

Brynden entered the hall, exchanged greetings with Jon, and then explained the purpose of his visit.

He believed that now was not a good time to attack Casterly Rock. Instead, they should use Golden Tooth as a base to expand outwards, or they should look for an opportunity to have a decisive battle with Tywin's large army stationed in the southern Westerlands, and then conquer other cities and territories after the decisive battle.

"Sir Brynden's advice is very insightful, and I understand what you mean." Jon knew that he was most likely responsible for letting Tywin go that day, but he didn't say it aloud.

After all, judging from his suggestion, he seemed to want to make amends for his mistakes. He happened to be short-handed, so if Brynden was willing to come to his side and atone for his sins, that wouldn't be a bad idea.

"But I want to end the war as soon as possible. Tywin probably doesn't know about the fall of Golden Tooth yet. If we can reach Casterly Rock sooner, we can build fortifications and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out." Jon said to Tywin, "Actually, I didn't plan to attack Casterly Rock directly. To take the city, we need to defeat the army that Tywin has recruited. Besides, Tywin is still in Casterly Rock. He's the only one in the Westerlands who can Tywin troops. If we keep him trapped in Casterly Rock, we can better defeat this army."

In fact, there was one more thing Jon didn't mention: he didn't take Tywin's hastily recruited army seriously at all.

Now, not only does he have the Gods' Eye," but he also has over twenty Raven acting as his spies. The army, composed of a large number of newly recruited soldiers, is bound to be full of weaknesses, and he can easily defeat it.

But if they use Sarsfield as their base and fortifications, then fighting will be much more difficult.

"Sir Brynden, speed is of the essence in war. If I had been any slower, Joffrey, that Usurper King, would be sitting on the Iron Throne now."

"Speed is of the essence in war—I understand." Brynden nodded, thinking that Jon always had a knack for saying things that were intriguing.

Just as Jon thought he had answered Brynden's question and was about to leave, Brynden suddenly confessed, "My lord, actually that day Tywin — Tywin was someone I deliberately let go."

Brynden's voice grew increasingly weak, almost as if it were being squeezed out of his throat by the end. He lowered his head, as if awaiting Jon's verdict.

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall immediately fell silent, with only the sounds of soldiers chatting and laughing coming from outside.

After much deliberation, Brynden decided to confess to Jon.

"If you intend to punish me, please wait until the war is over so that I can try to make amends for my mistakes."

Seeing that Jon remained silent for a long time, Brynden finally spoke up.

Brynden, who had been looking down, saw Jon's boots step into his line of sight and looked up with some shame.

"Sir Brynden, we all have our own positions. I was just giving you advice. It's nothing special that you're loyal to your family and think about what's best for them."

"Duke--my lord."

Jon glanced calmly at Brynden, then left the hall.

In fact, Jon believed that Tywin's escape back to the Westerlands was actually to his advantage.

If he dies at the gates of King's Landing or on his way west, the Westerlands will be leaderless.

While he could certainly force those remaining lords of the Westerlands to surrender without a second thought, he would also preserve their territories and strength to the greatest extent possible.

Jon's plan is to implement the "reform of local administration" in the future Westerlands, and he wants to focus his efforts on preparing for the Long Night and the coming winter.

If the lords of Westeros are like individual ships of varying sizes sailing alone, Jon's goal is to link these ships together, Iron-Linked Ships to create an ultimate fortress capable of withstanding any storm.

If those lords had surrendered immediately, Jon would have had a very difficult time getting things done.

But now that they are opposing him under Tywin's leadership, he can be even bolder in his future actions. Highgarden remains peaceful, and Margaery and her sisters are commenting on a helmet and a letter.

Sunlight filtered through the vines, dappling their dresses, and the girls' laughter mingled with the musicians' music, making the place seem like a fairyland.

This helmet came from Daven; Jon wrote in his letter that Margaery could use it to make a flowerpot.

"Our Duke's gift-giving—it's truly ingenious." Airo put down the vertical scroll she was holding.

Qin, racking her brains to come up with the most polite word possible.

However, Margaery was clearly not satisfied with this description and simply laughed it off.

Lya, standing nearby, keenly noticed Margaery's displeasure. Back when her family was choosing him to marry Jon, she felt as if a great calamity was about to befall her.

After all, there was never a place for bastards in her poems and songs. To prevent Margaery from becoming even more unhappy with Jon because of her dissatisfaction with the gift, Lya quickly added, "I think this gift is quite good. Even that Prince of the North might not have been able to invade the Westerlands if it weren't for his wolves, but Jon was able to break through Golden Tooth from the front. Isn't that to tell our Margaery that he has enough power to protect her?"

"Hmm! Lya is right, I think this must be what His Majesty the Duke means."

"So, this helmet really is a gift with a lot of meaning~"

Led by Lya, the girls all spoke highly of Jon, fearing that Margaery might change her mind.

It's true that these noble ladies inevitably developed a competitive spirit during their daily interactions. Although they were all Margaery's maids, it didn't stop them from secretly fantasizing about how wonderful it would be if they were Mace's daughter.

When these noble girls learned that Margaery was actually going to marry Jon, they weren't exactly gloating, but they all felt much better.

Of course, if Jon actually takes Casterly Rock, that would be a different story.

However, they all asked the people around them whether Casterly Rock was easy to conquer, and the results were surprisingly consistent: unless the dragons were resurrected, Jon would definitely not be able to take Casterly Rock.

Moreover, although these girls did not understand military affairs, everyone knew how difficult it was to attack Casterly Rock, and there was no possibility of taking any shortcuts.

Margaery was naturally aware of her girlfriends' thoughts, but she didn't expose them. The Queen of Thorns Olenna had told her since childhood that it was better not to say or reveal many things.

So amidst a chorus of somewhat insincere compliments, Margaery also gave a perfectly timed smile.

"Alright, I'll take it as you saying nice things about Jon. Instead, help me think of something to put in this flowerpot." With that, Margaery picked up the heavy helmet with her slender, fair hands, indicating that she would give Jon the flowers in the flowerpot when he returned in triumph.

Meanwhile, Mace was discussing Jon's attack on Golden Tooth with her eldest son Willas and her mother Olenna.

He simply couldn't understand why Jon's tricks had worked. According to the news Garlan sent back, when they breached Golden Tooth, there were fewer than a thousand defenders left.

"Ah, I'm getting more and more curious about this Jon. I really hope to meet him soon." Willas rubbed his knees, which were atrophied a bit, and looked north as he smiled. A breeze blew through his short brown hair, and he looked very scholarly.

Olenna looked at her beloved grandson, then turned to Mace and said, "Oh dear, don't look at me like that. You should be happy to have such an invincible son-in-law. If there's any city you need to conquer in the future, you can have Jon as your second-in-command."

Olenna thought that since Margaery and Jon's marriage was a done deal, they might as well accept it and then figure out how to benefit from the relationship.

She also didn't want anything to happen to Jon in the battle; if that were to happen, Margaery would really have a hard time getting married in the future.

"That brat, he was probably just lucky. When he attacked King's Landing, it was because Tyrion's attention was drawn to Stannis. When he attacked Golden Tooth, it was because he ran into an idiot. If he had really run into a coward like Stannis, I guarantee he wouldn't have been able to do anything," Mace muttered with some dissatisfaction.

Willas was already used to his father, and it was absolutely impossible for him to admit defeat verbally. So he looked at Olenna, and the two of them smiled at each other.

"Father, if Jon really does conquer Casterly Rock, can't we just say he was lucky?"

"If he really manages to conquer Casterly Rock, I'd gladly double Margaery's dowry!"

As soon as Mace finished speaking, Olenna sat up straight and looked around warily. Mace was puzzled, Olenna replied, "I'm checking if anyone's eavesdropping, so that if you want to back out later, no one will know."

Mace paused for a moment, then realized her mother was teasing her, and angrily got up and left.