Jon's Daughter Becomes Queen

Lately, Red God devotees can be seen preaching throughout King's Landing.

They preached in the squares, in the harbors, among the nobles, and even before some of the circuses in King's Landing's Landing began.

It seems like you can see those figures draped in red robes everywhere.

Unfortunately, the effects of this intensive preaching were not as expected. In fact, because Stannis employed Red Priest and Pyromancer, rumors even circulated that he was the second Mad King.

However, the unsuccessful preaching was only one of Stannis's many troubles. Although he no longer needed to repay the Lannister, the royal family still owed more than three million Gold Dragon.

He needs to reward his vassals, rebuild the Royal Fleet, and repair the castle—all of which require money.

At this time, during the Small Council, Varys brought up another piece of bad news, or rather, a rumor: more and more people were claiming to have seen dragons in the west.

"I thought things would calm down once her barbarian husband was dead, but now there's a dragon?" said Alester, who was still acting Hand of the King, somewhat irritated.

As Hand of the King, he has far too many things to do.

"The dragons have been gone for almost two hundred years; perhaps it's just a rumor," Davos said, though he didn't really believe it. But the country was facing far too many troubles right now, and they had to be dealt with one by one.

"I remember we had spies planted around her, didn't we?" Pycelle, pinching the pale, loose flesh on his neck.

"We've lost contact with that spy for a long time, and we don't even know if he's returned to the embrace of the gods," Varys said, glancing at Stannis, who had already established himself in the new court.

At that moment, an assistant maester approached Pycelle. Pycelle opened the letterbox, a smile spreading across his face. He even stood up, somewhat excitedly, and said to the gloomy-faced Stannis, "Your Majesty, congratulations! Our Lord of Casterly Rock is truly deserving of the title."

As he spoke Pycelle handed the letter to Stannis, Stannis took it and read it two or three times. Alester and Davos, who were standing nearby, quickly asked Pycelle to confirm the information.

When everyone learned that Jon had conquered Casterly Rock in just over two months, they were all incredulous. It was undoubtedly delivered by the Citadel using the fastest Raven; there was no way they could be wrong.

Stannis himself remained silent for a long time. He had been to Casterly Rock and seen it, and just one glance was enough to extinguish any desire to attack it.

He continued reading Jon's battle report on Casterly Rock, and couldn't help but admire Jon's ingenious ideas in battle, while also being glad that Mace didn't know about this method back then.

But then she suddenly thought, Storm's End isn't built on a high mountain, there are plenty of ways to get water.

A multitude of thoughts rushed through Stannis's mind, making him a little confused, but in any case, this was one of the few pieces of good news.

"Now it seems only the Iron Islands remain. It looks like our nation is truly getting back on track, just as Lord Jon said," Varys remarked appreciatively.

Although Stannis wouldn't allow him to express political opinions, he was permitted to say something nice.

Seeing that Stannis's expression remained unchanged, Varys turned to look at the old Grand Master Pycelle to the side.

Feeling Varys's gaze, Pycelle reluctantly spoke, "Your Majesty, with Lord Jon's conquest of Casterly Rock, all the gold mines in the Westerlands now belong to us. Perhaps we can take over the management of the Westerlands ' gold mines and use the Westerlands to strengthen the royal family."

"Your Majesty, Lord Jon has just won a victory; it would be best to postpone the gold mine matter for now," Varys said, taking a risk.

Stannis gave Varys a cold look, and Varys immediately stepped back.

"Those gold mines require enormous costs to operate, so let's leave them to Jon's management." Alester said, then turned to Stannis, "Your Majesty, the Lannister must have hoarded a considerable amount of gold. We can have Jon hand over the Casterly Rock treasury; wouldn't that solve the nation's immediate crisis? Jon attacked the Westerlands, and we also bolstered his army; he should give something in return."

Stannis listened to Alester's suggestion and nodded slightly.

At this point Pycelle asked, "Your Majesty, now that Jon has conquered Casterly Rock, when do you wish for him to return to King's Landing?"

"No need," Stannis said. "Isn't he about to marry Margaery? I'll have the Queen send people to congratulate him, and then Jon and his wife can come to King's King's Landing after the wedding."

By having the queen attend a subject's wedding, at least she was being given ample face.

Stannis thought this way, which somewhat balanced out his guilt about moving the Casterly Rock vault.

Stannis also had a feeling that he had taken far too much from Jon. There were many rumors that his crown was given to him as charity, which made him very resentful, but there was nothing he could do about it in the current situation.

It's a pity. If Shireen were a normal girl and Jon weren't a bastard, he wouldn't mind letting Jon marry Shireen.

In this way, even if she can't have a son in the future, she can confidently put Shireen on the Iron Throne.

After leaving the Small Council, Pycelle approached Varys.

"Lord Varys, I have said what you asked me to say, are you—"

"Of course, Pycelle, it's nothing, the kitten is already in your room."

--

"Haha, Varys, Lord Varys." Pycelle grinned lewdly, behaving like a spoiled old man, and hurried toward his room.

Watching Pycelle's departing figure in his brown robes, Varys's pale purple eyes revealed disdain.

Since Stannis took over the Red Keep, Pycelle has been unable to freely hire prostitutes, which is quite torturous for this lustful old man.

Moreover, as a Grand Maester, he could not leave the Red Keep to go to brothels, as that would be extremely bad for his reputation.

So Varys made a deal with him: Pycelle would say things at the meeting that he himself couldn't say, and Varys would do the small thing for him.

It was not Varys's intention to have Pycelle taking over the gold mines in the Westerlands.

In his plan, if Stannis accepted this suggestion, it would sow the seeds for a further rift between Jon and Stannis.

He had already realized that Jon was a shrewd and ambitious man who would never willingly hand over the gold mine he had worked so hard to build to Stannis.

Varys could also use advance notice by writing to Jon to strengthen their secret alliance.

However, things don't look too bad now. Stannis has actually agreed to Alester's suggestion to move Casterly Rock's treasury, which will inevitably put Jon in a tight spot financially.

In Varys's view, Stannis still took other people's loyalty for granted, or rather, he valued his own identity as king too much, believing that as long as Jon Stark was given the name, Jon should always stand by his side unconditionally.

Just as he granted Davos a noble status, yet could still maintain Davos's loyalty even after cutting off his fingers.

However, this method is clearly not effective for everyone.

Varys then thought of Jon's conquest of Casterly Rock.

During this time, he had been pondering how the war in the Westerlands would end. In his calculations, the most likely outcome was that the Westerlands would be divided in two.

Jon occupied Golden Tooth and most of the Westerlands, while the Lannister retained Casterly Rock and Lannisport.

Of course, the House Lannister will lose the title of Duke.

"Perhaps I can lend Jon a hand when Jon rebuilds the Westerlands, and in the future, I can arrange for his children with Margaery and Young Griff's children to marry, so that his daughter can become queen." Varys couldn't help but begin to imagine that ideal future.

"If the future royal family can have such a capable father-in-law as Jon," they can at least maintain peace for thirty years, and no one will dare to oppose Young Griff's court within those thirty years.

More importantly, during this time, they might be able to follow Daenerys's example and hatch Dragon Egg.

With dragons, Blackfyre would effectively replace the Targaryen, and their decades-long plan would be completed.

Thinking about this, Varys felt a surge of excitement.

Since Blackfyre established itself, more than a century of planning is finally about to become a reality.

Varys suddenly realized that he no longer needed to consider weakening the Westerlands and Highgarden. Jon was an ambitious man, and he could be won over as long as he was given enough benefits.

The Tyrell were staunch Targaryen supporters, and when the silver-haired Young Griff stood before them, they would immediately make the same choice as their ancestors.

If we also add Dorne, far to the south—

For a time, Varys even felt that success in his career was within his grasp.

Suppressing his elation for the moment, Varys returned to the practical problems he needed to face.

The most urgent task is to try to get closer to Jon, and I should prepare more gifts to send him.

Unfortunately, Illyrio gave away all three Dragon Egg as a wedding gift to Daenerys. If he could have kept even one, it would have been a truly impressive and sincere gesture.

However, he decided to write a letter to Jon first, reminding him that it might be possible to move the gold from Casterly Rock's vault ahead of schedule. This would be a way of doing him a favor and proving his worth.

After finishing the letter to Casterly Rock, Varys began writing a second letter, this time addressed to the Free Cities.

He had to tell Illyrio the news of Casterly Rock's change of ownership, since Tyrion was still hiding with Illyrio.

Since Jon conquered the Westerlands and Casterly Rock so quickly, their plans should also be accelerated accordingly.

Tell them to set off for Slaver's Bay as soon as possible to make contact with the Dragon Queen.