The Red Fort is very quiet late at night.
Tywin Lannister walked out of the latrine, wearing a crimson nightgown and stepping barefoot on the cold stone floor.
The candlestick cast an electric light and shadow on the corridor wall, distorting his tall shadow, just like his mood at this time.
The royal meeting during the day, which could be called a farce, made Tywin unforgettable for a long time.
What was even more annoying was that part of what Oberyn Martell said was indeed true. After a day of confirmation, Tywin clearly understood that the situation in Flea Bottom was indeed more out of control than he expected.
The Prime Minister, who is known for controlling everything, discovered for the first time that there were unknown loopholes in his rule over King's Landing.
In other words, he is very angry now.
All the way forward, the bedroom door was ajar, and a ray of light shone through the crack in the door.
Tywin pushed the door open and bolted it with his backhand. The room was filled with the faint scent of lavender, and his eyes fell on the bed.
A voluptuous curve is covered under the thin silk quilt. Even through the quilt, you can see that the body is young, plump, and beautiful.
Full of energy.
Shae.
The whore that once belonged to Tyrion now belongs to him.
The corners of Tywin's mouth twitched slightly, not as a smile, but with an emotion of ridicule or satisfaction.
From the moment Tyrion was born, he disliked that Tyrion son because he killed the love of his life, his wife Joanna, and because Lannister did not allow a Tyrion to appear.
But as Tyrion grows up, Tyrion's intelligence and arrogance increasingly demonstrate his continued provocation to his authority. But I have to admit that Tyrion has a pretty good eye when it comes to tasting women.
At least, this woman is indeed very smooth.
Of course, "favoring" Shae for Tywin is not just an impulse of desire.
On the one hand, he is preparing for the upcoming trial. If Shae accuses Tyrion of poisoning Joffrey in the trial, he must give her sweetness and hope.
On the other hand, Oberyn's words during the day really stimulated Tywin.
He is indeed almost sixty years old.
Time is a sharp sword, and no one can escape the sharp edge being sharpened on him, even if he is Tywin Lannister.
Although Tywin never obeys his old age, as an old man who is nearly sixty years old, he has to admit that sometimes he has begun to feel a little unable to deal with official duties.
He wants to prove himself and prove that Tywin Lannister "has not aged yet."
It's not about proving it to anyone, but telling it to yourself from the bottom of your heart, and confirming your own power and strength in this way.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, the coolness of silk came through the nightgown.
Tywin stretched out his hand and lifted the quilt.
Under the candlelight, Xue Yi only wore a thin silk petticoat, and her young body curves were clearly visible. Her skin glowed with honey-colored luster in the dim light, her collarbones were delicate, her waist was slender, and her legs were slender.
The woman closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, as if she had fallen asleep.
Tywin's fingers fell on her shoulders.
The touch was warm and delicate. His fingers began to slide down, along the collarbone and across the chest, feeling the young body.
But at this moment, he noticed something was wrong.
The woman is trembling.
Her muscles were tense, and her breathing was rapid and shallow. It was obviously not the kind of trembling that came from anticipating lust, but rather... fear.
Tywin frowned and stopped his fingers.
"What's wrong?"
His voice was low, with his usual dignity.
But Xue Yi didn't answer, she just trembled even harder. She didn't even dare to open her eyes, but kept them tightly closed, as if she would see something terrible as soon as she opened them.
Seeing this, Tywin was startled and noticed something was wrong. He immediately turned his eyes to the shadowed corner opposite the bed.
The bedroom is very large, and the light from the candlestick can only illuminate the central area.
The corner against the wall was shrouded in deep darkness, and there was a high-backed chair where Tywin usually sat when he read.
Squinting, I saw that at this moment, on the chair, an outline gradually appeared that was so blurry that it almost merged with the shadow, as if... there was a person sitting there!
Tywin's heart skipped a beat.
This is the Red Fort, the Prime Minister's Tower, and his bedroom!
How could anyone be sitting here?
How is that possible!!!
Tywin stood up suddenly, took several steps back, and at the same time turned to the door and shouted loudly, "Guard! Guard!"
No response.
There was deathly silence outside the door.
Only his own voice echoed between the stone walls, and then was quickly swallowed up by the night.
At this moment, a chuckle came from the shadows, which sounded very harsh, as if he was amused by his panic.
"Stop shouting, Prime Minister."
The voice said in a calm tone, even with a hint of laziness, as if chatting with a friend.
"Before I entered this room, I had already sent all your guards to see the Seven Gods."
Upon hearing this, Tywin immediately froze on the spot.
This sound...
A face flashed in his mind.
Tywin took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
His hand slowly moved to the bedside table. There was a dagger there. Although it was short, it was sharp enough. He asked tentatively, "Vito·Corleone?"
The man in the shadow laughed again.
This time the laughter was more obvious, with a certain joking meaning.
"Ha~~~"
With this sigh, the man moved.
He slowly stood up from the high-backed chair, moving as calmly as if he were in his own study, slowly walked out of the shadows, and stepped into the edge of the candlelight.
The candlelight seemed to freeze at that moment.
White Armor glowed with a warm and moist luster like ivory in the dim light, but it was stained with some blood and had dried up.
The helmet was taken off casually, and then the candlelight illuminated his silhouette from below, shrouding half of his face in shadow.
It was just as Tywin thought.
Vito·Corleone.
The knight who was sealed by himself and then betrayed was standing in front of him at this moment, but there was no murderous look, no anger, or even pride on his face.
Only deep and calm, as if he is in control of everything.
The candlelight danced in his eyes, but could not illuminate the darkness deep in his pupils.
"This helmet really stinks."
Corleone spoke and threw the helmet on the ground. The metal hit the stone floor with a dull sound that echoed repeatedly in the silent room.
"Even though I've had it washed several times."
"But the stench from Marin Tran still lingers."
Hearing this, Tywin Lannister stood there, motionless, with his bare feet on the cold floor and his fingers curled up slightly.
In his nearly sixty years of life, he has experienced betrayal, war, and massacre, and has seen countless faces die in front of him.
But never had such a person, White Armor, dressed as the Kingsguard, stood in his chamber and told him that the guards outside were all dead.
And this person was just Farmer a few months ago.
"Seriously, Lord Tywin."
Corleone took a step forward, still holding the bloody sword in his hand, pointing the tip of the sword diagonally at the ground, and said jokingly, "There are only four people."
"As the Prime Minister, your security force is really too sloppy."
As he spoke, he grinned. There was no warmth in the smile, but it seemed surprisingly sincere. "If necessary, Black Hand Mafia can provide you with the highest quality security services."
"Of course, it's not free."
After the initial shock, Tywin's mood had calmed down.
Although he did have a sense of fear at that moment, it was too easy for Tywin Lannister to overcome this emotion.
"You showed up here at this time." Staring coldly at Corleone, Tywin slowly said, "What do you want to do?"
He did not retreat, did not shout, and did not even reach for the dagger on the small table beside the bed.
Because he knew that if Corleone wanted to kill him, he could do it as early as when he was sitting on the toilet, when he was most defenseless.
The fact that the other party waited until now means that this is not a simple assassination.
Hearing this, Corleone tilted his head, seeming to be a little bored by this question.
He pulled out the chair behind him and sat down. The sword in his hand was placed on the ground, with the hilt of the sword holding his chin.
"According to the guard change time of the Prime Minister Tower."
Corleone raised a hand, tapped his temple with his index finger, and looked at Tywin. The candlelight flickered in his eyes, as if calculating. "There are still... two hours from now."
"Excluding the half hour you just spent shitting, we still have an hour and a half."
"No one will disturb us during this time."
After the words fell, the room fell into a brief silence.
Tywin slowly walked to the other side of the bed, where there was a high-backed chair.
He sat down, his movements slow and solemn. His crimson nightgown looked like flowing blood in the candlelight.
Even at this moment, even when he was barefoot, wearing a nightgown, and facing a man who broke into the bedroom with a sword, he still maintained the demeanor of a prime minister.
"You know the switching arrangements for the Prime Minister's Tower very well."
"Learn more than you think."
Corleone smiled and said, "After all, if you can't even control the enemy's work and rest time, how can you be qualified to sit at the negotiation table?
"Are we enemies?"
"It can be, or it can't be."
"It all depends on what you choose next, Lord Tywin."
Tywin stared at him, his green eyes like two deep pools in the candlelight.
Corleone looked down at the sword in his lap, brushed his fingers over the blood on the sword, then raised his bloody fingers to the candlelight and looked at it carefully.
"They say Tywin Lannistra's shit is made of gold."
He said suddenly, with a playful inquiry in his tone. "But obviously, you can't make shit as fast as the Lannister can dig gold out of the ground."
As soon as these words came out, Tywin's face twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I do have a toilet made of gold."
"But at Casterly Rock, if you're interested, I can give it to you."
"Hahaha!" As soon as he said this, Corleone burst into laughter.
The laughter was hearty, sincere, and even a little appreciative, which seemed particularly harsh in the dead silence of the bedroom.
Xue Yi on the bed trembled again and buried her face deeper into the pillow.
"Come on, that would hurt your butt." Corleone shook his head and refused, staring at Tywin. His eyes no longer had the previous teasing or probing, and became very serious. "You broke my heart, Tywin Lannister."
"As Hands in the Dark, I clean up the filth of Flea Bottom for you, establish order, and use my way to maintain the breath of this city in the corners you turn a blind eye to, even though the breath is full of poverty and despair."
"You asked me to go to Dragonstone to persuade Stannis Baratheon to surrender. We both knew that was an impossible task, but I went anyway."
"And now, I'm back."
As he spoke, his voice paused.
His gaze was like substance, falling on Tywin's unwavering face.
"I came back and found that my house was crawling with rats wearing golden cloaks."
"Why, Tywin Lannister, I wonder what it is that makes you disrespect me so much?"
"From the moment you entered this room, you never even called me Ser".
Such an impolite tone caught Tywin by surprise.
At this moment, he seemed to really feel that the other party was no longer the knight who knelt before him.
In other words, as early as when Tywin decided to attack Flea Bottom, the relationship between the two was no longer that of the prime minister and the knight, but two men who were opposing each other.
"I gave you room to live."
After a long time, Tywin finally said, "I gave you power and title, Vito·Corleone, and I can take it back at any time."
"You need to understand this."
"You also need to understand something, Tywin Lannister!"
Before he finished speaking, Corleone raised his voice slightly and interrupted him, "I know you want to delay time."
"But I have to remind you, although I don't intend to kill you in the toilet.
. That's not my job."
"But if you plan to delay it any longer, wait until the replacement person arrives...
", he paused and leaned forward slightly, the candlelight casting a deep shadow on his face.
"I promise you will die before me before the shift changes."
"The choice is yours, Prime Minister."
As soon as he finished speaking, the temperature in the room seemed to drop sharply.
The knuckles of Tywin's hand placed on the armrest were slightly white.
He looked at Corleone's unfathomable eyes in the candlelight, the bloody White Armor, and the hilt of the sword held firmly in his hand.
Finally, Old Lion slowly exhaled. "Then, let's just talk about what we have to say."
"What do you want, or what is your purpose, Vito·Ser Corleone?"
Hearing this, Corleone tilted his head and said bluntly, "Flea Bottom."
"I want you to order the removal of all golden robes and recognize the autonomy of Flea Bottom. From now on, it is my territory, my people manage it, and my rules have the final say."
After the words fell, the room was quiet for a few seconds.
"Autonomy?" Tywin sneered, "Do you know what you are talking about?"
"Flea Bottom is part of King's Landing and belongs to the Iron Throne, and you, a knight I personally canonized, now ask me to carve a piece of land from my capital and give you "self-government"?"
He shook his head slowly and said with a non-negotiable tone, "This is impossible."
"King's Landing must remain fully under the rule of the Iron Throne, under my rule. I will not allow any place to escape my control, not even Flea Bottom."
Tywin spoke categorically, but Corleone just raised his left hand and scratched his nails on the blade of the sword, making a harsh sound.
"It seems that you still haven't seen it clearly, so let me help you sort out the current situation, sir."
"First of all, your gold-robed guards have only eaten one meal of moldy black bread since last night. An army of three thousand people surrounded a slum area with hungry stomachs. This is already a joke in itself."
"Secondly, from last night to tonight, a total of twenty-three officers died accidentally in the twelve posts outside Flea Bottom."
Saying that, Corleone paused, looked directly into Tywin's eyes, and said without mercy, "The third and most important point."
"You are sitting here now, wearing a nightgown and bare feet, while the four guards outside your door have turned into four corpses."
"If I want to kill you, you are already a corpse now, and I choose to sit here and negotiate with you, which in itself proves who is in control of the situation."
Hearing this, Tywin's face darkened.
But he didn't get angry, but looked at Corleone with a scrutinizing gaze, as if he was evaluating.
"Control?" The sword was in front, but Old Lion still refused to give in and said forcefully, "Do you think killing a few golden robes and bribing the quartermaster is called control?"
"This afternoon, the quartermaster who accepted your bribe has been beheaded in public by Adam Malbrand Ser on charges of embezzlement of military rations and collaboration with the enemy and rebellion. His body is still hanging on the flagpole outside Flea Bottom."
"The newly appointed Quartermaster was personally selected by Kevan. His whole family is in Rosby City, and his loyalty has been tested for twenty years."
As he spoke, Tywin stood up slowly, with an almost arrogant confidence in his voice. "Your bribery game ends here."
The room became quiet.
Corleone folded his hands on the hilt of the sword. After a long time, when Tywin thought he would not respond, he suddenly smiled.
"Dear Prime Minister." In Tywin's surprised eyes, he spoke softly, "Are you so sure that the newly appointed quartermaster is not mine?
39
As soon as these words came out, Tywin's hand shook imperceptibly.
"That person was chosen by Kevan himself, and he can't go wrong."
He emphasized, but this time there was less conviction in his voice and more scrutiny.
"Yes, Lord Kevan personally selected him." Corleone nodded, as if in agreement. "Alaric Vaughn is indeed a very upright old soldier. His whole family is in Rosby City, and his loyalty has been tested for twenty years. What a perfect candidate."
When he heard that Corleone directly mentioned the name of the quartermaster he had appointed less than two hours ago, Tywin froze on the spot and remained motionless.
The firelight of the fireplace danced on his face, and something seemed to be solidifying in his green eyes.
Seeing this, Corleone stood up slowly, gently lifted the sword that was on the ground, walked to the window and opened a corner of the heavy curtains, looking out at the dark night.
"You see, Lord Tywin, this is the problem."
He said in a playful tone, "You think your rule is a pyramid from top to bottom. You sit at the top and give orders, and the people below carry them out."
"But that's not the reality."
With that said, Corleone turned around and leaned against the window sill.
The night spread out like thick ink behind him, and his face, illuminated by the candlelight indoors, was half bright and half immersed in shadow.
"The reality is that hungry soldiers will betray their commanders for a piece of bread, indebted officers will turn a blind eye for a few Gold Dragons, and ambitious mid-level commanders will facilitate promotion opportunities."
"And your new quartermaster... Alaric Vaughan."
Corleone tilted his head. "You must not know that although he has a wife and children, it is actually just to continue the bloodline."
"He... has a lover in Dusken Valley, and that guy just lost more than two hundred Gold Dragon in gambling last month. When my people found him, he almost had his hands chopped off."
As soon as the words fell, there was a deathly silence in the room.
Tywin still stood there, his finger joints turned white from exertion. Although his face was still expressionless, his heart was already filled with turmoil.
Damn, these things... he and Kevan don't know any of these things, but Corleone knows all about themi
How many people has this guy corrupted? Has the entire Golden Robe Guard been dragged down by him?