"Seven Gods...
The moment she saw this extremely bloody scene, Marga li·Tyrell subconsciously let out a soft cry.
But except for her, no one present had much reaction.
After all, they are all old people, and these are just small scenes to them.
Wallis...
... Still lying on the ground.
With Ray Foley Lake's vomit on his forehead, he was completely unconscious.
Randyll Tarly stood there, staring at the pile of bloody remains on the ground with wide eyes.
As an old knight who has experienced hundreds of battles, he has seen scenes that are ten thousand times bloodier than this one, but standing in front of this pile of human organs at this moment, he feels extremely angry!
Because he saw a broken finger wearing a ring with Fleet Hunter badge engraved on it!
These severed limbs... all came from his men!
In anger, Landao's hand suddenly grasped the hilt of the sword.
"I advise you not to do this, Lord Tully."
But at this moment, Rorge's voice came faintly from behind. "Living human blood will spray very high. The furniture in the banquet hall is very expensive, and it is difficult to clean up if it is stained with blood."
As soon as these words came out, several Black Hand Mafia elites took half a step forward almost at the same moment. The situation was stronger than theirs, and Randyll Tully had no choice but to let go angrily.
It's not that he's afraid of death, it's that Dickon is still in Corleone's hands.
It's just that Corleone didn't seem to pay attention to the tense atmosphere at all. Instead, he calmly picked up a stack of parchment that had been prepared.
"Horst Tanner, Captain of the Lions Gate."
"In the past week, he extorted property from seven businesses in the name of checking smuggling, totaling 430 Gold Dragon. According to the law, he was sentenced to amputation of his fingers."
As if cooperating with Corleone's story, Rorge picked up a thumb from the ground and slowly turned it around like a display of auction items so that everyone present could see it clearly.
"Dylan Peake, Centurion of the Mudgate."
Corleone continued, "Three days ago, he ordered a fishmonger to be arrested because he refused to pay him the stall management fee, and was eventually sentenced to death without any trial."
"According to the law, I sentence him to cut off his ears."
Rorge picked up an ear from the ground very cooperatively.
"Arthur Delaro."
Randyll Tully's eyelids jumped when he heard this name from Corleone.
Because he was his attendant. He had grown up with Dickon in Horn Hill since he was a child. He was Landao's most trusted person. After Corleone fell into coma, he was placed as deputy captain in the patrol team of the Capital Guard.
"That guy... actually sold the Golden Robe's night patrol route map to the smuggling gang in the dock area!"
Corleone's voice suddenly sounded a little angry and harsh, "According to the patrol route map, the smuggling gang was able to avoid every guard post accurately and completed at least twelve batches of prohibited goods in the past week!"
"This batch of prohibited goods included three shiploads of spoiled meat, which led to a large-scale outbreak of intestinal infectious diseases in Steel Street last month."
"Seventeen civilians died, including four children!"
"So I asked Bronn to gouge out the guy's eyes!"
Randyll Tully stared at the eyeball in Rorge's hand, and there seemed to be a fire burning in his heart.
"Impossible, this is simply alarmist!!!"
"Arthur has served me for more than ten years. He has always fought bravely. He is a knight who attaches great importance to honor. He doesn't even drink.
"He drinks."
Corleone interrupted him, "Just not in front of you."
With that said, Corleone pulled out the bottom piece of parchment from the document, placed it gently on the table, held it down with his palm and pushed it toward Landao.
He looked down and saw that it was densely packed with records of Arthur Delaro's consumption in many taverns in Junlin in the past week. Each transaction had a clear date, location and amount.
No fee is less than fifty Gold Dragon!
Randyll Tarly's chest heaved violently. He didn't understand why his originally heroic and capable men seemed to turn into heinous bastards after arriving in King's Landing.
Suddenly, he remembered what Lyn Corbray said before.
"Throwing a bunch of soldiers from a country like the Reach into King's Landing is like a child seeing a sugar bowl for the first time, unable to control his hands or mouth."
Randyll Tarly was speechless for a moment and murmured, "No way... this... this must be a frame-up."
"Never say it's impossible, Lord Tully."
Corleone said calmly, "In this world, nothing is ever impossible."
As he spoke, he arranged the pile of parchment and placed it in front of Lando.
Randyll Tarly looked carefully and found that each document was accompanied by the joint testimony of at least five bottom gold robes, with all signatures and seals.
All the evidence is clearly organized, the details are consistent, the timeline is consistent, and there are no contradictions.
Obviously, this is not a frame-up.
Because the frame-up cannot be so precise, detailed and impeccable.
After being shocked, an even more terrifying realization began to take shape in his mind.
Because these people who provided testimony are all soldiers at the lowest level in the golden robe.
They are not officers, have no power, and have no value worth buying.
Lando couldn't even remember the names of most of them, but this group of big-headed soldiers who he had never seen directly, joined forces to give Corleone a legitimate reason to overthrow all his arrangements these days.
Yes, as the Minister of Justice, he can indeed replace any mid-level general who disobeys orders and replace all the golden robe management with people from Jiao Ling.
But he cannot influence every ordinary soldier, and these people have long been inseparable from Black Hand Mafia.
Only then did Randyll Tarly finally understand that he had no chance of winning from the beginning.
Perhaps as early as the moment he stepped into King's Landing with his cronies, he was stared at by thousands of pairs of eyes at the same time. Every meal he ate and every word he said was recorded and sent to Corleone, just waiting for the day it was taken out and used.
That's today.
Lost.
And he lost so completely.
Randyll Tarly sighed inwardly. He had rarely failed on the battlefield in his life. Back then, Battle of Ashford, he was able to defeat Robert Baratheon head-on even when the forces were equal.
But after arriving in King's Landing, he didn't expect to lose to Prime Minister Farmer, whom he had never met before.
But after figuring out this joint, Landao accepted the failure calmly.
He is not the kind of person who cannot afford to lose.
What's more, this confrontation is not a traumatic defeat for him.
"What do you want, Master Corleone." Under the gaze of everyone, Earl of Horn Hill actually smiled freely.
Before Corleone could answer, he continued speaking on his own, "If you were planning to take revenge, you have already done it."
"I admit that your influence in King's Landing has reached a deep-rooted level. Most of the people brought by Horn Hill have been lost. Now you even have my only heir as a bargaining chip.
"According to the tradition of Westeros, I should pay a ransom for this."
"If you do this, I can resign and take Dickon back to Horn Hill, and never set foot in King's Landing again."
He said these words very calmly, without any resentment or unwillingness, and even with a hint of relief.
During his stay in King's Landing, he barely slept a full night's sleep. Now that he thought about it, he had to clean up a mess that was impossible to clean up for a the Seven Kingdoms who was not worthy of allegiance at all, while also having to deal with the secret plans of the Tyrell family.
It would be a relief for him to go back to the mountains and pine forests he was familiar with in Kok Ling and stay with the soldiers for training and hunting.
But after finishing speaking, Randyll Tarry glanced at Olenna Redwin inadvertently, and said quietly, "However, I don't think that bringing in another Minister of Justice from the Reach will make the current situation better."
"What do you think, Lady Olenna?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone present heard the sarcasm in Earl of Horn Hill's tone.
However, Olenna, an old woman who never forgave anyone, for the first time in her life, did not reply.
After all, it was she who stabbed Landao in the back first.
She was the one who suggested that Landao come forward to clean the golden robe, and it was she who promised that the Tyrell family would fully support it. However, as soon as Corleone woke up and the wind changed, she immediately retreated without even saying hello to Landao.
In this matter, the physical strength and the family were somewhat at fault, and allowing the other party to take advantage verbally to vent their anger was regarded as compensation.
Anyway, with Randyll Tarly's character, it is impossible for him to do something like leading an army to rebel against the lord in anger.
Sure enough, seeing that Olenna remained silent, Landao did not continue to pursue.
After all, he is not the kind of person who is unreasonable and unforgiving.
"I do not wish to be thought of as a Hand in Charge who changes orders from day to day, Lord Tarly."
In the silence, Corleone was the first to break the silence. "You are the first Minister of Justice personally nominated by me and personally appointed by King Your Majesty through the vote of the Imperial Council."
"Before I could make any political achievements, I was dismissed and sent back to my hometown. How do others think of me??"
Hearing this, Landao narrowed his eyes slightly.
He did not expect that Corleone would be so open-minded, without even a trace of the arrogance and aggressiveness of a winner. Instead, he would use this unique way of thinking to consider issues.
In contrast, the original Tywin Lannister would not leave an honorable escape route for the enemy after forcing him into a desperate situation.
The hundreds of innocent souls in the Castelme mines can attest to this.
"So you don't plan to remove me." Landao asked.
"Of course not." Corleone spread out his hand slightly, with the palm facing upward. "As I said, the most important thing for me is friendship."
"The foundation of friendship is first of all trust. I believe that you are capable of fulfilling the duties of Minister of Justice. That's why I invited you to King's Landing from Horn Hill."
"As for what happened in the past few days...
"It's just a bit of a break-in at work. Each new Royal Council team needs time to adapt to each other. You are new to King's Landing and are not familiar with the personnel in King's Landing. It is normal for you to be deceived by some people with ulterior motives and make some inaccurate judgments."
"After all, I suffered a lot when I first arrived in King's Landing from the Riverlands."
"I just want to do business with you."
This was said with perfect accuracy.
He neither pursued Landao's old account of cleaning up Black Hand Mafia, nor did he demote Landao as a fool. Instead, he gave him enough dignity, and even deliberately or unintentionally slandered the Tyrell family in his words.
Hearing these high-sounding words, Randyll Tarly almost laughed out loud.
"Business?" He glanced at the severed limbs on the ground and said as if mocking himself, "Then your capital is really strong."
However, he quickly stopped and said seriously, "Tell me what you need me to do."
Corleone did not answer directly.
He turned his head slightly and winked at Rorge.
Rorge immediately stepped forward and ordered several Black Hand Mafia members to clean the long table, and then spread a map on the table.
Randyll Tarly looked at it and saw that it was a military map of the Riverlands. It was drawn very finely. The location of Riverrun was marked by an eye-catching red circle.
"Lyman·Frey."
After he saw it clearly, Corleone said in a deep voice, "Walder Frey's second son and his army have been stationed outside Riverrun for quite some time."
"They surrounded an isolated city that had been cut off from all external aid, but they never even touched the city wall."
"Brynden Tully relied on only a few hundred defenders to force Lyman and his sons around. Riverrun almost became a turtle shell under his leadership. He didn't even care about the life or death of his nephew Edmure Tully."
As he said that, Corleone seemed to be very disappointed and shook his head, sighing, "Every day that idiot sieges the city under Riverrun, he is consuming the prestige of the Iron Throne, and the lords of the Riverlands will despise the Iron Throne even more."
"Therefore, I need a general who can fight, and use a real, clean military operation to return Riverrun to the banner of royal power."
"And you, Lord Randyll Tarly."
As he spoke, Corleone looked at Landao with piercing eyes, and said with great seriousness, "You are one of the best commanders in Westeros. You were the only one to defeat King Robert head-on in the war. This is a rare achievement in the entire Seven Kingdoms."
"I believe that if I leave Riverrun to you, you will not let me down."
It turns out that this is his true purpose.
Hearing what Corleone said, Landao stared at the map in silence for a long time.
Riverrun is a solid triangular castle with two sides facing the river. There is a large man-made trench on the third side to the west. When attacked, the sluice can be opened to fill the entire trench with water, turning the castle into a small island surrounded by water on three sides and indestructible.
As the capital of the Riverlands, under normal circumstances, Riverrun's supplies can sustain people and horses for two years, and it can be easily defended with more than two hundred people.
This is the reason why this castle has never been attacked frontally for hundreds of years. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Any army that attempts to attack by force must first solve the problem of crossing the river, and Brynden Tully will never let any ship get close to the city walls.
Randyll Tarly has fought many battles, and he certainly knows that taking Riverrun is a very difficult task.
Although this is also very difficult for him, he can always come up with a solution, which is at least a hundred times better than that idiot Lyman Frey.
He raised his head and looked around.
I found that the faces of everyone in the Royal Council were not at all surprised by this.
It turned out that these guys had already discussed it, and they were just waiting for me to agree, but they took advantage of Riverrun.
OK.
Just chew it, your only son has been captured, what else can you do?
But marching and fighting are not just armies on paper.
Even if he accepts this task, the first problem he will face next is not Brynden Tully, but the current actual situation.
"I promise."
Randyll Tarly gave his opinion calmly. "But it is difficult to attack Riverrun head-on. If I return from King's Landing to Hornhill to gather troops, mobilize vassals, prepare food and fodder, and then go north along the road to reach the Riverlands... it will take at least two months."
"Two months from now, no one knows what the situation will be like under Riverrun City.
After hearing this, no one raised any objection.
After all, what he said was true. Hornhill was far away from Riverrun. It would take three days to set off from King's Landing and return to Hornhill at high speed. In addition to gathering troops and preparing siege equipment and food supplies, this process would take at least a month.
Then go north along Rose Avenue, pass through Wangling, cross Trident, and arrive at the foot of Riverrun City...
And now that winter is approaching, if the weather suddenly changes and the rainy season comes, it will take even longer.
"I know." However, faced with such a dilemma, Corleone's answer was unexpectedly calm.
He tilted his head slightly, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and gave an unexpected answer to Landao: "I mean, you don't need to send troops."
"You only need to take one person with you."
"What?" Landao frowned.
No need to send troops?
So how did he take Riverrun?
Should he be allowed to fight Brynden Tully alone?
Or should he follow the example of some toad-keeper and give a speech to the defenders, using his eloquence to persuade Brynden Tully to surrender?
Wait...
Thinking of the origin of Corleone, Randyll Tully had a sudden idea.
This former Prime Minister... shouldn't he have never fought in a war?
He was about to ask, but Corleone raised his hand to signal him to wait, and then waved behind him.
Immediately afterwards, a slim figure with red hair slowly came from the seat and stood side by side with Corleone.
Under Randyll Tully's extremely surprised gaze, Corleone naturally took Maiden's hand and said loudly in front of everyone in the Royal Council: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, please allow me to introduce my fiancée to you."
... Sansa·Lady Stark."