The charcoal in the fireplace glowed a dark red, but most of it was covered in ash, as if about to die out.
"What, he found a lot of wildfire!?"
"Yes, My Lord."
Upon hearing this news, Varys's face showed a rare solemnity.
Compared to Cersei's disappointment at the coalition's failed siege, Varys was so shocked that his entire body tensed.
He knew the power of wildfire; if Tyrion hadn't used wildfire to burn most of Stannis's fleet, Stannis could have blocked the coalition with his fleet while simultaneously attacking King's Landing.
Not only that, but he also knew that The Mad King Aerys had planned to use the wildfire in King's Landing to perish with the rebels.
But in the end, Jaime intervened, killing all the pyromancers who knew the locations of the wildfire caches. This made it very difficult for Varys to determine where Aerys had hidden all the wildfire.
There was some beneath the Red Keep, some in the Great Sept, and even some beneath the Dragonpit, which had been abandoned for centuries.
Varys, however, couldn't clear them all out. He could only slowly move the wildfire beneath the Red Keep to deeper levels—a colossal undertaking. He could only guard this secret, keeping it as a trump card.
He didn't understand how Jon knew about the existence of this batch of wildfire. Was there some formidable person in King's Landing he didn't know about?
But that wasn't the most crucial point. The most crucial point was that Jon hadn't used wildfire in today's defense of the city!
He had repelled the coalition's offensive purely through his own command.
He had originally thought that Jon, who only controlled the walls of King's Landing, would eventually be defeated, but now it seemed that was not the case.
Especially when he learned that Jon had actually begun to replenish his forces and had people impersonate the High Septon to endorse him, Varys realized that this was definitely not a hot-blooded youth seeking only revenge.
On the contrary, his strategy was astonishing!
Just as Varys was lost in thought, a handmaiden's voice sounded from outside. "My Lord, Her Grace the Queen Mother summons you for a council."
"Understood." Stuffing a few copper stars into a crack in the wall, Varys shuffled out of the room in his soft slippers.
The Red Keep was full of patrolling soldiers; during the day, one could hear the clang of armor just by closing one's eyes.
The handmaidens were also very nervous.
They all walked with their heads bowed, hugging the walls.
The flowers in the garden were somewhat withered.
Firstly, because no one cared, and secondly, because they needed to conserve resources, and water was naturally very important.
"Awooo!" Just as Varys stepped out of his room, he heard a long wolf howl under the night sky.
The patrolling soldiers stopped in their tracks, cautiously searching for the direction of the howl.
Soldiers on the arrow towers and watchtowers quickly craned their necks to look around.
Many people now knew that Jon owned a pure white Direwolf, and Varys was no exception.
Varys, who was about to continue walking, suddenly stopped, and a question popped into his mind.
Although he had known about Ghost's existence before, he had never heard Ghost's cry.
Is Jon going to attack the Red Keep?
Impossible, the Red Keep's defenses are stronger than King's Landing's.
Is he going to use wildfire? A possibility suddenly surfaced in Varys's mind: Jon would use trebuchets to throw wildfire into the Red Keep.
Though unlikely, what if those wildfires ignited the wildfire beneath the Red Keep—
Gulp.
Varys swallowed hard, this was the first time in many years he had felt panicked.
Varys quickly returned to his room, wrote two letters with the briefest of words, and then stuffed them into a crack in the wall.
"Deliver the letters to him as quickly as possible!"
"Esteemed Lord Jon Snow, your command today was brave and wise. I hope to cooperate with you. If you can guarantee my continued position as Master of Whisperers in His Majesty Stannis's new court, then I will provide you with a secret passage into the Red Keep. You can also avenge Lord Eddard."
"Master of Whisperers, Varys."
"Hmm? How did he switch sides so quickly?"
Seeing Varys even reveal his identity in the letter, Jon was greatly surprised.
In his opinion, even if he had repelled the coalition's attack, the probability of victory had at most only changed from 10-90 to 50-50.
He shouldn't be so desperate, should he?
Did he know that I found the wildfire and was worried I would use it to attack the Red Keep? But the power of wildfire isn't that terrifying, is it?" Although he didn't know if it was true, Jon thought it was worth a try; as long as Joffrey was dealt with, all this would be over.
"Tell your master, I agree."
With that, Jon lit the letter in his hand.
But at this moment, the messenger boy took out another letter.
"My Lord, my master said you need to sign this letter."
"Oh?"
Jon took the letter. It roughly stated that Jon accepted Varys's help, and Varys willingly provided Jon's army with a secret passage, and so on.
Jon naturally signed his name with a flourish.
On the other side, Tywin and Mace met again.
Gentle music faintly wafted from the warm and luxurious military tent, and the scent of incense seemed to make one forget the fact that they were on a battlefield.
Both sides discussed and summarized today's failure.
However, both sides tacitly avoided an important reason: Mace's impulsiveness.
Tywin had long seen that Mace was an incompetent man who loved to boast, yet this incompetent man controlled more than half of the coalition's forces.
Now was definitely not the time for emotional decisions.
Therefore, before coming, he had repeatedly warned Kevan not to mention Mace's premature attack.
"Father, let me lead the next attack! I will definitely take the city gate and cut off that bastard's head!" A "newcomer" joined this discussion: Duke Mace's youngest and most beloved son, Loras Tyrell.
Loras was handsome, with a sharp look in his eyes.
His slightly curly brown hair made him very popular with noble ladies.
He was known as the 'Knight of Flowers.'
However, Loras didn't care about any of that.
He now had only one thought: revenge.
After Renly declared his claim to the iron throne, the House Tyrell had Margaery betrothed to Renly.
Renly had naturally also formed his own Kingsguard.
However, a proper king's Kingsguard wore white cloaks.
He had his Kingsguard wear "rainbow cloaks."
And Renly's Kingsguard were also known as the 'Rainbow Guard.'
Loras was the captain of Renly's Kingsguard.
He believed that the person who assassinated Renly was Stannis, and he constantly thought about avenging Renly.
Since Jon, who now occupied King's Landing, claimed he would enthrone Stannis as king, then Jon was his enemy.
However, Mace did not agree to Loras's suggestion.
He couldn't bear to let his youngest son face an enemy like Jon.
"Did that bastard hit a nerve?" Kevan, who was standing by, couldn't help but speculate in his mind when he saw Loras's expression. At this moment, Tywin, who was beside him, adjusted his sleeve and said, "Lord Mace, Eddard's bastard is truly cunning. In today's battle, the Tyrells lost many brave knights. My plan is to launch an attack on the King's Gate the night after tomorrow. I hope to be able to use the siege engines and arrows from The Reach army."
Mace knew that his impulsiveness had led to the failed attack during the day, so he replied, "Then what do you think we should do?"
"The Reach army is certainly important. I hope you can help us distract that bastard's attention at that time."
Before Mace could speak, Loras expressed his dissatisfaction.
"Distract attention? Doesn't that mean we just watch from the sidelines? The Tyrells never fear any enemy!" Loras reiterated.
"Lo!" Garlan, who had been silent, interjected to dissuade him.
"Alright, Lord Tywin has, after all, breached King's Landing once before and has more experience." Mace naturally didn't want to see his youngest son fight desperately, but he still used "Tywin has more experience" to cover up his own lack of military ability.
After Tywin left, the meeting concluded.
The Reach nobles all left, and Garlan also led his brother Loras out of the tent.
Today's failed siege brought back bad memories for Mace. He had led a large army to besiege Storms End for half a year, yet still failed to capture it.
Now, history seemed to be repeating itself.
Compared to fifteen or sixteen years ago, he had aged considerably, his body was not as strong as before, and his muscles were atrophying.
Sometimes, walking a little too much, he would feel the flab on his thighs chafing painfully.
The scene of Jon fighting across the city walls with four banners on his back during the day lingered in his mind.
How he wished he could be twenty years younger.
"If only I could be twenty years younger, I would personally climb the city wall and twist off that boy's head!" Just as Mace felt despondent, a figure pushed aside the tent flap and returned.
Petyr Baelish.
Petyr had witnessed the entire meeting.
His intuition told him that Tywin was about to "make a desperate gamble."
The Westerlands were being plundered and harassed by the Iron Islands and the North, and The Reach army had traveled a long distance.
Although they still maintained a siege posture around King's Landing, this situation could not last much longer, and the possibility of Jon holding King's Landing suddenly skyrocketed.
Petyr believed that since he had made the wrong choice at the beginning, he now had to compensate as much as possible, for example, by defecting!
He was now incredibly grateful that he had kicked Janos Slynt, the former Commander of the King's Landing City Watch, who had conspired with him to harm Eddard Stark, out of King's Landing and exiled him to the Wall.
Even those Gold Cloaks officers who knew the truth had been half-murdered and half-purged.
This gave him the possibility of defecting again, continuing to lie low, and not being held accountable.
After receiving permission, Petyr approached Mace.
"Duke, I've noticed that the defenders on the city wall seem to have increased. This Jon must have used today's temporary victory to get the original Gold Cloaks to join the defending army."
"Hmm, Lord Tarly told me about that."
At the mention of this, Mace's brows furrowed even more, the wrinkles almost able to trap a mosquito.
Randal Tarly, whom he relied on most, had analyzed today's battle for him.
He speculated that either Jon had more than ten thousand men, or his troop deployment was superior to his own!
He could always deploy soldiers to where they were most needed, and this was the key to Jon's victory.
Additionally, Randal Tarly warned that if King's Landing could not be breached quickly, Jon might use the resources within King's Landing to strengthen the defenses.
Moreover, this was not the time of Robert's Rebellion. The Reach and Dorne were both Royalists.
At this time, Dorne's movements were still unclear, and Robb's forces from the North and Riverlands, as well as the armies from the Iron Islands, were "idle."
Although Stannis had suffered a major defeat, he still had the ability to launch an attack.
They simply didn't have the opportunity to besiege King's Landing for half a year.
Petyr carefully observed Mace's reaction, constantly weighing his words in his mind. He had to achieve his goal while also saving Mace's face.
"My Lord, what I mean is that the price the Tyrells paid to obtain the crown was really quite high. After all, Lord Tywin back then relied on Aerys's trust, who had no defenses against him, to trick open the gates of King's Landing, wouldn't you say?" Baelish desperately wanted to tell Mace his plan directly, but in the end, he only subtly emphasized words like "trust" and "no defenses."
"You mean for me to trick open the city gates? That Jon is very cunning." Mace tilted his head, looking at Littlefinger, whose mouth was twitching slightly.
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