Robert's face was ugly: "Jon, are you crazy? Make peace with an oriental pirate? "
Jon calmly met Robert's angry and incredulous gaze: "Your Majesty, we don't have a fleet now, we don't have enough dragon slaying crossbows, and the treasury is even more depleted, we need time to restore our finances, build warships, and build weapons, all of which takes time." "
Robert looked at his most trusted friend: "Ned, you think so too? "
Ed Stark nodded solemnly: "What the Prime Minister said is reasonable, if there is another war, the captured nobles may be poisoned by the Orientals, and the Orientals will not pay as much attention to honor as the Seven Kingdoms." "
Robert's chest rose and fell violently, and his heavy gasps were particularly clear in the silent hall.
He looked around at the faces that were either worried, or fearful, or heavy,
In the end, like a deflated ball, he leaned back on the back of the chair and let out a beastly roar: "Damn it... Jon! Go find someone! Find someone who can go to the Stone Steps Islands to deal with the Oriental mongrel, find a way to hold back the damn Oriental, and take us adults ... Bring them all back to me!" "
After saying that, he got up abruptly and strode away without looking back.
The sound of heavy footsteps and the white-robed figure of Sir Barristan followed disappeared at the end of the deep corridors of the council hall.
Duke Jon looked at the high-ranking ministers of the imperial meeting with complicated eyes,
"Ladies and gentlemen, regarding the matter of peace, we must decide on a worthy envoy who will go to the Stone Steps Islands with the dignity and honor of the Seven Kingdoms to negotiate with the Orientals and redeem those captured nobles."
His words fell, and the entire council hall fell into a silent silence.
Ranley Baratheon looked away, his Stormland lords had basically fled back to King's Landing, so he was just a spectator.
Grand Scholar Pasil closed his eyes and dozed off groggily.
Varys still had a sweet smile on his face.
Duke Jon lamented in his heart, perhaps he could only let the little finger who was not present at this meeting go to the Stone Steps Islands.
At this moment, Ed Stark said, "Your Excellency, let me go." '
Everyone's eyes shifted to Duke Ed.
Jon just wanted to dissuade him, but he heard Duke Edward say: "Many people from the north have stayed in the Stone Steps Islands, if you don't redeem them,
After returning to the north, I couldn't explain to the princes in the north. "
Jon pondered for a while, raised his head and said, "Ned, you go with Petyr, he is good at debating, and you can try to meet with the captured nobles of the Seven Kingdoms and ask them about their specific situation: :"
Ed Stark frowned when he heard the name of "Petyr", but nodded in agreement.
Red Fort, secret passage.
A labyrinth of cold, coarse boulders, seeping vaults, and endless darkness.
In the depths of absolute silence, two shimmers were moving slowly.
The leader was slightly taller, wrapped in a worn dark brown leather cloak with his hood pressed low.
He held a burning torch in his hand, and the jumping flames cast eerie light and shadow on his face.
Looking closely, the face was shocking, covered with criss-cross "scars", as if it had been repeatedly cut by the roughest blade,
The skin and flesh are rolled up, and the color varies.
Some places even show a terrifying burnt black, completely distorting the original appearance.
Only those eyes, shining sharp and calm between the scars, revealed a shrewdness that was completely different from this terrifying disguise.
"Octopus Spider" Varys is now transformed into a ghost underground.
It was followed by a very different figure.
Governor of Pantos, Illyrio Mopatis.
Unlike Varys' low-key yin, Illyrio exudes a pompous richness even in the dark tunnels.
The valuable Pantos silk robe on his body, embroidered with intricate patterns with gold and silver threads, was now taut, as if it would be torn apart by his bloated waist at any moment.
The meticulously combed blonde hair shone in the firelight, out of place with its surroundings.
A round face is always habitually piled with smiles, and above the fat lips is a carefully trimmed, shiny golden mustache.
At this moment, he was leisurely stroking the beard on his lips with a fat hand adorned with a huge gemstone ring, as if it were just an ordinary afternoon walk.
The two walked in silence for a long time, only the slight sound of the soles of their boots stepping on the gravel and puddles echoed hollowly in the passage.
Finally, they stopped in front of a steep stone staircase.
The stairs stretched upwards, plunging into deeper darkness, and I didn't know where it led to the Red Keep.
This seems to be a hub node in the secret passage network, the space is slightly open, but it is also more eerie and depressing.
Varys was the first to break the silence, his voice deliberately low: "So... Telosi, was it really captured? "
The light of the torch jumped in the ravines of his scars, making his expression even more elusive.
"If it is a fake exchange, my dear friend.."
Illyrio grinned, revealing a mouthful of slightly yellow teeth, which looked a little dazzling in the firelight.
"Your bird seems to be having some trouble... In short, none of them flew out of Telosi... Fortunately, when I set out from Pantos, I encountered a merchant ship that happened to leave the port before the fall of Telossi.
The owner of the ship was a shrewd and afraid of death, and when he saw a naval battle breaking out in the port from a distance, he was so frightened that he immediately pulled anchor and set sail, not daring to stop all the way, and brought the news to Pantos.
Spraying, that scene, according to him, the shouts of killing can be heard across the sea. "
Varys was silent, his body tensing under his cloak.
These "little birds" are his eyes and ears in the Seven Kingdoms and even the free city-states.
They are not real birds, but the boys and young girls he carefully selects and trains.
The younger the better, because their bodies are more flexible and less noticeable, and their minds are as easy to shape as a blank sheet of paper.
Varys spent countless efforts fishing them out of the mud, giving them food, shelter, and more importantly, the skills to survive.
Teach them how to silently climb high walls like geckos, how to slide down narrow bacon like shadows, and how to hide in crowds and darkness.
He even personally taught them to read and write, so that they could interpret letters and record intelligence.
These children who have been taught by him are all over every corner of Westeros.
Overseas, trade towns like Telosi are naturally indispensable.
They were supposed to be the first to send out intelligence after the city fell.
However, when Telosi fell, his "birds" lost their voices en masse, which was absolutely not normal.
A sense of unease lingered in Varis's heart.
Varys sighed silently, with deep worry: "It seems that the guest from the East is much more difficult than we originally thought, and the situation has become a little more complicated... And he also has dragons. "
"Dragon?"