The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 395: A Dagger in the Dark (Please Subscribe)

(This chapter took a long time to write and revise.)

*

A burly man, cloaked in black with his face hidden in a hood, entered the House of Kettle Black Noodle Shop on Silk Street.

It was night, and Silk Street was nearly deserted.

The House of Kettle Black Noodle Shop closed early in the afternoon for rest.

The man entered the shop through a side door.

Behind the door stood a very tall and sturdy maidservant, a longsword at her hip, clad in leather and with fine armor protecting her joints and vital areas, glinting with a dark sheen. She had thick eyebrows, large eyes, and big hands and feet. The man felt as if… well… she was a female version of the Mountain.

The burly man who entered paused slightly, as if stunned for a moment, then regained his composure and followed the maidservant, who did not appear particularly fierce.

The female Mountain was Jeyne’s maidservant, Bronn’s wife, once called Bull by Bronn. Jeyne had named her Zeligelda.

Zeligelda led the man into the back kitchen, turned into the vegetable storage room, and pushed open a hidden door, revealing a descending spiral staircase. Zeligelda stood at the top of the stairs, not descending, indicating that the visitor should go down himself. The man walked down the stairs and arrived in a spacious basement with reasonably good air.

The man took off his cloak, pulled back his hood, and removed the shoulder pads, making him appear a size smaller, though his height remained: Qyburn.

People were already seated in the basement, around a table with several stools.

In the center was a mountain of a fierce man: the Mountain.

Beside the Mountain was an incomparably beautiful noblewoman with snow-white skin: Jeyne.

To their left was Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish; to their right was a dwarf slightly taller than Tyrion Lannister: Bronn, the master of mimicry.

The basement was built taller than usual, likely to accommodate the Mountain's size.

Qyburn sat down, opposite the Mountain.

The Mountain said, "Now that everyone is here, let's cut the crap. Last night, I killed the Master of Coin, Horas. I assume you've all heard."

"I heard it from a Gold Cloak guard, who got the information from a little serving girl cleaning rooms in Maegor's Holdfast," said Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish.

Littlefinger had his own independent intelligence network within the Red Keep, specifically responsible for collecting information within the Red Keep and reporting it to him. Maybe a serving girl cutting the lawn as you pass by is one of Littlefinger's people.

"I also know. The King told me. He said someone murdered his Master of Coin, Lord Horas. He doesn't know why, but he knows it was an order from Lord Tywin. The King believes his mother, Cersei, was also involved."

"My little birds reported the news to me this morning. I know it was the Mountain who did it."

Qyburn and Littlefinger exchanged a glance, their eyes meeting.

Little birds? That's too sensitive, Varys's highly secretive intelligence network!

Bronn smiled. "The Mountain wants the three of us to work together, sharing information. That's why I'm here to meet with you two today. After Varys left, all the little bird's work was handed over to me. We still maintain contact with Lord Varys across the Narrow Sea. He has now joined Daenerys Targaryen, who has three dragons, though they are still small. They are currently in Pentos, in the East."

Qyburn didn't hide his surprise.

Littlefinger showed his signature elegant smile, adjusted his posture, and gently rotated the ring on his finger. His inner thoughts were turbulent, quite surprised, but he remained outwardly calm.

Jeyne smiled elegantly, taking in Qyburn and Littlefinger's reactions. She saw Littlefinger adjust his posture and rotate the ring on his finger, and she recognized the shock in his heart.

The Mountain took out the copies of the 'Grant of Nobility' and 'Letter of Appointment' that he had taken from Horas Kettleblack, and placed them gently on the table. "Horas Kettleblack read these two documents, and then died last night. If Lord Tywin knew that this matter was actually Qyburn's idea and he personally drafted it, Qyburn, do you think you would have survived last night?"

Qyburn was speechless, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

Jeyne saw that Qyburn had no defensive mentality in front of the Mountain, not hiding himself, not deliberately controlling his reactions. He had no defenses against the Mountain, everything was naturally revealed. Littlefinger, on the other hand, hid his inner emotions very well, and his true thoughts could only be judged through his eyes, breathing, posture, and the small movements of his fingers.

Who was more astute was hard to say.

Perhaps Qyburn was even more clever, while Littlefinger was overconfident in his intelligence, always trying to see through everything about others while hiding himself. But under Jeyne's silent observation, Littlefinger often outsmarted himself.

"Why?" The Mountain pointed to the copies of the documents. "I want to know the reason."

*

Littlefinger also wanted to know the reason—why would Qyburn encourage the King to issue the 'Grant of Nobility' and 'Letter of Appointment' that only targeted the Mountain? This was undoubtedly declaring war on Lord Tywin in secret.

Lord Tywin had been using the Mountain as a blade for twenty years, this year being the twenty-first. How could he allow this blade to gain freedom and rise through the ranks, eventually escaping his control? That was absolutely unacceptable. Given Lord Tywin's ruthlessness, once this blade escaped his control, he would definitely destroy it, rather than give it to anyone else, nor would he allow the blade itself to become a real person.

Qyburn's hidden malice: was he trying to get Lord Tywin to destroy the Mountain?

Moreover, there was a very important point: Joffrey was difficult to control, and how did Qyburn make Joffrey so obedient—Littlefinger was very concerned about this. He realized that he had severely underestimated Qyburn. This guy knew more than just medicine and other scientific knowledge; this guy also understood people's hearts.

Understanding people's hearts was the most difficult thing. Littlefinger had always believed this.

He believed that liars were rampant in the Red Keep, talents abounded, and experts were as numerous as the clouds, but he was the most powerful of them all.

There used to be Varys as an equal opponent, but when Varys retreated, Littlefinger stood alone, confident that he had no rivals.

When Tyrion entered, even though Tyrion knew that Littlefinger had framed him, nearly costing him his life, Tyrion was still helpless against Littlefinger. Now Littlefinger had been promoted to Lord of Harrenhal, while Tyrion had been removed from his position as Hand, with nothing to do, not even a single official position despite his great military achievements, and he had also offended Queen Cersei, making his life precarious.

Now Littlefinger held the prostitute Shae as a handle against Tyrion, making it easy for Littlefinger to frame Tyrion again.

Therefore, Littlefinger had always firmly believed that he was the best in the world at 'understanding people's hearts,' unmatched by anyone. Varys and Tyrion could not compare to him. Until today, at this moment, he suddenly realized that there might be an opponent he had overlooked and underestimated: Qyburn.

Of course, he glanced at the Mountain: excluding force.

Sometimes a thousand strategies combined could not match a single fist. No matter how many brilliant strategies you had in your mind, the Mountain only needed one punch.

This was a fundamental difference in the way the two sides solved problems, and there was no comparison.

*

Qyburn looked at the Mountain, then moved his gaze to Jeyne's face, then to Littlefinger and Bronn. He knew that if he didn't speak appropriately, the Mountain only needed one punch…

"I wanted to try and see if I could control the King. Although he is unpredictable, spoiled, cruel, and fickle, he is still a child after all. I experimented, and I succeeded. I can influence the child King in some matters, making him act according to my wishes without him realizing it. The Mountain's Grant of Nobility and Letter of Appointment are proof of my successful experiment." Qyburn reached out and picked up the 'copy' of the documents. "I drafted this, and I wrote it. I was careless and didn't expect the Master of Coin to keep such a trick up his sleeve, taking the copy I wrote and locking it away."

Littlefinger tapped the table lightly. "Scholar Qyburn, making the Mountain a Duke, equal in rank to Lord Tywin, and making Dragonstone hereditary, completely independent from the Westerlands, don't you think that will create an irreconcilable conflict between Lord Tywin and the Mountain?"

"It will!" Qyburn said.

"Do you think we can go to war with Lord Tywin now? Kill Tywin and control the court by controlling Joffrey? You are too radical. Now is not the right time."

"I have to do this?"

"Why?"

"I am loved by the King, teaching him dissection techniques; at the same time, I am a confidant of the Queen, helping her deal with some very tricky troubles; I can freely enter and exit Maegor's Holdfast. On the night Lord Tywin entered the Red Keep, I heard a few things I shouldn't have heard in the Queen's chambers."

"What did you hear?" Littlefinger smiled, sitting up straight. He appeared relaxed and at ease, but his mind was fully focused.

"Lord Tywin will send the Mountain's head to Dorne, along with Princess Myrcella, to give to Prince Doran Martell, in exchange for Dorne's support for the Red Keep's rule."

The whole room was silent, with only the sound of even breathing.

The Mountain already knew this. Jeyne came to King's Landing for this reason. The woods witch saw this happen and thought that the Mountain needed to be reminded and helped. So, Jeyne came.

"If the Mountain is always Lord Tywin's vassal, it would be easy for the Lord to kill the Mountain. With one order, the Mountain must carry it out. But if the Mountain is on Dragonstone, and has the identity of Duke, possessing his own naval fleet, once the Mountain is prepared, if Lord Tywin wants to move against him… then it's hard to say who will end up killing whom."

Littlefinger's eyes flashed, and he smiled. "Scholar Qyburn, let's assume your words are true…"

"His words are true!" Jeyne said. "I came to King's Landing for this reason. My grandmother, the woods witch, was once Lord Tywin's military advisor in the Riverlands war. She is a witch with the ability to foresee the future."

*

Littlefinger was shocked. He remembered when the Mountain came to King's Landing last year and took away a glass bottle of his blood in the tavern on the Street of Steel. At the time, he didn't know what it meant, but later Varys told him that there were witches called blood witches who could learn some people's secrets through blood. Of course, the truth was that the Mountain deliberately used the guise of a blood witch to make the cloth in the hands of the magician. He was a traverser, he was a bull-nosed figure like a green prophet.

Littlefinger instantly remembered the handle he had to hand over to the Mountain—the Book of Accusations!

Littlefinger closed his mouth.

He knew that now was not the time for him to show off his intelligence.

At today's small council meeting, when Lord Tywin announced that it was time to reconcile with Dorne, the Lord specifically mentioned that 'the Westerlanders mistakenly killed Prince Martell's sister, Princess Elia, and her children in the war'—and the ones who killed Princess Elia and threw her son to death were the Mountain.

He originally thought that after Lord Tywin chopped off the Mountain's head with a snap, the 'Book of Accusations' in the Mountain's hands would be over, and he would escape from the dead and be free.

In Littlefinger's cold-eyed observation: the Lord didn't necessarily have to kill the Mountain to marry Dorne, and one of the reasons why the Lord had to kill the Mountain was the Mountain's credit—it was too great. All the people and nobles of King's Landing, including hundreds of thousands of refugees, believed that the Mountain was the number one hero in defending King's Landing, with greater credit than the Tywin and Tyrell families.

If the Mountain had captured Stannis and finally let Lord Tywin judge and behead him, the situation would not have become what it is now. This was the conclusion Littlefinger came to after careful consideration. The most correct thing for the Mountain to do was to defeat Stannis's army, but Stannis himself was best left to Tywin to kill.

The 'Grant of Nobility' and 'Master of Ships' appointment order issued to the Mountain by Qyburn actually further strengthened Lord Tywin's determination to kill the Mountain: the Mountain's credit was not only too great, but his strength had also become stronger, and he was almost completely out of Lord Tywin's control.

Littlefinger, who wanted to sit and wait for the Mountain to be chopped off, understood a very important truth today. With the sudden appearance of this 'understanding people's hearts' guy, Qyburn, it was hard to say whether the Mountain, who was already dead, would die.

Then, if the Mountain doesn't die, who will die?

When Lord Tywin dies, who will have the opportunity to become the new Hand?

Or who will have the opportunity to further gain control of power? Controlling Joffrey while gaining the Queen's favor, influencing the Queen's decisions, thereby exerting one's influence on the court.

Who will?

Littlefinger's eyes looked at Qyburn.

A cold sweat broke out on his back: he finally understood that a new opponent had arrived, sitting next to him. This was someone who was even better at catering to the King and Queen than Varys, and someone who was more ruthless than Tyrion. Tyrion still had a little 'womanly kindness and fragility', Tyrion had many weaknesses, such as a prostitute Shae, but where were Qyburn's weaknesses?

The Mountain seemed to have become a stepping stone for him to advance his power again: drive the Mountain to kill Tywin!

And once the Mountain kills Tywin, the Lannisters will naturally have to take revenge. Would he design for Cersei to kill the Mountain? Making a great contribution? From then on, he further controlled the child King? And became an indispensable confidant of the Queen?

Littlefinger secretly sized up Qyburn, and countless changes instantly flashed through his mind, and he deduced various different results. He decided to formally face this scholar without a scholar's chain from now on.

Then, which side should he choose to stand on?

Of course, Littlefinger will always stand on his own side.

*

The meeting ended. Littlefinger left first after disguising himself, because they couldn't go out of Silk Street at the same time, which would attract attention.

Bronn, the Mountain, Jeyne, and Qyburn remained in the basement.

Qyburn said, "My Lord, My Lady, Littlefinger is absolutely not to be trusted."

"Oh?" The Mountain stared at Qyburn.

"Once he leaves King's Landing and takes over Harrenhal, he won't come back. The Vale will become his kingdom in his pocket."

"He won't," the Mountain said. "Littlefinger can get rid of Tywin Lannister, but he will always be useful to us. I've already figured out how to deal with him."

"If he shrinks back into the Vale and doesn't lead the Vale men to swear allegiance, and refuses to pay taxes with some excuse, Tywin Lannister really has no way to deal with him."

"The Hand and the King have no way, but I do," the Mountain said calmly. "After I take Dragonstone, I will quickly control the Vale." His tone changed, "Tomorrow, I'm going to the Claw Isle. Before sending Myrcella to Dorne, Tywin Lannister won't touch me. During this time, you and Bronn, properly control all the changes in King's Landing and report to me at any time."

"Yes, Lord Mountain." Qyburn reached for the 'Letter of Nobility' and the copy of the 'Letter of Appointment' on the table. "This is my handwriting, thank you for helping me get it out."

Bronn reached out, pressed down on the documents, stared at Qyburn, his face unfriendly, and didn't say a word.

*

After Qyburn left, Bronn tidied up the copies and handed them to Janei.

"My Lord, My Lady, in case things change in the future, this is evidence that Qyburn interfered with the royal government, manipulated King Joffrey, and disrupted national affairs, which can put him at a disadvantage, even a capital crime."

Janei took it and put it away.

Footsteps sounded at the stairwell, and the maid Grizel's voice came: "My Lord, Lord Petyr has returned and requests to see you."

"Let him come down."

"Yes, My Lord."

Littlefinger returned again, sat down, the signature sly smile on his face was gone, and said solemnly, "My Lord, My Lady, Qyburn can only be used, not trusted."

*

ps: I saw Nine Lei Ge's message in the background, but it's not on my phone, so I'll reply here: Recharge on the Android or computer. If it's not convenient, it's okay, thank you very much for your support!

Thanks to [Hui Zhen Mei Yizi] [1] for the reward support, thank you, handshake!