The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 518: Cersei Isn't Stupid, the Mountain Isn't Rich

(Bonus chapter for the alliance leader 'Jin Xiaoyanei' of this book, thank you for your support, handshake!)

*

The Mountain's stone house.

Prime Minister Kevan had just arrived at the gate when he ran into Shayala coming out of the Mountain's stone house.

Shayala was a celebrity in King's Landing. Shayala's academy was the most profitable, famous, and high-end academy in King's Landing.

Littlefinger's academies excelled in quantity and covered high, middle, and low tiers. One of the benefits of doing so was that Littlefinger could obtain a lot of useful information and intelligence through the academies. Varys's intelligence system was the little birds, while Littlefinger's intelligence system was his academies. To obtain considerable intelligence, the more academies Littlefinger had, the better.

And Shayala in King's Landing only had one academy, but she had made this one academy the ultimate in the industry.

The best golden wine from Arbor was in short supply. Many noble families didn't have it, and the great noble families had little stock, but in Shayala's academy, you could use this precious wine to bathe. If you wanted fair skin, you could also use sterilized milk for bathing.

Of course, the academy's various bizarre entertainment projects could stimulate people's senses to the extreme, making them forget to return, but they were also expensive.

The guests Shayala received were either super-rich or powerful, the top echelon of people in this world.

Prime Minister Kevan had never been to Shayala's academy to play, but he knew the fame of Shayala's academy, and he also knew Shayala.

Shayala had a good relationship with many great nobles, courtiers, and military generals in the Red Keep of King's Landing.

"Madam Shayala," Prime Minister Kevan nodded slightly.

"Prime Minister," Shayala quickly curtsied.

"Are you here to see the Mountain?" Kevan was a sensitive person. In front of the Mountain, he was a well-mannered person and called the Mountain by his real name; behind the Mountain's back, he called him the Mountain directly.

"Yes, Prime Minister."

"May I know what it is about?"

"It's nothing, just routine matters," Shayala replied skillfully.

Routine matters?

What could be routine matters for the owner of an academy to come to the Mountain? Normal men would understand, but Kevan didn't think so. Shayala had many beautiful women under her, virgins from across the Narrow Sea, women of various skin colors from the Isle of Lys who had undergone special training and were expensive. To serve the Mountain, there was no need for the proprietress to come in person.

"Are you here to give an account to the Mountain?" the Prime Minister asked.

"Yes, Prime Minister."

Since Kevan already knew, there was no need for Shayala to hide it anymore.

It was only effective for a very short time to hide such things. There were so many patrons every day, and the news would leak quickly. Prime Minister Kevan had his own intelligence system. The fact that all the academy owners in King's Landing gathered in front of the Mountain's stone house on a certain night a few days ago had already attracted Kevan's spies. The Mountain also didn't seem to have any need to hide it. His behavior of scraping the profits of the academy owners was actually despised by great nobles with background like Prime Minister Kevan and Duke Mace.

"How is business lately?"

"Thanks to the blessing of the Seven Gods, business is okay."

Kevan suddenly lowered his voice: "Madam, if you know any secrets about the Mountain, you can tell me. I can also send someone to your academy to retrieve them. If you are willing to secretly be my eyes and ears and report to me some secrets about the Mountain that you can know, you will gain the respect and friendship of the Prime Minister of the Seven Kingdoms."

"...Yes...Prime Minister..." Shayala bowed slightly, "If I have the opportunity to know some secrets of Lord Mountain, I will send someone to the Prime Minister's Tower to tell you."

"Good, if you encounter any tricky things in King's Landing, you can also send someone to me. I will secretly help you solve them."

"Thank you, Prime Minister."

*

Shayala walked away, and Prime Minister Kevan entered the stone house and went up to the second floor.

The Mountain was waiting for him in the living room on the second floor.

"Lord Gregor, I have just returned from the Great Sept of Baelor."

"Oh? How is the Queen Mother?"

"She is in good health, her diet and accommodation are good, and she is surrounded by maids, servants, and Kingsguard. As long as she kneels down to confess her sins, repent, and swear to reform, she can return safely."

"Queen Mother Cersei has not committed any crimes, how could she possibly confess?" The Mountain uttered nonsense.

"Yes!" Kevan's level of hypocrisy was not inferior to any court genius.

"Then what are we going to do? The Queen Mother will not confess, and the High Sparrow will not release her."

Although Kevan was determined to drive Cersei out of the palace, he couldn't bring himself to kill Cersei with a borrowed knife. His heart was not as cold and ruthless as Duke Tywin's.

Cersei was a Lannister!

Kevan was only limited to driving her out of the palace, not to the point of killing her.

"Yes!" The Mountain sighed to show his concern for 'master' Cersei.

Kevan said: "When necessary, I think we should persuade Cersei and Margaery to confess their sins together and then gain freedom. Without hostages, the High Septon, we can confidently attack the Great Sept of Baelor. This is the best way I can think of at the moment."

The Mountain nodded in agreement: "Prime Minister, on the day of the attack on the Great Sept, please allow me to lead the city's legions to attack."

Kevan's eyes flickered: "Of course, when it comes to a strong attack, no one is more suitable than you, my lord. However, when I left the Great Sept of Baelor, the High Septon asked me to convey his words to you."

"Please speak!"

"The High Septon said that he knows why you are training heavy cavalry to practice swords and shields, and the swordsmanship they are learning are all short swords."

"Oh?"

"You are preparing to attack the Great Sept of Baelor."

"Absolutely not," the Mountain flatly denied.

Could it be that the High Septon saw a prophecy? If the monks are blessed by the Seven Gods, they will see some fragments of the future.

This world has gods!

The Mountain and the Warrior Bishop's conspiracy was seen by the High Sparrow's 'prophecy fragment'?!

"The High Septon said that short swords are conducive to fighting in narrow spaces, such as corridors, houses, towers, and stairs."

"The High Septon is right, short sword technology is practiced for combat in narrow spaces. This is a basic martial art that a warrior must have, but it is not to attack the Great Sept of Baelor. The Great Sept of Baelor, I will not attack without the Prime Minister's word."

*

The Mountain's ability to lie exceeded his ability to tell the truth.

His mind raced: The High Sparrow warned him for only two reasons: The first was that he saw a fragment of the future; the second was that he speculated through the study of sword and shield skills and predicted that the Mountain's purpose was to attack the Great Sept of Baelor.

If it was the first, the five bishops and monks who were insiders must have been arrested by the High Sparrow, but they were not. The insiders were safe, and no news came out that the High Sparrow had attacked them.

If it was the second, it could only mean that the High Sparrow was a smart person with military strategy who saw through the Mountain's intentions, but he did not know when the Mountain would attack, where he would attack from, and the tactics of internal and external cooperation.

The Mountain tended to the second: the High Sparrow relied on his intelligence to see the Mountain's 'sinister intentions'. He knocked on the Mountain in advance, but it also proved his uneasiness.

The Mountain was the only ruthless man who killed hundreds of Star Warriors, right on the square of the Great Sept of Baelor.

The Mountain was also a fierce general who was well-liked by the citizens of King's Landing. The first to bring bread to the refugees of King's Landing was the Mountain; the first to recruit refugees as soldiers and handymen was also the Mountain. The Mountain's two thousand spearmen all came from the refugees and poor people of King's Landing. One person enlisting in the army received enough military pay to support a family.

The Mountain had the support of the people!

And the High Sparrow had the support of believers!

*

Kevan stared into the Mountain's eyes, hoping to see into the depths of the Mountain's heart. This was also the reason why Duke Tywin liked to stare at people the most: "Don't hide it from me, Lord Gregor. I want to know your specific plan, we can't easily take risks. First, there are nearly a thousand Star Warriors and Sacred Sword Armed Forces in the Great Sept, and three thousand in the whole city. If they mobilize believers, there will be more than one hundred thousand people. If you are not careful, the Queen Mother and the Queen will not be rescued, but their lives will be given away in vain. And the entire King's Landing will be caught in turmoil, and riots in the name of refugees will appear everywhere."

"Yes, Prime Minister. I listen to you," the Mountain said insincerely.

Kevan knew that the Mountain would not listen to him. The Mountain had defected to Cersei and thought of Cersei in everything. This was not a good thing.

The Mountain was a person who needed to be won over, not the other way around.

Kevan thought of Duke Tywin. Because he turned his face ruthlessly with the Mountain, the Mountain desperately defeated the elite guards around him. The Mountain was seriously injured, and the Red Smoke Beast was also shot with an arrow, but he desperately wanted to capture Tywin himself, forcing the royal family to sit down and negotiate with him.

"Lord Gregor, I have a proposal," Kevan said.

The Mountain felt the strangeness in Kevan's tone. He didn't speak, staring at Kevan. Tywin could still put some psychological pressure and nominal restraint on him, but Kevan could not.

"Littlefinger Petyr Baelish has gone to the Vale, and there is no news of him now, but with his means, it is more than enough to deal with orphans and widows. When Petyr gets the Vale, I think he can no longer have Harrenhal at the same time."

"Yes, Harrenhal is a world miracle equal to the Great Wall, the largest and most solid castle in the Seven Kingdoms. Except for dragons, no one can take Harrenhal by force. Around Harrenhal, the land is fertile, and the God's Eye Lake guarantees water resources. Littlefinger either gets the Vale or gets Harrenhal, he can't get both."

Kevan's eyes became meaningful: "Lord Mountain, your legion has a large number of people, and your private force is already the first in the Seven Kingdoms. This will cause jealousy. At the same time, the more troops, the greater the expenditure. You have taken down all the academies in King's Landing and want to control the fish resources of the Blackwater Rush and control the fish market, but even so, the income is limited. Harrenhal is a fertile land with abundant water sources and abundant grain harvests every year."

The Mountain felt alert in his heart. Kevan was more cunning than Tywin. He suddenly showed his favor. What was he trying to win him over for?

"Prime Minister, Petyr Baelish is the Duke of Harrenhal. Before he has definitively controlled the Vale, discussing Harrenhal is not wise."

"If there is a chance in the future, I will propose that Harrenhal belongs to you, my lord. Before the Battle of the Green Fork, Harrenhal was the first to be taken down by you, and a large amount of grain, ironware, swords, and armor were seized for the Western Army. You are the first new owner of Harrenhal."

Harrenhal was indeed a good place, but Harrenhal had a death curse. So far, no one who has officially obtained Harrenhal has not been exterminated. The curse legend comes from Harren the Black, the builder of Harrenhal. Harren conscripted hundreds of thousands of laborers to build Harrenhal, which took forty years. All the dead were buried under the walls of Harrenhal. The rumors of the death curse also came from this.

Did Kevan sincerely want to win over the Mountain or did he want the Mountain to be cursed by death, so as to use mysterious power to exterminate the Mountain?

Maybe both!

"Lord Kevan, I am not interested in Harrenhal. If you want to win me over, tell the Westerlands people that Clegane's Keep, Castamere, and Tarbeck Hall belong to the legitimate territory and private territory of my Clegane family."

Kevan's heart was startled!

The Mountain was still thinking about the Westerlands.

"Lord Gregor, the wealth and strategic location of Harrenhal are more important than the Westerlands."

"Yes, but there is an Iron Islands outside the Westerlands, and the Iron Islands are rich in iron ore," the Mountain thought to himself.

A man without distant worries must have immediate troubles. Why didn't the Westerlands try to destroy the Ironborn in Tywin's era and take the iron ore mountains for themselves? This can only show one thing, Tywin was short-sighted, long-term complacent in wealth, and had no great ambition.

The Mountain stared into Kevan's eyes: "Prime Minister, what do you want me to do, tell me clearly."

"Don't support Cersei, she will do many stupid things and lead us into the abyss," Kevan's tone was earnest.

The Mountain's eyes became terrible, his head raised, his sharp eyes looked at Kevan, and after a while, the Mountain said: "Prime Minister, it's late, you should go back to the Prime Minister's Tower."

Kevan's heart was suddenly filled with frustration!

"There is Cersei in the palace, and we can't act well. The High Septon's religious armed forces were issued by Cersei's administrative order. If she listens to me, the High Sparrow and his followers will not be able to buy weapons in King's Landing. Anyone who sells weapons to the monks will be put to death. Today's challenges to the royal family and royal power were all caused by Cersei."

Kevan's words made sense, he was a good politician; in the original world trajectory, Kevan became Prime Minister, quickly integrated the forces of all parties, and seeing that the kingdom was about to enter a stable situation, Varys assassinated Kevan and plunged the kingdom back into chaos.

Cersei was indeed stupid, unable to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, short-sighted, unable to see through the essence of things. Selfish, naive political means, but if she hadn't 'cultivated' the High Sparrow, how would the Mountain have had the opportunity to seize the mountains of gold and silver jewelry piled up in the Great Sept of Baelor? The Mountain would not have had the opportunity to form an alliance with the Warrior Bishop, and he would not have been able to help the Warrior Bishop become the High Septon, and the Warrior Bishop would not have promised to secretly support the Mountain's construction of the army with part of the income of the Great Sept of Baelor in the future.

If Cersei isn't stupid, the Mountain isn't rich.

This rich is not just about money!

The Mountain stared at Kevan's unwilling gaze and said indifferently, "Lord Hand, do not insult my honor. Loyalty is a knight's creed. We all rely on loyalty to restrain our subordinates. I have been loyal to the Lannister family for twenty-two years, counting this year—300 AC. I have been loyal to the Lannister family for twenty-three years. Cersei is the Queen Mother, and she is a Lannister."

The Mountain's words were like knives!