"I'll think about it." Hearing this, Viserys hesitated.
The room fell into silence.
Midnight.
In an attic of the Red Keep.
Creak! A maid sneaked in. The room was dimly lit, and an exquisite dinner was placed on the table.
"Any new news?" Larys put down his knife and fork and looked over calmly.
The maid shuddered at his gaze. She walked quickly to his side and whispered in his ear. After a while, the maid took a few silver stags and ran out of the door as if escaping.
Larys smiled and did not care. He enjoyed the feeling of being looked up to, even if it was because of fear.
"Prince Aemon stayed overnight in the princess's bedroom and called for water three times in the middle of the night."
Larys's teeth ached. But that was not the point. The maid who changed the water said that the two had mentioned the chief of intelligence.
In addition, there was another piece of news. Larys moved the dinner plate away, and a crumpled and flattened piece of paper was pressed underneath. The maid who cleaned the Tower of the Hand had picked it up from under the table. It was covered with dense words, and one paragraph was deliberately crossed out. Larys looked carefully by candlelight and saw the words "Chief of Intelligence." His father, Lyonel, had come out of the King's bedchamber and worked in the Tower of the Hand for a while, where he had accidentally written down a plan.
"Someone wants to use the position of Chief of Intelligence," Larys smiled. When it comes to gathering intelligence, who could be more professional than him? "Think about it carefully, how to plan to get it." Larys couldn't stop being excited. He had been an interrogator for the king for too long, and he had seen enough of the painful wails of prisoners. Boring! Too boring! If I can serve as the Chief of Intelligence and sit on the Small Council, that would be considered a success.
"I need to find someone to help," Larys instantly thought of the kind-hearted queen. However, he had to deal with his competitors first.
"Ha," Larys laughed.
The next day.
In the morning, the weather was fine. Aemon was about to accompany Rhaenyra to the Dragonpit when he was told to attend a Small Council meeting. Considering the issue of his appointment and the engagement ceremony to be held tomorrow, the two actively participated.
At the council, Viserys said apologetically, "The engagement ceremony was prepared in a hurry, and Lady Rhea may not be able to make it."
"I sent a letter to my mother to ask if she wants to come," Aemon said. He guessed she would not. His mother only cared about her well-behaved and thoughtful adopted daughter, Jeynesif, and did not think highly of Rhaenyra from the bottom of her heart.
"This is your lifelong event, and one of your parents should be there," Viserys said righteously, not wanting his nephew to have any regrets.
Aemon smiled and said nothing. His unreliable parents; one of them is silent when one is expected. Forget about his mother, Lady Rhea. She is free in Runestone and lives a retired life in advance. He was just afraid that Daemon would do something weird. If he were to invite him to the engagement ceremony, he was afraid that he would really be unable to help but chop him to death.
Seeing this, Viserys did not mention it anymore. The rest of the meeting was to discuss the specifications of the engagement ceremony. Aemond had just celebrated his nameday, and many noble lords were still in King's Landing. There was no need to worry about the celebration being deserted.
Aemon added a few appropriate sentences to reduce unnecessary cumbersome procedures. He observed while speaking and found that his uncle hesitated to speak several times.
Are you hesitating about my appointment? Aemon's eyes rolled. With his status, it was obviously not enough to tie him to King's Landing with an ordinary position. If his uncle really appointed him as Master of Laws or Master of Ships, he would resign the next day and fly to Dragonstone for a vacation. After all, he values his family, but that does not mean he will allow himself to be wronged. If he has the energy to work like a cow or a horse, he might as well go conquer a Free City. Being a regent is to take care of his uncle's emotions, to cooperate with him by staying in King's Landing, and to dispel rumors in the Seven Kingdoms. Without shackles, it is easier. When the situation in the Stepstones is clearer, he can march south.
"Aemon," suddenly, Rhaenyra's lips moved slightly, and she elbowed him privately. Aemon turned his head. Rhaenyra was in sync, and her beautiful purple eyes flashed slightly. Their eyes met, and Aemon nodded slightly.
"Uncle…" Aemon raised his hand high.
The Queen's bedroom.
The door was ajar, and the sound of children playing could be heard from inside.
"It's mine!"
"No! It wants to play with me."
Watching the children fighting over a big red rabbit, Alicent felt helpless. This was good, so she did not have to take care of the children herself. She found a chair by the fireplace and sat down. A rare free moment.
A guest came to the door. "Your Majesty," Larys leaned on his scepter and pushed open the door carefully.
"Ser Larys?" Alicent frowned slightly. She had kicked him out of the core circle of the greens a long time ago. He was regarded as a person who was not trusted.
"I have a piece of information that I believe you would like to hear," Larys lowered his voice. He knew that if he wanted to regain the queen's trust, he had to throw out bait.
Sure enough, Alicent hesitated for a moment and said, "Come in."
Larys lowered his eyebrows and limped in. "What do you want to share?" Alicent asked, hugging a pillow, subconsciously alert.
"About Lord Otto," Larys said, sitting on the other half of the chair. As he told it, Aemon was very hostile to Otto. The two had met at the Gates of the Moon, had clashed, and Aemon had killed a Kingsguard. Otto was not doing well now. He was imprisoned in the Sky Cells of the Eyrie, starving every day and living in fear.
"No," Alicent frowned and said righteously, "Aemon told me that he did not treat my father badly."
"Is that really the case?" Larys's eyes were deep. Alicent pursed her lips, and her faith began to waver.
"As far as I know, Lord Otto and Daemon were also hostile to each other," Larys continued to add to the ante.
Alicent secretly clasped her hands tightly. It was more than a hostile relationship; her father and Daemon were basically enemies. In order to anger her father, Daemon had once tried to seduce her when she was a girl. Daemon at that time was indeed very charming, young and promising, brave, and with a bit of a seductive and dangerous aura. It's not an exaggeration to say he was the dream lover of women in the Seven Kingdoms. But she had avoided him. At that time, she had to breastfeed her child and had no energy to be distracted. Well… breastfeeding Aemon.
"Aemon would not lie to me," thinking of this, Alicent became firm.
Larys's eyes flickered. "Maybe I remembered it wrong," he smiled. "Lord Otto was actually treated very well." There is a skill to making false accusations. You cannot just keep biting; you have to leave room for imagination. He actually did not know Otto's situation. The Vale was too far away; his hands could not reach that far. It was just based on analysis that he judged that Otto would not have an easy time.
Otto: You guessed right.
"Lord Larys, if that is all, I am going to rest," Alicent ordered him to leave.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Larys smiled apologetically and stood up with his scepter. At that moment, a capable maid came in, packed the prince and princess's clothes, and took them out for washing. "Tyra, do not forget to prepare diapers for Daeron," Alicent instructed skillfully.
Larys walked out of the bedroom silently.
It was noon. The Small Council meeting ended early, and Aemon had lunch with his uncle Viserys. Just after lunch, Rhaenyra hurriedly left the Red Keep in the name of visiting the Dragonpit. In fact, she was going to find Mysaria, the White Worm.
"Tsk," Aemon was a little jealous. Being so close to a woman, there must be something wrong, His Royal Highness thought narrowly.
No one was with him, so he walked around the corridor alone. As expected, the proposal to restart the Master of Whisperers was rejected unanimously. Especially when they heard that the candidate was Daemon's former mistress, a prostitute of low birth. His uncle had pointed at his nose and scolded both him and Rhaenyra.
"I said no," Aemon was a little upset. Rhaenyra had not said anything to comfort his wounded heart. Not considerate at all.
Just when His Royal Highness was worried about life after the engagement, he thought of the content of the meeting. His uncle Viserys had talked about his participation in the Small Council and mentioned the position of regent in a vague way. Without waiting for him to say whether he agreed or not, the Hand, Lyonel, had directly rejected it.
"Lyonel," Aemon repeated. He had a good impression of this fat and serious Hand. He was labeled as taciturn and dedicated. Being taciturn means being bad at speaking and not being able to give the king the opinions he wants at a critical moment. Working hard proves one's lack of ability, being busy all day and getting hit in the back of the head. As Hand, Otto would never be in this situation.
Is our Hand loyal? Aemon pondered secretly. The answer is, he is not loyal enough. Otto and Lyonel are fundamentally different. Otto is selfish, and the aristocracy is behind him, but his aristocracy is limited to the Hightower family. For the sake of his family, Otto is not loyal to the king or the kingdom.
On the other hand, Lyonel. He is loyal to the king and the kingdom, but there is also the aristocracy behind him, and it is the majority of the aristocracy. His philosophy of governing the country as Hand is very consistent with the views of his uncle Viserys. In summary: muddle through. Let the Black and Green parties fight; that is the royal family's own business. He handles his duties well, and it is none of his business if other people fight to the death. Especially when facing the hidden contradictions between the royal family and the nobles, he chooses to go with the flow and pressure the king to make seemingly "correct" decisions. For example, persuading his uncle to marry Laena, for Rhaenyra to marry Laenor, to use force against him… What made Aemon most vigilant was his indulgence of his offspring. In A Dance with the Dragons, the biggest reason why Rhaenyra was usurped was because she married Laenor and had an affair with Harwin to give birth to three illegitimate children of Strong. He did not stop it at the beginning. After she gave birth to three illegitimate children in a row, he then thought of stopping it. Faced with the scandal, he wanted to resign and retire because it could not be handled fairly. Viserys had no one else to use, so he was forced to stay. He also had to protect his son by sending him back to Harrenhal, leaving the king's daughter and three illegitimate sons under the attack of the greens.
"If loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal!" Aemon did not approve of this fat Hand who was so good at protecting himself. As for the cause of death of Lyonel and his son, nominally they died in the fire at Harrenhal. Behind the scenes, it was the ruthless "Clubfoot" Larys who killed his kin. But there is another inaccurate rumor in the maester's records: the shadow of Viserys was behind the fire at Harrenhal. Aemon thought it was reasonable. Your son slept with my daughter and had three illegitimate children. You try to run at the critical moment. Your son is your son, but my daughter is also my daughter. Kill you and your son, the insiders, and the rumor of illegitimate children will be cut off at the root. Easy and convenient.
"Uncle would definitely do it," Aemon speculated boldly. But the death of Lyonel also meant that the greens had initially surpassed the blacks. When Aemond secretly tamed Vhagar, the greens completely controlled the court and pushed Rhaenyra back to Dragonstone.
"It is all twists and turns. King's Landing is full of tricks," Aemon shook his head. The position of regent is okay, but the appeal is average. There is even a hint of disgust.
"Your Highness." Suddenly, there were light and heavy footsteps behind him.
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