The meeting was noisy.
The Northern lords could never get rid of their loud voices, shouting that they must attack King's Landing.
Brave, but they would never consider whether their strength was sufficient or whether the current situation was suitable for an attack.
Reckless! As if being reckless could solve all problems.
Most of the Riverlands lords remained silent, awaiting Robb Stark's decision.
Now, the Lannister invasion of the Riverlands had been driven out, and their territories had finally found peace. Compared to continuing the war, they were more willing to mend their broken lands.
Not to mention these lords, even the common soldiers had long since grown tired of fighting.
There were probably countless widows in their villages, waiting for them to return and continue their family lines.
"Didn't we agree to attack King's Landing? I still want to see that Iron Throne!"
Greatjon's shouting was always the loudest.
"I'd like to cut off Tywin Lannister's head and stick it on a spear for the hundreds of thousands of residents of King's Landing to see, that the fate of the cruel is also to be treated with cruelty."
Lord Tytos said grimly, his eyes full of resentment. Even though Gregor Clegane was dead, he couldn't forget that the old lion was the instigator.
"Everyone, in my opinion, the next battle cannot be fought."
Before Robb Stark could speak, Eddard, the Hand of the King, spoke first. He spread his hands and said, "After Renly Baratheon's death, there are too many variables. If House Tyrell chooses Stannis, then we won't be needed for the next battle at all. The combined forces of the Stormlands and the Reach are enough to flatten King's Landing and the Lannisters.
"At that time, we only need to negotiate."
"If they choose the Lannisters, and we attack King's Landing now, it would be like walking into the enemy's swords, sticking our necks out to be killed. This is an extremely unwise approach."
Greatjon's face froze, and he immediately stood up and shouted, "Then why doesn't Tyrell choose the North? We are the victors on the battlefield!"
Good question!
Eddard praised him inwardly, then looked back at Robb, who was silent and calm, and said, "Mace Tyrell of Highgarden has lived among flowers and breezes since childhood. His castle is so luxurious that it even has an artificial waterfall. It's perfectly normal for him to look down on us rough Northerners."
To dismiss Greatjon, Eddard casually made up an excuse, unexpectedly, the other party nodded in agreement, finding it quite reasonable.
"All in all, our current situation is that we hold Tywin's biological son and brother, and we have driven the Lannisters out of the Riverlands. It's time to reorganize, then sit back and watch the struggle between Baratheon and Lannister to see who is stronger, so we can reap the benefits."
After Eddard finished speaking, the other lords remained silent. The newcomer, Roose Bolton, asked softly with a hint of doubt on his face, "Is this also His Majesty's intention? I heard that the Karstark young master became the Hand of the King. Now it seems he's more like the King's Hand."
In the battle before the Red Fork shallows, Roose Bolton led his soldiers to break through the Lannister's hedgehog formation.
At least one-third of the soldiers from Dreadfort, Barrowton, and Riverrun were lost.
After the battle, the Old Flayer also found a suitable opportunity to proactively admit his mistakes, confessing that he had made some errors during the confrontation with Tywin at the Green Fork River, and promised to provide some compensation.
For example, gold dragons, weapons and equipment, food, livestock, and even land and farmers.
Every compensation hit the soft spot of those lords!
Such tactics quickly earned Robb Stark's forgiveness, and the other Northern lords no longer gave him the cold shoulder.
At that time, Eddard, looking at the Old Flayer's methods, couldn't help but praise him inwardly, 'Damn, you really can bend and stretch!'
We'll have plenty of time to play later.
At this moment, seeing Roose Bolton question Eddard, Robb prepared to explain.
It was a pre-arranged plan between the two of them for Eddard to tentatively state the next plan, and then for him to supplement it as the situation required.
Eddard told him that a king, when holding an important meeting, should listen to everyone's ideas, then think and judge which choice would best serve his own interests and the interests of the majority.
Today was just an experiment.
However, Eddard had long disliked the Old Flayer. On the surface, he was gentle and refined, but his heart was black!!
He looked down his nose at Roose Bolton, mocking, "Whether I, the young master of House Karstark, am the Hand of the King or the King's Hand, I'm still much better than the young master of the Bolton family."
"I heard your bastard son, Ramsay Snow, was audacious enough to imprison Lady Donella of Hornwood Castle, and before she starved to death, he forced her to make a will acknowledging him as the heir to Hornwood Castle!! I never expected a bastard to be able to mobilize your Dreadfort soldiers to do such a depraved thing."
"It seems Lord Bolton's son is far more capable than I am!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ser Farryd Pohl, who served House Hornwood, looked at the Old Flayer and said fiercely, "The people of House Hornwood will never forget this matter."
This news had long since spread from King's Landing, but everyone had been at war and hadn't had time to settle scores.
Ser Wendel Manderly from White Harbor even shifted his corpulent body and knelt directly before Robb, tearfully saying, "Please, Your Majesty, uphold justice for my aunt!!"
The Manderly Family were outsiders, and often, even when wronged, they would not actively provoke conflict with the Northern lords. Now that the atmosphere had been built to this extent, if they didn't do something, it would truly bring shame upon their family.
For some reason, Lady Maege, sitting nearby, suddenly felt this scene was unusually familiar.
She looked up at Eddard and suddenly remembered that this young man from House Karstark could instantly grasp others' weaknesses and then, with a few words, refute them so uncomfortably.
She didn't know where he learned it!!
Roose Bolton blinked his grayish eyes, then suddenly pushed his chair back and knelt on one knee before Robb Stark, saying, "What Ramsay did was all his own doing and has nothing to do with the Bolton family. He is just a madman whose bloodline has been corrupted."
"Now Ramsay has been executed on the battlefield by Ser Rodrik. This debt has been repaid, and I will also relinquish my claim to Hornwood Castle's lands."
After speaking, Roose Bolton lowered his head, secretly nervous. He almost didn't react; he had merely uttered a slightly questioning remark, and it had caused such a violent reaction!
If it had been in the past, the Old Flayer would never have been so obsequious. However, the situation was now stronger than he was; the Young Wolf's prestige was soaring, and he could do nothing.
"That's not right!"
Eddard immediately retorted sharply, saying, "I have a friend in Dreadfort who sent me a quick message telling me a good story. He believes that the person Ser Rodrik killed was not Ramsay Snow, but a fellow named Reek, and the real Ramsay Snow is still in the Winterfell dungeon, simply using the alias Reek."
At this, Ser Farryd and Ser Wendel prepared to kneel again, wanting to beg the King to hang this "Reek" as well.
Robb waved his hand to stop them, and in front of the Riverlands and Northern lords, he righteously pronounced judgment. He said, "Alright, if what Eddard says is true, then after the war ends and we return to Winterfell, I will personally cut off Ramsay Snow's head to uphold justice for Lady Donella. If this is just a story, I will also have that Reek take the black and go to the Wall."
"All according to Your Majesty's judgment."
The concerned parties quickly responded. Roose Bolton subtly glanced at Eddard, wondering if the other party had also bought off informants in Dreadfort to know such a secret?
No, I must find an opportunity to kill this boy!!
The Old Flayer's murderous intent was evident in his heart, but his face remained expressionless, without a single flaw.
"Alright, let's continue discussing the next plan."
Though it was called a discussion, in reality, most of it was Robb giving orders and the lords executing them. The invincible Young Wolf had that prestige.
At Golden Tooth, Lord Rickard Karstark, Eddard's adoptive father, would hold the place with three thousand soldiers.
Currently, although the war had not yet ended, many already knew that the second son of House Karstark was about to leave Karhold and become the Lord of Golden Tooth, establishing his own family.
He would become a lord worthy of envy overnight.
Therefore, it was quite normal for Golden Tooth to be temporarily managed by House Karstark.
As for Harrenhal.
Even before the Battle of Red Fork, Ser Brynden had already left with a few hundred cavalry and five thousand infantry, and by now, he had already captured the castle.
More precisely, he had taken Harrenhal from the Brave Companions, and then he unceremoniously arrested these mercenaries. In "Blackfish's" eyes, although these fellows had surrendered the castle voluntarily, it could not atone for the various sins they had committed in the Riverlands.
A raven was sent, asking Robb Stark how to deal with them.
Robb consulted Eddard, and Eddard's suggestion was to first name Vargo Hoat the Lord of Harrenhal; his contributions absolutely could not be ignored.
Then, hang them all to atone for the evil deeds they had committed!
They were just a bunch of criminals and exiles, over half of whom couldn't even speak the Common Tongue. Keeping them would only cause trouble, and besides, there was no one worth caring about among them except for a Maester Qyburn who studied dark magic.
Eddard himself knew magic, and if possible in the future, he would be willing to teach more people to change this continent.
There was no need to keep this fellow causing trouble.
Both involve using life as a price; killing enemies on the battlefield is more acceptable to Eddard than conducting immoral experiments in dark corners.
Moreover, people without moral bottom lines are most likely to associate with those Lannister fellows.
They are simply two of a kind with Cersei.
Keeping them would only be a disaster, hang them and be done with it!
After Robb listened, he thought for a moment, then adopted the suggestion and sent ravens to Harrenhal.
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