Illyrio seemed to hear a big joke, and his low laughter suddenly erupted in the empty and gloomy secret passage, with a strange echo, like countless ghosts screaming and crying among the rock walls.
"Cluck... My dear friend, they have disappeared for a century, and their bones have turned to ashes! This is simply more unbelievable than the assurance of the mill merchant. "
He laughed so much that his fat flesh trembled, and the light of the gemstone ring flickered wildly in the darkness.
Varys' eyes under the scar did not waver in the slightest: "These are Ed Stark's original words, in front of King Robert and all the ministers, by him himself." "
The fat on Illyrio's face trembled, his small eyes flashed with suspicion, and his fat hand unconsciously twisted his mustache again, trying to find a reasonable explanation: "Hmm... Even under the great pressure of such a fiasco, the fleet was wiped out, and countless nobles were captured or buried in the belly of a fish, it was not entirely impossible for Stark to concoct an excuse for a dragon in order to shirk responsibility or stabilize the crumbling morale of the army. "
Varys' eyes pierced sharply through the gaps in the camouflaged scars, his voice lowering even more:
"Old man, put away your Pantos businessman thinking, only the Stranger would believe that Ed Stark would lie to shirk responsibility, and he values honor more than his own life.
If it weren't for the damn 'dragon' that really existed, you told me, the four hundred warships that gathered the most powerful navy of the Seven Kingdoms,
How could tens of thousands of elites be wiped out overnight, in the open sea, by a little-known orientalist, and even the king could only flee with wolves and foxes? "
He paused, and the light of the torch jumped in his eyes: "That Oriental man not only brought strange witchcraft and an invulnerable army of the dead from thousands of miles away, he also brought dragons, something that can truly burn everything and threaten our plans."
When Varys received information from Jorah Mormont about the Orientals' intention to invade Westeros, it was like a treasure.
Therefore, he quietly fueled the imperial meeting, skillfully guided the decisions of Jon Arryn and King Robert, and tried his best to facilitate the expedition of the Seven Nations Alliance to the Stone Steps Islands.
He had only one purpose, which was to let the most elite soldiers of the Seven Kingdoms and the royal fleet consume part of it in advance, clearing the way for the future return of his true "prince".
This is a brilliant trick to kill people with a knife,
However, he calculated everything, but he didn't expect that this "knife" was sharper than he imagined.
It not only cut off the outstretched claws of the Seven Kingdoms, but also exposed its own trembling teeth.
The Legion of the Dead is already a nightmare, and now with a legendary dragon?
This has turned into a disaster that could completely turn the game upside down.
The Oriental is no longer a pawn that can be used in Varys' plan, but has become a huge uncontrollable variable that can swallow everything.
The smile on Illyrio's face finally disappeared completely.
The fat on his round face tightened, and his small eyes flashed with unprecedented solemnity and fear.
He licked his thick lips, which were a little dry, and his voice was a little dry: "If this is true, then the prince, the princess and the little griffin are there."
He didn't go on, but the meaning couldn't be clearer.
The prince and princess are Targaryen siblings who fled to the Eastern Continent more than a decade ago.
But Illyrio and the others are not the ones they really support.
It's Little Griffin.
The boy who was carefully cared for by them and hid for more than ten years,
They had planned to let the Dragon siblings attract the firepower of the Iron Throne, and finally let the little Griffin appear as Aegon Targaryen, the son of Prince Rhaegar and Princess Illya, to take the fruits of victory.
Varys will claim that Aegon, who died in the Red Keep, more than a decade ago, is the son of a farmer he dropped, and Aegon Targaryen, the true dragon's blood, thrives under his careful protection.
At that time, he will lead a large army to land in the Seven Kingdoms and restore the Targaryen dynasty.
But at this moment, there is one more variable in these calculations.
A powerful wizard with an army of dragons and the undead with unknown intentions.
Varys nodded heavily, the shadow of his cloak obscuring the churning thoughts in his eyes: "The prince and princess are now in Telossi, and under the nose of that oriental, our plans must change, at least."
He raised his head and said, "At least we can't let that Oriental's gaze focus on Westeros itself too early, otherwise it will make the situation in the Seven Kingdoms evolve into something we can't control." "
In the midst of this breathtaking silence, Illyrio suddenly had an idea.
A bold idea that bordered on absurdity came in and out of his mind.
He dragged out the tune: "Why don't we let our princess... Well... After menarche, marry that oriental? "
"What?!"
Varys's pupils shrank suddenly, and the torch in his hand shook suddenly.
He stared at Illyrio.
Illyrio ignored Varys' shock, his fat body leaned forward, and his voice was low: "Look, isn't that oriental man plotting Westeros? We gave him a chance to marry the Targaryens and attack Westeros, and let him take his dragons and legions of the dead, his hundreds of warships, to bear all the wrath of the Iron Throne for us, to wipe out Robert, Tywin,
Jon Arryn These obstacles, we don't need to wait for those untrustworthy barbarians, those barbarians are afraid of poisonous water, but the Oriental has a boat, he can do it immediately. "
Varys instantly understood Illyrio's calculations.
The shock in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by the same cold and sharp trade-offs.
"You mean to use the princess as bait to tie the Oriental man to the Targaryen chariot and let him rush to the front?"
"Exactly, my dear friend!"
Illyrio's smile returned to his face: "Our plan can be greatly advanced... The Oriental wants to fulfill his ambitions?
It couldn't be better. Let them attract everyone's attention, bear all the losses, when the tide of war is in our favor, when the power of the Iron Throne is exhausted, when Westeros plunges into the deepest chaos and exhaustion, the princes and orientals will disappear "in time".
Then, our little Griffin, as a 'real' Targaryen blood, will shine brightly, and he will marry the grief-stricken princess who has just lost her husband... :.. And the most generous dowry brought by the princess is the dragon, and we will harvest the greatest fruit at the lowest cost, the iron throne, the dragon, will all return to the hands of the 'real' dragon family. "
Varys fell into a long silence.
Only the instantaneous crackling of torches echoed in the dead silent secret passage.
He chewed on Illyrio's crazy and tempting plan.
Putting Daenerys next to the Orientals is a huge risk, like sending a lamb into a tiger's mouth, and the slightest carelessness will be backlashed.
But the benefits are just as amazing.
If it succeeds, the cost will be minimized, and you can even harvest a dragon.
His scarred eyes narrowed slightly: "How do you explain to the allies?" What they are looking forward to is the prince's engagement... If the prince... They might notice something.."
Illyrio smiled slyly, shrugged, and his silk robe tightened:
"The marriage contract can be fulfilled first, they can go to the front of the stage, and we only hide behind the scenes.
In short, we need to stir up the situation a little more, this storm is destined to last a long time, we need to muddy the water in Westeros a little more, and we just need to wait quietly for the harvest in the eye of the storm. "
Varys took a deep breath of the cold, humid air underground.
The development of the situation far exceeded expectations, and the oriental man was born out of thin air, like a boulder smashed into their carefully arranged chess game.
The originally step-by-step and secretive plan was forced to require radical adjustments.
He raised his head, and the self-light under the scar and Illyrio's shrewd eyes met in the air,
No need to say more, years of tacit understanding let them understand each other's decisions,
A cold, calculating smile emerged on two very different faces at the same time.
Under the swaying firelight, it looks particularly weird.