King's Landing, deep in the gardens of the residence of Duke Metz Tyrell, a pavilion full of roses isolates the hustle and bustle of summer,
Lan Li leaned on the carved seat, with a smile on his handsome face, and drank the spiced wine in his hand.
"Lord Metz, you have seen it all, my royal brother has been impressed by the generosity of the High Court, the arrogance of the Lannisters is no longer what it used to be, and the increasingly arrogant face of our noble queen has finally added a little restraint... Maybe it's time for us to take the next step..."
He put down his glass and looked at the Duke of High Court opposite, Mace Tyrell.
The Duke of Metz is trapped in a wide seat upholstered in velvet.
The lord of the Seven Kingdoms of the Rich Armor is in his prime, but he has already shown the fatigue of not getting old.
The curly brown hair is mixed with silver threads, and the carefully trimmed triangular beard cannot hide the frost white.
Since the news of his second son Garland leading an army and eventually becoming a prisoner of the Orientals reached the High Court, the Duke of Metz immediately rushed to King's Landing in the fastest carriage like a needle felt.
He also stuffed his third son, Loras, who was still serving as a servant by Lan Li's side, into Duke Edd's mission and went to the Stone Steps Islands together.
The wealthy nobles of the river bend land all have courtyard houses in King's Landing, and the Tyrell family has several courtyards with good locations.
These courtyards have become his worried stronghold at this moment,
In the past few months, the news of the Seven Kingdoms' mission back to King's Landing has been more shocking than the other.
The Orientals not only captured the free city-state of Telossi, but also crowned themselves kings in the palace of the former king.
And the peace terms and the ransom of the nobles they put forward plunged the imperial meeting into a haze of anger.
King Robert was furious on the spot, clamoring to summon his vassals again and wipe out Telossi.
If it weren't for the steady Duke Jon Arryn who had not persuaded him to do so, and as prime minister, he had strictly ordered the mission to return to the "acceptable" category, the war might have been rekindled.
Things went more smoothly than expected.
Good news came frequently from the seven-nation missions, and many harsh conditions were canceled or relaxed.
But there are two conditions that the two sides have always been deadlocked.
They are the war reparations of one million golden dragons and the land cession demands of the Orientals.
The eunuch of the Oriental lackeys who participated in the negotiations said that only when the treaty was completely signed could those nobles of the Seven Kingdoms be redeemed.
Therefore, the envoys of the Seven Kingdoms spent more than two months arguing with the Orientals to reduce the war reparations to 300,000 golden dragons.
And put the Orientals' claim to the sovereignty of Ismoun and Tass on hold until the expiration of the treaty.
However, the cruel reality lies in front of us.
The 300,000 golden dragon was undoubtedly a huge sum of money for the iron throne with empty treasury and high debts at this time.
Who will pay for this?
Just when the imperial ministers were at a loss, and even the Duke of Jon was about to pull down his old face and ask the archbishop for forgiveness, the Duke of Highcourt, Mace Tyrell, brought good news to the king and the ministers.
The Duke of Metz publicly announced that he would pay this reparation for the kingdom and would not ask for anything in return, only to fulfill his vassal oath to King Robert.
This misty wealth relieved the urgent need of the Iron Throne.
King Robert deliberately praised the Duke of Metz's loyalty in front of the imperial ministers.
What made the Tyrell family even more proud was that when the king learned that the armies of the West, Dorne, and the Iron Isles had blatantly disobeyed the orders of the commander, Lord Paxter, for fighting for Valyrian steel, the enraged Robert not only wrote a letter to severely reprimand the three parties, but also scolded his father, Duke Tywin, in front of Queen Cersei.
For a while, the wind direction of King's Landing City changed suddenly. The Tyrell family was hot, the Duke of Metz became the most dazzling celebrity in the throne hall, and the once arrogant Lannisters fell into an embarrassing silence.
The Duke of Metz had a round belly, and his expensive silk clothes were soaked with sweat and clung to his skin.
He stretched out his well-maintained hand, carefully pinched a plump green grape in the fruit plate, and put it in his mouth.
The sweet pulp burst on the tip of his tongue, but it didn't seem to completely dispel the slight pain between his brows.
He nodded slowly, and the fat on his cheeks trembled slightly with the movement.
"It is indeed time to move on, I have ordered to go down and find the best painter in the old town to paint a portrait of Margaret."
Lan Li had a bright smile on his face, and lowered his voice and said, "That's great, it's best to paint it in a pendant to prevent others from prying eyes,
When everything is ready, Duke Ed should also return to King's Landing, and at that time, I will take this pendant to test him. "
Duke Metz looked at the well-groomed and clear-eyed Duke of Lanley in front of him, and muttered in his heart.
Long before this expedition, Duke Langley claimed that he had accidentally learned some anecdotes from the mouth of "Smiling" Baylor.
Belle Hightower's sister, Ellery, is Margery's mother.
According to Baylor, at an Old Town Ball, Miss Margaret came to attend, and her face reminded Baylor of the Lyanna he had seen at the Harrenborg Tournament more than ten years ago.
Therefore, the Duke of Langley secretly sent a message to the High Court through Loras Tyrell.
Lanley said that he would advise in front of his princely brother, abolishing Cersei Lannister's title of queen and letting Miss Margaret marry his prince.
When the Duke of Metz received the letter, he was almost taken aback.
Lady Olena took her precious grandson Velas to the High Court garden for a long time, and finally agreed to Langley's plan, believing that the Tyrell family and the entire River Bend should behave well during this expedition to please King Robert.
The Duke of Metz's mother, Lady Olena, secretly conspired with the Redwin family and the Hightower family.
They decided to send more troops, gathered more than 10,000 soldiers, and overpowered the rest of the families to go to the Shijie Islands.
At the time of the defeat of the Seven Kingdoms and the only way to redeem the nobles by paying huge reparations, Lan Li once again persuaded Mrs. Olenna to send char to the snow.
They sent the most troops, not to snatch Wagang, and their motives were simple, and they also helped the Iron Throne repay the reparations.
This series of layouts finally came to fruition, and Tyrell won the king's unprecedented favor and trust in King's Landing.
King Robert now mentioned the High Court and the Bend of the River, and his tone was full of appreciation, and he even hinted at his intention to bring the nobles of the Riverbend into the Imperial Council to fill the power vacuum left by his brother Duke Stannis' long absence.
This is exactly what the Tyrell family has done, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of the golden rose to desire the core of Lu Body's power.
They and Lan Li calculated that as long as Duke Ed returned, they would let Duke Ed look at the portrait, and then choose a good opportunity to promote the replacement.
Lan Li gently put down the silver wine glass, and he smiled: "Lord Metz, the High Court has strong financial resources, and repaying the reparations can certainly win reputation, but there are still a lot of noble masters who need to redeem it, and the golden dragon is not used, I have asked my acting city lord, Lord Cortanai, to send 100,000 golden dragons to the high court.."
Duke Metz was stunned, a trace of shock flashed in his eyes, and he stammered: "Lord Lan Li, you... :"
Lan Li was particularly concerned about the matter after the exchange.
He acts as a guest between the High Court and the Iron Throne, intending to bring down the Lannisters.
But.
What is Lan Li's intention?
He actively promoted the change of queen, even if the queen was replaced by the Tyrell family, what good would it do to him?
The heir to the Iron Throne is eight thousand miles away from him.
He gets nothing.
However, the Duke of Metz suddenly thought of his mother's instructions to him, Madame Orena, and he must be careful of Lan Li.
Lady Olenna had already smelled Lan Li's ambition for the Iron Throne, but she didn't know how he wanted to realize it.
But isn't the high court using Lan Li?
After Margaery became the queen of the Seven Kingdoms, the Tyrell family was on the front line of politics and closer to the supreme power of Westeros.
With the high court's strength, they were able to impose this influence even on the king's decisions.
The fetus in the womb of the new queen Margaret will be eligible to compete for the heir, as was the case during the time of Viserys I.
Lan Li waved his hand with a smile: "Let's not talk about this for now, when Duke Ed comes back, we will talk in detail about the things over there in the portrait:"
The Duke of Metz replied: "We will step up our preparations..."
He alerted the confident smile on Lan Li's face, and he couldn't figure out what kind of medicine was sold in Lan Li's gourd.
However, he also raised a key question.
"Lord Lan Li, Margaret is only twelve years old now, and she is still in menarche... :"
Lan Li smiled: "It's okay, this matter is not in a hurry, it is not too late to discuss it after the war between us and the Shijie Islands is over and the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms return." "
The Duke of Metz nodded.