"Wait!" Facing Aegon's proactive offer of advice, Lord Buckwell's reaction surprised the Night's Watchman—the old man actually raised his hand to stop him from continuing: "Aegon, your mind is indeed sharp, I've witnessed it, there's no doubt. Now, I ask you, can the idea you're about to propose guarantee the capture of the Bloody Gate?"
"No, it's not about taking the Bloody Gate, but taking the Vale of Arryn," Aegon said without reservation. "The inspiration comes from the ancient war history of the place I'm from—'China'. Given my limited understanding of military matters and complete ignorance of the specific situation in the Vale, I cannot give a guarantee."
"Since you can't guarantee it, I wouldn't dare convey your idea to Your Majesty," the old man shook his head, meeting Aegon's eyes. "Don't forget, we lords of the Crownlands are currently atoning for our sins by performing meritorious deeds. We seek no merit, only to avoid mistakes. If your idea works, Your Majesty will think it's only natural for me, his liege lord, to offer advice, and he might not thank me much. But if it doesn't work and wastes a little time, he might just blame me. I won't do something where the risk and reward are unequal."
(That makes sense.) Aegon rubbed the stubble on his chin and frowned. "That's true, then what should be done?"
"If you ask me, why not just go and offer your advice to Robert yourself? You are the Night's Watchman personally appointed by His Majesty to accompany the army. If the idea doesn't work, His Majesty can't blame someone he chose himself. Even if he does blame someone, he can't deal with you, a Night's Watch officer and guardian of the Wall, who isn't under his command."
While the old man's idea was good, Aegon had decided not to stick his neck out. Offer advice to the King on dealing with the Vale "rebels"? Leaving aside whether it was appropriate for a Night's Watchman to do such a thing, if the plan worked, it would be fine. But if it didn't work and Robert was eventually forced to compromise with Jon Royce and other nobles, and those families in the Vale held a grudge against him and caused trouble behind his back in the future, that would be truly troublesome.
...
That being said, he didn't flatly refuse. The decision to "not stick his neck out" was made several months ago in Winterfell. Over time, his situation and identity had undergone significant changes—not only had he proven through practice that the plot could be changed, but he no longer needed to be constantly on edge and act according to others' expressions. At this point, would a small display of prominence be more beneficial or detrimental?
"Go ahead, what are you afraid of? Robert isn't going to chop off your head because your idea doesn't work, is he?" Yoren urged from the side. "You're already famous anyway, get even more famous, and then even Jeor Mormont won't be able to do anything to you."
Aegon ignored the rough man beside him. As the Chief Logistics Officer and founder of the Night's Watch Industry... the issues he had to consider were far more than just whether he would be beheaded. Clearing his mind, he quietly pondered for half a minute, sorting out his thoughts.
Littlefinger and the Master of Whisperers, these two major bosses, one has already fallen, and as for Varys... in the matter of quelling the rebellion in the Vale, his interests actually don't conflict with his own. Even if we assume the Master of Whisperers is wholeheartedly for the Targaryens, he would still hope that Westeros can remain peaceful for the time being, until the dragon family is capable of counterattacking. And as for the remaining Seven Kingdoms... except for Dorne and the Iron Islands, who might not care and even hope for the other Six Kingdoms to continue "fighting like dogs," almost no one doesn't hope this farce ends quickly.
It could be said that his proposal neither infringed upon the interests of the behind-the-scenes bosses nor aroused the resentment of the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms. The only potential harm was to the few noble families of the League of the Righteous... but although these few Lord families were powerful, their influence was limited to the Vale. As long as he didn't deliver himself to their doorstep, they couldn't threaten him, who was now the Night's Watch Chief Quartermaster, with a name, status, and position!
If his proposed plan didn't work, he would just lose a little face and gain two not-so-terrible enemies. But if it succeeded, not only would he protect the property of potential clients, but if Robert was happy, he might even be able to ask him for something. In the words of the old Lord, the risk and reward of him doing this were not proportional, but for himself to do it, the benefits far outweighed the risks!
...
"Alright, since you, Lord, think it's possible, let's do it!"
Aegon had thought everything through and even made a bolder decision the moment he said "Alright": his venture required cooperation with many people of higher status and power than himself, and to cooperate with these nobles and powerful figures, constantly acting cowardly and low-key would only make him seem unreliable and easy to bully. Since he couldn't temporarily produce hard power, he might as well package his soft power.
Becoming famous was the first step, and then he had to let the world know that the Night's Watch Chief Quartermaster was a resourceful and well-informed person, that cooperating with him could make money, but opposing him carried risks!
Aegon was confident in the strategies that ancient military strategists from his world had successfully practiced. His plan had a more than fifty percent chance of working. So, since he was going to do something, he might as well go big: "When is the King's next war council?"
"Every day. What, have you decided to offer your advice publicly?"
"Yes, please inform His Majesty at tomorrow's war council that I have a brilliant plan. If he is willing to listen, I will present it publicly!"
The era of constantly acting cowardly was over. Now, it was time to take the stage.
...
Walking out of the tent of the Lord of Buckwell, Aegon saw Casey, who was already waiting by his tent with two horses.
"Lord, are you ready? Are we leaving now?"
"We're not leaving. Take the things down and lead the beasts back to the stable," Yoren said with a rough laugh. "Tomorrow, your Lord is going to stir things up!"
***
Buckwell couldn't and wouldn't set up another tent for Yoren, so the two Night's Watchmen naturally slept in the same "room." Yoren was truly too sloppy, so Aegon had to have Casey accompany him to get a haircut, shave, and bathe, and change his clothes, before he could barely tolerate his smell. A night passed, and Aegon got up early the next day, waiting by Lord Buckwell's tent. After the old Lord was also dressed, they had breakfast together and then went to Robert's King's tent.
Lord Buckwell entered the tent, and Aegon stayed outside, watching the lords of the Six Kingdoms file in one by one, and began his patient wait.
The sound of a man's voice echoed from inside the tent. Robert himself had a loud voice, and being the King, his voice completely drowned out everyone else's, even when he wasn't shouting. After about ten minutes, he heard a voice say, "Let him in!" Aegon knew it was his turn to enter.
A tall, imposing Kingsguard with white hair walked out of the tent. He glanced around and easily found Aegon in black. "You are Aegon Westerling? Come in!"
By age, this should be Ser Barristan Selmy, a super fierce man who could capture Jaqen H'ghar of the Faceless Men and defeat Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, in a joust. He had experienced the Prince of Dorne's astonishing martial skills yesterday, and just thinking back to that feeling of being "beaten so badly he didn't know where he was," and then considering that this old man in front of him could actually defeat him—Aegon couldn't help but look at him a few more times, nodded, and ducked under the tent flap the old Kingsguard held open, entering inside.
As the location for the war council, the layout inside the large tent was quite simple: in the center was an oversized square table, on which was placed a sand table representing the terrain around the Bloody Gate at the entrance to the Vale of Arryn. Military pieces representing both friendly and enemy armies were arranged on it, and the situation was very clear: the Seven Kingdoms army loyal to Robert outnumbered the rebels dozens of times and had already spread out and controlled various parts of the Vale, while the families of the League of the Righteous were holed up inside the Vale of Arryn, still surrounding the Eyrie where Lord Arryn was located.
The military pieces near the Bloody Gate were the most concentrated—there were more than a dozen representing the forces quelling the rebellion on the fields and slopes outside the pass, while there was only one representing the rebels on the pass itself. Anyone who saw this layout would only think of one phrase: One man guarding the pass, ten thousand cannot open it!
Surrounding the large table stood representatives from the armies of the Six Kingdoms excluding the Vale. Dozens of lords and generals stood in clearly defined groups according to their affiliation: Lord Buckwell stood beside Robert, with the other lords of the Crownlands next to him, and the Stormlands nobles led by Renly Baratheon right beside them. Robb Stark and a few others behind him represented the North. Those in uniform gold and red attire were clearly the King's in-laws. The Knight of Flowers and Randyll Tarly stood solemnly at the front of the Riverlands lords. Edmure Tully led the people of the Riverlands with a worried expression. The smallest group was naturally the Dornish side—the Red Viper at the head of them smiled at Aegon again with an ambiguous expression.
All the Vale lords had been sent out by Robert and were not participating, while Stannis and the reportedly charming "Little Princess" of the Iron Islands were not present. As naval commanders, they were elsewhere directing their respective fleets.
...
"Alright, so this is the famous Otherslayer?" Robert's loud voice boomed. "You have a way to enter the Vale of Arryn? Tell me!"
Aegon withdrew his sweeping gaze and looked at the host—the King was the only one sitting in the tent. At this moment, he was disheveled and flushed, with a wine cup on the table in front of him. He didn't know if he was still hungover or had drunk wine again after getting up for breakfast. This wasn't the first time he had seen the King, but it was the first time speaking to him face-to-face.
This drunkard and scumbag was the most crucial figure in maintaining the peace and stability of the Seven Kingdoms, how laughable. Even more laughable was that in the original story, that fool Cersei killed this core figure who maintained peace, causing chaos throughout the realm, yet she was smugly convinced she had won the game of thrones. If not for her father Tywin Lannister being skilled in war and having excellent political acumen, that old maid probably wouldn't even know how she ended up as someone else's plaything.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to ask one more question." Caution had become a habit, and before he began to offer his advice, there were some things he had to get a promise on: "Does my offering advice to you violate the Night's Watch rule of not participating in the internal conflicts of the Seven Kingdoms?"
—