Roose Bolton, on horseback, turned slightly, as if seeing the young man beside him for the first time.
If he hadn't been on horseback, he would have wanted to stay further away from Jon.
Lord Leech cautiously looked at Tywin and his son, then at Jon, whose expression was as usual.
He thought, this kind of demand, he really dared to make it.
If that were the case, what would the Lannisters even be busy with?
It would set them back to before they helped Robert usurp the throne.
As for Tyrion, he widened his eyes even more, looking at Jon as if he were a monster.
This young man, who had changed him like this?
This was definitely not the Jon he knew!
Tyrion scrutinized the young man before him, as if seeing him for the first time.
After hearing Jon's conditions, Tywin said nothing and turned his horse back.
In his opinion, there was no longer any need for negotiation.
But Jon suddenly spoke:
"It seems Lord Tywin doesn't even care about his eldest son's life."
Tywin, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped, turned his horse, and stared coldly at Jon, like a beast eyeing its prey.
The warhorse beneath him, as if sensing its master's anger, snorted and pawed the ground.
"What do you mean?"
"I think you should receive news of Ser Jaime very soon... You don't really think Winterfell only has this small amount of cavalry, do you?" Jon said, half-revealing and half-hiding, preparing to let the father and son guess for themselves.
"What happened to Jaime?" Tyrion asked, somewhat anxiously.
Jon glanced at Tyrion, knowing their brotherly bond was strong, but he didn't respond.
Roose Bolton, standing by, was even more surprised, as he hadn't received any news from Robb's side!
It seemed Jon and Robb had a'secret communication' channel.
Robb had been wary of him from the start!
Roose Bolton felt dissatisfied, but he didn't show it, only gripping the reins with a little more force.
All he wanted was to command the army and gain more merits, was it really necessary for the Stark brothers to be so wary of him?!
Jon looked into Tywin's eyes and continued:
"I ask Lord Tywin to write to King's Landing, and make sure to guarantee my father's safety, otherwise, your son, and these tens of thousands of troops, I will make sure they have a life to come to the Riverlands, but no life to return to the Westerlands!"
This time, it was Jon's turn to turn and leave.
Tywin stared intently at Jon's back, as if wanting to shoot arrows from his eyes to pierce this annoying fellow.
The conditions mentioned earlier were just nonsense; this last sentence was what Jon truly wanted to say.
If Eddard was saved, the 'Kings Rising' event would not happen later.
The War of the Five Kings would not even be a topic of discussion.
Wouldn't it be better if fewer people died, and everyone saved their strength to fight the Others?
After the conversation ended, both sides departed.
Sure enough, as soon as he returned to the camp, Tywin received news from Golden Tooth—Jaime was defeated and captured!
"Tyrion! Immediately write to King's Landing, tell Cersei to keep a close watch on Eddard! No one is allowed near him!"
"Alright!"
Tyrion replied, but he felt a slight unease in his heart.
If he were the one captured, would his father do the same?
In Tyrion's opinion, Tywin's deployment of troops to the Riverlands was merely an excuse.
He realized that the relationship between Cersei and Jaime might have been exposed.
So he decided to strike first.
But just then, another letter flew into the Westerlands army camp.
And the content of the letter made Tywin feel a dizzying sensation:
Eddard Stark, Duke of Winterfell, Warden of the North, and Hand of the King, had been ordered executed by Joffrey Baratheon I for treason!
"That fool!!!"
Seeing Tywin's expression was off, Tyrion stretched his neck and stood on his toes to read the contents of the letter.
And after seeing the letter, he let out an inhuman roar.
With Eddard dead, Jaime was in danger!
He now wished he could fly to King's Landing and strangle Joffrey with his own hands.
After a moment to compose himself, Tywin issued a string of orders:
"Have Kevan strengthen the camp, have Marbrand increase patrols, and inform the sellswords guarding Harrenhal to reinforce their defenses." Then he looked at Tyrion:
"You return to King's Landing immediately; you must hold it no matter what!"
Tyrion nodded his large head emphatically and quickly departed towards King's Landing, escorted by Bronn.
When everyone had left the tent, Tywin finally sat down.
His face was ashen, and he was drenched in sweat... In the Northern Army camp, at Jon's encampment, Old York was distributing armor and weapons to the old veterans of the mountain clans.
In fact, Old York was several years older than these old soldiers.
But being a noble, his living conditions were incomparable to these mountain folk.
So he actually looked much younger than them.
After Old York's demands and inspections, these old soldiers' mental state and morale had greatly improved.
At least they didn't look so much like rabble anymore.
And Old York was currently lecturing them eloquently.
After some understanding, the two old men who had stopped Jon to ask for shelter were named Erwin and Forgas.
They were 'old companions' who had grown up together.
Erwin and Forgas were very happy, certain that they were now Jon's soldiers.
They also saw from the matter of digging the river embankment that Old York was one of Jon's few 'capable generals,' and so they intentionally tried to curry favor.
"Back when Lord Jon was in Winterfell, he defeated a fully armored heavy swordsman with just a wooden stick.
You arrived a bit late; the reason the army's discipline is so good is all thanks to Lord Jon's efforts!"
At this moment, Erwin suddenly asked: "My Lord, for a general as formidable as Lord Jon, why does he only have you and Ser Tormien under his command?"
"Yes, why?"
"Because..." Old York stammered for a moment, but then his face quickly darkened and he said, "It's training time now, and I won't lower my standards just because you're old. Anyone who drags their feet on the battlefield will be treated as a deserter! Go and train for me!"
Hearing Old York's reprimand, the old soldiers all ran off to drill.
Thinking of the situation that day, Old York's old face flushed.
Then, remembering Jon's raven, he quickly perked up, realizing that if he had slept too soundly that day, ten heads wouldn't be enough to chop off.
Old York glanced in the direction of the Westerlands army camp, wondering how Jon's talk with Duke Tywin had gone.
Soon, Jon returned to the camp, and Old York quickly ran to his side to inquire.
And on the way, Jon, for once, began to explain to Roose Bolton.
He told Roose Bolton that the matter about Jaime was actually something he had made up.
Although Jon was unwilling to trust Lord Leech, his actual defection occurred after Stannis's defeat in King's Landing and the formation of the 'Lion-Flower Alliance' between the Lannisters and the Tyrells of Highgarden.
After all, the Tyrell family, when they raised an army, it was always seventy or eighty thousand strong.
Such strength was terrifying.
The alliance between the Lannisters and them directly sealed the victory.
Jon didn't want Roose Bolton to turn because of suspicion, rather than the changing times.
At least for now, they were all in the same boat.
Jon just hoped Eddard would survive, otherwise, there would be many more battles to fight.