"Long live the King in the North!"
"Long live the King in the North!"
"Long live the King in the North!"
A wave of cheers erupted behind Jon, but he no longer cared.
It seemed Jon had failed to stop Robb from declaring himself king, but he had never intended to stop him from the start.
He was merely using the pretense of stopping him from becoming king to test whether his cousin would listen to advice.
It appeared this group in the North was rather short-sighted.
There was no longer any need for him to stay.
He planned to cooperate with Stannis in the future, to gain a title and a fiefdom on the Blackwater Rush battlefield.
Jon had already made his stance clear before everyone.
It wouldn't be long before the events here would be known to all.
He would, in essence, have 'cleansed his background'.
This way, Stannis should trust him more, perhaps even seeing him as someone who could be swayed or even used to divide Winterfell.
However, Jon was not interested in Winterfell.
Originally, with Stark as the biggest loser of the War of the Five Kings, the North had fallen to the mercy of others.
If he could win the Blackwater Rush battle, Lannister would suffer the same fate.
He could completely aim for the Westerlands.
Even if it wasn't Casterly Rock, acquiring a large fiefdom in the Westerlands was entirely possible.
If Jon were not a transmigrator, then for the North, the best strategy would have been to ally with Renly.
This would more quickly achieve the strategic goal of avenging themselves on Lannister.
Moreover, Renly's abilities were low, and Winterfell only needed to unite the Riverlands, deter the Westerlands, and immediately become the overlord of the North.
In the future, they could find a way to marry Renly's descendants, and then they could scheme for the iron throne.
As for the middle strategy, it was as Steven had said, to sit back and watch the tigers fight.
He would wait for them to decide a winner before making his own choice.
The worst strategy was to declare himself king.
While declaring himself king could unite the hearts of the North and the Riverlands, it also plunged him into a state of isolation and helplessness.
Build high walls, store abundant provisions, and slowly declare yourself king—this was a strategy proven by history.
But now, Jon was a transmigrator.
As a transmigrator, he knew that Renly's seemingly vast momentum and army would soon collapse.
Stannis held the'Shadow Assassin' as a great weapon.
Who wouldn't be afraid of a method that defied physical rules to take someone's head?
But even so, choosing to declare himself king was still the worst of the worst options.
Obeying Renly as king would leave room for negotiation with Stannis in the future.
Declaring himself king would immediately lead to being schemed against.
If Robb could control his greed for the crown, then Jon would be willing to help him; at least, getting rid of Tywin and controlling the Westerlands would not be a problem.
Conversely, if he insisted on declaring himself king, it would mean many more battles to fight in the future.
So Jon planned to run away.
However, before running away, he intended to cash in his 'favors' in the North at a high price.
Because Robb had divided the army into two parts: one primarily cavalry and one primarily infantry.
Among the people Jon rescued on the Green Fork, many were related to the lords currently in Riverrun, or even, like Harrion, were Rickard's sons.
He decided to exchange favors for a batch of weapons and armor, and then recruit an army in the Mountains of the Moon.
To accumulate strength for the upcoming Blackwater Rush battle.
By the way, there was still a considerable amount of time until the Blackwater Rush battle.
Enough time for him to train them.
As Jon was thinking, he suddenly felt something.
"Remaining upgrades: 1"
Jon's lips curved slightly, and his mood improved a little.
Suddenly, he glimpsed Ramsay, the Little Bastard, standing guard at the door, looking at Jon with a sinister gaze.
His eyes held a hint of mockery and schadenfreude.
In his opinion, Jon's opposition to Robb's kingship was equivalent to political suicide.
It would be difficult for him to advance in the North in the future.
"What are you looking at? Your life is still mine!" Jon whispered, making Ramsay shiver.
'How arrogant, in the future I will be the Earl of Dreadfort, and you will always just be a bastard, unless you can also kill your own brother.'
Ramsay thought darkly. Just then, a young noble similar in age to Jon walked to the door and respectfully addressed Jon:
"Lord Jon, His Majesty Robb requests your presence to discuss the upcoming battle plan."
'He, why does Robb still trust him!'
Ramsay, standing nearby, felt his understanding somewhat overturned.
But Jon paid no attention.
After re-entering the wooden hall, most people were unwilling to look at Jon, as if deliberately ignoring him.
Only Catelyn, Robb, and Brynden… Catelyn's expression was a bit dull; she must have realized that the North's situation would be very difficult going forward.
Robb's body was tense; his brother, who had always advised him, opposing him made his heart heavy.
Brynden was somewhat expressionless; clearly, Robb had tasked him with presiding over the upcoming meeting.
Besides them, there was also a small boy.
Jon saw the 'plowing farmer' sigil on the little boy's chest and remembered he was from House Darry.
House Darry could be said to be an anomaly among the Riverlands lords.
To this day, their family still preserved portraits of successive Targaryen kings.
Their loyalty to the Dragon King was beyond words.
Unfortunately, the last surviving bloodline of House Darry was later killed by the Mountain.
This little boy should be the only legitimate male heir of House Darry at present — Lymond Darry.
At this moment, Lymond Darry was looking at Jon with an adoring gaze.
However, Jon probably knew why he looked at him that way.
He was only eight or nine, an age for singing 'The Brave Ones'.
Perhaps Jon's clear stance just now resonated with him.
Jon finally sat in the southwest corner.
A not-so-conspicuous position.
And the nobles around him seemed to avoid him, deliberately moving their chairs further away.
This, instead, made Jon's position stand out.
At this moment, Brynden slowly stood up and spoke in Jon's direction:
"Jon, we have achieved two great victories in the Riverlands, and now we are preparing to reclaim lost territories. Do you have any good suggestions?"
'Suggestions? I just want to leave now.'
As soon as he heard that this was their first strategic objective after crowning the king, Jon felt a headache coming on.
He was glad he hadn't followed the North down a dark path.
In his opinion, Tywin's army was right there, and the garrison of Golden Tooth in the Westerlands was eyeing them menacingly.
To divide the army to reclaim lost territories at this time was simply insane.
The saying goes, 'Lose land to save people, lose both people and land'.
Unfortunately, this was a principle that these short-sighted nobles would never understand.
Compared to stopping the nobles from crowning Robb, Jon no longer had any 'passion' for this matter.
He just wanted to quickly gather some weapons and equipment, then go to the Mountains of the Moon to recruit people and accumulate his own true strength.
But he knew that if he continued to refuse, all he would get was opposition and reprimand.
"I plan to hold Tywin's main force on the eastern front with Lord Bolton, to create conditions for reclaiming lost territories."
Seeing Jon say this, some of those who had deliberately turned their backs on Jon occasionally turned their heads.
'This kid is sensible.'
'If he still objects, just kick him out.'
And Robb, hearing Jon say this, also softened his expression a little.
He didn't know why, but even though he was now the King in the North, without Jon's support, he always felt uncomfortable wearing the crown.