Riverlands, The Twins.
Walder Frey and Roose Bolton had already arranged every step of the Red Wedding and were quietly awaiting the arrival of the King in the North, Robb Stark.
Lord Tywin had promised Riverrun to Walder Frey as a reward. Originally, he could have obtained the title of Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, but unfortunately, that title had been given to Littlefinger Petyr Baelish by Joffrey in advance.
However, compared to the empty title of Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, a real, tangible Riverrun made Walder Frey very satisfied.
Riverrun was the political and economic center of the Riverlands; as long as it was controlled, the position of House Frey could be secured.
Roose Bolton had been promised the title of Warden of the North and the political center of the North, Winterfell, by Tywin Lannister. Furthermore, to ensure the stability of Roose Bolton's rule, Lord Tywin also planned to send Arya Stark to Roose Bolton.
(Of course, this Arya Stark was a fake, impersonated by Jeyne Poole, the daughter of the Winterfell steward Vayon Poole.)
Walder Frey and Roose Bolton were each harboring their own ulterior motives, both planning for what would happen after the Red Wedding concluded successfully.
Compared to House Frey's betrayal driven by interests and broken marriage vows, Roose Bolton's betrayal appeared far more complex, even involving thousands of years of family hatred.
The Bolton family was one of the oldest, most powerful, and most notorious noble houses in the North. When they were still a royal line, their title was the "Red King."
Since the Long Night, the Red Kings had been the greatest enemies and rivals of the King in the North.
For thousands of years, they had fiercely resisted the King in the North, even defeating House Stark several times, flaying some of the Stark lords, and hanging their skins in their stronghold—The Dreadfort.
Thousands of years ago, The Dreadfort, together with the Greystark family of the Wolf's Den (a branch of House Stark), attacked House Stark, but it ended in failure.
Centuries ago, the Boltons fought the Starks again. King Harlon Stark's army besieged The Dreadfort for two full years before forcing the starving Bolton family to surrender again and lower their banners.
House Bolton thus became one of the last Northern noble houses to submit to House Stark of Winterfell.
The last Red King of the Boltons, Rogar Bolton, known as "The Huntsman" Rogar, submitted to House Stark during the early period of the andals' invasion of Westeros and swore to abandon their tradition of flaying the skins of their enemies.
In the same period, Karlon Stark built Karhold on the land of a rebellious vassal to monitor House Bolton. Consequently, later generations also referred to the Stark family of Karhold as House Karstark.
Outside The Twins.
On the way there, to prevent any accidents, Robb Stark, disregarding the objections of Catelyn Tully, specially drew up a last will and testament.
In the will, he legitimized Jon Snow's status as a bastard and stated that if he were to die, Jon Snow would inherit Winterfell and the throne of the King in the North.
After writing it, Robb Stark dispatched Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover with men to go to the Neck to find Howland Reed.
And he had this old friend of his father, Eddard Stark, lead the team to the Wall to contact Jon Snow at Castle Black.
Robb Stark and Catelyn Tully led the Northern lords, riding their horses to the outside of The Twins, and immediately saw Lyman Frey and Lame Lothar coming to welcome them.
Kings Hand Ragu, who was beside Robb Stark, looked at the hypocritical appearance of these two men and sneered.
He said to Robb Stark: "Robb, let's begin."
After he finished speaking, although Robb Stark hesitated, he immediately ordered his guards, Dacey Mormont, Smalljon Umber, and others, to seize Lyman Frey and Lame Lothar.
"What are you doing!"
"Robb Stark, you have some nerve!"
"Not only are you breaking your marriage vow, but you also intend to betray your allies!"
After Lyman Frey and Lame Lothar were tied up, they cursed Robb Stark with a guilty conscience.
In fact, the Red Wedding was planned personally by Lame Lothar and executed primarily by Lyman Frey.
Because these two men were mainly responsible for killing the soldiers outside the city, even if they were detained, the internal members of House Frey would not notice it for a while.
They had intended to show the sincerity of House Frey; after all, even the first heir, Lyman Frey, and the steward of The Twins, Lame Lothar, had come such a long way to welcome them.
They didn't expect that before they could trick Robb Stark inside, both of them would be captured.
"Is everything arranged?" Ragu walked up to Lyman Frey and said.
"W... what... I don't know what you are talking about." Lyman Frey broke into a cold sweat, his chubby cheeks trembling as he turned his head away and stammered.
"You will know," Ragu laughed.
The Twins.
Robb Stark led his guards into The Twins, while the rest of the army was stationed in tents outside The Twins, effectively surrounding it.
Seeing Robb Stark enter, Walder Frey felt relieved.
After exchanging a glance with Roose Bolton, he immediately ordered people to start greeting these guests who were about to be killed.
"How is it that our dignified King in the North would personally come to see an old man like me?" Walder Frey said sarcastically.
"Lord Frey, I am very sorry about the broken marriage vow. I have come this time to apologize to you in person," Robb Stark said.
"Apologize in person? Why don't I see your mother, Catelyn Tully? And why hasn't our groom, Edmure Tully, come?"
Walder Frey was confused, because the original plan was to kill Robb Stark and Catelyn Tully, and take the Lord of Riverrun, Edmure Tully, as a hostage.
As a result, after he had arranged everything on his side, Catelyn Tully and Edmure Tully had not come at all.
"Lord Walder Frey, you know that my grandfather, Lord Hoster Tully, has just passed away. My mother and uncle are filled with grief and have been in tears; they did not want to pass their pain on to us."
Robb Stark continued: "However, I should be qualified to represent my mother and uncle, right? If not, I will go back and find them now, and then we will come over together."
Robb Stark spoke firmly, not giving that old man Walder Frey any room for negotiation. Either you hold the banquet, or I leave immediately.
Sure enough, after hearing this from Robb Stark, Walder Frey immediately laughed hypocritically.
"The King in the North coming in person is naturally qualified enough," Walder Frey laughed.
After all, being able to kill the King in the North, Robb Stark, was already considered completing the task assigned by Tywin Lannister; even if Catelyn Tully and Edmure Tully were alive, they couldn't cause much trouble.
Robb Stark cursed inwardly: This old man is at such an age, yet he is quite a good actor. Just looking at Walder Frey's attitude and performance on the surface, one couldn't see a single flaw.
As he spoke, Walder Frey ordered his daughter, Roslin Frey, to appear.
It must be said that although the standard appearance of House Frey was like a weasel, this Roslin Frey was truly beautiful.
Roslin Frey was Walder Frey's fifth daughter and was only sixteen years old this year. She had fair skin, exquisite features, and a pair of large brown eyes.
Her long chestnut hair was styled in loose curls cascading down to her waist, and there was a small gap between her front teeth. She was very cute when she smiled and was also very shy.
Edmure Tully is truly fortunate!
Robb Stark praised inwardly, thinking: If I were Robb Stark, I would definitely regret marrying the eldest daughter of House Westerling.
That's right, the Robb Stark who entered The Twins was not the real Robb Stark, but Kings Hand Ragu disguised using fire magic.
For the sake of authenticity, Robb Stark's guards, Dacey Mormont, Smalljon Umber, Greatjon Umber, Wendel Manderly, Robin Flint, and Raymund Westerling, voluntarily asked to risk following Ragu into The Twins.
The real Robb Stark had actually secretly led troops to take down the soldiers on the periphery of House Frey and had surrounded The Twins entirely.
And to prevent Walder Frey from noticing, Robb Stark also ordered the "Blackfish" Brynden Tully to shoot down the hidden sentries near The Twins.
At the same time, in order not to violate the guest right, Robb Stark also specifically ordered his men not to take their lives.
However, Robb Stark had not eaten Walder Frey's salt and bread, so he did not count as a guest.
Returning to the situation inside The Twins, after seeing Roslin Frey, Kings Hand Ragu immediately asked Walder Frey to provide him with salt and bread.
When Ragu ate the salt and bread provided by Walder Frey, the host-guest relationship between Ragu and Walder Frey was established.
Seeing this, the expressions of Dacey Mormont, Smalljon Umber, and the others slowly softened.
In their view, the guest right was a sacred covenant passed down for many years on the continent of Westeros, and no one would violate it.
But regarding this, Ragu scoffed; he thought that people restricted by rules were truly stupid.
In fact, in the original work, Robb Stark died very unjustly; he also never expected that anyone would break the guest right.
Because Robb Stark was a character in a book, he did not have a god's-eye view and could not know about the various unscrupulous behaviors in the history of the real world.
He could only seek lessons from the history of Westeros, but Westeros had thousands of years of history, and there had never been an incident of violating the guest right.
Therefore, Robb Stark, a young man of only fifteen or sixteen, would absolutely never imagine that he would be killed at a banquet after the guest right had been established.
"Lord Bolton, Olyvar Frey, Petyr Frey, and Alyn Frey—why haven't I seen these three people today?"
Ragu sat at the long banquet table, eating food while pretending to ask Roose Bolton beside him casually.
"Perhaps... they have something to do," Roose Bolton paused and replied perfunctorily.
The three people Ragu mentioned were three Freys close to House Stark, and their relationships with Robb Stark and Edmure Tully were quite good.
Olyvar Frey was a former squire of Robb Stark and was very loyal. Even after Robb Stark broke his marriage vow, he was still willing to follow Robb.
Petyr Frey was a good friend of Edmure Tully and had once been stationed at Riverrun with Edmure Tully. He also escorted Catelyn Tully to and from Renly Baratheon's camp; he was an honest and kind-hearted person.
Alyn Frey was a singer and also a good friend of Edmure Tully, which showed that Edmure Tully actually had a pretty good personality, as everyone was willing to be friends with him.
After Edmure Tully led troops to stop Tywin from crossing the river, this Alyn Frey suggested writing a song to praise the achievements of his good friend Edmure Tully, and the song was to be titled "The Mill That Crushed the Mountain."
However, after Robb Stark returned and scolded Edmure Tully, saying that he had ruined his plan, the song was left unsettled.
Actually, how would Roose Bolton know the personnel changes of House Frey? Ragu was just testing him.
It seemed that Walder Frey must have sent these three away in advance to prevent information from leaking.
"They, ah, they all have things to do, so they didn't come."
Black Walder Frey, fearing that Robb Stark would become suspicious, took his wine glass and took the initiative to explain.
(From other people's perspective, Ragu was still Robb Stark. So I only use Ragu in Ragu's own perspective; from others' perspective, I still use Robb Stark.)
"Oh, is that so? That is truly a pity."
Ragu looked at Black Walder Frey and said with a smile, yet when he turned his head, his gaze became dangerous.
Ragu thought to himself: Since you have sent the innocent away, it will be convenient for me to start the slaughter.
...
Although there was not much meat at the banquet in The Twins, various fine wines were served one after another, in ample supply.
This was to get Robb Stark and his men drunk, so as to make it easier for the members of House Frey to act.
To get Robb Stark's top general, Greatjon Umber, drunk, Walder Frey sent at least three heavy-drinking clansmen to take turns drinking with him one by one.
Watching his son Merrett Frey and grandson "Pimple" Petyr Frey lose the drinking contest, Walder Frey immediately signaled another person to step in quickly.
The singers and musicians on the high platform on the second floor were playing beautiful symphonic music; they played very loudly and noisily, which was to send a signal to the soldiers outside the city in time.
...
After drinking and toasting for a long time, everyone gradually began to feel tipsy.
The singers on the high platform on the second floor performed with increasing vigor, and the noisy music gradually reached a climax.
After Walder Frey nodded to Black Walder Frey, he secretly left the hall through the back door.
After receiving the order, Black Walder Frey immediately went to find Benfrey Frey, who was at the entrance of the hall, to discuss the plan in secret.
Watching Walder Frey turn and leave early, Ragu smiled calmly; he knew that a massacre was about to begin.
It was also at this time that Roose Bolton, who was beside Ragu, suddenly excused himself to Ragu, saying he needed to go to the washroom.
Ragu downed the red wine in his cup and wiped the food debris and residual wine from the corners of his mouth.
He tilted his head and stared directly at Roose Bolton, the Lord of The Dreadfort and Harrenhal, who kept glancing at him from the corner of his eye.
Ragu looked at him and said with a smile: "Lord Bolton, have you acted enough?"
"What?"
Roose Bolton had been ready to leave at this moment, but after hearing Ragu's words, he sat back in his original seat.
For the first time, his usually calm face showed an expression of surprise; he felt that Robb Stark seemed to know something.
Looking at Roose Bolton's shocked expression, Ragu continued:
"You pretended to accept my apology and promised to marry House Frey's Roslin Frey to my uncle Edmure Tully; this step was to lure me into the city."
"You locked my Direwolf Grey Wind outside the city and separated it from me; this was to weaken my strength."
"You gave me salt and bread, pretending to observe the sacred Guest Right; this was to make me let down my guard."
"You sent Olyvar Frey, Petyr Frey, and Alexander Frey away in advance to avoid them meeting me; this was to prevent me from getting the news."
"You placed all kinds of fine wine in front of us to drink with us; this was to numb our consciousness."
"You played the music so loudly that it must be audible outside the city, right? If I am not mistaken, the next song should be 'The Rains of Castamere', right?"
"This must be to use this song as a signal to start slaughtering our soldiers outside the city, right?"
"I have noticed that the large tents outside have all been smeared with oil by you; are you planning to ignite them by firing flaming arrows?"
In the midst of light conversation, Ragu laid out all of Roose Bolton and Walder Frey's arrangements, describing the personnel, timing, and plan without a single error.
Under Roose Bolton's incredibly shocked gaze, Ragu suddenly reached out his right hand and tore the lapel on Roose Bolton's left arm, revealing the armor underneath.
With another tug, Roose Bolton's hidden attire was revealed.
Roose Bolton was wearing a set of black armor today, with a pink blood-drop cloak draped behind him.
Whenever he was about to fight, he would dress like this.
Seeing this, Ragu's laughter grew louder, and he said:
"So I ask: Have you acted enough?"
"How could you!"
Roose Bolton was greatly alarmed and was just about to rise to reach for his sword when he suddenly felt a burst of high-heat energy coming from the hand that Robb Stark was holding.
This heat rose to maximum temperature within the few seconds before Roose Bolton could break free, instantly igniting Roose Bolton from his left arm to his entire body.
This ambitious descendant of the Red Kings, who played both sides, did not even have time to scream before his entire body turned into ashes within a ball of red-yellow flames.
"Crossbowmen!" Black Walder Frey, who was at the entrance, was terrified and shouted towards the second floor.
The crossbowmen ambushed on the high platform on the second floor were also shocked to see this scene; they knew that the plan had changed.
At the signal of Black Walder Frey on the first floor, they hurriedly picked up the crossbows hidden at their feet, preparing to fire immediately.
However, Ragu had already sensed their intentions, and with a wave of his hand, a fire dragon flew out from his palm.
The fire dragon was huge and scorching; as soon as it appeared, it engulfed the entire platform, burning the people and railings on the second floor to death on the spot.
After the railings on the high platform were burned down, the pillars supporting the first floor also collapsed.
It fell right behind Ragu, blowing up the cloak with the Direwolf crest behind him, while simultaneously crushing several members of House Frey to death.
Ragu stood tall and proud amidst the flames, his eyes looking down with disdain.
Sweeping across the battlefield, his spirit dominated the mountains and rivers.
He firmly held the upper hand, and the raging flames gathered around him, accompanied by the biting gale, sweeping up into a towering fire tornado, and with a wave of his hand, he blew the roof away.
For a moment, the whole scene was shocked, looking at Robb Stark as if looking at a god.
...
Matters having reached this point, the members of House Frey on the first floor could no longer care about any plans, and they hurriedly drew their weapons and charged towards the Northern personnel.
Meanwhile, the Northerners Dacey Mormont, Smalljon Umber, Greatjon Umber, Wendel Manderly, Robin Flint, and Raymund Westerling also immediately picked up their weapons and slashed at the House Frey members charging towards them.
Benfrey Frey intended to subdue the only female general on the field, Dacey Mormont, but as soon as he grabbed her arm, he was smashed on the head by a flagon of wine thrown by Dacey Mormont.
Subsequently, Benfrey Frey fell to the ground in pain and was then slashed across the throat by Dacey Mormont, lying motionless on the ground.
Greatjon Umber performed valiantly, using his greatsword with superb skill, killing four or five members of House Frey before reaching a stalemate with Black Walder Frey, who was guarding the door.
When Smalljon Umber saw several knights from House Haigh, who were loyal to House Frey, charging over, he threw a long table in a moment of quick thinking, blocking the crossbow bolts they fired.
Subsequently, in coordination with Raymund Westerling and Robin Flint, they killed them all, and the three of them, under the cover of Wendel Manderly, rushed into the back rooms of House Frey together to search for Walder Frey, who had left early.
Although the battle in the hall had entered a white-hot stage, Walder Frey's mentally challenged grandson, "Jinglebell" Aegon Frey, was still running wildly through the hall, shaking the antler crown covered in small brass bells that he wore on his head.
The sparks from clashing swords and the crisp sounds were incessant; the cold wind blowing from the entrance knocked over the candlesticks on the long table, igniting the curtains beneath everyone's feet.
"Wine... meat... swords... fighting!" Aegon Frey shouted in a daze, drooling as he spoke.
The sound of the wind, burning flames, clashing swords, and the demented shouting mixed together, full of contrast and black humor.
Black Walder Frey was fighting Greatjon Umber with his sword while constantly glancing at the entrance.
Because according to the plan, by this time, Lyman Frey should have finished off the Northern soldiers outside the city and turned to lead the guards into the hall.
But so much time had passed, and there was still no movement outside the gate.
Black Walder Frey's heart immediately leapt; if the plan changed too much, House Frey would be doomed.
...
Outside the venue of The Twins.
In fact, besides House Frey's arrangements, Roose Bolton had also ambushed men from House Bolton of The Dreadfort outside the banquet venue.
As long as he went out to give the order, this group of people would rush in from the side door to slaughter.
But Roose Bolton had turned to ashes without even being able to call for help, so now this group of people was still in a state of having no leader.
Just then, the leader of the House Bolton group noticed the side door open and was about to ask who the person was, but was instantly decapitated by a longsword coming from the darkness.
It turned out to be Marq Piper and Patrek Mallister who, following the plan given by Robb Stark, led a group of Northern and Riverlands soldiers out from the side door.
Both sides were blinded by bloodlust, neither willing to yield to the other.
For a time, blood splattered everywhere, and swords were in chaos.
However, because Roose Bolton was afraid of alerting the enemy, he had not arranged for too many men from The Dreadfort to enter, which forced them to fight alone and they were quickly suppressed by Robb Stark's men.
Thus, except for the hall of The Twins, there were no other threats.
After completely wiping out the men from The Dreadfort, Marq Piper and Patrek Mallister immediately returned with their troops, preparing to support their colleagues inside the hall.
...
The palace burns, reflecting the red sun, lake light and tree shadows are all hazy.
Crowds gather and exclaim in surprise, flames soar, reflecting on the firmament.
Where is the prosperity of the past? Only broken walls and ruins remain.
Prosperity and decline, honor and disgrace all have their destiny; the long river of history never ceases.
Ragu looked at this castle in the raging fire, sighing in his heart.
The fury of the flames burning the sky is like a blazing sun, unstoppable.
The Twins, built hundreds of years ago, had not yet had the chance to sing of prosperity or see all the glitz and glamour before being reduced to nothing in a boundless inferno.
When Smalljon Umber and the others dragged Walder Frey out of his bed, the battle was officially declared over.
The remaining surviving members of House Frey threw down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to the Northern soldiers.
The young wolf, Robb Stark, rode over on his horse, leading his Direwolf Grey Wind from not far away.
He raised his longsword and passed through the crowd of House Frey members, formally accepting their surrender.
Seeing another Robb Stark appear, the members of House Frey widened their eyes, constantly looking back and forth between the two Robbs on the scene, their hearts filled with shock.
It was also at this moment that Ragu laughed loudly and shed the face of Robb Stark, restoring his original appearance.
...
Inside The Twins.
Robb Stark and Ragu and others sat in a conference hall in The Twins, with Dacey Mormont, Greatjon Umber, and others seated on the left and right.
"Now, we have achieved victory. What should we do next?" Robb Stark asked.
"Next, we will pretend that we were killed by House Frey at The Twins, to see which people playing tricks behind the scenes will jump out to make trouble," Ragu said with confidence.
Because Ragu had only burned the central castle of The Twins, but left the outer walls and accommodation sections intact.
So if one does not enter the city and only looks from the outside, one cannot see that anything is wrong.
This was also something he had planned long ago, to let those with ulterior motives jump out themselves.
"Since that is the case, then I will listen to you," Robb Stark thought for a moment and said.