The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 753: Tyrion, Let's Make a Deal

Dragonstone waters, on the flagship of Daenerys' navy.

"You're the Imp." The burly envoy with a full beard was rude. He wore light chainmail, with a dagger and short sword at his waist, looking down at the Imp with a strange gaze.

It was a mocking, extremely contemptuous look.

"I am the Imp." The Imp raised his wine glass. "Missandei, may I trouble you to pour this warrior a drink?"

Missandei glanced at the burly man and went to pour a glass of wine.

The burly man didn't take the wine, clearly more interested in Missandei's beauty. The burly envoy's eyes roamed over Missandei's face and body several times before returning to the Imp's face: "Imp, our Lord Wagner can't write, so he didn't reply to your letter, only a message."

"I'm listening, warrior," the Imp said with a smile.

The Imp, Tyrion Lannister, was looked down upon by the envoy, but he didn't care. He had seen too much of this kind of contempt since he was a child. He had experienced things ten or a hundred times more humiliating than this, and he didn't care at all.

"Our lord told me to tell you that your little life was saved by the Mountain, for one purpose: to hope that you can mediate a truce with Daenerys when the war comes. If you forget this, our lord told me to remind you to watch out for your other eye."

*

The Imp's left eye was dug out by the Mountain on the Claw Peninsula. At the time, most of the people who witnessed this were warriors from the Claw Peninsula. The Imp's eyes were one black and one green, and at that time, it was easy for the Mountain to deceive Cersei and find a head, but it was difficult to find an identical odd eye like the Imp's.

To save the Imp's life, the Mountain found a head and dug out the Imp's green eye and put it in the eye socket. When Cersei saw the eye, she knew it was the Imp without a doubt.

The facts proved that the Mountain's plan was successful.

He saved the Imp and gained Cersei's trust!

The envoy mentioned the Imp's eye incident, which made the Imp's face freeze! He never expected Wagner to have such a sharp-tongued person by his side. In the eyes of people outside the world, the Claw Peninsula people have always been a crude and backward race, and their civilization is very low except for fighting. The Imp, like all nobles, had a contempt for the Claw Peninsula people in his bones. He himself may not even understand the contempt brought about by the innate superiority of this great noble.

The Imp's little life was indeed saved by the Mountain, but he had always suspected that the Mountain was behind the poisoning incident at Joffrey's wedding, for which he was framed.

Many people died at Joffrey's Red Wedding, including fake Sansa, the Queen of Thorns of the Tyrell family, Lady Redwyne, the High Septon, and many nobles and ladies of the Crownlands. The Imp and Oberyn Martell were proven to be related to the poisoning case at this wedding.

The Mountain came to King's Landing to preside over justice. He killed Oberyn Martell in a trial by combat, and then released the Imp through the underground secret passage of the Red Keep. Cersei ordered a chase, and the Mountain designed to bring back a fake head with a disfigured face to hand over, but the eye he showed Cersei was indeed the Imp's.

*

"Warrior, what's your name?" Varys said with a smile. Varys sprinkled perfume on his clothes, applied powder to his face, and spoke softly, the whole place was full of a real feminine flavor on the deck of the flagship.

"Baldy, you're Varys." The envoy laughed, "Your little life was also spared by Lord Mountain. If Lord Mountain hadn't let you go, you wouldn't have been able to leave Blackwater Bay. Oh, yes, and your Pentoshi magister friend Illyrio. Although he paid a million gold dragons back then, your lives were only in Lord Mountain's hands. Varys, Lord Mountain told you that day he let you go that he hoped you could tell the Dragon Queen about his desire for peace when the war came, but it seems you didn't say it."

"Who is the Mountain? Warrior, do you know? Who is he?" Varys said with a smile.

"He is my king, Varys. He is the king of the Claw Peninsula recognized by the Blood God. Let me tell you, I am a Claw Peninsula person, a warrior of the Gal tribe. Our tribe used to be loyal to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, and now we are loyal to the king designated by our own god: the Mountain. Lord Mountain has long told us that the person he least wants to fight is Daenerys Targaryen. If Daenerys agrees to peace, our king is willing to give Dragonstone to Daenerys, but looking at you now, it is clear that you want to kill us all."

"When has the Claw Peninsula not been a dragon warrior's?" Barristan Selmy questioned coldly.

"The Claw Peninsula has always been a dragon warrior's, but we now have our own king. If the dragon people want us to fight for her or submit, any military affairs, trade, or alliances must first go through our king. This is the tradition of our Claw Peninsula, and also our sacred ancient way."

The Imp's eyes rolled, and he realized that he had overlooked a fatal problem, which was the faith of the Claw Peninsula people: Blood God faith and the unicorn tradition.

The Claw Peninsula people regard unicorns as sacred beasts. Whoever conquers the unicorn is the king of all the tribes on their peninsula. Once the peninsula people have their own king, to persuade the Claw Peninsula people to do anything, they need to go through their king, instead of finding a certain clan leader or a very prestigious general.

Although the Imp doesn't believe in any gods, he is completely consistent with Jaime in this respect, but he understands that other people's beliefs are worthy of respect and cannot be blasphemed.

The Mountain conquered the sacred beast that had not appeared on the Claw Peninsula for thousands of years: the unicorn Red Smoke. He has been regarded as the king of the Claw Peninsula by the peninsula people. To make the Claw Peninsula people betray their king and turn to Daenerys, that is absolutely impossible. The correct approach is to persuade their king to defect, rather than a certain general or clan leader under the king's banner.

The Imp's letter to Wagner Gal was terribly wrong.

He regarded the Mountain as his enemy!

To have any cooperation or any form of alliance with the Claw Peninsula people, it must go through their king. Moreover, you can't say a bad word about their king.

The Imp's letter should not have been written to Wagner Gal, he should have written it to the Mountain.

"Warrior, what's your name?" The Imp decided to change the subject. He felt his mouth was dry. He had made a serious mistake in the matter of subverting the peninsula people. His letter would only anger Wagner Gal, not persuade him to defect. He belittled the Mountain, saying that he was a murderer, cruel and bloodthirsty, and stained with the blood of the dragon people... He ignored one point, the Mountain is the king of the peninsula people, the son of God.

Anyone who is associated with God is very troublesome. There are always fools who will transfer their admiration for God to the so-called son of God.

The envoy stared at the Imp with a sneer. There were many military generals on the deck, each of whom had experienced hundreds of battles, but the envoy was not afraid at all: "Imp, my name is Yeggis Gal."

"Yeggis Gal, I have always had deep respect for your peninsula's king."

Yeggis laughed loudly, which made the Imp's face feel hot. He was originally an eloquent person, but he didn't expect to be so flustered by a message from a barbarian tribe.

But this passivity was indeed caused by his unfamiliarity with the beliefs of the Claw Peninsula people. The outside world basically doesn't know about the Blood God faith and the unicorn ancient way tradition. This is like the people of the Seven Kingdoms calling the people outside the Wall wildlings. Just the name wildling contains high-ranking contempt. Since it is contempt, who would intentionally understand the various things of inferior people? What's more, the Claw Peninsula people have always maintained a state of isolation from the outside world.

"Brother, are you preparing to go to war with us?" Theon Greyjoy mocked.

"Lord Mountain told us long ago that he doesn't want to go to war with you. The dragon people are the people he respects the most, but if you insist on fighting us, we will fight to the end." After the bearded envoy finished speaking, he looked around at the knights and generals on the deck. He whistled a melodious whistle at Missandei. Grey Worm drew his short sword, but Barristan was a man of honor, and he stopped Grey Worm.

The burly envoy laughed again: "Blood God, Red Smoke, King of the Claw Peninsula, always with me." He struck his left chest with his right fist three times, bang, bang, bang, turned around and got off the ship, and returned to his small boat.

The oarsmen on the small boat let out a whistle, the small boat turned around, drawing a line of water, and slowly left.

The envoy stood at the bow of the boat and shouted to the deck: "Imp, Varys, you both owe my king a life. On the battlefield, as long as you dare to appear, we will choose to kill you two first."

The smile on Varys' face became stiff.

The Imp shrugged his shoulders: "Damn it, in the Mountain's eyes, we have become even more evil villains." He drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

Everyone watched as the envoy left triumphantly.

Suddenly, the sound of horns came from the left side of the fleet. It was the horn of capturing enemy spies. So, the horn on the flagship also sounded, ordering the enemy spies to be brought over.

With a great battle imminent, the Imp wanted to understand every captured enemy scout as soon as possible.

After a while, the scout boat on the left wing passed through the dense warships and came to the side of the flagship. A rope ladder was thrown down, and a burly man tied up tightly was dragged up. The burly man's left sleeve was empty, his head was full of messy golden hair, his beard was messy, dirty, and stained with blood, there were several blood marks on his face, and blood stains all over his body. Some of the blood stains were brand new, and some of the blood stains had faded into faint spots, but it could still be seen that they were traces left after the blood had dried.

"Jaime!" The Imp threw the wine glass and stepped forward quickly.

Jaime fell on the deck like a dead fish, his face full of exhaustion and vicissitudes. He smiled: "Tyrion, you're doing well!"

"Untie him quickly!" The Imp ordered the guards.

The guards stepped forward, drew their short knives, cut the ropes, and untied him.

But Jaime didn't stand up. He slowly sat up, leaning against the ship's side, his legs straight, and smiled: "Lord Hand, can you give me a glass of wine first?"

The Imp sat down on the dirty deck, sitting with Jaime, without caring about the cleanliness of this expensive Hand's robe.

Missandei poured red wine for the two of them, and Barristan Selmy brought a barrel of wine. He squatted down and stretched out his hand to Jaime. The two men's hands clasped together.

"Your left arm?"

"It was cut off by a White Walker."

"How did you get here?"

"I don't know either." Jaime showed a tired smile. He naturally knew, but he wouldn't say.

Jaime and Barristan were both warriors left over from the older generation of Kingsguard. Both were iron-blooded warriors and understood each other's character very well.

"Drink." Barristan also poured wine, and the two men's wine glasses touched, and they both drank it all in one gulp.

"Good wine!" Jaime smacked his lips.

"This wine comes from the Eastern giant city of Qarth," the Imp said.

"Brother, you look much more energetic than me." Jaime looked more than ten years older. His messy beard and hair made him look very embarrassed.

"Are you here to find me?" The Imp asked.

"No, the ship I was on encountered your fleet. It couldn't be avoided and was captured. Warriors jumped on the ship to check, and there was a conflict in the words. I knocked down three, and then I was arrested as a spy."

Jaime drank several more glasses of wine.

"Jaime, is Cersei okay?"

"She should be fine. She transported the family's golden hero statue to Braavos. She hired the Faceless Men of Braavos to kill Aegon Targaryen, disintegrated the Golden Company, and incorporated that mercenary force. She is in the best possible state now."

"Hehe, many generals in the Golden Company have already contacted us and will launch a rebellion when we attack the city," Varys said with a smile. He stood far away and didn't come over.

"Oh. So, we are doomed this time?!" Jaime had a look of indifference on his face.

"Jaime, are you coming from King's Landing or returning from the North?" the Imp asked.

"Returning from the North!"

"Look at our warships. Behind the warships, there are hundreds of large merchant ships transporting more than 100,000 Dothraki cavalry. Jaime..." The Imp said seriously, "Jaime, go back and tell Cersei to give up the fight and surrender."

"I'll give it a try!" Jaime smiled. He seemed to be laughing at himself, or laughing at the Imp, or even laughing at the world, "Tyrion, if we surrender, where will we go?"

"Go back to the Westerlands."

"Going back to the Westerlands, do we need to kneel down to Daenerys and swear allegiance?" Jaime's words were full of irony.

"Jaime, don't make it difficult for me."

Jaime smiled: "Lord Hand, what do you think of our father?"

"What do you mean?"

"If someone killed Father, would you be happy or sad? Or calm."

The Imp's one eye turned, and the light flickered: "Father died at the hands of the Brotherhood Without Banners..."

Jaime interrupted the Imp's words: "The Mountain killed Father. Of course, I know you hate Father too, and you wanted to kill him too."

"The Mountain?!"

"Yes, the Mountain's Red Smoke beast and the purebred horses of the Claw Peninsula travel thousands of miles a day, traveling day and night, galloping from the border forest of the Westerlands to the Trident River Ferry, killing Father and all his attendants, and then throwing the bodies into the rising Trident River."

The Imp was speechless. After a long while, he said, "Jaime, how do you know?"

"The Brotherhood Without Banners resisted the Others at the Wall, and Lancel Lannister also became a member of the Night's Watch at the Wall. Lancel learned the truth from the drunken Brotherhood Without Banners, and he told me."

"Lancel hates you, Jaime."

"I know. That's why I went to the Mountain and asked him. He admitted it. He said it was war, and even if he had to do it again, he would still kill our father."

Tyrion stood up and drank three cups of wine in a row. It was hard to tell if it was a celebration or a lament!

"Tyrion, can I come to you for a deal?"

"What deal?"

"A Lannister always pays his debts. You help me kill the Mountain, and I'll help you persuade Cersei to give up the Red Keep. But you have to guarantee the safety of Cersei and the children."

"Jaime, Cersei is my sister, and the children are my nieces and nephews," Tyrion said solemnly.

Jaime smiled wearily, but his smile was bitter, as if it contained endless sorrow: "Tyrion, I can't guarantee that I can persuade Cersei to give up the Red Keep."

"Jaime, we have three dragons, two thousand warships, and over one hundred thousand Dothraki riders. The total strength of our navy and army is close to two hundred thousand. Even if we can't break through the Water Gate, we can choose to land at multiple points in the Stormlands, Duskendale, Maidenpool, the Claw, or the coastal fishing villages. The ten thousand soldiers of the Golden Company have all sworn allegiance to Daenerys, and they are now mixed in with the defending legions. Do you think you can still hold King's Landing? Even if the Mountain leads the legions of the North, the Westerlands, the Riverlands, the Vale, and Dorne to reinforce King's Landing, he won't make it in time. Go back and tell Cersei, no matter how much she hates me, she is my own sister, and we are all Lannisters."