The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 180 Coronation Ceremony
Today is a disgusting day for the people of King's Landing, because the army flying the lion flag has entered King's Landing again.

The people of King's Landing have not forgotten what the Lannisters did in the capital, so when the news came that the Lannister army was entering the city, each district and guild strengthened their defenses. If the Lannister army dared to plunder and kill, the people of King's Landing would teach them a lesson they would remember.

Therefore, many people in King's Landing were eager to try, but to their disappointment, the Lannisters did not do anything to King's Landing.

The Lannister lion roared silently on the flag. The well-equipped Lannister sergeants marched under the flag. Walking on the repaved streets of King's Landing, the soldiers all sighed in their hearts that the city has really changed a lot. Some people were itching to plunder.

But when they thought of Lord Tywin's severe measures against those who violated military discipline, they immediately dismissed the idea.

No one from King's Landing came to greet the army. The streets on both sides of the road were in a state of alert. The streets that were once busy with cars, carts and people were now empty, with only the Lannister army marching on them.

And inside the Red Keep, Tywin Lannister, the commander of this army, entered the center of power on both sides of the Narrow Sea.

In the courtyard of the Red Castle, the royal family and important ministers of the Iron Throne gathered together to welcome this powerful nobleman.

Facing Tywin Lannister, Cersei Lannister lost all her usual arrogance and instead appeared extremely cautious. Tyrion Lannister held his head high, with a sense of pride as if he expected his father to see his achievements. The king's children did not dare to relax or even breathe a word in front of this majestic grandfather. As for the important ministers, they showed their best attitude in front of Duke Tywin.

Eddard Stark shook his head to make himself sober. He had just met Dontos, who had already persuaded the princes of the royal territory to transport supplies into the city.

And Eddard told Dontos that he hoped they could bring in more supplies - after all, the kingdom was now facing the threat of war, and the more food in the capital, the better.

In response, the Banquet King of King's Landing simply said he tried his best.

Then, Eddard looked at Tywin with a complicated look. The man in front of him was the real cornerstone of the Lannisters. Lannister’s ability to achieve today’s power was entirely dependent on this man.

To be honest, Eddard didn't like him. He didn't like this man who treated fear and killing as if they were eating and drinking water. But right now he needed to cooperate with this man to stabilize the current situation and wipe out the rebel Renly in the south.

So, Ed forced himself to swallow his disgust.

"Lord Tywin, you have come at the perfect time. King's Landing needs a brave man like you to save it." After the customary salute, Varys offered his flattering words, but these were of no use to the Lannisters. Tywin just glared at the eunuch, and the eunuch quickly shut his mouth.

"Lord Eddard, it's a pleasure to see you here. I apologize for the unpleasantness that happened before. My daughter was really stupid. Cersei, come and apologize to Lord Eddard." Tywin said as if he was ordering something very ordinary.

Tywin's words made Cersei's whole body stiff, as if she was petrified. After Tyrion poked her several times, Cersei walked up to Eddard and said, "I'm sorry, Lord Eddard."

This difficult and reluctant apology made Eddard frown. This was really disgusting. This clumsy drama made him want to leave immediately, but now he was essentially a hostage of the Lannisters, so he did not speak, but just nodded silently.

Lord Tywin seemed very pleased with his daughter's performance. "My lords, let's go in. Lord Eddard, please come over here with me. I want to talk to you about the next move of the Iron Throne."

Talk to him? What did Lannister want to do? Although he was confused, he still said, "Okay."

People who lived in the Red Castle knew how to read the atmosphere, and soon the Duke and the Prime Minister were standing in an empty corridor.

The corridors of the Red Keep underwent extensive renovation during Robert's time. Craftsmen from the East brought the technology of the Free Trade Cities with them, so many of these corridors are full of exotic styles. Many ladies of the Red Keep like to hang out in these places because it makes them feel as if they are in stories and legends.

"Lord Eddard, I hope you can write a letter to your son." Lord Tywin always straightened his back, and the feeling of majesty without anger could be said to be overwhelming. "I hope that the armies of the North and the Riverlands will immediately move south to the border between the Riverlands and the River Bay. Our King in the South has begun to move north."

"This is the duty of the North, Lord Tywin, but as for the Riverlands, I cannot guarantee whether they will obey this order. Duke Hoster recently sent a letter to the Iron Throne, once again accusing you of encroaching on the legal territory of the Riverlands." Eddard said while observing Tywin's expression, but Duke Tywin's mood did not change and his face remained stern.

"He said that if the Iron Throne would not protect his de jure territory, then Tully would defend his own territory himself."

"Hoster Tully is just bluffing, Lord Eddard. I won't pay any attention to him. Besides, instead of wasting his energy on this, Tully should think about how to lead his bannermen. Otherwise, Frey will ride on their heads one day."

Tywin's words were harsh, and Eddard was sure that if his father-in-law were here, he would be furious.

The issue of feudal lords' authority has always been the biggest problem Tully has faced. The lords of Riverrun have always acted on their own and rarely paid attention to the authority of Riverrun. They prefer to make friends with the powerful lords around them rather than curry favor with Riverrun.

Occasionally, a powerful monarch would emerge in Riverrun, and the Riverlands would be united, and Tully's authority would be respected, but when the lord died, Tully's authority would plummet and return to its previous state.

Since the beginning of Westeros's eastern cause, the river lords have acquired a large amount of industry in the East. However, due to his bad relationship with Hugo Tollett, Tully has not been able to participate in the frenzy of dividing the cake. The river lords were already unruly, and now their power has increased again, so they will not take the lord of Riverrun seriously.

However, the most painful thing for Tully is the rise of Frey, which is why when Tywin mentioned Frey, Eddard was sure that his father-in-law would be furious.

The Tully family of Riverrun has always been proud of its long history. In comparison, the Freys are complete upstarts. But what annoys successive Tullys is that this upstart is becoming more and more powerful. By the generation of Hoster Tully, this situation has become even more serious.

Now, with the acquisition of a large amount of industry and territory in the East, and the emergence of a commander of the same level as the dukes, Frey's prestige has truly reached the level of being on par with Tully. On the other side of the Narrow Sea, Frey's reputation has completely overwhelmed Tully.

More and more lords and nobles went to the Twins, even more than Riverrun, and the river lords who had fought in the East were more willing to follow Frey than Tully. Faced with this situation, Hoster Tully was extremely anxious. Eddard had corresponded with his father-in-law several times, and the words were all about devaluing Frey - Eddard understood that this was his father-in-law's anxiety about the growing power of Frey and his inability to do anything.

However, as far as Eddard saw, although his father-in-law was anxious, Frey did not challenge his position as the Lord of the Riverlands. For now, old Frey was only satisfied with embarrassing his father-in-law. Most of Frey's energy was focused on Pentos in the east. As for why Eddard knew all this so well, Bolton's influence in Pentos was so strong that he had to pay attention.

Therefore, he agreed with Tywin's judgment. His father-in-law was just bluffing. Given Tully's current situation, if a war really broke out, he was afraid that he could not be sure that half of the river lords would follow him.

However, this topic cannot end here. There is still one thing Eddard needs to ask, "I understand, Lord Tywin, but I have another question. I want to know why Jaime Lannister directly took over Darry's castle and territory?"

Jaime Lannister did not come to King's Landing with Tywin. He led a Lannister army of 10,000 people into the territory of Darry's family and took the place almost without bloodshed - because Darry had invested all the power of their family in the East.

"It's just a normal military operation to eliminate the traitor's fortress, Lord Eddard," said Tywin.

Eddard frowned and calculated the time. Before the Iron Throne received the news of Darry's rebellion, Tywin had already obtained the intelligence and sent out his son - this undoubtedly showed that the Lannister's information network in the East was even stronger than that of the Iron Throne.

Eddard looked at Tywin's face, trying to interpret some information from it. He mentioned the Iron Throne just to go through the motions, but unfortunately Tywin Lannister was still Tywin Lannister after all, and there was no expression on his face that could be analyzed.

"Lord Eddard," said Tywin now. "There is one more matter I wish to inquire about: the coronation of my grandson, Joffrey Baratheon."

Sure enough, Ed thought that for the lions, getting this matter done would be of great help to them legally.

According to tradition, the new king should be crowned immediately after the king's death, but due to Cersei's foolish behavior, King's Landing was once turned into a battlefield and the coronation was postponed indefinitely.

After Ed was released, this became his main responsibility - to go to the Great Sept of Baelor and persuade the Archbishop to hold the coronation ceremony.

After Cersei's foolish behavior, the Church of the Seven took advantage of the chaos and was finally able to legitimately establish its armed forces again after three hundred years. Although it was only a religious militia, with the influence of the church, everything changed qualitatively.

"I have already negotiated with the Archbishop. He said he would crown the king, but he also asked the Iron Throne to allow the church to form a proper armed force." Eddard said with a little fatigue. As a believer of the old gods, he was extremely uncomfortable going to the temple of the new gods, not to mention that the fat Archbishop was extremely difficult to deal with. Eddard was upset by his nonsense with him, but he had to endure it. "He is dreaming. He has gained a lot now. Please tell the Archbishop that if he doesn't know the current situation, I don't mind another King's Landing. I brought a lot of centaurs this time. They are good at killing and robbing."

Eddard was not surprised by Tywin's naked threat, or rather, this was the choice Tywin would make. However, when he heard those words full of cruelty, Eddard still felt a strong sense of disgust in his heart.

He missed the North and the icy Winterfell. It was indeed a mistake to go south this time. As long as he did not leave the warm castle, he could sit back and watch the chaos in the South like countless generations of Kings in the North. But now he was caught in the chaos and had to do things he was unwilling to do and say words he was unwilling to say.

"I will tell the High Septon so much. By the way, Lord Tywin, I want to strengthen the defenses around me."

Tywin glanced at him with surprise. Eddard understood his feelings, but he did feel a little strange recently. He always felt that there were strange gazes around him, but he couldn't find anyone suspicious.

Therefore, he wanted to strengthen the defense around him.

"Okay, Lord Eddard, I will arrange it. The most elite warriors in the West will be placed by your side." Tywin agreed to Eddard's request. For some reason, Eddard felt relieved at this time.

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"Shaga, Timett, and Zira, keep your people under control. I don't want them to kill anyone again today. I believe you still remember the lesson from last time." Tyrion Lannister once again warned his mountain clans.

"Okay, we'll listen to half of them." Xia Ga said, and the others nodded.

This time, the barbarians agreed surprisingly quickly, but it was not surprising. Ever since the last conflict with the people of King's Landing and almost a fight with them, the Alpine Clan realized that the people of King's Landing were not so easy to mess with and became much more obedient.

Tyrion, who had received a satisfactory answer, led them out of the room. The streets were full of people, and ribbons and banners decorated with celebrations could be seen everywhere. The royal stag and the Lannister lion complemented each other. On the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor, the princes of the church appeared in their best clothes, waiting for the king to arrive.

This scene made Tyrion very satisfied, his efforts were not in vain.

When Tyrion looked at the crowd, the crowd was also looking at him. The reason was simple: the mountain clans were still wearing clothes brought from the Mountains of the Moon. The combination of the Lannister imps and the barbarians of the Mountains of the Moon was too strange and too conspicuous.

The little devil enjoyed the gaze that contained all kinds of emotions. This was the effect he wanted. Anyway, the people of King's Landing only looked at him with contempt. In that case, let them be afraid of the barbarians behind them - Tyrion found that with Shaga and the others, many things became easier to do.

After Lord Stark relayed his father's words, as Tyrion had expected, the High Septon quickly knelt on his noble knee, indicating that the ceremony could take place immediately.

His father's method was still so quick and effective. Tyrion was proud of it, but he immediately thought of what his uncle Tygett had told him, "It is easy to put on a mask of terror, but it is often difficult to take it off. When vassals and subjects are accustomed to the rule of fear and power, any leniency and kindness shown by the lord may be regarded as his own decline or retreat, stimulating these people to retaliate against him. This has been the case since ancient times."

This matter was too heavy, so the little devil put it aside, but he also knew that he could never forget this sentence.

As the final issue of the coronation ceremony was resolved, the entire King's Landing became busy. The restoration of food supply had already calmed the tense atmosphere in the city, and the ceremony announced now made people believe that war would not come to King's Landing for a while, so the city instantly became full of vitality.

The citizens and surrounding residents knew very well what the coronation ceremony meant, so they went out of their homes one after another, and farmers and merchants from all around came with their goods, ready to join in this grand event.

The civil servants who were reinstated were busy in every corner of the city, raising supplies and planning organizations. The guilds were selecting precious goods and preparing to present gifts to the new king. The troops who had been restored were polishing their armor and walking proudly on the streets to maintain law and order in the capital.

In order to promote peace and make the king's coronation more luxurious, the Iron Throne took out a large amount of gold and silver, and prepared a large number of gold dragons and silver deer to be distributed to the citizens of the capital at the ceremony - of course, all these actions had nothing to do with my dear sister. She was very angry about her father's decision, but she could do nothing about it.

The lavish ceremony was intended to promote its legitimacy and counter the rumors of incest circulating on the streets, and the distribution of gold and silver was intended to buy off the citizens of the capital and appease their hearts.

In the past, no one would do this. At that time, King's Landing was a city full of unorganized poor people, and no one would win over these people. But after the reforms led by Jon Arryn, King's Landing has become a city that can pull out 10,000 or 20,000 armed militias when needed.

The rebellion in King's Landing further demonstrated the strength of the citizens. The capital garrison, which had incorporated the Wall Battalion and the Antler Guard, had nearly 8,000 people. But even so, they were still beaten to a bloody pulp by the current capital militia.

There is no doubt that the citizens have proved their fighting power in the war, but it is a pity that their first battle is against the Iron Throne that they have established. Cersei's chaotic politics has made the armed forces that were originally most loyal to the Iron Throne hostile to the Iron Throne. This is undoubtedly too ironic...

Duke Tywin, who was the most skilled at spreading fear, also tended to appease these citizens. After all, it was not reasonable to put the blame on them for the street fighting in the capital. Imposing punishment would only push the defenders of the capital to Renly or Stannis. At the same time, their resistance and hostility to the Iron Throne had to be eliminated as much as possible - and the only way was to give them benefits. Fortunately, after more than a decade of the Iron Throne's rule in the East, the treasury was full, and it was more than enough to take out a sum of money to stabilize the citizens, not to mention that Littlefinger also brought back the treasury gold of the new capital of the Seven Kingdoms.

Ah, speaking of Littlefinger, this guy was sent away by his father after all, and he didn't even attend the coronation ceremony. The little devil continued to think about it, and when he thought about it, he felt even more proud, because this matter was closely related to him.

Littlefinger and his Myr army were sent to the Vale by his father in the name of the Iron Throne to suppress the rampant mountain clans.

Yes, the Gaoshan clans rushed down from the Mingyue Mountains in droves, holding weapons and equipment provided by an unknown nobleman from the West.

The attack of the mountain clan was so fierce and so large in scale that the valley knights on the front line were directly defeated, and the barbarians rushed into the valley where they had not set foot for a long, long time.

The Valley people were caught off guard and suffered heavy losses under the attack of the Mountain Clan. What was worse was that the Mountain Clan captured all the able-bodied Valley men they met and used them as cannon fodder for sieges. Whenever they wanted to attack a town or a fortress, they would let the Valley people rush to the front - many towns and fortresses were captured in this way.

However, if that were the case, the situation would still be controllable. The valley nobles were beaten badly, but as long as they gathered their forces, it would only be a matter of time before the mountain clans were driven back to the mountains. Although the mountain clans had recovered their strength over the years, their numbers were still too small.

But this time it was different. These barbarians did not stop. Unlike before, they were not limited to attacking one city or one place. Instead, they roamed around the Vale of Arryn and looted. After conquering a place, they ate up all the food in that place, and then took all the men to attack the next one. When they were caught up by the valley army, they threw these cannon fodder away as meat shields and fled themselves.

In the letter for help that Lady Lysa sent to King's Landing, it was described how the Eyrie was besieged by the Mountain Clan, and how those barbarians climbed the Eyrie madly and even reached the top of the city - although they were immediately wiped out by the Knights of the Vale, they almost scared young Lord Arryn to death.

When Tyrion thought of how Lady Arryn and her little devil trembled in fear high up in the Eyrie, he felt unprecedentedly refreshed. He now avenged the humiliation of the Eyrie in this form.

It was his plan to provide the mountain clans with weapons, and it was also his idea to persuade the mountain clans to roam around. It was he, the dwarf, who brought about the destruction of the Vale of Arryn.

It was also because of this incident that his father was able to let Littlefinger go to the Vale. Littlefinger came in the name of loyalty to the Iron Throne, so he naturally could not refuse the orders issued by the Iron Throne, not to mention that the situation in the Vale was still so critical.

Before, he had wondered why his father wanted to mess up the Vale if he wanted to continue the alliance with the Starks. Now he understood everything. His father used this incident to send Littlefinger and his Myr army away.

Let Littlefinger play hide-and-seek with the Mountain Clan in the Vale, Tyrion thought. He had been through the Mountains of the Moon and knew very well how fast the Mountain Clan could run.

Just as Tyrion was feeling proud of what happened in the Vale, the horn announcing the king's arrival was blown, and Joffrey Baratheon finally appeared. He was protected in the center by the Kingsguard and the Antler Guard. Tyrion had to admit that his nephew was quite human and did look like a prince in a story - as long as you didn't know what kind of person he was.

In the team behind Joffrey, he saw his dear sister, who was wearing mourning for his dear Robert. It must be said that his sister looked very beautiful in mourning clothes.

At the top of the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor, where the High Septon was waiting with senior members of the Church, he saw his father and the important officials of the Iron Throne, all of whom were there waiting for His Majesty the King.

Tyrion was also ready to leave. Although he was a dwarf, he was a member of the royal family after all and could still attend his nephew's coronation ceremony.

However, when his eyes swept across the nobles in front of the Great Sept of Baelor, Tyrion suddenly felt something was wrong. Why didn't he see Eddard Stark? This doubt only existed in his mind for a moment. Most likely, Lord Eddard didn't want to see his sister.

(End of this chapter)