As Davos left the tent, Jon's words still echoed in his mind: " Please, His Majesty Stannis, hurry to King's Landing so I can go to the Wall and continue my Nights Watch duties."
Three hundred years ago, when Aegon the Conqueror landed in Westeros, he ordered that criminals be used to replenish the army for the Great Wall.
This led to a rapid decline in the quality and moral standards of Nights Watch. Donning the black uniform to guard the Great Wall was no longer a morally upright choice, and Black Castle was seen as a place full of garbage and criminals.
Davos had already planned to speak well of Jon in Stannis's eyes. You see, with Jon's merits, Dao could easily have bestowed upon him the title of Earl, and even a Duke was not out of the question.
Yet he was willing to give up everything to go to the Great Wall, which is truly admirable.
That's when he saw Penny standing outside the tent, groaning and covering her swollen cheek with one hand.
His swollen cheeks made his features look somewhat comical, which made Davos realize how terrifying the force of Jon's slap was.
As expected of a fierce warrior who turned defeat into victory on his first battlefield appearance, his martial arts skills must be extremely high.
However, compared to his sentiments, Penny was furious. Seeing Davos come out of the tent, he angrily said, "When we get back to Dragonstone, I'm going to tell Your Majesty about this. That arrogant little bastard will have to learn a lesson!"
As the saying goes, "comparison is the thief of joy," and thinking about Jon's statement and seeing Penny still thinking about power struggles made Davos feel nauseous.
He said to Penny, " Jon said that once Your Majesty arrives in King's Landing, he'll go back to the Wall to continue being his Nights Watch. Complaining to Your Majesty probably won't do much good."
After hearing Davos's words, Penny was stunned for a long time before she spoke: "What? He wants to go back to that godforsaken Great Wall?"
Penny's idea at most was to make Jon suffer a little, such as having Stannis reduce the fiefdom that was to be awarded to Jon, so that he would pay the price for the slap he received. But to ask Jon to leave was absolutely out of the question.
Putting aside the fact that Jon's return to the Wall is tantamount to returning to Stark's embrace, since the Battle of Blackwater Rush, they have been either captured soldiers or defeated generals like him.
If Jon hadn't stood firm in King's Landing and changed the course of events in Westeros, they would have been in dire straits.
They definitely can't keep Dragonstone; they might even have to go into exile overseas.
This is only from the perspective of the Stannis court. If we look at it from their perspective, if Jon refuses all the rewards, how can they still have the face to ask Stannis for any rewards?
This is simply impossible.
In other words, the reward Jon receives represents the upper limit of the rewards they can receive, and if Jon has nothing, they will be no exception.
Even Stannis himself would be labeled as harsh and ruthless. Everyone else can go without a reward, but Jon is an exception!
Realizing this, Penny suppressed her anger and was now focused on how to dissuade Jon from returning to the Great Wall.
" Where is Mrs. Melisandre?" Penny asked Dao when she saw that only Davos had come out.
Seeing Penny's expression, Davos found it amusing, but he still spoke up: " Melisandre is talking to Jon in order to keep him. "
In fact, Penny's concerns were very reasonable, and it was precisely because of this that Jon dared to slap Eddard for offending him.
However, Jon is relatively confident in dealing with both Penny and Davos.
Just like finding a job requires one or two rounds of interviews, Davos is the first round, and Melisandre is the second round.
It's more rigorous, but Jon will be rewarded more if he passes.
"I heard that you left the Great Wall right after Eddard went to prison, which seems a bit unreasonable. Can you tell me why?"
Melisandre looked at Jon, her voice carrying a hint of dreaminess.
The Red Woman certainly hit the nail on the head. Jon's immediate trip south after hearing that Eddard had been framed was indeed unusual.
He thought for a moment and said, "The current maester of Castle Black is Aemon Targaryen. When he heard that the Targaryen clan had been wiped out, he also had the idea of going south. But he had been away from his family for decades, while I had only left Winterfell a few months ago. I cannot keep my oath like he did. Now that I have avenged my father's death, I will return to the Wall when Your Majesty comes back."
In fact, the Nights Watch system still violates human form, when Aemon learns of the Dragon Mother. Daenerys is making a comeback in Slavers Bay, and I can't wait to go and help her.
Listening to Jon's explanation, Melisandre remained expressionless, and Jon had a feeling that she was still not entirely satisfied.
——
After a moment, she nodded and said, "I see. I thought you had received some kind of revelation."
Revelation?
Jon suddenly had a new idea, and he tentatively asked Dao, "You must be a follower of the Lord of Light, right?"
"That's right, the Lord of Light is the only true god in this world. The seven gods and the Old Gods of Westeros are all false gods, and we should all reject them—"
"Stop, stop, stop. You seem to be going a bit too far." Jon thought to himself, " Dao, if Stannis were to immediately begin promoting the faith of the Lord of Light upon arriving in King's Landing, it would likely face considerable backlash."
Whenever the Lord of Light was mentioned, Melisandre started rambling on and on, and Jon interrupted her during a lull in her speech.
"I met a follower of the Lord of Light like you, named Thoros, and I once told him about a dream I had."
"Dream?"
"Yes." Jon nodded. Dreams, this mystical omens, were really too useful; whatever he said became true.
"I didn't choose to flee the Wall and head south just because Lord Eddard was framed. It was because I saw a sea of fire in my dream, and a person radiating light and heat suddenly appeared before me. He pointed south and showed me a man holding a sword that emitted a red glow, saying that he was facing a great challenge and asked me to help him—"
For Melisandre, who enjoys dabbling in metaphysics, Jon's words hit her right where it hurts.
A person radiating light, a man holding a glowing sword.
So the former is the Lord of Light, and the latter is Stannis! You, Jon, were born to serve Stannis, where do you think you're going!
Melisandre expressed his envy for Jon, the young man who received the Lord of Light's revelation in his dream, and even smiled.
She interpreted Jon's dream, and Jon showed appropriate doubt, but felt more at ease.
Now that he has the double insurance of Davos and Melisandre, Stannis will have to think carefully about how to reward him. Unless Stannis is a fool, he won't accept his decision to go to the Wall.
Jon knew he had passed both rounds of interviews smoothly, even perfectly. He was just waiting for Stannis to arrive in King's Landing so that everything would be settled and things would be resolved.
The next day, Davos and Melisandre departed, with Jon personally seeing them off onto the ship and dispatching Soldiers to escort them.
In addition, this also shifts the burden of Cersei and her two children to them, so that whether they live or die is no longer their concern.