The black flag with white wolves fluttered and roared atop Casterly Rock, marking the first time in a thousand years that Casterly Rock had changed hands.
Casterly Rock was merely a military fortress in the Westerlands, despite being surrounded by the rich Casterly Rock deposits. Gold Mine, but these all belong to Lannister.
The Lefford family was not wealthy, and Tywin had never given them any subsidies.
Inside the hall, Jon was meeting with Mrs. Alyssane Lefford.
At this moment, Mrs. Lefebvre's cheek was swollen high, and she dared not breathe heavily. Daven's kick was extremely hard, and she felt pain in her lower ribs with every breath.
Mrs. Lefred told Jon that she had stabbed Daven, and this could be verified by Daven's body.
However, such merit was clearly not enough for her to keep Casterly Rock for the Lefford family. In the future, Jon plans to build a trading town in Casterly Rock facing the Riverlands.
In short, this place is no longer a military fortress; he needs to take direct control.
"Earl Leo has only done what a vassal should do. I can no longer hand over Casterly Rock to you, but for you and your children, I will give the Lefford Family an estate where you can raise your children."
"Thank you, sir."
With all the men in the household dead or wounded, and the castle breached, Lady Lefred never even considered the possibility of saving Casterly Rock. All she wanted was Jon's assurance that she and her son could continue to live.
After all, she used her looks to please men in the first place, all for the sake of her child.
After Mrs. Lyford left, just as Jon was about to depart, Robb Frey suddenly announced that Brynden was coming to see him.
Brynden entered the hall, exchanged greetings with Jon, and then explained the purpose of his visit.
He believed that now was not a good time to attack Casterly Rock. Instead, they should use Casterly Rock as a base to expand outwards, or they should look for an opportunity to have a decisive battle with Tywin's large force in the southern part of the West, and then conquer other territories after the decisive battle.
" Ser Brynden's advice is very insightful, I understand what you mean." Jon knew that Dao was probably behind letting Tywin go that day, but he didn't say it out loud.
After all, judging from the suggestion, he seemed to want to make up for his mistakes. He was short-handed, so if Brynden was willing to come to his side and atone for his sins, that wouldn't be a bad idea.
"But I want to end the war as soon as possible. Tywin certainly doesn't know Dao yet." "The news of Casterly Rock's fall means that if we can reach Casterly Rock sooner, we can build fortifications sooner and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out." Jon approached Tywin and said to Dao, "Actually, I didn't plan to attack Casterly Rock directly. To take the city, we need to defeat the army Tywin has recruited. And now that Tywin is still at Casterly Rock, he's the only one in the West with the ability to command troops. If we can keep him trapped at Casterly Rock, we can better defeat this army."
In fact, there was one more thing Jon didn't mention: he didn't take the troops that Tywin had temporarily recruited seriously at all.
Now, not only does he have God's Perspective, but he also has over twenty ravens acting as his eyes and ears. The army, composed of a large number of newly recruited soldiers, will inevitably have flaws everywhere, and he can easily defeat it.
But if they use Sarsfield as a base and fortifications, then it will take some effort to fight them.
" Ser Brynden, speed is of the essence in war. If I had been any slower back then, Joffrey, that false king, would be sitting on the Iron Throne now."
"Speed is of the essence in war—I understand." Brynden nodded, thinking that Jon always managed to say such intriguing things.
Just as Jon thought he had answered Brynden's question and was about to leave, Brynden suddenly confessed to Dao: "Sir, actually, Tywin — Tywin was someone I deliberately let go that day."
Brynden's voice grew increasingly weak, almost as if it were being squeezed out of his throat by the end. He lowered his head, as if awaiting Jon's verdict.
As soon as he finished speaking, the hall immediately became very quiet, with only the sounds of the Soldiers talking and laughing coming from outside.
After much deliberation, Brynden decided to confess to Jon.
"If you intend to punish me, please wait until the war is over so that I can try to make amends for my mistakes."
Seeing that Jon remained silent for a while, Brynden finally spoke up.
Brynden, who had been looking down, saw Jon's boots step into his line of sight and looked up with some shame.
" Ser Brynden, we all have our own perspectives. I was just giving you advice: stay true to your family and consider your family's interests. That's nothing."
"Duke—my lord."
Jon glanced calmly at Brynden before leaving the hall.
In fact, Jon believed that Tywin's escape back to the West was actually to his advantage.
If he dies at King's Landing or on his westward escape, then the Western Dragons will be leaderless.
While he could certainly make those remaining lords of the Western Frontier surrender without a second thought, he would also preserve their territories and strength to the greatest extent possible.
Jon's plan is to implement the "reform of local officials" in the future Westerlands, and he wants to focus his efforts on preparing for the future Long Night and the coming winter.
If the lords of Westeros are like individual ships of varying sizes sailing alone, Jon's goal is to link these ships together, chaining them together to create an ultimate fortress capable of withstanding storms.
If those lords really surrendered immediately, Jon's subsequent plans would be quite difficult to carry out.
But now that they are opposing him under Tywin's leadership, he can be even bolder in his future actions. Highgarden remains peaceful, and Margaery and her Young Misses are commenting on a helmet and a letter.
Sunlight filtered through the vines, dappling their dresses, and the girls' laughter, accompanied by the musicians' music, made the place seem like a fairyland.
This helmet came from Daven, and Jon said in his letter that Margaery could use it to make a flowerpot.
"Our Duke's gift-giving is truly ingenious." Airo put down the pen in her hand.
Qin, racking her brains, came up with the most polite word possible.
However, Margaery was clearly not satisfied with this description and simply laughed it off.
Lia, who was standing nearby, keenly noticed Margaery's displeasure. Back when the Family was choosing him and Jon for a marriage alliance, he seemed to be facing a major disaster.
After all, there was never a place for bastard in her poems and songs. To prevent Margaery from becoming even more unhappy with Jon because of her dissatisfaction with the gift, Lia quickly added, "I think this gift is quite good. Even the Prince of the North might not have been able to enter the West without his wolves, but Jon was able to break through Casterly Rock head-on. Isn't that to tell our Margaery that he has enough power to protect her?"
"Hmm! Liya is right, I think this must be what His Majesty the Duke means."
"So, this helmet really is a gift with a lot of meaning~"
Under Liya's guidance, the girls all spoke highly of Jon, fearing that Margaery might change her mind.
It's true that these young noble ladies inevitably developed some competitive feelings during their daily interactions. Although they were all maids of the Margaery, it didn't stop them from fantasizing in private about how wonderful it would be if they were Mace's daughter.
When these noble girls learned that Jon was to marry Margaery, they felt much better, though not exactly gloating.
Of course, if Jon actually hits Casterly Rock, that would be a different story.
However, they all asked the people around them how difficult Casterly Rock was to fight, and the results were surprisingly consistent: unless the giant Dragon revived, Jon would definitely not be able to defeat Casterly Rock.
Moreover, although these girls did not understand military matters, everyone knew how difficult it was to attack Casterly Rock, and there was no possibility of taking any shortcuts.
Margaery was naturally aware of Dao's "little girlfriends'" thoughts, but she didn't expose them. Olenna had always told her that it was better not to say or wear certain things.
So amidst a chorus of somewhat insincere compliments, Margaery also gave a perfectly appropriate smile.
"Alright, I'll take that as you're just saying nice things about Jon. Instead, help me think of something to put in this flowerpot." Margaery said, lifting the heavy helmet with her slender, fair hands, indicating that she would give Jon the flowers from the flowerpot when he returned in triumph.
Meanwhile, Mace was discussing Jon's raid on Casterly Rock with her eldest son Willas and mother Olena.
He simply couldn't understand why Jon's trick had worked. According to the message Garlan sent back, when they breached Casterly Rock, there were fewer than a thousand defenders inside.
"Ah, I'm getting more and more curious about this Jon. I really hope to meet him soon." Willas rubbed his knees, which were atrophied a bit, and looked north while smiling. A breeze ruffled his short brown hair, and he looked very scholarly.
Olenna looked at her beloved grandson, then turned to Mace and said to Dao, "Hey, don't look like you're asking for a favor. You should be happy to have such an invincible son-in-law. If there's any city you need to conquer in the future, you can have Jon as your deputy."
In Olena's view, since Margaery and Jon's marriage is a done deal, they might as well accept it and then think about how they can benefit from the relationship.
She also didn't want Jon to get into any trouble during the battle, because if that happened, Margaery would really have a hard time getting married in the future.
"That brat, he's probably just lucky. When he attacked King's Landing, it was because Tyrion's attention was drawn to Stannis. When he fought Casterly Rock, it was because he ran into an idiot. If he had really run into a coward like Stannis, I guarantee he wouldn't have been able to do anything." Mace muttered with some dissatisfaction.
Willas was already used to his father, and it was absolutely impossible for him to admit defeat verbally. So he looked at Olena, and the two of them smiled at each other.
"Father, if Jon really conquered Casterly Rock, you can't just say he got lucky, can you?"
"If he can really conquer Casterly Rock, I'd gladly double Margaery's dowry!"
As soon as Mace finished speaking, Olenna sat up straight and looked around warily. Mace was puzzled, and Olenna replied to Dao, "I'm checking if anyone is eavesdropping, so that if you want to back out later, no one will know, Dao."
Mace paused for a moment, then realized that her mother was teasing her, so she got up and left in a huff.