The white wolf on the black banner leaped and roared atop the battlements of the Golden Tooth, marking the first time in a thousand years that the Golden Tooth had changed hands.
The Golden Tooth was merely a military fortress of the Westerlands. Although surrounded by rich gold mines, these were all assets belonging to the Lannisters.
The Lefford family was not wealthy, and Tywin had never given them any subsidies.
Inside the Great Hall, Jon was receiving Lady Alysanne Lefford.
At this moment, Lady Lefford's cheek was swollen high, and she dared not breathe heavily. Daven's kick had been truly heavy; every breath brought pain to her lower ribs.
Lady Lefford informed Jon about her stabbing Daven, a fact that could be verified by examining Daven's corpse.
However, this merit was clearly not enough for her to keep the Golden Tooth for House Lefford. Jon planned to build a commercial town facing the Riverlands at the Golden Tooth in the future.
In short, this place would no longer be just a military fortress; he needed to control it directly.
"Lord Leo merely did what a bannerman should do. I cannot return the Golden Tooth to you, but for you and your children, I will grant House Lefford a manor where you can raise them."
"Thank you, my lord."
With the men of her house dead or wounded, and the castle breached, Lady Lefford had never dreamed of keeping the Golden Tooth. As long as she could get Jon's assurance that she and her children could continue to live, that was enough.
After all, she had used her beauty to serve others for the sake of her children.
After Lady Lefford left, Jon was about to leave when Robbett Glover suddenly announced that Brynden Tully wished to see him.
Brynden entered the hall, exchanged greetings with Jon, and explained his purpose.
He believed now was not the right time to attack Casterly Rock. Instead, they should use the Golden Tooth as a base to expand outward, or perhaps seek an opportunity for a decisive battle with Tywin's heavy troops stationed in the southern Westerlands. Only after that decisive battle should they proceed to conquer cities and seize land.
"Ser Brynden's suggestion is very sound. I understand what you mean." Jon knew that the person who let Tywin go that day was almost certainly Brynden, but he didn't point it out.
Judging by his suggestion, Brynden seemed to want to make up for his mistake. Jon happened to be short of capable people. If Brynden was willing to serve him to atone for his "crime," that wasn't a bad thing.
"But I want to end the war as soon as possible. Tywin must not know about the fall of the Golden Tooth yet. If we can reach Casterly Rock earlier, we can build fortifications and wait for the enemy at our leisure." Jon walked up to the map and said, "Actually, I don't plan to attack Casterly Rock directly. To siege the city, we also need to defeat the army Tywin has conscripted. Moreover, Tywin is still at Casterly Rock. He is the only one left in the Westerlands capable of leading an army. By blocking him in Casterly Rock, we can better defeat this army."
In fact, there was one point Jon didn't mention: he didn't take Tywin's hastily conscripted army seriously at all.
Now, not only did he have the "God's Eye View," but he also had over twenty ravens acting as his eyes. An army composed of large-scale conscripted recruits would inevitably be full of flaws. He could easily defeat them.
But if they used Sarsfield as a base and fortification, it would take some effort to fight them.
"Ser Brynden, speed is precious in war. If I had been a little slower back then, the one sitting on the Iron Throne now would be that false king Joffrey."
"Speed is precious in war... I understand." Brynden nodded, thinking Jon always managed to say such thought-provoking things.
Just when Jon thought he had answered Brynden's question and was about to leave, Brynden suddenly confessed: "My lord, actually, that day... I let Tywin go on purpose."
Brynden's voice grew less confident, until the end sounded almost squeezed out of his throat. He lowered his head, as if awaiting Jon's judgment.
As soon as his voice fell, the hall became very quiet, with only the sounds of soldiers chatting and laughing outside.
Brynden had thought about it for a long time and decided to confess to Jon.
"If you wish to punish me, please wait until the war is over. Let me try to make up for some of my mistakes."
Seeing Jon silent for a long time, Brynden spoke up again.
With his head bowed, Brynden saw Jon's boots step into his line of sight. He looked up with some shame.
"Ser Brynden, we all have our own positions. I only gave you a suggestion at the time. You were loyal to your family and considered your family's interests. That's nothing."
"Lord... Duke."
Jon glanced at Brynden calmly, then left the hall.
In fact, in Jon's view, Tywin escaping back to the Westerlands was actually beneficial to him.
If Tywin had died beneath the walls of King's Landing or on the way west, the Westerlands would be leaderless.
While Jon could certainly make the remaining Western lords surrender at the sight of his army, their territories and power would be preserved to the greatest extent.
Jon's plan was to implement a policy of "replacing chieftains with appointed officials" in the future Westerlands. He needed to concentrate power to prepare for the future Long Night and the coming winter.
If the lords of Westeros were like individual ships sailing alone, Jon wanted to chain these ships together to create an ultimate fortress strong enough to withstand the storm.
If those lords had surrendered immediately, it would have been difficult for Jon to carry out his subsequent actions.
But now that they were opposing him under Tywin's leadership, his subsequent moves could be much bolder.
---
Inside Highgarden, the atmosphere was peaceful. Margaery and her handmaidens were commenting on a helmet and a letter.
Dappled sunlight filtered through the vines onto their dresses. The girls' laughter, accompanied by the musicians' tunes, made the place feel like a fairyland.
This helmet was from Daven. In the letter, Jon said Margaery could use this helmet as a flowerpot.
"Our Lord Duke gives gifts... truly, uniquely," Alla put down her harp, racking her brain to come up with a polite word.
However, Margaery was obviously not very satisfied with this description, merely smiling simply.
Lia, standing by the side, keenly caught Margaery's displeasure. When the family chose her to marry Jon, she had felt as if disaster was imminent.
After all, in her poems and songs, there was never a place for a bastard. To prevent Margaery from developing more displeasure towards Jon due to dissatisfaction with the gift, Lia quickly added, "I think this gift is quite nice. Even the Prince of the North might not have been able to break into the Westerlands if not for his wolf, yet Jon was able to breach the Golden Tooth from the front. Isn't he trying to tell our Margaery that he has enough strength to protect her?"
"Oh! Lia is right. I think that must be the Lord Duke's intention."
"Put that way, this helmet is indeed a gift full of deep meaning~"
Under Lia's guidance, the girls all started speaking well of Jon, fearing Margaery might regret the match.
Truth be told, in their daily interactions, these noble ladies couldn't help but compare themselves. Although everyone was Margaery's handmaiden, it didn't stop them from fantasizing in private about how good it would be if they were Mace's daughter.
When these noble girls learned that Margaery was the one marrying Jon, although they didn't exactly gloat, they felt much more balanced psychologically.
Of course, if Jon really conquered Casterly Rock, that would be a different story.
However, they had all asked around, and the answer regarding whether Casterly Rock was easy to conquer was surprisingly consistent: unless dragons returned, Jon absolutely could not take Casterly Rock.
Moreover, although these girls didn't understand military affairs, everyone knew the difficulty of attacking Casterly Rock. There wasn't even a possibility of using tricks.
Margaery naturally knew the thoughts of her "little sisters," but she didn't expose them. The Queen of Thorns, Olenna, had told her from a young age that some things were better left unsaid.
So, amidst the somewhat hypocritical compliments, Margaery also showed a just-right smile.
"Alright, I'll take it as you speaking well of Jon. Why don't you help me think about what flowers we should plant in this 'flowerpot'?" Saying this, Margaery lifted the heavy helmet with her fair, slender hands, stating she would wait for the day of Jon's triumphant return to give him the flowers in the pot.
On the other side, Mace was discussing Jon's breach of the Golden Tooth with his eldest son Willas and his mother Olenna.
He really couldn't figure out why Jon's trick had worked. According to the news sent back by Garlan, when they breached the Golden Tooth, 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 said with a smile, rubbing his slightly atrophied knee and looking north. The breeze ruffled his short brown hair, giving him a very scholarly look.
Olenna looked at her beloved grandson, then turned to Mace and said, "Oh, stop looking like someone owes you money. You should be secretly delighted to have an invincible son-in-law. In the future, if there's any city that needs conquering, you can just ask Jon to be your deputy."
In Olenna's view, since Margaery's marriage to Jon was already set in stone, they might as well accept it and think about how to benefit from this relationship.
She also didn't want anything to happen to Jon in battle. If that really happened, it would be hard for Margaery to marry well in the future.
"That brat, it's probably just good luck. When attacking King's Landing, it was because Tyrion's attention was drawn by Stannis. When attacking the Golden Tooth, it was because he met an idiot. If he really met a turtle like Stannis who hides in his shell, I guarantee he wouldn't have a clue what to do," Mace grumbled with some dissatisfaction.
Willas was used to his father; getting him to admit defeat verbally was absolutely impossible. He looked at Olenna, and the grandmother and grandson exchanged a smile.
"Father, if Jon really conquers Casterly Rock, you can't say he's just lucky then, right?"
"If he can really conquer Casterly Rock, I'd be happy to double Margaery's dowry!"
As soon as Mace finished speaking, Olenna sat up straight and looked around vigilantly. Mace was puzzled. Olenna replied, "I'm checking if anyone is eavesdropping. That way, if you want to go back on your word later, no one will know."
Mace froze for a moment, realized his old mother was teasing him, and got up to leave in a huff.