Game of Thrones: Holy Flame King

  Chapter 49 Marionettes

  The melodious harp sounded again.

  Pairs of men and women in the center of the hall are dancing to the music, showing off their most elegant dance postures.

  Samwell picked up the dinner plate again, and while eating golden tail shrimp, he watched Duke Renly and Margaery, a pair of golden boy and girl-like figures, spinning on the dance floor, with a mysterious smile on his face.

  He remembered that in the original book, Duke Renly took a portrait of Margaery and asked Duke Eddard Stark if the girl in the painting looked like his sister Lyanna Stark.

   And this Miss Lyanna is the former fiancée of King Robert I.

   At the same time, it was also the fuse of the famous snatcher war!

  Miss Lyanna had already made a marriage contract with Robert, but she was taken away by the former prince Rhaegar Targaryen.

  When Robert, who was still the Duke of Storm’s End at that time, learned of this, he rebelled in a rage.

   This is the direct cause of the snatcher war.

  Although Robert had personally killed Rhaegar, overthrew the Targaryen dynasty, and avenged his wife, Miss Lyanna had already died in the war.

   This has also become a wound in Robert's heart that will never heal.

  The reason why Duke Renly asked Duke Eddard whether Margaery looked like Lyanna was obviously intended to dedicate Margaery to King Robert to replace Cersei Lannister as queen.

  But judging from the later development of the plot, this plan was not successful.

   Think about it too. Although Robert has been unreliable after sitting on the Iron Throne, ignoring political affairs all day long, only focusing on drinking, prostitution, hunting, and his relationship with Queen Cersei is really bad, but he is not really brainless .

   It is impossible to go all out for a girl who looks a bit like his old lover.

   You must know that Queen Cersei does not have no background. Her natal Lannister family is the richest family in Westeros, and her father, Duke Tywin, is also one of the most powerful figures in the Seven Kingdoms.

  Unless you can grasp Cersei's real deadly handle-the three children she gave birth to the king are actually the product of her own brother Jaime Lannister's mess;

   Otherwise, Cersei's queen status cannot be shaken by anyone.

  Unfortunately, although this secret King's Landing should already be known, or at least suspected, no one has been able to produce evidence.

  This kind of thing is difficult to prove unless it can be caught in bed.

   All three children have Lannister blond hair instead of Baratheon black hair, which is not really proof.

  After all, it is normal for the offspring to inherit the hair color of the mother.

  In fact, in the eyes of most people, it is reasonable for the king's three children to be all blond.

After all, the Lannister family’s blond hair has been passed down for more than 6,000 years since the legendary “smart” Lann stole the sun’s rays and dyed his hair blond (this is simply a genetic miracle ), and the Baratheon family has a total history of more than 300 years. Therefore, "the golden color of the lion suppresses the carbon black of the stag" seems to be a matter of course.

  So over the years, King Robert has never doubted that his three children are all blond.

   Duke Renly obviously has no evidence, so he wants to use this roundabout way to abolish the queen.

The real ironclad proof of Queen Cersei's deadly handle will have to wait until Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, will find out from the tome book "The Genealogy and History of the Major Nobles of the Seven Kingdoms" in the future. A certain conspirator upset the fulcrum of the situation and used it to officially kick off the prelude to this power game.

  Of course, this is all for later.

  At this moment, Samwell looked at the handsome Duke Renly on the dance floor, guessing in his heart the motive of the other party's plan.

   Judging from his later performance in the Five Kings Rebellion, the Duke of Renly may have long coveted the Iron Throne.

  But as the youngest brother of the king, his line of succession is behind Cersei's three children and the second brother Stannis Baratheon.

  This time, he deliberately wanted to abolish the eldest brother, and he probably wanted to abolish the inheritance rights of the three children.

   In this way, the only heir to the throne ahead of him is his second brother Stannis.

   From Duke Renly's point of view, the elder brother's dislike for the second brother is almost obvious.

During the War of the Reavers, Storm's End, the old lair of the Baratheon family, was defended by Stannis at the risk of his life. However, after the war, Robert let Renly, who was still a crying kid He became the Duke of Storm's End, but lost Stannis, who had made great achievements, to Dragonstone Island.

  Although it is said that the Duke of Dragonstone has always had the implied meaning of being the prince of the Iron Throne, that is the practice of the Targaryen dynasty. What does it have to do with the current Baratheon dynasty?

  Dragonstone Island is not the place where the Baratheon family thrived.

  The Stormlands are.

   Renly, who stayed in Storm's End and enjoyed the service of the entire Stormland, looked at Stannis who could only enjoy the sea breeze on the barren Dragonstone Island, and he probably had no doubts about his eldest brother's preference for a long time in his heart.

   Therefore, in Duke Renly's view, as long as Queen Cersei is abolished and her three children are deprived of the right to inherit, the first heir to the Iron Throne must be himself.

  Samwell put down the knife and fork, and suddenly thought of another question—what role did the Tyrell family play in it?

   Then, a playful smile appeared on his face.

  Watching TV dramas in his previous life, he noticed that many of the characters considered to be the protagonists in the drama would often die suddenly soon. It seemed that the author deliberately showed the cruelty of power struggle and the impermanence of fate in this way.

  However, if you think about it carefully, you can find that the death of these protagonists seems impermanent, but there are traces to follow, and they are even predestined.

  This Game of Thrones is actually just a game played by a few conspirators. They hide behind the scenes, and their deeds and thoughts are almost invisible to the audience.

And those so-called "protagonists" are actually just puppets in the hands of these real players. They are pulled by the threads of honor, hatred, love, power, etc., fighting, fighting, and dying in the center of the stage. It was a wonderful and soul-stirring drama, but even if they died, they might not be able to figure out why they died.

  The young, noble and charming Duke Renly in front of him is just such a "protagonist".

  The person holding the thread behind his back at this time is probably one of the top players in this game—"Queen of Thorns" Mrs. Olenna.

   Think about it carefully, how did Duke Renly know that Miss Margaery looks like King Robert's old lover?

  Samwell guessed that the biggest possibility is that "Knight of Flowers" Loras "inadvertently" mentioned this matter to Duke Renly when he was playing around.

  Then, Duke Renly, who had coveted the Iron Throne for a long time, rushed to Highgarden—

   No, it's not Gaoting, but Towering Tower.

  The wily Lady Olenna would not let Duke Renly go to Highgarden, because that would show that the Tyrell family was also involved.

  Using the name of visiting relatives, Margaery and Duke Renly "encountered" in the towering tower, which is not so conspicuous.

  If this plot to abolish the empress succeeds in the future, the Tyrell family can pretend to be innocent and let Duke Renly bear the wrath of the Lannister family in the West.

   And if it doesn't work... anyway, the Tyrell family didn't pay anything.

  It was just an "accidental" mention by Loras and a portrait of Margaery, which made Duke Renly, a tough guy, run around and take all the risks for the queen of the Tyrell family.

  Samwell felt more and more that this kind of subtle and scheming method without fireworks should be the handiwork of Mrs. Olenna, the "Queen of Thorns".

Moreover, he is sure that if Margaery succeeds in becoming queen, Lady Olenna will definitely abandon Duke Renly immediately, whether it is used as a scapegoat to calm the anger of the West, or to give the Tyrell family a future. The bloodline princes and princesses have cleared the barriers to succession, and Duke Renly's tragic end is doomed.

  Poor young Lord of Storm's End who can't see this clearly, and is still working there foolishly for nothing.

  It seems that the blacksmith in King's Landing was quite accurate in his evaluation of the three Baratheon brothers—

  Boss, Robert, is real steel, which can stand fire; second, Stannis, is pig iron, which is too hard to break easily; third, Renly, is bright copper, which looks beautiful but is not worth much.

  As soon as the song ended, the men and women on the dance floor stopped and walked outside.

  Duke Renly took Miss Margery to the small room next to him.

   Seeing his "predetermined" daughter-in-law being taken away, Samwell didn't panic at all.

  Because he knew that Renly's plan would never succeed.

  If it was someone else, he might have to worry about the other person doing something other than painting, but Lord Renly.

   Not only is this guy a "bright brass", he's gay.

  When I say to draw, I really mean to draw.

  Samwell chuckled, and lowered his head to get the goldentail shrimp, but he was surprised to find that the plate was empty!

  Damn it, I ate it up.

   Do you want Earl Layton to take some more?

   But wouldn't that be too much...

   Sir Caesar, who knew everything, became distressed.

  (end of this chapter)