Chapter 162: The Wedding with Sansa

Arthur's words made the hall fall silent.

After a few breaths, Hobber said with pleasant surprise, "I think it's possible. With your peerless martial prowess, as long as one person enters the Red Keep, Cersei will surely die."

Since the start of the War of the Five Kings, the name of Arthur Bracken has repeatedly made the armed nobles and Knights of the entire continent tremble with fear; who else could charge an army alone?

Duke Mace reacted a bit slowly, but he also expressed his stance in time: "If you can rescue my mother and two children, House Tyrell will pledge loyalty to you from now on. If you can also rescue the remaining Reach lords, I can guarantee that most Reachmen will only recognize you as their King."

Queen Regent Cersei, like her father Tywin, is exceptionally overbearing toward her subordinates and vassals. Judging from the King's Landing incident, this helmsman of the Lion House must be a bit deranged.

After these days of getting along, Mace had to admit that among the current kings, the Riverlands King Arthur Bracken is likely the most gentle.

Of course, except on the battlefield.

To the nobles, a gentle king who doesn't stir up trouble is a good king; as for living a bit messily, loving to spend money, or loving to hold a Tourney, those are not issues at all.

Sixteen years ago, it was precisely because Robert and Eddard treated the Reachmen with leniency that Duke Mace led an army of sixty thousand to surrender outside Storm's End.

Arthur walked down from the main seat and paced slowly to Mace, "I promise, I will rescue your family and vassals."

His voice was steady and powerful, making the "Pufferfish" Lord, who had felt at a loss for some time recently, feel inexplicably at ease.

The three heads leaned together and began to discuss the details of the operation.

"Because King's Landing is also short on food, merchant ships from Blackwater Bay to Pentos have started moving again. We can hide on the grain ships, and then... by the way, do you know the secret passages of the Red Keep?" Hobber said.

Arthur recalled for a moment, "I know one of them, but it is relatively narrow. Without alerting the garrison, not many people should be able to get in at once."

Because the Red Keep is the ancestral castle of House Targaryen, and the Baratheons did not inherit it through legitimate means, they did not inherit the secrets of the Dragon House. Therefore, the late Robert, the living Cersei, and others might not be as familiar with the entire underground structure of the Red Keep as old players like Varys, Pycelle, and Petyr Baelish.

The passage Arya took Arthur through was the secret passage where Illyrio and Varys met.

Based on Illyrio's physique, this secret passage is likely the widest in the Red Keep's secret passage system.

But he did not tell the two of them this cruel fact.

"By the way, Littlefinger should also have a path; that one is very easy to enter and exit."

According to what Arthur knows, Littlefinger Baelish climbs in and out from the cliffs near the coast of the Red Keep.

Judging from the fact that the thirty-something Duke Eddard could also crawl along that cliff path, a stronger adult male could walk this path.

Duke Mace was shocked by the Riverlands King's extensive knowledge, but he very wisely did not ask how Arthur knew.

The three people pushed and deduced back and forth for a long time, finally setting the sequence for storming the Red Keep.

First, Arthur takes a dozen top warriors to sneak in, killing Cersei and the high-ranking officers of the Westerlands first to create chaos. Then he leads men to guard the Reach captives, letting more of his own soldiers crawl in from the cliffs or the various secret passages of the Red Keep, taking the opportunity to open the gates of the Red Keep.

"We can have Lord Randyll Tarly lead the main army toward King's Landing. There is no one sent by the Lion House in his army. When the time comes, we can coordinate from inside and outside to take King's Landing in one fell swoop," Hobber suggested.

Arthur thought for a moment, "But how to deceive Cersei and make such a military deployment? Or to put it another way, how to make Cersei think it is normal for Randyll to lead the army south?"

To be honest, Randyll's ten thousand men really have no reason to return to the vicinity of King's Landing. Rashly having him lead the army south would only make Cersei send soldiers to intercept them.

Although this Queen Regent is a bit crazy, she is not stupid.

"Moreover, the movements of my Riverlands Army are also very important. According to Cersei's style of doing things, she should be ordering Randyll to continue attacking north now, so I must also make an appearance near Maidenpool. If I disappear for a period of time, Cersei will surely grow suspicious."

The second big trouble arrived.

Hobber pondered for a moment and proposed: "We can have Randyll create chaos in his own army, claiming that the Fossoway, Peake, and Merryweather houses are causing trouble because their lords were imprisoned in the Red Keep. Randyll, having no choice, leads the soldiers south to demand an explanation for the rioting soldiers."

Duke Mace shook his head.

"I don't think this explanation is very reliable. Lord Randyll Tarly once suppressed the mutiny at Bitterbridge; a few thousand soldiers rioting is not enough to make him lead the army south."

Arthur said in a low voice: "It can be explained this way: say it was at your command, which is why Randyll dared to kill two or three thousand people. Now he doesn't know what to do, so he is leading the army south. After all, this army is not entirely his private force."

The other two looked at each other and felt this explanation should work.

"As for me leaving Maidenpool, there is currently an excellent reason." Arthur had promised to marry Sansa after finishing with the Vale troops, and now it is time to fulfill it.

Once Randyll Tarly leads the army south, he will take some nobles to Harrenhal to marry Sansa.

As newlyweds, it is very normal for the Riverlands King to spend some time with his wife. During this period, Arthur will go to Dragonstone by water, then mix into a merchant ship to reach King's Landing Port.

He explained some of his ideas to the two of them.

Upon hearing that the Riverlands King was going to marry Sansa Stark, Duke Mace's face immediately darkened, but fortunately, he knew what his family's situation was now and didn't say anything more.

Hobber Redwyne had no reaction to this; he thought about it repeatedly and felt it was feasible.

"For the sake of secrecy, you should only take a few fierce generals. I will pick some soldiers from my family's warships who dare to fight to the death for their lord. As long as the Gold Dragons are paid enough, there is no worry that the house troops won't fight with their lives."

Redwyne's territory is the Arbor, and the Arbor Gold produced by his family is known as liquid gold. In terms of financial power alone, House Redwyne should be in the top five of the entire continent, surpassing several liege lord houses.

The three discussed for a long time again, making this plan more practical and feasible.

Afterwards, taking advantage of the night, Hobber slipped out of the castle, boarded a merchant ship docked at the port, and left this place.

After returning to Dragonstone, he would contact Lord Tarly and begin this series of operations.

Fifteen days later, Harrenhal.

After Randyll led the army south, Arthur returned here with some nobles, preparing to marry Sansa.

The main army was managed by Ser Hosteen of House Frey, Ser Saeas of House Rowan, Hugo of Yalan Cheng, and others. These people do not have high status in their families, so they have always been trained as military commanders. One advantage of a coalition of noble private armies is that as long as someone from the lord's house is present, the entire army will not fall into chaos.

In the main hall of the castle, all the nobles who could arrive gathered together to discuss the etiquette and the sequence of events for this wedding.

Sansa is not a very devout follower of the Old Gods, and Arthur is even more of a nominal follower of the Valyrian gods, so some details of the wedding are different from others.

What Arthur and the various nobles were arguing about were these things.

Mathis Rowan, William Mooton, and others believed that the wedding must be presided over by a Septon or other clergy, and that the sacred marriage could only be considered concluded after the couple swore oaths to their respective gods.

Hearing this suddenly, this argument sounds quite reasonable, but upon careful analysis, one knows that this is purely for the sake of making trouble.

The Old Gods currently have only one known member of the clergy: the Three-Eyed Crow.

And the physical body of this person, the Bloodraven Duke Brynden Rivers, is currently trapped in a tree hollow somewhere north of the Wall.

What is worse is that Brynden Rivers is likely a corpse, and the Three-Eyed Crow is his consciousness itself.

There is a lot of evidence to support this claim, the most powerful of which is Brynden Rivers' milk-white skin and bone-white hair, as well as his special constitution that is exceptionally sensitive to sunlight.

According to the first-born law of Targaryen intermarriage with outsiders, the appearance of the Bastard Brynden Rivers must follow the maternal House Blackwood, but he very rarely possessed other characteristics.

The various theories in the Citadel cannot explain this clearly, but if Duke Bloodraven has been walking the world in the form of a corpse, then this would explain it.

Returning to the subject, after much discussion, the nobles agreed to let Sansa choose how to worship for herself.

As for Arthur's Valyrian deities, that is even more uncertain; in all of Westeros, there is not a single priest or Septon who worships ancient gods like Balerion or Vhagar.

Perhaps one or two could be found in Volantis to the east, but there is not enough time.

"Everyone, hear me out." After speaking for a long time, Arthur gestured with his arm, "Since we have Alduin, what need do we have for clergy? A Dragon is the magical animal closest to the gods; can I not just make my marriage vows directly to it?"

Unwilling to entangle himself in such minor details with these tedious nobles, Arthur wanted to use the magic dragon to skip this step.

After the great lords consulted in twos and threes, they reluctantly agreed.

These people were not very devout to the Seven either, so they did not demand that the Riverlands King strictly follow the doctrines of the Valyrian deities.

Sitting in the main seat, Sansa's beautiful eyes widened as she watched her fiancé discuss the details of the wedding with the great lords.

Lady Whent has passed away from illness, and she is now the Lady of Harrenhal.

Unlike the image of the bedraggled hostage Arthur saw months ago, the current Lady Stark clearly looked radiant and polished.

She had combed her auburn hair until it shone, coiled it twice atop her head, and let it fall over her indigo velvet gown.

Because she had been eating very well lately, Sansa looked a bit sturdier.

Arthur estimated that the children's canteen must be well-funded.

Seeing many nobles bickering with her future husband over the detail of the oath, Sansa stopped watching from the sidelines; she walked down from the high platform where the main seat was and proposed:

"My lords, since it is Arthur's and my wedding, let us arrange these details. On the morning of the wedding, Arthur and I will go find a Weirwood to swear our oaths, and then before the banquet begins, we will do it again in front of Alduin. Is that enough?"

Since both parties involved had said so, the details of the marriage vows were thus determined, and there was one more pressing matter.

There had to be someone Sansa was familiar with to lead her to Arthur.

As things stood, the Blackfish Brynden Tully would be the best candidate for this role.

But because of the incident at Raventree Hall, the Riverlands King's relationship with him was not very good, so he did not dare to rashly let the Blackfish come to Harrenhal to attend the wedding and walk Sansa down the aisle.

"Is this matter not easy to solve? Which family in the Riverlands is close to the Tully family and can perform this task instead?"

Arthur asked loudly.

The many nobles looked at each other, and someone replied: "House Whent is very close to the Tully family."

This was nonsense; the last of the Whents had already passed away.

Seeing the scene go cold, Sansa hardened her heart and said: "You don't need to worry about this matter; I will write to my great-uncle myself and ask him to come to the wedding. At the same time, it will also mend the relationship between the Tully family and you."

Lady Stark was no fool; she also knew that her great-uncle and her fiancé had a poor relationship recently.

But because of Tywin's military campaign in the Riverlands, the relationship between the Tully family and the Lannister family was even worse.

"Then I will leave it to you."

Being at odds with Ser Blackfish was one of Arthur's biggest mistakes; if Sansa's great-uncle could come, then the Riverlands King could have a thorough talk with the Blackfish and clear the air between them.

"Between you and me, why be so formal?" Sansa gently patted the vambrace of her fiancé's plate armor.

After chatting for a long time, everyone finally set the date for the wedding, to be held in four days.

For Sansa, who had been preparing for a long time, this time was sufficient.

But the lords of various ranks still felt the wedding was too rushed, so much so that they couldn't even prepare a valuable gift.

Since it was the new King's wedding, the Jiaodus who pledged loyalty to Arthur were prepared to send something good.

"There is no need for everyone to be extravagant and wasteful on this point. I am not very picky about gifts; even a book would do." To put these nobles at ease, Arthur specifically said this in advance.

"You are truly too generous."

"Is there any other king in the whole world who is so considerate of his vassals? I think not, right?"

The nobles were moved by the Riverlands King's magnanimity.

What they did not know was that in the days to come, the expensive gifts that should be sent would still have to be sent.

In any case, Arthur would have plenty of opportunities to marry in the future, and he would not worry about failing to receive wedding gifts.

After the specific date of the wedding was determined, the entire Harrenhal and Harrentown began to operate.

Arthur had previously asked Sansa to have people prepare enough meat so that the nearby farmers could have a good meal on the day of his wedding.

But the nearby territories had all experienced looting by the Western Lands Army, so they could not produce that much chicken, duck, or mutton.

The rather thrifty Lady Stark thought of a clever method; she ordered people to catch a large amount of fish in the Gods Eye: mandarin fish, trout, salmon, carp, etc., and then pickled them in preparation for the wedding banquet.

This was only a small aspect of the wedding banquet; more details were revealed in the following two or three days: Arthur's sword-and-horse banners and Sansa's Direwolf banners were planted all over the walls of Harrenhal and the tops of the towers; to make the major event of her life more solemn, Sansa ordered a circus to be hired, and they would perform in the Hall of a Hundred Hearths before going to Harrentown to perform for the commoners...

The vain Sansa even ordered two crowns of pure gold to be crafted to show that she was the true Queen.

PS: I was delayed by something for a moment, I beg for your forgiveness.

(End of this chapter)