Chapter 272: Mei Stark

What a Bolton.

She almost began to suspect that her officers had leaked the news to Bolton; otherwise, how could Bolton have sent someone to talk peace so "timely"? She then flipped this thought over.

If someone abandoned the light for the dark at this time, it either meant that the person was too stupid, or it meant she was too rotten.

She would never admit the latter.

When she announced the end of the meeting and left only a few important ministers and guards by her side, she immediately felt relieved: Roose Bolton might be using this method to show that he knew her whereabouts and thoughts like the back of his hand, and such a coincidental time just proved his ability or that of the Red Priest.

He was showing off.

Mei cast this thought aside. Up to now, besides the towering cliff roads and the towering city walls, what else did he have to show off?

If the Red Priest really had the ability to assist Bolton in changing the general trend, he should have predicted the change in weather, and he should have predicted the disastrous consequences brought to them by Will's easy capture of Winterfell.

Without a doubt, the loss of Winterfell was the most critical factor in Bolton's loss of the possibility of a comeback. Thousands of intact troops were scattered, driven, and separated in the mountains. Even if Bolton was proficient in military affairs, he could not organize an effective defense in a narrow area and retreat calmly.

If the monk was really his greatest reliance, at this time Winterfell should still be firmly in his hands, and he should also be calmly sitting in the Dreadfort organizing forces, taking the opportunity to fight again or endure, waiting for her army to collapse.

Normal people would know the importance of Winterfell. A wise monarch would send enough troops and arrange generals who could be entrusted with important tasks. Most importantly, the monk who could really see the future should have reminded the lord in time never to open the door for the Viscount's daughter.

The Red Priest was clearly unable to be that meticulous.

Heh, even if the monk could be that meticulous, now was not the time to abuse precise time and opportunity to show her his power—not to mention, that was not his power—the power that made Mei feel awe was only the high red bricks piled up by manpower.

His method was completely wrong. To correctly express his willingness to talk peace, he should have sunk the monk into Red Lake, turned him into mud, and kept company with the various corpses he had hidden in the lake.

It didn't matter.

The stench emitted by the corpses fished out of Red Lake burning on the firewood almost constantly reminded her that she should personally add this to the negotiation conditions. She could not forget the screaming in the fire on the battlefield outside Hornwood, nor could she forget the way the black shadow like water cut off the Red Warrior Credo.

This was a thorough evil warlock, he should go to hell, if there was one.

She waited for Bolton's envoy in silence with her important ministers and advisors.

There were only three people who came as envoys. Mei recognized one of them; he was the Viscount of Leafy Creek, Baltasar Bolton. To the left of Baltasar was a young man, looking unruly, and on the right, she felt she had seen him on the battlefield, slightly familiar, but she didn't know his identity, let alone his name.

"Viscount Bolton, we meet again." Mei spoke first before they had completely stopped, "Compared to when we met at Winterfell last time, you look much more capable."

Thinner and withered, looking no longer as proud as before.

"Ser Mei, if you hadn't mentioned Winterfell, I wouldn't have known which Viscount Bolton you were talking to," he took a small step forward, "This one beside me is the new Viscount of Sheephead Mountain, Rogar Bolton, he is the son of Lord Lufford Bolton."

Rogar Bolton looked at her straight, the corners of his mouth hooked, examining her faintly. He was neither expressing admiration nor sarcasm, simply examining her.

"Thank you for the introduction," Mei replied with sarcasm, "but it is truly a pity. I was raised as an illegitimate daughter since I was a child and did not study well with the Maester. I neither know small places like Sheephead Mountain, nor have the opportunity to know big figures like Lord Lufford Bolton... The young viscount in front of me is naturally very strange," Mei paused for a breath and smiled brightly, "However, among my subordinates, there are quite a few viscounts like you—speaking of which, since coming to the Riverlands, I have appointed five viscounts, each of them as young as you. If this young viscount also joins my command, I would be very happy."

"If you are willing to marry me, I will make you even happier." The young Viscount Rogar Bolton said with a smile, as if he didn't see the important ministers and advisors beside him changing color.

"That is truly a pity. I think that is the thing you are least likely to do," Mei skipped over this young goods, "Like this one beside you, if he learned to be taciturn, perhaps he could add a lot of points for you," she looked at the burly warrior on the other side of Baltasar, "I didn't expect that there would be a warrior like you in Bolton's army. On the battlefield, I wanted to slaughter you several times."

The warrior bowed slightly without any other response.

"Ser Mei," Baltasar hurriedly introduced, "This is the Master-at-arms of the Dreadfort, Murray."

"So that's it, Ser Murray..."

"I am not a knight. You can just call me Master-at-arms Murray." He interrupted Mei and responded coldly.

Her Master-at-arms was only Ser Roderick.

"I have witnessed your bravery on the battlefield, Master-at-arms Murray," Mei sighed long, then smiled again, "It's just a pity that I let you run away. If your armor were newer, perhaps you would have lost your life. Heh, the mistake young people make most easily is to decide their weight based on the enemy's appearance. This is truly a big mistake."

"We came here to convey a message for Lord Bolton, not to listen to you show off your battle achievements." Ser Murray raised his head and looked at Mei coldly, giving people the feeling of being Robert's personal executioner.

Idiot, she was of course not showing off her battle achievements. Even slaughtering him was not enough for her to show off.

"Message?" Just passing a word? "If it is not surrender, I don't need any other message from him. I allow you to leave after dining here." Mei stood up, preparing to leave the table.

Perhaps she already knew why the previous King in the North would besiege for a few years before accepting surrender. Without spending time, it is difficult to let go of the mentality and make peace with one's vassals.

"Ser Mei," Baltasar hurriedly shouted, "Of course, we all know the current situation. In order for the North to survive in the coming severe cold, the two families should join hands and move forward."

"If we join hands, Roose Bolton should at least wash his hands clean." Mei felt that she couldn't listen to the two words "join hands" at all, and her anger was strangely ignited instantly, "What is going on with the corpses and body parts in Red Lake? I don't believe your lord would bring so many corpses back and bury them at the bottom of the lake... They stink to death, and your Lord Bolton is also dirty to death."

"Your Highness, those are the soldiers of the Frey and Tyrell families who refused to submit. I dare to guarantee to you that there is not a single Northerner among them—the Tyrells and Freys are also your enemies, aren't they?"

Mei was successfully disgusted by him.

"Your lord is insane and has no honor."

"Ser, didn't you slaughter all the Freys the same way? I heard that the Duke's wife was hanged alive by your soldiers. She was a noblewoman and was pregnant. How can someone who does this maintain honor, and how can they not be insane?" Rogar Bolton countered. "I don't know if she suffered humiliation before she died."

This was a thorough rumor. The women of the Frey family had already been sent to their maternal family. If they were conspired against and harmed, that was the method of the Tully family, but she didn't need to distinguish it with him.

"Ser, you completely misunderstood Lord Bolton." He began to distinguish first, "I know about this matter. It was clearly that the soldiers of the two families deliberately started a rebellion, intending to seize the Dreadfort. As for this matter, Lord Bolton was completely unaware. At that time, he had already returned to the castle. If you must resent someone, I can tell you, Ser, the one who did this was Viscount Willam Ror, and the one who suggested the Viscount to hide the corpses in the lake was the Red Priest. It was he who said to pollute the water source and let your army be infected with disease."

It was clearly made up on the spot. She didn't believe a word of it. Most of the corpses didn't have a single wound.

"After the Duke knew about this, he prepared to fish out the corpses, but Your Highness's army had already pursued, so the Duke could only give up."

"Your Lord Bolton just sent you to bring these messages?" Mei glared at Theon Snow, who was about to laugh.

"Of course not." Baltasar straightened his back, "The Duke believes that the continued fighting between Bolton and Stark only increases consumption and makes the North more distressed. He said that for the sake of the North, he is willing to lower the Stag and Lion flag of the castle and hang up the Ice Direwolf flag again—if you like, he can also hang up a red Ice Direwolf flag, this is his original words—he is willing to recognize you as the co-master of the North, as long as you agree that the Dreadfort exists as an independent territory, exempt from paying taxes to Winterfell, self-determining the winter storage ratio, self-negotiating treaty commercial taxes with foreign countries, and freely carrying out trade and building castles and ports..."

Mei almost wanted to sneer at this condition, and Theon Snow beside her seemed to have started to smile playfully.

"Ser Mei, this is the best plan. And the Duke has already said that he is willing to help you coordinate and pacify the rebellions in Flint's Finger and Barrowton—as long as you accept these conditions, the North will once again become a stable North united around the Starks, won't it?"

He actually dared to ask back.

"I know your concerns, Ser. But if you ask me, as long as you agree to this plan, the two families will continue to exist in the North. I believe that in a few hundred years, no, as long as a few decades pass, all the grievances will be resolved." He suddenly shook his head and laughed, "Just like what I proposed when I went to Winterfell last time, if you are willing to marry the Duke's heir and successfully give birth to offspring, perhaps the two families will be intimate within ten years, and these tragic things that happened in the North will be as if they had never happened."

Heh, people all say the North never forgets.

"The Duke's heir... I don't see Ramsay Bolton. Does he still have to hide behind the city walls and listen to other people's arrangements now?"

"The Duke has no offspring of his own. If he had, they would have been slaughtered by your subordinates at the Twins, so he can establish the Bolton boy you like as his heir. I believe there are quite a few suitable candidates. If you are willing to go directly to the Duke..."

Don't let her continue to be disgusted.

"Where is Ramsay Bolton?" The Braavosi said he was ambushed on the outskirts.

"This... Ser, he..."

"Ramsay Bolton might have died in battle like my old man!" Rogar Bolton shouted loudly, "What can't be said about this? It's chaotic, isn't it normal for some people to die?"

"My Lord, you have said enough. The picture you envision is impressive, but you also listen to my plan: Bolton's territory must be cut off from Shanyang City, Winterfell, Sheephead Mountain, and Bolton Port, and pay one hundred thousand gold dragons and two hundred thousand stones of wheat as compensation for his betrayal and evil deeds. Everything else will be restored to the situation when my father, Lord Eddard, was still alive."

"Lord Eddard is already dead, and you haven't conquered the Dreadfort yet." Rogar said loudly, "How can such conditions be agreed to? You'd better save it!"

"As long as you are not yet the heir to Lord Bolton and not yet the Lord of the Dreadfort, such conditions are not for you to use your brain, kid!" Theon Snow laughed loudly.

"This condition is truly difficult to accept, Your Highness. But since this is your proposal, I guarantee that Lord Bolton will hear it completely."

"He also has to hang the Red Priest to pay homage to the Old Gods." Mei stood up again, looked at Baltasar, and quickly left the disgusting tent.

For the next week, they did not start negotiating conditions, but were talking about what issues they should negotiate. This was simply a negotiation before the negotiation.

She firmly removed marriage from the content of the negotiations, while Count Glover added the discussion of requiring him to provide a declaration of allegiance—this was mainly to let Bolton announce to the Seven Kingdoms that he would return to the Stark command and re-swear allegiance to the Starks, which was also to thoroughly abandon the Iron Throne and further ruin Bolton's credibility.

She didn't expect that the negotiations would be so long and difficult.

She thought her bottom line was already very loose, but these important ministers and lords around her seemed to feel that the other party was fully qualified to talk like this. In the end, Mei felt whether she had really won the war, or whether Bolton was really ready to give up resistance and start to be a vassal of the Starks again with peace of mind.

On the seventh day of the negotiations, when news came that the soldiers of the Mountain Clans had entered the castle of Widow's Watch, they finally finalized the content of the agreement: all taxes on Bolton's territory were halved, Bolton agreed to pay Winterfell seventy thousand gold dragons and seventy thousand stones of wheat as war compensation, Bolton agreed to give up Shanyang City but retained Winterfell, Sheephead Mountain, and Bolton Port, Bolton had the right to build no more than seven new castles in his territory and was exempt from paying castle taxes. Mei also agreed to their self-determination of the winter storage ratio and unique status higher than other territories, but firmly denied the right to trade and negotiate treaty commercial taxes with foreign countries and freely carry out trade. As for the most common one, both sides first agreed to lower the flag of the Iron Throne, but Bolton refused to sign the new declaration of allegiance—instead, after Roose Bolton's death, his heir would swear allegiance to Winterfell two years after inheriting the Dreadfort.

The key figure affecting Mei's warging, that Red Priest, was also dealt with, but it was three days later. According to the agreement, Mei needed to withdraw her army from the passage, retreat to the north bank of Red Lake, and hang the Red Priest in front of Red Lake. ===== CHAPTER 273 =====