Chapter 76: Mei Stark

Every step Shaggydog took forward, Kongqi retreated two steps.

"What do you mean by this?" Kongqi turned and questioned.

"You can safely walk out of this door, but once you're out, don't come in again; take your people and leave Winterfell, go anywhere you want." Mei stood up, feeling incomparably lonely.

"I am the eldest daughter of Eddard Stark of Winterfell; Lord Eddard has no other legitimate sons, and Stark will not have any other male descendants you are willing to swear allegiance to; if you cannot respect me, then I cannot expect or demand that you respect Sansa, respect Arya; they are my heirs. Most importantly, if you cannot respect me, I cannot trust you to help me defeat Stark's enemies. I will not keep people I cannot trust by my side."

The threatening words, after being spoken, were left with only sadness.

All the male descendants born to Lord Eddard and his wife were dead.

The sound of the wind and snow poured into the hall along the open main door.

The north wind howled, roaring endlessly in the mountains and forests.

The members of the council in the hall and the officers of all sizes stared at Kongqi, waiting for him.

"This requires your own choice."

The firelight from the torches and the fireplace flickered in the cold wind.

"You can rest assured, as long as you don't block Shaggydog's path, it won't attack you. You can safely walk out of this big door and safely leave Winterfell. This is Stark's promise; you don't need to doubt it."

The hall was like being frozen. He hesitated at the time he should have made a decision. Regardless of self-esteem or other reasons, the time was already too long.

Mei was disappointed to the extreme.

"What are you still waiting for? Kneel or get out!" Ser Rodrik's face was flushed red, not knowing if it was anger or the stimulation of the cold wind pouring in from the big door; he looked at Kongqi and scolded loudly, his hand already on the sword hilt.

Kongqi was still hesitating.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Other officers also began to scold loudly.

Kongqi raised his head, stared fixedly at Mei, and finally, like a person who had thawed, reached out to grope his waist; the many officers watched his appearance and stopped scolding silently, all drawing their long swords.

Kongqi didn't care about the officers who drew their swords, and knelt on one knee alone, placing his sword horizontally on the floor of the hall.

"Your Highness, I, Kongqi Kongdun, hereby apologize to you. I, Kongqi Kongdun, hereby promise that such a thing will never happen again; my people are yours, and my sword is also yours. I will swear allegiance to all heirs you designate, just as I swore allegiance to Eddard Stark, swore allegiance to Robb Stark, just as my father once swore allegiance to Rickard Stark, just as in history, every other Kongdun who once swore allegiance to Stark." He said loudly.

The cold wind still howled, playing its own movement.

"Please rise, Lord Kongqi Kongdun." Mei raised her hand to signal, and he stood up accordingly, "Hurry and close the door of the hall; no one is allowed to go out anymore; it's really damn cold."

First there were several fragmented laughs, and when she also revealed a smile, everyone began to laugh heartily, as if the awkward thing just now had never happened.

Shaggydog walked toward her at this time and lay down beside her, its green eyes flashing.

Mei reached out to stroke its giant head, and it seemed not to notice.

"Your Highness, we have carved a stone statue for Bran in the crypt, right next to his brother Robb's statue; now that Rickon's corpse has been found, do you want to place his tomb next to Bran's?"

Mei nodded. "Let him accompany his brothers."

The maester nodded mutely; the death of two children had also drained all his spirit; he looked at least ten years older than when she left last time.

"Stannis's envoy, the Red Woman Melisandre and her attendant Ser Gander, are still waiting in the Winter Town; do you want to see them?"

"Why are they outside the city?"

"We are obeying your prohibition, forbidding all people of unknown identity from entering the city." Ser Rodrik explained.

"What is unknown about their identity?"

"Your Highness, they hold Stannis's appointment letter, but the person Stannis appointed is Ser Davos Seaworth, not any of them, and the Onion Knight didn't come with them. He and Lady Sansa have disappeared."

"The Onion Knight and Sansa were captured by Euron Greyjoy." She took out the letter from Seagard and handed it to the maester, then explained the transaction terms with much effort.

"Then the Red Woman and Ser Gander?"

"Please invite them into the city."

After Beer Belly took the order, he walked out of the hall from the side door. Before long, the Red Woman and Ser Gander had arrived at the hall from the main door to meet her and her officers.

When Ser Gander arrived at the hall, a layer of fine snow was left on his head, but there wasn't a trace of snow on the Red Woman.

"Your Highness, I didn't expect we would meet so soon." The Red Woman said.

"Are you a priest of R'hllor?"

"I am a servant of R'hllor. I serve R'hllor."

"On my way back to the North, I met a priest of R'hllor named Thoros, who told me that R'hllor already regards me as an enemy, so, are you my enemy?"

"I am here to seek an alliance for King Stannis, so, are we enemies?" she answered indifferently.

But this wasn't the answer Mei needed.

"I have heard of Davos's mission. Unfortunately, my younger brother died of murder, and the Starks have no male descendants left to marry Princess Shireen. As for the alliance you speak of, even if concluded, what meaning does it have? King Stannis cannot defeat Bolton for me, and I cannot win the Iron Throne for King Stannis. The situation in the North is dangerous and vicious; you should understand."

"What you don't understand is you, Your Highness." She revealed a fire-red smile, "When you occupied The Twins and sent old Walder's head to King's Landing, the situation was already different."

"I can't see what's different." Mei replied.

"Then let me tell you." She walked toward the fireplace and looked at the fire inside, "After old Walder's head was sent to King's Landing, the citizens and nobles of King's Landing all believed that the current Iron Throne was an accomplice of old Walder; for the current little king not being a bastard of the Queen Regent and her brother, the Iron Throne could still calmly defend, but they couldn't refute their guilt in the Red Wedding, and even the Purple Wedding became evidence of their guilt, so, what is most damaging to the Iron Throne now is not King Stannis, but you, the Starks of the North. Compared to eliminating King Stannis, they are now more eager to eliminate the Starks."

The officers of Winterfell didn't understand and discussed heatedly.

The Red Woman successfully attracted everyone's attention.

"After The Twins fell, the Freys prepared to return from Gulltown to counterattack The Twins, and the Tyrell army also had hesitation," she paused, "This is the reason why Bolton stayed at Gulltown for so long. Now, the Iron Throne is eager to extinguish the Starks, to cover up the dishonorable behavior at the Red Wedding, so they have increased their support for Bolton; both the Freys and the Tyrells have been appeased, and the coalition will also be supported and strengthened by the Vale; they will enter the North with unprecedented supplies and reinforcements; if this winter is long enough, the first to freeze and starve to death won't be Bolton."

"What does this have to do with Stannis, and what can he help? Make his troops fewer, make his grain turn into ashes?"

"King Stannis can naturally help. The pressure of the Iron Throne has reached the Starks here; it is the Starks who need allies from outside, such as King Stannis, not King Stannis who needs the Starks."

"Even if the Starks need allies more than King Stannis, how can we be sure that King Stannis is useful to us? He is far away on Dragonstone. And, as far as I know, he couldn't even safely send a young girl to Winterfell." Mei sat high on the platform.

"Your Highness, you don't know the enemy you are facing." She adjusted her clothes; in the firelight, she was a burning fire, making people's hearts tremble, "The other party has already used every means, but you are still fighting a glorious mortal war. Think about your younger brothers; no matter how good your sword skills are, no matter how clear your orders are, no matter how loyal and magical the direwolves are, they couldn't protect them; no matter how excellent your ability to lead troops is, no matter how brave your officers are, you cannot deal with the villains planted by Bolton, the demons driven by shadowbinders. Even the Wall and Winterfell have been loaded with magic; what makes you think you can deal with unknown supernatural powers? What makes you think you can deal with Bolton who is fully prepared?"

The hall fell into silence again.

"Lady Melisandre," the maester spoke, "do you think Bolton has already used magic? We haven't seen any magic. And magic is a sword without a hilt; even if used, it may cause damage to oneself; using it to win a war is no different from gambling."

"At least, we haven't seen King Stannis win a war by magic." Ser Rodrik spoke.

"King Stannis is a man who values honor; precisely because he and you all are too similar, he had the failure of the Battle of the Blackwater; his failure wasn't because of magic, but on the contrary, it was because he rejected it. You all should learn this lesson and not repeat the same mistakes here." She began to counterattack, "Old Maester, don't let mortal knowledge limit you. Before Brandon was murdered, I had already used red cloth to remind you, but you ignored it and refused to believe what Bran saw; it was precisely because of your arrogance that Bran and Rickon were in danger, the most..."

"Lady, do you mean that by allying with King Stannis, I can deal with unknown supernatural powers and deal with Bolton who is fully prepared?" Mei didn't want to let her blame the already extremely guilty maester.

"Don't be stubborn about your own power; use all the power you can use, unite all the allies you can unite, because your allies don't want you to perish inexplicably."

"It seems that the power King Stannis has left is just petty tricks." Ser Robett Glover mocked.

"The petty tricks Ser mentioned took away Lord Eddard's two legitimate sons and kidnapped Eddard's other children," she looked at Mei, then at the maester, "Lords, this is no longer the mortal world described by the Citadel; this is a world where magic and mysterious powers are constantly reviving; on the distant eastern continent, magic dragons have been reborn from stone; outside the Wall, the servants of the unspeakable god, the Others you speak of, are already wandering in the forest. A new world is already surging in; sticking to old habits will lead to failure and being abandoned by history, while embracing change can occupy the initiative in the future. Your opponent has already embraced this power; right at the moment we are speaking, he is already drifting on the Shivering Sea with his army, smooth sailing, and will land in the North along the banks of the Weeping River soon."

"Very brilliant, Lady." Mei stood up, holding her sword, and walked down the steps, "Lady, you haven't answered my question yet."

"What question?"

"If R'hllor regards me as an enemy, does my accepting you or accepting King Stannis's power mean that this is just the way it, your god, opposes me?"

"R'hllor's intentions, different priests will have different interpretations. Some people might perhaps think you are its enemy." She put away her smile and answered solemnly.

"And you, Lady?"

"How could god take mortals as opponents? R'hllor's great enemy will always be only one, the Other of cold and darkness. We will eventually raise our swords and fight it. I have seen your power; I believe you will be its helper."

She smiled again, "It has already bestowed you a light sword, hasn't it?" ===== CHAPTER 77 =====