Not only Stannis, but also the royalist and queen's party vassals held animosity towards the House Tyrell.
When Littlefinger Petyr entered the Stone Drum Tower, shaped like a giant Dragon, he felt as if he had truly walked into the Dragon's throat, where raging Dragonfire could turn him to cinders at any moment.
He looked straight ahead, while scanning the surrounding knights and nobles with his peripheral vision, finding that most of them were people he had never seen before, or even had no impression of.
After all, as the Hand of the King promoted by Arryn, he saw renowned great nobles every day. In his opinion, those around Stannis were all mere'small fry'.
If it weren't for Jon, all of you would be prisoners!" Petyr thought indignantly, while lamenting the unfairness of fate.
All his schemes and plans had ultimately come to naught.
"Ah, so it's Lord Littlefinger, the Hand of the King, who has arrived." At this moment, someone suddenly spoke mockingly, using his nickname.
Petyr's nickname came from two main aspects: on one hand, his stature was somewhat small and thin; on the other hand, his Family's fief was on the 'Five Fingers Peninsula' in the Vale, which was small and barren.
Because of this, he was known as Littlefinger.
However, Petyr merely smiled faintly at this derogatory term and did not react excessively. He approached Stannis and knelt respectfully.
"Your Majesty Stannis, I am Petyr Baelish. I have come to offer you my loyalty, and also to negotiate peace with you on behalf of the House Tyrell." As Petyr's words fell, someone immediately shouted: "The House Tyrell are traitors!"
"Exactly!"
"We will march against them sooner or later!"
Listening to the shouts of the crowd, Petyr felt nothing but contempt in his heart. "What a bunch of fools. If it weren't for the threat of the Dornishmen in the south, would the House Tyrell care about the attitude of you remnants and defeated soldiers?"
Petyr, of course, would not voice these thoughts. Instead, he remained kneeling respectfully, awaiting Stannis's decision.
He believed that Stannis would not be that foolish, no matter what.
After a moment, Stannis finally spoke: "Ser Petyr, I already know that Cersei ordered you to win over the House Tyrell. The responsibility for this matter does not lie with you."
"Your Majesty's wisdom is unparalleled." Petyr breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it seemed he had nothing to worry about.
However, the next second, Stannis adopted an accusatory tone: "Although you were coerced by Cersei, I ask you, once you left King's Landing, was anyone still coercing you? Why did you still choose to pledge allegiance to the false king at that time?!
Furthermore, Cersei has already told me that Lord Eddard was killed due to the coup, and your plotting and strategizing were certainly involved!"
Stannis's tone contained the fury before a storm. If it weren't for the House Tyrell, he himself could have taken King's Landing.
He could already imagine that the history books would record that his throne was taken with the help of a bastard. Although he wouldn't resent Jon for this, it would be a lifelong disgrace for him.
At this moment, Petyr's face also turned pale, but fortunately, he had prepared in advance. He quickly said: "Your Majesty, Cersei also sent Lannister warriors to follow me. I couldn't get away, and as you know, the House Tyrell people are madly obsessed with having Margaery become queen. Even without a humble person like me, they would have found a way to make peace with the Lannister Family. And, and regarding Lord Eddard's matter, I also spoke to Jon, and I have obtained his understanding. I am merely a Master of Coin who only knows how to count coppers. Getting Lord Eddard to take the black and go to the Nights Watch was the utmost I could do. It was Joffrey who, acting on his own will, killed Lord Eddard!" As Petyr spoke, he pulled out the 'letter of understanding' Jon had written to him.
Before Stannis could even signal his attendant, Davos quickly stepped forward to take it and present it to him.
"Your Majesty, Jon is young after all, you—" Davos said in a low voice, hoping Stannis would not misunderstand Jon because of this.
Stannis said nothing, merely opened the letter of understanding, glanced at it briefly, and then handed it back to Davos. Then he spoke again, solemnly: "Petyr Baelish."
"Your Majesty." Hearing Stannis call out his full name, he quickly lowered his posture even further.
"All that you have done before, whether right or wrong, whether out of self-interest or honor, is difficult to ascertain. But your coming to negotiate on behalf of the House Tyrell is also a meritorious act. I will preserve your fief and title."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Although he knew Stannis had not finished speaking, Petyr quickly expressed his gratitude. He desperately wished Stannis would stop there.
Seeing his appearance, Stannis's deep blue eyes showed disgust. He then continued: "However, the 'Bitterbridge mutiny' caused immense losses to me and my army. Your actions are already suspected of treason!" Stannis paused and then commanded: "Guards!"
Petyr's body trembled violently. He felt his throat tighten, his jaw quiver, and a sensation like an electric current pass through his entire body.
"I, Stannis Baratheon the First, declare that one of your hands shall be cut off as punishment!"
"Your Majesty!" Petyr suddenly looked up at Stannis, his voice trembling, tears in his voice. "Your Majesty! I am willing to offer a fine, Your Majesty!"
Petyr pleaded, but two fully armed guards had already arrived beside him. One on each side, they held the slender Petyr, and soon someone brought out a wooden block from somewhere.
"Your Majesty! I am willing to offer a fine, I am willing to offer land, Your Majesty, Your Ma—" He was cut off mid-sentence as a foul-smelling piece of burlap was stuffed into his mouth.
"Lord Petyr, I apologize, for the sake of the ears of all the Lords." It was Penny, who had approached Jon with Davos that day, who spoke.
Petyr struggled, but felt as if a thousand-pound boulder was pressing down on him. He never expected to pay such a heavy price.
Because his vision was obstructed, he couldn't even see his left hand, which he was about to lose.
He only heard a'snap.' When the axe fell, he felt no pain; it was like someone had ripped a piece from his clothing.
But then, blood gushed out, and a pain strong enough to numb half his body rapidly spread. In just a blink of an eye, Petyr's face lost all color, becoming pale and contorted.
Everyone in the hall could smell a faint scent of blood.
Upon seeing this, Davos instinctively rubbed his own severed fingers.
In his view, Stannis was just like that: if there was a fault, there must be punishment; if there was merit, there must be a reward.
Years ago, Stannis had cut off four of his finger joints to punish him for smuggling, but then elevated him, a commoner from a flea bottom, to a noble.
At least, in Davos's opinion, it was worth it.
Stannis's punishment not only did not make him resentful but made him even more loyal.
In the great hall of the Stone Drum Tower, Petyr, with the coarse cloth in his mouth, let out a painful roar from his chest. Fortunately, a maester quickly appeared to give him milk of the poppy and bandage his wound.
After about fifteen minutes of frantic activity, Petyr looked forlornly at his severed left hand. He could feel that his severed hand must still be warm.
But he did not pick it up. Instead, his craving for power and ambition intensified. For a moment, many people flashed before his eyes: Aerys Targaryen, Jon Arryn, Brandon Stark, Eddard Stark, Robert, Rhaegar—
At this moment, Petyr desperately longed to become one of them.
He wanted power, enough power, power great enough to change the world!
He wanted a kingdom that was absolutely his own!
After cutting off Petyr's hand, Stannis seemed to feel a bit more at ease and brought the conversation back to Jon's marriage.
As for the captive nobles Petyr brought, they were set aside for now; Stannis did not want to deal with them.
Regarding the peace terms, the House Tyrell had already sent ravens to Dragonstone, and Stannis had already accepted them. Petyr was merely going through the motions.
Everyone once again began to argue about Jon's marriage. Petyr watched everything with a certain detachment. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He knew now was definitely not the time for self-pity—he must quickly demonstrate his value.
"Your Majesty." Petyr said weakly, clutching his severed wrist.
The vassals of both the royalist and queen's parties all looked at this newly surrendered subject with surprise. Stannis hadn't listened to their suggestions, so how could he accept the opinion of someone who had just had a hand severed?
But seeing Petyr, pale and clutching his severed wrist, everyone put away their scorn and contempt, watching him walk to the center, directly facing Stannis.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to offer you some humble advice on this matter."
"Speak, Ser Petyr." Stannis said, looking into Petyr's grey-green eyes.
"I believe Jon should be married to Margaery Tyrell."
As Petyr's words fell, the hall first fell into a silence, broken only by the sound of armor rubbing and breathing, followed by a burst of laughter.
"Lord Littlefinger, they say you are a clever man. Do you think with your hand?"
"How could the House Tyrell possibly be willing to marry their precious daughter to a bastard?"
"This is even worse than directly declaring war on them!"
The vassals of both the royalist and queen's parties all thought Petyr was talking nonsense, having been made foolish by pain.
They were well aware of Stannis's current strength. Forcing Jon and Margaery to marry would be tantamount to slapping the House Tyrell in the face.
During the Targaryen rule, the Baratheon Family had challenged the Dragon King over a marriage issue.
Ultimately, the then-Targaryen King had no choice but to marry his youngest daughter, Rhaella Targaryen, into the Baratheon Family.
In fact, Robert became King, not Arryn or Eddard, precisely because Rhaella Targaryen was the grandmother of Robert's three brothers!
Seeing everyone mock him mercilessly, Petyr remained unmoved and stated his view: "Your Majesty, the House Tyrell's peace terms are to retain all their fiefs and titles, but their act of treason is also undeniable and must be punished." Petyr looked at Stannis, implying that he couldn't just pick on him, the'soft persimmon'; to demonstrate royal authority, he should challenge the House Tyrell, the 'hard bone'! "I believe marrying Margaery to Jon would both show your reward and favor to Jon, and punish the House Tyrell—"
Upon hearing this, everyone thought there might indeed be some logic to it, but the strengths of the two sides were still somewhat unequal.
"As for Jon being a bastard, I imagine you already have thoughts of legitimizing him. Why not directly grant him the title of Duke of Casterly Rock? Wouldn't that solve it?" Petyr's suggestion once again shocked the assembled people.
Casterly Rock was still in the hands of the Lannister Family. How could such a reward be given to a meritorious minister?
"You grant Casterly Rock to Jon, which solves Jon's identity issue. Moreover, after Jon and Margaery are united, the House Tyrell will surely have to help him attack the Westerlands, and you can also take the opportunity to deplete the strength of the House Tyrell. Wouldn't that be killing multiple birds with one stone?"
At this, the hall once again fell silent.
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