Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

He was a year younger than Eamon, so of course he had to call Eamon "Brother Eamon." He came from the Fosowie family of the "Red Apple" vintage and was named Leon Fosowie. His father was Brian Fosowie, a knight in the family. Clearly, Leon was a marginal figure in the family.

"Yes, you learn from your mistakes."

"Imon, don't be so careless again."

Sitting on the other side of the campfire, a young knight slightly older than Imon poked at the fire with a stick to make it burn more fully, then glanced at Imon and spoke.

He is the son of Otton Mariewes, the former Earl of the Long Table, and Tanya of Myre, named Russell, though his father died in the war for the Iron Throne.

The title of Earl of the Long Table Hall was given to a distant uncle of his, who also shared the same surname, Mariewes, after the war. Now, Roussel has no connection with the Long Table Hall anymore.

"Imon, would you like something to drink?"

Then Russell raised the wine jug in his hand and asked.

However, as Aemon gazed at the burning campfire, his silver-gold curls swayed slightly in the wind, and his pale purple eyes seemed to be lost in thought.

Then Imon was startled awake by Russell Marives's voice. With one hand still in a straitjacket, he glanced at his right hand, then shook his head with a wry smile.

"No, Russell."

"I'll spend some time by myself."

Then Aemon stood up and walked toward his tent.

The young knights sitting around the campfire looked at each other, but none of them stepped forward to stop them.

Everyone could see that the silver-gold-haired boy was somewhat downcast, whereas normally he always faced life with confidence and optimism.

"What's wrong with Brother Imon?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm just in a bad mood."

On the other side, a young knight wearing a long-horned owl emblem shook his head and spoke, then hesitated before continuing.

"After all, today..."

Chapter 974 Rebellion from All Sides

Night falls, and all is quiet.

"Grow up quickly—"

"Only when you grow up can you leave the Red Castle and go out into the world."

After refusing visits from some of his companions and sitting alone in his tent for a long time, Aemon finally opened the gift his mother, Daenerys, had sent back.

This appears to be a model of a wooden boat made of oak, carved with exquisite craftsmanship, and with a mother's message at the bottom.

This was a blessing written by Daenerys in her delicate handwriting, wishing her son a happy fifteenth birthday, which the craftsmen then carved into the bottom of the ship.

That's right, today is Eamon's fifteenth birthday.

However, his mother Daenerys did not return; she was said to have gone to suppress a rebellion that had broken out somewhere.

Ten years have passed since the Targaryen family launched their crusade.

The Valyrian Empire controlled the vast territory of Essos. The rebuilt Braavos, Norfos, and Loras had surrendered one after another in the past few years and peacefully joined the imperial system, avoiding war and bloodshed, and becoming highly autonomous provinces.

Because of the peaceful integration of city-states such as Braavos and Norfos, the Valyrian Empire has effectively gained complete control over the western coast of the continent of Essos.

Furthermore, the empire's power continued to advance, even encroaching on large areas of the grasslands. The invincible imperial army had pushed all the way to the gates of the Dothraki holy city of Vis Dothraki, almost completing an alternate-world version of 'Sealing the Wolf's Nest', which was changed to 'Sealing the Holy Mother Mountain'.

However, the Imperial legions led by Queen Daenerys swept across the continent of Essos, but ultimately halted their advance just before launching an expedition deep into the Great Grass Sea to attack Vis Dothraki.

Because the Valyrian Empire's territory was simply too vast, and this war had expanded its territory too deeply, the imperial capital, King's Landing, was too far from the frontier, resulting in insufficient influence and control.

Therefore, just as the little queen was preparing to launch a full-scale attack on Vis Dothraki and seal Mount Our Lady, news suddenly came from the rear that a fire had broken out in the backyard.

The Valyrian Empire's army launched "Operation Godslaying," conquering cities and territories along the way, eliminating the worship of many gods and deities on the continent of Essos, overthrowing statues, destroying temples, killing clergy, and forbidding anyone from secretly worshipping these evil gods anymore.

The three city-states of Slaver's Bay—Meereen, Yunkai, and Astapor—had already fully completed their transformation into imperial states.

Daenerys intended to transform Slaver's Bay into a prosperous province of the Empire.

Therefore, she spent a great deal of effort here, supporting a local as governor, abolishing the inferior system of slavery, overthrowing the deep-rooted harpy belief, and eliminating the influence of evil gods such as Rahlo and the Pale Child.

However, Daenerys devoted a great deal of effort to Slaver's Bay, but ultimately the results were minimal.

When the Valyrian Empire's legions were stationed here, the local people were all well-behaved and obedient, not daring to make the slightest move. However, once Daenerys's army withdrew, Slaver's Bay would immediately become the source of unrest.

The early Slaver's Bay experienced a sudden upheaval, which originated from the top down.

Daenerys had just installed several former local nobles as governors when she launched an expedition against Vis Dothraki, intending to wipe out Khal Mengo's forces and bring them all into the Imperial system. However, at that very moment, the Slaver's Bay rebellion broke out.

If it were just a disturbance in Slaver's Bay, it wouldn't be a big deal. Daenerys could conquer Vis Dothraki first, and then turn around and deal with these stubborn Ghith.

However, the key issue is that the Dothraki Sea is too vast, and the Great Grass Sea is not suitable for building human cities. The cost of transporting food and supplies by land to establish a long supply line is too high.

This is also why powerful agricultural civilizations could only passively defend against the incursions of nomadic peoples, rather than eliminating them once and for all.

Therefore, when Queen Daenerys, with her victorious army that had swept across Essos, wanted to launch an expedition against Vis Dothraki to solve the problem once and for all, she had to rely on Slaver's Bay as a sea route for transportation and supply, as well as a springboard and transit point for attacking Vis Dothraki.

So, no sooner had the little queen's army left than chaos erupted in Slaver's Bay, forcing Daenerys to abandon her expedition to Viss Dothraki and put out the fire in her own backyard.

Daenerys originally thought that the unrest in Slaver's Bay was caused by the resentment of the former slave owners, who were the governors she had supported, and who then stirred up public opinion to start the rebellion.

However, it wasn't until Daenerys repeatedly quelled the unrest in Slaver's Bay and hanged countless governors and former slave owners that she realized the problem was not so simple.

Daenerys suddenly discovered that those who rebelled against her were not only her former slave owners, but also the slaves she had once rescued who knelt on the ground and called her 'Mother'.

This time, the slaves actually sided with their slave owner and opposed her rule as the 'Shatterer'.

This discovery greatly shocked Daenerys and she found it very difficult to understand why they would repay kindness with enmity when she had pulled them out of their misery.

However, the land of Gugis was actually conquered by the Valyrians. In order to prevent the resurgence of the Gugis Empire, the Valyrians sprinkled salt, sulfur, and bones on the land, which made it barren and unable to yield any harvest.

Therefore, the reason why Slaver's Bay evolved into the center of the world's slave trade was precisely because, apart from its unique geographical location, it had no other advantages and could only engage in the slave trade.

With the arrival of the new conquerors, Daenerys forcibly abolished the local slave system, briefly winning the hearts of the slaves.

However, after these slaves gained their freedom, they suddenly found themselves unable to find work, unable to afford food, and even worse off than when they were slaves.

At least slaves were the private property of slave owners, so they wouldn't be beaten to death or starved to death, and they would at least have food to eat.

Furthermore, Daenerys abolished the local faith of the harpies and the Red God cult, which had a strong influence and wide reach among slaves, forbidding everyone from worshipping R'hllor and from reciting His name and stories.

This enraged the religious slaves.

As a result, many slaves who had once supported Daenerys and even called her 'Mother' made a complete 180-degree turn and joined the slave owners' side to rebel against the Valyrian Empire's rule, resulting in repeated sieges and suppressions, yet the rebellion still managed to resurface.

But the current state of resistance against the Valyrian Empire's tyranny and the movement to destroy the gods is not limited to Slaver's Bay.

The people were once terrified by the dragons and the powerful army, but the empire's army was ultimately short-handed. As a result, these people, who gradually came to their senses, began to incite resistance and demand the expulsion of the invaders.

The newly conquered territories of the Valyrian Empire began to erupt in rebellion. Although these rebellions, large and small, were not enough to shake the overall Valyrian Empire, Daenerys was still forced to put out fires everywhere.

The young queen once loved her son most, but now, for the sake of her husband, Daenerys has even neglected her love for her son.

Chapter 975 Flood

Immon Targaryen, along with Queen Arianne and her officials, traveled south to the Summerhall, the Targaryen family's summer residence, for recuperation.

Meanwhile, Immon's elder brother, Heros Targaryen, the eldest prince of the Targaryen dynasty, had long since left the Red Keep. After coming of age, he was granted the title of Duke of Dragonstone.

Dragonstone is the symbol of the Targaryen throne. Every prince of the throne has been granted the title of Duke of Dragonstone before inheriting the throne, including Rhaegar, Horos's uncle or maternal grandfather.

As Viserys' eldest son, it was only natural that Heros would be granted the title of Duke of Dragonstone upon reaching adulthood, and no one could object to it. In fact, many nobles who supported Heros's ascension to the throne regarded it as a sign that the eldest prince had already won.

However, no one knows that none of Viserys' three children—Princess Diana, Prince Herros, and Prince Immon—have actually gained the upper hand in this battle for the throne.

To prevent his descendants from killing each other, Viserys set a test for his three children: whoever could pull out the dragon spear stuck in the ground of the Red Keep would inherit his throne.

The test Viserys set for himself was known only to his three wives, Arianne, Rhaenys, and Daenerys, and his three children; it remained unknown to outsiders.

Viserys does not object to children competing fairly within certain limits.

Except for the prohibition against fratricide that endangers the life of the other party, all means can be used.

After all, the world is inherently cruel, and Viserys can't protect them forever; otherwise, he would only be harming them.

His test was simple in theory, but not so easy in practice. If he could understand it, he could pull out the dragon spear, which was stained with divine blood and had killed gods, in an instant.

However, if one cannot understand this, even sending out a fully grown giant would not be able to pull it out from beneath the Red Keep, because Viserys had already connected the dragon spear to the earth through divine power.

To forcibly pull out the dragon spear would require either divine power surpassing Viserys's, or the ability to uproot the entire land and the Red Keep itself.

So many years have passed, and Viserys' three children, Diana, Herlos, and Immon, have racked their brains and tried various methods, but none of them could budge the dragon spear that their father had planted in the ground.

They experienced frustration, despair, and self-doubt, but now they have realized that their father's tests were not so easy to overcome.

Therefore, their attention gradually shifted from the Red Castle to the outside world, hoping to break free from their current limitations and go to a wider world to find the answer their father wanted.

Now, it has been 317 years since Yin Gengli.

Thirty-five years have passed since the once-fierce war of usurpers. The world has undergone dramatic changes. Some people are still alive, but some familiar faces have passed away one after another. The world has changed, and things are no longer the same.

Meanwhile, the Valyrian Crown Prince Heros Targaryen is twenty-one years old this year. He is in the prime of his life and has been granted the title of Duke of Dragonstone. He has left the Red Keep to start his own independent household.

Subsequently, thanks to his outstanding abilities and the nobles who supported him, Heros obtained a seat in the Imperial Council and became the Imperial Minister of the Navy, commanding the Dragonstone Fleet guarding Blackwater Bay.

However, the First Prince Heros Targaryen is not in King's Landing accompanying Queen Arianne on her southward journey as a courtier, nor is he training the Imperial Navy on his fiefdom of Dragonstone. Instead, he has appeared in the Riverlands.

It turns out that a natural disaster had struck Hejian not long ago, with torrential rains falling for a week. Hejian is a rich, fertile, and densely populated land, and the dense network of rivers that runs through it facilitates the exchange of people and goods.

A week of torrential rains caused all the rivers, large and small, in the Hejian region to swell, resulting in severe flooding that swept across the entire area.

The raging floodwaters, with their unstoppable force, devastated many villages and towns along the riverbanks and submerged forests.

The floods have displaced a large number of people in Hejian, leaving them in dire straits. The flow of goods from Hejian to the outside world has also been blocked. The houses where generations have lived have been washed away by the floods, and the people are struggling to afford food and clothing.

Even so, the great flood showed no signs of abating, and the torrential rain continued, especially at the confluence of the three rivers, where the flooding was most severe.

The Tengshi River, which flows westward, and the Blackwater River, which leads to King's Landing, were also affected to varying degrees.

The floods in the Riverlands threatened the safety of King's Landing, and large numbers of refugees fled with their families, starving and desperate, toward the imperial capital.

Hendry Brecken, the governor of the Riverlands and lord of the Twins, also sent messages to King's Landing via ravens, pleading for help from the Imperial Household.

It was against this backdrop that, after deliberation by the Council of the Emperor, Queen Arianne dispatched the First Prince of the Empire and Herlos Targaryen, the Minister of the Sea, to the Riverlands to provide disaster relief, repair the waterways, and restore order.

And most importantly, the mission is to stop this natural disaster in the Riverlands and prevent it from threatening the safety of King's Landing.

Therefore, the eldest prince, Herod Targaryen, who had been ordered to come, suddenly appeared with his entourage in the Trident River region, the hardest-hit area in the Riverlands.