Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

Whoosh...

He then turned around and saw the captain, fully armed, his armor scraping against the hilt of his sword, walking towards him with several trusted men.

"Sir, he's holding a badge that says 'Minister of Justice' and he wants to come in..."

The soldier saw his captain walking towards him, holding a sign that read "Minister of Justice," and spoke without hesitation.

However, before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realized that something seemed amiss.

Why couldn't the team leader, who usually slacks off and sleeps at night, fall asleep tonight?

Moreover, he was followed by several of Penrose Bramon's confidants, all fully armored and looking ready for war. King's Landing is peaceful now, why would he need to fight?

But even though the soldier realized what was happening, it was too late.

Penrose Blamon grinned maliciously, then drew his sword and beheaded him. His men suddenly pounced on him, killing several soldiers who stood in his way like wolves.

Although they were all soldiers under Penrose Bramon, they were, after all, guarding the city gates of the imperial capital, right under the emperor's nose, where princes and nobles gathered. Which of these soldiers hadn't seen such scenes before?

Therefore, the idea that a superior could issue an order and the soldiers below would be completely at a loss and have no choice but to follow their commander in rebellion, as was the case in King's Landing, is simply impossible.

Perhaps at Penrose Blamont's command, his soldiers would kill him first and then present his head to Her Majesty the Queen to claim credit.

Penrose Bramon swiftly slaughtered all the soldiers, leaving behind either subservient followers or his trusted confidants.

In the blink of an eye, all obstacles in front of the king's gate had been cleared. Several corpses lay on the ground, and blood seeped into the cracks of the stone pavement. The coachman, holding the token of the Minister of Justice, looked at the scene before him and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Well done, Lord Bramon."

That night.

All the links to King's Landing have been opened.

Swish swish swish—

An army, whose origins were unknown, marched into King's Landing without any flags or markings, under the cover of the early morning fog. Without any bloodshed or conflict, they entered the city in perfect unison.

They surrounded the Red Keep on Aegon Hill, then halted their advance, refraining from launching a direct attack.

Because they knew that the Red Keep was entirely guarded by the Unsullied, and although the Unsullied were getting old, the Royal Guard had been replenished with fresh blood over the years.

Furthermore, the Red Keep is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is built entirely of light red stone, has seven huge iron-roofed drum towers, and is surrounded by thick walls with numerous bunkers and crenellations for archers to shoot at.

Furthermore, the Red Keep's walls are protected by thick stone railings, some as high as four feet, which safeguard the edges of the walls. Traitors' heads are usually impaled on iron spears stuck in the crenellations of the walls between the gatehouses.

The city walls have huge bronze gates and iron gates, as well as some narrow side gates. A cobblestone square is located in front of the huge outer fortress. Behind the city walls are many small inner courtyards, arched halls, covered bridges, barracks, cellars, and granaries.

The Red Keep was built as a defensive fortress by the Targaryen family, so it has never been breached from the outside since its construction. Forcibly attacking the Red Keep might backfire and end up in a mess.

The commander who orchestrated the rebellion did not want any more bloodshed, otherwise it would violate the main purpose of a peaceful transfer of power, and would turn into another bloodbath.

This is something no one wants to see.

This rebellion was meticulously planned and clearly premeditated. From beginning to end, at most only a few dozen people died.

After inspecting the city gates, Commander-in-Chief of the Capital Garrison, "Iron Hand" Jeslin Bywart, returned home and was immediately taken into custody by a group of men. Thus, without any large-scale battle, the Red Keep was completely surrounded.

The rebels besieged the Red Fort but did not rush to attack. Instead, they sent envoys into the Red Fort to negotiate.

The messenger was the Minister of Justice of the Council of Lords, a 64-year-old veteran, Prince Oberyn of Dorne.

He entered the Red Keep unarmed and personally persuaded his niece, Arianne, to open the gates and peacefully transfer power.

Then, the following day.

As dawn broke, people awoke from their sleep, many with no recollection of what had transpired the previous night. Thus began a peaceful rebellion.

Chapter 1005 Negotiation

The rebels have completely taken control of King's Landing, and in the besieged Red Keep, the gray-haired veteran Oberyn Martell bravely entered the Red Keep alone, without carrying any weapons.

He persuaded his niece, now the ruler of the empire, Viserys' first wife, and Empress Arianne Martell.

He hoped that Arianne would relinquish power and peacefully transfer it to the next heir, namely the eldest prince whom Oberyn had wholeheartedly supported, His Highness Heros Targaryen, who was one-quarter Dornish.

The era of three women controlling state power is over.

The reigns of the three empresses will undoubtedly be a significant chapter in the history of the empire, given that they controlled everything in the early days of the empire, including its political, economic, and military lifelines.

The three had a clear division of labor, effectively resolved their conflicts, and lived in harmony, which became a well-known story.

Furthermore, during the reign of the three emperors, the empire launched a war of faith against foreign powers. The Eastern Expedition, which lasted for more than a decade, not only swallowed up a large number of the empire's precious development opportunities like a bottomless pit, but also directly expanded the empire's territory by more than double.

It can be said that Viserys Targaryen founded the country, but the reigns of the three queens brought prosperity to the country, directly pushing its overall national strength and territory to their peak.

In reality, Viserys, as the founder of the empire, ruled for a shorter period than his three wives.

Furthermore, the empire prospered and flourished under the rule of his three wives, and is now more powerful than it was a decade or so ago during Viserys's reign.

Of course, this is due to a variety of reasons.

Viserys' reign was marked by numerous challenges, including the Long Night and the White Walkers, as well as natural disasters and man-made calamities, making the situation even more difficult.

In the decade or so that followed the Long Night, most regions within the empire enjoyed favorable weather, peaceful climate, and regular seasons. As a result, both productivity and population experienced an unprecedented boom compared to the Long Night.

In general.

The reigns of the three empresses were more beneficial than detrimental to the long-term development of the empire.

But now the era of the three queens has come to an end. The authority of the first queen, Ariane, has been seriously challenged. The eldest prince, Heros, no longer has the patience to wait and has chosen to seize power.

On Aegon Hill, within the Red Keep, which is completely surrounded.

Queen Arianne, who had aged from a middle-aged woman to the appearance of a young woman, was furious after hearing her uncle Oberyn's words, and her face turned slightly ugly.

"This is treason!"

However, Arianne ultimately suppressed her anger and did not lash out in front of her uncle, nor did she issue a single order to the royal guards around her to capture or kill Oberyn.

Because Arianne has ruled the empire as 'Empress' for over a decade, she is no longer the naive girl with no political acumen she once was.

Arianne knew very well that taking down Oberyn would be of no use, as the rebels outside the Red Keep who controlled King's Landing were loyal to the First Prince Heros Targaryen, not Oberyn.

Although they obey Oberyn, they will not retreat for Oberyn's life or death. Furthermore, Oberyn dared to enter the Red Keep alone to persuade Arianne because he knew his niece's character and that she would not harm him.

These rebels were originally the Second Legion, stationed around the Kingsguard and responsible for protecting the imperial capital. However, no one expected that the Second Legion would suddenly rebel, rush into King's Landing, and quickly take control of the city gates and streets.

The reason these rebels dared to launch a rebellion and storm King's Landing was that they had placed their bets on the First Prince, Heros Targaryen. They were certain that the First Prince would ascend to the throne, which is why they dared to launch a rebellion regardless of everything.

Once the deed is done, no matter how serious the crime, it will be wiped clean, and may even be considered a meritorious act of "helping the dragon". Therefore, even if Arianne takes Oberon, she will not be able to make the rebels outside the Red Keep retreat.

Moreover, Oberyn, whose hair was already gray, also tried his best to persuade him.

He told Arianne that Prince Heros had actually ridden a dragon to a place not far from King's Landing, but he did not want to break ties with Her Majesty the Queen and wanted to wait for Arianne to open the gates of the Red Keep herself.

If Arianne doesn't choose to open the gates of the Red Keep before dawn, His Highness Lord Heros Targaryen will personally ride the golden dragon Tyrex the Overlord to blast open the gates, and things will become ugly if relations turn sour.

Therefore, Oberyn ventured deep into the Red Keep to earnestly persuade him.

However, after Oberyn left...

Snapped--

Having been holding her breath for so long, Arianne could no longer control her anger. She smashed a blue-and-white porcelain vase, which she loved most and came from the distant Golden Empire, scattering ceramic shards all over the ground.

In the throne room, the many high-ranking members of the Council of Kings, who were besieged in the Red Keep, including the First Hand, Velas Tyrell, his wife Sansa, several Kingsguard, Grand Steward Xu Ying, and the commander of the Royal Guard, Black Bug, looked at each other in bewilderment.

The King's Hand, Velas Tyrell, leaned on his cane, his brow furrowed, his face grave. He bore some responsibility for the sudden fall of King's Landing; he had not anticipated the situation would escalate so dramatically.

According to the intelligence he received, the eldest prince, Herod the Targaryen, had not yet made up his mind to rebel, and the armies in the Vale and the Riverlands were not yet fully assembled, and they were still far from having enough food and supplies.

If the soldiers and horses are not moving, the grain and grass will go first.

Even if the eldest prince, Heros Targaryen, really wanted to launch a coup and seize the throne, he would first need to gather enough food and military supplies to build siege weapons.

This is why there have been very few successful raids throughout history; there are only a handful of successful cases, and most failures are not remembered.

Because if you launch a surprise attack that is fully prepared, it is very difficult to keep it from the enemy. After all, supplies and other materials need to be transported on the main roads, and it is impossible to hide these from local spies.

However, an unprepared raid usually ends in failure.

Crown Prince Heros began gathering supplies at a leisurely pace in the Riverlands, creating the impression that he was about to rebel but was not yet fully prepared, which made Velas lower his guard slightly.

However, he did not expect that this was actually a feint by the Crown Prince. While the frontal forces attracted everyone's attention, another group of rebels took the opportunity to attack King's Landing from the rear.

Chapter 1006 Grand Eunuch of the Palace

At this moment, the sky outside was beginning to lighten, and many people had already woken up from their sleep.

"This was my mistake, Your Majesty."

Inside the Red Keep, the First Hand, Velas Tyrell, frowned and then spoke.

His voice echoed in the silent throne room as he took all the blame upon himself, while his wife Sansa looked at her husband with a worried expression.

Based on the current situation, they probably won't encounter any danger. The rebels outside want to persuade them to surrender and peacefully transfer power so that the eldest prince, Herod Targaryen, can ascend to the throne. Therefore, the people inside the Red Keep are not too afraid.

“This is not your responsibility, Velas.”

However, when faced with her own prime minister taking responsibility, Arianne, who had just been furious and smashed a bottle while sitting on the Iron Throne, was now much calmer.

"This is a blatant rebellion!"

"Heros Targaryen has rebelled against his father's will!"

"The eldest prince should be severely punished, and all the rebels under his command should be executed!"

Viserys set a challenge for his three children: whoever could pull out the dragon spear would inherit the throne, and his three wives and three children were present at the time.

However, although Arianne was furious at the moment, Heros had not actually violated the original rules.

Because Viserys drew a red line that prohibits fratricide, his three wives could not personally intervene in the competition.

Now, Heros has suddenly launched an attack and seized the empire's capital, King's Landing. Not to mention that Heros did not directly ascend the throne, but instead took control of the empire's power, essentially holding the emperor hostage to command the other lords.

And most importantly, while Heros himself couldn't pull out the dragon spear, he could try slowly. But by controlling King's Landing, he effectively prevented Diana and Aemon from even attempting to pull out the dragon spear.

Although it may sound like cheating, Herlos's actions were actually entirely within the rules set by Viserys.

He may not need to draw his dragon spear, but neither will Diana and Aemon.

Therefore, Arianne, who knew perfectly well what was going on, was just saying it in anger. Not to mention that all the imperial troops who followed Heros in the rebellion would be executed, which would kill nearly 100,000 people at once, which was simply impossible.

Heros was intelligent from a young age, a fact that Arianne was well aware of.