Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

"Uncle Polon..."

But at this moment, one of the more courageous young people who had escaped gritted his teeth and stepped forward to ask a question.

"Now that you've come this far, you should be able to go back to your hometown."

As Polon, who was trying on a pair of boots that had been pulled off a corpse, heard his words, he paused slightly before speaking.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"I've decided to take another gamble."

"Those who want to leave can leave now. I hope you won't get lost. Those who want to make a contribution, stay with me."

Having personally experienced a war, Bronn's youthful passion was rekindled, and he had a premonition that this would be his last chance to turn the tide in the rest of his life.

If he misses this opportunity, he will regret it for the rest of his life.

In any case, the worst that can happen is death.

He committed many evil deeds throughout his life and should have died long ago, but unfortunately no one took him away, which means that the gods still had something for him to do.

Upon hearing this, everyone present exchanged bewildered glances.

But most people were terrified by the carnage on the battlefield during the day and now just wanted to escape as far away as possible. After all, many of them were honest farmers who wanted nothing more than a peaceful and prosperous life.

So most people chose to leave and embarked on their journey home.

To Bronn's surprise, however, several young men actually decided to follow him.

"The victor is king, the loser is villain, uncle!"

They had all seen their share of grand scenes, with princes and nobles riding tall horses and commanding their armies in battle, their orders bringing forth thousands of troops.

Therefore, they were also tempted to change their fate and did not want to farm the land for the rest of their lives like their ancestors.

"Once you've made up your mind, don't regret it."

As Bronn looked at these determined young men, he seemed to see a reflection of himself from his younger days.

Then he shook his head and gave a disdainful sneer, it was unclear whether he was mocking them or himself.

Afterwards, the group of people who had escaped with great difficulty went their separate ways.

Most people chose to flee back to their hometowns, while a small number followed Polon in pursuit of the routed Second Prince's army, deciding to take a gamble.

Chapter 1038 Retreat to High Court

However, Bronn and his group were not actually alone on their escape route.

Because after the defeat, many of the Second Prince Yin Meng's troops were scattered and not regrouped in time, they were all retreating along Rose Avenue towards High Court.

You can even find a lot of discarded swords, armor, and valuables along the way.

The Crown Prince's army defeated the enemy at the Battle of Bitter Bridge, but did not pursue and exterminate them.

Because Prince Oberon, the commander of this army, was very calm and did not act impulsively or seek to win in one battle.

He knew his opponent was no pushover; after all, a great reputation is well-deserved, and the two were old friends and acquaintances, so they knew each other very well.

Therefore, Oberyn worried that continuing the pursuit might lead to a mistake, or even falling into the enemy's ambush, so he stopped at the right time.

The First Prince's army dared not pursue, which allowed most of the Second Prince's army to escape and rout all the way towards the High Court.

...

"A set of superior armor, including chainmail, throat guard, greaves, and full helmet, can be exchanged for eight hundred silver deer."

Meanwhile, a young man named Geggie, who was following Bronn, pulled a set of armor off a dead man's body and said gleefully.

Eight hundred silver deer are roughly equivalent to four gold dragons, which is an absolute fortune for his family.

Now, such 'money' is almost everywhere on the escape route, after all, there are few other things on the battlefield except for dead people.

"But your armor is damaged, and it's Clinton family armor."

On the other side, Old Polon, who was resting on a rock under the shade of a tree with a straw in his mouth, glanced at the tattered armor and spoke with a disdainful expression.

"The Clinton family's armor?"

"Uncle, what's wrong now?"

The young man named Guy hugged the armor he had taken off like a treasure, and then asked in confusion.

Are you stupid?

With his gray hair, Polon threw the straw he was holding in his mouth at the other man's head, and said with a look of disappointment.

"How did you, a lowly commoner, obtain the armor of the Clinton family?"

"Stolen? Robbed? Or found?"

"No matter what it is, it's all smuggled goods of unknown origin, and those unscrupulous merchants will definitely try to drive down the price."

"Besides, your armor is already damaged. I estimate it would be good if you could exchange it for a hundred silver deer."

Polon bluntly exposed the reality, causing Guy, who had never experienced the harsh realities of society, to blush and turn pale.

He thought he had struck it rich, but he never expected his wealth to shrink by eight times.

However, it felt like such a waste to give it up, but it was also quite heavy to hold onto. Now, on the run, he was eating and dressing frugally, so hungry that he had no strength and his mind was foggy.

But just as Gaiji was looking conflicted, a commotion suddenly arose from the area where other defeated soldiers were resting not far away.

Then a group of cavalrymen in fine clothes and riding spirited horses arrived, led by a burly old man.

It turned out that a nobleman from the Stormlands had finally returned with a portion of his forces to regroup the defeated army.

Upon seeing this, Polon and the others, who were resting under the tree, quickly stood up and joined the main group.

Gage still clung to his suit of armor, unwilling to throw it away, and carried the dozens of kilograms of it on his shoulder using strips of cloth torn from the corpse.

But Bronn just chuckled twice when he saw this, without saying a word.

The nobleman who returned from the rear to rally the defeated troops was Count Astan Selmi of the Harvest Hall.

The Selmi family was merely a propertied knightly family, and Astan Selmi's uncle was none other than the once-famous 'Fearless' Barristan Selmi.

"Everyone, follow me!"

"Get moving!"

Now, Count Selmy is riding a tall horse, looking majestic and shouting loudly.

He ordered all the defeated troops in the area to line up in formation and follow him back to Highgarden.

He then distributed some dry rations, which finally gave many soldiers who were starving a bite to eat.

The defeated troops that were later gathered together managed to stand in formation, but they were scattered and disorganized. Among them were soldiers and laborers, but there were not many like Polon, who was already in his fifties or sixties.

Most of the laborers of this age had already died on the battlefield or been captured; very few escaped, and those who did escape would not flee with the routed army.

...

A week later.

The Battle of Bitter Bridge has come to an end, and the Second Prince Yin Meng has unsurprisingly suffered a defeat.

After all, in terms of overall strength, although Yin Meng has won the support of the Westerlands, the Reach, and the Stormlands.

But he was still no match for his brother, Herod the Targaryen.

The Regent Prince, after all, now occupies the capital and is on the side of righteousness, while Yin Meng is like a rebel army, with far too few real soldiers under his command.

Therefore, after the Battle of the Bridge of Bitterness, Bassie, as the commander of the army, made a very decisive move. The army retreated directly, abandoning a large area of ​​flat and vast land that was completely undefendable, and retreated directly to his fiefdom of Highgarden.

Astan Selmi's defeated army retreated back to Highgarden, where Poron finally seized the opportunity he had been longing for and successfully met his general.

Fortunately, although the other person was also old, he had a good memory, and a simple conversation was enough for him to remember his name.

“Polon…”

“I feel very guilty about what happened to you.”

When Bessie heard about Bronn's plight, he felt deeply guilty. He had promised to knight Bronn and absolve him of his crimes, but after the Battle of the Long Night, he was too busy to attend to everything.

He had thought that Bronn would be knighted once he returned to Westeros, but he never expected that someone would embezzle his credit and title.

"You're the mercenary from back then?"

After a conversation, Tyrion learned of the man's past and was greatly surprised to learn that Tyrion was the one who caused Bronn's unfortunate life.

He never expected to see the mercenary he had hired to try and rescue him from prison again after thirty years.

When Bronn's breakout attempt failed, Jaime had already escaped. But by sheer coincidence, Jaime went missing, and King's Landing was thoroughly searched.

This directly led to Bronn and his companions being severely wanted, and with nowhere else to turn, they were forced to join the Golden Company to evade capture.

Bronn once deeply hated the dwarf and vowed to kill him if he found him, but as time passed, he gradually forgot about him, even forgetting what Tyrion looked like. He never imagined that the other party was the infamous Imp, a member of the Council of Kings.

Now, when the people from back then meet again, all that remains is a sigh.

Thirty years ago, we were all young, but now everyone has gray hair.

"Your Highness, what is your opinion on this matter?"

After a moment of contemplation, Bessie looked at Yin Meng beside her.

After all, Bronn was once a wanted criminal who had hijacked a prison van and committed crimes such as murder, but thirty years had passed, and Bronn had also performed meritorious service.

“If it were my elder brother, he might cut off your head first, and then give you a village as a fief, even if you have no descendants or surname now.”

"Because that is true justice."

Yin Meng pondered for a while before speaking.

"But thankfully I'm not my brother."

Chapter 1039 Village Chief

Yin Meng pardoned Polon's crimes.

As the second prince of the empire, Yin Meng still had this much power, especially since that happened thirty years ago.

Subsequently, Yin Meng also retrieved the title that the other party had lost, and Bessie conferred the title of Sir Bronn upon him, promising him a small village with only a few dozen households near Highgarden in the future.