From the beginning of the game of power, I became the protagonist

Cersei couldn't help but start to imagine when she said this. If there was the huge power of the Lannister family, coupled with Chen Hui's terrifying fighting power that could defeat a thousand men at a time, who in the Seven Kingdoms could be their opponent? Even unifying the Seven Kingdoms like the Targaryen family would not be an impossible thing.

Chen Hui smiled slightly upon hearing this, nodded to Cersei, and said, "Thank you very much, Your Majesty, for your consideration. The price you offer is very attractive, but I cannot agree to it for now. After all, I simply cannot trust a king who would even abandon his own sister. So I can only apologize to you."

Cersei's face darkened when she heard this. For the first time, she felt a little dissatisfied with Joffrey, the eldest son she had always doted on, and began to seriously consider whether to let Tommen replace him.

After all, both of them are her sons, and it doesn't matter who sits on the throne; and compared to Joffrey, who only causes trouble, the benefits brought by the obedient and sensible Tommen becoming king are obviously greater.

After bowing to everyone present and nodding apologetically to the blonde princess again, Chen Hui pulled Sansa Stark, who was still confused about the situation, and left the throne room together.

Chapter 21: The two crowned stags began to have conflicts

On the other hand, after parting with Chen Hui, Lord Eddard and his subordinates galloped towards Winterfell without stopping.

Although it took more than a month to get here, that was because there were a large number of women and courtiers in the team, and King Robert was often stopped and started, and had banquets and hunting, which wasted time.

Duke Eddard and his entourage were now racing against time, so they naturally couldn't be as leisurely as King Robert was at the beginning. Therefore, after traveling day and night for ten days, they successfully returned to Winterfell in the North.

Although they encountered bandits blocking the road on the way, Duke Ed and his entourage, although not many in number, were basically all brave and good at fighting.

Arya was especially brave. She killed nearly half of the bandits by herself, and her victory was as great as that of the other twenty or so people combined.

There was no other way. The extremely sharp "Frost" and "Moon" swords, coupled with the "Jade Girl Pure Heart Sword Technique" which was already famous for its swiftness, naturally made killing people ridiculously efficient.

Duke Ed had also carefully observed the two swords, 'Silver Frost' and 'Cold Moon'. Even as a top noble with a distinguished family background, he could not help but sincerely sigh that the forging craftsmanship of this pair of swords was beyond imagination.

Aside from the family's heirloom, 'Ice', there's nothing the 'Frost' and 'Moon' swords can't cut. Their blades are incredibly sharp, even stronger than the Varley Steel Sword.

Of course, although the sharpness of 'Silver Frost' and 'Frost Moon' surpasses that of the 'Ice' greatsword, the toughness of Valyrian steel cannot be matched by the swords in the martial arts world. It can be said that the two have their own strengths and weaknesses and are evenly matched.

In other words, unless you take the top-level black iron sword of the gold-based martial artist, no metal can surpass Valyrian steel in terms of toughness.

Duke Eddard also asked about the origin and source of these two rare swords and the sword techniques used, but Arya refused to tell him no matter what, and only said that she had promised Chen Hui to keep it secret.

As for his daughter's tight-lippedness, Duke Ed, who regarded honor as his life, naturally did not dare to continue asking questions. He could only wait until he saw Chen Hui again to ask him a few questions.

By the time the group returned to Winterfell, the Young Wolf, who had received news of the dramatic changes in the palace the day before, had already summoned the vassals in the North and was preparing to assemble a large army to go south to rescue Duke Eddard.

Therefore, after seeing their father and sister return safely, the Stark family was naturally extremely happy. After hearing the specific process, they sincerely thanked Chen Hui, the greatest contributor, and lamented that it was fortunate that he had accompanied them, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

As for Sansa Stark, the only one still trapped in King's Landing, isn't she already gathering an army?

Duke Eddard, who was in charge of the North again, immediately decided to continue with the original plan of "Young Wolf Lord" Robb Stark, and even led the army to King's Landing to rescue his children.

Then, just as everyone started to take action, the latest information from King's Landing arrived.

When they heard that Chen Hui had kidnapped Princess Myrcella Baratheon, threatened a number of high-ranking officials of the kingdom including Queen Cersei in public, and had successfully taken Sansa Stark away from King's Landing, everyone couldn't help but become ecstatic. Especially Arya, who had been worried, she jumped up and down with excitement and almost blew off the roof of Winterfell.

After repeatedly confirming the authenticity of the information, Duke Ed, who had finally put his mind at ease, and his vassals began to discuss what to do next, at which point two more letters were delivered one after another.

I have to say that this world is a magical world after all. Although the level of productivity is similar to that of medieval Europe, it has magical creatures such as "ravens", and information can be transmitted extremely quickly.

The first letter was from Stannis Baratheon, Duke of Dragonstone. The letter stated that he already knew that Joffrey and the other three sons were the products of incest between Cersei and Jaime, and that he would be crowned king on Dragonstone according to etiquette. He asked Duke Eddard to come immediately with Chen Hui to swear allegiance to him.

The letter not only asked Duke Eddard to mobilize the entire northern army to cooperate with him in counterattacking King's Landing, but also directly ordered Chen Hui to serve as his own Kingsguard and serve him for life.

Obviously, Chen Hui's reputation has spread throughout the entire Westeros continent; everyone knows that an invincible swordsman was born in the Stark family in the North.

The Northern vassal statesmen could not help but curse Stannis Baratheon for his stingy behavior of wanting to get something for free.

Not to mention that this guy hasn't ascended the throne yet. Even if it was King Robert who had been on the throne for more than ten years, if he wanted Duke Eddard to do something, he would have to come in person and visit him three times before he would succeed.

In comparison, who are you, Stannis? Do you really think the North is a poor, destitute, remote place? You actually think you can convince the entire North to join you with just a letter, and even offer the heroes of the North to serve as your Kingsguard?

I'm going to... (Mute, basically resembles some kind of grass-headed plant.)

Looking at the indignant looks of his vassals, Duke Ed couldn't help but feel bitter in his heart.

Although his original plan was to follow etiquette and flatter Stannis Baratheon to succeed him to the throne, taking the initiative to flatter him and asking for it from Stannis were two completely different concepts.

Although he may regard honor as above all else, his subordinates still need to eat and live. Stannis's letter is full of instructions for him to do this and that, but there is no mention of rewards. How can he convince the people in this way?

As for letting Chen Hui serve as his Kingsguard, that was even more ridiculous. Not to mention his true identity that could not be mentioned, Chen Hui's invincible combat power that was ten times that of the 'Sword of the Dawn' was enough to ensure that the Stark family would be worry-free for a hundred years. How could he let him out to serve as someone else's subordinate? Not even Robert would allow it. Who the hell do you think you are, Stannis?

After shaking his head and throwing the ridiculous letter aside, Lord Eddard picked up the second letter and found that it was jointly written by Lord Renly Baratheon of Storm's End and Olenna Redwyne, the 'Queen of Thorns' of Highgarden.

The letter said that Storm's End had formed an alliance with Highgarden, and Highgarden would support Renly Baratheon to be crowned the new King of the Seven Kingdoms. If Lord Eddard was also willing to send troops to support Renly, then Olenna Redwyne would marry her most beloved granddaughter, Margaery Tyrell, known as the 'Rose of Highgarden', to Robb Stark, the 'Young Wolf'.

Moreover, Renly was willing to crown Lord Eddard the 'King in the North', standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

As for Chen Hui, although the letter did not say anything explicitly, it also mentioned it vaguely. The gist of it was that Renly Baratheon admired this legendary swordsman very much and wanted to witness with his own eyes his unparalleled power that could defeat a thousand men at once.

Many vassals were obviously tempted by such a sincere letter that could bring huge benefits. After all, Highgarden was famous for its wealth. If the 'Young Wolf' Robb Stark could marry the 'Rose of Highgarden', it would definitely bring in a generous dowry, and the entire North would benefit from it.

What's more, if Duke Eddard can become the 'King of the North', then the titles of his vassals can also be raised. This is a good thing that can gain both fame and fortune.

The only thing that made many vassals feel embarrassed was that Renly Baratheon was only the third brother, and it was impossible for him to surpass his second brother Stannis Baratheon in the order of succession.

If the North openly supports this guy to take the throne, it would be tantamount to completely denying the inheritance rules that have been passed down on this continent for thousands of years. If any second son of their family wants to follow suit in the future and do something like "he can replace me", then these Northern nobles will be in complete tragedy.

As for asking Chen Hui to perform sword skills, the vassals of the Northern Territory simply ignored it. The heroes of the Northern Territory are not acrobats and have no time to satisfy your interests and hobbies.

Perhaps it was because he knew that what he was doing was against etiquette, so Renly was very humble in this letter, which was a far cry from Stannis's domineering and overbearing attitude.

Seeing that the two brothers, Stannis Baratheon and Renly Baratheon, one had the right name but was not in a good mood; the other was in a good mood but was not in a good name at all, Duke Eddard, who was caught in a dilemma, could not help but curse in his heart.

I feel like these two Bucks brothers are truly blinded by greed. They're actually fighting amongst themselves even with a formidable enemy at their doorstep. Couldn't they first come to a consensus and confront the enemy together before explaining the situation to him?

Chapter 22 The three silly girls are crazy again

On the other side, after negotiating the terms with Cersei and others, Chen Hui took Sansa Stark and left King's Landing and returned to the North.

It has to be said that the Lannisters are generous and magnanimous. After deciding to let the two leave, Queen Cersei generously gave away two top-quality war horses. Their value is definitely not much different from the legendary thousand-mile divine horse.

Originally, after owning such a BMW, Chen Hui planned to work harder with Sansa to see if they could catch up with Duke Eddard and his group who had only been ahead for less than half a day.

But once we were on the road, we realized that although Sansa was also a girl from the North, she had always held herself to the standards of a lady since she was a child, so her horsemanship was at best at not falling off the horse's back. It was definitely wishful thinking for her to want to gallop.

Due to the bad relationship between the two, neither Chen Hui nor Sansa was willing to ride on the same horse. Therefore, after confirming that Sansa's horsemanship could only be described as poor, Chen Hui could only lead her forward slowly, no longer hoping to catch up.

Although the two traveled together along the way, they basically had no communication; after all, Sansa was different from Arya. She had always looked down on Chen Hui, an illegitimate child of unknown origin, and was on the same side as her mother Catelyn Tully.

Chen Hui didn't think there was anything wrong with Sansa's attitude. After all, looking down on illegitimate children was the prevailing rule on this continent. Arya's was an exception among exceptions and could not be used as a reference.

With Chen Hui's unparalleled martial arts, the bandits he encountered along the way were naturally killed like chickens and dogs.

Although somewhat surprised by Chen Hui's extraordinary martial arts skills, Sansa, still resentful of his previous rude slap, did not proactively ask him anything.

After traveling together awkwardly for nearly fifteen days, the two finally stepped into the Northern territory. They were immediately discovered and protected by the Northern soldiers who had been waiting for a long time. They were surrounded and marched towards Winterfell.

Seeing the familiar direwolf emblems around her, Sansa's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down. Then she discovered that these northern soldiers seemed to be very respectful to Chen Hui, completely different from the contempt they had shown towards an illegitimate child before.

After asking the reason out of curiosity, Sansa learned about Chen Hui's previous earth-shattering feat, and realized how dangerous this journey was. It could be said that they were only one step away from having their family of three sleep in King's Landing and would never be able to leave alive.

Although Sansa is a bit of a flower maniac, she is definitely not a spoiled person. In fact, when it comes to the ability to withstand pressure in adversity, she is the strongest one in the entire Stark family. The sentence "Joffrey is the only love of my life" is really amazing and can be regarded as a famous saying through the ages, along with "I am so happy here that I don't want to leave."

So much so that even the usually wise 'Little Devil' couldn't help but sigh sincerely at the time, saying that Sansa Stark might be the one who lived the longest among all people.

In fact, he guessed right. Not only did Sansa survive to the end, but she was also able to defeat a number of competitors and was successfully crowned as the Queen of the North. She is the best example of a comeback from desperate situations.

In the early stage, she was a nymphomaniac; in the middle stage, she was perseverant; in the late stage, she was black-bellied. This is the legendary life of Sansa Stark, the future Queen of the North.

Of course, this is the plot direction of the original TV series.

Now that Lord Eddard is still alive and well, and Robb Stark is unlikely to do anything reckless, only God knows whether Sansa can still rule the North like in the TV series.

Anyway, it’s none of Chen Hui’s business, because the moment Sansa stepped into the North, the system suddenly sent a message that the second task had been completed.

As for the first mission... Haha, it's still a long way to go.

Seeing the soldiers around him looking at him with admiration, Chen Hui finally realized that if he wanted to complete the first task, he couldn't just rely on showing off his prowess on the battlefield. After all, no matter how brilliant his achievements were, at most he could only make people in the north admire him. As for other places, they would only be afraid and wary of him.

There are always winners and losers in the Game of Thrones, and it is impossible to make everyone like you.

The only way to gain the admiration of everyone in Westeros is to create unparalleled achievements that are recognized by everyone. After much thought, there is only one way, which is to defeat the greatest public enemy of all living people - the Night King, the White Walker.

This is also the reason why Chen Hui had previously given a warning to the Lannisters. After all, if they want to destroy the army of the dead led by the 'Night King', it is definitely not possible to rely on Chen Hui alone. The army of the entire continent must work together.

Although the living people ultimately won in the TV series, just looking at the ratings for the final season, you can tell that this cheat-like victory was purely nonsense required by the plot.

In any case, Chen Hui couldn't figure out how the human army, which had been killing each other for several years, could defeat the united army of the dead.

This is totally against common sense.

So for the sake of the overall situation, even though he doesn't like Cersei, a scheming girl, Chen Hui still hopes that she can win and secure the throne as soon as possible. In the final analysis, Cersei at least knows the rules of the game and understands when to compromise.

Well, at least Cersei understood this before she lost all three of her children and went completely crazy.

Chen Hui is not afraid of the other party's intelligence, but he is afraid that the other party is a stubborn fool who can't be pulled back even by eight oxen.

Seeking common ground while reserving differences is the political philosophy of Eastern civilization, which is completely different from the zero-sum power game of the West.

"Jon."

Just as Chen Hui was rapidly thinking about his next response, a timid female voice suddenly came from beside him. Then he saw Sansa, who had hardly spoken to him all the way, said hesitantly, "I haven't said thank you to you yet. I'm sorry."

Seeing Sansa's initiative to show goodwill, Chen Hui was naturally not a stingy person. Moreover, he had no ill feelings towards this naive and romantic girl. He nodded and said, "You're welcome. The Duke has been kind to me for many years. Saving his daughter is my duty."

"Speaking of which, Sansa, let me ask you a question. Do you still want to be the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms?"

When Sansa heard this, her beautiful face froze. Joffrey's suddenly ferocious face appeared involuntarily in her mind. A strong chill subconsciously flashed through her heart, and she became a little hesitant and at a loss.

Yes, just hesitation.

After all, Sansa has not really suffered the cruel treatment in the TV series, so she is still very much looking forward to that supreme and honorable position.

After all, this has always been her dream.

Seeing through Sansa's thoughts, Chen Hui smiled and said, "I had already agreed with Queen Cersei when we were in King's Landing that if she could get Tommen Baratheon to the Iron Throne, we could consider continuing the marriage. As for Joffrey, he's completely out of the picture. He definitely can't be the son-in-law of the North anymore."

Chen Hui did this to prevent Cersei Lannister from eventually turning evil. After all, in the TV series, both the humiliation she suffered and the suicide of her son Tommen were closely related to the crazy persecution of the Church of the Seven.

If Tommen had married Sansa Stark from the North instead of Margaery Tyrell, the 'Rose of Highgarden' in the TV series, the situation would have been completely different.

Because the North adheres to the faith of the Old Gods, which is very different from the church power that believes in the Seven Gods. If the High Sparrow dares to press forward step by step as in the TV series, the Old Gods power in the North can intervene forcefully in the name of Queen Sansa and give this weirdo a good beating.

Isn't this just another kind of Buddhist-Taoist dispute? The Chinese have been playing this game for thousands of years and are very familiar with it.

"Tommen...?" After hearing Chen Hui's words, Sansa Stark's mind unconsciously emerged with the humble and polite handsome face of Tommen Baratheon. An alluring blush gradually rose on her delicate face, and she began to fantasize again.

Well, young girls are always in love, this is normal, and also very Sansa.

Chapter 23 I'm not pretending anymore, I'm going to show my cards

After a day of journeying with a large crowd of people following behind, Chen Hui and his group finally returned to Winterfell.

Facing the heroes' triumphant return, Duke Ed and his entourage not only went out of the city several miles to welcome them in person, but also held a grand banquet to celebrate the victory.

At the warm and grand banquet, Chen Hui, as the protagonist, not only received praise and admiration from everyone, but even Duchess Catelyn Tully, who had always disliked him, expressed her sincere gratitude, thanking him for risking his life to rescue her husband and daughter from danger.

As for Chen Hui's identity as an illegitimate child, no one is willing to mention it in the face of this earth-shaking feat.

Chen Hui now has only one identity, that is the hero of the North—the Storm Swordmaster.

According to the ballads sung by bards, Chen Hui's sword is like a hurricane, bringing disaster wherever it goes, and any enemy will be crushed and torn apart. He is the representative of death, the embodiment of the storm, the symbol of all power and bravery, and the greatest warrior who far surpasses the "Sword of Dawn".

'Storm Sword Master' Jon Snow, this is the name that Chen Hui is now known by among the Seven Kingdoms.

Chen Hui gritted his teeth when he heard this. How come this name is so similar to Daenerys? The first name of this Dragon Queen is "Stormborn". This is really an unbreakable fate.

At the banquet, many vassal officials wanted Chen Hui to demonstrate his extraordinary swordsmanship. Chen Hui, who was not tired of asking them, did not bother to pay attention to these background people. He simply drew out a long steel sword and broke it into pieces. Then he shot all the fragments into the hard stone wall like a rain of locust arrows. Everyone present was frightened so much that they turned pale and even sobered up.

They then remembered that the man before them was not the illegitimate child from before, but the Storm Sword Master who could make the entire King's Landing bow its head and compromise, representing "death" and "disaster".

The Sword Master should not be insulted; not throwing these fragments directly at them was already a great courtesy.

After anxiously saying goodbye, Duke Eddard returned to the inner chamber with Chen Hui and his family. When all the servants had left, Duke Eddard, with only his family left, slowly spoke, "Jon, thank you very much for saving our lives this time. However, as the Warden of the North, I still want to ask one more question: how did you acquire such extraordinary martial arts and swordsmanship? Could you tell me?"

"Father!" Arya, a fangirl, stayed close to Chen Hui the entire time. She replied unwillingly, "If Jon doesn't want to talk, then don't ask. Jon won't hurt us anyway, will he?"

"Before we talk about this, can we go somewhere first?" After making sure there were no outsiders here, Chen Hui patted the little head that was nodding against him and said with a nonchalant smile, "After all, my mother has been buried in the Stark family cemetery for more than ten years. I really want to pay my respects to her, Your Excellency the Duke, or rather, My Uncle."

"What!" As soon as these words were spoken, except for Duke Ed's face that suddenly became dull, everyone present was shocked. They all looked at Duke Ed, expecting him to give an explanation.

"You...you know?"

"Yeah, I get it." Chen Hui shrugged and said, "Thank you very much, uncle, for taking huge risks to protect me for so many years. But now that Robert is dead, I can reveal some things a little bit."

"Edward, what is going on?" After hating Jon Snow for so many years, Catelyn Tully only now realized that the man in front of her might not be her husband's illegitimate child at all, and she immediately began to ask impatiently.

"My biological mother is Lyanna Stark, the Duke's biological sister." Chen Hui smiled calmly and said, "Aunt, there is no need to blame my uncle anymore. He has never betrayed you and he doesn't have any illegitimate children."

"Lyanna... could it be your father?!"