Although Tywin Lannister no longer holds a position in King's Landing, the Lannister family still holds a prominent position in the Seven Kingdoms.
If not forced to, Lord Tywin Lannister did not want to go to war with the Baratheons of the Stormlands, the Starks of the North, or the Tullys of the Riverlands.
Of these three families, the Starks and Tully are related by marriage; Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark are sworn brothers.
But the arrow is already on the bowstring!
Tywin could only congratulate himself on having given birth to a wonderful pair of twins.
The incestuous relationship between Cersei and Jaime is a fire, but the flames haven't yet burned through the paper wrapping. This is a feud between the Lannisters and Baratheons, and once the king finds out, it will be irreconcilable. If it's exposed by others, the Baratheons will forcefully take over the palace and drive out the Lannisters.
Jaime pushing Bran Stark off the Broken Tower is like a fire, the fire still burning through the paper wrapping. This is the feud between the Lannisters and the Starks. Although Bran didn't die, Jaime's attempt to murder him was something the Starks absolutely could not accept.
Sooner or later, the two flames will burn through the paper wrapping.
Paper cannot contain fire unless the flames are extinguished before they burn through the paper.
However, due to the passage of time, Cersei and Jaime had three children through incest, and the flame had grown strong, making it impossible for anyone to extinguish it.
Although Jaime's attempt to murder Bran failed to kill the child, it was still a flame that had already created the fact of murder, a flame that could not be extinguished.
An unextinguishable fire will either burn you to death, burn others to death, or burn everyone to death.
It's more worthwhile to burn others to death.
Tywin's daughter married the king, a tremendous honor and the most successful marriage of power. Tywin was already content, living peacefully in the western frontier for sixteen years, neither causing trouble nor seeking conflict...
However, the Seven Gods prevented him from enjoying a peaceful old age.
The two flames ignited by Cersei and Jaime are burning fiercely, growing stronger each day.
Besides these two flames, there is another invisible yet fiercely burning flame: the dwindling gold mines of the Westerlands, the absolutely non-renewable resource of the Westerlands Mountains. This is a flame that will burn down the foundations of the Lannisters for millennia, and it has already been ignited, unstoppable!
Whether Tywin Lannister wanted to fire or not, the arrows from the West were forced to be nocked by these three flames!
Prince Rhaegar Targaryen lost his life and the Targaryen dynasty because of Lyanna Stark; he also took the lives of countless nobles and soldiers with him. He was a typical hero who was short-sighted and sentimental, not a competent and rational politician, nor qualified to be a brilliant and ruthless emperor.
Cersei and Jaime, too, succumbed to pleasure and ignited a flame that would either destroy the Lannisters of the West or the Starks of the North and the Baratheons of the Stormlands.
Rhaegar Targaryen had a choice, and he made the worst choice that led to his death and the downfall of his dynasty; but Tywin Lannister of the Westerlands had no choice.
He had no choice!
He has no choice but to resort to—insidious intrigue, ruthless betrayal, and bloody war! Otherwise, there is no solution!
The arrow is on the bowstring, and it must be released!
*
More than half a month later. In the Riverlands of House Tully, on the right bank of the famous Green Fork, along the King's Road, ranks of King's Landing's golden-robed cavalry appeared, with the crowned stag banner of House Baratheon flying high among them.
Following the cavalry was a massive horse-drawn palace, a spacious mobile palace. The palace was lavishly decorated, adorned with a dazzling array of pearls, jade, and gold ornaments. Along the way, gold and silver threads strung together swayed and clattered, creating a dazzling and mesmerizing display, the tinkling sounds filling the air.
This enormous palace could not pass through the gates of Winterfell, the home of House Stark in the North, and had to be parked in the town outside Winterfell—Winterhaven.
Because of this luxurious palace, the procession moved at a pace that was like that of an ordinary person walking, neither too fast nor too slow.
Meanwhile, the Mountain led his cavalry from west to east. The force was small, consisting of thirty men, all of whom were among the first batch of cavalrymen personally trained by the Mountain.
Sweet-talking Ralph and Executioner Dunsun brilliantly carried out the conscription operation in the dungeons of the various nobles in the Westerlands. Working day and night, they swept through the originally planned month-long conscription in just ten days, bringing the total number of new and old cavalrymen to 513, thus fulfilling the military orders given by Duke Tywin.
After the Mountain took thirty men, the remaining cavalry were handed over to Sweetmouth Raff and Executioner Dunsen for desperate training.
After Littlefinger left Clegane and returned to King's Landing, a massive military training campaign began throughout the Westerlands. Lord Leo of Goldtooth and Lord Marble of Branded City, who had previously mocked Gregor's recruitment and training, both began intensive training of their soldiers. Lord Tywin Lannister personally led a battalion of five hundred Royal Guard cavalry to inspect the training progress of the various houses.
Throughout the entire Western Region, all the major families have engaged in intensive military training.
Those who had the capacity to recruit more professional soldiers were forced to do so under Tywin Lannister's military orders. Increasing the number of professional soldiers meant increasing the nobles' expenses. Fortunately, however, the benefits of Tywin Lannister's policy of "replacing iron with wood" became apparent. With the large-scale felling of timber to replace ironwork and the recall of most of the ironware from various families, the price of all kinds of fine armor and weapons was reduced by one-third under the Duke's decree.
The price reduction of a single sword might not seem like a significant benefit, but when it came to a thousand swords and a thousand sets of armor, the savings amounted to a considerable sum of money, making the nobles truly feel the substantial advantages.
The Mountain didn't care about the price reductions on swords and armor; he only cared about the price of iron ore. Clegane Village had the best weapon master, Tob Mort, and the best blacksmith apprentice, Gendry. Instead of buying weapons from outside, they purchased iron ore to smelt iron, forge iron blanks, and then manufacture the best weapons themselves.
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Demon Mountain led thirty cavalrymen slowly forward along the Red Fork River.
House Tully's territory, primarily plains, is one of the Seven Kingdoms' renowned breadbaskets. Another breadbasket is House Tyrell's Reach in the south. These two major breadbaskets of the Seven Kingdoms, the Riverlands and the Reach, differ by only one name, are both excellent regions for producing grain. These two famous breadbasket regions share a common characteristic: numerous rivers.
Land for growing grain requires abundant water, and the river region is particularly rich in water resources. The river region also has a famous alternative name: the Trident River Basin.
The Green Fork River, near the Kings Road, is the only ferry crossing upstream: the Twin Rivers of House Frey. The Green Fork River flows south, almost parallel to the Kings Road, and joins the Blue Fork River and the Red Fork River, which originates in the Westerlands, outside Earl Harlowe's town. The three rivers converge into one, eventually flowing into the sea bay of Saltwater Town—Crab Bay.
The Green Fork River, Blue Fork River, and Red Fork River converge in one place, resembling a trident, hence the name Trident River Basin. The area between rivers is therefore often referred to as the Trident River Basin.
The king and prime minister's large entourage traveled south along the Green Fork River, while the Mountain's thirty horsemen marched east along the Red Fork River. They would meet at the Cross Crossing of the Trident River. Not far from the Trident River crossing lay a famous place in the Seven Kingdoms: Ruby Beach.
That was the place where Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar Targaryen met with their respective armies sixteen years ago. Robert and Rhaegar engaged in a one-on-one duel here. Robert's hammer struck Prince Rhaegar in the chest, and Prince Rhaegar's spear nearly killed Robert. Both fell from their horses at the same time. Robert was seriously wounded, and Rhaegar died.
Robert's hammer shattered the ruby decorations of the three-headed dragon crest on the prince's armor, and countless rubies fell into the river with the prince, causing a scramble among the soldiers for the rubies. Thus, the place became known as Ruby Beach.
Magic Mountain's destination was Ruby Beach, where he awaited the arrival of the Kingdom's party.
Based on the historical trajectory before his time travel, the Mountain wants to witness firsthand a battle between Prince Joffrey Baratheon and Arya Stark, the wild daughter of House Stark, on Ruby Beach.
This conflict also marked the beginning of a direct confrontation between Eddard Stark and Queen Cersei. Because of this, Sansa Stark, the eldest daughter of House Stark and Lady of the Direwolves, would be beheaded by Eddard Stark himself.
The Magic Mountain is a butterfly, and the butterfly has already flapped its wings. Will the butterfly effect affect the original trajectory of the Ruby Beach story?
The Mountain was unaware that he would experience and witness it firsthand.