"I don't know much about the food culture of Westeros, but whether it's in Caina, where I'm from, or in the north where everyone is at the moment, I don't drink toasts...... It's all great rudeness. The proposal to drink together hit a wall, and Egger's face darkened with a clear speed and degree, "Lord Varys's body looks very tough, how can he be so sick that he can't even drink such a glass of wine?"

"It's a shame to say that intelligence work is tiring...... Under pressure, the stomach and intestines ......"

"I don't care about your stomach, Lord Varys. Something began to get hot under the collar, and Iger coldly interrupted the eunuch's words, "Actually, I don't care if you are rude or not, but Your Excellency's attitude of not drinking this glass of wine gives me the feeling that you didn't take it to heart at all, and you didn't dare to refuse in front of me...... When I turn around and get out of this door, the stumbling blocks that should be made, the tricks that should be played, and the bad things that should be said in the queen's ear, will not be less, but will only intensify to recover the field that was lost today, yes or no?"

"Your Excellency is too worried. Varys shook his head without thinking, "After these days of thinking and consideration, in fact, I don't need to be reminded and analyzed, I have also realized and realized that the confrontation with Lord Petyr is not conducive to the Queen's cause, and it is the most correct choice to obtain the general support of the North and start the southern expedition as soon as possible." Even if you don't organize this meeting today, Commander-in-Chief, I will persuade Your Majesty to let go of the pursuit of Karstark and the Neutral Family when Lord Stark returns to Winter......"

Obviously it was completely right, but the eight-clawed spider's answer was neither weak nor flawed, and it could be called a textbook-level steady old dog, but it was only halfway through the snake before it was abruptly interrupted by a bigger change: Egg, who was standing upright a moment ago, suddenly pulled out the steel sword at his waist without warning, and with a "bang" the tip of the sword was tilted to the table, nailed to the empty cup that had been drunk and put down.

Such a move naturally startled the other people in the room, and the two people sitting there "rubbed" and jumped up from their positions.

"Wait, I have something to say!" Petyr shouted with his hands raised, but Varys drew his dagger - the distance between the two was longer than the length of the sword for the time being, but as soon as Egger made a move or launched a first attack, he would use the interior furnishings and another living person as a cover, looking for a chance to counterattack in the detour and dodge.

"Save all the. Egger suppressed the burning pain, his face was cold, and he clenched the hilt of his sword, but his lower body did not move at all, "I said why is Lord Varys so hard, and the feelings are hidden in your arms that give you confidence?

"Today's wine—you have to drink it, and you have to drink it if you don't drink it!" suddenly changed his face, and after drinking in a low voice, he paused slightly, twisted his wrist and flipped the steel sword resting on the table, and adjusted his voice to the most intimidating and persuasive depth while showing the sharpness of the blade: "Take the initiative to drink it, everyone will be happy, there is no, if not, it will not give me Egger West's face, then don't blame me for using this sword-' to 'help' you drink!guess what?" Whether it's cutting the throat and pouring it down from the esophagus, or disemboweling it and pouring it directly into the stomach, the scene is ...... Tsk, it's not pretty!"

......

"If you don't drink, you won't give me face" - before he crossed over to the world of ice and fire, this sentence was firmly in the top three of Egger's "stupid words", and he never expected that one of his most hated words would one day come out of his mouth.

No steel longsword can match the grandeur of a Valyrian steel sword, but the former is not without its advantages: the newly polished blade has a first-class reflective effect, and the bright cold light flashes the eyes of the two intimidated men with the slight movement of the blade, as if to provide a silent accompaniment to the bearer's blunt threat...... The murderous aura that was so real that it was so suppressed that they were tense for a while.

The Unsullied outside the door couldn't save the scene, and the two smart people who understood this were very unanimous in choosing silence instead of shouting for help to worsen the situation - seeing that Iger only drew his sword and threatened instead of attacking directly, Petyr temporarily held the line of "persuasion" that came to his lips in his throat, while Varys held the equally shiny dagger without embarrassment, and for a moment did not know whether to withdraw it or strike first.

If Egger's goal was to confuse people, he had succeeded so far...... Varys couldn't really guess what he was going to do right now.

If the wine is poisonous, of course, he can't coax himself to drink it but dry it first, but if the wine is not poisonous, how can a reckless man who has lost his mind draw his sword and come out—just to force others to "save face"?

In normal times, Varys spends hours, days, or even longer pondering and slowly refining the other person's true thoughts and plans...... But now, he knew he had to react as quickly as possible: with every second of delay, the probability of Egger losing patience and lifting his sword to kill doubled!

After a few seconds of frantically overdrawing his brain at full speed, he had a preliminary judgment of the situation.

What does Iger think can be put first, but there are only two possibilities for whether the wine is poisonous or not: yes or no!

If it is poisonous, then Iger himself first takes a sip and then draws his sword and forces himself to drink with him, that is, he will die with himself - whether this possibility exists will not be discussed first, assuming that it is true, then the other party who has made up his mind to risk his life will naturally not tolerate his escape without drinking poisonous wine, then whether he drinks or does not drink, he will not escape death today anyway, the difference is only that he is poisoned or hacked to death - whether he is drawn or N swords.

And if it is not poisonous, then the other party's stupid behavior of threatening his life just to force himself to drink a glass of wine has only one explanation except for madness: this guy wants to establish himself in this half of the imperial front in this childish form...... The authority and leadership of the Queen's de facto Triumvirate. Perhaps when the Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch and the Lord of the Lands had a one-sided experience, Iger might have naively thought that all people in this world, like the Commanders of the Shadow Tower and the East Sea Lookout, would always be obedient and obedient if they were defeated once—and that once he and Petyr succumbed to him over the matter of drinking, they would never dare to stand up against him again!

This kind of worldview is naturally stupid in the eyes of the power game master who can bend and stretch, but considering that Egger is a reckless man who was born as a soldier, maybe, he really thinks so!

The suspicion faded again, and Varys looked down at the dagger in his hand, and then at the glass of wine that was still sitting peacefully on the table...... What to do suddenly becomes a difficult question to decide.

If Iger hadn't drunk the wine, then he would have chosen between "being poisoned" and "fighting", and if he was dead, Varys would naturally pick the latter;

And now, the other party's act of acting first has changed that glass of wine from "definitely poisonous" to "probably non-toxic", that ...... Make a choice between "resolutely not drinking and being hacked to death" and "gambling to live without poison" - there is a world of difference between death and life.

Was Iger stupid, or was even this "hope of life" an illusion created by his careful calculations?

How many years has he not faced such a problem that makes him suffer from gains and losses?

Varys couldn't tell, but he was sure of it: if he had been planning for decades and ended up being hacked to death by angering a reckless man by refusing to drink a glass of unpoisoned wine, he would die there again in remorse, even if he went to hell.

The foreboding sounded like a background sound, but the desire to survive and the increasingly unkind expression on Egg's face made it impossible for him to continue thinking.

Varys put away his dagger and owed a smile on his face: "The little object of self-defense, the two adults laughed...... The old man has seen too much wind and rain, and he really can't be bold. Since the Commander-in-Chief is so entangled in this mere glass of wine, then I should not be an iron-headed fool, so I will be wronged by my stomach!"

In order to make sure that he still had the strength to fight in the event of a situation, the eunuch did not even dare to sit back in his chair, he carefully reached out and took the wine glass, raised it in front of him, stared at Egg's figure with his spare eyes, and took a small sip.

Under Petyr's gaze, Eggne's stiff face, which was already on the verge of exploding, softened considerably, his left hand seemed to unconsciously tug at the collar, but his right hand still held the steel sword, and flicked the tip of the sword against the empty cup that he had drunk and had fallen upside down on the table.

"Drink—light. ”

Now that the decision has been made, there is not so much difference between taking a sip and a drink, Varys sighed secretly and raised his glass again, and this time he drank it all as if it were fake, and no one could find fault with it.

Egger's expression was a little more relaxed, but he still didn't put down his weapon, but turned his head, as if still puzzled, and pointed the finger at the other person in the room: "Lord Petyr, what did you want to say just now?

The meaning of this could not be clearer, how dare Petyr pretend to be stupid, since even the dead eunuch judged that there was no problem in the wine, what else did he have to fear.

Without much nonsense, he also raised his glass happily, craned his neck, and drank it cleanly without stressing it.

Three glasses of wine were empty, and now Egger was not good, and he didn't need to be straight anymore, he put on a sincere smile while retracting the sword from the scabbard: "Hey, look, why bother." Alas, forget it...... Please allow me to apologize for my bad temper, and this is the end of today's matter, and no one will mention it again...... Sit down, this luncheon will make use of all the best ingredients that can be found in the storerooms of the First Family of the North, which is hard for even kings to enjoy in the dead of winter. ”

He put away his weapon, took the lead and sat down, called back the departing attendants and began to enjoy the food, and the Hongmen banquet, which had drawn his sword at the previous moment, suddenly turned back into a happy dinner with his colleagues.

After a night of targeted planning and a little improvisation, he succeeded in taking the most difficult but important first step on his huge adventure, but it would be too early to start relaxing, and planning the next part, any mistake and mistake would be endless.

——