The first-ever one-vote election for the commander-in-chief of the Night's Watch came to an end, and the rest of the fortresses except Castle Black were sent to the Night's Watch headquarters with a letter crow as soon as the results of the vote count were announced.

After a few days of suspension for all the Night's Watch soldiers to gather their thoughts and reflect on their true intentions of support, the voting results were significantly less affected by emotions, which was directly reflected in the voting results of Castle Black, where Egger received a slight drop in votes.

But in terms of the total number of votes, he was unstoppable, once again widening the gap with the only remaining contenders - the gap in the votes he lost in Castle Black was filled by the post-party members who had been sworn in at the behest of Melisandre, the Shadow Tower and the East Sea Hope had eleven and forty-six votes for him, and the few new tournaments that originally supported him had a single-digit abstention or attrition, but the number could be counted on one hand.

After a lot of twists and turns, the end result was that Egger's vote count was finally approaching 500, and with dozens of abstentions, he actually got more than half of the votes.

Victory is at hand.

＊＊＊

"Forty-six votes were cast for that guy?" As a commander, nearly a quarter of the people in his fortress voted for his opponent, which was undoubtedly quite a shameful thing, and Carter Pike expressed his unacceptability at the result: "I have been fighting side by side with the soldiers I want to fight for more than twenty years, and they can't betray me! There must be something wrong with this - it is the Stark family tellers who are cheating!"

"The man you are accusing actually holds the fate of the Night's Watch, and if he decides to make Iger commander-in-chief, it will only be a matter of words, my lord. Jon Royce was also nervous about the vote, but he didn't completely mess up: "Your soldiers may not betray you, but you forget that there are more than thirty Rangers who have only recently been transferred from Castle Black—they have worked with Egger." ”

"That's only thirty or so, and even if they all vote for Egger, what about a dozen votes?"

"The Shadow Tower also had a dozen votes for him, and with Sir Mellister himself in charge, let's face it: no matter how much you feel loved by your soldiers, there will inevitably be someone who has secretly held a grudge against you for a long time and dared not speak out, and there must be someone who thinks that the one who feeds and cloths them is more qualified to be a commander than you. It's a bad situation, but that guy is still two thirds of the way to go, and as long as the plan I came up with works and he has a huge advantage, we can beat him back to square one in an instant!"

Carter Peck certainly knew what Jon Royce was talking about, and the plan was good, but they had difficulties in pulling allies: first, the commander of the Shadow Tower scolded them and then walked away to give a big gift to their opponents, and then the chief affairs officer of Castle Black also pushed back, hesitated for several days and finally did not join......

If the king of the outside world has an accident and the new land-granting people are in turmoil, the blow to the promoters of the land-grant resettlement plan will inevitably be devastating...... But once it fails or is later reported as betrayed, the plotters will also be ruined or even killed. Having to bear the risks and pressures of being this villain alone, Rao is a tough guy from the Iron Islands who Carter Peck prides himself on, and he can't make the decision to do it.

Do you want to do it without allies?

Jon Royce saw the other party's hesitation, but his teeth were itchy but helpless. Robb Stark had left Castle Black this morning with a delegation from the Great North, and began his tour of the Great Wall with Egger in tow. In the absence of both the leaders and biggest backers of the radicals, it can be said that this is the perfect time to do so...... If it weren't for the fact that a few people in the valley couldn't do it, he would have planned it on his own.

Sir Mellister was right, in principle: Mance Rader led the wildlings to surrender to the Night's Watch, and now he is under house arrest in Castle Black as a hostage, and even if the new Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch is elected, he will have to be executed for proper reasons and after trial. Trying to lynch him and get Iger in trouble...... After the deed is accomplished, the people who do it must also rely on the "law does not hold the public accountable" to escape accountability, and this is doomed: the number of people who carry out the plan must reach a certain number.

Shadow Tower and Castle Black had no officers willing to join, and if Carter Pike wavered any longer, a small Ranger captain of his own would take Mance to kill......

It will never end up better than Iger.

......

"Do you hear the drill of the recruits outside? Jon Royce gestured out of the house, "It's all land-givers, hill clansmen, and savages that Iger has lured with 'food and clothing' and 'fixed wages'...... If we don't act sooner, do you think when these people finish their training and take the oath to join the legion, will they vote for the people who recruit and give them money, or us?"

"They are not nobles, and it is impossible for them to complete their training in a short period of time and be allowed to join the Night's Watch. ”

"That's true, but it's not a matter of Castle Black's first word or not, and the bad news I've gotten is that Andrew is determined to be Egger's dog...... We don't have much time left, so adults better make a decision as soon as possible!"

Carter Peck listened sideways, and the loud voices outside the house were indeed clear. It's been a long time since the Night's Watch has had so many recruits trained at the same time, and as a rule, one-fifth of them will be assigned to Donghaiwang after completing their training, and he should be happy as one of the three stronghold commanders, but now......

He clenched his fists and thought quietly, his face changed several times, and finally gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the table: "Get out, go gather our people, do it!"

"Yes!"

Jon breathed a sigh of relief, and without saying a word, turned and walked towards the door, but the door was pushed open from the outside.

A knight of the Plains who was assigned by him to monitor the daily life of the King of the Outer Seat of the Harding Tower walked in with a panicked expression: "Oh no, the Monarch Killer and his group of Westerners have gathered under the Harding Tower to transfer the King of the Outer Fortress family!"

......

Carter Pike and Jon Royce looked at each other in shock: the plan had been known to only a handful of people, and the details had not yet been handed down to the soldiers who were loyal to them, none other than a few people in the room, trusted valet princes, and a few Shadow Tower and Castle Black officers they had tried to convince.

Who leaked the secrets, the other officers of the conservative faction, or his own people?

Whoever it is, it's a hundred times worse than voting for Egger - it's a blatant betrayal!

"It's the old Mellister thing—he sold us to Iger so that he wouldn't remove him as commander if he was elected commander, it must be!" Carter Peck snapped into the whistleblower and roared with rage. He was still hesitating to take this step a moment ago, who would have thought that he would soon lose even the chance to make a choice!"You guys, come with me first!Jon, you go and gather the others, you must not let the Savage King go!"

......

Under the Harding Tower, a large but somewhat old carriage was parked on the side of the road, and the family of the King of the Outer Frontier was carrying large bags of miscellaneous goods into the car with the help of several soldiers from the West.

"Stop!" Seeing this, Carter Pike rushed to the carriage with his men and stopped a group of Westerners from carrying them: "What are you going to do? Who is it that allows you to let the Savage King and his family leave Hardin Tower?"

The people who are moving, you look at me, I look at you, and they don't know how to reply.

As hostages under house arrest, Mance Rader and his family don't have much to say — zero to be exact, and the remaining dozens of Westers at the Wall are the most ordinary Night's Watch Rangers, and they are obviously not on the same level of dialogue as an officer of the level of the commander of the East Sea Hope Fortress.

As a result, the executor of this operation, Jaime Lannister, had to step up.

With the same haughty look as ever, the monarch slayer slowly stepped out of the door under the Harding Tower, and stood at the front of his side. He smiled brightly before replying, "We have received news that there are people with bad intentions who may be detrimental to Mance Rader and his family, and thus jeopardize the stability of the land grant. For the sake of the overall situation, it was decided to transfer it after discussion to ensure safety. ”

"Discuss, who will discuss with whom, is it your turn for a little Ranger captain to make the decision on the disposition of such an important hostage of the King of the Outer Gates?"

"It's not my turn to decide. Jaime shrugged calmly, brushing his hair habitually, "But with all due respect, it's not your turn to decide. ”

Carter Pike was silent for a few seconds—of course, it wasn't his turn to make the decision to accept the surrender of the King of the Outer Fortress and take him hostage at Castle Black, all of which Commander Mormont had arranged during his lifetime. According to Egger's theory, changes can only be made after the commander-in-chief is elected...... Is this cunning fellow going to tolerate Egger again and again - to keep Egger in the hands of a dead man to restrict their movements?

Wait a minute...... In the next second, Carter discovered a loophole in Jaime's words: the late commander's arrangement was a restriction on the conservatives, but not for the radicals?

"That's right, it's not your turn or my turn to make decisions, only the new commander-in-chief has the right to make changes to the placement of the Savage King! ”

"I'm sorry, but Commander Mormont gave me a dream and ordered me to move the Mance Rader family to Houguan Town for safety. ”

"Dream?!" Carter Peck's eyes widened, "You just said it was discussed!"

"That's right, I dreamed that Commander Mormont gave me an order, and when I woke up, I informed the Chief Logistics Officer, and the two of us, after discussion, decided to carry it out. ”

Whispers and chuckles were heard from the onlookers, an obvious fool that of course no one took into account—in fact, Jaime himself blushed: lying and being a scoundrel were not his forte. In fact, he resisted for a long time when Iger taught him this rhetoric, but instead of protecting the safety of Var and her family, and human lives were at stake, he finally decided to forcibly transfer the Manse Rader family, as Iger taught.

"You—" If being a scoundrel is not Jaime's forte, then dealing with scoundrels is not Carter Pike's forte. The commander of Donghai Wang was already so angry that he couldn't speak, blood rose to his neck and head, he reached behind his back and took out his battle axe: "I don't care if I dream or not, today, the Savage King's family, no one wants to leave Castle Black!"

Excellent, exactly what Iger had expected.

The embarrassment of being forced to play the scoundrel quickly faded, and a faint smile appeared on Jaime's lips. Using force to solve problems is Carter Peck's best method, and why not his favorite? Two people who believe in "if you can do it, you won't beep", let's see who is more powerful!

——