"Jenny, you go out first, I need to talk to the scholar."
"Yes, Father."
"The Mountain is back. Tell him to come see me."
"Yes, Father."
Jenny curtsied and withdrew.
The study door closed gently again.
"Your Grace, I fear the Mountain may lose his temper and harm the nobles of the North," said Maester Potter.
Duke Tywin Lannister said calmly, "I'm afraid he won't hurt anyone."
"Oh, why do you say that, Your Grace?"
The Duke did not answer.
Duke Tywin slowly took out from the drawer a diagram of military sentry posts, a diagram of snow salt production, chopsticks wrapped in red brocade, a diagram of coin minting, a diagram of noodle making machinery, and a diagram of sinking bends.
The scholar was astonished.
"Your Grace, before this, Lord Gregor had already given you the coin design and the diagrams for the noodle-making machine? And the diagram for the sinking bend?"
"I already had these things long before Count Auder told me about the noodle-making machine and the sinking bend."
The scholar remained silent for a long time.
Count Ode's 'advice' was meaningless to the Duke.
The Duke was well aware of everything Gregor Clegane did, including his amazing inventions.
"Gregor gave it to me personally," the Duke said, noticing the maester's surprised expression.
"He also admitted that he designed all of this?" the maester murmured. He realized that he knew less than one percent of Sir Gregor than the Duke did.
Duke Tywin seemed not to hear the maester's question. He simply ignored the duke's reluctance to answer: "Maester, the gold mines in the West won't last much longer. What will happen to the West if there are no more gold mines?" The duke picked up the snow salt production process diagram. "Snow salt can become the West's second gold mine, but it's not enough."
The scholar nodded.
"The 'wood-for-iron' substitution of chopsticks can effectively reduce weapon prices and decrease the consumption of iron ore from the Iron Islands after three months, but the amount of iron ore we purchase can only increase, not decrease."
"Yes, we need to secretly stockpile a large amount of iron ore."
"The combined force of military whistles, war drums, and horns can enhance the combat power of our western legions and allow us to surpass our opponents in military warfare," Tywin said.
He was an outsider to military science, but he knew that the Duke was an outstanding military strategist who had become famous in the seven kingdoms at the age of seventeen in the Battle of the Nine Copper Coins, and at the age of eighteen, he had wiped out the two most powerful noble families in the West, leaving no one alive.
"Yes, Duke."
"The noodles can be sold in seven countries and overseas, but this kind of high-end noodles can only be sold to nobles. This profit should be awarded to Gregor and Earl Odd. Casterly Rock City can just collect a certain amount of tax."
"Your decision is excellent, sir!"
"The sinkhole can only prevent our toilets from emitting odors, and once the word spreads, everyone can imitate it. The money it makes is actually limited and can be completely ignored."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Minting coins is indeed the best way to increase the wealth of the Westerlands." Lord Tywin finally picked up the coin design given to him by the Mountain. "When we run out of gold mines, the coins we mint ourselves will be a hidden gold mine." Tywin looked at the coin design with an expression of appreciation.
"Yes!" the scholar answered cautiously.
The coins were secretly minted by the Mountain, yet the Duke seemed to appreciate them. Could it be that the Mountain wasn't just minting coins for himself, but also for the Duke?
This idea sent a chill down the scholar's spine.
The Duke minted coins without authorization?! This charge could be serious or minor. It could rise to the level of treason, with the king stripping the duke of his title, lands, and power; or it could be resolved invisibly, since the king is the duke's son-in-law, the queen is his daughter, and the princes and princesses are his grandchildren—behind closed doors, they are all one family.
But the Duke made it clear to Jenny that he was unaware of the Mountain's minting.
If the coinage plot is exposed, wouldn't only one person be held accountable: The Mountain!
The answer is obvious!
The scholar broke out in a cold sweat again.
He served the Duke for decades and always had an indelible sense of awe and fear towards him.
"But these are all minor paths." The Duke's face showed a hint of dejection. "The Lannister family has a thousand-year history. When the gold mines are depleted, the Lannisters must find other ways to survive. Otherwise, how can they continue to exist for another thousand years? The name of the Lannisters is a thousand times more important than my life, Tywin's." The Duke's eyes suddenly fixed on the Maester's face. "Maester Potter, do you have any good ideas?"
Professor Porter was completely bewildered.
He had no good ideas at all.
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He wouldn't have realized this problem at all if the Duke hadn't said that the gold mine wouldn't last many years.
Every month, gold mine wagons carrying gold to King's Landing streamed along the Golden Road into the King's mint, displaying an air of immense wealth and power. Who would have thought this was the last glimmer of glory for the Westerlands? Like the splendor before the sun sets.
"My lord, I have no idea what the future holds for the West," Potter confessed, his voice filled with trepidation.
Lying to the Duke is tantamount to suicide. The Duke has a sharp eye and his judgment of people and situations is unmatched.
Suddenly, the maester understood why Ser Gregor had told the Duke all his secrets. He also suddenly understood why the Mountain, the most wicked man in the Seven Kingdoms, could comfortably commit evil deeds around such a shrewd and ruthless duke.
Everything about Gregor was no secret to the Duke.
Since Gregor began following the Duke at the age of twelve, twenty years have passed, and he has had no secrets from His Excellency, not a single one.
Those who thought Gregor had a secret, those who tattled on him to the Duke, were all observed with cold indifference by the Duke. They secretly spoke ill of Gregor to the Duke behind his back, but each time, the Duke simply nodded in acknowledgment. It turned out that the Duke himself knew far more, more deeply, and more thoroughly than they claimed.
No amount of slander can bring down Sir Gregor before the Duke. Unless the Duke himself decides to destroy the Mountain.
Now that the Mountain has suddenly gained sentience and is favored by the Seven Gods, his series of contributions have given the Duke a new ray of hope, making the anxious Duke Tywin think about the future path of the Westerlands.
Bachelor Porter vaguely sensed some clues, but he had no idea whether they were correct.
He understood only one thing: never speak ill of Sir Gregor in front of the Duke again, not a single word!
There is a very deep and special connection between the Mountain and the Duke that no outsider knows about. This special bond is different from the relationship between Tywin and anyone else.
Having figured this out, the scholar suddenly understood what the Duke had said earlier: "I'm just afraid he won't hurt anyone."
The Mountain, despite his enhanced intelligence, remains wicked and incurs the hatred of the nobles—perhaps precisely what the Duke desires.
*