Originally, Janos had no right to be seated here, but his past status as former Lord of Harrenhal and former Commander of the City Watch had earned him a place.
Sam said, without showing any weakness, "Lord Janos, you should know that I currently represent Maester Aemon, and it was Maester Aemon who asked me to assist you sirs in investigating the truth. According to you, Maester Aemon is also a suspect in the Commander's murder."
Ser Allister Thorne immediately stood up and said, "Samwell Tarly, we know what you mean. You are Jon's friend and want to do your best to exonerate him…"
"No, you don't know what I mean," Sam immediately interrupted Allister and said, "Do you think Jon is merely Lord Eddard's bastard son? Do you think that because Lord Eddard is dead, Jon has no one to rely on and can be manipulated and framed by you at will? You seem to have forgotten that Prince Linde gave Jon his personal sword, which shows Prince Linde's regard for Jon. The Commander also kept Jon by his side while he was alive, serving as his personal Steward, letting him handle all the affairs of the Night's Watch, intending to train Jon to become the next Commander. Now you are directly bypassing Prince Linde and convicting Jon as the murderer of the Commander. What do you think Prince Linde will think when he learns of this?"
Upon hearing Sam's words, everyone in the room fell silent. The expressions on the faces of the castle Commanders who had not spoken until then also became focused.
"If I'm not mistaken, you haven't notified Summerhall yet, have you?" Sam suddenly spoke again.
Allister Thorne and Bowen Marsh's faces turned somewhat ugly.
"Allister, Bowen, have you notified Summerhall about the Commander's assassination?" Eastwatch-by-the-Sea Commander Carter Pike, shedding his previous lazy demeanor, sat up straight and asked in a deep voice.
Bowen explained, "The assassin who murdered the Commander hasn't been caught yet, so we decided not to send out the news for now."
Carter stood up, his voice heavy, and said, "I asked if you notified Summerhall about the Commander's assassination?"
Allister hesitated for a moment, then, with a serious expression, said, "I believe our Night's Watch is not subordinate to Summerhall; it is independent of the Seven Kingdoms. So I don't think we need to specifically notify Summerhall."
"Are you all fools? Do you know who is responsible for the Night's Watch having its current scale?" Shadow Tower Commander Denys Mallister also stood up, angrily rebuking with an agitated expression: "Do you know how many people in the Night's Watch worship Prince Linde? More than half of the Commanders of the nineteen castles are devout followers of the Seven Gods of Salvation, viewing Prince Linde as their savior! More than seventy percent of the entire Night's Watch's provisions need to be supplied by Summerhall! Do you know that if you had said what you just said outside, you would be hanged on the city gate tonight, you two idiots!"
Allister and Bowen, one being the Black Castle drillmaster and the other the First Steward, would normally have retorted if rebuked by others in such a manner. But the person speaking to them now was Denys Mallister, currently the oldest Night's Watch member besides Maester Aemon, and also a former First Ranger with distinguished military achievements, who had guarded Shadow Tower for over thirty years. When an old Night's Watch member of such seniority scolded them, they didn't even have the right to talk back.
Just then, the door was pushed open from outside, and then an Steward was seen helping Maester Aemon, who should still have been in bed, walk in.
Seeing Maester Aemon, everyone stood up.
Denys Mallister asked with concern, "Maester Aemon, you should be resting in bed to recover. Such cold weather, you…"
"I should come here to save an innocent man," Maester Aemon said in his low, hoarse voice. "I can vouch for Jon Snow with my life and honor; he absolutely could not have murdered the Commander."
"Maester Aemon, you don't need to worry; we haven't determined Jon is the murderer," Carter Pike quickly said. "We are just temporarily holding him to prevent any unforeseen circumstances." He then looked at Allister and the others and said, "Actually, I think there's no need to imprison Jon Snow at all. Let him stay outside. If he tries to escape, then he is the murderer, and we won't need to investigate further."
The others also nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, that's right. As long as Jon escapes, then he is the murderer."
Only Allister and Bowen were still unwilling to release Jon, but at this point, they could no longer stop it.
Subsequently, Denys immediately had a letter sent to Summerhall, expressing hope that Summerhall could send someone to investigate the Commander's assassination, as everyone in Black Castle was currently a suspect, and other castles also lacked personnel specialized in such matters. Therefore, they hoped Summerhall could intervene and resolve this great difficulty.
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