Chapter 37 The Troubles in King's Landing (2)
In the old house where Aelin settled in King's Landing, Weimar lay half-length under the evergreen tree in the courtyard. He closed his eyes, and the surrounding sounds became clear to his ears, even the buzzing of flying insects in the distance. The sound of sparrows fluttering on the roof and the groans of captives in the house were very difficult to spend with Robert in Seagull Town. The tasks were simple but boring. Weimar often acted as a chivalrous knight in the tavern, driving away the drunkards who harassed the girls in the tavern. , which also caused trouble for Robert.
The sound of footsteps coming from the outside to the inside of the house was heard. Weimar opened his eyes and said, "Attis." His teeth were exposed, and his face was full of smiles, still the familiar stupid smile.
Attis was still wearing the silver armor and the iconic blue cloak. He walked forward quickly and gave Weimar a bear hug.
"I missed you so much in Seagull Town." Weimar patted Artis on the back hard, and then let go, "Our Duke of the Valley, everyone has been brought to you." Weimar pointed. Attis walked into the room behind him.
The house that was originally filled with all kinds of debris had already been cleared out, and more than a dozen former Seagull Town customs officials were detained here. Attis only peeked inside at the cracks, but did not go in.
"Well done, Weimar.", Attis said, "Send them to a place where I can keep them useful."
At the northernmost corner of King's Landing, near the city wall of Rhaenys Hills, the Dragon Gate stands majestically, from which the King's Road enters King's Landing. The originally bustling traffic area at the city gate gradually subsided, and two teams of valley knights rode slowly over.
Pedestrians looked at them curiously. At the city gate, many knights who were preparing to enter the city to participate in the Prime Minister's Competition also stopped to watch the two teams of Valley Knights. Some of the attendants behind them looked at the group of Valley Knights wearing blue robes and silver armor with envy. .
The golden robe guarding the giant dragon gate hurriedly left the clerk who was registering the knights for the competition, put on his helmet, picked up the iron rod and formed a team. The golden robe here was used to being domineering and had no experience in meeting the nobles temporarily. The process lasted for more than half a minute, and when the last man in golden robes came to get into the queue, he stepped on a piece of mud at the city gate and fell upside down. His helmet was obviously not fastened tightly and flew several meters away.
"Damn it!" Humphry Weishui, the captain of the dragon gate's defense, remembered his men's faces that made a fool of themselves and looked nervously at the fully armed Valley Knights.
This is a luxurious plate armor that Humphrey has never seen in his life. The dazzling silver light is like the scales of the legendary silver dragon. When the sun shines directly on it, it shows thousands of brilliance. Each of the twenty or thirty knights wore a giant arc-top helmet with a visor, and blue shields with different family emblems on their backs stood on their backs. The two knights leading the team each held the falcon flag of the Arryn family. One person holds the crowned stag banner of the Baratheon royal family.
Humphry received the news early in the morning that Commander Genos led three hundred gold robes out of the city to search for bandits. He was thinking that it was no wonder that his most capable subordinate "Rhinoceros Hide" in the Dragon Gate was summoned by Genos as soon as he took up the post. Let's go, I'm afraid our greedy Commander Genos has spent all his efforts to select 300 good players before he dares to leave the city.
Humphrey walked over nervously and asked tentatively: "Sir?" No one among the knights in front of him responded, but the leading knight holding the flag of the Arryn family held a scroll in his gauntlet, which he opened and read. road.
"To the City Guard, the current Commander of the City Guard, Janos Slynt, was ordered by former Prime Minister Eddard Stark to lead troops out of the city to capture criminals. The King's Landing City Guard is temporarily led by the Duke of the Eyrie, A Serving as Lord Hand, Hand of the King, Eddard Stark."
The knight put away the scroll, and Humphrey saw his cold eyes through the gap in his visor.
"Oh, my lord, Sir, I understand. I must obey the orders of Duke Arryn, ahem, Commander Arryn." Humphrey bent down flatteringly.
"How many men and horses do you have, how much are your salaries, and what are your weapons and equipment?" The knight's voice penetrated the mask, and it felt like the air was piercing.
Humphry quickly recalled and replied: "There are less than two hundred in the Dragon Gate."
"The exact number.", the knight's cold voice.
"Oh! Rhinoceros has left with the commander. Those three rotten eggs gathered together are wandering into who knows which brothel today." Humphrey became less and less confident as he spoke. He saw that the knight's eyes under the mask were empty. Not even a blink.
"164 people, yes! You know the salary. You shouldn't be more respectful to Lord Slynt." The Valley Knight's sword gently touched Humphrey's head. Humphrey did not dare to speak for a moment.
"Go on, how do you honor Lord Slynt?" The knight's voice was a little more teasing, and he encouraged Humphrey.
Humphrey immediately understood that these Valley Knights and Lord Slynt were not on the same side. His throat was trembling nervously, and he was unwilling to say another word.
"It doesn't matter. Near the Dragon Gate is Jinpaozi's military camp. The guard captains of the seven city gates are there. You are the last one. They are interrogating them one by one. I'm afraid the results have been found there. What happened to the person who protected Humphry? Captain, do you want to know?" The knight's voice was magnetic and low, as if he didn't care.
"I said! I said!" Humphrey was startled, and quickly revealed the details of Genos's corruption, including the fact that Genos raped civilian girls, secretly hid the king's treasures, etc. Hidden things known to everyone.
"Okay," the knight waited quietly for someone on the sidelines to finish writing the testimony, then he leaned close to Humphrey and said, "The captain of the old city gate guard said that all of Lord Slynt's stolen money was handed over to you. Are you his accomplice?" ?”
Humphrey's eyes widened and he looked at the Valley Knight in disbelief, "Jordan? Damn it, thanks to all the care I took for him, he did it!" Humphrey shook his head crazily in front of the knight, "Sir, Sir Knight, don't believe it. Everything he said was a lie! He took as many bribes as anyone else."
Looking at Humphrey talking freely, the knight nodded with satisfaction and walked slowly towards the old city gate.
In the capital garrison barracks next to the Dragon Gate, Attis sat in the tent, with a messy account book in front of him, and Littlefinger sitting in front of him.
Attis looked at Littlefinger, who was half-smiling in front of him. He didn't know why Eddard had suddenly become so trusting of Petyr. Not only had he often seen the two of them walking and talking in the Red Keep recently, but now he was actually preparing to go there. The Jinpaozi military camp sent him to accompany them when they were counting the accounts, saying that they were sending a smart and equally trustworthy person to assist them.
"Seven thousand golden dragons." Attis repeated Littlefinger's words.
Littlefinger smiled and said: "The Duke of the Valley has just arrived in King's Landing, so he naturally needs money. You have just taken over the capital garrison, which is the time to use money."
"I think you should spend this money on the tourney," Attis said.
Littlefinger shook his head with a smile, "In the royal council, I am the finance minister of the kingdom. In front of you, I am a minor nobleman under your fief. The two can be distinguished clearly, and so can the money."
"From Gulltown to King's Landing, Petyr, how did you do it." Attis wanted to confirm one last question.
Littlefinger obviously did not expect Attis to ask this question. He pretended to be confused in front of Attis, "It's all thanks to your father-in-law, the former Prime Minister." "Your ability, financial ability, and ability to manage personnel , where did you learn it, Littlefinger?" Attis asked, ignoring his false and hateful compliment.
Littlefinger lowered his eyes when he saw how serious the Duke of Vale was, "The history of Westeros, the arithmetic of the Free Trade Cities, the gossip of pirates, and the careful calculation of the lords of Seagull Town, my lord, learn from them."
"This allowed you to climb all the way to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer?" Attis couldn't believe that he actually asked Littlefinger in such a gentle tone.
Littlefinger smiled, he seemed very proud of this, "This is knowledge, Lord Attis, knowledge is power."
Attis smiled. He looked at the short man in front of him, who had white hair on his temples and was actually less than thirty years old. He was a powerful valley nobleman, a humble nobleman from the Five Fingers Peninsula, but he seemed to have the characteristics of a legendary figure back then. The "clever" Lann's demeanor is good at winning people's hearts and using tricks.
"I think you are wrong." Attis always maintained a calm tone. The person in front of him was his biggest enemy at the moment, better than the Lannister Ed was investigating at the moment. The Lannister at most had a kingdom position with him. However, there is no hatred in the confrontation between them. Instead, I, one of the most powerful dukes in the kingdom, my biggest enemy is a lowly nobleman who is ignored by others, a little man who is good at conspiracy and calculation and has no honor to speak of. Now he is a big man. .
Littlefinger looked at Attis suspiciously, thinking that Attis might be up to something.
He would never kill an important minister in King's Landing. It's impossible. According to my observation, it will never happen. Littlefinger firmly believes that Attis, as a member of the Arryn family, will not easily do anything that damages the family's honor. , what's more, he hasn't got the evidence yet. Robert is still there, and Ed is still there, so he can't be. Soon Littlefinger began to doubt his own vision, and Weimar came in from outside the camp wearing ring armor, "I brought them all, Attis.”
Two valley knights quickly walked into the camp, each raising their little fingers with one hand.
"You? Attis! You are the Duke of the Valley, and I am the Chancellor of Finance! The kingdom will not allow it! It will not be allowed!" Littlefinger's panicked voice was very pleasant, and he turned to look at Attis in panic.
"Be still, Lord Baelish." came Weimar's teasing voice, which sounded like a demonic roar in Littlefinger's ears.
There was no one in golden robe outside the camp, not even the one he had been trying to win over with money! Damn it, Attis really wants to kill me here? Impossible, this is King's Landing!
Littlefinger's panicked body was instantly calmed by Weimar, "I said, be patient, Lord Baelish." Weimar moved, Littlefinger's sight was no longer blocked by Weimar, and what came into view was Pleading, an extremely familiar face.
Lance? Littlefinger thought to himself, and when he looked forward, he saw that it was not just Lance, but also the customs officials he had promoted in Seagull Town. Except for the damn customs adjutant, everyone else was here, tied to pillars in the camp.
"Lord Baelish, save us!" Lance roared as if he saw the savior.
Littlefinger forced himself to calm down, "Master Attis, what's going on?"
Attis walked out of the tent. He looked at the scene in front of him, lowered his body, and said to Littlefinger: "Lord Baelish, what do you think we should do with them?"
Littlefinger forced a smile. He finally understood the difference between Attis and his father's style. "What should I do? Lord Attis, please forgive my stupidity"
"It's not okay to be stupid," Attis' face was still surprisingly calm. "You just said that knowledge is power, and stupid people cannot master the knowledge you know."
Littlefinger's face was trembling. He had never seen such a scene, nor had he been in such a passive situation.
"This group of people used your name and the name of Lord Petyr Baelish, the Chancellor of the Treasury, to spread rumors in Seagull Town, saying that the Duke of Vale imprisoned the Lady of the Eyrie and killed the former Prime Minister." Attis said calmly.
Damn it! Littlefinger gasped for air. Could it be that he wanted to tell Ed Stark about this now? Fortunately, Littlefinger breathed a sigh of relief. He had been prepared for this. These customs officials all came from small nobles with a similar background to himself near Seagull Town in the valley. They belonged to the Grafson family and the distantly related branches of the Arryn family in Seagull Town. , as well as the Shetter family, which has a not-so-reputable reputation. I have already taken care of it, and the poor scapegoat has been carefully designed.
"All shall be punished with death," Attis ordered calmly.
A person's head "thumped" to the ground. Little Finger, who was still thinking, saw the scene in front of him blankly. Even he did not react quickly.
Dead? Then isn’t Attis wasting his manpower to direct and act on his own? Littlefinger tried to make sense of it, but found it was all ridiculous and had no normal parts.
"This", Little Finger looked at Attis, and a strange light finally flashed in his eyes.
Fear, Attis saw this flash of eyes, he closed his eyes gently, "Insulting the Duke, this is the first crime, framed the Minister of Finance, this is the second crime, both crimes are punishable by death, you see Can Lord Renly understand this? ”
Littlefinger swallowed and nodded.
"Okay," Attis opened his eyes. He ordered his men in blue robes to clean up all the corpses. At the sound of a horn, the gold robes that had no trace came out of their respective camps one after another. Genos was in charge of the gold robes. There seemed to be a little more discipline and order, and it had only been like this in just a few days. Littlefinger's heart was filled with panic again, and he looked at the formation of the capital garrison in disbelief.
Attis seemed to remember something. He turned towards Littlefinger and drew his sword.
The friction sound between the sword and the scabbard when he drew it shocked Little Finger again. He still fell to his knees, no one helped him, no one paid attention to him.
Attis played with the long sword. The sharpness of the sword was visible at a glance on his little finger.
"Knowledge is not power, you are wrong.", Attis said.
Littlefinger raised his head. He didn't realize what Attis wanted to say. At this time, his head was out of his control.
Attis waved his long sword, and a corner of his short sleeve was suddenly missing from his little finger. The latter was motionless, and cold sweat had already spread all over his body.
"Power is power." Attis put away his sword and turned around to leave.
(End of chapter)