Chapter 274 The Many-Faced King
Two hundred and seventy-two, the multi-faceted king
Queen Margaery brought not only various styles of decorative flowers and accompanying noble ladies and knights from the High Garden, but also a sense of vitality, which injected a different kind of vitality into the Red Castle, which was full of conspiracies and calculations.
Life goes on forever, a very interesting family motto. James straightened his mask and walked along the garden corridor.
Joffrey was lying in a shady corner, with Margaery and a group of maids surrounding him, offering all kinds of fruit pulp and drinks.
The harpists from the riverlands sang melodious songs, and the jester followed the beat and performed acrobatics in front of the king.
Seeing this scene, James breathed a sigh of relief.
Joffrey was so weird, so weird lately.
He no longer teases his ministers and attendants, is no longer hysterical, and no longer easily loses his temper. When his grandfather was poisoned, Joffrey did not receive any expressions or condolences from the king, not even a reaction, even disdain and It felt reasonable to mock James, but strangely, nothing happened.
If he was just greedy for pleasure and beauty, he would be relieved. James paid attention to the maids beside the king. They were basically noble ladies brought by Queen Margaery from the Reach. They were beautiful in their own way.
He knew why the Tyrell lady did this, but if it made Joffrey appear normal, who would do it?
James walked up to Joffrey and nodded gently, "Your Majesty, Queen."
Joffrey took a sip of wine and looked at himself with his eyes.
"Ser James." Margaery whispered from the side, looking at herself with a smile.
Joffrey poured the wine until there was no trace left, "Ser, you're blocking my way from watching the show."
James frowned and turned to look behind him. The Fool bowed to him gracefully, but in James' eyes it looked so clumsy and ridiculous.
He turned sideways and said to the king: "Your Majesty, Lord Tywin has passed away, and we need to start again."
Joffrey held out his hand and stared directly at him, "I need advice, Ser Jaime."
James was a little surprised and nodded, "Tell me everything you know, Your Majesty."
"A Hand," said Joffrey, "What is the most important quality?"
Jaime's frown deepened a little deeper. Before, Joffrey would never discuss this issue with him.
James took a deep breath. He remembered his father discussing this with him when he was very young.
But at that time, there was a knight's competition practice under Casterly Rock, and all he could hear in his ears was the sound of arrows flying and swords and shields clashing, and he didn't remember a single word of his father's words.
"Maybe it's responsibility and ability." James gave an answer that he was not sure about either.
Joffrey raised his upper body, "The Sea King of Braavos chooses his lieutenants based on wealth and trust. Wealth gives Sea King practical support, and trust allows each other to trust each other."
"Is it possible that Westeros doesn't value this?" Joffrey said.
"Kevan Lannister," Jaime said the name, "Lannister's gold mines are wealth, and the Queen Mother and your mother's family have enough credit."
Joffrey bent down and rubbed his somewhat swollen thighs. These behaviors made James feel strange again.
"I heard," Margaery, who was silent on the side, suddenly said, "the people of Braavos were founded by a group of escaped slaves. I didn't know that they were still hiding from the giants of Valyria at that time. How did they survive being chased by the dragon, and how did they build a great city on the northern island?”
The queen's words were tactful and pleasant, and when she talked about the dragon, her tone of voice was exaggeratedly high, and the surrounding women followed her in support.
But the listener has a heart. James felt his ears swelled uncomfortably. He heard that there was something in Margaery's words, "Lord Tywin told me."
"Responsibility and ability are just excuses. The responsibilities and abilities of the Prime Minister depend on the king he is loyal to and serve." The father in the memory squinted, as if thinking of all the past events that embarrassed him, and the past events of working with the Mad King. "If we meet Aegon the Conqueror, if the powerful Duke is not a close confidant, he will never be able to serve as Prime Minister; if he is King Rui, the criteria for selecting Prime Minister are different. I think as long as the sense of smell is sensitive enough and the work is effective enough, Relying on the friendship with the king."
Tywin choked and rapped on the table, over and over again.
"Act when the situation arises, act when the situation arises! Everyone will change. One moment they are brothers and ministers, and the next moment they may be fighting each other. What kind of king, what kind of prime minister! No matter who is going to be the prime minister, What kind of person! ”
James repeated it calmly, and the picture in his memory slowly appeared in his mind.
"Pah! Pah! Pah"
Margaery clapped her hands and took the lead in praising James, and the women around her also followed behind with unstinting compliments.
Joffrey tilted his mouth, his face was white as if he had been soaked in water for a long time, without any rosy color.
"Westeros needs a strong prime minister to rectify the war-torn kingdom." Joffrey said.
James took a deep breath, "I miss Kevan."
"Lord Attis Arryn," Joffrey said, with no hesitation in his eyes, as if the choice of Prime Minister had nothing to do with him as a king, and there was a strange sense of understatement, "I don't think there is anyone in the Seven Kingdoms who is more suitable than him. As Prime Minister.”
Just as James was about to speak, Margaery laughed next to him and said, "Attis Arryn, the Eagle of the Valley, Warden of the East and Governor of the Trident, has the most powerful army in the Seven Kingdoms in his hands. Only Aelin can help solve the troubles encountered by the royal family.”
With the king's determination and the queen's support, James only felt that the familiar palace of the Red Keep was a bit unfamiliar. The Lannister's golden and red lion flag was obviously still flying, but the distant eagle's roar could make the lion tremble.
"If so," James glanced at Margaery, wondering if the queen's words had been specially taught by the Queen of Thorns. When did the rose climb its twig onto the eagle? He whispered to the king, "I'm afraid the Red Keep will be Aelin's only voice in the future."
Joffrey raised his head to face Jaime and suddenly laughed, "Sir Jaime really reminded me, hahaha, I thought this Red Keep was not someone else's!"
Lannister's golden lion flag flutters in the wind, occupying almost every tower and battlement of the Red Keep. Lannister's red robes are everywhere, at every intersection of corridors, and on the iron doors of every hall. With Lannister spies and guards.
James swallowed, as if he wanted to make a final struggle, "Your Majesty."
"Rigoletto!" Joffrey pointed behind him, "Dance on!"
The harp music started playing again, and the Fool once again told crude but entertaining jokes.
James took a long breath, nodded slightly to the king, and turned to leave.
Margaery held the king's arm tightly and trembled slightly, looking at the back of James leaving, lying on the couch as if she was relieved of her strength.
"The queen is tired," Joffrey said to the people around him, "go back to your room"
Margery sat on the edge of the bed in the bedroom, holding the bed quilt tightly with both hands, her pupils trembling slightly, like an elk encountering a natural enemy.
"Joffrey's" face was like an inflated fish skin, swelling and turning from purple to white. The wind outside the window changed slightly.
Faces appeared on the king's face, changing.
"When your mission is accomplished, will you kill me?" Margery's words were completely out of fear.
The faceless man took on the appearance of an ordinary person, and his hooked nose made his face three-dimensional and cold. "Someone does not kill people he knows."
He turned over and jumped out of the window, hiding in the night.
(End of chapter)