With a smile on his face, Varys continued, "Lord Stark, you are Hand of the King, and it is our duty to serve you."
After speaking, he and other imperial ministers sat down in their proper seats.
Because King Robert said that all imperial ministers are cunning people, although Lord Eddard's body was very tired, he did not relax his vigilance.
He glanced at everyone and frowned. "Small Council Why are there only five people?"
Varys glanced at Renly and said respectfully, "Lord Hand, Lord Stannis just returned to Dragonstone, and Ser Barristan Selmy is accompanying the king."
Pycelle Grand Maester, who had been sitting quietly in his seat, raised his head and said slowly, "Eddard Hand of the King, today's Small Council is about Tournament. This is to celebrate the new Hand of the King taking office. There is no need to summon all the imperial ministers."
Petyr curled his lips and said, "I can't even remember the last time there were seven people in the room."
Lord Eddard glanced at Petyr, then said to Pycelle, "Grand Maester Pycelle, I see you are still in good health, and thank you for your advice."
Pycelle stroked his chest tremblingly and said, "Lord Eddard, after all, I am old and get tired easily. I almost fell asleep just now."
Lord Eddard's brows wrinkled imperceptibly. He felt that listening to these people was really tiring.
"My lords, let's discuss this Tournament first."
Lord Eddard After listening to everyone's discussion for a while, he almost couldn't help but curse.
Iron Throne's total liabilities exceed six million Gold Dragon?!
Didn't Targaryen leave behind mountains of gold and silver treasures... How could he be reduced to this situation!
Tournament is still holding it in his name. How far will Robert go? Does Robert think he will feel honored for this?
The important thing is that this is adding insult to injury to the kingdom's finances.
Lord Eddard took a breath and said as calmly as possible, "I will talk to King Robert. The kingdom cannot afford such extravagance and waste Tournament."
Lord Renly smiled heartily and said, "Ned, you don't know when it will be when you see my brother. King's Landing has already gathered a lot of people to participate in Tournament. More people are already on the way. There is no time to cancel."
Varys then explained, "Our dear King Robert has too many things to worry about, and he will not come back just for trivial matters."
Lord Renly shrugged his shoulders. "Ned, my brother gets a headache when he hears about any matters involving finance, agricultural harvests and laws. He put us here just to lighten the burden."
"... Damn it!"
Lord Eddard cursed lowly and looked at Master of Coin: "Lord Baelish, how do you plan to raise the expenses required by Tournament?"
Petyr raised the corners of his lips and said, "Stark Hand of the King, I'm ready Gold Dragon."
Seeing the confusion on Lord Eddard's face, he explained with a mocking tone, "Everyone knows that the kingdom's treasury has been empty for several years, and every time we need money, we don't borrow it. Anyway, we already owe Lannister more than three million Gold Dragon. Borrowing more for Tournament this time is not a big deal."
Lord Eddard's pupils have shrunk, and it has exceeded 3 million Gold Dragon... Why is Lannister so generous?
Petyr's eyes moved, as if he had seen through Lord Eddard's thoughts, and he added, "There is a Lannister Queen sitting in Red Keep, so House Lannister is happy to support, Lord Eddard."
Lord Eddard said a little irritably, "Damn it Tournament, the sooner this farce ends, the sooner I can feel at ease."
Pycelle suddenly said, "Lord Eddard, Commander of the Gold Cloaks reported the current situation of King's Landing at noon today. He expressed concerns about the security in the city."
Lord Eddard leaned on the back of the chair and said, "Tell me about it."
"A lot of knights participating in Tournament in King's Landing came one after another, and for every knight who came, there came two Free Riders, three craftsmen, six soldiers, a dozen traders, two dozen women, and as for thieves, there were so many that I didn't even dare to guess."
"Someone drowned last night, plus there was a tavern riot, three knife fights, a murder, two fires, and countless robberies... I heard that a drunk horse rushed directly to Nuns Street."
After Pycelle finished speaking, Varys trembled and said, "This morning a woman's head was found floating in Great Sept's Rainbow Pool. No one knows where that head came from, and no one knows whose head it is. It's so scary."
Lord Renly said angrily, "Janos If you can't even maintain order in the city, I'm afraid Gold Cloaks will have to replace the commander-in-chief with a capable person."
Pycelle nodded and said, "This is also a solution, Lord Renly."
Lord Eddard asked, "Has he thought of a solution?"
"Janos hopes that Small Council will approve him to increase manpower."
After Pycelle finished answering, Petyr sneered.
Increase manpower? Lord Eddard then thought of Gryn's soldiers, but shook his head secretly.
After a moment of silence, Lord Eddard said, "I will allocate twenty people from my guards to Janos, and then ask him to hire another 50 people. As for the money..."
He turned his head and looked at Petyr, and continued, "Lord Baelish will solve it."
Petyr was stunned for a moment and said, "Shall I solve it?"
"You heard that right. Since you can quickly raise Gold Dragon from Tourney, it won't be a problem to get a few more Copper Star to maintain the order of King's Landing."
Petyr's expression was helpless and bitter. He shrugged and said, "I'm happy to serve you, Lord Eddard."
"The rest will be discussed another day..."
Lord Eddard realized that the tone of his speech was not very good, and reminded himself that this was not Winterfell.
He softened his tone and continued, "My lords, I am really tired. Let's stop here today and continue when I feel better."
Lord Eddard did not wait for anyone else to respond. After speaking, he stood up, nodded to everyone present, and strode away Throne Room.
Tower of the Hand's restaurant is a long and narrow room with a tall dome, and more than two hundred people can sit on the benches.
Stark and his party were having dinner. There were only about fifty people in total, so the benches seemed empty.
After the first course of dinner was taken off the table, Arya saw her father walking in. She could tell that his father seemed not to be in a good mood.
Lord Eddard gave up and motioned to everyone who stood up and saluted to sit down.
After the guard captain Jory sat down, he said, "Sir, everyone outside is talking about Tournament. It is said that the knights of Seven Kingdoms will come to fight for your honor and celebrate the new Hand of the King."
Sansa's eyes lit up. "That must be an unprecedented event Tournament! Father, can we go?"
Arya noticed that her father's face was even worse. She turned to her excited sister and said, "Sansa, don't you like wielding knives and guns the most? Don't be scared to tears then. Why don't you stay in the room and play with your favorite embroidery?"
Sansa raised his head and said, "Arya, you have to stay in the room honestly. Father told us to stay quietly, but you sneaked out."
"You complained again, you are a traitor!"
"I'm not a traitor, you did something wrong!"
"I hate you the most!"
"Huh, I didn't say I liked you either!"
"Enough!"
Lord Eddard said with an angry face, "I'm already annoyed to death by the endless quarrels between you two. After all, you are all sisters. I hope you love each other like sisters. Do you understand?"
Sansa bit his lip and nodded. Arya lowered his head and stared at the dinner plate in front of him unhappily. The only sound left was the sound of knives and forks touching the dinner plate.
Lord Eddard looked at his two daughters and sighed secretly, and said, "I will help you two arrange seats at the stadium."
After saying that, he stood up with a tired look and said, "I'm sorry, I don't have much appetite tonight, please eat more."
This stupid thing was clearly Robert's own idea. Not only did he have to help organize it, he also had to pretend to be flattered. Lord Eddard didn't like this feeling very much.
After his father left, Arya noticed that Sansa immediately started whispering excitedly to others. Everyone was talking and laughing, and the atmosphere in the restaurant quickly became lively.
When Winterfell was a child, they often ate in the castle hall. My father always said that as a lord, you need to dine with your subordinates frequently, so as to keep their hearts; he also said that as a lord, you must not only understand your subordinates, but also let them understand their lord, because your subordinates will not sacrifice their lives for a stranger.
At Winterfell, my father would always set aside a special seat at his dining table, and invite different people every night to listen to their stories or suggestions. At that time, Arya liked sitting at the table the most and listening to them.
Arya glared at the "hypocritical" sister and quietly slipped out of the busy restaurant while others were not paying attention.
Maegor's Holdfast.
Gryn is having dinner with Cersei and Jaime. The staple food tonight is pumpkin sweet soup and grilled ribs.
King Juan Gryn is very busy. He dines with Baratheon and Stark at noon, and dines with Lannister in the evening.
Gryn picked up the wine glass and took a sip, and said, "Ser Jaime, are you satisfied with my gift?"
Gryn really couldn't think of a good gift, so he gave Jaime a cloak embroidered with the words "Warden of the East" as a congratulatory gift.
Jaime coughed dryly, glanced at Cersei on the side, and changed the topic directly. "Are you ready for your armor?"
Cersei had seen the gift from Gryn, and she seemed very satisfied with it. Jaime was afraid that Cersei would ask her to put on that high-profile cloak, so she didn't want to discuss it a word.
Gryn smiled and said, "It has been arranged. I think there is no problem with the time."
After a while, Cersei Queen put down his knife and fork, and signaled the waiter to exit the restaurant.
Cersei gently shook the wine glass and said, "Lord Gryn, what's your impression of that girl?"
Gryn is a person who will not leave any clues easily. He went to greet Stark and his party with Cersei's permission.
After guessing that Sansa·Stark might become Joffrey's fiancée, Cersei Queen has always been concerned about this matter.
Gryn put down the wine glass and said seriously, "Miss Sansa·Stark has the red hair and blue eyes of the Tully family. She is a little beauty. Her family has protected her very well. She is not deeply involved in the world and has a very innocent personality."
Cersei raised the corners of his lips and said leisurely, "It's interesting, isn't it?"
Jaime said with a smile, "Cersei Queen, you seem a little satisfied?"
Cersei glanced at Jaime with a smile, took a sip of Summer Wine, and said, "Joffrey is suitable for well-behaved and obedient girls."
Gryn blinked slowly, suddenly feeling like a villain meeting, it must be an illusion!
"Queen Your Highness."
Gryn briefly and directly described his encounter with Margaery, saying, "Golden Rose keeps making little moves. I always feel like they are planning something secretly."
Jaime frowned and said, "Is Highgarden going to marry Winterfell? I remember that Winterfell's heir Robb·Stark is similar in age to Margaery·Tyrell."
Cersei glanced sideways at Jaime and said coldly, "Jaime, how could a the Reach person who thinks so highly of himself fall in love with a the North country bumpkin."
Golden Rose has fallen in love with that drunkard Robert, right? Cersei has always been very keen on this method.
Cersei remembered Maggy the Frog's language, she snorted coldly, and said, "No matter how they plan, Golden Rose is destined to fail!"
Gryn's eyes trembled slightly and said, "Your Highness, we have no way of knowing what Golden Rose will do. I heard that they have a lot of people at King's Landing. I am very worried about your safety. Just in case..."
Gryn lowered his voice and continued, "Do you need me to bring in more soldiers from the Whispers?"
After a pause, he continued, "Ser Jaime is now Warden of the East. We can legitimately mobilize the army to King's Landing."
Cersei was pondering, and she seemed to be very moved by Gryn's proposal.
Jaime's voice interrupted Cersei's thoughts, "Cersei...Queen, everyone is coming King's Landing, and everyone's eyes are fixed here. Now is not a good time to mobilize the army, it can easily cause accidents..."
Gryn nodded and echoed, "Ser Jaime's concerns are justified. Someone with good intentions may slander us to occupy King's Landing."
After finishing speaking, he shrugged, with a look of helplessness on his face.
Cersei's green eyes trembled. She slowly rubbed the body of the cup and said without hesitation, "Lord Gryn, how many troops can the Whispers mobilize?"
Gryn immediately replied, "Your Highness, if you are pressed for time, it will be about two to three thousand soldiers. If you have two or three months, I can mobilize at least 10,000 soldiers and horses for you."
The new Warden of the East Jaime looked at Gryn, his eyes were a little complicated.
Jaime believes that Gryn did not lie about its military strength, and there is no need for it. Crabb's army has unconsciously become a force that Crownlands cannot ignore.
He recalled the past with Gryn and thought carefully that Gryn had hinted at it many times, or showed off Crabb's military power.
What they were planning in secret was full of dangers, Casterly Rock was too far away... Now that Cersei's safety was further guaranteed, Jaime felt a lot more relaxed, and he felt that the most important thing to be careful about was not to let Cersei and Gryn mess around.
Cersei slightly tapped his chin and said, "Lord Gryn, your loyalty makes me feel happy, just wait for my order."
Cersei stared at Gryn with his beautiful eyes, and Gryn nodded slightly.
Jaime was secretly relieved, at least Cersei also understood that their affairs could not make a big fuss.
Jaime raised a smile, "Gryn, this must be your first time participating in Tournament, right? You have to prepare well, maybe you can win the heart of a certain lady."