The Queens Quarter Under Gryn's Rule

Jaime speculated about the mastermind in his mind, casting suspicion on everyone.

Jaime couldn't help but ask again, "Have you guessed who it is?"

Gryn would not choose to tell Jaime the answer; the consequences of revealing it would be catastrophic.

"Love-brained" Jaime would choose to start hacking people down, while "Instigator" Gryn, for the sake of safety, was forced into a deep entanglement with House Lannister.

At this point in time, Gryn's direct reason for choosing Cersei was that she could provide him with power and Gold Dragons.

King Robert's style of oppression could grind a high-spirited Lancel into a timid, submissive youth, but this tactic had no effect on Cersei.

You may curse me, beat me, and insult me, but I, Queen Cersei, still do not fear you, nor do I respect you. Do not let me find an opportunity, for I will surely retaliate!

Having a cold, unyielding heart that could not be broken was perhaps one of the few bright spots in Cersei's character.

As long as King Robert and Lord Jon remained in the Red Keep, Gryn Crabb, as a former model vassal of the Dragon House, would always have to tread carefully.

He had to worry that one day, on a whim, they might set their sights on the still-weak Gryn.

Weakness was Gryn's disadvantage, but it was also his advantage.

If Queen Cersei were willing to shelter Gryn, the Red Keep would not directly offend the Queen for the sake of a weakling like Gryn, because in their eyes, it simply wasn't worth it.

Queen Cersei, with her peculiar personality, might be the only one willing to go to any lengths to clash with them, making it not worth the trouble.

This was precisely the narrow gap where Gryn could survive and develop.

Jaime was the person closest to Cersei and the one she trusted most; Jaime's favorability could not be ignored.

Gryn had originally thought that Jaime's favorability could be influenced indirectly through Tyrion.

Judging by Jaime's attitude during their first meeting, Gryn had to admit that his attempt to influence him through a third party had clearly failed.

In the future, he could not be too close to Tyrion, because Cersei hated Tyrion to death.

Gryn was always patient enough; he had the patience and meticulousness to untangle these interpersonal relationships one by one.

Gryn was very clear: he wanted to borrow Queen Cersei's ship, not board the Lannister family's ship.

Gryn rubbed his brow and said, "There is no evidence. Therefore, everything is merely our suspicion, Ser Jaime. With groundless suspicions, you would create a situation where the Queen is surrounded by enemies."

Jaime felt a sense of helplessness, having nowhere to exert his strength: "What you say makes sense. I still have to act normally, otherwise, I would be helping the enemy."

Gryn nodded in agreement: "Ser Jaime, you already know about the conspiracy. As long as you keep your eyes sharp, catching the rats in the gutter is only a matter of time. Once a conspiracy is exposed, it is no longer a threat as long as one is vigilant enough."

Jaime's face relaxed significantly: "You seem very adept at uncovering conspiracies?"

What kind of question was that? Gryn felt that he and Jaime were truly incompatible.

Gryn knew that Jaime's nature was to dislike conspiracies; now that his mood had relaxed slightly, was he doubting the darkness of Gryn's character again?

Gryn actually misunderstood Jaime's original intent.

Jaime appreciated Gryn's sharpness but worried that the young Gryn would become addicted to conspiratorial methods because of this intelligence. "Old Knight" Jaime felt an obligation not to let a young man he admired go down the wrong path.

The two were simply not on the same wavelength; they were indeed incompatible.

The magnanimous Gryn could only pretend not to understand Jaime's words. With a faint smile on his delicate face, he said, "Perhaps it was my living environment that trained me; I have a very keen sense of smell for danger. My mother told me that to ensure the family's survival, she had to take the newborn me and leave our ancestral lands. The journey was fraught with peril; whenever danger approached, I could always be the first to cry out loudly. They said I was more useful than a sentry."

Gryn smiled and shook his head: "Over a decade ago, if it hadn't been for Lord Eddard of Winterfell speaking up for us, House Crabb might have already perished."

If nothing went wrong, he would still have to go North to fight zombies... The far-sighted Gryn took the opportunity to reveal to Jaime the debt of gratitude the Crabb family owed to Lord Eddard.

Gryn sent Jaime off and pulled himself together to start getting busy again.

The connection from the Queens Quarter to the outside relied mainly on five passages. Gryn split the 50 Lannister guards Jaime had brought into five teams of ten, established roadblocks, and assigned each team to guard one intersection. That very day, he sealed off the entire Queens Quarter under the pretext of preventing the spread of disease.

The remaining Lannister guards and Crabb Clan Soldiers were stationed at Gryn's command post, ready to be deployed at any time.

Once the blockade was complete, Gryn used the Queen's name to carry out unified isolation and centralized treatment for those already suffering from the illness.

To ensure the patients cooperated smoothly with his arrangements, Gryn provided free food and medical care to those in the isolation zone.

There were fewer patients than Gryn had imagined—a total of just over 400, fewer than 500. Gryn added a zero and publicly claimed there were 5,000 patients, deliberately causing panic in the Queens Quarter.

Most of the physicians in the Queens Quarter were also gathered by Gryn into the isolation zone.

Gryn simply had a bag of Gold Dragons tossed over, and with the gleaming longswords in the guards' hands, the physicians were very cooperative.

The Little Steward Leyton was mainly responsible for propaganda; he was the head of Gryn's "panic-inducing" team.

Under Gryn's manipulative propaganda, every resident of the Queens Quarter was panicked and fearful for their own safety.

With all these arrangements in place, starting from the second night, Gryn successfully enforced a curfew; no one was allowed to walk within the Queens Quarter after sunset.

The fifth day of Gryn's rule over the Queens Quarter.

Gryn sat in his command post, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were hesitating over something.

So far, two hundred people had been proven guilty beyond a doubt; killing these two hundred would not be an injustice in the slightest.

Gryn hesitated, wondering if he was killing too many at once, and whether he would end up with titles like the "Baron of Rolling Heads" or the "Executioner Baron" in the future.

Gryn suddenly chuckled; faced with such a situation, why was he the one worrying about his reputation!

Gryn's hesitation lasted only a brief moment.

Let the heads roll; King's Landing would be his property sooner or later, so he would consider this an early benefit for the subjects of King's Landing. By dealing with these villains sooner, their lives would improve that much faster.

Under Gryn's direct orchestration, a new Security Office was established in the Queens Quarter.

Gryn's guard captain, Foley, was appointed as the Chief Security Officer of the Security Office, while the Little Steward was appointed as the Chief Clerk.

The original fifty or so security guards had long since been detained by Gryn; not a single one of them was an innocent man.

At the same time, one hundred new security guards were recruited within the Queens Quarter and placed under the command of Foley and Leyton to restore order and patrols in the area.

If this Security Office were to be recognized by the Red Keep in the future without changing Gryn's personnel arrangements, it would mean the Queens Quarter of King's Landing was effectively under Gryn's control. If the new Security Office was not recognized by the Red Keep, Gryn would have no reason to feel regret.

Gryn was currently using special means, such as the fear of disease, to suppress the entire Queens Quarter. While the short-term effects were significant, it was by no means a long-term strategy; if it dragged on, it would backfire and lead to chaos.

Gryn lacked the talent and energy to deeply cultivate the Queens Quarter, so if it could be brought under his control, it would only be an unexpected little surprise.

Perhaps Gryn would only ever treat the Queens Quarter as a bargaining chip; everything else remained unknown.