Chapter 48 King’s Landing

Just as Clay rode the sailing ship The Old Man of White Harbor from the mouth of the White Blade River into the Bite Bay, and rode the wind and waves all the way south, the Northern Warden and now the Prime Minister Eddard Stark fell into a quagmire in King's Landing.

Sitting on a high wooden platform, Prime Minister Eddard looked at King Robert who was shouting in the largest tent on the stage, but the expression on his face was so cold that it could freeze the air around him.

This martial arts tournament held in his name actually cost nearly 100,000 gold dragons. Although this was not a huge expense for a huge country, the problem was that the treasury was running out of money.

Not only is there no money, the royal family's foreign debt has exceeded two million gold dragons, including the debt from the Iron Bank of Braavos and hundreds of thousands of gold dragons owed by Duke Tywin Lannister in the West.

Even the cost of holding the tourney and the final bounty were borrowed from the king's father-in-law, Duke Tywin. When he heard the news, Ed Stark wanted to stop the tourney immediately!

But helplessly, this was organized for him by his former brother and now the king, and he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to.

In the field, two knights wearing heavy armor charged each other, and two spears broke. This kind of specially treated competition spear is easy to break, and the cost is relatively high.

Prime Minister Ed's heart was bleeding as he watched the two attendants standing aside handing two new spears to their master...

Without money, how can he, the Prime Minister, manage the country? The royal family's daily expenses, the maintenance of the royal fleet, etc. all require the shining golden dragon. Where did he get the money from? He had no intention of asking the old lion for money.

Sometimes, he admires Petyr, the current finance minister. He can actually maintain the royal family's finances without any mistakes for so many years despite such a huge deficit. He is considered a capable person.

But Ned also knew very well that Duke Tywin was not the king's son-in-law who supported him for free. The Iron Throne owed Casterly Rock a large amount of debt. Tywin did not pursue it, but in exchange, a large number of Lannisters entered the country over the years. Red Fort.

As the king, Robert still didn't care about these things after being reminded many times by the former Prime Minister Jon Arryn.

When Eddard Stark arrived in King's Landing for a while, he discovered that the smell of lions in the Red Keep was much stronger than that of stags.

He originally did not want to participate in this meaningless game of stabbing with spears in his opinion. Real martial arts are practiced on the battlefield. This kind of house-like game will not only attract those ostentatious ladies. What's the point besides their screams?

But his daughter was also in the stands of this tournament. Thinking of his sister Lyanna, Ed Stark had a worse impression of the tournament, but this also made him put down what he was doing and came to the scene. .

Robert told himself that his crown prince Joffrey and Sansa were engaged to each other.

However, fear comes as no surprise. When Loras Tyrell dedicated a flower to his daughter Sansa, Eddard's breath paused for a moment.

His face was ugly, but Ed Stark thought about it and realized that this "Knight of Flowers" didn't seem to have any engagement, and the Tyrell family didn't have a close relationship with him.

Staring at this young boy covered in bright armor, Prime Minister Eddard, who was experienced in the battlefield, could tell at a glance that the Tyrell boy was probably a guy with a bright appearance.

I just heard what the master of ceremonies said. This boy's opponent this round is the infamous "Magic Mountain". Hey, Tyrell, who doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth, let the Lannister vicious dogs give you some suffering.

With this thought in mind, Duke Ed, who was sitting in the corner, straightened his body slightly and focused on the playing field.

The two sides are on both sides of the field, with a distance of less than 200 meters in the middle. This is a fairly safe distance. No matter how good the horse is, it is impossible to completely charge at this distance.

If the horse speed is not fast enough, the impact will not be strong enough. At least it can protect these fallen nobles of the southern border to some extent.

Duke Eddard looked to the other side. Sir Clegane, who was sitting on the horse like a hill, felt a complete sense of oppression with his huge body.

Compared with Loras Tyrell's somewhat thin body, Duke Eddard estimated that the "Knight of Flowers" would be knocked off his horse in one confrontation.

After sorting out their equipment, the attendants left, and the horses on both sides began to accelerate, but this distance could not increase the speed of the horses at all, no matter how superb their equestrian skills were.

The two opposing sides quickly approached, but to Duke Ed's surprise, it seemed that there was something wrong with the horse under the "Magic Mountain" and it did not obey his command at all.

The two sides suddenly approached, Loras's spear was pushed forward by his thin arm, and the horse under the "Magic Mountain" was completely out of his control at this time.

So, in Duke Ed's eyes, a ball of human flesh wrapped in steel directly hit the ground with his horse, causing a cry of exclamation from the audience.

Duke Eddard frowned. He was actually happy to see the failure of the "Magic Mountain". After all, he didn't like this Lannister vicious dog at all.

He led the Lannister army to massacre the Targaryen family, and the daughter-in-law killed Rhaegar Targaryen's wife, Prince Oberon's sister Ilia, and the evil deeds done by the "Mountain" in the fall of King's Landing. Eddard Stark was deeply disdainful.

But behind him stood Duke Tywin, and Eddard had no choice but to let the "Magic Mountain" show off its power in King's Landing, even if he was now the Prime Minister.

As the winner, Loras held up his fancy long sword and enjoyed the cheers of the women around him, but the next moment, the "Magic Mountain" that climbed up from the ground angrily pulled out the long sword from the hands of the attendants standing aside. The sword roared.

The sword swung down and cut the neck of the horse that caused him to lose the game.

Dazzling bright red plasma spurted out from the broken artery, covering the land full of horse hoof prints, and the cheers of the audience seemed to have been pressed on the pause button.

Everyone stared blankly at this loser who suddenly became angry for some reason. Soon, the first female scream rang out from the audience, followed by a loud roar.

Ed Stark didn't like this situation at all. How could he be afraid of blood if it wasn't because of the blood?

Since he came to King's Landing, this city has always surprised him in various things. For no reason, the words that Prime Minister Jon Arryn kept chanting before his death rang in his mind. :

"Strong nature!"

He still couldn't figure out what this sentence was referring to, but he knew very well that the words that a person kept chanting when he was about to die must be extremely important to that person.

The strong smell of blood rushed into his nose, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.