Chapter 294 Performance in the Red Keep

At the same time, in the Red Fort, the dignitaries in the city who have not yet been arrested have gathered in the hall. The fact that they can stand here intact already represents their political leanings.

In addition, in the hall near the door, there are many specially recruited citizens of King's Landing. These so-called citizens are idle guys in the city. The only useful thing they have is their mouths. To use Joffrey's original words, In other words, they were able to use their own words to publicize what happened in the hall today and let everyone know the majesty of King Joffrey I.

The sound of "clang" sounded extremely harsh in the empty hall. The famous Barristan was surrounded by his Iron Guard brothers armed with weapons. There were more than a dozen golden robes standing around, staring at the long swords. Barristan pulled out.

Although they were laughing at Barristan just now that he was too old and too old to protect anyone, they were still full of fear of the old man in their hearts, and instinctively believed that Barristan, who was armed with weapons, still had extremely strong abilities. The fighting power cannot be resisted by just one or two people present.

Barristan, who was targeted, looked sharply at the tense Kingsguard and golden robes around him. His eyes fell on the child sitting on the throne. He smiled contemptuously and dropped the long sword in his hand to the ground. Said: "Little devil, if you want it, take it!"

As he spoke, he unbuttoned his shoulders again, letting the snow-white cloak representing the Iron Guard fall to the ground and pile up at his feet. He then took off his helmet and threw it casually on the ground.

The white-haired Ser Barristan unbuttoned his breastplate and let it fall to the ground. He said with great pride: "I appreciate your lords' kindness, but I spurn your sympathy. I am angry with you." To be a knight, you must die like a knight.”

"Like a knight without clothes, you say!" interposed Littlefinger.

Everyone burst out laughing. Whether it was Joffrey sitting on the throne, the dignitaries of the Red Keep around him, the ordinary civilians, or even the brothers of the Kingsguard who had lived and died with him before, they all seemed to have heard it. Laugh like the funniest joke in the world.

Only Sansa Stark did not smile, but looked sadly at this famous old knight in the Seven Kingdoms.

But Barristan seemed very calm, looking at the people around him indifferently, his eyes fixed on Littlefinger, and his eyes were like two sharp swords on Littlefinger's throat, making Littlefinger Feeling inexplicably nervous, the smile on his face gradually faded. At the same time, the laughter of other people around him also gradually weakened. Everyone looked at Barristan nervously, and the hall immediately became quiet.

Barristan looked at the people and things around him again. Without saying anything, he turned around and walked out of the hall. The sound of his footsteps on the floor was loud and heavy, echoing on the surrounding bare stone walls, making people feel inexplicable. of suffocation.

"He just dared to call me a brat! This is the greatest blasphemy against the king. He must be an accomplice of the usurper, definitely." When Barristan could not be seen, the pressure on Joffrey also disappeared. A wave of anger rushed into his heart, causing him to shout childishly: "Maybe he is colluding with my two rebellious uncles. I will arrest him and interrogate him properly." When he saw no one moved, he immediately Raising his voice, "I told you, I'm going to arrest him!"

Janos Slynt, who had just been awarded the title of Earl of Harrenhal for helping to put an end to Eddard Stark's rebellion, immediately stood up and showed his loyalty, saying: "Your Majesty, leave this matter to my golden robes." Do it, I will definitely..."

"Enough!" Queen Cersei, who was sitting next to Joffrey and had been silent, suddenly said: "He is just an old man, an old man with no threat, and Joffrey, don't forget, under Ed Smith When Tucker took out the forged suicide note, he was the first to stand up and testify that the suicide note was forged. He has done meritorious service to you. If you catch him, you will let..."

"Mother, you just called me by my name!" Joffrey's focus was on another place. He didn't listen to Cersei's words at all. He turned to look at Cersei and said very seriously: "I Sitting on the Iron Throne, I am the king. At this time, you are just my subject. You should call me your majesty, not my name."

Cersei looked a little ugly, looked at the others around her, lowered her head, and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I'm just used to the past address."

"I hope you will change your past habits as soon as possible. After all, I am the king now." Joffrey looked like he was forgiving Cersei, then turned around and said: "Yes, Barristan did testify about the forged suicide note by the usurper. I have merit, but merit does not mean that he can treat me so rudely. Count Janos, I order you to immediately take people to arrest Barristan, lock him in a dungeon, and starve him for a few days until he bows his head. , let him out again.”

Janos Slynt heard the order and immediately led his two sons out of the hall, summoning the gold cloaks to hunt down Barristan.

Littlefinger reminded: "Your Majesty, there are only six people left in the Seven Iron Guards. We need to find another suitable Iron Guard to supplement them."

Joffrey said disapprovingly: "This is very simple. Good dog, let you take up this position!"

"Your Majesty, the Kingsguard has always been held by knights." Sir Boros frowned and said solemnly.

"From today on, it's no longer the case." Joffrey looked like he was going to break the tradition and establish new rules. He turned to Sandor Clegane and said, "Dog, what do you think?"

"I have no objection. Anyway, I don't have a fief or a wife, so I don't have to abandon it, but I don't want to take the knight's oath." The hound said in a hoarse voice, walked down the steps, and directly picked up the white paper that Barristan had discarded on the ground. The cloak, patted the dust on it, and buckled it on his shoulders.

"Your Majesty listens to the petitions of everyone present. If you have anything to report, you will leave the court if there is nothing!"

In the loud voice of the master of ceremonies, Sansa walked out of the crowd extremely nervously. Everyone's eyes fell on her, like big hands grabbing her throat, making her feel suffocated. But she knew very well that she had to have the courage to come out, because now she was the only one who could save her father.

"Your Majesty the King." Although Sansa tried her best to appear steady, her words still trembled.

However, Sansa's fearful performance made Joffrey very satisfied. He smiled at Sansa and said, "Miss Sansa, please come forward."

Sansa raised her head, maintaining her proper demeanor without showing too much nervousness, and walked to the Iron Throne unhurriedly.

Joffrey frowned when he saw Sansa's performance. He changed his previous satisfaction. Before Sansa could speak, Joffrey said directly: "I know that you stand up because you want to usurp the throne for you." The father begged for mercy.”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sansa immediately knelt on the ground and said, "I beg you to be merciful, show mercy and forgive my father..."

"Miss, what your father committed was treason and usurping the throne. What kind of evil person can commit such a serious crime?" Archmaester Pycelle suddenly interrupted Sansa's plea for mercy and said in a fierce tone: "It is a crime of treason. It is like a poisonous weed that must be eradicated, otherwise His Majesty’s majesty will be greatly damaged and traitors will spread everywhere.”

Wallis watched quietly from the side and said nothing.

Queen Cersei sighed and reminded: "Sansa, do you remember what I told you?"

Littlefinger also intervened at the right time to remind: "Can you admit the crime your father has committed?"

Sansa immediately realized something, hesitated, and nodded: "My lords, I admit that my father has committed an unforgivable crime of treason."

After Sansa's words fell, discussions immediately erupted in the hall. Obviously, as the eldest daughter of Eddard Stark, admitting that her father had committed treason was considered to have confirmed Eddard Stark's identity as a usurper. .

"Everyone shut up," Joffrey yelled at everyone, and then said to Sansa with a smile on his face: "Keep talking, Lady Sansa."

"I know very well that my father must be punished, but I just ask your lords and your majesty to be lenient and let him live. My father must be extremely regretful about what he has done now. He is a friend of King Robert, and he respects and loves him. King Robert, as you all know, the reason why he committed treason must have been bewitched by people such as Lord Renly and Lord Stanlis..."

"That's enough! It doesn't matter whether he was bewitched or not, what's important is that he did commit treason." Joffrey interrupted Sansa's defense, stretched out his hand to signal Queen Cersei to be silent, and then did She made a decision and said: "Miss Sansa, your love for your father has moved me. I can fulfill your filial piety and let your father go, but you must let your father bow his head and confess his guilt in front of everyone. He must be allowed to Recognize me as his king, and you must also write to your brother in Winterfell, asking him to come to King's Landing and surrender, so that I can spare Eddard Stark's life and let him wear black robes, otherwise If so, I can’t be merciful, do you understand?”

"Yes, yes! I understand." Sansa nodded quickly and responded, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

"You can retreat now. I will ask someone to take you to the dungeon to meet your father later." Joffrey waved to Sansa, then turned to look at Queen Cersei and said: "Mother, Don’t you have something else to announce?”

"Yes." Queen Cersei nodded and spoke loudly to everyone: "Loras of the Tyrell family of Highgarden colluded with Renly to usurp the throne and committed treason. The Tyrell family of Highgarden must also be involved. Among them, the marriage between His Majesty Joffrey and Lady Margaery Tyrell of Highgarden set by former King Robert is immediately cancelled."

After Cersei's words fell, the hall immediately fell silent. Everyone looked at Cersei and Joffrey in surprise. Even Pycelle, a college student who was loyal to the Lannister family, had an indescribable look in his eyes. Look at the mother and son on the Iron Throne.

Anyone with a little bit of brains will know very well how important the power of the Reach is to King's Landing. You must know that nearly half of the food consumed daily in King's Landing comes from the Reach, and the Reach has the strongest troops and horses in the Seven Kingdoms. It is the top one, even the Western Region may not be able to compare with the rich Reach Land.

And the more important point is that the Lord of Summer Hall, the Prince of the Narrow Sea and the Stepstone Islands, the Lord of the Disputed Land, and the Prince of Lorne Lynd Terra is nominally a vassal of the Tyrell House in Highgarden, and Highgarden The relationship is unusual. Now that the Iron Throne has canceled its engagement with Highgarden, it has not only offended Highgarden, but also Prince Lynd.

The scene of Lind Terra leading troops into King's Landing City has already appeared in the minds of everyone present. You must know that Tengshi Town is near King's Landing City. There are tens of thousands of troops there who can attack King's Landing City at any time.

Just when everyone was shocked by Cersei and Joffrey's stupid decision, Lord Janos, who had just led people to capture Barristan, suddenly rushed in from the outside and crawled. He turned to King Joffrey and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Prince Lynde of Summer Hall has come to King's Landing and is currently in the Great Sept of Baelor!"

"Lynde Terra came to King's Landing?" Joffrey immediately recalled the terrible impression that Lynde Terra had brought to him before, but he still tried to maintain his majesty and pretended to be dissatisfied: " Since he came to King's Landing, he should pay homage to his king as soon as possible and pay allegiance to his king!"

Genos immediately added: "Your Majesty, he, he came on a dragon, riding a giant dragon, a giant dragon flying in the air!"

The hall fell silent for an instant, and then various discussions resounded in the hall and became louder and louder.

"Shut them up, shut up!" Joffrey, flustered and anxious, ordered to the master of ceremonies.

"Silence, silence!" the master of ceremonies shouted loudly, suppressing all the comments with his loud voice.

Everyone looked at Joffrey in unison as if waiting for him to make a decision. However, there was no way for Joffrey to make a decision. His mind was completely blank.

At this time, Cersei opened her mouth to the ministers of the Royal Council and asked: "Tell me what you think, Lord Bethel, Lord Varys, and Grand Maester Pycelle. The king needs your advice."

The people whose names were called looked at each other. Varys, who had not spoken since entering the hall, stood up and said: "It is not difficult to see from Prince Lynd's actions that he has great respect for former King Robert. I immediately came to King's Landing to pay homage to the former king and to hold vigil for the former king. I think your majesty should reward such a loyal person."

Littlefinger also echoed: "Yes, yes! Prince Linde's loyalty is well known to everyone. King Robert also favored him when he was alive and entrusted him with important tasks. Your Majesty needs such loyal ministers just after he takes the throne. Your Majesty should reward such loyalty."

Archmaester Pycelle also said solemnly: "I think His Majesty should give Prince Linde the title of Lord Protector to reward his achievements in protecting the kingdom and expanding the territory!"

In his heart, Joffrey was extremely reluctant to canonize someone who had not come to see him and surrender to him, especially since this person would bring a huge shadow to him. He couldn't help but look at Queen Cersei, as if he hoped that the Queen Mother would refuse such a move. proposal.

"That's it! Immediately issue a decree to grant Prince Lynde Terra the title of Lord Protector to reward his loyalty to the kingdom." As she said that, she glanced at the people around her and landed on Wallis said, "It's up to you, Wallis, to issue the decree for the king."