Chapter 199 Merchant's lawsuit

He placed the letter lightly on the table and tried his best to calm down his emotions. Gilbert had never seen such a gloomy expression on his face.

‘What exactly was written in the letter? ’ Gilbert couldn’t help but think to himself.

"Black wings, black message, ser."

The content of the letter was far from causing him too much fluctuation. The news of the death of a person he had never met did not evoke much sadness in Cole's heart at all. On the contrary, it was a sense of frustration and loneliness that permeated the heart. His heart.

"Leave me alone for a while," Cole said.

Before the sun set, Gilbert never saw the Prince of Storm's End again in the castle. Some people saw him walking to the coast alone, and some said that the prince stayed in the study all day and never came out.

The next day, when dawn rose from the coastline, when Gilbert saw Cole again, he seemed to have turned back into the high-spirited warrior. At dawn, His Excellency the Prince had already waved his strange weapon in the martial arts field. Iron gun.

Although Cole's iron spear danced with great prowess, it was ultimately lacking in actual combat. On the contrary, his swordsmanship had made great progress through constant fighting and training.

After training, he had lunch and began to deal with matters in the castle.

The continent of Westeros is close to the size of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Storm Land has at least two or three provinces with a population of no less than one million. It is not easy to govern, especially in order to restrain the lords. Cole will have almost six levels of troops throughout the territory. The nobles and nobles gathered around Storm's End Castle, and things became even more complicated.

The newly created legion farming system was hastily implemented because of a rough plan. Now it has revealed a lot of problems. The most serious one at the moment is the large number of deserters. The corrupted military discipline needs to be rectified by him. .

But what Cole should consider most is how to restore the trauma caused by the war to the land and how to lead the people of the Stormland through the long winter that may last for decades.

"Your Highness!" As soon as Cole stepped out of the bathroom, he ran into the Onion Knight, who seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

"Whose complaint is it today? Prime Minister." Cole handed him a peach and took one himself to eat.

"A merchant is suing Lord Heywood Fell for violating his daughter and killing her." Davos took out a petition. "At the same time, Ser Kadran Hope hopes that you will seek justice for him. He claimed that savages were raiding his territory."

"You know who I think of every time I eat a peach?" Cole read the lawsuit while eating the peach.

"Renly." He said to himself, "I remember that I was serving as the standard bearer for King Stannis at that time, and I met him in a clearing in the woods. It was an unpleasant meeting between brothers. All the ministers They all advised the late king not to fall into Renly's trap, but he said, 'If he doesn't go to see Renly, the world will think he is afraid of his brother.'"

"His Majesty the King never lacks courage."

Cole nodded, "But sometimes he can be terribly stubborn." He wiped the juice from his mouth and continued: "I am always vigilant of every move of the opponent's knight, even Renly's, if he pulls out his sword. , I will rush forward immediately. When the meeting was about to break up, Renly took out a peach from his arms. He seemed to regard this as a noble banquet, not a war."

"Lord Renly has always been the favorite at the banquet and is deeply loved by the nobles." Davos said, while Stannis was just the opposite.

"What do you think they would do if the late king and his brother were to preside over this trial separately?" Cole handed him back the pleadings about Earl Heywood Fell.

Davos had no way of knowing how Renly would come to trial, but if Stannis and Ser Heywood's crimes were confirmed, he would have to spend the rest of his life on the Wall.

"Let's go and see what Mr. Heywood will say." Cole led the way and walked straight towards the hall.

The hall of the castle was already filled with all kinds of people, with merchants, nobles and knights making a lot of noise.

"His Royal Highness the Prince has arrived, be quiet!" Jose shouted loudly. He was wearing a suit of armor and leading the guards of the castle to stand on both sides of the hall corridor.

Cole took the main seat, while Maester Pyros and Davos sat on the left and right.

Heywood Fair stood in front of the two family knights, put his hands on his chest, and saluted slightly, "Greetings to you, Your Majesty the Prince."

Cole nodded coldly in response.

"Sir Heywood, you are accused of assaulting and killing Ms. Mitra. I wonder what your defense is?"

"Sir, I swear on my honor that this will never happen." Heywood glanced at the plump businessman standing on the other side. He seemed to be unable to cope with such a scene, and his face turned slightly pale.

"In your opinion, this is a false accusation?" Cole asked.

"Yes, sir. If Mr. Genero thinks that I have something to do with the death of his daughter, then I am willing to pay 10 gold dragons to comfort him in his grief for losing his loved ones, but I will never admit any slanderous words or charges against me." He turned and announced to the entire hall.

"So Mr. Genero, what is your testimony about this?" Cole asked the businessman.

There was sweat dripping from his forehead, and his behavior was very restrained, "Your Majesty, I am a leather merchant, running a business in the town."

"Don't be nervous. At Storm's End, I will provide you with justice and protection. Of course, if you are slandering a noble of the kingdom, then I also have the right to judge you. Please continue your speech, sir."

"Yes, yes." He nodded repeatedly, then hesitantly said, "Sir Heywood ordered a batch of cashmere from me before. Yesterday, I asked Mitra to deliver the goods, but she didn't come back for a day and a night until someone found her body outside the alley on the city street."

His words gradually turned into sobs.

"Then how did you determine that Sir Heywood Fell was the murderer?"

"The tavern where he lived was opened by my relative 'Perry.'" The businessman explained, "Perry saw Mitra enter Heywood's room."

"I heard that Perry in the tavern is a well-known liar." Heywood suddenly interrupted.

"Now is not the time for your testimony, sir." Cole reminded him.

"Excuse me, sir, why don't you let Perry come here in person and see what he says."

"If he is your witness, he will have this opportunity. Now, continue your speech, Genero."

"Before Sister Silent collected her body, I saw the marks on her neck, and her chest and body were also bruised, and her pants were stained with blood. My lord, she has never had sex, I promise." The merchant has burst into tears.

"Besides this, do you have any other testimony or witnesses?"

"No, sir."

"Then go and find Perry." Cole ordered the guards.