Varys the Spider looked at Renly with utmost respect, speaking in his usual soft voice: "Lord Renly, the mercenary who was killed on the streets of Flea Nest was named Yigo, from the Great Plains across the Narrow Sea, and was a Dothraki. The reason for his death is also somewhat related to our Lord Petyr Baelish."
"Oh?!" Renly asked with interest, his gaze sweeping over Littlefinger Petyr Baelish. "Lord Petyr Baelish, what's going on?"
Petyr Baelish stood up gracefully and bowed slightly: "Lord Renly, I know nothing about this matter. Please tell me what happened, Lord Varys."
Varys said softly, "Let Lord Genos Slint say it."
Genos stood among the courtiers in the hall; he was the commander of the capital's garrison. He was very strong, but short, with a double chin, bald head, fierce eyes, and an ugly, frog-like face. Because of his short and stocky build, his physique resembled a barrel.
He was of humble origin, a native of King's Landing, whose father was a butcher.
The capital city guard led by Genos was also known as the Golden Robes.
The garrison soldiers' cloaks were all made of wool and meticulously dyed a noble gold, hence their name, the Golden Robes. The Golden Robes were the official garrison and enforcers of King's Landing, swearing allegiance only to the royal family.
Legally, the Capital Garrison was under the jurisdiction of the Master of Laws, Renly Baratheon. However, like his brother the King, Renly disliked managing state affairs and preferred drinking and amusement, giving the Capital Garrison a de facto independence.
Genos stepped out from the small group of courtiers and walked to the foot of the Iron Throne steps. The Iron Throne steps also had seven tiers, embodying the faith in paying homage to the Seven Gods.
"Lord Renly, the perpetrator of the crime on Flea Hollow Street has escaped King's Landing in a carriage. I have ordered maps to be drawn up everywhere to capture him. According to the investigation, the killer is tall, bald, and has a neurotic smile. He claims to be a knight from the Shield Isles, which are under the control of House Tyrell in the south, but the killer's accent is not southern; it is that of a Westerlander."
"The Westerlands? Knights under the Lannisters?"
"Sir, it is too early to say that many people also have the ability to imitate various regional accents."
Genos's words caused Octopus and Littlefinger to glance at him inadvertently. Had this kid already sided with the Queen? In King's Landing, the Queen represented the Lannisters of the West.
"Okay, so why did the knights and mercenaries clash?"
"Sir, the deceased was a mercenary hired by the owners of the brown soup stalls. Their goal was to cut off the hand of one of the old brown soup vendors and drive the old man and his granddaughter away forever."
"Oh, so ruthless?" Lanli laughed. He had an innocent look about him, as if he had never experienced the dangers of the world, but Lanli had indeed been a sheltered child since childhood.
"Yes, sir. The mercenary Yigo was killed by a knight who was drinking brown soup while committing the crime. The old man who sold brown soup was named Buz. Lord Petyr arranged for him to sell brown soup on the streets of Flea Nest to make a living. He used to be a mint worker. Buz's brown soup business surpassed that of the other vendors, which led to his retaliation."
"Oh, I see." Lan Li's expression changed to one of sudden realization. "I think there's no need to investigate this matter any further. Let that knight handle it." Lan Li said casually, "The mercenaries of the Warriors' Order are not good people. What do you gentlemen think?"
The eight-legged spider gave his usual polite smile: a forced smile that didn't reach his eyes; he only smiled and didn't express any opinion.
Littlefinger made his stance clear, a mischievous smile playing on his lips, as if to say sarcastically, "I agree!"
Grand Maester Paisell trembled as he said, "Lord Renly, a life for a life! We can't let a murder go so easily, at least..."
"Alright, Grand Scholar, I'll listen to you." Lan Li chuckled, interrupting the Grand Scholar with a clearly teasing tone. He changed the subject, "Lord Genos, what happened at the Flea Nest Colosseum? Why were there more than thirty casualties?"
"A conflict has broken out at the arena because of gambling, sir. The loser believes the other side cheated; their bet that day was dogfighting."
"Dogfighting? That must be quite interesting," Lanli chuckled, his tone suggesting he wanted to take a look. But he quickly noticed the strange looks from the courtiers, so his smile vanished, and he asked seriously, "Has the owner of the arena been arrested?"
"They've caught him. The owner of the arena is named Roger, and his assistant is named Fang. Roger has long controlled the underground arena in Flea Nest. The incident that day was caused by Roger's dog king being bitten to death by a bulldog that was participating in the competition for the first time, and a large group of gamblers had bet all their money on the dog king."
"Many gamblers lost all the money in their pockets, and fewer than ten people bet on the Bulldog to win that day. One of them was a stranger from the free city of Loras on the Narrow Sea. He spoke fluent Westeros Common and called himself Jaqen Hegar."
"Jakkun Hegar attracted attention because half of his hair was white and the other half was red. After losing money, the thugs began to suspect that Rolger's Dog King had been drugged, and the suspect was this man who called himself Jaakkun Hegar."
Lanley listened with great interest: "There are always a lot of strange people on the other side of the Narrow Sea. There's even someone with half white and half red hair? That guy dyed his hair so strangely, it's no wonder that people who are blinded by gambling would suspect him. Was he killed by the gamblers?"
"My lord, Jaqen Hgar was not killed, but half of the thirty-odd casualties are related to him," Genos said. "When our garrison blocked all the exits of the Colosseum with crossbows, the Colosseum was already full of people. Fang and Rolger were both knocked unconscious by him."
Renly exclaimed in disbelief, "Jakhun took down so many people all by himself?"
"My lord, Fang and Rolger are refusing to pay out their bets due to a dispute over payout ratios. They won't pay out their lost bets, which led to a heated argument that escalated into a physical fight. Fang was the first to strike, stabbing Jaqen in the mouth with his dagger, believing Jaqen had drugged Dog King. Jaqen retaliated by throwing Fang out of the crowd and slamming him against the wall; apparently, no one saw his attack clearly. Fang was the first to be knocked unconscious."
Varys and Petyr remained skeptical, while Grand Secretary Paisell simply did not believe it.
Genos was a man who would do anything and tell any lie in order to gain credit. As the commander-in-chief of the Capital Garrison, he openly bought and sold official positions and was extremely corrupt. Former Prime Minister Jon Clinton wanted to dismiss him and found two officers willing to testify against him. However, just one day later, both officers died.
Prime Minister Jon insisted on trying him, but before the trial could begin, the Prime Minister himself died.
The Prime Minister once reported Jenos's corruption to King Robert, who said that open corruption was better than hiding it, and what if someone else was even more corrupt? This made Prime Minister Jon so angry that he couldn't eat for days and nights.
King Robert never cared about matters of state; women and wine were his true loves. Therefore, after Jon Snow's death, Genos continued as Commander-in-Chief of the Guard, openly engaging in bribery and corruption.
When Genos, a man of no integrity, spoke, Varys and Petyr took only half of what he said and disregarded the rest, while Renly accepted it all without question.
"How many people did that guy kill?" Renly leaned forward.
"He didn't kill many people, only three. But he wounded eleven people with his dagger. All the wounded were stabbed in the wrist and could no longer hold a weapon to fight. Fang and Rolger were both knocked unconscious by him, as were many other gamblers. There were also other deaths and injuries in the melee."
Renly was quite surprised: one man, with a short sword, had killed three, wounded eleven, and knocked out many others. The gamblers in the Colosseum were no saints; many were mercenaries, and Rolger and Fang were notorious villains in King's Landing.
Renly even suspected that Jaqen possessed the legendary dark magic. He had also long heard of the strange and unusual abilities of some people across the Narrow Sea.
Where are they now?
"We arrested him and imprisoned him in the Red Keep's Black Dungeon."
"Okay, I want to go see him."
"Don't go, my lord. He is an extremely dangerous man. I have chained his hands and feet with heavy iron chains, replaced the locks on the cell doors with larger ones, and reinforced the doors. When King Robert returns from the North, we will put him on a public trial. He should be hanged."
Renly asked sullenly, "What about Fang and Rolger, who run the arena?"
"They were all arrested and imprisoned with Jaqen."