Tonight, a light drizzle fell from the moonless, dark sky.
Under the cover of night, King's Landing was under a strict curfew, so the street battle didn't cause too much chaos.
"Quick!"
"Over here!"
Only the residents living near the Gate of the Gods peered through the cracks of their doors and curtains, watching the gold cloaks, torches in hand, clean up the battlefield littered with debris.
"Hurry up!"
"Move faster!"
Thud—
The bodies of the Red Keep guards were dragged away one by one, loaded onto wagons, and covered with black cloth.
Blood was splattered all over the ground, dripping onto the wooden planks and then crushed into the mud by the wheels of the wagons.
Among the bodies, there was even a Kingsguard, though it was unclear which knight it was.
The citizens of King's Landing who witnessed all this hid in their homes, trembling, not daring to breathe too loudly for fear of bringing disaster upon themselves.
They knew they might have witnessed history, a shocking palace coup involving the lords and ministers of the kingdom, something beyond the comprehension of commoners.
The city watch, under the leadership of Janos Slynt, followed Queen Cersei's orders to attack the commander of the city's defense, Jaime Lannister, who was also the queen's younger brother and a member of the Kingsguard.
The queen demanded that Jaime's safety be ensured, only to control him and strip him of his military power.
However, Janos Slynt, incompetent as he was, messed up what seemed like a simple task. Jaime managed to carve out a bloody path and successfully escape, disappearing without a trace.
When Queen Cersei heard about this, she was furious. She ordered a continued search for her brother and took control of all the city's troops, ensuring they wouldn't fall into chaos at this critical time.
That night.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Squads of fully armed gold cloaks, torches held high, began a massive search throughout King's Landing, hoping to find the missing Jaime Lannister.
"Over here!"
"Kick the door open!"
Thud—
Janos Slynt, commander of the city watch, waved his hand, and the gold cloak soldiers kicked open the door of a house suspected of hiding a Kingsguard, then rushed in.
However, they didn't find Jaime inside, only the terrified screams of the homeowners.
On the other hand, the mercenaries hired by Tyrion at a high price to hijack the prison cart were also somewhat at a loss.
They were not the nobles of the throne room and didn't know what had happened. They just felt that the gold cloaks were frantically searching for someone throughout the city.
Bronn, the mercenary, sensed something was wrong. He had killed people since he was twelve and was an experienced pragmatist with no morals.
He sensed the danger and decisively abandoned the idea of completing the commission to get more gold dragons.
Although Tyrion had paid him thirty gold dragons, this couldn't make him take bigger risks to stay here.
"Let's go!"
In the end, this lean man with a face as fierce as a starving wolf, seeing the increasing number of gold cloaks and the increasingly chaotic situation outside, finally gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Retreat!"
But it was already too late. A sharp-eyed gold cloak holding a torch spotted them.
"Halt!"
"What are you doing here!"
King's Landing was under curfew. If it were normal times, a few mercenaries with swords and daggers might not attract attention, but in these special times, Bronn and his men stood out.
The gold cloak spotted them and shouted loudly, attracting more city watch soldiers. A group of men with spears surrounded them.
"Damn it!"
Bronn saw that things were going south. His eyes flickered, and he decisively abandoned his companions, diving into a dark alley.
The mercenaries had no spirit of resistance. Although they were more ferocious than the gold cloaks, the gold cloaks outnumbered them.
Seeing Bronn turn and flee, they decisively followed suit and scattered.
However, Bronn reacted quickly and got a head start, while the other mercenaries were a bit slower. Although the gold cloaks were not strong fighters, they had more weapons and men than the mercenaries.
So, Bronn's companions fell one by one, some dead, some injured. Only he, relying on his skills, managed to escape, disappearing without a trace.
This was just a small episode of the night.
For the city watch, it was just a side task while searching for Jaime Lannister, conveniently eliminating a group of disobedient mercenaries.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
The gold cloaks were searching high and low for the queen's brother.
And Bronn felt he had been tricked by Tyrion. He was looking all over for him to settle the score, demanding more money to compensate for the lives of his beloved friends and brothers.
...
On the other hand, in a corner of Flea Bottom in King's Landing, this was Flour Street, heading west from Rhaenys's Hill.
The roads of Flea Bottom were as complex as a maze, with the stench of pigsties, stables, and tanneries mixed with the smell of wine cellars and brothels.
The missing Jaime, at some point, had changed out of his blood-stained white armor and into a gold cloak, half-covering his face.
At this moment, he was silently looking at a naked male body in front of him with a gloomy expression.
He had just caught a lone city watch soldier, dragged him here, pried open his mouth to find out what had happened, but the answer Jaime got made his heart turn cold.
He had thought that Janos Slynt had betrayed the Iron Throne, betrayed the Lannister family, because his brother Tyrion had hinted at it.
But he didn't expect to learn from this gold cloak that the person who ordered his arrest and removal of all military power was the queen.
Cersei decided to surrender to the Targaryen army, and Jaime, who had previously argued fiercely with Cersei and refused to hand over his military power, became an obstacle to the surrender.
On the other hand, Tyrion, who should have been imprisoned in the dungeons of King's Landing, had already left there by carriage.
"Cersei..."
"Tyrion..."
Jaime's breathing was slightly heavy. He suddenly felt that he had been betrayed by the whole world, even his sister and brother had betrayed him.
Didn't they know that after surrendering, he would die?
However, King's Landing was now full of dangers, and he didn't have much time left.
The noise not far away was getting closer and closer. The handsome blond knight didn't have much time to stay silent.
He couldn't return to the Red Keep, so where should he go next?
Casterly Rock?
Jaime looked up at the sky, which was gradually turning a fish-belly white, then wiped the rain and tears from his face.
Dressed in a gold cloak's armor and clothes, he quickly picked up a spear and hurriedly walked towards the distance.