-27- Solving Rumors?

The Queen's Tower.

Queen Cersei sat at the head of the long table, Jaime and the other officers seated on either side.

At first, Gallen was somewhat interested, but as he listened, he couldn't help but drift off boredly.

"At recent banquets, Dornish Summerwine is appearing more often than Arbor Gold."

"Yes, Dornish Summerwine is becoming increasingly popular."

"The sleeveless gowns from Highgarden, almost every lady in King's Landing has one now."

"Mmm, the jewelry from Highgarden is also popular among the ladies."

"Yes, I heard Lord Janos bought a whole crate of Highgarden jewelry to please his new lover."

[Lord Janos, full name Janos Slynt, Commander of the City Watch (Gold Cloaks)]

"Which poor girl can endure Gennos's frog face?"

"He looks like a barrel."

"Is Janos still extorting gold dragons from his subordinates?"

"Of course, you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"There is no other way, he has King Robert's trust, holding 6000 Gold Cloaks."

"Poor girl indeed."

"You never know, I heard..."

"You said it yourself, it's just hearsay, so it's just rumors."

The discussion among the officers veered off into gossip, and Jaime timely cleared his throat.

Gallen's impression of his colleagues improved somewhat. There was actually quite a bit of useful information if one listened carefully, and they also served as the Queen's fashion consultant.

Jaime spoke up, "Let's continue the discussion from last time. The Queen's annual hunting at King's Landing has always been through the Lion's Gate, and this time should be no different."

There was a moment of silence among the group.

Since the meeting of the officers began, Queen Cersei spoke up for the first time, "Why is everyone silent? Are those peasants still spreading rumors?"

Lancel glanced around and said, "According to tradition, it would avoid a lot of trouble, rumors thrive on changes. If the route out of the city is changed rashly, it would play into their hands, and our Queen would be unfairly blamed."

Queen Cersei's mouth curved with satisfaction, "Lancel, continue."

Lancel nodded, clenched his fist, "There's only eight days left. My advice is to punish the rumor-mongers severely, heads must roll to make it clear that Her Grace cannot be slandered lightly."

From Gallen's perspective, he could see Lancel's thighs trembling slightly after speaking.

Was it to cater to Cersei? Or was it actually Cersei's intention?

Jaime expressed his opposition, "The entire Queen's District has nearly twenty thousand commoners. Lancel, how many heads do you think need to roll to stop the rumors, and how to quell the riots that may arise from the killings?"

////Can't find the name Queen's District in wiki, only Queen's landing build by Daenerys during her conquest. I even searched the Chinese wiki.////

Jaime's gaze was intimidating, and Lancel dared not meet it, avoiding his eyes.

Jaime and Lancel's performances made Cersei unable to conceal her disappointment and anger.

"Why is that stinky and dirty place called the Queen's District?"

"True, it's one of the poorest areas in all of King's Landing."

Actually, everyone present knew the origin of the Queen's District, but they were just making conversation to ease the tense atmosphere.

Queen Cersei took over the conversation, "I consulted a Maester, some Queen of Conqueror Aegon once drank a bowl of water offered by a commoner there."

"Oh, I see."

"These people are shameless. The area was named the Queen's District just because the Queen drank a bowl of water there. Aegon was probably there too, why didn't they call it the King's District?"

"The exact truth doesn't matter, it's just that this name is easy to be exploited by malicious people."

"Yeah, the Queen's District has a spread of disease, but they blame it on our Queen. They dare to say that the Queen's cruelty brings the plague."

"The Queen's carriage will definitely pass through the Queen's District. We're afraid that it will cause riots then, which is not conducive to the safety of Her Grace, and it will also affect the Queen's reputation in King's Landing."

"There will definitely be problems. This rumor came suddenly, targeting the Queen."

Cersei tilted her head slightly and looked towards Jaime, "Ser Jaime, do you have any ideas?"

Upon hearing Cersei's words, Jaime furrowed his brows, "According to the intelligence I received today, the atmosphere in the Queen's District is very bad. If there's bloodshed... it's very likely to cause widespread riots."

Cersei seemed to lose patience, unwilling to listen to so-called excuses, and interrupted, "Tell me the specific solution."

Jaime didn't mind Cersei's reaction and smiled, "Just throw some gold dragons, that's the fastest way. One or two thousand gold dragons should be enough."

One or two thousand gold dragons?!

Gallen, who had been quiet all along, twitched his ears.

Gallen noticed Cersei's expression was obviously intrigued, a true Lannister.

Gallen felt it was time for him to intervene, for the poor and destitute subjects of Crackclaw Point.

Gallen cleared his throat to attract attention, stood up, and addressed Queen Cersei, "Your Grace, forgive my intrusion, but I have a suggestion."

Cersei seemed to value the newcomer, nodded gently with a mild expression and gestured for him to speak.

"Ser Jaime's suggestion is quite good, but I must remind Ser Jaime that he overlooks their future appetite for gold."

Jaime glared at Gallen but didn't speak.

Didn't they say Jaime has a great knightly spirit? Why does it feel like he's always targeting me!

Gallen continued, "As for Ser Lancel's advice, I actually agree with it."

Lancel's eyes sparkled when he looked at Gallen, making Gallen shiver.

Upon hearing Gallen's support for Lancel's plan of killing, Jaime's gaze became intimidating again.

Gallen imitated Jaime's sidelong glance, "We can't ignore the return journey of Her Grace after the conclusion of the hunt. We will have to pass through the Queen's District again at that time."

The others nodded slightly.

"Rumors are the first problem, and I actually think this is the easiest to solve."

"Since it's a rumor, it inherently has weaknesses. We can use a bigger rumor to weaken or even eliminate the rumors unfavorable to Her Grace."

The officers pondered Gallen's words and exclaimed in realization.

Lancel's eyes seemed to be fixed on Gallen, "Lord Gallen, as in...?"

Gallen smiled first, and his brown eyes moved towards Lancel, "The untold secrets between King Robert and Lord Arryn?"

Fifteen years of oppression had made Gallen, who had already self-proclaimed himself as the protector of Crackclaw Point, Jon Arryn's "eternal enemies."

After Gallen finished speaking, he blinked, and unexpectedly, everyone's thoughts went astray.

For a moment, the upright Jaime thought of many things, as if verifying the truth of Gallen's words.

Jaime shook his head, shaking off the strange thoughts brought by Gallen's misleading words.

And the others.

It must be said that targeting King Robert and Jon Arryn in the Queen's Hall was politically correct because it would please Queen Cersei.

"This is the first step in solving the rumors. As for the specific rumor we can discuss, I'm just giving an example."

OH~

The officers were getting excited.