King Robert, knowing his good brother, was somewhat mentally prepared for the shocking event to come.
However, as a man, as a king, the things he was about to hear were not something he could face calmly just because he was mentally prepared.
Even though Lann had the clearest understanding of the entire sequence of events, he definitely didn’t want to be the one to tell Robert these things.
Words from a good brother can be comforting, but words from an outsider are just ridicule.
Lann saw himself as an outsider.
Edd slowed his horse down, turned around to ride alongside Robert, and took a moment to catch his breath after galloping.
"Phew—Robert, we need to find a quiet place to talk, at least get back to your carriage."
On the king’s chubby face, his eyes squinted, but unlike before, he didn’t burst into curses about how ’men should ride on horseback.’
Instead, he was quite calm and rational.
"I was just assassinated, Edd. At least a hundred people saw me get stabbed, and at least a thousand people are speculating about my condition. I can’t seem like I’m faltering now by getting back in the carriage."
Edd stopped in astonishment, lifting his head to look at his good brother.
He was still the same rough and fearless self, but at the same time, he wasn’t like the brain-burned drunkard he’d become in recent months.
This image gave Edd a sense of nostalgia.
The life-and-death battle made Robert regain a bit of his former spirit.
"Then let’s talk quietly."
Edd and Robert tacitly sped their horses up slightly, creating a distance from the attendants behind them.
"Now, how much manpower can you control in King’s Landing, and have them combat the influence of Lannister there?"
Edd’s straightforward question made Robert drop the wineskin he had been about to sip from, looking at him in surprise.
"Probably just the Gold Cloaks, you know I have several Lannister lapdogs among my seven Royal Forest Iron Guards. Who doesn’t love gold? The Lannisters have plenty of it."
"You want to kill Lannister? Are you crazy, Edd? Though I hate Cersei too, killing her would be..."
"It would lead to chaos! I know!" The Prime Minister irritably cut off the king’s words.
"But do you know, Robert? It’s already chaos now!"
Immediately, Edd informed Robert of what he didn’t know about the whole affair.
From the obstacles he faced on his first day taking office as Prime Minister, Jon Arryn’s abnormal death, to the results of the examination of that noble lineage compendium today.
Robert had squeezed the leather wineskin in his hand as if it were about to explode when he heard about the unnatural death of his and Edd’s shared foster father, the former Prime Minister!
By the time Edd explained the lineage of his three children, the muscles in the man’s jaw were bulging due to his exertion.
For any normal man, such an experience is undoubtedly an insult. And for a king who ascended the throne through war, it’s an insult that could shake the throne!
Better the pain be short-lived, Edd directly took the tome from Lann’s hand and flipped to the corresponding pages.
There were records there of many marriages between Baratheon and Lannister.
No matter if a Baratheon was male or female, the children always had black hair.
The evidence was quite sufficient.
Robert suddenly let out a roar that sounded like it could overturn the carriage, his chubby face flushed like molten lava.
"Ah! So yes! Cersei sensed your relentless investigation! Then out of panic, they decided to surround and attack me in the tournament! And staged such a ridiculous false charge!"
This line of thinking was quite normal, especially for Robert. He knew well how ruthless Cersei could be.
But Edd understood that Petyr was likely the mastermind behind this assassination, though dealing with the Lannisters in King’s Landing was the most urgent.
Petyr Baelish had no territory, no army. He was easy to deal with; if rules weren’t considered, he could be summoned to the court and dealt with swiftly.
"Robert, we must hurry. Originally, we could slowly construct a plan and arrest all the Lannisters in the city. But some time ago, my wife did something foolish; she captured Tyrion, the little demon. Now this news is likely spreading all over. The Lannisters are bound to erupt; we can’t wait any longer."
"Damn! Look at what your wife has done!"
Robert roared in anger, then spurred his horse back into the crowd.
Lann and Edd did not move, continuing at the front of the convoy.
Before long, the rear of the convoy erupted into a commotion and chaos, with occasional cries of killing and the sound of clashing metal, before settling back into order.
Robert came over on horseback, wielding his warhammer, with blood on his face.
As he passed, the attendants in the convoy no longer dared to act as if they were on a spring outing; instead, they bowed their heads and lined up in neat rows like quails.
Several white-robed Royal Forest Iron Guards were bound, looking disheveled, and pressed into the convoy.
"First, clean up the Lannister lapdogs around us."
Robert explained coldly, followed by Balistan, the captain of the Royal Forest Iron Guards.
"The oath between the monarch and the Royal Forest Iron Guard prevents me from killing them now, but once this is over, every one of them will lose their head!"
"The main focus is King’s Landing," Lann’s calm words interjected. "Now those two thousand Gold Cloaks are the key to the entire city."
"This lad’s right. Balistan, take a team of skilled men, and let’s head back first!"
In the convoy, twenty Gold Cloaks emerged under Balistan’s command; they were the king’s escort out of the city.
Robert shouted, charging towards King’s Landing as if his abdomen weren’t injured.
The group whipped their horses, heading towards the nearest city gate—Mud Gate.
Robert’s face was the best pass.
The Lannister family’s intelligence in King’s Landing was much slower than Lann anticipated.
But it might also be that Lann and Edd’s actions were so decisive that Cersei didn’t even react.
When they rushed into King’s Landing, surrounded again by the stench of life from the residents, on a stretch of open yellow land.
There were about fifty soldiers with lion emblems on their armor waiting there, led by a handsome man with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Lann had heard his name during knight tournaments—Jamie Lannister, a member of the seven Royal Forest Iron Guards, and the Lannister family’s eldest son.
Robert, due to his waist injury, had fallen to the middle of the team in the jostling, led by Lann and Edd.
As soon as he saw the scowling Prime Minister, Jamie wore a cold smile.
Before they had closed the distance, Jamie shouted loudly at Edd.
"My lord Prime Minister, Lannisters pay their debts. Your wife tied up my brother; I’m here to demand an explanation."
As he spoke, these fifty-some soldiers began to set up a surrounding formation.
But before Jamie finished speaking, a loud roar came from Edd’s team.
"You golden-haired mutt!"
Robert roared, wielded his warhammer, and directly lunged past the two towards the stunned Jamie!