Before crossing over, Aegon followed a principle at work: he wouldn't be careless or slack off on his assigned tasks, but he wouldn't proactively do work that wasn't his, and he wouldn't accept any arrangements that encroached on his rest and leisure time, including but not limited to overtime. The reason was simple: his good family background, broad horizons, and wide social circle gave him access to information and income sources far beyond the average person.
He worked simply to keep himself from being too idle and becoming a shut-in; he wasn't working for the salary at all. The money he made from playing games and trading stocks far exceeded his wages. Who would have the energy to engage in office politics with colleagues or pretend to be hardworking to win the boss's favor?
But now, the situation was different. Aegon's superiors in the Night's Watch didn't pay him a salary, but they could decide his life or death. If he angered them, they could simply recall him to The The Wall and send him to patrol Beyond the Wall, or even declare him a deserter directly. Even if he survived, he'd be in deep trouble.
Driven by this invisible sense of crisis, despite being physically and mentally exhausted, Aegon still decided to start working immediately.
Tyrion had already announced he would rest. For this fated noble and benefactor, Aegon naturally had to cherish him a bit. He decided to skip the first task and complete a crucial step for the subsequent work – go meet the only Northerner on the Small Council and ask him for something Tyrion absolutely couldn't provide.
***
"Knock, knock, knock." Aegon knocked on the door of the adjacent room.
Yoren opened the door. Unaccustomed to the heat of King's Landing, he had already showered in the inn's bathhouse while Aegon was making plans. At this moment, he was only wearing shorts. "What is it?"
"I'm going to see the Hand of the King now. Do you want to come with me?"
"Now? Aren't we resting?"
Yoren had come out with travel funds, but the Lannister dwarf had covered all the food and accommodation costs along the way. The money in his hand was still untouched. It would be a loss to go back before spending it all, so he wasn't in a hurry.
"Lord Stark is Hand of the King. There's no better time for us of the Night's Watch to get things done. I have a lot of work to do and can't delay for even half a day. If you don't want to come with me, you'll have to find him alone in a few days. Although Lord Eddard values the Night's Watch, it might not be very good to trouble him like this."
"Sigh... Alright, let's go." Although Yoren was old, his body was still sturdy, and the journey south couldn't wear him out. "Wait for me to put on some clothes."
...
The temperature difference between King's Landing and The The Wall was a full fifty to sixty degrees, creating two extremes, above and below zero. What was meant by putting on clothes was just pulling the coarse black cloth tunic over their heads and putting on trousers of the same color. Even just this was enough to make the two Night's Watchmen sweat profusely.
Taking out their still-saddled horses from the stable, they began heading towards the Red Keep.
The way was easy to find, no need to even ask – Aegon's High Hill, where the royal fortress stood, was located in the southeastern corner of King's Landing. Its elevation was far higher than anywhere else in King's Landing, including Visenya's Hill and Rhaenys's Hill. From anywhere not blocked by buildings, a casual glance to the east would reveal its towering The Walls and turrets built upon the hill, looking like the dwelling of gods, high above everything else.
Aegon the Conqueror was very good at choosing locations; the Red Keep truly looked like a ruler's residence.
After walking for a while, Aegon slowed down.
"What's wrong?"
"Before we go see the Hand of the King, we should tidy ourselves up."
Yoren shook his head and said in the tone of an elder educating a junior, "Believe me, Aegon, the Hand of the King won't give us a few extra men or wagons of supplies just because we tidied ourselves up."
Eddard Stark might not care about the appearance of the Night's Watchmen who came to see him, but the people and nobles along the way in the Red Keep and King's Landing would. Although he planned to ignore the task of "improving the Night's Watch's image," Aegon couldn't stand having such a dirty colleague beside him.
As for how important first impressions were, and how significant the long-term impact of improving the overall image of the Night's Watch organization was... it was impossible to explain to a rough man like Yoren. Aegon chose a more direct and effective approach.
"With such a big beard and that greasy coarse black tunic, don't you feel hot?"
"Uh... I've been like this for so many years, I'm used to it."
"Don't worry, I'll cover the expenses."
***
The pouch Robb gave Aegon contained one golden dragon and ninety silver stags – estimating from the goods and services that could be purchased, one silver stag was worth close to a red Mao Zedong bill in Aegon's world before he crossed over, and one golden dragon could be exchanged for two hundred and ten silver stags...
This meant that Aegon now had over twenty thousand coins in his hand. In this world with extremely low productivity, this could be considered a considerable fortune. Being extravagant was naturally out of the question, but for daily expenses, it would last for over a dozen months.
The Night's Watch currently had no source of income, so although he was relatively well-off, Aegon still deliberately waited until he was far from the rich district before starting to look for the shops he needed.
He first took Yoren into a barber shop, had the owner cut their hair short, shave their beards clean, and wash their hair. Their appearance instantly became refreshed and neat.
After paying one silver stag and receiving the change in copper coins, Aegon quickly entered a clothing store.
"Two sets of light and breathable black tunics," he said. "Pure black is best. If not, there should be no overly conspicuous bright patterns or decorations."
"Pure black?" The shop owner's face immediately showed an expression of sympathetic sorrow. "I'm very sorry, may I ask who in your family has passed away?"
"No one has passed away, we are Night's Watchmen."
"Night's Watchmen?"
"What, are you picking your customers?" Aegon frowned impatiently and patted his pocket. "We will pay!"
"No, no... I didn't mean anything else, it's just my first time serving customers from The The Wall, it's a bit unusual." The clothing store owner remembered that harmony brings wealth, and after a moment of surprise, his face quickly changed to an eager smile. "Please wait a moment, I'll try my best to find some."
Aegon waited for a while, but he maintained his patience.
In Westeros, pure black clothes were only worn as mourning attire. How could ordinary clothing stores stock them in large quantities? One of Aegon's long-term goals was to leave the Night's Watch. He swore that no one in the world wanted to wear clothes of other colors more than him... But being new and without a stable foundation, he didn't want to give anyone a handle to use against him.
Not to mention, he was now going to see Eddard Stark, a stubborn Northerner. And to deal with such a person, the best disguise was undoubtedly a loyal Night's Watch warrior devoted solely to the order.
The owner spent a long time and finally found two robes that were close to pure black in a corner. After sewing over and covering the obvious white stripes on them at Aegon's request, they settled on a price of two silver stags per piece. Not only that, Aegon also ordered several other various pure black clothes for when he needed to change.
On The The Wall, conditions were limited. Having left Castle Black, he absolutely didn't want to endure wearing the same clothes for months anymore.
Wearing new clothes and sporting new looks, the two refreshed-looking Night's Watchmen got back on their horses. Looking at Yoren, who seemed reborn, Aegon smiled helplessly: the task of improving their image, which he had directly removed from his plan, had instead become the first thing he truly started doing.
...
Riding their horses to the entrance of the Red Keep, after explaining themselves to the Gold Cloaks guarding the gate and waiting for their arrival to be announced, they were allowed to enter the Red Keep's gate and were guided to the Prime Minister's Tower.
Further ahead were guards from Winterfell. Familiar with and respectful of the Night's Watch, they offered no obstruction. The two quickly met the new Hand of the King, Eddard Stark, whom Aegon had only met two months prior.
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