"Hmm." Eddard still gave a steady nod, acknowledging the greeting. He remained on his saddle, pulling the reins, and after observing the nascent Night's Watch Office for a while, a smile of interest appeared on his face: "It looks quite decent. When can you start recruiting?"
"Within two or three days, I'll do it as soon as possible," Aegon replied. "This office will not only handle recruitment, but the provisions, equipment, and funds donated by the nobles and commoners of the Seven Kingdoms for the Night's Watch will also be transferred, tallied, and recorded here before being sent to The Wall."
"Hmm—" Eddard mused for a moment. "Where did you get the money to buy these things?"
"Lord Tyrion Lannister's funding; he even sent a squire to help me," Aegon answered without hesitation, introducing the squire to the Hand of the King: "This is Jack."
Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, the young squire quickly stepped forward to greet the Hand of the King as well. Contrary to Aegon's composure, he was quite nervous—which was understandable, as everyone knew that the Stark and Lannister families didn't have a good relationship.
Eddard had just been wondering why there was a man in red here; now that his confusion was cleared, he naturally wouldn't lower himself to show displeasure towards a squire. He glanced at Jack, nodding in response to his greeting, then turned to a short man behind him: "The Wildlings Beyond the Wall are restless, and the Night's Watch is facing a predicament. Even if the royal treasury is strained, we must provide symbolic support. Go raise some funds to allocate to the Night's Watch, count it as defense expenditure."
"Lord?" The short man hadn't expected to be put on the spot like this and immediately put on an innocent face. "The Kingdom's finances…"
"There's no room for discussion. This is serious business for defending the Kingdom. You managed to raise funds for the tournament prize money; are you short on this? Chancellor of the Exchequer, isn't this what you're supposed to do?" Eddard didn't budge. "I won't make it difficult for you, a few dozen or a hundred golden dragons will do. Help the Night's Watch get a foothold here; the rest is up to his own ability."
"Alright, since this is the Hand of the King's command, I suppose I'll have to think of something."
Eddard ignored the other man's sarcasm and turned to the other side: "Jory, you stay here with Arya and wait for us. Lord Petyr Baelish and I have something to attend to."
"Yes!"
"What? You promised to take me shopping, how can you suddenly have something to do? Wherever you go, I go!"
A clear voice of protest rang out. Only then did Aegon notice there was a little girl among the group. Without needing to look closely, he could guess this was Lord Stark's second daughter, Arya Stark. And the short man whom Eddard had just ordered to raise funds for the Night's Watch, if he wasn't mistaken, was the biggest troublemaker in the game of thrones, Littlefinger Petyr Petyr Baelish, who used chaos as a ladder!
Due to some differences from his appearance in the TV series, Aegon hadn't recognized this fellow until Eddard called Littlefinger by name. Now that he knew his identity, he couldn't help but look at him a few more times—first understanding the reason for his nickname, and then a sudden realization struck him like waking from a dream: he had been so preoccupied with Melisandre's words and his own affairs these past two days that he had almost forgotten the original plot was still rolling forward like a wheel on a slope!
…
"The place I'm going with the Hand of the King now isn't suitable for children," the short man smiled slyly at Arya and winked: "Especially girls."
"I am not a child!"
"Be good, I'll take you shopping again when I get back later. Also, Aegon, do a good job and don't cause trouble."
Eddard smiled and soothed his daughter, then meaningfully instructed the Night's Watchman. He then took Littlefinger and the remaining guards, mounted his horse, and continued down the street, leaving the Night's Watch Office.
***
The big leader was busy with countless affairs, coming and going quickly. The group left as soon as they said they would, quickly disappearing at the end of the street. Arya grumbled angrily about her Father's broken promise, while the captain of the Hand of the King's guards who remained did his best to comfort his temperamental young lady… Only Aegon, watching Lord Stark ride away, fell into deep thought.
Telling him not to cause trouble, was it a hint not to talk about Joffrey's "assassination" of Bran? Did his asking Littlefinger to raise funds for the Night's Watch, besides caring for the Night's Watch, also mean to give him hush money?
No, these messy things didn't matter. Given Eddard Stark's gentlemanly character, let alone that he had "saved" Bran, even if Eddard knew that the story of Joffrey's assassination attempt on Bran was fabricated by him, he wouldn't need to fear that Eddard would silently kill him. The important thing was, what was Littlefinger doing with him now?
Based on the conversation he had just overheard, Aegon tried to reconstruct the events: Arya was bored and clamored to go out, Eddard Stark couldn't refuse his daughter and finally agreed to take her shopping. As they were leaving, Littlefinger came to visit. After some discussion, Eddard changed his mind and decided to go with him first.
…
In the original plot, there was no scene of Eddard taking his daughter shopping, but now the story had changed. The Stark family did not blame the Lannister family for Bran's fall and attempted assassination, and Catelyn did not secretly go to King's Landing and then capture Tyrion on her way back, triggering the conflict between the Lannister and Stark families… So Jaime did not challenge Eddard to a duel, and all fifty of the Stark guards were still alive and well. Eddard might have argued with Robert about assassinating Daenerys Targaryen, but this didn't affect their deep friendship, so he was still serving as Hand of the King here.
Under this facade of peace, as a Father, it was understandable that he would have the mood to take his bored young daughter out shopping and sightseeing while investigating the death of the former Hand of the King. And something that could make a Father abandon his promise to his daughter and decide to go with someone temporarily must be serious business. What "serious business" could Littlefinger have with Eddard?
***
"They seem to be heading towards the direction of the inn we're staying at."
As he was thinking, Jack's words reminded Aegon, and paired with Littlefinger's smiling words to Arya…
What place wasn't suitable for children, especially girls? He suddenly remembered the reason Tyrion insisted on staying at the Albatross Inn on the day they first arrived in King's Landing—"The Red Keep is too far from my favorite brothel"!
He came to a conclusion in seconds: "They must be going to Street of Silk!"
"Ah?" As Tyrion's squire, Jack certainly knew what Street of Silk was for; he had even accompanied his master and spent money there. But while he understood, he also hesitated: "But… Lord Stark really doesn't look like someone who would go to a brothel."
"Going to a brothel isn't necessarily for prostitution," Aegon's pupils widened, and suddenly more plot details flooded into his mind. He remembered what was happening.
…
Littlefinger's ultimate goal was to incite civil war in the Seven Kingdoms and profit from it. This top player of the game of thrones could find opportunities in any sudden situation and accident; he wouldn't put aside his ambition and grand plan just because Catelyn didn't come to King's Landing. Even without that foolish woman from the Tully family, he still managed to establish a connection with Eddard.
Without Catelyn's misguided assurance, Eddard's initial trust in Littlefinger would inevitably be greatly reduced, but for a max-level game of thrones player: as long as you dare to talk to me, I can deceive you!
Now, this biggest troublemaker in King's Landing was leading Eddard towards Street of Silk, leading him towards one of Robert's bastards—by pretending to help the latter investigate the former Hand of the King's death, Littlefinger ultimately led Eddard Stark to "discover for himself" the true parentage of Cersei's children.
After that, the upright Eddard caused the death of his brother Robert and himself, Renly fled King's Landing with his boyfriend back to his territory to prepare to contend for the throne, Stannis resolved to defend his "legitimate" power, and Robb, still a child, was hastily pushed to the forefront to become the King in the North, and foolishly let the Greyjoy hostage Theon go in a moment of hot-headedness… Thus, the War of the Five Kings began.
Aegon was confident in the success of the Night's Watch Bonds, partly because of Tyrion's involvement, and partly because human greed is not affected by culture or era… But war can completely destroy the environment for finance, including financial scams. Imagine, in a time of war and uncertainty, no matter how high a return you offer, who would have the inclination and courage to hand their money over to someone else?
In King's Landing, whether it was the incompetent Robert, the foolish Joffrey, or the vicious Cersei, he, a Night's Watchman, couldn't afford to provoke them, but he could always avoid them… But the chaos and war that Petyr Petyr Baelish intended to create, no one could escape or avoid.
His plan required peace. An ambitious schemer like Littlefinger… his interests were in irreconcilable conflict with his own. He must disrupt his plan!
—