As the melting snow dripped away, and green shoots emerged in the forests along the Blackwater Rush, a short spring arrived. Few died of hunger and cold in the Flea Bottom during the past winter, and the situation of all the vagrants improved slightly: some brown broth shops gave away fifty portions of hot soup to the old, weak, and women and children without anything every day, and men with hands and feet had work: A road of sand, soil, shells, and pebbles began to be paved from the direction of the Great Sept of Baelor towards the northeast—the manpower was recruited from the vagrants. The workers worked from the statue of the Holy Mother in the sunlit sept until dark, providing brown soup to stave off hunger, and the wage was fifty copper pennies a day.
That's right, Rhaegar began to emulate the policies of the benevolent kings of the past and build roads. He was not yet king and could only improve the living environment of the poor in the name of respecting the Seven Gods for the sake of the Great Sept's beauty.
Even so, King Aerys heard the slanderous words that Rhaegar intended to build his own momentum. The content was also ridiculous: the Crown Prince was praying to the Seven Gods to ascend to the throne as soon as possible.
Aerys on the Iron Throne sternly reprimanded Rhaegar.
But Viserys ran out and loudly spoke of his brother's grievances: he said that Rhaegar wanted to erect a statue of his father in front of the Great Sept of Baelor, side by side with the Father and the Mother. But the sept stated that mortals could not be placed alongside the gods, and even the king must first pave a clean and white road for the Father and the Mother.
He lied flawlessly and shifted the contradiction: the neurotic Aerys resented the religious forces and expressed forgiveness for Rhaegar.
Back in Maegor's Holdfast, the Crown Prince looked at his younger brother, who was as if nothing had happened, and gently admonished him. He didn't care about the king's rebuke, but he didn't want Viserys to lose the necessary quality of a knight in the future: honesty.
"I remember, brother," the young prince said cheerfully. "Let these flies and mosquitoes buzz, brother is a true dragon. Don't let it affect your mood! Brother! Let's go eat cake!"
Rhaegar sighed softly, picking up Viserys. The little prince snuggled his head against Rhaegar's shoulder, sniffing his silver hair with a look of deep affection.
Rhaegar felt a wave of tenderness wash over him. But the most cherished of his younger brothers was spouting nonsense to protect him, and Rhaegar knew he needed to accelerate his plans.
The interests of the commoners were never considered by the hereditary nobles, even when they were staring them in the face. But among the commoners, who made up the largest proportion of King's Landing's population, the rumor that Prince Rhaegar was a reincarnation of the benevolent King Jaehaerys was spreading like wildfire.
Even more news circulated in Flea Bottom: the most moving wandering singer, who had previously played and sung, was actually a big shot from the Red Keep! He was kind and upright, generous to the point of giving away all his belongings to the poor, and he was also the one who took care of Flea Bottom in the winter!
"I guess it's Prince Rhaegar," someone in the small tavern shouted. "I even gave him a few copper pennies! By the Seven!"
"What's the prince like?"
----Young, incredibly handsome, promising, and concerned about the poor.
The true bards thus created songs that were sung in the streets. The themes didn't directly praise Rhaegar, but instead, they were filled with hope, sketching out the future, where everything would get better. Viserys said that the commission fee he paid was actually quite worthwhile: two golden dragons for the author and a handful of copper pennies to buy the children of the streets to sing them.
Viserys didn't actually have any money. At least, compared to Tyrion, whose family had gold mines, he was truly poor.
The court of King Aerys certainly had a generous fund for each prince and princess to live on, but not a single copper penny reached his hands. He wasn't the eldest son, unlike Rhaegar, who had the income from Dragonstone in addition to the eldest son's land. He was also too young to participate in tournaments and earn gold dragons – he'd heard his brother had won four gold dragons just for winning the tournament at Lannisport.
"When will I have a large sum of my own?" After counting less than a hundred gold dragons, Viserys slumped to the ground and muttered.
"Soon. After you become someone's squire. Maybe in a year or two." Tyrion also lay down, gazing at the top of the room, and said gloomily, "Following a great figure, then becoming a knight, this is the path all boys must take – except me."
"I'm not interested in being a knight," Viserys replied. "You might not want to be a knight either; you just want to travel the world, even to the eastern continent. You can do that as long as you have two legs."
"But I also want honor."
"A knight's honor... I think it's a very vague and illusory thing. Why must you have a tournament title to gain honor? If a boar knocks over a knight, who has more honor? The pig?"
Tyrion chuckled, "You always have strange logic. But, Prince, you will definitely become a knight. After you become a squire, your father will give you a large sum of money to spend. That's what happened when my brother was a squire to Ser Creighton."
Viserys knew that life was inevitable. His wish at this moment was to become his older brother Rhaegar's attendant: to hold his horse, pour his wine, wash his clothes, and polish his armor! How wonderful!!
His desire seemed likely to become reality soon: as the green leaves burgeoned, the Kingswood south of King's Landing became lush and verdant, providing the best cover and concealment for outlaws. A group called the Kingswood Brotherhood began to brazenly abduct nobles traveling to and from King's Landing, robbing them of their belongings and demanding ransom.
The favored courtier, Colton Chested, was attacked there, stripped clean from head to toe along with his mistress. After he ran to the Iron Throne, wailing and sobbing, Aerys surprisingly made a normal kingly decision: to send his eldest son, along with fifty guards and two of the Kingsguard, to eliminate the bandits.
Hearing this news, Viserys immediately took his small bow and arrow and, with a serious expression, ran to the king, and again, seriously, talked nonsense: he said he longed to become a knight as soon as possible, so he hoped his father would allow him to follow his brother to experience a knight's act of eliminating evil.
If his father would also send him to be the Crown Prince's attendant, that would be great! Viserys secretly vowed that if his wish came true, he would definitely repay the Mad King once.
Aerys watched his healthy and lively youngest son shoot an arrow with precision and then granted his request. But it wasn't to let his youngest son take the first step towards becoming a knight by serving Rhaegar. He directly ordered that the Kingswood team be divided into two groups, with twenty-five guards and two Kingsguard, Arthur Dayne and Barristan, who must follow and protect the young prince and obey his orders.
His intentions were obvious. By then, all the merits of the Kingsguard eliminating the bandits would be attributed to the young prince. Although Viserys was only six years old, he had already become a good pawn for him to suppress his eldest son. Prime Minister Tywin and Aerys's confidant courtiers all saw through the essence of the two princes going to eliminate the bandits together, and some people's minds began to stir again—
Jaime Lannister was also one of the guards selected to eliminate the bandits. After dinner the day before the departure, Tywin specifically instructed him to pay attention to the two princes, especially the young prince's behavior.
"The Crown Prince is the finest knight I've ever seen. Just and merciful, with superb riding skills. He rivals even the Captain of the Kingsguard with both lance and sword! Father! I will be a knight like him one day!" Jaime said with great enthusiasm. "He's friendly to his brothers! Not just to Viserys, but all his personal guards are his friends and brothers! As for Viserys, he's too particular about things, like making everyone wash their hands before meals, using his little gadgets to eat, and washing his hair every day. I can't imagine what kind of quirks he'll have when he grows up."
Tywin looked at the young, golden-haired boy, feeling speechless.
At this moment, Tyrion, sitting alone in a corner, swallowed the strawberry pie in his mouth with difficulty and spoke, "Father, I don't think that thing you're thinking about will happen. I'm certain Viserys has never coveted the Crown Prince's position."
Tywin felt displeased and irritated. He loudly scolded Tyrion to get out and go to Maegor's Holdfast. "What do you know! I'm asking your brother!"
The dwarf had no choice but to turn and leave. Cersei was also eavesdropping outside the Prime Minister's tower room and bumped into him. The most beautiful woman in the Seven Kingdoms, with golden hair and green eyes, was somewhat anxious because her brother was about to go out to suppress bandits with the prince. She didn't want to be separated from Jaime and hoped to see her most handsome dream lover every day.
"Whose news are you eager to hear? My dear sister? Prince Rhaegar or Jaime?" Tyrion asked.
Cersei glared at him and retorted, "Why aren't you hurrying back to please Viserys with your somersaults?"
Tyrion wanted to fight back, but Cersei alerted the people inside. Tywin called her in. After listening quietly at the door for a while, Tyrion, with his short legs, hurried back from the Prime Minister's tower to the residence of his little companions in the Red Keep.
He gasped, telling his friend, "Cersei will approach you at the next court banquet!"
Viserys, busy packing for his camping trip, hummed in acknowledgment and lifted his chin. "I can guess what Lord Tywin is thinking. Don't worry, your sister is a beauty; I won't hurt her."
Tyrion ??? Was that something a child should say?
After all, he was a Lannister. Viserys didn't tell him his true intentions: Tywin was a very capable politician and Hand of the King. At least until his brother ascended the throne, Viserys hoped Tywin would continue to serve as Hand. To that end, he didn't mind... becoming a delicious carrot, dangling in front of the Lannister mule. After all, if his brother married the lady from the North, Tywin might resign in a fit of pique, which wouldn't be good. He needed to give him a second hope.
Hmm, and there's the foolish Jaime. He didn't want him to become a Kingsguard. This was his own doing, being seduced by Cersei to come to King's Landing. Tywin couldn't blame everything on the king and resign in anger.
Over at Maegor's Holdfast, there really was a big pot brought over, as Prince Rhaegar had ordered. He was indifferent to the king's suppression. He only had his attendants prepare for the trip according to the young prince's habits and preferences: for example, he had to bring many clean linen cloths, and everyone could only drink boiled water, and so on.
The two Kingsguard were summoned by the Crown Prince and went to the small meeting hall in Maegor's Holdfast to jointly view the Kingswood map and discuss the steps to suppress the bandits. As soon as they entered, they were surprised to see Viserys nestled beside Rhaegar. The two princes were wearing the same color coats, their silver hair dazzling, and they were handsome, looking as if they had stepped out of a picture book.
The locations where the Kingswood Brotherhood appeared had already been marked on the map. Rhaegar pointed out the water sources, villages, and other locations, guiding his younger brother step by step, and where the bandits' hidden lairs might be.
The little prince looked up at his brother with adoration, his eyes sparkling.
My brother is so amazing. He thought dreamily, I just wonder if he'll listen to my plan: some of the Kingswood Brotherhood, if used properly, would be a good blade. For example, the one they robbed, Colton Chested. Viserys knew that the conflict between the Mad King and his brother was becoming increasingly sharp, and that those favored by the king were indispensable. Colton was one of those who slandered his brother.
So, he felt that the Brotherhood's robberies weren't harsh enough, why not cut off Colton's hands and feet, or just kill him outright?