King's Landing, Visenya's Hill, Great Sept of Baelor
"Long live!"
"Long live the Seven!"
"Long live the Rainbow Unicorn!"
…After Jon's miracles continued to descend, the believers of the Seven throughout King's Landing fell into a state of extreme fanaticism.
If the descent of the gods could still be considered a collective delusion, then the Rainbow Unicorn appearing in the Great Sept of Baelor was undoubtedly the best proof of the Seven's descent.
Today, it was exceptionally lively outside the Great Sept of Baelor, as countless believers spontaneously gathered in the plaza, preparing to catch a glimpse of the legendary Rainbow Unicorn.
On the high platform in front of the Great Sept of Baelor—the very place where Eddard Stark was almost beheaded—the High Septon, the Shepherd, and his six Archseptons (he himself held the title of Archsepton of the Father to maintain the number "Seven") watched the gathering believers below with solemn expressions.
"My dear brothers, today is a day worth rejoicing!"
As the Shepherd stepped forward, the excited crowd below quieted down at his signal.
"The Gods pity us. Those heathens have been claiming that our gods cannot manifest miracles; that is their ignorance!"
"Ignorance!"
"Those fellows who should go to the Seven Hells!"
"Long live the Seven!"
…"Neigh…"
At the High Septon Shepherd's signal, the magnificent Rainbow Unicorn walked up directly. As its hooves stepped on the ground, a faint golden light overflowed, as if it were scattering gold.
The appearance of the Rainbow Unicorn made all the believers present excited. They quickly crowded around, seemingly wanting to touch this magical animal personally created by the Seven they believed in.
"Silence!"
Just then, the Shepherd's voice, like thunder, suddenly filled the plaza. It was precisely because of this thunderous shout that the fanatical believers stopped in their tracks.
"The Rainbow Unicorn is a gift from the gods. After touching its horn, no one can tell a lie. This is a divine object of fairness bestowed upon us by the Seven, and a symbol of the Father's authority. Therefore, today, we will judge this villain who embezzled church assets and make him confess his crimes!"
Following the Shepherd's words, the former High Septon, the man known as "the Fat High Septon," was pushed forward by several septons.
"Neigh…"
By now, the Fat High Septon no longer had his initial roundness and smoothness; he looked quite miserable.
Upon seeing the Rainbow Unicorn, his body trembled slightly. Due to his embezzlement, he had been directly removed from office by the Shepherd in league with several Archseptons.
However, after the Faith reclaimed this fellow's mansion, there was a large flow of funds that went missing, its destination unknown. This fellow remained tight-lipped, insisting all the money had been lent to the crown.
Yet, when the Faith's accountants cross-referenced the books with the Crown's Master of Coin, the funds still couldn't be traced. Over this period, the Faith had tried many methods, but the former Fat High Septon never spoke up.
"Following the guidance of the Seven, before the great Rainbow Unicorn, O criminal! Speak all your words!"
"I… I didn't…"
After hearing the Shepherd's declaration, the Fat High Septon still didn't dare to speak, remaining stubborn.
Soon, the Rainbow Unicorn, treading on golden light, walked up to him. Its massive horn lightly tapped the Fat High Septon, and a dazzling golden light appeared.
"Ugh… I am guilty…"
Thus, quickly under the astonished gazes of everyone, the Fat High Septon began to recount one by one the wrongs he had committed over the years.
He had basically committed every crime possible within the Faith, and finally, he revealed the destination of those funds: it turned out he had invested all the money in the Queen.
After Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger, died, the Queen had secretly acted to bring all the brothels in King's Landing that belonged to Littlefinger under her control. Since she lacked both people and money, she sought out the High Septon.
To expand the scale of profit, the Fat High Septon had even gone so far as to drug certain septas and send them into the brothels. According to what he said, this matter even involved many great nobles of the Red Keep.
"We need an explanation!"
"Hand over those fellows who desecrated the servants of the gods!"
"We want bread!"
"Return the Faith's money to us!"
…Stimulated by this explosive information, the common people gathered in the plaza were all enraged. They shouted loudly to punish the traitors and vented all the misfortune they had suffered during this time onto the royal family.
Although House Lannister had been receiving aid from Braavos, distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. Even though large quantities of bread and grain were delivered to the docks every day, King's Landing had a population of hundreds of thousands.
Recently, the brown soup in King's Landing's Flea Bottom was almost sold out. Rats, insects, and even the corpses of those who starved to death had been eaten clean. Yet even though these people tried every method, they still had nothing to eat.
The garbage stations outside the Red Keep dumped out a large amount of leftovers every day, a fact that severely agitated the nerves of the people of King's Landing. Today, when they learned that these high-ranking officials had embezzled the Faith's money and grain, their hearts burned with even greater fury.
Since the Shepherd took office, he had been doing his best to help all the poor. Most of the wealth accumulated by the Faith was used by him to trade for food. It was precisely because of his rise that the Faith gained a certain degree of influence.
Unfortunately, the recent great defeat of the Gemstone Brotherhood caused the influence he had worked so hard to accumulate to be squandered bit by bit. Now, the Faith, lacking wealth and an army, could only find new ways.
To be honest, when the Shepherd saw the Seven descending from the sky, he was very afraid because he had been mixing personal interests into his actions lately. However, the gods did not judge him at all and even bestowed upon him a sacred Rainbow Unicorn.
Now, with the continuous descent of miracles, the Shepherd's heart was filled with confidence. He believed the gods were on his side. Therefore, what he needed to do now was to completely push the situation in King's Landing and get all the common people on his side.
The King's Landing of now was no longer the King's Landing of before. Under Jon's blockade, only one sea route remained to leave King's Landing—or rather, the Narrow Sea was not safe either.
There were rumors that King's Landing was already communicating with the newly appointed Lord of the Iron Islands; they wanted to defeat Jon's naval forces in one fell swoop. However, the Reach and the Iron Islands had never gotten along.
Persuading the fleets of these two regions to unite for war was practically a fantasy; even within King's Landing and the Westerlands, there were voices of opposition.
The Shepherd felt this was a great opportunity. As long as he could control King's Landing, he could negotiate with the Targaryen family. As long as the other party allowed the Faith to continue enjoying military rights, he could guarantee everyone's interests.
After losing its army's protection, the Faith had always been like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Every time a war broke out, even the septons and septas of the Faith of the Seven could not stay out of it.
Like the recent war in the Riverlands, many septs were burned by House Lannister's men, septons were killed, and septas were violated. It was precisely because of the Fat High Septon's silence that the Shepherd developed the idea of replacing him.
"Enough!"
Seeing that the crowd's emotions had been stirred up, the Shepherd waved his hand, directly stopping their shouting.
"My dear brothers and sisters, violence cannot solve problems. What we need is to resolve everything peacefully. Please follow me; I will make the royal family give us an explanation."
As the Shepherd's words fell, the septons he had pre-arranged in the crowd began organizing the people. Seeing that everyone was in an orderly fashion,
the Shepherd leapt down from the high platform riding the Rainbow Unicorn. As the Rainbow Unicorn, treading on golden light, passed through the crowd, many devout believers even kissed the ground in excitement.
After personally witnessing the true form of this beautiful creature, they truly understood that this was something that could not be faked. Every one of its movements seemed natural and filled with a sense of divinity.
Soon, the dense crowd began to gather toward this place. The long procession quickly triggered a reaction from the Red Keep.
Clang, clang, clang…
With the sound of the warning bells, the Red Keep's gate was quickly closed, and those nobles within the castle soon arrived at the Red Keep's gatehouse.
"What is the situation?"
The speaker was Joffrey Baratheon. He had been in a very bad mood lately, and many maids had been hanged by him simply for offending him.
"My dear Joffrey, now is not the time for impulse. We must first understand exactly what happened."
Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, seeing her son lose his temper again, hurriedly spoke to advise him.
In fact, Cersei had just received word, but she didn't dare say that this matter was caused by her. Such an accusation could be large or small; with one slip, her reputation could be completely ruined.
The Cersei of today was no longer the same as before. As the war situation worsened, her marriage alliance with the Reach was once again put on the agenda.
Therefore, Cersei didn't dare make a mistake now, because if she did, her father would definitely throw her out of King's Landing immediately.
"What is going on? Cersei? Why are the people from the Faith coming for you?"
As the saying goes, what you fear most will happen. Just as Cersei was comforting her son, her father Tywin Lannister's emotionless voice suddenly appeared by her ear.
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