Tyrion could already feel the atmosphere throughout King's Landing growing tense, and Stannis had not stopped his siege; instead, he continuously attacked various city gates, creating the illusion of a large attacking army outside the city, exacerbating the panic within the city.
Tyrion knew he had to do something, otherwise, when the public's panic reached its limit, a terrible riot would break out in the city. If Stannis then launched a full-scale assault, King's Landing would be at great risk of falling.
"Have you found out about the people I asked you to investigate?" On the third night after the granary fire, Tyrion asked Podrick Payne, who had just returned to the Red Keep.
"Yes, My Lord, these are the findings." Podrick placed the documents in his hand into Tyrion's.
Tyrion picked up the documents and quickly flipped through them. These documents were all about a dozen well-known nobles in the city. These nobles were not famous for good reasons; they were notorious bad guys in King's Landing, but because they were Cersei's people, they had managed to survive until now.
However, Tyrion was now going to make an example of these nobles. The reason was not their misdeeds, but rather that they had hoarded large amounts of grain.
To avoid tipping off his targets, Tyrion specifically did not send the more capable Bronn to gather intelligence, as Bronn was now a well-known figure in King's Landing, and any investigation he undertook would certainly be traced back to whoever ordered it. In contrast, Podrick Payne, the unassuming squire Duke Tywin had recently assigned to him, was perfectly suited for collecting this information.
After reading the documents, Tyrion frowned. He wasn't frowning because the information was incomplete, but because it was too complete. It was so complete that even the locations where these nobles hid their grain and the personnel stationed there were marked. Such complete information could definitely not have been found by someone like Podrick.
"Who gave you this information?" Tyrion asked directly.
Podrick lowered his head and said timidly, "A little girl from Flea Bottom gave it to me. The things I found were too little and useless, so I brought this information to you."
Hearing Podrick's words, Tyrion quickly thought of a soft-spoken, corpulent eunuch. If there was anyone in the Red Keep he couldn't fully fathom, it was certainly Varys. He simply didn't understand what that eunuch was thinking, nor did he know why he remained in King's Landing. Varys gave him the impression that he cared about nothing, yet he cared about everything.
Just like this intelligence report, Varys could have personally brought it and handed it to him, yet he chose to go through such a roundabout way to deliver it, as if this major matter concerning the safety of King's Landing was merely a game to him.
Regardless of what Varys truly thought, it was not important to Tyrion now, as long as Varys did not hinder him from defending King's Landing.
After repeatedly confirming that there were no omissions in the document, Tyrion handed it to Bronn, saying, "Go execute it! Don't hold back."
Bronn took the document and looked at the names on it, then whistled, saying, "Are you really going to do this? Your sister will probably hate you to death when she finds out."
"Doesn't she already hate me to death?" Tyrion retorted.
Bronn shrugged, turned, and walked out of the Prime Ministers Tower, beginning to raid homes in the city according to Tyrion's plan.
This night was destined to be restless. Overnight, fourteen prominent nobles of King's Landing were arrested by the Gold Cloaks on charges of treason, and all their property was confiscated. All the arrested nobles were escorted to the square in front of the Red Keep at noon the next day and beheaded in front of the residents of King's Landing.
These executed nobles were very unpopular. As they were beheaded, the onlookers in King's Landing cheered joyfully and praised King Joffrey loudly. The panic and resentment that had accumulated in the city quickly dissipated.
Tyrion stood on the walls of the Red Keep, watching the execution in the square and listening to the cheers, self-convincing himself, "This is the voice of the people. It seems I've done the right thing."
"The right thing?" Varys emerged silently from behind Tyrion, overlooking the activity in the square, and said, "When Lord Eddard was beheaded, I heard similar cheers."
Tyrion frowned, tilted his head, and looked at Varys, saying, "You think too highly of those fellows who were beheaded out there. Those guys are far inferior to Lord Eddard."
Varys smiled and said, "My Lord, whether those people are far inferior to Lord Eddard, I do not know. I only know that your sister, Queen Mother Cersei, is looking for you right now. If I were you, I wouldn't stay in the Red Keep, otherwise, if Queen Mother Cersei catches you, others will likely find it very difficult to rescue you from her hands."
Upon hearing this, Tyrion couldn't help but look around. Seeing no sign of Cersei, he calmed down and then asked Varys, "Varys, why exactly do you stay in the Red Keep? Can you tell me?"
"Why?" Varys looked at Tyrion and said, "I am for the people."
"For the people?" Tyrion looked puzzled.
Varys said nothing more, turned, and walked into a corridor, disappearing around the corner at the end.
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