As for the second task, it was still about getting money. But this time, the targets were those tax-evading vassals of the Seven Kingdoms, in order to sustain the Kingdom's depleted treasury.
Therefore, before the Usurper left again, Jon gained another title: "Secretary to the Hand," specifically responsible to Robert for following up on this work.
Hearing Robert issue random orders again, Ned wanted to refuse, but the King insisted on using the bastard to supervise the Hand's work progress on the grounds that Jon lived in the Tower of the Hand.
Anyway, after Jon returned to the Tower of the Hand with a frowning Ned, he discovered in his boredom that the System panel had been flashing for a long time.
When he opened it, he found that several messages had quietly appeared on the long-silent panel.
> Name: Jon Snow
> Gender: Male
> Age: 16
> Strength: 1.7 (Bonus to damage and carry weight)
> Constitution: 1.7 (Related to stamina and agility)
> Spirit: 2.5 (Observing the world)
> Title: Eddard's Bastard (False), The Persuader, King's Squire, Secretary to the Hand
> Current Mission: Winter is Coming. Please submit to your predetermined fate!
> System Rewards: "The Queen's New Clothes" (Limited Time Trial), "The King's Grace," "The Crown Prince's Bond" (Limited Time Trial)
Looking at the most conspicuous "The Crown Prince's Bond" and the brand new title "Secretary to the Hand," the King's squire was momentarily speechless.
For now, Jon held no hope for Robert.
If previously he had doubted why Robert ended up on the Iron Throne when Ned clearly had the advantage during the rebellion of the Wolf, Fish, Falcon, and Stag alliance...
Now, the transmigrator could be certain that whether in terms of brains, ambition, or thick skin like a wild boar, the Usurper was far more like a dirty King than the rule-abiding Ned.
Not to mention other things, just the decision to order Ned to be responsible for collecting taxes from the Seven Kingdoms revealed Robert's shrewdness.
As a King, even a lazy and pleasure-seeking one, the Usurper did not face the Seven Kingdoms directly on this matter.
Not only that, immediately after putting Ned on the throne of the Hand, Robert seized the key to the problem and prepared to use territorial taxes to strengthen his influence.
Presumably, with Ned as a shield, the Usurper could hide behind the Hand no matter what and adjust decisions as needed.
And placing Jon beside Ned was a brilliant move.
Leaving aside whether a son could ride on his father's head, the decision to let a bastard check and balance paternal power alone was a magnificent feat in the history of Westeros.
After all, bastards could not enjoy the rights brought by their father's name. To be recognized, they had to rely closely on paternal power and exchange it for the King's grace to be legitimized as a formal noble.
But after discovering Ned's favoritism towards Snow, Robert chose to do the opposite and actively appointed Jon as his squire.
This move not only won Snow over to his side but also pinned down Ned's attention in one fell swoop.
In Robert's view, if Jon wanted to get rid of his bastard status, he must serve the King wholeheartedly in exchange for the opportunity to become a Stark.
As for Duke Ned, if he didn't want his bastard to walk into a dead end, he had to honestly help Snow to prevent the child from going down a path of no return.
Based on this, the Usurper could stand between father and son, using fatherly love and the desire for recognition to pull both of them to serve him.
So after figuring this out, Jon actually started looking forward to the future of King's Landing.
...
Just as Jon was adapting to life in King's Landing, the Stark stronghold in the North had long since exploded.
After successfully intercepting the assassin, although they couldn't get any effective information from his mouth, the experienced Ser Rodrik and Maester Luwin found many valuable clues on the assassin's corpse.
At the very least, this assassin definitely didn't appear randomly but had an employer who hired him.
This could be inferred from the Valyrian steel dagger he carried and the abundant Gold Dragons.
Apart from these, this assassin definitely didn't come from any noble house. It was extremely likely that he originated from those secret organizations on the continent of Essos, simply because his slightly dark skin had already exposed his identity completely.
Upon hearing this conclusion, Catelyn, who used to only cry and pray to the Seven, recovered the rationality of a noble lady at this moment.
When Lady Catelyn searched the Broken Tower again with guards, she held several strands of golden hair of varying lengths in her hand.
Looking across the entire North, people with this noble hair color were extremely few, one could even say rare.
Combined with the timing of Bran's accident, the eldest daughter of House Tully had already determined that this matter was inseparable from the Lannisters.
However, right now, what they could do was convey their doubts to Duke Ned as soon as possible, lest he fall into a passive position in King's Landing, which was full of Lannisters.
However, compared to ravens which had no secrets, sending a reliable messenger might be the best choice.
Feeling this, Catelyn was surprisingly witty for once.
The Lady of Winterfell first instructed everyone on precautions, then decided that she and Ser Rodrik would travel South personally to find Ned and warn him.
...
While Catelyn was heading South, Jon also began his other duty.
When the King went out hunting, he always brought the Lannister guards. Therefore, Jon could only stay by Duke Ned's side, acting as his administrative secretary.
After being appointed as the Secretary to the Hand, Jon, who was long accustomed to slacking off ("lying flat"), had to wake up early and work late every day, following Duke Ned's schedule.
However, for the transmigrator who was used to laziness, this was tantamount to torture.
Such high-intensity work made him recall vague memories of his past life, and the fear of being dominated by "blessings" (overwork).
But even so, Jon dared not complain too much.
After all, after Robert left the capital to hunt, the most powerful person in the entire kingdom was his cheap father.
However, as far as the person involved was concerned, Duke Ned didn't have much joy about this. Shortly after Robert left, he had planned to send Jon back to the North.
But after careful consideration, the Hand of the King decided to wait for a while.
Fortunately, the only one who knew Jon's identity back then was Lord Reed, and that poor man had died of illness in the Neck a few years ago.
Therefore, as long as he didn't go crazy, presumably no one in this world would know Jon's true identity.
After thinking this through, Duke Ned's mind shifted entirely to King's Landing.
Right now, the Kingdom before him was on the verge of bankruptcy and could collapse at any time.
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