Chapter 37 Chapter 36 Ed

He finds Littlefinger in the brothel's vestibule, conversing warmly with a tall, elegant lady in black as ink and in a feathered gown.By the fire, Haihua was playing a game of guessing tiles with a plump girl.So far he had lost his belt, cloak, chain mail, and right boot, and the girl had been forced to unbutton her chest to her waist.Jory Cassel stood by a dripping window, watching Howard lose one garment after another with a mocking smile on his face. Ned stopped at the head of the stairs and pulled on his gloves. "My business is done, we should go." Hai Hua staggered to his feet and hurriedly packed his things. "Yes, my lord," said Jory. "I'll help Vail bring the horse." He started toward the door.

Littlefinger said goodbye to the whore slowly.He kissed the black woman's hand, whispered some joke to her that made her laugh out loud, and finally walked calmly to Ned's side. "Are you doing things yourself," he asked casually, "or are you doing things for Robert? It is said that the Prime Minister dreams for the king, speaks with the king's voice, and rules with the king's sword. Do you also use the king's old man?" two--" "Lord Baelish," Ned interrupted. "Please don't be so ignorant. It's not that I don't appreciate your help. Without you, I'm afraid it would have taken us a few years to find this brothel. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to put up with your mockery, and I'm no longer Prime Minister."

"I don't see any difference between a direwolf and a hedgehog." Littlefinger pouted exaggeratedly. As they entered the stable there was a warm rain falling from the starless black sky outside.Ned drew his hood up, and Jory led his mount, followed by young Vail, leading Littlefinger's mare with one hand while fastening his belt and drawing his trousers with the other.A barefoot whore poked her head out of the stable door and giggled at him. "My lord, shall we go back to the castle now?" asked Jory.Ned nodded and mounted his horse.Littlefinger rode beside him, and Jory and the others followed suit.

"The Shataya store is really good," said Littlefinger on the way. "Sometimes I really want to buy it. I find buying a brothel is far safer than investing in a fleet, because whores don't sink, and pirates When jumping on them, alas, you still have to pay." Earl Petyr laughed, as if he was quite satisfied with his humor. Ned let him talk to himself, and after a while he too fell silent, and they rode on in silence.The streets of King's Landing were dark and deserted, and the rain drove everyone inside.The rain beat on Ned's head, warm as blood, relentless as the haunting sins of the past.Large drops of water ran down his face.

"Robert will never be alone," Lyanna had said to their father at Winterfell the night long ago when he betrothed her to the young Lord of Storm's End. "I heard he had a baby with a girl in the Vale of Erin." Ned, who had held the baby himself, could not deny her words, and since he did not want to deceive his sister, he assured her that whatever Robert did before the engagement It didn't matter what love affairs happened, because he was a good man with sincere feelings and loved her with all his heart.Lyanna, however, just smiled. "My dearest Ned, love is indeed precious, but it cannot change a person's nature after all."

The girl was so young that Ned didn't even dare ask her how old she was.She was undoubtedly a young girl, and in a slightly higher-end brothel, as long as the wallet is big enough, you can definitely find such a thing.She had light red hair and freckles on either side of her nose, and when she undid her clothes to breastfeed the baby he saw freckles on her breasts too. "I'll name her Bara," she said, while the baby was sucking. "My lord, she looks exactly like him, doesn't she? She has his nose, and his hair..." "It does look like it." Eddard Stark had already touched the baby's soft dark hair, and the strands of hair slipped through his fingers like black silk.He vaguely remembered Robert's firstborn having the same wispy black hair.

"My lord, when you see him, if you are happy... please tell him how beautiful she is." "I will," Ned promised her.This is his fate.Robert could swear to his true love and forget about it before dark, but Ned Stark kept his word.He thought of the promise he had made when Lyanna was dying, and the price he had paid to keep it. "Please tell him that I have never been with anyone else. My lord, I swear in the name of the new god and the old god. Shataya said that I can raise him for half a year, take care of the child, and see if he will come back at the same time. So please tell him I'm waiting for him, okay? I don't want gold, silver and jewelry, I just want his people. He's always been good to me, really."

Good for you, Ned's mind is so empty. "Son, I'll tell him. I promise you, Bara will never have to worry about food or clothing." Hearing this, she laughed, a scared but sweet smile, which made his heart feel like a knife was piercing his heart.Riding on a horse on a rainy night, Ned saw Jon Snow's face in front of him, almost like himself when he was young.If the gods loathe illegitimate children so much, he thought sullenly, why make men lustful? "Lord Baelish, what do you know of Robert's bastard children?" "Well, starting from the simplest, he has more births than you."

"How much?" Littlefinger shrugged, and immediately the raindrops trickled down the back of his cloak in a stream. "Does it matter? Anyway, as long as you have slept with enough women, someone will give you a big gift, and His Majesty is never stingy in this regard. I know the boy in Storm's End he publicly admitted, it was in Stannis It was done on the night of your lord's wedding. He could not deny that the child's mother was a Florent, Lady Selyse's cousin, and herself one of her maids. Renly said Robert was at the banquet that night. Carried the girl upstairs on the way, and opened her buds on their marital bed while Stannis was dancing with his bride. Lord Stannis seemed to think this was a big blemish on his wife's natal reputation, so he waited until the boy was born. , and shipped him off to Renly." He squinted at Ned. "I also heard that when Robert went to the Western Territory to participate in Lord Tywin's tournament three years ago, he had twins with a waitress in Casterly Rock. Cersei sent someone to kill the children, and the mother of the children was sold to passing slaves Traffickers. The Lannisters can't stand this kind of thing in their own backyard."

Ned Stark couldn't help frowning when he heard this. The major families in the kingdom have similar ugly rumors.He believed Cersei Lannister could do such a thing... but would the king stand by and let her do what she did?The Robert he'd known wouldn't, but then again, the Robert he'd known wasn't as good at being deaf and dumb as he was now about things he didn't want to know. "Why did Jon Arryn suddenly take an interest in the king's bastards?" The drenched short man shrugged. "He is the Hand of the King, and Robert must have asked him to take care of him."

Ned was soaked to the bone by the rain, and his heart went cold. "It must be more than that, otherwise why kill him?" Littlefinger shook off the raindrops on his hair, and said with a smile: "I see. It must be because Lord Ayrin knew that His Majesty the King made a bunch of prostitutes and fish girls pregnant, so he had no choice but to silence him. It's no wonder, if Let this kind of person live, and next time he will say that the sun is coming from the east." Ned Stark couldn't think of an answer but frowned.For the first time in all these years, he found himself recalling Rhaegar Targaryen.He wondered if Rhaegar frequented brothels too, and for some reason he believed not. The rain picked up, stinging his eyes and pounding the ground.A black turbid stream poured down the hills, and Jory called, "Sir!" There was alarm in his hoarse voice.In a blink of an eye, the streets were full of soldiers. Ned caught a glimpse of their leather coats in ringmail, gauntlets, and kneepads, steel helms trimmed with golden lions, and rain-soaked cloaks clung to their backs.He didn't have time to count them, but there were at least ten of them, lined up, blocking the way on foot, holding long swords and iron spears. "Behind!" he heard Vail shout, and turning his horse, he saw more men behind and cut off their retreat.Jory's sword came out of its sheath with a clang. "Whoever blocks the way dies!" "The wolf is howling," said the leader of the opposing team.Ned could see the rain running down his face. "Unfortunately, it's a small group." Littlefinger steered forward cautiously. "What do you mean? This is the king's prime minister." "The former prime minister of the king." The mud muffled the hooves of the claret horses, and the soldiers in front of them were divided into two rows, and the Lannister lion with golden helmet and armor roared recalcitrantly. "As for now, to be honest, I don't know how old he is." "Lannister, are you crazy?" Littlefinger said, "Let's go there quickly, we should go back to the city. What do you want to do?" "He knows what he's doing," Ned said quietly. Jaime Lannister smiled and said: "That's true. I'm looking for my brother. Lord Stark, you remember my brother, don't you? When we went to Winterfell, he was with us Well. Blonde hair, big eyes, sharp tongue, short stature." "I remember it very well," Ned answered. "He seems to be in some trouble on the way. My father is very anxious about it. You don't happen to know who is trying to hurt my brother, don't you?" "Your brother was arrested on my order and held responsible for his crime." Littlefinger moaned in frustration: "My lords—" Ser Jaime drew his sword from its sheath, and kicked his horse forward. "Draw your sword, Lord Eddard. I'd rather kill you as I killed Aerys, but I'd rather you die with a weapon in your hand." He gave Littlefinger a cold, contemptuous look. "Lord Baelish, if you don't want your beautiful clothes to be stained with blood, I suggest you leave as soon as possible." Littlefinger needed no urging. "I'm going to the City Watch right now," he assured Ned.The Lannister soldiers stepped out, then back into enveloping formation.Littlefinger kicked the horse's belly and disappeared around the corner on the mare. Ned's men drew their weapons too, but three against twenty.Residents nearby watched secretly from behind doors and windows, and no one planned to interfere.His men were all on horseback, but all the Lannisters, except Jaime, were on foot.Charging might cut a bloody path, but Eddard Stark thought there was a safer, safer strategy. "You killed me," he warned the regicide. "Tyrion's life in Catelyn's hand is also in danger." Jaime Lannister poked Ned in the chest with the gilded sword that drank the blood of the last dragon-king. "Would she? Noble Catelyn Tully of Riverrun taking defenseless hostages? I don't think...she would." He sighed. "But I wouldn't want to risk my brother's life for a woman's." Honor at stake." Jaime sheathed the golden sword. "So I'll have you go and tell Robert how I've bullied you. I wonder if he'll take any notice of you?" James pushed back his wet hair and turned the horse's head.As he rode past the line of warriors, he glanced back at the captain. "Traig, don't hurt Lord Stark." "As you order, my lord." "But . . . he didn't get away with it for nothing, so"—through the night and the rain, he saw Jaime's smile faintly—"I killed all his men." "No!" screamed Ned Stark, grabbing his sword.He heard Vail yelling, and James had already galloped away.Enemies surrounded from all directions.Ned trampled a man over and slashed at the ghostly red cloaks who were evading around.Jory galloped forward with his horse's belly, and the steel horseshoe kicked a soldier in the face with a sickening crack.The second drew back, and for a moment Jory seemed free.Over there Weir cursed loudly, and they dragged him off his dying horse, swords raining down.Ned rode his horse and galloped toward him, slashing Tragg's helm with a blow that made him grit his teeth.Trager staggered to his knees, the lion on his helm split in two, blood streaming down his face.Haihua was slashing a few hands grabbing his belt, but was pierced through the stomach by a long spear.Jory turned his head and rushed into the killing formation, his long sword provoked a bloody storm. "Don't come!" Ned yelled. "Jory, go!" Ned's horse slipped and crashed into the muck.He only felt a sharp pain and the blood in his mouth. He saw them cut off the legs of Jory's mount, drag him to the ground, and surround him with swords and swords.Ned's horse staggered to its feet, and Ned tried to rise, but fell limply, trying to keep from screaming.He saw the splintered bone piercing the calf.It was the last thing he saw for a long time.It's raining, it's raining, it's raining, it's raining. When Lord Eddard Stark opened his eyes again, there were only dead people around him.His mount leaned over, smelled a strong smell of blood, and ran away again.Ned dragged himself through the mud, gritting his teeth at the sharp pain in his leg.He crawled and crawled, as if for years.Faces poked out of candlelit windows, and residents emerged from alleys and houses, but no one offered a helping hand. When Littlefinger and the City Watch found him, he was sitting on the street with Jory Cassel's body in his arms. The gold-cloaked guards had obtained a stretcher from nowhere.On the way back to the castle, Ned was blinded by pain and lost consciousness several times.He remembered the Red Castle looming before him in the gray morning light.The heavy rain dyed the original powder-white stone city wall into blood red. Later, Grand Maester Pycelle suddenly appeared beside him, holding a cup in his hand, and said softly, "My lord, drink this. Here, this is poppy milk, which can relieve your pain." He remembered drinking it, and then sent Schiller ordered someone to boil the wine and fetch a clean towel.After that, he couldn't hear anything.