The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Mountain, with gold coins in one hand and a warhammer in the other, glared at the King.

Prime Minister Eddard said, "Robert (addressing him by his first name, which is a bit different from the situation in China. The Mountain's crude language towards Robert earlier was already excessive, but not serious enough to warrant immediate execution), let the Mountain go! A conflict will only further tarnish the royal family and the tournament."

Robert roared in fury, "Get the Mountain out!"

Clang, clang, clang!

The city watch and the Kingsguard retreated, sheathing their longswords.

The Mountain snorted angrily, grabbed his gold coins, and strode away.

Supervising officials, accompanied by the King's Landing city watch, entered the arena to clear away the dead and wounded. Scribes recorded the events. This tournament saw twenty-three deaths, several of whom were torn to pieces, their muscles and bones twisted and deformed. They had been directly crushed by the Mountain's warhammer.

The Mountain was responsible for the majority of these twenty-three deaths.

As for the wounded, nearly every participant who challenged the Mountain was injured, with eleven suffering severe injuries or permanent disabilities. The scribes inquired at the Clegane tent about Zelle's condition. They learned that Zelle was still alive for the moment, but whether she would survive was unknown. Jeyne and the royal scholar responsible for her treatment couldn't say either, so the scribe categorized Zelle among the severely injured and disabled.

This tournament's group casualty figures surpassed the death toll of the most devastating group melee in history from centuries ago, exceeding the previous record of twenty-one deaths by two. However, in terms of impact, that historical group melee still held profound and irreplaceable significance!

*

The next day, the number of spectators for the archery competition dwindled sharply, with only a few hundred commoners present.

The royal courtiers, however, were all in attendance, giving face to the King and Prime Minister.

Sansa and Septa Mordane did not attend, still unable to shake off the shadow of the Mountain's carnage from the previous day.

In the archery finals, the last four archers were Jory Clegane, the Little Witch; Bronn Swann of Stonehelm in the Dornish Marches, who had challenged the Mountain in the joust; Anguy, a commoner boy from the Marches; and Jalabhar Xho, clad in black as night.

Jalabhar Xho was a wandering prince from the Summer Isles in the southern seas. He had come to request King Robert's aid in retaking his Happy Port domain. King Robert remained hesitant, desiring the glory of conquering the Summer Isles but unwilling to sacrifice his soldiers for another's throne. King Robert was Jalabhar's hope for restoration, and so Prince Jalabhar remained in King's Landing. He was an exiled prince.

In the head-to-head matches, Jory Clegane lost to Bronn Swann, and Jalabhar Xho lost to Anguy.

The final championship match was between Anguy and Bronn Swann.

In the hundred-pace shooting final, Anguy defeated Bronn Swann to win the championship.

Due to his outstanding performance in both the joust and archery, King Robert granted Bronn Swann a position as a royal courtier and a general in the Kingsguard, regularly attending the King and gaining the right to participate in the Small Council meetings.

Prince Jalabhar Xho also became a courtier of King Robert, receiving a military position under the Iron Throne, just like Bronn Swann.

Archery champion Anguy caught the eye of the King, Prime Minister Eddard, the Knight of Flowers, Edmure Tully, and other great lords, who all extended olive branches to recruit him. Prime Minister Eddard sent his captain of the guard, Jory Cassel, to persuade Anguy at length, hoping the young man would take a position he liked under his banner.

But the young man, fresh from his victory, basking in the applause and glory, and possessing an unimaginable fortune—ten thousand gold dragons—suddenly wealthy, forgot his true identity—a commoner from the Marches—and rejected the King's officials, the Prime Minister's captain of the guard, Renly Baratheon and the Knight of Flowers, and even Edmure Tully's personal invitation, along with all other offers from the great lords. That very night, Anguy took his ten thousand gold coins to the most famous brothel in King's Landing: Chataya's Brothel.

The most luxurious, famous, and high-end brothel in King's Landing was not Littlefinger's establishment, but Chataya's Brothel in the upper reaches of Rhaenys's Hill.

*

The entire city of King's Landing was built on three hills. The Red Keep, the King's castle, stood on Aegon's High Hill, overlooking the Blackwater Rush, the tourney grounds, and the harbor. Aegon's High Hill was named after Aegon Targaryen, the Conqueror, three hundred years prior. Aegon had two wives, both his sisters, one named Rhaenys Targaryen and the other Visenya Targaryen. Directly opposite Aegon's High Hill, on the right, was Rhaenys's Hill; on the left was Visenya's Hill.

The most famous structure on Aegon's High Hill was the Red Keep, the center of power in the Seven Kingdoms!

Visenya's Hill had three famous structures: the Great Sept of Baelor with its marble walls and seven crystal towers stood atop Visenya's Hill; the renowned Street of Steel and Tobho Mott's smithy were in the middle of Visenya's Hill; and at the foot of Visenya's Hill was another famous structure: the Guildhall of the Alchemists.

Rhaenys's Hill also had three famous structures. The first was the Dragonpit, built by the Targaryen royal family atop the hill to house their dragons, now a ruin. Its bronze doors had been closed for a century and a half since the death of the last dragon.

The second famous structure was Flea Bottom!

Flea Bottom's narrow streets and alleys were like a maze, teeming with beggars and the city's poorest inhabitants. Polliver's wife, Esther, and her grandfather, Buzzy, sold their famous 'brown soup' in the streets of Flea Bottom.

The third famous structure was behind Flea Bottom, where the nobles and wealthy of King's Landing resided, also known as the upper reaches of King's Landing: a district of luxurious villas in various architectural styles.

In this upper district was a place King Robert loved to frequent: Chataya's Brothel.

*

The first thing the Dornish Marches boy, the divine archer Anguy, did after winning ten thousand gold dragons was to go to the upper district behind Rhaenys's Hill and swagger into Chataya's Brothel.

On the first night, Anguy spent three hundred gold dragons on a milk bath and enjoyed the tenderness of two women.

On the second night, Anguy spent five hundred gold dragons to enjoy the brothel's highest-level bath service: a bath in the world's most famous Arbor Gold wine, accompanied by the intoxicating ministrations of two exotic maidens.

From then on, Anguy ate and lived in Chataya's Brothel until the brothel's madam threw him out.

When Anguy awoke from his drunken stupor, he found himself lying on the street, penniless except for his longbow.

But the young man was not discouraged. He remembered that the King, the Prime Minister, Renly Baratheon, the Knight of Flowers, Edmure Tully, and others had all told him that if he wished, he could seek them out, and they would give him a position that pleased him.

But the first person Anguy thought of seeking out was the knight who had lost to him in the archery finals: Bronn Swann. Bronn Swann, like him, was from the Dornish Marches, which made him feel a sense of kinship. Bronn had come to the brothel once, hoping Anguy would join him as a military officer in the Kingsguard, serving the King.

Now Anguy had nothing, not even arrows, except for his bow. He felt it was time to find a respectable job! And the most respectable, of course, was to serve the King as a royal guard.

Anguy slung his longbow over his shoulder and walked out of the upper district, turned into a small alley, which sloped downwards, crossed the crossroads of Flea Bottom, and turned onto the Street of the Silent Sisters, which led to the Red Keep.

As Anguy reached the other end of the alley, a carriage with drawn curtains happened to stop. A smiling man sat inside: "Hi, Anguy, I've been waiting here for you long enough. Get in!"

Anguy recognized the man: a man of the Mountain, a knight named Raff the Sweetling. He immediately turned to flee but stopped abruptly. Inside the alley, two fellows holding sword scabbards were glaring at him menacingly. One was a very tall bald man whose right cheek was twitching. His gaze was like nails.

Anguy stiffened and had to turn back to face the smiling Sweetling. He was about to say a few words to embolden himself when the curtain was pulled back, and a short crossbow was pointed at him. It was Jory Clegane, the Little Witch, who chilled Anguy to the bone: "Get in, or die!"

Click!

The Little Witch cocked the crossbow! Her finger rested on the trigger!