The smell comes from a towering hill called the Rhaenys Hill, surrounded by a dense cluster of masonry buildings, with a ruined circular building at the top.

The sun in the sky is blocked by the hills, and the shadows of the buildings and flat streets below slightly dispel the sweltering heat of entering the city.

The group was passing by, and the unique smell unconsciously replaced the stench around them, attracting Lan Li to look sideways at the top of the hill.

He had thought that it was very likely that what he wanted would appear in King's Landing, but when it did, he couldn't help but beat his heart faster.

Unfortunately, the current destination of the team is the Red Keep in the depths of King's Landing, and he doesn't think he can leave the team at will, nor does he think that asking for a change of route will get a positive response.

So Lan Li just glanced deeply in that direction, and after remembering the location, he didn't pay much attention to it.

The procession slowly weaved through the crowded streets, led by a young man in a tight golden velvet tunic and a neat green cape, while his attendants kept shouting at pedestrians on the street to get out of the way.

The people of King's Landing looked at him with resentment, but with a group of golden-robed soldiers on either side of the line clearing the way, they could only hide on both sides of the street.

The inhabitants of the area do not welcome their own group.

Lan Li easily discovered this.

He saw a middle-aged fish seller in a turban on the side of the road shouting and staring at the procession, a woman passing by hugged a bare-chested and dirty child wandering around and turned away, and even a sloppy old beggar sitting against the wall of a brown-brick house spitting in their direction.

And this kind of scene can often be seen after entering the city.

"I heard that the Lannisters sacked the city before sacrificing King's Landing to Lord Robert." Davos, who rode a horse on the side of the carriage, explained.

The Lannisters, the feudal lords of the West, chose to wait and see when the rebellion broke out, and it was not until Robert Baratheon killed Prince Rhaeggar, the heir of the Targaryens, with a hammer in the Trident River that they decided to join the rebels.

But they joined in a peculiar way - pretending to be royal reinforcements, they opened the gates of King's Landing, and when the army entered the city, they immediately burned and plundered in the name of Robert, the leader of the rebel army, and finally surrendered the city.

So it's clear that the people here think of Baratheon as a raccoon dog.

Davos's expression was a little strange when he said this, and Lan Li, who saw something, asked, "Are you from King's Landing?" ”

"I was born in a flea nest."

As he spoke, he unconsciously pinched a small bag hanging from his chest, which contained his five severed knuckles, which seemed to be taken as some kind of comfort by him at this time.

"The flea nest is a gathering place for the poor in King's Landing, and the noble Lannister will not look down on it."

He may have hoped for this, but when the team passed by the so-called flea nest, they saw a large number of collapsed sheds and buildings, and the former smuggler did not speak again for the rest of the trip.

King's Landing is a large medieval city, densely populated, with a very cluttered complex of buildings, and the traces of war have not yet disappeared from here.

The charred black after the fire, the ruins of the collapsed houses, the blood stains on the streets that have not been cleaned up, etc., and even the nearest gate when they entered the city before has been damaged and renovated, and they don't know why the gate broke when it was not attacked.

The people here are also particularly gloomy and angry, so the atmosphere of the whole city can be imagined. Along the way, it always seemed dull and silent, and there was not much bustling and noisy.

Coupled with the smell of foul water mixed with rancid meat that always lingered around his nose, Lan Li finally withdrew his gaze from the ancient city here, and instead hid in the carriage and pondered how to get his hands on the source of the smell on the hills.

It's simple, and when you settle down, just find a reason to hang out and go up the hills. The place was a ruin, and Lan Li guessed that there could be no one inside, so it was likely that his target was an ownerless thing.

The initial idea was quickly finalized, but it didn't take long for him to suddenly wrinkle his nose.

"Delusion? Still is...... The other one? ”

The peculiar smell that had quietly dissipated as they hurried away from the hills now came back to their faces, and after noticing this, Lan Li poked his head out to find that they had arrived at the gate of a castle made of light red stone bricks.

It is a towering castle with high walls and bronze gates, standing quietly in the depths of the city.

Now its gates were open, the sharp iron gates had long since risen, and the shadow of the heavy walls shrouded the open space in front of it, and the procession streamed in along the entrance, under the silent gaze of two rows of guards.

As he moved forward, the peculiar smell became more and more intense, making Lan Li feel like he had fallen into a hidden treasure in a trance, and he had already forgotten all the dislikes before.

However, after entering the castle, he had to get off the carriage and walk, and there were many people around, so he couldn't tell where the source of the smell was for a while, so he could only ignore the smell for the time being, and instead brace himself up and pay attention to what was in front of him.

Red Fort.

The city's royal castle has been home to Targaryen kings and royal sons for generations, but today it has opened its doors to the families of the rebels.

However, despite being the king's residence, it doesn't look much different from Storm's End, at most it is more spacious, the ground is cleaner, and the courtyard and columns are more neat.

Lan Li then lost interest.

The escorted golden-robed soldiers stopped at the castle gate behind them, and some of the other soldiers were also led elsewhere, and the few remaining men led by the leader made their way down the brick paved road, past a few towers and some fortress courtyards, and finally came to a hall building with an open oak door.

The hall is magnificent, deep and wide, with two rows of carved stone columns, each of which is filled with aristocratic men and women dressed in solemn and exquisite costumes, the floor of the hall is paved with lattice marble, and the surrounding walls are covered with intricately crafted hunting brocades.

At the end of the hall, a dark, hideously shaped black iron chair stood silently on the top of the throne, apparently the throne here, but it didn't look like a chair at all, but rather like a lump of iron covered in spikes, sharp horns, and twisted metal.

The iron chair was now empty, and no one sat on it, but under the throne were four men of different heights and ages sitting around a long table.

After glancing at it, Lan Li directly looked at the sturdy young man with short ear-length charcoal black hair and a neat and handsome face. However, the hall was vast, and there were many people, and the other party did not notice the people at the door at the moment, and was now quietly listening to the speech of a fat man in silk not far away with the three people next to him—although he seemed a little bored.

"This is the rule, adults, after the death of the shopkeeper, his widow will either remain a widow or marry a colleague, and it is absolutely forbidden to marry a layman, my lords, she has violated the rules, so our guild has the right to confiscate her deceased husband's shop."

The person who spoke was a middle-aged fat blond man wearing a light blue satin robe with a rich face, and the expression on his face was full of reason.

"What the hell is this? Tell me to say—" The young man under the throne opened his mouth to come, and a white-haired old man next to him saw this and gestured with his eyes, so the young man snorted and closed his mouth.

Then I heard the old man say expressionlessly to the petitioner: "We respect the rules of your guild, but whether the matter is really as you said, we still need to carefully verify, go back and wait for news." ”

So the fat merchant bowed down and retired.

Seeing this, the young man with the green cloak who was waiting in the gate area led the way and stepped forward and reported loudly.

"Lord Robert, it's an honor to bring you Lord Stannis, your little brother Lanli, and the High Court's captive Mace Tyrell!"

Before the words fell, everyone's eyes looked over.