The blue eyes struggled to open wide in the water, and when I looked at the bottom of the basin close at hand, the original bright and transparent silver bottom of the basin became hazy, as if it had been covered with frosted glass. A few small bubbles are attached to this "glass", and the large bubbles that are occasionally spit out by children move or rise and disappear.

There were all kinds of noises in the morning at Storm's End, the sound of servants stepping on the stairs, the sound of guards patrolling and talking, the sound of stewards reprimanding, and so on, but all the sounds were faint and ethereal when they reached the water, as if they were from another world.

During the dive, the cold feeling of the liquid in the basin soaked into the head and even the limbs along the cheeks, and gradually, the face wash water seemed to become warm hot water, and the eyes had already adapted to open in the water with the initial stimulation, but the sourness gradually spread from the back to the whole body.

So in the end he had to straighten his back.

Under the splash of water, a handsome little face was exposed to the air, and a cool feeling also hit it. The boy tore at the white wool towel on the side to wipe his face, and guessed to himself.

"Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? ”

He pondered, taking a few careful glances at the basin in front of him.

There was no air supply during the dive, but he felt that the oxygen in his lungs was constantly replenished as the cool water penetrated him, and the amount of time he held on was unusual.

But I don't know if it's an illusion, he feels that this basin of water seems to be a little less than before......

Shaking his head, the boy raised his hand and picked up a clove-smelling clay cup on the small table next to the basin, and then dipped the twig in the salt of the mixed spices at the bottom of the cup and began to brush his teeth intently.

There are toothbrushes in this world, probably made of pig hair, but Lan Li feels that pig hair is a little dirty, so he just looks like ordinary civilians, and just finds a tender branch and chews it to brush his teeth-

Anyway, there is no toothpaste, and no matter how you brush it, it will not be as clean as in your previous life.

After a while, there was a knock on the door outside.

"Little master, it's time for dinner."

"Come on!" After answering vaguely, Lan Li rinsed his mouth with another cup full of water on the small table, and after spitting out some salt cleaning and a few plant sawdust into the basin, he turned around and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

It was probably a quiet day.

Since returning from that "history" yesterday, Lan Li has especially enjoyed this calm.

"I'm going to take a shower tonight."

After leaving the door, he gave orders to the servant who was guarding the door, and then stepped to the lower floor where the dining room was located.

All the chaos and strife came to an end with the shattering of the denture, and the Lan Li, which was different from before, did not look any different, and the situation around him was basically unchanged at the moment, the siege, hunger, and lack of food......

……

Before the siege of Storm's End, Lan Li basically had to eat with his current family.

Soon after he was born, his parents died in a shipwreck, and his brother Robert was an adopted son in the Duke of the Vale's family, and the so-called family members were basically the second brother Stannis, the old bachelor Crison, his playmate Fat Dun Erin, and the uncle Harbert, who had died in the early days of the siege.

Occasionally, there are a few vassals, knights, and family vassals on the side, but not too many.

And now, because of the siege, Stannis basically lives on the edge of the city wall, and the old bachelor also doesn't serve much at the table, and there are only three little ones who can get together.

Obviously, children eat quickly, especially when food is scarce and monotonous, and lunch usually takes less than ten minutes to finish, but today is a little different from usual.

In the dining room, on the long partition table, Lan Li sat on the left, and the other two were opposite him, the black-haired boy with his head bowed frowned at the food on the plate as before, but the silver dagger he held upside down in his hand did not move without the slightest hesitation.

I saw that the tip of the dagger was firmly pierced into the head of the pickled fish, and then with a slight farewell, the head of the fish that should have been hard and tough was easily cut off by him.

Then the dagger in the boy's hand divided the whole fish into four, each of which looked to be about the same size.

Eventually, with the turn of the slender fingers, the silver dagger went from being held upside down with astonishing dexterity, and was used as a fork by its owner, and stabbed the salted fish strip like a small stabbing sword, and a piece of boneless flesh was thus separated.

Fat Dun Erin looked at all this, and looked down at the identical dagger in his hand, only to feel that this thing was clumsy and heavy.

"Lan Li, you seem to be a little different from before."

After the black-haired partner stuck the piece of fish in his mouth with a dagger, he finally couldn't help but say something.

"Is there one?" Chewing on the salty food in his mouth, Lan Li said vaguely: "I heard that eating too much pickled fish will cause bad breath." ”

"It's not bad breath, I mean—"

"Berry, did you notice that you had bad breath?" The black-haired boy looked at the thin bamboo pole next to the fat mound. The other party was now battling an onion with his head down - he seemed to be particularly fond of eating raw onions.

"Eating this will get rid of the smell." Berry, who was like a thin bamboo pole, raised his hand and gestured to the food in his hand when he heard this: "It's very useful." ”

"I mean dagger, your—" Fat Dun insisted on speaking, but was interrupted immediately afterward.

"Did you find Erin?"

These words made Fat Dun couldn't help but look at his companion beside him.

"Who's going to pay attention to that."

The other party replied stunned: "But I think he will definitely have it, you see he is so sloppy." ”

……

The rest of the lunch became a little noisy, but basically there was nothing to do with Lan Li, after he finished his share, he politely said goodbye, but did not attract the attention of the two friends who were fighting, he stuck out his tongue and quietly left the place.

The old bachelor who heard the noise happened to arrive in a hurry at this moment, and after nodding at the door, he broke into the room in a menacing manner, and then Lan Li heard a reprimand and argument, but he didn't pay attention to what happened later.

A peculiar smell wafted over his attention, but before he could discern where it came from, he heard something strange to him.

"Patch Face is dead, young master."

Jomy, the short servant, whispered to him as he returned to the door of his bedroom, "He should have died, I mean, he was dead when I dragged him out of the sea." ”

In aristocratic families, servants who chew the root of their tongues may be reprimanded by their stern masters, but Lan Li has always liked to have someone to tell him some gossip, not that he can get any useful information from here, the main reason is boredom-

In this world of poor entertainment, gossip is one of his few remaining interests.

But it's not just gossip.

"How did you die?" Lan Li frowned and asked.

Patch Face is the Rigoletto who ran away crying when he saw him that day, originally from a free trade city-state across the Narrow Sea, and is said to have a talent for funny, but unfortunately Lan Li has never seen it-

Rigoletto was bought across the sea, and when he was about to arrive at Storm's End, the storm and reef struck his ship, swallowing it up and spit it out, turning Rigoletto into an idiot.

"Sick, young master, he's sick. I heard that I've been sick for a while. Jomi replied, "But none of us found him sick, and he lay sick in his room, as if he had been dead for days." ”

He shook his head as he spoke, his voice wistful.

"When I dragged him ashore, my mouth was swollen, and then he spoke inaudibly, and his brain became very difficult, which is all to blame, alas. But I thought he was dead, he was cold to the touch, he was a dead man......"

Lan Li didn't continue to listen, because he was already walking towards the stairs by this time.

The strange smell still wrapped around his nose, somewhat similar to the one he had smelled before, but very different, and seemed to have an extra smell of corruption.

When his back was about to disappear at the top of the stairs, the small personal servant reacted, and hurriedly ran over and followed the boy's buttocks—

Although the castle is very safe, the situation is tense, and the servants must keep an eye on the young son of Baratheon, who has not grown up, lest anyone try to misbehave.

……

Lan Li finally found the source of the scent in a ruined courtyard of the castle, a burning fire, from which the five men stood silently and watched, the smell of corruption wafting from it.

Unlike in the tower, the smell was not only stronger when you got closer, but also mixed with a smell of burnt grease......

"Shipwreck Bay swallowed up their boat, but the sea gave us back the damned riddler." As he approached, someone spoke to him.

It was one of the five men in front of the fire, and the young leader of the other four valets, with black hair and blue eyes, a thin but tall figure in brown and black leather armor, and a rather cold look when he looked down at Lan Li.

"He also became a retarded man, you say, what do I want a retarded courtier to do?"

This is not so much an inquiry as a mumble.

"At least you like him a lot." Lan Li replied.

"I don't like him, I never did."

"Then why are you keeping him?"

"I did my best to keep him by my side," said the young man hesitantly, "I tried to find joy in him, yes, I tried. I think so—maybe this will fulfill my father's last wish? ”

Lan Li looked at the other party silently and didn't speak again, because the other party wasn't asking him, nor did he ask anyone.

The shipwreck not only turned the Rigoletto into a mentally retarded man, but also swallowed Duke and Duchess Stephen Baratheon of Storm's End, his parents in this life.

At that time, Lan Li was still a pink baby in swaddling clothes eating the milk of a wet nurse, and did not witness the disaster, but the second brother in front of him, and the eldest brother Robert witnessed the disaster with their own eyes.

They were standing on the towering walls of Storm's End, watching the ships in the bay ahead sink as they watched. The gloomy sky was raging, and Lan Li couldn't know what his two brothers were feeling at that time.

He only learned about the details of the matter after the fact.

For example, the disaster should not have happened, it was the captain's mistake at the time.

For example, the duchess brought him many strange and interesting toys from the free trade city-state.

For example, Maester Crisson once received a letter from Duke Stephen on the other side of the Narrow Sea, in which he spoke of Rigoletto in a very respectful tone, claiming that he could teach his withdrawn second son to laugh......

Apparently Patchface is not a proper jesterone.

Lan Li thought to himself.

For as long as he could remember, he had only seen the second brother named Stannis next to him smile once, and that was the smile he had when he heard his parents arrive at Storm's End on their return flight.

And then I didn't see it again.

"I don't like him." The atmosphere was silent for a while, and when the flames in front of him burned out, revealing a charred corpse, the young man next to him said one last word.

"But I should have sent a scholar to treat him when he was sick, instead of letting him die of illness."

Stannis's voice was not remorseful, but rather a faint sense of exhaustion, and it was clear that he was a little overwhelmed by the current situation facing the castle, but the angular expression of his cheeks was still as stiff as stone.

A thought unconsciously flashed through Lan Li's mind.

Is there a way to put that Naga rib to use?

He thought so, and then his face suddenly froze.

At this time, the servants had already begun to deal with the charred bones, and even he could clearly see that the black and charred mouth of the corpse was obviously missing some teeth, and when he looked at it, no more, no less, exactly three......