"This is King's Landing, and it looks pretty good." Outside the riverside gate of King's Landing, Liu Jian looked at the tall square wall of King's Landing, and couldn't help but say, "I don't know how much effort and time it took to build this city wall with huge stones. ”

"Without wisdom, it will take countless times more effort and time to achieve the original desired result, this King's Landing took twenty years to build, and the Dragon City only took one year." Following Liu Jian's side, Xuanwu chuckled and said, "And King's Landing looks pretty good on the outside, and entering the city will definitely disappoint my king." ”

"Oh?"

"Does my king know what the people of Westeros call King's Landing? The capital of and urine. Xuanwu chuckled, his smile filled with disdain and disdain for King's Landing, the political center of Westeros: "The Targaryens didn't plan the sewers when they first built King's Landing, and as a result, the people who lived in King's Landing could only spill human and animal feces on the streets. In King's Landing, even if you plug your nose with a cloth, you can smell the smell of feces and urine that permeates the entire city. ”

After establishing his own political territory with Longcheng, Macheng and Yangcheng, Liu Jian adjusted the female guards to the palace guards, responsible for guarding the palace together with the remaining unsullied. The cowardly Xue army developed into an ace unit directly under Liu Jian's hands. However, the biggest change was the Assassin Brotherhood led by Xuanwu, and Liu Jian, who knew the importance of intelligence, did not make the Assassin Brotherhood a simple killer organization, but vigorously supported the Assassin Brotherhood who deliberately wanted to develop the Xuanwu Assassin Brotherhood into an intelligence organization similar to the later Cheka, Klober, or Jinyiwei.

In the previous purge, Liu Jian was able to launch a purge so quickly and accurately, sweeping away the ambitious potential rebels. The Assassin Brotherhood's intelligence support played a key role in this. Although Liu Jian had not made any moves on the surface before, he was secretly. The intelligence organization established with the original Assassin Brotherhood as the backbone and core has been searching and collecting everyone's black materials. That's right, everyone...... From the military to the merchants. From nobles to commoners, every word and deed of all potential targets is monitored and collected by them as much as possible. Although Liu Jian's unstoppable force was the decisive factor in the successful cleanup, the endless black materials collected by the Assassin Brotherhood were the excuse and basis for Liu Jian to convict and punish these people.

Like the Cheka under Dzerzhinsky, the Ministry of Internal Affairs during Beria, and later Klober and the CIA before the breakup. However, all intelligence organizations will want to extend their tentacles of influence as much as possible in order to obtain more intelligence information. Liu Jian's as-yet-unofficially named intelligence organization, founded by the Assassin Brotherhood as its backbone, also extended its intelligence tentacles beyond Liu Jian's sphere of influence, probing for secret information in the Free Trade Alliance, Slave Bay, and even all parts of Westeros.

As the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood. At the same time, he is also the intelligence leader under Liu Jian, although he has never been to Westeros or King's Landing, Xuanwu knows no less about King's Landing than anyone else.

"Well, that's it." Liu Jian didn't have any expectations for the living environment of King's Landing, so after listening to Xuanwu's words, he didn't react, and smiled: "Let's go into the city." ”

Liu Jian revealed the idea that he was going to Westeros incognito a few months ago, just like Cheng Caiwei and Xuanwu, although Liu Jian has been busy rectifying the interior in the past few months, neither Cheng Caiwei nor Xuanwu have forgotten to prepare for this matter. Although all the hotels in King's Landing were already crowded, Xuanwu had already sent someone to buy a small courtyard in King's Landing through an intermediary two months ago.

and the permanent population is only in the early 30,000s. Dragon City, which is deserted many times, is different. King's Landing has a permanent population of 500,000, and what is even more terrifying is that there are many people who come to King's Landing during this time, very, very much.

"I'm sorry my king, but you have to be careful when you go out. I can only ask you to live in this cramped place. ”

"Okay, okay Xuanwu, it's not like you don't know me. When we went to war together, many times we slept directly on the grass of Dothraki. Liu Jian smiled and patted Xuanwu's shoulder: "The conditions here are already very good. You're doing a great job. It's secluded enough, though. I don't think anyone will know I'm in this place. ”

"Of course, your safety is more important than anything else." Xuanwu said lightly. The look in his eyes was resolute: "No one will know that you are here, everyone thinks that you are a mercenary knight Tagore Stockton who came from the High Court to attend the Prime Minister's Martial Arts Conference, and we are your squires." ”

"Oh, speaking of jousting tournaments." Liu Jian smiled, and he suddenly realized that he could do something interesting here: "Have you signed me up?" ”

"Nope."

"Then go sign up."

"Which one?" Xuanwu said without hesitation, he had no idea of stopping Liu Jian from participating in the martial arts competition. For Xuanwu, Liu Jian's order is the meaning of his existence, no matter how absurd and unbelievable it is. All he had to do was to complete Liu Jian's orders and ensure Liu Jian's safety, and he didn't have to think about anything else.

"What are the projects?" Liu Jian asked with great interest.

"Spear jousting, team fighting, and archery."

"Then report all three." Liu Jian smiled and said, "What will happen if I win the championship in all three competitions?" ”

"The Bard will compose songs in your praise, you will be rewarded with a large amount of gold, and with Robert's character, Robert may canonize you as his Kingguard."

"That's going to be fun." Liu Jian smiled, the meaning of the smile was inexplicable: "Then let's do it, but before that, I should need a set of armor." ”

Liu Jian rarely wears armor, it is extremely difficult for Liu Jian to hurt him in the competition or on the battlefield, even if he is hit, his Golden Bell Jar cultivation provides him with a strong defense that far exceeds ordinary armor. However, since he was participating in a knight's joust, it was natural that he should wear a piece of armor. Whether or not this armor means to him is secondary, and the key point is that this armor must be as beautiful as possible.

And. What he wants to do. Of course, he should wear as much armor as possible during the competition.

Liu Jian recalled the plot of "A Song of Ice and Fire" that he had watched, and continued: "I remember that most of the blacksmith shops in King's Landing are concentrated in the vicinity of Steel Street, which happens to be around here, without further ado. Let's go and have a look now. ”

Liu Jian let the others stay in the house, and he took Xuanwu out with him, shuttling through the crowded streets.

Steel Street starts from the market square next to the river gate.

Riverside Gate is the name marked on the map of King's Landing, but civilians living in King's Landing usually call it "Mud Gate".

On the street, there was a playman walking on stilts, striding through the crowd like a giant monster insect, followed by a large group of barefoot children, screaming strangely. On the other side, two ragged boys, who looked to be in their early teens, were gesturing with sticks. Some of the onlookers cheered loudly, while others cursed angrily. The last old woman poked her head out of the window and poured a bucket of foot-washing water over the heads of the two boys to put an end to the fight.

The peasants, hiding in the shadow of the city walls, stood by their wagons and shouted, "Apples, good apples, twice as expensive as you'll find them cheap," or "Come and buy blood melons, they're as sweet as honey!" and "kohlrabi, onions, potatoes." Come on, kohlrabi, onions, potatoes, come on! ”

The mud door suddenly opened wide, and a small group of capital guards wore standard golden cloaks on their shoulders. Standing under the gate with a spear.

Seeing a group of people running in a column on horseback from the west, the guards hurriedly gave orders to drive the carts and pedestrians in the way. so that the knight and his retinue can pass.

The first to pass through the gate held high a long black flag, and the silk flag fluttered in the wind. Like a living creature. The flag was embroidered with a purple lightning bolt that streaked across the night sky.

"Lord Berry has arrived! Evade quickly! The comer shouted, "Lord Berry has arrived!" Evade quickly! ”

He was followed by the young nobleman with golden red hair. He wore a black satin star-patterned cloak and rode a black horse, full of pompous appearance.

"Are you here for the Prime Martial Arts Tournament, my lord?" One of the guards shouted behind him.

"I'm here to win the championship!" The Earl of Berry responded loudly to the cheers of the crowd.

Liu Jian saw it, laughed, and ignored the behavior of the gang at the city gate. Turning away from the square and into the Iron Street, the winding path rode up the long Visennian hills, passing blacksmiths at work in front of the forges, freeriders haggling for armor, and gray-haired blacksmiths selling all sorts of old iron knives in wagons.

In King's Landing, it seems that the wealthier the person, the higher the place where he lives.

Thinking about it, this is normal, the smell in King's Landing is really bad, and the air is obviously better in higher places.

Liu Jian rode a horse and took Xuanwu to climb higher and higher, and the buildings became taller, and most of the blacksmiths in the city were here.

Liu Jian asked all the way, he was looking for the best blacksmith here. He wanted to find a specific target, and thanks to Liu Jian's better and better memory now, he could easily remember some of the unnoticed fragments that he had forgotten in the past.

The man they were looking for lived at the top of the hill, a huge house made of wood and plaster, with floors large enough to overlook the narrow laneway below. The two gates of the house, made of ebony and fishbeam, depict a hunting figure, and a pair of stone-carved knights flanked the entrance, draped in whimsical red steel armor that gives them the form of a griffin and a unicorn.

He saw two knights in armoured cloaks leading their horses in the doorway, and unlike most of the knights he had seen in King's Landing, they were dressed in plain armor and draped in gray cloaks, which were gray and unkempt, and there was no glimpse of any brilliance in sight.

In Westeros, only the knights of the Northlands would dress like this.

Liu Jian was even more convinced that he had found the right place, and it seemed that the person was in this blacksmith shop, so he walked towards the blacksmith shop.

Ned Stark had just said goodbye to Tob Mott, and walked forward with his head bowed with a full of questions, when he suddenly felt that the light around him was dim, and he was looking up when he heard an unfamiliar voice in front of him.

"Hello, Duke Stark, it's a great honor to meet you here."

Ned Stark looked up, and he saw a strange young man, in his early twenties...... Maybe he is actually older, and those black eyes reveal a maturity and vicissitudes that are not suitable for his age. Ned Stark paid particular attention to his form. He was immensely tall and muscular, and reminded Ned Stark of Gregor Cregan, the giant known as 'The Magic Mountain'.

However, unlike the 'Magic Mountain', this young man is much younger and more handsome, his long silky black hair is draped down his cheeks, and the way he laughs makes people feel very gentle.

"Oh, hello, are you?"

"Rabindranath Tagore Stockton, a nobody from the High Court to attend the Prime Contest." Liu Jian smiled and said, "I came here to buy a good set of armor, is Lord Stark here for this?" ”

"Oh no, I'm not actually going to a jousting tournament." Ned Stark thought it was strange that he shouldn't have paid attention to the young man he had met for the first time, and that he shouldn't have told anyone about his visit.

"I'm leaving now."

Nodding to Jian Liu, Ned Stark stepped forward, and Jian smiled and turned sideways to make way for the way.

"You look tired, Lord Stark?"

"What?" Ned Stark stopped, looked back, and looked at Jian Liu with some surprise.

"You look tired." Liu Jian smiled and said, "It seems that this place of King's Landing is not suitable for you. In the Northlands, you only need to clench the sword in your hand to solve all the difficulties and troubles in this world, but now in King's Landing, you don't even know who to turn your sword at. ”

"Oh, yes." Ned Stark replied calmly, no expression could be seen on his face, but Liu Jian didn't know if his heart was as calm as his face.

"Ah, I seem to be talking a little too much. The so-called exchange of shallow words is deep...... Then don't waste your precious time, Master Stark. Gently patting his head, Liu Jian looked a little annoyed.

Although Ned Stark's heart was full of doubts, he was worried about more doubts at the moment, so he had no intention of exploring further, and only said: "Young man, I wish you the honor of the tournament." ”

Then he turned and left. (To be continued.) )