The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Fine, white salt slipped through Tywin's fingers.

Very beautiful salt grains.

Unlike the salt grains he was used to seeing and eating: ordinary salt grains were coarse, with a light yellow tint, and sometimes had a bitter taste.

Tywin's fingers were coated with salt, fine as sand, white as snow.

He touched his fingers to his lips, very salty, very delicious.

A packet of fine white salt without the slightest hint of bitterness. Crystalline and translucent, unlike anything he had ever seen.

Salt was very expensive for ordinary commoners; poor families ate very little salt, unable to afford it. The profit margin on salt was extremely high, but for the Westerlands, with its rich gold and silver mines, the profits from mining and producing salt naturally couldn't compare to those from gold and silver mines.

The famous Gold Road, starting from the Lionmouth in Casterly Rock and ending in the Seven Kingdoms' capital, King's Landing, was specifically used to transport gold and silver ore to the city's mint. Every month's end, wagons and carts laden with gold and silver ore filled the entire road, stretching endlessly in both directions. The wagons and carts of the various Westerlands families were all on the Gold Road, hauling out ore and hauling back gold dragons and silver stags.

"Send it to the kitchen, and tell the cook to use this snow salt for today's dishes."

"Yes, my lord."

Maester Polliver carefully wrapped the salt.

There was a common saying among the people about salt: "Salt is as precious as gold."

Precious not only in terms of price, but also in terms of scarcity; things are valued for their rarity.

Maester Polliver carefully wrapped the snow-white salt and covered it with a brocade box.

"Where did the snow salt come from?"

As white as snow, Tywin casually gave the salt the name: snow salt.

"Maester Hallis said in his letter to me that Ser Gregor accidentally concocted it."

"Oh!" Tywin said casually.

Maester Polliver hurried out. He couldn't stand the bloody smell and the reek of animal hides and flesh in the room.

Because of the long-term slaughter of wild beasts and livestock, the air in the butchery smelled strange and unpleasant, making Maester Polliver very uncomfortable every time he entered.

"Maester Polliver," Tywin said. He carefully wiped his hands clean and then meticulously trimmed his nails.

Duke Tywin was skilled at butchering wild beasts and livestock, and he enjoyed doing it.

Even the best slaughtermen among the servants couldn't match his skinning skills.

"Send Gregor's two letters to Tygett Lannister in King's Landing."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Tell Tygett that he should control his sons."

"Yes, my lord."

*

The capital of the Seven Kingdoms—King's Landing.

The castle where the king resided—the Red Keep on Aegon's High Hill.

The Red Keep was surrounded on three sides by cliffs that were impossible to climb, with only the North Gate for entrance and exit.

The Red Keep was named for the high walls built from red stone.

On either side of the Red Keep's gate were the left and right barracks, responsible for guarding the castle.

Next to the right barracks was a row of neat stone houses, where the royal courtiers lived.

Next to the left barracks was also a row of neat stone houses, where the nobles from all over the Seven Kingdoms who came to King's Landing to handle affairs temporarily resided.

King Robert Baratheon decided to travel north to Winterfell to visit his brother and Hand, Duke Eddard Stark, whom he hadn't seen in more than a decade, and to respectfully invite the stubborn Eddard Stark to take the position of his Prime Minister—second only to the king and above all others, the Hand of the King.

Knowing Eddard Stark's indifference to fame and fortune, the king had no choice but to go and invite him personally. Eddard was a Northern frozen stone that couldn't be summoned with just a raven. The king and Eddard had grown up together in the Vale of Arryn, their relationship surpassing that of blood brothers, and the late Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, was both of their foster father.

King Robert was a man who liked to show off and be particular about pomp and circumstance. In addition to the royal courtiers, the great lords from all over the land had also received his raven letters, ordering them to send nobles under their command to accompany him on his journey north.

Except for Dorne in the southernmost part of the kingdom, thousands of miles away, the Iron Islands in the Sunset Sea, and the destination of this trip—the North in the northernmost part of the kingdom—the remaining subordinate nations, in order from south to north, were: the Reach, ruled by House Tyrell of Highgarden; the Stormlands, ruled by House Baratheon of Storm's End; the Crownlands, ruled by the King himself and the royal courtiers; the Westerlands, ruled by House Lannister of Casterly Rock; the Vale, ruled by House Arryn of the Eyrie; and the Riverlands, ruled by House Tully of Riverrun. All of them received the king's raven order—the king ordered them to send great nobles under their command to accompany him on his journey north. The more people, the more carriages, the grander the spectacle, and the more lively the scene, the more satisfied, happy, and delighted King Robert Baratheon would be.

Tygett Sharlott was the one Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock in the Westerlands had sent to deal with King Robert's order.

King Robert Baratheon was Tywin Lannister's son-in-law. The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Cersei Lannister, was Duke Tywin's eldest daughter.

Tygett Sharlott, representing the Westerlands nobles, uniquely obtained this opportunity to accompany the king north, which was a great honor for House Sharlott. Tygett Sharlott was very happy, and he felt an unparalleled sense of glory.

Tomorrow, the mighty procession would leave King's Landing and head north to Winterfell. This was originally a very happy thing, but Tygett Sharlott was frowning and sitting on pins and needles.

He had just received two letters.

The letters were sent from Casterly Rock in the Westerlands. The two letters were not written to him by Duke Tywin, but by Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain, to Lord Tywin. Lord Tywin had forwarded Ser Gregor's two letters to Tygett. Tywin didn't write a letter to Tygett, but Grand Maester Polliver added a sentence in the blank space of Gregor's letter: "Lord Tygett, Lord Tywin told me that he thinks you should control your sons."

This sentence stung Tygett more than losing Alvar Sharlott.

In Westeros, apart from the family heir, the other sons had no right to inherit or distribute any of the family's property. How much they could get depended on the mood and arrangements of the family head. All the family's wealth and territory belonged exclusively to the family heir; this was determined by the laws and traditions of the Seven Kingdoms. However, laws and traditions still couldn't prevent disputes over interests between brothers. Some brothers killed their elder brothers and became heirs themselves. Some elder brothers chose to kill their younger brothers to consolidate their position as heirs.

However, these extreme situations were rare.

Of Tygett's seven sons, only the eldest, Addam Sharlott, was very important to the family. The rest of the sons would have to make their own way in the future. This was why many sons of great nobles chose to become mercenaries, or even joined the Night's Watch on the Wall to avoid infighting over family interests. For example, Ser Waymar Royce, the youngest son of Yohn Royce of Runestone, a great lord of the Vale.

Who was Waymar Royce?

He was the arrogant officer in the opening trio of the first episode of "Game of Thrones." He insisted on investigating the Wildling killings against the advice of his two subordinates and was the first young ranger to be killed by the White Walkers.

In this world, the lives of sons who are not family heirs are not particularly important to the entire family in key events.

Tygett came to King's Landing, his youngest son Alvar and his men robbed the Mountain's daughter and took her to the mines to rape her, and then the Mountain angrily came to his door to make trouble. None of these things were important. What was important was that House Sharlott's actions had offended Duke Tywin's authority.

Gregor, that crude brute, knew to report the matter to Duke Tywin in two consecutive letters, but none of the six sons of House Sharlott reported the matter to Duke Tywin. They also didn't notify Lord Tygett, but directly planned a bloody resolution in private, which was a taboo for Duke Tywin.

Moreover, the Mountain was Tywin's dog, and House Sharlott's killing of the dog showed no respect to the master and didn't even bother to notify him, which was a very foolish decision.

Thank you to book friend Fei Tianhu for the reward and support, thank you!