The Mountain of Ice and Fire

"I want to live to eighty -- hey -- eighty --

Drink my fill of Qingting wine -- hey -- Qingting wine --"

A voice like a broken gong sang loudly in the night.

The singer was a dwarf, with a large head and small neck, short arms and legs, a perfect match for the pony he was riding.

A thin, knife-like black man beside him frowned, cursing from time to time, mocking the dwarf's singing as too awful. But the dwarf didn't care, lost in his own cracked duck voice.

Behind these two, followed a large group of messy people -- the mountain people of the valley -- also the original inhabitants of the valley. These people had all sorts of weapons: wooden sticks, wooden forks, stone axes with wooden handles, short knives with chipped edges, long swords without scabbards, firewood knives with curved tips like hooks, long-handled iron axes...

Their clothing was also a mess. Some had only the front part of a helmet on their heads, some only had breastplates, some had a piece of armor tied to their right arm, but not their left; many were barefoot, their feet covered in calluses; many had messy hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for years, and some had a special smell, a special smell different from sweat and feces. The dwarf gave this smell a name: mountain stench!

A group of refugee-like warriors, some tall and fierce-looking, some skinny and wretched, like rats sneaking out to find food at night...

The singing dwarf was calm and leisurely, completely unconcerned by the呜呜呜呜 horn sounds and sharp iron whistle sounds coming from outside the valley entrance.

The commander in charge of defending the valley was Earl Leo of Golden Tooth City.

Leo Lefford was fully dressed and mounted. He looked back and couldn't see the Clegane cavalry and infantry following him, which made him curse a motherfucker.

"Form ranks!" Earl Leo shouted.

To prevent the valley army from coming out of the valley entrance, the Westerlands army crossed the Green Fork as soon as they arrived at the Crossroads Inn, and built a section of earthen wall several meters high at the valley entrance, blocking the road out of the valley entrance, and arranged soldiers to patrol day and night, and also arranged soldiers to be stationed on the earthen wall.

When the valley army came out, that section of earthen wall could not be stopped, so behind the earthen wall, Leo Lefford led his army to be stationed here. Adjacent to Leo's army was the camp of the Mountain's Clegane army.

Sweetmouth Ralph Stonehouse sent Polliver to find the Mountain, who was roasting a fire outside the army camp, as soon as he heard the first horn. The Mountain's military order was to stand still, so after Leo's army assembled and formed ranks, the Clegane army camp next to them remained silent.

This made Earl Leo very angry, but now was not the time to argue with the Mountain. The enemy army had already turned around the mountain pass, holding up torches, and heading towards the valley entrance. A battle was about to break out.

Earl Leo blew his military whistle, issuing the order to prepare.

The cavalry drew their swords, the infantry held their spears, and the archers all drew their bows, waiting for the enemy to enter their attack range.

*

On the earthen wall, the lookout soldiers saw the enemy stop in front of them. Then, several people rode towards them on ponies, one of whom had a particularly loud voice, singing 'The Season of Love', a love song popular in the Westerlands that basically everyone could hum.

Tyrion Lannister was a smart man. As he approached the Westerlands army's defensive position, he was afraid of being accidentally injured in the dark, so he changed 'The Wish of Eighty Years' to the Westerlands' popular song: The Season of Love.

The broken gong-like loud voice was very recognizable. It was the unpleasant voice that only Little Imp Tyrion Lannister had. Tyrion had the spirit to dare to sing loudly in any occasion without fear of being ridiculed, which many people could not match. But for absolute insurance, at the edge of entering the firing range, Tyrion took the initiative to shout out his identity.

The Little Imp was a cautious person. This kind of life-related matter must be foolproof.

"Attention, attention, it's Ser Tyrion," the soldier shouted. "Don't shoot!"

The centurion on the earthen wall also heard the shout. He ran to the middle position to watch. Although he couldn't see the other party's appearance clearly, the voice was undoubtedly Tyrion Lannister.

"It's Ser Tyrion! Ser Tyrion is back!" The centurion ordered, "Archers, lower your bows." The centurion blew the iron whistle.

Swish!

The longbowmen on and behind the earthen wall lowered their bows together.

*

The Mountain and Anguy were still roasting the fire, the Green Fork's flowing water rustling through this field.

"My Lord, listening to their cheers, it really is the Little Imp who has returned. How did you know, My Lord?" Anguy's eyes were full of surprise.

The Mountain answered irrelevantly, "The Little Imp is actually a poor wretch, but he's a good man, just like you. He's very smart, his words are like knives, but his heart isn't bad. If you want a friend, the Little Imp is pretty good."

"I'm not a knight," Anguy said.

For a commoner centurion, making friends with someone of Little Imp's status was very unrealistic. They could never really interact with each other, their status was too different. At the very least, he would have to be a knight.

"He's a guy who despises nobles, and doesn't look down on anyone just because he's from the Lannister family. The song 'The Season of Love' that he sings was taught to him by his wife."

"His wife?"

"Yes, a wife he legally married, a farmer's daughter."

"A farmer's daughter?" Anguy exclaimed, "A knight, a member of the Lannister family, marrying a farmer's daughter?" This was very unprecedented.

"That's right, that's the Little Imp's innocence and kindness. Nobles and commoners, there's no difference in his eyes."

"Did he and the farmer's... have any children?"

"No. His wife was framed as a prostitute by Lord Tywin, who called a camp of soldiers to gang rape her, while forcing Tyrion to watch the whole process, and making him the last one to sleep with his wife. Each soldier was given a silver stag. Because Tyrion was a Lannister, Lord Tywin told him to give a gold coin. You need to pay to sleep with a prostitute."

Anguy was dumbfounded, looking at the Mountain as if he were made of clay.

"Lord Tywin's heart is black. Anyone is a tradable item in his eyes. Qualities like kindness, mercy, love, family, and sympathy are completely alien to him. Even today, Little Imp Tyrion is still kept in the dark. That's why I say, don't look at him acting so arrogant and domineering, he's actually always been a very pitiful person. Listening to him sing 'The Season of Love', he still has his wife's shadow in his heart. His heart is actually very kind, not demonic."

Anguy adjusted his sitting position. The Mountain's words to him were too 'civilized', making him a little uncomfortable. He was familiar with the foul-mouthed, loud-voiced Mountain who cursed people, the great sword, the steed, the invincible, the evil, the brutal and fierce, but the Mountain in front of the campfire was actually talking to him in a refined manner about the topic of 'kindness', which made him feel awkward inside and out.

"Lord Mountain, how do you know so clearly?"

"...I...know everything..." The Mountain looked at Anguy and said calmly.

Anguy was quite surprised: "...My Lord...are you...a Green Prophet?"

"I never said that." The Mountain neither denied nor admitted it. "I hope this war doesn't kill too many innocent people."

"Uh...yes...My Lord..."

The Mountain hoped that after tonight's conversation, he wouldn't have to worry about an arrow flying from behind and hitting his head on the battlefield. He wasn't entirely sure about Anguy's loyalty.

The Mountain looked at his army camp, turned back to look at Anguy, and it was worth taking some effort to completely subdue the heart of a marksman: "Anguy, my generals are all scum, is that what you think?"

"............"

"I know they're all scum," the Mountain said, staring at Anguy.

Anguy felt a great pressure: "Uh, My Lord, but they all listen to you."

"Yes, that's why I didn't kill them. Do you also think I'm scum in your heart?"

"............"

The Mountain said, "Okay, I admit that you're different from us. If we have to find a common ground, it's that we all like prostitutes."

The Mountain smiled.

Anguy relaxed all of a sudden and smiled too. The Mountain's stare made him nervous and fearful, but as soon as prostitutes were mentioned, the Mountain smiled, and he relaxed all of a sudden. The Mountain was joking with him!

"My Lord, I spent all my ten thousand gold dragons on prostitutes," Anguy said with a grin.

"Yes, ten thousand gold dragons that could hire a mercenary company, a huge sum that could make you rich for a lifetime. Tonight, for our common male hobby, I've found you a very different camp prostitute. The best one in the camp prostitutes."

Anguy was overjoyed: "Thank you, My Lord." He couldn't help turning his head to look at his tent.

"Don't worry, someone will send her to your tent in a while. I've already paid."

"Thank you, My Lord!" Anguy beamed. He was a hero who spent ten thousand gold dragons on prostitutes in a short period of time.

"This is a season of love." The Mountain spoke ambiguously, but he knew that Anguy wouldn't understand this last sentence.

Tonight, the leading camp prostitute will cause a series of stories. This prostitute has a name that changed the future history of Westeros: Shae!

*

Whenever major and minor wars broke out, many women with beautiful appearances but low status and humble identities would choose to become camp prostitutes. This was a quick way to make money and the easiest way to get rich. If you were lucky, you would meet a generous knight and have a great opportunity to make a fortune.

Shae was petite, only eighteen years old, with a sweet smile and a beautiful face. Her pair of deep eyes and a head of dark and beautiful black hair were especially charming. When she was sent into Anguy's tent by a camp prostitute officer, Anguy fell in love with her at first sight.