The Mountain of Ice and Fire

"My lady, you are truly beautiful; I long to have you by my side tonight," Gregor said.

"...As you wish, my lord... it would be my honor to serve you..." Lady Ayren's cheeks flushed slightly, adding to her loveliness.

Gregor never considered himself a noble man; good people and noble people were worlds apart. On the contrary, he considered himself quite cunning, having taken on the Mountain's demonic attributes after transmigrating. He was no longer the engineering student he once was, but he wasn't purely the Mountain either.

"My lady, you only arrived today, and you were tortured in the Silver Hall by the Charlottes... I suggest you get a good night's sleep with Andy Charlotte tonight!"

Andy Charlotte—Lady Ayren's precious seven-year-old son.

Lady Ayren looked up, staring at Gregor's sincere expression in disbelief.

Gregor understood that in Lady Ayren's heart, in her previous perception, he was an inhuman beast, especially towards women.

Gregor was insatiable, raping many common women and defiling the reputations of some noble ladies. He was notorious.

No dog would abandon a bone it had in its mouth, especially a fragrant and meaty one. Lady Ayren was young and had decent looks, her most beautiful feature being her large eyes. Moreover, having the knight's lady was more fulfilling than Gregor raping the clumsy, rough-skinned peasant women of the Riverlands.

But Gregor 'elegantly' declined Lady Ayren's 'voluntary offering'.

Lady Ayren left Gregor's room and went to the maester's quarters on the second floor. When she held her seven-year-old son in her arms, she was still in a daze, unable to believe it was real.

That night, Lady Ayren found it hard to fall asleep.

Her son, comforted by his mother's presence, slept soundly and sweetly, but she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Gregor's 'understanding' and respectful attitude towards her was something she had never heard of.

This Lord Gregor was different from the crude, ruthless Mountain that was rumored. Having escaped one 'disaster', Lady Ayren felt strangely. Her intuition told her that this Gregor was not as bloody and terrifying as the rumors suggested. He wasn't as beastly towards women.

What surprised Lady Ayren even more was that Gregor was also very clever. He had come up with a wonderful way to filter mineral salt. From the construction of the cross, the filtration of mineral salt residue, to the removal of bitterness with high-temperature boiling water, Lady Ayren felt that Lord Gregor possessed the wisdom of a maester.

As she left Lord Gregor's room, Lady Ayren couldn't help but look back. She saw the desire in Gregor's eyes for her; he appreciated Lady Ayren's beauty and maturity, and he didn't mind the lady being his mistress, but he first considered Lady Ayren's abused body and severely traumatized feelings. For a woman who had arrived at Clegane's Keep in a prison wagon for less than a day, physical and mental trauma and fatigue were certain.

The trauma of losing her husband, the injustice of being forcibly slandered as guilty by Charlotte of the Silver Hall, the pain of losing her home and personal freedom—these were all painful brands on her soul.

But since coming out of the prison wagon until now, none of Lady Ayren's family members had been subjected to inhuman abuse, which was completely different from being forced to confess in the Silver Hall.

Compared to Ser Gregor's demeanor, the actions of Charlotte of the Silver Hall were more like a demon.

*

Night. Casterly Rock. Lannister Keep.

Lord Tywin, devoid of hair, had a small personal habit: he liked to comb his golden side whiskers over and over again in front of the mirror.

Knock knock knock!

The door was knocked.

"Enter!" Lord Tywin said.

The bedroom door was pushed open, and Maester Potter entered, holding a parchment letter in his hand.

"Read!"

"My lord, this letter is a bit special."

"Oh!"

The maester unfolded the top half of the letter on the desk, using a ruler to hold down the left and right corners of the top half of the letter paper.

This was a long letter, with pictures and text.

Lord Tywin's face was expressionless, his light green eyes, dotted with gold, were piercing. The first picture he saw was an earthenware jar filled with salt, with the note below being earthenware jar mineral salt; the second picture showed a person carrying a wooden bucket filled with salt, and he was using a wooden ladle to scoop the salt into a large pot filled with water, with flames burning in the stove hole...

The third picture was a strange cross with something resembling a bib hanging on it, and a large wooden barrel under the frame. The text below the picture noted a snow salt filter. The text explained in detail how to use and make the snow salt filter.

The last picture was putting the filtered salt water back into a large pot to re-simmer over low heat, until all the water in the pot evaporated, leaving only salt in the pot.

While Lord Tywin was reading the letter, Maester Potter was secretly watching the Duke's reaction. Lord Tywin's face showed no special reaction, but his eyes flickered.

"Maester Harry's painting is okay, but his handwriting is terrible."

"Yes, my lord."

"Tell Maester Harry to be careful not to be beaten to death by the Mountain."

"My lord, this letter was written to you by Ser Gregor through Maester Harry."

Lord Tywin stopped his movements, raised his head, his eyes strange.

"Gregor asked Maester Harry to write me a letter?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Is he still Gregor? He couldn't have thought of these things! We didn't even think of it."

"Yes, my lord. It looks very simple, but none of us thought of such a simple method. The simple process of snow salt production is actually full of wisdom."

Lord Tywin's gaze became sharp: "Maester, do you believe that this was created by Gregor? Has Gregor suddenly become so wise?"

"Seven Gods above, I don't believe it at all!"

"I don't believe it either!"

Maester Potter paused for a moment and said, "My lord, there is also a new invention on Gregor's letter."

"Oh!"

Maester Potter unfolded the lower half of the letter paper, which had a drawing of something that Lord Tywin had never seen before, which overall looked like the number 6.

"What is this?"

"Lord Gregor named it a military whistle."

"Military whistle?"

Lord Tywin heard this name for the first time, and saw this thing for the first time.

His gaze fell on the written instructions: Military whistle, two concave iron pieces combined, with a small iron bead in the middle of the belly, a flat mouth held in the mouth, inhaling and blowing, the airflow enters from the flat entrance, filling the belly of the military whistle, stimulating the small iron bead in the belly to roll, increasing airflow resistance. The airflow is forcefully ejected from the narrow holes in the whistle shell, and the iron whistle emits a sharp whining sound. With training, the iron whistle sound can be long or short, high or low, with amazing penetrating power, and the high-pitched sound stings the eardrums, which is beneficial for issuing orders in large-scale military battles.

Lord Tywin looked at the text and graphics back and forth many times.

"The two narrow holes are too thin, how can the iron bead be put into the iron whistle?"

"My lord, first put the iron bead into the whistle shell, and then close the two whistle shells together."

In this world, the level of iron craftsmanship is already very high. Many decorations are made of iron into various decorative forms, such as flowers, grass, figures, or beasts.

"Did Gregor also invent this military whistle?" Lord Tywin's eyes changed, and his voice also changed.

"Maester Harry's letter says so." Maester Potter himself couldn't believe his words, "Maester Harry also said that the soldiers of Clegane are already using military whistles to train, and it is very useful."

"Write a letter immediately, and tell Gregor to bring the military whistle and his soldiers back to Casterly Rock tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord!" Maester Potter respectfully, "My lord, Ser Gregor also invented something called chopsticks. Maester Harry said that he uses chopsticks instead of knives, forks, and spoons to eat."

Thank you to book friend Fragrant Pig Who Loves to Drink Yogurt for the reward, the first apprentice of this book, thank you!