The formation of these clan tribes in the canyon originated from the period when the Andals invaded the valley. Those ancestors who were unwilling to submit to the rule and traditions of the Andals hid in the vast Mingyue Mountains and thrived in the mountains and forests, forming today's

A high mountain clan. Therefore, they still retain the oldest traditions of their ancestors. Their behavior is similar to that of the wild people north of the Great Wall. They are accustomed to a life of robbery and never accept control.

Although they are all ancestors who believe in the old gods, what is different from the ancestors of the northern border south of the Great Wall is that they have never accepted the influence of the seven gods' beliefs and etiquette and morals brought by the Andals. The influence of their clans and tribes

Traditions and customs are older, which means that in their concepts, there is almost no concept of law, private property and marriage, let alone respect for the dead.

They will rely on their own abilities to plunder and possess everything they want, and never pay attention to the eyes and taboos of outsiders. Therefore, the villagers, travelers and merchants who are robbed by them usually end up abandoned in the wilderness.

In the end, Sir Barristan failed to convince Gao Yuan to go with him to bury the dead Alpine clans. Perhaps he did not want to force others into trouble, or perhaps he felt that what Gao Yuan said was reasonable at the moment. After receiving Gao Yuan's clear rejection,

, Ser Barristan gave up persuading.

Just leaving a sentence: "The Gaoshan clan did many evil things here because they lacked spiritual faith; and now I choose to bury the dead because I have firm faith." After that, he walked out of the cave alone and went to bury the scattered people.

The high mountain clan in the mountains and forests.

"Sir Barristan..." Gao Yuan, who admired Sir Barristan deeply, kindly reminded him when he was about to walk out of the cave, "The smell of blood may attract many shadow lynxes, please be careful."

Sir Barristan's words did not touch Gao Yuan, but Sir Barristan's noble behavior was highly praised by him. Although he thought that he was not the kind of saint with a bodhisattva heart, this did not prevent Gao Yuan from treating him

I admire such a noble person.

There are mostly hard rocks under the ground in the canyon. Due to the lack of handy tools, the work of piling the tombs was very difficult. In order to bury those mountain clan warriors who "died heroically", Sir Barristan spent almost a whole night.

time.

By the time Sir Barristan returned to the cave where they lived, the dark sky had already lit up with fish belly white. Gao Yuan, who had just woken up from his sleep, stood at the entrance of the cave, looking at the colorful clouds slowly rising in the eastern sky.

It was very pleasant. After simply having breakfast and packing his luggage, Gao Yuan set off with Ser Barristan with a tired look on his face, completely regardless of whether the old Kingsguard beside him could bear it. He was almost too busy last night

All night long.

Looking at the fortification in front of them, which is located on the only road from the Mingyue Mountains to the Erin Valley, the faces of Gao Yuan and Gao Yuan, who had been traveling all day and night, showed exhaustion. The building, which is composed of a series of stacked walls, spans the cliffs at both ends of the canyon.

Up the mountain, the mountain road of the canyon gradually begins to shrink when you reach this point, barely allowing four people to pass side by side. Two watchtowers cling to the rock walls on the left and right, connected to each other by a weathered gray stone sealed arch bridge.

Silent faces stared coldly at this group of uninvited guests from the archery holes in the towers, battlements and stone bridges. Just when they were about to reach the Blood Gate pass, a Blood Gate knight came to greet them with a team of Blood Gate guards. The leader

The mount and armor of the Knight of the Blood Gate are both gray and black, but his cloak has the same red and blue pattern as the family crest of Riverrun. One tail is carefully polished with obsidian and has a black jade inlay with gold on the edge.

Arrow in his helmet.

"Who wants to pass through the Blood Gate?" the leader of the Blood Gate Knight stopped in front of the two uninvited guests and shouted.

Ser Barristan rode forward and informed the leader of the Bloodgate knight: "Appearing before you are Ser Barristan Selmy, captain of King Robert's Kingsguard, and the king's latest appointee.

Guardian of the Realm, Lord Gao Yuan, Duke of the Eagle's Nest City."

"Dear Sir Barristan, we have not received any news that the new Duke of the Eyrie, Warden of the East, and Warden of Arryn Valley will come to take over." The leader of the Blood Gate knight's voice was a little hoarse, "Anyway.

Well, isn’t the new Warden of the East appointed by the king Ser Jaime Lannister? Why is it now replaced by this Lord Gao Yuan?”

"His Majesty King Robert's appointment to Lord Gao Yuan was issued a few days ago. This time we came with the king's letter of appointment." Ser Barristan smiled bitterly, "Ser Jaime Lannister has now committed a crime.

Due to his fault, His Majesty King Robert has been stripped of his position in the Kingsguard and asked to return to Casterly Rock to inherit his father's title."

"You have brought us good news, Ser Barristan!" the leader of the Bloodgate Knight said, "You know, when everyone learned that King Robert appointed the Kingslayer as the Guardian of the East, everyone

People are furious and we feel insulted!"

"Ser Barristan, you should have sent a message before you came." The Knight of the Blood Gate said, "Whether we welcome the arrival of the new Guardian of the East or not, we should send someone to escort him. The safety of this canyon in front of the Blood Gate

And no longer like before, bandits from the Gaoshan clan often appear, not to mention that only you and that gentleman are here."

"Sir, you mean that the vassals of the valley do not welcome me, the new Guardian of the East, now?" Gao Yuan drove the shadow lynx on his crotch to come to Sir Barristan, "Knight of the Blood Gate

, I haven’t dared to ask you your name and family origin.”

"Lord Gao Yuan, I never said I don't welcome your arrival!" The leader of the Blood Gate Knight took off the helmet on his head. What appeared in front of Gao Yuan was a weather-beaten middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. His head was gray and white.

His hair was mixed with a little auburn hair, and his deep blue eyes were frowning, "We just don't welcome the arrival of the Kingslayer. Jaime Lannister betrayed his oath and killed his own monarch.

He has no place among the nobles and knights of the valley."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "I forgot to introduce myself to you, I am Ser Brynden Tully."

"Knights of the Tully family..." Gao Yuan looked at the black fish logo on the opponent's shoulder, "I remember that your family's crest is a silver trout leaping on the red and blue striped flag, and the family motto is '

Family, responsibility, honor'. Why is the family logo on your armor a black trout?"

Ser Brynden smiled bitterly: "Back then, my brother Lord Hoster wanted to marry me, but I refused. He accused me of violating the family's motto - family, so I left Riverrun in anger and followed

My niece Lysa and her new husband Lord Jon came to the valley, and it was Lord Jon who appointed me as the Knight of the Blood Gate."

"I know your other niece. Lady Catelyn and her husband Lord Eddard Stark are both my friends!" Gao Yuan said, "I was a guest in Winterfell a month ago. Before I set off

Before rushing to the valley, she and Lord Stark asked me to take good care of her sister Lady Lysa and her children."

"Sir Brynden, what's going on when you mentioned earlier that 'the canyon in front of the Blood Gate is no longer safer than before'?" Gao Yuan asked curiously. Gao Yuan always thought that the canyon had always been so unsafe.

"Hey... this has to start after Lord Jon died. Since then, these mountain clans have become more and more bold." Sir Brynden explained to Gao Yuan, "Lord Jon serves as the emperor in King's Landing.

During this period of time as Prime Minister, all affairs in his fiefdom were managed by Viscount Nestor Royce."

"For fourteen years, Viscount Nestor Royce has managed the Vale of Arryn in an orderly manner as the Steward, but after Lord Jon's death, my niece returned to the Vale of Arryn with Lord Jon's children.

"Sir Brynden said with some hatred, "She took over control of the Arryn Valley from Viscount Royce. She did not allow us knights of the valley to lead soldiers to destroy those who were hiding in the mountains.

The clans and tribes said that they want to keep all their troops here to protect the Erin Valley..."

"But no one knows who she is guarding against. Everyone thinks that she is just trying to catch the wind." Sir Brynden was a little helpless, "Unable to lead troops to teach and annihilate those mountain clans, this also led to their deterioration.

The place has become rampant."

"I don't have any complaints against my niece, nor do I mean to offend her. But now there are fewer and fewer caravans passing through the Blood Gate, all because this journey is becoming more and more unsafe.

, but we can only watch all this happen." Sir Brynden looked at Gao Yuan expectantly, he hoped that these situations would change after the new Guardian of the East took office.

Gao Yuan secretly took Sir Brynden's words to heart. In order to stabilize his rule in the valley and make his name as Guardian of the East and Duke of the Eagle's Nest City popular, he must prioritize conquering or annihilating the Alpine clan. If he can,

If he could completely solve the problem of the Gaoshan clan for the people in the valley, then he would be able to win the support of the majority of the people in the valley.

"Ser Brynden, you are right. You allowed the bandits of the Mountain Clan to wreak havoc in your own territory. Lady Lysa's actions indeed failed the responsibilities of a lord."

"Before I left, King Robert also found me and expressed to me some concerns about Lady Lysa's performance in King's Landing and the Eyrie. No matter what Lady Lysa was guarding against, His Majesty King Robert

I was sent here to solve all this." Gao Yuan, who knew the inside story, certainly knew what Lysa Tully was afraid of. It was not the rumors among the people in the valley, but the two brothers and sisters of the Lannister family, and even

It's the entire Lannister family.

"Can we enter the canyon?" Ser Barristan's voice suddenly sounded from beside Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan looked up and saw that just when he and Sir Brynden were learning about the situation in the valley, they had unknowingly arrived at the gate of the Blood Gate.

Sir Brynden, who had also just reacted, waved his hands towards the watchtowers on both sides: "In the name of Robert Arryn, Duke of the Eyrie, Guardian of the Arryn Valley, and current Guardian of the East, I allow you to pass.

, and asks you to maintain peace in his name.”

As Sir Brynden's voice fell, the two weathered sealed arch stone doors slowly opened to Gao Yuan and the others. Under the leadership of Sir Brynden, they slowly passed through this blood gate that had never been breached. It has its own history.

Since the Era of Heroes, countless knights and soldiers have been buried here, but it has never been shaken, hence the name Blood Gate.

Riding a huge shadow lynx under his feet and crossing the blood gate, his eyes suddenly opened up. The green mountains and ridges suddenly spread out in front of him like a watercolor painting. The vast turquoise plains, the blue sky as blue as the sea and the snow-capped peaks.

The top suddenly came into view.

The beautiful scenery shown to Gao Yuan in the Arryn Valley at this moment almost made him breathless. Compared with the mythical natural scenery of Middle-earth, the pastoral scenery shown in the Arryn Valley was no less impressive, making Gao Yuan feel like he had fallen into a fairy tale.

like feeling.

At this moment, the Arryn Valley was bathed in the morning light, and the canyon stretched in front of them until it reached the misty Eastern Strait. The broad and gentle river flowing down the river, and the bright sunshine, were as bright as a mirror, and there were countless

Hundreds of lakes, big and small.

This is a quiet and peaceful paradise; it is protected on three sides by branches extending from the Mingyue Mountains; in the middle of the canyon is fertile black land. It is already the harvest season, and the yellow fields are continuous, with barley, wheat and

Corn fruits are abundant.

They walked down a thoroughfare at the west end of the canyon. After passing the last huge mountain pass, the road under their feet began to become winding and narrow. It took them half a day to cross the canyon until they entered a

In a larger canyon.

"What is the current situation in the Arryn Valley?" Gao Yuan, who was bored halfway, began to ask Brynden about the current situation in the valley. "What do people think of His Majesty Robert's newly appointed Warden of the East?"

"Lord Goyuan, please believe me! No one here will want to see Jaime Lannister, the regicide, ruling the Vale." Brandon Tully said indignantly, "Lord Jon has always been deeply affected by the Vale.

People’s love, not long ago the news came that King Robert appointed the Regicide as the Guardian of the East, many people have threatened to work together to drive him out of the canyon.”

"People say that Lord Jon raised and assisted King Robert to ascend the throne, but now this ungrateful king wants to deprive the Arryn family of the position of Guardian of the East that they have inherited for three hundred years. It is inevitable that everyone will feel something.

Complain. Lysa ordered us to call his son the real Warden of the East, but this cannot change the fact that the new Warden of the East is about to take office."

Gao Yuan nodded when he heard this. The reaction of the nobles and knights of the valley was not beyond his expectation. After all, the nobles and knights of the valley are known as the most honorable warriors in the Seven Kingdoms. You can almost always trust their loyalty: "

My time as Warden of the East and Lord of the Eyrie will not be long, either by King Robert's letter of appointment or by my own will."

"In fact, this is what I proposed to King Robert on my own initiative. When Robert Arryn comes of age, I will take the initiative to step down from this position."

Gao Yuan tried to ask Brynden to convey the news to others. After all, Sir Brynden had been rooted in the valley for many years. He had many knights and noble friends here. Through him, he conveyed the news that he would not always occupy the position of the Arryn family.
Chapter completed!