Due to the existence of the shapeshifters, it has become very difficult for the valley army to annihilate the Alpine clan hiding in the Mingyue Mountains. This is not to say that it is absolutely impossible to completely annihilate the Alpine clan, but it is bound to cost a lot of money.

A lot of manpower and material resources.

Unless they can capture their shapeshifters, ordinary armies will have no way of finding the hiding places of the mountain clans in the Mingyue Mountains.

If it were a time of peace, these bandits would have to be completely eradicated even if the cost was high. But seeing the threat of war now imminent, he really was unwilling to waste a lot of resources on these barbarians.

This was obviously a waste of money. The gains from annihilating the Gaoshan clan were only a drop in the bucket compared to the time and resources they spent.

Unless Gao Yuan personally takes action and transforms into a rune dragon to burn the entire Mingyue Mountains... But Gao Yuan obviously won't do this, because the price paid by the valley will be too high.

Therefore, Gao Yuan had no choice but to shelve the matter for the time being. Anyway, sooner or later, they would take the initiative to leave the mountains one day. Winter was approaching, and the long night was coming. The high mountain clans who never raised livestock or farmed could not survive the long winter.

.

Faced with a shortage of food, they might be able to go out of the mountains and plunder the nearby valley residents. But if the dead come, the ancestors of the Alpine Clan will have no choice but to take the initiative and surrender to the Eagle's Nest City.

Apart from this, they have no other choice! The dead will not accept the surrender of the living. The White Walkers just want to convert them all into their own wights.

"Let's forget about the affairs of the Gaoshan clan for the time being!" Gao Yuan motioned to Sir Nestor to put away the map in front of him. "Our most important task now is to prepare for the upcoming war. I hope you will send it out."

All the troops have been called back to strengthen the Blood Gate’s defense against foreign enemies.”

"Except for the thousand valley soldiers brought by Ser Blackfish Brynden to the Riverlands, how many soldiers are currently stationed in the Blood Gate?"

"Reporting to your lord, there are probably about two thousand soldiers stationed at the Blood Gate now." Sir Nestor put the curled scroll in his hand on the table, "However, a considerable number of them were temporarily transferred from the houses of the lords.

knights and squires.”

"According to your previous instructions, sir, they have been performing the task of escorting the caravan. Originally, after Sir Brynden led the team back to the Blood Gate, they had to rotate tasks with another team, but now it seems

I’m afraid it’s not necessary anymore.”

"There is indeed no need for this. Unless the war between us and the Lannister family ends, no caravan will pass through the Blood Gate in the future." Gao Yuan ordered, "Sir Nestor, withdraw all that team into the Blood Gate."

Assist in defense inside the gate, whether the Blood Gate's defense is strong or not is related to the safety of the entire valley."

"Now that Ser Brynden Tully has led his army to the Riverlands for support, the position of Blood Gate Knight is now vacant. Sir Nestor, do you have any recommendations for other suitable candidates for Blood Gate Knight?"

"The second son of Countess Anya Waynwood of Iron Oak City, Ser Donal Waynwood has been serving in the Blood Gate since he became a knight. Although he looks ugly, he treats people very sincerely, except for Ser Brynden.

, Sir Donnel is the most beloved knight among the soldiers in the Blood Gate."

"The most important thing is that he is only twenty years old now, but he is already as calm as Ser Brynden, and he has a strong body and superb swordsmanship." Sir Nestor answered honestly, "Except for Ser Donal,

Besides, I really can’t think of anyone else who is more suitable to be the Knight of the Blood Gate than him.”

"I thought you would recommend Sir Alba to me!" Gao Yuan deliberately joked with him. Sir Alba Royce is the eldest son of Nestor Royce and the heir of the family. "It turns out that it is

Ser Donal, when Ser Barristan and I first arrived at the Blood Gate, it was he and Ser Brynden who went out to greet us!"

"Lord Gao Yuan, you are really good at joking. Your incompetent son cannot bear the important task of guarding the Blood Gate now. Alba has almost no experience in leading troops to fight."

"The flowers blooming in the greenhouse cannot withstand the wind and rain. As the future heir of the Royce family of the Gates of the Moon, how can he not even know how to command an army?" Gao Yuan smiled lightly, "Since Sir Alba has no leadership

He has plenty of experience as a soldier, so Sir Nestor, please let him go to the Blood Gate to gain some experience."

"Then it's settled!" Before Sir Nestor could object, Gao Yuan made a decision on the matter, "Let Sir Donal Waywood succeed Sir Brynden as the Knight of the Blood Gate, and Al

Ser Erba rushed to the Blood Gate immediately to serve as Ser Donnel's aide-de-camp."

"As you command...my lord!"

"Sir Nestor, the war preparation supplies that you ordered the craftsmen to work on overnight, now it's time to send them to the hands of the lords, so that they can arm their armies in advance." Gao Yuan put the map scroll back on the table.

On the bookshelf, "Tell them that the time has come for them to fulfill their oath!"

Sitting at the partition table again, Gao Yuan opened the thick ancient book on the table and took out a scroll and handed it to Sir Nestor.

Sir Nestor picked up the scroll in front of him and saw a cylindrical object outlined with countless lines: "Lord Gao Yuan, this is..."

"You just need to know that it is the key to us winning this war!" Gao Yuan said mysteriously, "You don't need to ask other questions."

"Let all the craftsmen who are rushing to make other war preparation materials stop and make this object for me first!"

Sir Nestor nodded unconsciously: "I understand, Lord Gao Yuan! I will ask those craftsmen to stop tomorrow, but I don't know how many such objects you need to make, Lord?"

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Of course, the more, the better!"

"Making this object requires a large amount of pig iron. I wonder if the iron ore resources in the canyon are still sufficient?"

"Reporting to your lord, there are many iron ores in the territory of Earl Belmore of Hongge City. Nowadays, there is an endless supply of iron ore transported here from there." Sir Steer replied, "At least as of now, we still have

There is no need to worry about the iron ore problem."

"That's great!" Gao Yuan nodded happily, "You have nothing to do here. Sir Nestor, you should go back and rest early!"

————————————————————————

After returning from King's Landing, Gao Yuan moved back to live in the Eagle's Nest City, which stands on the top of the Moon Mountains. Although Sir Nestor tried to persuade him to stay, this could not change Gao Yuan's decision.

According to what he said: After all, the Gate of the Moon Castle is now the castle of the Luoyins family. It is really outrageous for a vassal like him to live in the castle of a vassal.

Maybe some people really believe Gao Yuan's statement, but Caitlin doesn't think so. Because in recent days, Duke Gao Yuan has always been alone with the illegitimate daughter in the valley.

At first, Caitlin didn't care much about this. After all, Lord Gao Yuan has not yet married the lady from the noble family. It is normal for an outstanding man like him to attract some butterflies around him.

But whenever Caitlin saw Duke Goyuan playing and playing with the girl, she couldn't help but suddenly think of Ned's illegitimate son who was stationed at the Great Wall. This thought made her feel ashamed and angry.

Shidong is an exclusive surname for illegitimate children in the Arryn Valley, just like Snow in the north and Buddha flowers in Highgarden. According to the customs of Westeros, each of the seven kingdoms has a surname specially prepared for illegitimate children.

Caitlin had no ill feelings toward the girl, but when she saw the girl with Duke Gaoyuan, she couldn't help but feel a little inexplicable anger. What is this? An unmarried illegitimate daughter hanging out with the aloof Duke of the Eagle's Nest.

Together, are you planning to give birth to another illegitimate child?

Caitlin's residence is located on a small garden. The garden is in the shape of a circle and is surrounded by white towers. Blue forget-me-not flowers are planted on the soil and grass of the garden. According to the maid arranged by Duke Gaoyuan, originally

The original intention of the craftsmen was to cultivate the sacred trees.

However, because the Eyrie is built on solid rock on the top of a mountain, no matter how much fertile soil is brought from Arryn Vale, weirwoods cannot take root and grow here.

So successive Dukes replanted lawns and placed statues among the flowery bushes. The forget-me-nots in the gardens were planted by their sister Lasha.

Thinking of her sister Lysa Arryn, Caitlin couldn't help but feel secretly sad.

Not long ago, she went to Runestone City to participate in the trial of her sister by the princes of the valley. She once asked Duke Gao Yuan to attend the trial with her, but Duke Gao Yuan used the promise he had made to never harm Laisa's mother and son.

He refused her request on the grounds of oath.

There were many people who came to Runestone City to participate in the trial that day. At that time, almost all the nobles in the valley gathered in the hall. As the chief judge of the trial, Count Yohn Royce performed well during the trial.

Be very fair.

Lord Jon Royce told all the ins and outs of how his sister conspired with Littlefinger to murder Jon Arryn with poison to the lords of the canyon present.

Witnessing her sister being tried and found guilty, Caitlin's mind was almost blank at that time. She only felt that ten thousand bees were flying in her ears. If it were not for the timely support of Sir Rodrik who was traveling with her,

After catching her, Caitlin thought she might faint on the spot in the hall where the trial was held.

The princes at the scene had different opinions on how to punish Lysa Arryn, but in Caitlin's opinion, no matter what the opinion was, the opinions were the same. After all, her sister could not escape her fate, and most of the lords at the scene agreed.

Hang Lysa Tully, and some of them thought it would be too easy to hang her like this.

They wanted to put their poor sister to death, but they even thought that hanging was not cruel enough. Could it be that those ruthless princes had prepared more cruel punishments to deal with this fragile mother?

Caitlin did not see her sister's child at the trial meeting. Those princes loyal to the Arryn family did not want the young duke to see their mother who was judging him.

She hoped that the child could see the faces of those people when they judged his mother. Those usually kind-hearted lords were like evil wolves at that time, and every one of them wanted to tear his sister to pieces on the spot.

She heard that Lord Goyuan had brought back a little princess from Dragonstone for Robert Arryn. The little girl named Shireen Baratheon was his fiancée and also the Duke of Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon.

Baratheon's daughter.

Caitlin knew very well what Gao Yuan's purpose was. He wanted to marry the Vale to Dragonstone, so that he would no longer be afraid of the Lannister family. The North, the Vale, the Riverlands and Dragonstone

I am afraid that even the current King Robert Baratheon will not be able to seriously consider the voice issued by the island alliance.

Several families united to fight against the Lannister, which must have played into the hands of Lord Stannis. Dragonstone, where he was located, was already poor and weak. This man had made great contributions to the king during the Reaver War.

The younger brother of the king, now actually has no say at all in the Seven Kingdoms.

If this were not the case, how could Lord Stannis be willing to offer such generous terms? Sixty nearly brand-new warships, such a rich dowry would be enough to make anyone in the Seven Kingdoms salivate.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Caitlin had just finished dressing up, and the maid changed her into a cream-colored velvet coat. In order to take care of himself who had just lost his sister, Duke Gaoyuan thoughtfully ordered everyone in the castle to be taken care of.

Everything related to Lysa Tully was put away, and the person who bought her this coat was the illegitimate daughter who disgusted her.

Wearing a string of sapphires and moonstones around her milky white neck, Catelyn specially asked Lord Goyuan to leave it for her, because this necklace was the one Lysa Tully wore when she got married.

"Madam, can I come in now?"

Just when Caitlin was stunned, a rapid knock on the door came from outside, and Caitlin recognized the voice of Sir Rodrik.

"I have finished dressing up, Sir Rodrik, you can come in now." Caitlin arranged her clothes casually, and then asked the maid to open the door for Sir Rodrik.

The door just opened, and the knight with a big white beard walked in hurriedly. At this moment, he still had an envelope in his hand.

"Sir Rodrik, what is making you so panicked?" Caitlin Stark looked at the sweating Sir Rodrik in confusion. She glanced at the envelope in his hand, and suddenly felt uneasy in her heart.

"Lord Stark...Lord Stark has an accident in King's Landing..." Sir Rodrik came to her panting, he raised the letter in his hand and told her, "

This letter from King's Landing was sent to you by Duke Gao Yuan just now. He said that this matter must be dealt with by his wife.

You know."

"What does it say?" Lady Catelyn asked anxiously, "What happened to Ned in King's Landing?"

It's just that the old Sir Rodrik was out of breath at this moment, and he couldn't speak. Seeing that Sir Rodrik was speechless, the anxious Caitlin had to snatch it from his hand.

He passed the letter and read the contents eagerly.
Chapter completed!