Chapter 20 The Problem of Smugglers

"Unlike Queen Visenya, Queen Rhaenys, another wife of Aegon the Conqueror, has a more lively temperament and prefers to fly on dragons."

…

In the quiet bachelor's room, the old bachelor's voice was calm and steady, while the three boys sitting next to each other at the small table listened intently.

"Queen Rhaenys loves art, music and poetry, and she also has a kind heart. She once proposed with her husband to abolish the custom of robbing women as salt concubines in the Iron Islands, and she also personally formulated the six laws that we still use today. In principle, she still——"

"What is the Six Down Principle?"

Fatty, who was lying on the small table, raised his hand to interrupt what the old man was saying.

The fat boy from the Ismond family hates studying very much, but because of his fight with Dondarrion yesterday, he was punished by having to come to listen to the old maester's history class on time for the next half month.

However, this fat man obviously would not sit here and listen carefully. Every time a topic worth asking came up in the bachelor's mouth, he would ask questions loudly, as if he really didn't understand.

Normal people will definitely become more and more annoyed. Pangdun's little calculations were going on in his mind, but unfortunately the old bachelor didn't take advantage of this. He even used the other party's questions to teach him indirectly.

"Renly, do you know the answer to this question?" The old man turned to look at the black-haired boy.

"The principle of six lashes is a legal provision. Queen Rhaenys stipulated that if a wife betrays her husband and commits adultery with others, she can only be whipped no more than six times, and the wooden stick used must not be thicker than her thumb."

Renly on the side answered, and without waiting for the other party to ask another question, he asked and answered his own question: "Why six blows, not seven or eight or nine? This is because of the seven gods we believe in..."

…

At this moment, Renly looked as serious as the thin Dondarrion next to him, and spoke slowly and slowly, but most of his mind was not on this issue, but on the incident yesterday.

Since he left the "historical copy", the dentures that originally existed have turned into a pile of powder. Renly regretted this because he still didn't understand what the dentures were.

It wasn't until yesterday's cremation that he seemed to get a clue.

Yet this is something that cannot really be determined.

Renly wasn't sure that the three false teeth were the Fool's lost teeth. He had no way of knowing why they were teeth and not something else, and he wasn't sure whether he would ever find something like that again.

If those teeth really belong to Rigoletto, then why are his teeth so special?

If not, what exactly is the origin of dentures?

What is the connection with the "golden finger" on oneself?

Many questions bothered Renly, making him unable to concentrate on the lecture. However, because Pang Dun was there to attract attention, the old man didn't notice anything unusual about him today. He didn't say a word to him specifically until the end of the class.

"It's almost your fifth nameday, Renly, so maybe we should think about a gift for you."

"Thank you, Master Cressen, but I think anything but kippers would be good."

The black-haired boy shrugged, then slid off the stool and walked out of the room.

The maester's chamber was close to the top of the tower, but the child's body concealed a vast energy.

He first went back to his room to get something, and then hurried downstairs. When he finally arrived at the first-floor lobby at the bottom of the tower, he was still breathing evenly.

Behind them, the shouts and running sounds of two other boys could be heard diagonally above the tunnel of the building. They thought Renly came down to go out to play, but when they arrived, what they saw was that Renly ran to a shelf table in the corner of the hall. He sat down in front of him, facing a strange brown-haired middle-aged man.

Fatty, who was hiding at the top of the stairs, looked at the man curiously, then turned to look at his companions behind him.

"I thought his name was Davos?"

"Onion Davos, pickled fish Davos." Little Bamboo Berry nodded like an adult: "He is a smuggler, but he brought food, so we have to be grateful to him."

"I don't like kippers."

Pang Dun wrinkled his nose subconsciously when he heard this, but then he muttered in confusion.

"What does Renly want from him?"

…

The smuggler Davos they called was also very curious about this issue, so when a servant informed him yesterday that Master Renly of Storm's End wanted to see him, he immediately agreed and came as promised.

But what the other person said made him confused.

"You mean, you have a way to get food, but you need my help?" Davos repeated hesitantly, looking at the little kid sitting opposite who was trying to straighten his back.

"Yes, Ser Davos." Renly nodded seriously.

At this time, he was wearing a white satin shirt with gold-trimmed cuffs and a sleeveless calfskin tight-fitting jacket. He was sitting opposite the smuggler. The gold-backed crowned stag embroidered on his chest looked extremely conspicuous.

"I am no knight, Lord Renly."

"Then I'm not an adult either." The boy said as he spread his palms and gestured to his little hands.

"You're destined to grow up, kid."

Davos was amused by his actions and felt much more relaxed. And what the other party said next made him a little bit dumbfounded.

"If you do this for me, I believe you are destined to be a knight, too."

The boy looked serious, but his childish appearance made it difficult for Davos to be serious, so he just smiled and asked, "Okay, kid, what do you want me to do? Go catch crows in the Godwood?"

Recently, someone in the castle did suggest trying to find food in the ancient woods. In fact, some servants and soldiers in the city have already gone to peel the bark to eat, and the wild birds there naturally became the target of these hungry eaters.

"I want you to take your fishing tools and your boat, leave Storm's End from the cave port, and then find a place where fish live, and sprinkle a handful of special powder into the sea water." Renly said: "You will know what to do next."

There is a gap space at the root of the towering rock where Storm's End is located. It is a private port built by the ancient storm kings. The smugglers arrived at the castle from there before.

But the sea water there is not deep, and it is full of rocks. Small boats cannot enter unless it is high tide. Renly does not expect there will be many fish there-otherwise, he would not need to find the person in front of him.

Unfortunately, although Davos listened carefully, he still thought that what was happening in front of him was just a farce, or a child's wild and irrelevant plan.

"I hope I can help you, but kid, this matter..." He seemed to be hesitating about how to say it so as not to discourage the child's enthusiasm, and finally he thought of a perfect excuse.

"Your second brother, Lord Stannis, will not allow me to leave Storm's End."

"Why not?" the boy asked.

"If I do this, I will become a deserter, and no one will believe that I am working for you."

The smuggler's answer makes sense.

But Renly did not give up his plan.

The main reason why he asked the smuggler to do this was that the other party was not from Storm's End, or not yet.

And if Renly asked someone else, there was no need to think about it, the news would be directly passed to Stannis's ears, and even known to everyone-

This represents some things that are difficult to predict, there may be good, but there will definitely be bad.

So he insisted: "As far as I know, you are not from Storm's End,"

"I am not from here, but I know the situation here. If I leave the city, your brother will consider whether I will go to his enemies and tell them the information here?"

"I believe our enemies have known the situation of Storm's End for a long time." Renly was not fooled by the other party's words.

"I also believe that many people outside know it. Otherwise, why would you transport food here?"

After saying that, he spoke again without waiting for the other party to answer: "You may say that the situation is different now. I have to say that it is worse now than before, but when those people outside hear that we are about to eat human flesh, do you think they will continue to wait happily, or rush to attack?"

"This-" Davos was a little surprised by the intelligence of the child in front of him, but he was interrupted by the other party before he said it.

"Besides, I don't think you will go to the enemy." The boy said, showing a smile that only he understood.

If a normal person said this, the smuggler might be moved, but the one in front of him was a child under five years old. Although the child looked very smart, his words sounded more like a child's simple and beautiful thoughts.

So Davos just coughed dryly.

"Even if Lord Stannis allowed me to leave the city, Redwyne's fleet would always be watching us outside the city. I don't think they would give me a chance to go fishing. Ahem, child, you asked me to go fishing, right?"

"I asked you to save yourself."

Renly changed the subject: "There are seven prisoners in the dungeon now, two of whom are suffering from grayscale disease. You may be able to guess the choice we face when the food runs out. So have you ever thought about what will happen when those prisoners are eaten? When they are eaten, what will we do next?"

Davos was stunned. Obviously, he had never thought that a child could say such cruel words, let alone the meaning of the boy's words.

"Who is most likely to be abandoned here? Is it the native people, or..."

Davos's throat rolled when he heard it.

"I believe Lord Stannis will not do that."

"If you think you know him better than I do, you can believe that." Renly shrugged and said indifferently: "I think he will defend the castle to the death. Do you know what this word means?"

Seeing the other party's face change, Renly supported the rough wooden table with one hand, leaned forward with his upper body, and lowered his voice.

"Think about the purpose of your coming to Storm's End, Davos. Risking the risk of being beheaded to break through the blockade of those fleets at sea and send a ship of food when we are in the most difficult time. What is the purpose? Is it to let us know how bad your meat tastes? Well, maybe Stannis won't do this, then what about you, will you be willing to wait like this? Your ship capsized, otherwise you might get a reward you deserve, but unfortunately, for now, your help is not important to us at all."

"I am a smuggler, and I have been taking risks all my life. Experience tells me that not every adventure can be rewarded." Davos answered instinctively, with a vigilant voice.

"Although this is the biggest risk I have taken, I will not be disappointed. That's right, I won't..."

He said it with certainty, but his tone had already exposed some of his true emotions, so Renly did not respond to the other party's words after hearing it, but picked up something on the stool and put it on the table.

It was a sealed iron box, which looked gray and inconspicuous in the dim light.

"Now, the chance to remedy is at your fingertips. Grab it, your adventure will be worth it. Believe me, this thing is particularly effective for fish."

"If you don't believe it." He said, and put a porcelain cup that he had always held in his other hand next to the iron can.

"I'll give you a small fish, try it yourself."

"I haven't..."

Looking at the two things pushed in front of him, the smuggler said in surprise: "And there are many problems with this-"

"Go back and think about it carefully, and then try it seriously. If you still don't want to, then return the things to me, you should be able to find out where I live." Renly slid down the bench while admonishing.

"This powder is very precious. Although I still have a lot, you'd better be careful when using it. Also, don't forget this fish. You know that it is not easy to get this fish for Storm's End now."

He left a last word.

"If you are willing to work hard, then these things are yours, no matter how you think of the source. The credit is also yours, remember to keep it secret."

The boy turned and left after saying that.

Davos' lips trembled at this, but until the short figure disappeared at the stairs, he didn't think about what he should say.

After being stunned for a while, he finally raised his hand to pick up the wooden wine cup on the table, raised his head and drank the brown beer inside, and then cursed in a low voice.

"Seven layers of hell, are the children of the nobles so precocious?"

Thanks to the book friend Yingyue for the 100 reward~