Greed, fear of death, holding grudges, seeking revenge, and frequenting prostitutes—Scholar Lucius possessed the basic qualities of a bad person.
Bachelors possess all the scientific knowledge in the world.
The nine pieces of Scholar Lucius's necklace represent knowledge from nine realms.
Pharmaceutical knowledge can save lives, but it can also kill!
Bachelor's degree in pharmacy!
The hound looked at the scholar's forehead covered in blood, then slowly put away the rope, hook, knife, and candle: "Get up, scholar. You are one of His Majesty's accompanying scholars. If I kill you, I will be breaking the law, a capital offense!"
Scholar Lucius knelt before the hound, his heart filled with the desire to survive, yet his eyes dared not show it, filled only with pleading and fear.
"I won't kill you, I swore an oath, what I said just now was just a joke," the hound said again.
Scholar Lucius kowtowed again. He could no longer believe the hound's words. The hound had told him it would blind him, but instead it had stuck an iron hook into his mouth, and his tongue was almost gone.
The Hound swore an oath in the name of his family honor and the Seven Gods, but he said that Clegane's family honor was nothing but a rag and that he had never believed in God.
Now that the Hound says he won't kill him, Scholar Lucius isn't unwilling to believe it, he's afraid to believe it.
Which of the hound's statements is true?!
The hound packed up its things and went out. Its footsteps faded into the distance, and Lu Xiu didn't dare to stand up.
It was already daylight, and the morning light shone through the window.
Scholar Lucius was certain that the hound had gone far away and would not return. He finally slowly got up, only to find that his knees were numb and he could not stand.
You've been kneeling for too long!
He was genuinely afraid of death; he had absolutely no courage to face it.
After Scholar Lucius finished dressing, the numbness in his knees disappeared, and the pain returned.
The ground was hard, and he had been kneeling for too long. He had never knelt like this before.
Amy, who partied all night, hasn't come in, and I can't hear her voice.
They must have been bribed by the hunting dogs.
Scholar Lucius stepped out of his room and onto the sun-drenched street. At the entrance, two expressionless men in golden robes stood on either side. They held ropes and bound Scholar Lucius without explanation.
Scholar Lucius did not defend himself, and the hounds ultimately did not let him go.
"Sir, you have violated the rules of the sir and will be subject to a public trial by the Minister of Justice, Duke Renly. From this moment forward, you are disqualified from being a sir and will never be able to become one again," a man in a golden robe announced loudly, before tearing the sir's necklace from his neck.
Nine metal plates, each symbolizing expertise in a different field, lay scattered on the ground, making a soft tinkling sound. The black iron plate, symbolizing mastery of ravens, and the silver plate, representing mastery of medicine, rolled far down the long cobblestone street.
Scholar Lucius was ashen-faced!
His undergraduate studies thus came to an end.
Having lost his bachelor's necklace, he was ineligible to teach or work in fields such as medicine, mathematics, history, poetry, animal husbandry, training ravens, and letter writing, no matter where he went.
What awaits him is an official letter from the Citadel stripping him of his maester title and a statement from the Citadel severing ties with him. Finally, he will be thrown into the dungeons of the Red Keep in King's Landing.
A scholar going to a brothel—a grave sin!
If no one takes it seriously, then there's no problem; after all, the king is very tolerant of such things. But if someone reports it and takes it seriously, or if they've paid money or have connections to pursue it, then once the Golden Robe is mobilized and caught red-handed, that's a serious crime.
Maesters are scholars, healers, and scientists who study, train, and ultimately pass the examinations at the Citadel of Oldtown to obtain the metal necklace. They are experts in various fields of knowledge and learned advisors to the nobles. Like their brothers in the Night's Watch at the Wall, maesters are considered servants of Westeros.
All maesters and Night's Watchmen are required to be absolutely neutral, not allowed to have any political bias, and are not permitted to participate in any political struggles within the royal power structure.
If a former master's status changes due to political or military struggles, or if the former master is killed, the maester must pledge allegiance to the new master. Like the Night's Watch at the Wall, maesters are required to be absolutely celibate, not to marry, not to have children, and not to have any sexual relations with women. This is a very strict maester's code, and violators will be imprisoned and stripped of their maester status and necklace!
In reality, most maesters, like most Night's Watchmen, are driven by their physical needs and are more inclined to follow their desires and risk breaking the law to find satisfaction than to adhere to the code of conduct!
While Maester Lucius was being arrested by the Gold Robes, the Hound was kneeling before the King's bedroom door, begging His Majesty and Queen to grant him permission to go to Riverrun to assist Lord Inspector Ilyn Payne and Ser Thoros the Red-Robed Monk in investigating the Mountain's crimes and to help Ser Thoros bring the Mountain back to face a just trial.
His Majesty the King granted the hound's request.
So, as the brilliant morning sun bathed the town in its light, the Hound mounted his horse, donned a new cloak and armor, and galloped off along the river road toward Riverrun.
*
Rushing City.
Young Lord Edmure and the Mountain stood on the high city wall.
The walls of Flowing River were very high; the catapults and archers on the walls could attack enemies on the opposite bank of the river, but the enemies on the opposite bank could not attack the archers and catapults. Counterattacking enemies could only attack the upper part of the massive rock walls, or cross the river to the gate and breach it. However, the gate was right next to the water, with limited steps, no place to set up a battering ram, and no path or space for soldiers to stand; the surging river flowed right in front of the gate.
When the enemy crosses the river, the boats will become targets for archers and catapults.
Streamlined City is impregnable and is now in the hands of the Mountain.
On the opposite bank of the river, surrounded by water on three sides, the nobles of the Riverlands had all brought their troops to rescue Lord Horst. They were encamped on the other side of the river, but none of them dared to attack Riverrun, and not a single boat was seen crossing the river.
Young Lord Edmure, Duke Horst, and many of the city's nobles have all fallen into the hands of the Mountain. The Mountain's infamy is unparalleled in the Seven Kingdoms; before knowing his limits, none of the Riverlands nobles dared to launch a rescue attack.
Even with a strong attack, it would be difficult to break through the city gate in a short time.
After the Mountain ordered his men to behead Sir Arnold, the garrison instructor of Riverrun, Edmure finally learned a bit about the Mountain's rules. Following the Mountain's instructions, he withdrew all the already small garrison and the Duke's guards from the city, untied the ferryboats from the sluice gate's iron railings, and all the soldiers crossed the river to the other side.
As a result, Riverrun fell completely into the hands of the Mountain, and he and Duke Horst became the Mountain's hostages.
The Mountain looked at the Riverlands army on the opposite bank. He saw the banner of the Mellist family of Seafront: a silver eagle with outstretched wings on an indigo background; he saw Lord Tytus Blackwood, the lord of Raventree City, who was very tall and thin, like a bamboo pole, with a banner behind him of a flock of ravens surrounding a dead fish beam on a black shield on a bright red background; he saw the banner of the Brecken family, the sworn enemy of the Blackwood family: a scarlet warhorse on a golden shield against a brown background.
Of course, there's also the Darryl family of Darryl City, a very ancient and prosperous family with a glorious history, who will likely be wiped out by the Mountain himself in next year's War of the Five Kings; in addition, there's the Smallwood family of Acorn Hall, the Goobker family, and the extremely wealthy Didings family...
As Mo Shan had expected, none of the Frey family from Luanhe City or their many vassals arrived.
During Robert's War of the Usurper, the Freys, whom the Duke of Horst called "the belated Freys," maintained their fine tradition of watching the show before sending troops.
This incident caused quite a stir. The nobles and knights of the Riverlands were furious, and a large number of them came, which was exactly what the Mountain had hoped for.
He not only wanted to establish his authority, but also wanted to show these Riverlands nobles what it meant to be reasonable!
The Demon Mountain is unreasonable all over the world, but this time he is in the right!
Lord Tywin's reply made it very clear that he fully supported the Mountain's extortion of the Tully family, and that even if His Majesty the King came, there was no need to fear, because the Mountain was in the right.
Edmure was in the wrong this time and put himself in his own self-defense, for which The Mountain is very grateful!
"Sir Edmure, thank you for gathering so many vassals. I don't want to escalate this. Here's what we'll do: quickly order your vassals to bring out a thousand warhorses and hand them over to the Clegane cavalry on the west bank of the Red Fork. Then we can end this farce!"
"Mountain, do you stand by your word?"
"count."
"Swear it!"
How do you swear an oath?
"I swear by the honor of your Clegane family and in the name of the Seven Gods."
I will not swear an oath to you.
"Why?"
You're not worthy!
The Mountain waved his hand, and two bandits came over, pinned Edmure to the ground, tied him up with rope, and bound him like a dumpling. Bernie then took off his pants and underwear on the city wall, and in full view of everyone, he stuffed the underwear into Edmure's mouth.
The nobles on the opposite bank of the river were filled with rage, and a torrent of foul language erupted, drowning out the river's joyful song.
The Mountain lifted Edmure up with one hand and gently raised him above his head, saying, "Sir Edmure, if you agree, pull the rope. There's a bell on the rope; I can see it."
Edmure glared at the Mountain, furious but unable to speak.
The Mountain gripped Edmure tightly with both hands, and with a whoosh, he threw Edmure off the city wall.
The people in the city and the knights and soldiers on the other side of the river erupted in uproar! Many were so shocked they could hardly breathe!
boom!
Edmure, dragging a huge rope, crashed into the Red Fork River like a boulder, sending up a high column of water!
The rooftop balcony of the main castle was a massive triangle, like the prow of a giant ship. It was the highest point in the city, and even though it was inside the inner city, one could still see people on the city walls. The triangular structure made the city walls appear not far from the Duke's balcony. Duke Horst, habitually basking in the morning light on his balcony, saw this scene from afar, his breath caught in his throat, and he instantly choked, his eyes rolling back in his head.
Scholar Weyman immediately rushed to the Duke's aid.
The Duke slowly awoke and said in a low voice, "Scholar, pass on my orders: whatever the Demon Mountain wants—horses, money, food, women, weapons, and armor—give it all to him!"