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#172 - Chapter 18 Thorn

Nina said to Rickon, "This is Lord's fief, White Thorn Manor, but we all call it Thorn City."

After nine years of development, the city's infrastructure is now quite complete, with some facilities reaching the level of the late nineteenth century.

The long city walls have encompassed the entire territory, including farmland, forests, rivers, hills, and mines. Except for the lords who have signed supply agreements with the surrounding areas, it is almost never open to the outside world. All production materials and goods are transported by the forces' own caravans. The shops, markets, restaurants, and taverns in the city are all for the residents of the city. Currently, Thorn City has a permanent population of nearly 70,000, all of whom are industrial workers or their families from the city's factories, farms, docks, and other industries. The personnel composition mainly comes from several sources: hired workers converted from slaves, original territory residents, high-quality populations from beyond the Great Wall and Essos who voluntarily joined, and finally, refugees recruited in Westeros.

In addition, there is a garrison of more than 18,000 troops, mainly heavy infantry and crossbowmen, with only 2,000 cavalry as mobile forces. These soldiers are also the main consumers in the city. The army's salary is quite generous. A soldier's monthly salary can support a family of five in Thorn City. Even the lowest-level clerks can maintain a decent life. High salaries and strict investigations have eliminated corruption in Liu Yuan's forces.

There are also more than 8,000 former Unsullied in the city, who voluntarily live ordinary lives in the city. Because the Unsullied receive harsh training from an early age, their peak state does not last long. With the intensity of Liu Yuan's army, the service life of the Unsullied in the front-line troops is about five years. However, most will transfer to the reserves after three years to train new soldiers. Except for some career officers, most people will choose to retire and live ordinary lives. Even some dirty and tiring work are unwilling to do, and some people will adopt orphans. You can't imagine that a middle-aged man sweeping the streets was once a fierce soldier who killed countless people on the battlefield.

Rickon quickly fell in love with this kind of life. He got up early in the morning to practice martial arts, ride horses, fish, and shoot arrows with his adoptive father. He spent every day very fulfilling. Liu Yuan would also let him watch when he handled government affairs and give appropriate guidance. Even in ordinary noble families, boys would be exposed to these courses at the age of six.

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Winterfell in the North, it was late at night, and Catelyn was still sitting in front of Bran's bed, personally weaving a blessing doll. She had been guarding him for a full month. During this time, she had hardly left the room. She did not ask about the affairs of Winterfell, and left them all to her son Robb to handle.

Maester Luwin was very worried about her condition and planned to divert her attention with a topic: "Madam, it has been a long time. After the king left, we have many accounts that need to be checked."

Catelyn said without raising her head: "I am not in the mood. Go and check with Poole!"

Maester Luwin: "I'm sorry, Madam, you may have forgotten that Steward Poole has already gone south with Lord Stark. It seems that we need a new castellan. You'd better arrange a candidate."

Catelyn said: "I don't have time. You can arrange it yourselves. Don't bother me with such trivial matters in the future."

"Alright, I will take care of these things tomorrow. Maester, give me the list tomorrow." The person who came was Robb. He walked to the bed and stroked Bran's hair: "Mother, you can't force yourself like this anymore. Teacher Galon and Maester Luwin have both said that Bran will not be asleep for too long. You should get some rest."

Catelyn said irritably: "What if they are wrong? It's too noisy! Can you stop those damn dogs from barking!"

Robb walked to the window with a drastic change in expression: "Not good, there's a fire. Mother, stay here and don't go anywhere. I'll go take a look." After speaking, he left in a hurry.

Catelyn came to the window and watched the direction of the fire. Suddenly, she felt a trace of unease. She turned around and saw a strange man. Wearing a hood, he stood in the room and said to her: "Madam, you shouldn't be here. I'm sorry, you saw this scene. I'm doing this for his own good. He is no different from a dead person now." Saying that, the man drew a dagger and went straight for Bran.

Catelyn hurriedly smashed the rattan basket in her hand over, and reached out to grab the dagger. The assassin was not polite, grabbed her hair and planned to cut Catelyn's throat.

Catelyn grabbed the dagger with her bare hands, and her hands were cut and bleeding. She was not a weak commoner girl, and the power brought by her bloodline was not small. The assassin could not do anything to her for a while. He kicked Catelyn away with force, and without caring about making up for the knife, he picked up the dagger and rushed towards Bran on the bed. At this moment, a black shadow appeared and knocked the assassin to the ground. It was Summer, and it had been hiding in the dark looking for an opportunity. It fiercely tore the assassin's throat, then lay down next to Bran to continue protecting him.

After this assassination, Catelyn suddenly ignited her fighting spirit. Combining the letter from Lysa, she firmly believed that all of this was the Lannister's doing, and now he was going to find evidence. Fearing that the raven's message would leak, Catelyn decided to go south to find Eddard herself. In order to avoid exposing the target, Ser Rodrik Cassel personally escorted her to King's Landing.

Arya, who was far away in King's Landing, was very unhappy. She could only stay in the Tower of the Hand and the attached courtyard. Even Nymeria could not be brought with her, and her only follower, Mycah, had gone to White Thorn Manor. That's right, she was grounded, and all of this was caused by that idiot prince.

For this, she cursed the useless prince a lot, and then had several conflicts with Sansa. The two sisters were still angry and did not speak to each other. Eddard felt that this could not go on, and he had to find something for Arya to do.

On this day, Jeyne was ordered to guide Arya to the middle courtyard. Usually at this time, it was when Arya practiced swordsmanship. At this time, she was wearing a neat hunting suit, with the sword Liu Yuan gave her at her waist. Arya named it 'Needle'.

At this time, a bald man was standing in the middle courtyard, with his back to her. The man was thin, about only 1.6 meters tall, and was holding two wooden swords for practice.

Just as Arya was wondering, the man suddenly threw a wooden sword at her. The throwing angle was very tricky. Just as the wooden sword was about to fall, Arya kicked the sword body, and then steadily caught it in mid-air.

The bald man actually applauded: "Very good, at a young age, you actually have good skills. Let me introduce myself, my name is Syrio Forel. From today onwards, I will be your dance teacher, and of course, I will also teach you some special skills."