The Forty-Third: Butterfly Wings

"Robb, although Imps are disdained by the Lannister family, they are ultimately of the same blood.

If you recruit him, isn't that like inviting a hungry lion into a sheep pen!"

Watching Tyrion and the others leave, Theon couldn't hold back any longer.

"Heh heh, didn't he refuse? Have someone spread the word about this."

"So, you weren't sincere in recruiting him. I understand now, I'll go do it."

I was sincere in recruiting him, and I hoped he would agree, but alas!

Looking at Theon, whose expression had relaxed considerably, Robb sighed inwardly.

Outside the great hall, Jory hurried forward and said to Tyrion, who was lost in thought, "Lord Eddard's son is no simple man! I can feel that his offer to you just now was genuine!

You've always been looked down upon. Now that someone values your talent, shouldn't you be happy?"

"Mmm, I can feel it too. He was sincere in recruiting me. That's precisely why I can't be happy!

I always feel like this isn't as simple as it seems. He seems to know me very well, and just now he confidently said that he would be the best choice for me in my darkest hour.

The North will surely prosper under his control, but whether that's good or bad for the other six kingdoms, I don't know!"

Tyrion, murmuring to himself, suddenly scratched his head, troubled by the lack of information, and said to Jory, "Ah, why are we thinking so much about this? Let these lords play their power games. Let's go play the adult games we enjoy.

Heh heh, I promised to treat you well at the Black Castle. Let's go! Lord Jory!"

Today in Winterfell, a dozen ravens carried letters to various places. The prostitutes in the red-light district received a large reward of silver stags, and the commoners in the Winterfell Market lived their lives as usual.

In King's Landing, Ser Rodrik slowly merged into the crowd on his warhorse, passing through the ancient, mottled, narrow, and crowded old city gate.

Entering the long-lost King's Landing, Ser Rodrik reined in his horse in the center of the street, looking at the bustling crowds, contemplating how to find Lord Eddard and report the situation in secret.

"Ser Rodrik, Lord Eddard sent me to inform you. Come with me to meet him!"

A soldier, wearing a golden-dyed robe made of thick wool underneath black armor, rode his warhorse to his side and whispered.

Hmm?

Looking at the soldier from the City Watch (commonly known as gold cloaks), Rodrik asked in disbelief, "The Hand of the King, Lord Eddard?"

After the soldier nodded in confirmation, he turned his horse and led the way. Rodrik thought for a moment and then urged his horse to follow.

Not far to the left of the old city gate, the two turned into the famous red-light district, Silk Street.

This street boasted all sorts of high-class and low-class brothels. At this moment, the sides of the street were lined with young prostitutes dressed in sheer silk, unashamedly displaying their alluring figures.

Ser Rodrik had seen all sorts of scenes over the years. He kept a blank expression and his eyes straight ahead, following the soldier leading the way.

Soon, the two arrived in front of a high-class brothel, a two-story stone building.

After entering through the main entrance openly, the soldier stopped at a door on the second floor.

Rodrik pushed the door open and found himself in a luxuriously decorated room with exotic flair, where Eddard was waiting with a handsome, refined middle-aged man.

"Lord Eddard, Lord Petyr, Lady Catelyn asked me to..."

Rodrik greeted them as soon as he saw them. He recognized the middle-aged man beside Eddard as the Master of Coin, Petyr Baelish.

"Catelyn requested Lord Petyr's help so we could meet here," Eddard said, glancing at Baelish beside him.

Rodrik, who had followed Eddard for a long time, knew that Lord Eddard disliked Petyr very much.

"Lady Cately didn't mention this when I left," Rodrik said, nodding with some confusion.

"Ravens are faster than people. I only received Catelyn's letter a few days ago. I couldn't refuse her request at all!" Baelish said with a smile, completely indifferent to Eddard's expression.

"Alright, what did Catelyn ask you to do?" Eddard asked directly, not wanting to spend any more time in the room with Baelish.

"Lord Eddard, someone attempted to assassinate Brandon with a dagger made of Valyrian steel.

Therefore, Lady Catelyn believes that Brandon's fall from the broken tower was not an accident."

Rodrik replied directly when asked.

"Assassinate Brandon? ... A dagger made of Valyrian steel is very rare, so it should be relatively easy to track," Eddard said softly, thinking about the dagger clue after hearing Rodrik's account.

"Eddard, there's no need to track it. Within the Seven Kingdoms, only I possess a Valyrian steel dagger."

"You?"

"Yes, but on Prince Joffrey's Name Day, I lost the dagger to Tyrion Lannister."

"Tyrion Lannister?"

Hearing the clue provided by Petyr beside him, Eddard thoughtfully murmured Tyrion's name.

"That's right, how is Winterfell? What is Robb's attitude on this matter?"

Ser Rodrik had left Winterfell before the war began. Upon hearing Eddard's question, he replied, "Winterfell is being managed very well by Robb. He told Lady Catelyn that this matter isn't as simple as it seems and we can't jump to conclusions easily."

"Very good, let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Continue investigating this matter. Ser Rodrik, thank you for your trouble. Please take this letter back to Winterfell and give it to Catelyn."

"As you command, Lord Eddard!"

After Eddard handed the letter in his embrace to Ser Rodrik, the two of them left his high-class academy under Petyr's smiling farewell.

As soon as the two figures disappeared around the street corner, Petyr's expression instantly turned grim. He bit his lip, contemplating how to deal with the upcoming events.

After thinking for a long time and deeming his plan perfectly feasible, Petyr nodded to himself and turned to go upstairs.

He wrote a secret letter to his lover, Lysa Arryn, who was far away in the Eyrie.

Tyrion and his three companions, who had stayed in Winterfell for two days, presented Robb with a design for special cavalry equipment before they were to depart directly for King's Landing.

Upon seeing the design, Robb inwardly nodded at Tyrion's inventive abilities.

To prevent any accidents from happening to Tyrion on his return journey to King's Landing, he offered to send a contingent of Winterfell cavalry to escort them.

However, perhaps because Tyrion didn't want to get too deeply involved with Robb, he decisively refused his kind offer.

Robb considered that Catelyn was still in Winterfell. He had also repeatedly emphasized to Ser Rodrik that they couldn't jump to conclusions easily without enough clues to identify the culprit.

Therefore, Tyrion should not encounter any accidents at the Crossroads Inn.

That noon, Tyrion and his three companions departed from Winterfell and headed back to King's Landing.

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