The longship that Bert arranged for Linde was the largest, and from the captain to the sailors, they were all veterans who had traveled this Mander River route back and forth many times. Although they couldn't say they knew every location on this waterway like the back of their hand, they did know the safest way to go.
Originally, Bert didn't plan to load any cargo on this ship, only using it to send Linde and his companions. However, Linde refused, as he believed that a round trip on this ship could earn dozens of silver stags, and it shouldn't be wasted like that.
So, Bert simply stuffed all the furs piled up in the warehouse into the cargo hold, and Linde and his companions even had to sit on the goods, which made Linde feel a bit exasperated.
Traveling by boat was not a big problem for Linde and Jon, but for Glory, it was suffering. She actually got seasick. From the moment she boarded the ship, she lay on the cargo, looking listless and motionless, only sticking out her tongue to lick Linde's palm when Linde stroked her head.
However, the Dragon Runes attached to the Lost Knight's Greatsword seemed to help Glory alleviate some of her discomfort, so Linde took down both Lost Knight's Greatswords and let Glory hold them in her arms, and only then did she become a little more energetic.
Although Glory was extremely uncomfortable and could only lie down, completely unable to show her true demeanor, for the others on the ship who had only heard legends about Glory, such a huge Shadow Lynx was already enough to make them feel fear and awe.
Traveling by boat overnight was originally a taboo, so to avoid any accidents, the ship's speed was only half of what it was during the day. It wasn't until dawn, when the fog on the river completely dissipated, that the captain ordered the sailors to sail at full speed.
By noon, they had already arrived at Bitterbridge, which was about half a day faster than usual.
As the ship passed under the stone arch bridge built over the Mander River, Linde looked at the Bitterbridge Castles at both ends of the stone bridge, and a sigh of emotion arose in his heart.
A few months ago, when he walked across this Bitterbridge, he was just a knight's squire. But now, as he passed Bitterbridge again, he was already a knight commanding a significant force, and moreover, a knight enfeoffed by the king, which held extraordinary significance.
At this moment, he recalled the blacksmith's son who had caused him some trouble, so he asked Jon about that person's situation.
Jon, after all, was also implicated and almost died under the Bitterbridge Baron's irrational retaliation, so he naturally cared deeply about the culprit who caused all this, and therefore had people inquire about that person's news.
Jon thought for a moment and replied, "Someone saw him appear at the Torr City dock in Dorne, boarding a cargo ship bound for the Narrow Sea. He must have escaped to the Narrow Sea."
Linde showed no emotion after hearing this, merely nodding.
The ship did not stop at Bitterbridge but continued to sail forward. However, the section of the Mander River from Bitterbridge to Longtable Hall is the calmest of all sections of the Mander River, so calm that the ship needs to unfurl its sails, rely on wind power, and have some people row to maintain a normal sailing speed.
It is also precisely because this section of the river is very calm, with a large amount of silt washed down from upstream accumulating on this plain. In addition, the Blueburn River, a tributary of the Mander River on the other side, also brings a large amount of silt from upstream, which makes the land of this delta plain extremely fertile. Any seeds planted there can grow and mature on their own without careful cultivation, and they yield several harvests a year.
Unfortunately, this area is located on one side of the Rose Road, close to the Kingswood, with large areas of mountains and forests where people can hide. A little further to the southeast is the border of Dorne, The Reach, and the Stormlands. Therefore, the bandits entrenched in this area are no less numerous than those around Tengshi Town; in fact, there are many more, because many Dornish people like to disguise themselves as bandits, come here to plunder, and then flee back to Dorne.
Consequently, although this land is extremely fertile, no one is willing to risk their lives to cultivate it.
However, as the Duke of Highgarden began to focus on clearing out the bandit groups entrenched on both sides of the Rose Road, this fertile land will soon become an important food production area for House Tyrell.
On the river, Linde could occasionally see teams of cavalry galloping along the riverside road, and also teams of ragged farmers walking forward with their families, making it clear the Duke of Highgarden's determination to govern this land.
Because they were moving very slowly, the ship didn't reach the junction of the Blueburn River and the Mander River, the territory of House Merryweather of Longtable Hall, until late at night.
After a day and a night of sailing, the sailors were all exhausted, so the captain could only have the ship dock at the Longtable Hall pier for one night before continuing the voyage.
The Longtable Hall pier is located in a natural river bend on the east side of the castle. Judging from the newness and oldness of the various facilities on the pier, it is not difficult to find that this pier should be newly built. However, due to funding and manpower issues, the pier facilities are not yet complete, but a tax official has already been arranged.
When Linde's ship docked at the pier, the tax official walked over, asking to collect a transit fee.
Because it was dark at night, and Glory changed her fur back to black, completely hiding herself, she was not seen by the tax official.
After the captain handed the tax exemption certificate with Linde's seal to the tax official, the tax official's face turned ugly, and he walked away grumbling.
From the tax official's attitude, it's not hard to see that the lords along the Mander River are very dissatisfied with Linde's tax exemption privilege.
Lord Owen Merryweather of Longtable Hall could be said to be one of the few staunch royalists in The Reach. During the Mad King's reign, he was stripped of his territory and title and expelled from Westeros for his unsuccessful campaign against the then usurper Robert.
However, there is also a rumor that Lord Owen, as Hand of the King at the time, had already seen that the Targaryen Dynasty was destined to fall, so he deliberately held back during the campaign against Robert, giving Robert enough time to grow stronger.
Now it seems that this rumor might not be false, because after Robert ascended the throne, Hand of the King Jon Arryn immediately sent people to Essos to bring back Lord Owen and his family, and his previously revoked territory and title were restored to him.
Consequently, Lord Owen is extremely loyal to King Robert. Nominally, he is a vassal of Highgarden, but in reality, he takes direct orders from the Iron Throne, seemingly an important nail driven by the Iron Throne into The Reach.
It is precisely because of this that Lord Owen is very displeased with various orders from Highgarden, which naturally includes the tax exemption in The Reach granted to Linde by Duke Tyrell. He believes that this is Duke Tyrell deliberately seizing the wealth of his vassals, and his view, more or less, has also influenced the thinking of the lower-level officials in Longtable Hall.
However, for Linde, this was not an important matter. As long as the other party did not deliberately cause him trouble, then he had no need to conflict with them.
After a night of rest, Linde's ship set off in the early morning before the sun had even risen.
After passing Longtable Hall, the Mander River enters its middle reaches. Although this section of the waterway is fast, the river is not very deep, with many shoals and hidden reefs. Fortunately, the current here is not too turbulent, so even if shoals and hidden reefs are discovered, there is still enough time to avoid them.
When the ship entered a dangerous area, the captain had a sailor with good eyesight climb onto the railing to observe the movements on the river in the distance and direct the ship to avoid danger.
As the Mander River entered its middle reaches, the number of ships on the river also increased. These ships were all flexible, shuttle-shaped small boats. Although they did not carry much cargo, they were flexible enough to navigate through even the densest hidden reefs and shoals in the water.
However, with the opening of the Mander River waterway, the longships from Tengshi Town have, to some extent, taken away some of the business from these small boats, making them very resentful of the longships.
It's just that, because longships are generally equipped with guards armed with bows and crossbows, they dare not do anything to the longships, only spitting at them as they pass by.
Because this section of the river was very complex and could not be navigated at night, Linde's ship docked at a simple pier in a small fishing village called Fresh Fruit Village before dark.
This small fishing village was located in a natural river bend, very suitable for docking ships. Besides Linde's ship, there were more than twenty other ships docked here, thirteen of which were longships from Tengshi Town.
This small fishing village belongs to the territory of Fruitwine Hall. Perhaps because it has been on the edge of the territory for many years, Fruitwine Hall seems not to have realized the value of this small fishing village yet. Otherwise, this small pier should have been expanded three or four times by now.
Because so many ships were docked here, and each longship had guards, people felt very safe and relaxed their vigilance.
In the early morning of the next day, when the river fog dissipated, several people on several ships shouted that their cargo had been stolen. Fortunately, not much was stolen.
Compared to others who never knew who stole the cargo from those ships, Linde, through Glory's eyes last night, saw how these people climbed onto the ships from the water, stole the cargo, and then fled back to that small fishing village.
The stolen ships were all from Green Valley City upstream of the Blueburn River, transporting goods from the Stormlands. Although there is no competitive relationship yet, it will eventually cause some obstruction to Tengshi Town's freight, so Linde was happy to see them suffer losses.
The section of the river after this small fishing boat was slightly easier to navigate. There were not as many shoals and hidden reefs in the channel, and the longship's speed increased significantly. They arrived at Fruitwine Hall just after noon.
Almost all ships sailing on the Mander River, upon reaching this point, would inevitably see the magnificent castle of House Fossoway spanning the Mander River, and would genuinely marvel at the profound heritage of House Fossoway.
If one were to list the oldest families in all of The Reach, House Fossoway would undoubtedly be among the top three.
Their house originated from Archer Fosso, son of Qing Shou Jialesi. Their lineage was only slightly weaker than that of the Gardener Family, which originated from Qing Shou Jialesi's eldest son. So, when the Gardener Family was destroyed by Aegon the Conqueror, House Fossoway should have been the most qualified family to become the Lord of Highgarden. However, House Tyrell, who were merely stewards, picked up the spoils. In the eyes of House Fossoway, this was equivalent to servants seizing their master's property.
Therefore, House Fossoway has always openly and secretly caused trouble for House Tyrell, constantly thinking of pulling House Tyrell off the throne of Warden of the South and Duke of Highgarden. Even though they split into the Green Apples and Red Apples, greatly reducing their strength, they still have no intention of giving up on the throne of the Lord of The Reach.
Although now, for various reasons, House Fossoway acknowledges House Tyrell's suzerainty, everyone in The Reach knows that this acknowledgment is merely verbal. Given the opportunity, House Fossoway would not hesitate to attack that throne in Highgarden.
Perhaps to maintain their family's sufficiently high prestige in The Reach, or perhaps for other purposes, in any case, successive lords of House Fossoway have been very fond of holding martial arts tournaments at Fruitwine Hall. Basically, whenever there is a major festival, a martial arts tournament will be held.
Although the prize money for the champion cannot compare to King Robert's prize money, which often amounts to tens of thousands, for those mercenary knights and wandering knights, the martial arts tournament at Fruitwine Hall is the best place to gain fame. Moreover, the nobles of The Reach also like to look for knights who meet their expectations at the Fruitwine Hall martial arts tournament to hire.
Therefore, these martial arts tournaments have indeed given House Fossoway a considerable reputation in The Reach, where chivalry is prevalent. Even wandering knights in remote areas know the reputation of House Fossoway in The Reach, and once they learn that a martial arts tournament is being held at Fruitwine Hall, they will rush to participate, no matter how far away, unless they genuinely cannot make it.
When Linde's ship arrived, Fruitwine Hall was also holding a martial arts tournament. Judging from the lively atmosphere on shore, it was no less impressive than the martial arts tournament in King's Landing. Roughly counting the noble house banners hanging on the castle walls, almost most of The Reach nobles had come, which also showed how high House Fossoway's prestige was in The Reach.
Among the banners, there was also House Tyrell's, but it was unknown who House Tyrell had sent.
"I think it might be young master Garlan," Jon said, looking up at House Tyrell's banner.
"Why?" Linde asked.
Jon said, "I heard that Olenna has taken a liking to Lady Leonie of House Fossoway and plans to marry them when young master Garlan comes of age."
Linde questioned, "Will House Fossoway agree?"
"They probably won't refuse!" Jon wasn't so sure.
After hearing this, Linde looked up at House Tyrell's banner. He quickly noticed a detail: House Fossoway had actually placed House Tyrell's banner next to their own. It seemed that the Thorn Queen's scheme had likely succeeded.
Although the sailors on the ship all hoped to go ashore to watch the excitement, Linde had no intention of stopping at Fruitwine Hall, so he instructed the captain to have the ship pass through the river channel under Fruitwine Hall Castle and continue sailing towards Highgarden.
Compared to the section of the river from Longtable Hall to Fruitwine Hall, which was full of shoals and hidden reefs, the river channel after Fruitwine Hall became much smoother. Not only was the channel wide and deep, but the current speed also increased significantly, allowing the ship to sail quickly on the river almost without the need for paddling assistance.
Moreover, what was more important was that even at night, there was no need to worry about hitting any hidden reefs or similar objects, so naturally, there was no need to find a place to dock overnight as before.
After nightfall, the captain arranged two shifts of people to take care of the ship and sail through the night, finally arriving at Highgarden in the afternoon of the next day.
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