Later, at the welcome dinner, Edric learned that the chestnut-haired Stark knight was Robb's younger brother Brandon Stark.
"It turns out he is Lord Robb's brother."
Then the white knight sat in the banquet and watched Brandon playing with Robb's two sons, Theon and Doron, holding the wine glass a little thoughtfully, and then shook his head slightly.
At this time, Robb also introduced Edric to his wife, a tall, dark-haired, middle-aged woman.
She was wearing decent clothes and a thick wolf skin.
"This is my wife Yali."
Aly Karstark couldn't help but her eyes lit up when she saw the handsome Edric Dayne.
It's like a man suddenly sees a beautiful woman. Although he doesn't have to do anything, he always feels happy.
"Lord Dain."
"Mrs. Stark."
The two of them greeted each other and exchanged a few words.
Mrs. Stark also had dark hair, which made Edric dispel his inner speculation and even feel a little guilty.
Because after he just saw Robb's brother Brandon, he suddenly felt that Robb's two children Theon and Doron seemed to look more similar to Brandon.
However, Mrs. Stark also had dark hair, which allowed Edric to give up his guess.
"It's just an illusion..."
What I just thought was probably just an illusion.
Afterwards, there was a banquet, and Edric Dane also saw the generosity of the northerners.
There were hundreds of people in the empty Winterfell hall, and a bonfire was burning in the middle for warmth.
Sitting around the bonfire were long tables and long benches. Barrels of spirits had already been prepared. After prying them open, tons of them were poured into large wooden wine glasses.
People in the north drank happily during the banquet. After all, in this cold winter and spring, they had nothing to do and had no way to go to the fields, and the crops could not be harvested. They could only find reasons to drink wine to warm themselves up.
Even Edric suspected that even if he had not visited the North as the envoy of the second prince Yin Meng, they would have made up another reason to have a drink.
The people around were noisy. After the strong drink went into their throats, people obviously talked more and raised their voices a lot. They laughed loudly, slapped the table, and boasted loudly.
However, in the midst of this chaos and noise, servants were shuttled between the banquets, carrying dishes and wine glasses.
But one of them, a boy with auburn hair, accidentally knocked over the plate. He quickly apologized with a pale face, then lay on the ground and wiped the floor clean.
But what made Edric a little curious was that the northern man, who was obviously hot-tempered and reckless, was also frightened after being poured wine all over him by this servant.
He even looked more frightened than the auburn-haired boy.
He quickly supported the other person and said that he could clean it and wash the clothes himself.
"Who is this boy?"
It was obvious that it was not because of the kind temperament of the big northern man, but because of the extraordinary status of this auburn-haired boy.
But how could a young man with an extraordinary status be reduced to serving dishes in Winterfell?
However, Edric asked curiously. On the other side, Benford Taoha, who accompanied him from Torrhen Square to Winterfell, was obviously drunk at the moment, and his fat and greasy cheeks were full of red.
Then he moved closer to Edric Dane, looked around and found that no one was paying attention, and then carefully lowered his voice and spoke.
"Let Sir Edric know that this is actually not a secret among the northern nobles."
"The boy's name is Creed, and his mother is a brewmaster's wife in Winterfell named Basil. Everyone except the old man knows that his wife is the mistress of Lord Robb Stark."
"This child is actually Lord Robb's illegitimate son. He should be named Creed Snow."
"Do you see how similar they look?"
Benford Taoha was so drunk that he was even a little delirious, and he secretly shook out all of Robb's secrets.
Although this is not a secret among the northern nobles, it is really the first time for Edric to hear about it.
He never thought that Lord Robb Stark, who seemed upright on the surface, would actually have a lover outside like other imperial nobles.
"It seems that people should not be judged by their appearance."
"There are also untold stories among the Stark family."
Edric Dane had a calm expression on his face and silently drank a small sip of the wine in his glass.
As luck would have it, Benford Taoha drank too much and revealed the true identity of his lord. He thought he had lowered his voice, but in fact he was still 'plotting loudly', and many people around him heard it.
On the other side, the Governor of the North, Robb Stark, looked slightly ugly, and Stark's wife Ari, who was sitting next to him, also had an expression on her face, and then stood up and left the table without saying a word, leaving the venue first.
The lively atmosphere at the banquet had dimmed a lot at some point. Many people must have observed the unexpected situation and were watching secretly. The atmosphere became awkward.
After his wife left the scene, Robb turned his head and glanced at the leaving figure of Aly Karstark, but there was not much sincerity in his eyes, and there was even indifference.
Then Robb's eyes turned around again, looking at Benford Taoha who drank too much and spoke freely.
At this moment, the other party didn't know whether he was reacting and felt guilty, or whether he was still not sober. He lay on the table and began to fall asleep and snore.
"Carry him away quickly!"
However, Robb Stark waved his hands with an ugly look on his face, and impatiently asked the Stark family's guards to carry the idiot out and throw him back to the guest room in Winterfell.
Therefore, the dinner party in Winterfell started out very lively, but when the white knight gradually learned some of the "inside information" of the Stark family in recent years, the atmosphere became awkward, and eventually they broke up on bad terms.
The current situation of the Stark family is actually just a microcosm of many families in the empire.
During the peace years, when there was no common external enemy, these powerful families began to rapidly degenerate and fell into internal fighting for power.
Human beings are sometimes like huskies. If their energy is not fully exhausted, they will have nothing to do and will end up doing some fancy work.
In fact, the same is true for the Targaryen family. If the empire faces a huge crisis, then Viserys's three children will not fall into internal fighting, but will unite to face foreign enemies.
Prince Yin Meng's delegation rested in Winterfell for two days and finally received a reply from the Great Wall.
The eldest princess agreed to meet Edric Dane and the others, so they continued on the road the next day.