Hearing this, he immediately asked the team to keep up with the king's group ahead.
Seeing the other wagons pulling farther away, Ed asked his captain of the guard, Jory Cassel, to wait by the wagon, and took Jon to a clearing by the side of the road.
"During this time, how was your work with Mr. Jason?"
As Ed walked forward, he opened his mouth and asked, "I heard that Mr. Jason handed over the management of the entire lumber mill to you. It must be difficult, after all, there are thousands of people in the lumber mill…"
Jon followed behind, a wry smile on his face as he replied, "It was really chaotic at first, but with the efforts of me, McCann, Bud, and Marb, we finally managed to sort things out. With the bachelor, assistant bachelors, and apprentices from the Citadel helping, it's gotten a lot easier."
"Master Jason is a good man.He has kept every promise he made to me.To have such a lord who appreciates your abilities—it's rare. You must remain loyal to him in the future."
Ed couldn't help but feel some goodwill toward Jason Liu.After all, most nobles in Westeros wouldn't bother reusing an illegitimate child, no matter how capable he might be.
Discrimination and prejudice against bastards were deeply ingrained in Westerosi society.
"Yes, I will."Speaking of his own lord, Jon rarely showed such a firm and respectful expression in front of Ed.
Looking at Jon, who bore a resemblance to himself, Ed couldn't help thinking of his deceased sister Lyanna, and sighed.
Jon, unaware that Ed was thinking about his dead mother, had come with another purpose.
After hesitating for a moment, Jon gathered his courage and asked, "Father, can you tell me about my mother?"
Ed's face froze slightly at the question, and his body tensed instinctively.
Seeing the change in his father's expression, Jon's eyes dimmed. He turned to look at the wooden wall of the distant logging yard and murmured, "Father, did you love my mother? Was I born from an accident—or from your love for her? Can you tell me who she is? Is she alive or dead?"
When he finished, Jon looked at Ed with pleading eyes, hoping he would finally reveal the truth.
Ed was pained. He had the urge to tell Jon everything, but reason told him he must not. Jon's safety depended on secrecy.
Taking a deep breath, Ed looked Jon in the eyes and said seriously, "Listen, Jon. I have my reasons. I can't tell you about your mother right now."
"But I promise you, when I return from King's Landing, we'll have a proper talk. I'll tell you everything you want to know. All right?"
He looked directly into Jon's eyes, his firm expression making it clear he wouldn't be revealing anything today.
Jon nodded bitterly but said, "Father, I'll remember this. When you come back from King's Landing, you must tell me about my mother."
"Yes, I promise," Ed said solemnly.
The two spoke for a while longer. Then Ed returned to the wagon, climbed in, and with guards like Jory escorting him, caught up with the king's convoy ahead.
Jon mounted his horse and watched Ed's carriage disappear into the distance before turning and riding back toward the lumber mill.
The king's group had left, and Lord Eddard had taken many people from Winterfell to King's Landing to serve as the new Hand of the King.
Back in Winterfell, Robb Stark, with help from his mother Lady Catelyn and Maester Luwin, had begun managing the affairs of the domain.
Theon Greyjoy had been quite pleased with himself lately. As Robb's closest childhood friend, he was greatly trusted.
When reports came of robbers and wild beasts attacking villagers in the territory, Robb sent Theon to lead troops and suppress them.
For a while, Theon's status in Winterfell soared.
These were private rumors spread by the servants in Winterfell. But because Winterfell Market Town was just outside the city, news from within the castle quickly spread to the entire town.
After all, in any era, people are always drawn to gossip—especially when the subject is someone of high status.
In any case, Theon was heir to the Iron Islands, one of the Seven Kingdoms, and his rank was undeniably noble.
Jason Liu didn't care much for Theon—a frivolous and arrogant man. He had been busy lately transporting logs to the modern world.
After more than a month of construction, the steel-structured warehouse in the modern era, covering 50 acres, was finally completed.
Recently, Jason had spent all his money importing goods from modern times.Now, he was finally able to make money back from the log business.
Late at night, Jason Liu entered the lumberyard warehouse alone, careful not to alert anyone.
By now, the warehouse was packed with logs—nearly 600,000 of them. Without the modern warehouse being ready, the logging operation here would have come to a halt.
Placing his hand on a stack of logs in the innermost section of the warehouse, Jason focused—and in a flash, he and tens of thousands of logs were transported to the modern warehouse.
After repeating this process several times, Jason had moved over 100,000 logs to the modern world.
Early the next morning, Jason contacted Ironwood Timber Co to collect the logs.
These logs would undergo initial fumigation and preservative treatment at Ironwood Timber Co's processing plant before being sold directly.
He didn't plan to have Ironwood Timber Co do deep processing like making boards for sale. Although that would bring more profit, the turnover was too slow. It was more efficient to sell raw logs—the payment was quicker, and the processing was simpler.
(Good money.)Anyway, he had a large supply of logs and didn't care much about the extra profit from deep processing.
Domestic demand for imported logs remained high every year. Even so, there was still a large shortfall in supply. Such a vast market was more than enough for him to claim a sizable share.
Upon receiving word from the boss, Edric, the current director of Chensheng Wood, immediately rushed over with more than ten transport trucks and wood loaders.
The large trucks drove straight into the warehouse, and the wood grabbers—similar to excavators—were driven off using a steel ramp mounted behind the trailers.
"President Liu—" Director Edric quickly came over to greet him.
Jason Liu watched as four log grabbers rumbled into the warehouse and asked, "How many logs can one of these load onto a heavy truck in a day?"
Director Edric took out a cigarette to offer him, but Jason politely declined.
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