Digging a Well

Word of the noble legion's total annihilation spread on the wind, causing no small amount of panic.

"What? You're saying all four cities in the Little River basin were taken by the rebels? Doesn't that mean he could send troops out and take another bite whenever he wanted?" The man gripped the report in one hand, utterly unable to believe this had happened.

"Your Highness, the mountain pass has already collapsed. If he wants to send troops out, he can only go around from either side or clear away the collapsed mountainside."

"Then can we exchange the captured nobles for their return?" The prince picked up a fountain pen from beside him, preparing to write instructions on the report.

But the person beside him shook his head. "Your Highness, perhaps I wasn't clear enough. What I mean is that they all died there. A forest fire burned them until nothing was left."

"All of them?"

"Yes, all of them! According to the information I gathered, the rebels seem to hate nobles intensely. Every time they occupy a city, they basically purge the nobles within it."

The prince frowned deeply. He had no spare time to deal with these rebels now. His eldest niece was still sitting on the throne. As the First Princess, the longer she remained on the throne and occupied the imperial capital, the harder it would become for him, a prince, to resist her.

"Do everything possible to pacify the rebels. We don't have time to deal with him right now. We cannot let the rebels take the plains along the second river as well. If that happens, it will be difficult for us to control the situation." The prince took out a military map and carefully examined the arrangements marked on it.

They were not suited