"I would like to inform my lord, the situation has changed."
Al's quick and sharp voice began to ring in Lei Xiao's ears: "If my subordinate's prediction is correct, our main opponents are no longer the eldest prince and the second prince."
"Oh? Could it be that the fourth prince took action?"
Lei Xiao, who had just sat down in the restaurant on the first floor of the mansion, put down the steaming teacup in his hand with a solemn look on his face.
During the process of conquering the city and territory with his subordinates today, Lei Xiao carefully considered the current situation.
After our rapid counterattack, the traditional noble and new noble cities in the central and northern regions of Lengyan began to fall one after another. This undoubtedly further compressed the sphere of influence of the eldest prince and the second prince and weakened their strength.
In addition, the eldest prince and the second prince were newly defeated and their morale was low. However, the fourth prince had been waiting for work in the dark and never showed his talents.
In this situation of ebb and flow, since I was the first to do so, I thought of taking advantage of your illness to kill the eldest prince and the second prince.
Then, the fourth prince, who has always been low-key, cautious and extremely mysterious, would naturally think of this as well.
This means that as long as the fourth prince has enough energy, he will definitely take action and seize the opportunity to seize the cities under the command of the eldest prince and the second prince.
"As expected of your lord, you hit the crux of the matter right away."
Hearing that Lei Xiao had expected it, Al's nervous voice obviously relaxed a bit, and he continued to report.
"As the lord said, the traditional aristocratic and new aristocratic cities around the royal capital all lowered the flags of the first and second princes, but instead raised the purple lion flags of the fourth prince."
"In addition, according to reports from our spies hidden in enemy cities, there have been no conflicts in most of these cities. Even the local low-level nobles and garrison commanders are not aware of the occurrence.
whats the matter."
There was a bit of solemnity in Orr's voice as he concluded: "It is not difficult to see from this that the traditional aristocrats and new aristocratic city lords who command these cities have obviously taken direct refuge with the Fourth Prince."
"It seems that the Fourth Prince and his group have been planning secretly for a long time, and this war has become an opportunity for the other side to carry out all this."
Lei Xiao looked at the delicacies being served one after another on the table in front of him. He raised his hand to signal to the subordinates around him who had been tired for a day to eat freely without waiting for him. He nodded thoughtfully.
It can be seen from this that the fourth prince, who has always been secretive, is indeed quite deep in the city.
"But these are not the most important things. The most important thing is the forces behind it."
Thinking of this in his mind, Lei Xiao froze his eyebrows, and then asked: "What about the other parts of the cities of the traditional nobles and new nobles?"
"Back to the lord, siege battles of different scales took place in other parts of the city. As the attackers, the Fourth Prince's side, in addition to the purple lion flag flying in the camp, also had three conspicuous battle flags discovered one after another."
Orr's voice became more solemn and he responded: "They are the golden stag flag, the blue pterodactyl flag, and the brown ground dragon flag."
"The Phytolacca family, the Lancaster family, and the Yorkman family... things are more difficult than I thought. It turns out that the three noble families of the Cold Flame Kingdom are all standing behind the fourth prince?"
Lei Xiao slowly took a deep breath, his brows already twisted into a knot.
Regarding the three major aristocratic families of the Lengyan Kingdom, in addition to the Shanglu family that was the first to come into contact, the other two Lei Xiao also already knew them to a considerable extent.
Lei Xiao clearly understands that these three powerful aristocratic families all have combat power and heritage that can rival the royal family, and this is only their strength on paper.
As for how many small and medium-sized nobles are attached to their respective huge fiefdoms, only they themselves know.
"Before this, I had suspected that the three noble families who were rumored to have been coveting the throne would actually choose to remain silent in such an important battle for power. There must be something fishy in this."
"In addition, the Black Duke behind the eldest prince and the Black Abyss Brotherhood behind the second prince have gradually surfaced, but the hidden force behind the fourth prince has always been unclear."
"If we say that within the Lengyan Kingdom, there are only three major noble families left that can compete with the huge traditional aristocratic group and the new aristocratic group, so I have already vaguely felt that the fourth prince
There should be some noble and wealthy family behind you."
"But what I didn't expect was that the three noble families who had been secretly fighting each other would actually choose to work together and stand behind the fourth prince."
Thinking of this, Lei Xiao, who was originally feeling hungry, suddenly lost his appetite when he looked at the large table of steaming meals.
This undoubtedly means that an unprecedentedly powerful opponent has appeared directly in front of him.
Just when Lei Xiao frowned and thought about this, he noticed it.
Ariel and the main subordinates who had just started eating around them also put down their tableware and looked over with solemn faces, apparently having heard the conversation they had just had with Al.
Among them, especially Ariel, who knew the three noble families best, her eyebrows were tightly knitted together.
As a member of the royal family, Ariel clearly understands.
Over the past hundreds of years, through marriages, cannibalization and other overt and covert means, the power of the three major noble families has become larger and larger, far exceeding the scale during the period of the Hero King.
This point is undoubtedly a serious concern for Lengyan monarchs in the past dynasties.
In history, there have been cold flame monarchs such as Rose King Esther, Wise King Abner, Lion Roar King Alfred, and his own father, Steel Wrist King Burdett, who have tried every means to weaken the power of the three powerful families.
However, since the three giants have long been entrenched in Leng Yan, coupled with various complex historical reasons and entangled interests, they all ended up treating the symptoms rather than the root causes and were unable to completely suppress the other party.
However, fortunately, the three major aristocratic families often fought openly and secretly with each other due to conflicts of interest and other reasons, forming a certain delicate balance, so that the dominant position and dominance of the royal family were not fundamentally affected.
But what is certain is that if you leave out the fifth-level powerhouses at the national level, any one of the three wealthy families has enough strength to rival the royal family, and is by no means someone who can be easily provoked.
But now, the three noble families have united together, and their power can be seen from this.
"Al, how is the power of the eldest prince and the second prince now?"
Lei Xiao simply opened his mouth to speak out and asked again.
"Back to the lord, excluding the city our army is capturing, including Kyle Castle, the traditional nobles and new noble forces west of Kyle Castle, a total of 20 cities have raised the flag of the Fourth Prince. This has already
The last family fortune."
Al's solemn and steady voice reached the ears of everyone in the restaurant through the words: "In other words, the power of the eldest prince and the second prince has been declared destroyed, and they have lost their qualifications to aspire to the throne!"
"The action was so fast. I didn't even have time to completely kill the boss and the second child. I didn't expect that the cunning fourth child had already taken the lead."
Lei Xiao massaged his temples, and the entire map of the Cold Flame Kingdom emerged in his mind.
Kyle Castle is located at the core of the central region, also known as the gateway to the royal capital. It is a fortress city with an extremely important geographical location.
Since the other side has occupied the place, it will definitely send heavy troops to guard it to prevent us from advancing straight in.
"After these days of continuous fighting, my soldiers are extremely exhausted. It is absolutely impossible to capture the fortified Fort Kyle again."
"In other words, my counterattack can only temporarily stop in front of Kell Castle, facing my opponent across the city?"
Lei Xiao nodded thoughtfully and began to take stock of the battles over the past two days.
Following the two armies going north and south, in addition to the 7 cities initially occupied.
There are a total of 10 cities of traditional nobles and new nobles in the north, and he has occupied them all.
With the help of Crystal Blue City, even though the North Territory is vast and the snowy roads are difficult to travel, it can't stop him in the slightest.
As for the central area, which is the core, due to the denser spacing between cities and the flat roads, some cities are unable to survive.
Therefore, he has successfully occupied 8 of them, and the siege of 2 more is being stepped up, including Fort Ferro to the east of Fort Kel.
"In other words, before dawn tomorrow, I will be able to capture a total of 20 cities of new nobles and traditional nobles, bringing the total number of cities in the Cold Flame Kingdom under my command to 53."
Thinking of this, Lei Xiao couldn't help but feel relieved.
Although this battle consumed a huge amount of money, he also gained a large amount of loot that he had not yet upgraded, and his food storage was full, so he did not have to worry about any military supplies.
More importantly, as long as the fourth child is defeated, Ariel can be crowned the king.
"Lord, including the surrounding cities, the western region controlled by the Lancaster family has a total of 27 cities, and the southern region controlled by the Rodman family has a total of 28 cities."
"There are also 25 cities in the central area controlled by the Shanglu family, plus the newly acquired 20 traditional aristocratic and new aristocratic cities, which means that the number of cities controlled by the fourth prince has reached a scale of one hundred.
, equivalent to occupying half of the Lengyan Kingdom."
After analyzing this, Ariel, who was frowning, stopped talking and lowered her head in silence.
The other main subordinates around them also had solemn expressions on their faces and frowned one after another.
"Ariel, you are trying to say that based on this scale, if you add in the reserve army, the opponent can easily assemble a million-strong army, right? That is enough power to rival 100 fifth-level experts."
Feeling the increasingly heavy atmosphere in the restaurant, Lei Xiao smiled lightly and simply said what Ariel was thinking: "This will be a huge and powerful enemy we have never faced before."
"It is true that although we have successively occupied the entire eastern region, as well as 20 cities in the northern and central regions, there is still a huge gap compared with the other side."
"But please don't forget that the Cold Flame Kingdom also has a barren land that others are not optimistic about, which is the remaining 20 neutral cities in the north."
Lei Xiao still maintained a faint smile and began to describe the plan he had already thought of to his subordinates.
"Due to the sparsely populated northern territory and rugged roads, coupled with the recent heavy snowfall and road closures, it is undoubtedly difficult for ordinary forces to assemble a large force in a short period of time to participate in the next battle, let alone
Conquer this land quickly."
"But for us who own Crystal Blue City, this is not a problem."
"So the first thing we need to do next is to capture the entire northern territory. This can greatly enhance our combat power."
After hearing what Lei Xiao said, the subordinates suddenly nodded and showed excitement.
If the lord can successfully capture the northern territory, plus the eastern region and the cities in the central region, I will be able to occupy half of the Leng Yan Kingdom, enough to compete with the opponent!
At that time, it will be time to fight to the death with the opponent.
While feeling excited, Ariel lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then raised her head and asked, "Lord, what exactly are we going to do?"
"It's very simple. The first priority is to attack people's hearts, and then use a small amount of deterrence. Don't forget that we have already begun to provide food assistance to the famine-stricken northern border."
Lei Xiao smiled faintly, then raised his eyebrows and said: "Now we are the parents of the cities in the north. As for the other things, I have also communicated with Caroline, and she will arrange everything as soon as possible."
After finishing speaking, Lei Xiao brought the conversation back to Orr's report and continued to ask: "Since the city no longer exists, what about the eldest prince and the second prince themselves? Is there any news?"
"Back to Lord, there is no news yet."
Al's calm and respectful voice sounded again: "However, according to reports from spies hidden around the Grand Prince's palace, a brief but fierce fight once occurred there. As for the specific situation, it is unknown.
"
"Lord, the fourth child must have invaded the secret palace."
Ariel took over the conversation and said with a solemn look on her face: "Although I don't have much contact with the fourth child, I also know that he is a person who does everything right and will never let the boss and the second child go."
"Then the matter is very clear. The boss and the second child must have been imprisoned by him."
Lei Xiao lightly clicked his fingers and affirmed: "Even if the fourth child plans to kill him, the other three princes will definitely stop him to prevent him from gaining notoriety so quickly. After all, compared to the boss and the second child,
, Lao Si’s reputation is quite good.”
"What the lord said is absolutely true. Maybe if they keep the eldest and second eldest son, they will have some other uses."
Ariel has become completely accustomed to Lei Xiao calling the eldest and second princes "Boss and Lao Er", and echoed: "Hanshui, Stone and Kent are by no means ordinary people. The city is extremely deep. With their help,
Coupled with the fact that the fourth child is not leaking, things will undoubtedly be a lot more troublesome."
"You really shouldn't underestimate the opponent. This will definitely be another battle that determines life and death, and it will only be more cruel."
Lei Xiao nodded heavily, then smiled faintly, and said calmly: "But haven't we encountered too many troubles along the way? No matter what the road ahead is, I will make it clear to my opponents that standing on our side
Opposites are their biggest mistakes in this life."
After hearing Lei Xiao's inspiring words, all the subordinates became excited again.
"Okay, let's eat and rest as soon as possible. The other side won't leave us much time to prepare."
Lei Xiao picked up the specially customized chopsticks again, with bright eyes.
"Now it's just us and the fourth child. The final battle for the throne has quietly begun."
