Lords go left, Emperors go right

As a reward, the spoils were divided equally between the two sides, and all the occupied territory belonged to Osser. After all, there was an unusual gentlemanly friendship between the two princes, and Osser promised to divide the occupied territory equally. He used the half of the territory originally given to Aosta, and paid Aosta gold coins to buy this land according to the principle of discount, as compensation for Aosta's military expenditure losses in various aspects.

The seventh prince, Osser, also promised that after the war, the soldiers on Aosta’s side would suffer casualties and war damage, and that the pensions and compensations to the soldiers’ families would be paid after the war. Osser would bear 50% of the expenditure. Most importantly, Aosta would have priority in choosing the spoils of war. To put it bluntly, when choosing women, Aosta would be allowed to choose first.

Osser was not at a disadvantage. The fighting power of the army in this guy's territory was not good, and it could barely protect its own territory. The winning rate of actively attacking other lords' territories was too low, and the probability of winning was not high. It was better to ask Osta to come forward. If Osser went alone and suffered a disastrous defeat, he would lose the face of the royal family of the Obelisk Empire. After the war, facing the guilt of his father, Emperor Augustus VIII, Osser would not be able to escape the blame. Punishment was inevitable, and he needed to find a brother to be a partner. The first person he thought of was naturally Osta, the "good brother" who went to the brothel with him back then.

"Lord Osta, based on what we have learned so far, the number of troops under Prince Osser's command is over 10,000, with basic weapons and equipment, and their armor has reached the standards of our regular imperial army."

"Yulia, if this information is true, Old Seven should be able to handle the Alexandra region on his own. As for that kid Osser, his army can't be so useless that they can't even defeat a group of women, right?"

"Lord Osta, in fact, many legions of Prince Osser's army cannot be dispatched at will and need to stay in the territory. The army that can really be dispatched and the soldiers that can be mobilized are only a few thousand people."

"Lord Osta, there are rumors that Prince Osser has spent a lot of money on pleasing a few special guests, and secretly embezzled a lot of money that should have been used for military expenses. The expenses are too high, and they can hardly pay the military salaries. They have to downsize, let most of the troops take leave, reduce salaries, and only retain a few thousand troops for military expenses."

"Sophia, this information is very useful to me. If that's the case, we won't be able to complete the plan relying on Osser alone."

Osta was indeed tempted, but sending troops to do such things would really damage his image, and the key point was that he was playing the villain this time. Osser could not find a legitimate reason to send troops. In the eyes of Augustus VIII, the Emperor of the Obelisk Empire, this gentleman prince was also a useless, lustful bastard son, so it was impossible for him to ask the Empire for military support.

If Osier plays the villain, he does not have the military strength. Even if he wins by chance, he will inevitably face the empire's accountability after the war. It is different for Aosta. Even if Aosta goes to war without reason, the Empress Margaret III is extremely protective of her, and the Empress's faction has a lot of power in the empire. Most of those talkative "upright" ministers will be smart enough to keep silent and pretend not to care much about it.

Aosta is not the crown prince yet. If he is the heir to the throne, he will not need to make a public statement before the war. Those ministers will choose to jump out without hesitation at the first opportunity to whitewash their heir to the throne in public opinion and show their loyalty.

If it was the military action of the first prince Oster against his neighbors, the ministers of the Obelisk Empire pretended not to know. The same was true for the military invasion of the second prince Oster. The ministers seemed to be blind to it. The attitude of the ministers of the Obelisk Empire would be different according to the status and strength of the princes, and they would adhere to flexible moral standards. This was an undisguised double standard behavior, and they treated and expressed their views completely according to double standards.

"Lord Osta, if you feel it is difficult to reply to Osser's letter, you can leave it to us. We will arrange for someone else to reply on your behalf when the time comes."

"Forget it. We are brothers after all. Chris, I think it would be better to give him a clear answer later."

"Lord Osta, that is for you to decide. The letters from other princes need your response more than the letter from Prince Osser."

"Sophia, have you got those letters? Let me see them!"

"Lord Osta, the letters are all here. Yulia has already arranged for her shadow clone to get them."

"Yulia, you've worked hard. These brothers are enough. They didn't move around much in the Imperial Palace. Except for the seventh brother (Osser) and the ninth brother (Osmo), once they arrived in the Central Continent, everyone pretended to be very familiar with each other, but their acting skills were not good."

Osta has not returned to the lord's mansion yet. However, because of the special ability of his exclusive combat maid, Yulia, and the handwritten letters written to him, this stunning beauty with black hair and black eyes summoned a large number of black shadow clones from her own shadow and sent the black shadow clones to the lord's mansion. After some twists and turns, all the letters were brought back.

Osta could see these handwritten letters from other royal members of the Obelisk Empire in the carriage. The area around Bloomfield was now under a large-scale magical interference. All long-range magic communication props were temporarily unusable, including magic cylinders and magic communication crystal balls. Communication could only rely on special gray carrier pigeons to deliver letters, and each carrier pigeon was very valuable.

Those brothers who wrote to him really had something to ask Aosta, otherwise they would not have spent so much money to send such a precious pigeon to help deliver the letter. The method of the flying pigeon legend was unstable, and this situation was particularly obvious in the Central Continent. Ordinary pigeons were basically useless. The success rate of the flying pigeon legend in delivering letters was extremely low, almost zero.

Oster roughly looked through the letters and found that most of the letters were written by him. Among these letters, the content of the letter from Oster, the second prince of the empire, was that he wanted to obtain food and grass supplies as soon as possible to facilitate the needs of the subsequent external expansion war. After the first batch of receiving troops he sent disappeared, the prince sent a second batch of receiving troops.

At this time, Oster discovered the locust plague. The second batch of receiving troops turned back halfway, and all other possible troops that might be sent out were canceled. The nearest land and water routes to the Bloomfield area of ​​the Osta territory were unavailable, and Oster was arranging people to coordinate to see if they could borrow a route from other neighboring territories.

The content of the letter from the eldest prince Osed was about the Aosta territory. After learning about the locust plague in the neighboring areas of Bloomfield, he expressed his concern for Aosta's situation and asked his third brother if he needed material support. Although the content and tone of the letter seemed to be well-intentioned, Aosta was not sure what his eldest brother was going to exchange for. Without confirmation, he decided to reply later and find a reason to refuse the rescue.

Osta gave priority to replying to the letters from the 27th Prince Oser and the 2nd Prince Oster, and told the 27th Prince that his territory had recently been facing a serious locust plague and insufficient food and grass supplies. Osta was interested in his suggestions and plans, but he could not participate immediately and needed to wait until the time was right.

This so-called maturity is most likely referring specifically to the time after the latest batch of grain crops are harvested. About half a month later, the latest crops, such as potatoes and corn, will be ripe for harvest.

In response to his second brother Oster, Oster said that the food and grass were ready, but he could not send a transport unit, hoping that the other party would arrange someone to receive it, which meant delaying. Because of the awakening and rampage of the various insect swarms, Oster was temporarily unable to transport the food and grass supplies. It was not that he would not give it, but the actual situation was different and the special environment did not allow this.

After receiving the reply, even though Oster urgently needed the food supplies, he could not openly blame Oster for not shipping them. After all, the second prince of the empire, Oster, already knew about the insect plague in the Bridges region. Oster secretly played a balancing act. The gentleman prince also postponed the return of the military supplies that he had originally planned to return to the Dominitum Empire and did not send them back for the time being.

The stalemate in the Kutinado area will continue until one of the two warring parties receives supplies and reinforcements, which will break the deadlock. George VII, the former emperor of the Dominitum Empire, may be a time traveler, and he still has some of his own. He can hold on for a while and will not be defeated so quickly by Oster, the second prince of the Obelisk Empire, a native of this plane. The group of Dominitum Empire military girls who were carrying out the transportation mission along with the military supplies have all transferred to Osta, and have fewer concerns.

The letter from Osk, the fourth prince of the empire, was about inviting Aosta to participate in a development project. The content of this project was very mysterious. Osk did not mention much in the letter, but only expressed his hope to cooperate with Aosta. Among all the brothers, he chose Aosta as a partner. What purpose and other plans are there? It is not clear for the time being.

The ninth prince of the empire, Osmo, also had a good relationship with Aosta. The content of the letter he wrote was that he heard that the food supply was tight after a locust plague broke out in the neighboring areas of Aosta's territory. The ninth prince provided a batch of food support free of charge. For this foodie prince, this was all the help he could provide.

Compared with the eldest prince Osed, the ninth prince was much more sincere, and his aid did not add any political conditions. Osmo's food rescue team had been dispatched, and it was said that they would choose a new route to the Bloomfield area. The original official road had long been seriously affected by the various insect corps of the locust swarm. It was very unsafe to transport food along the original route, and it was basically impossible to complete the transportation task. They could only take the risk of opening a new route. It was not known whether Osmo's transportation operation would be successful in the end, and it was currently uncertain.

Three princes had not sent a personal letter to Osta until this time. The fifth prince, Osla, was too stingy to even pay for the gray pigeon, so naturally he did not write a letter. The sixth prince, Osdu, secretly detained the special envoy sent by the Obelisk Empire to Osta to deliver the imperial edict. He had something to hide, so he also did not write a letter. And the eighth prince, Osger, that middle-aged prince was an idealist who did not care about political affairs. If he really wrote a letter, Osta probably would not understand it.

The territories of Osla and Osdu are located in the Blomfield area of ​​the Aosta territory. As neighbors, it is really unreasonable that they did not express any support. It seems that the two of them have something to deal with and have no time to contact Aosta. The fifth prince Osla recently implemented the latest tax policy, which imposed temporary taxes. The relationship with the residents of the territory has further deteriorated. The armed movement of resistance has continued to rise. He is busy mobilizing troops to suppress the riots by force.

The Sixth Prince Osdu was no pushover either. After the secret prison sponsored by the Nathaniel Chamber of Commerce was built, Osdu launched a large-scale purge throughout the territory in order to consolidate his rule, hunting down all opponents who disagreed with him and putting them in the secret prison for execution. Osta had to admit that among the nine official princes of the current generation of the royal family of the Obelisk Empire, 100% of them were tyrants after they succeeded to the throne, and the Sixth Prince Osdu deserved it. Under his brutal suppression, there was basically no voice of opposition in the territory under his rule.

"Yulia, when we get back, arrange for someone to investigate the interference with magic communication. It's too inconvenient to always use carrier pigeons, and pigeon messaging is not 100% safe and reliable."

"Lord Osta, the source of the interference is from the neighbors next door. In fact, there is no need to investigate. You should have met the real culprits not long ago."

"Yulia, are you referring to the visitor from the Northern Emerging Chamber of Commerce Group?"

"Lord Aosta, this is just your guess. We didn't say anything!"

"Sophia, you don't look like you didn't say anything."

"Lord Osta, since you have seen it, we will not say anything. Your guess is completely correct."

Chapter 98 Christopher's Special Operations

Among the neighbors next to the Bloomfield area, the Christopher area is undoubtedly the wealthier one. The lord of the area is one of the members of the royal family of the Obelisk Empire, the sixth prince Osdu. Osdu was impressed by this brother. There had been border frictions and armed conflicts between the two territories before.

The incident did not become the fuse of war in the end. The two princes involved deliberately ignored the incident and tacitly adopted a cold treatment method. In the end, the situation was not allowed to escalate further, which effectively avoided the possibility of a larger-scale war.

After this border conflict, the alliance that the two sides had secretly signed before was already in name only, and the basis of mutual trust had completely disappeared. Osdu was the one who had the most objections to the eldest prince Osder's status as the heir to the throne among the nine imperial princes. In order to fight for the right to inherit the throne, Osdu did not want to make too many enemies at this stage. The disagreement between him and the third prince Osta was not likely to escalate for the time being.

After Osta came back from the ancient mechanical battlefield ruins, he changed his mind temporarily on the way back. Instead of returning to the lord's mansion, he took a detour halfway and changed to a more ordinary carriage to go to the Christopher area overnight. This gentleman prince made two preparations and still announced to the outside world that the lord had returned to the port city of St. Louis, deliberately creating the illusion that the third prince of the empire was still in the capital of the territory at this time.

Osta had previously obtained important intelligence and related top-secret maps from Keynes, a senior member of the Nathaniel Chamber of Commerce and a member of the board of directors, and learned that the sixth prince, Osdu, had detained the imperial envoy sent by the Obelisk Empire, and also detained the imperial edict given to him by his father, Emperor Augustus VIII.

Osta couldn't turn a blind eye to this, so he chose to travel light and bring several important followers to investigate overnight to see if this thing really happened. It was not appropriate to send a special envoy to ask for someone. If no evidence was found, both parties would face the embarrassment of a public falling out. At this stage, Osta and Osdu did not want to go to this step in advance.

Osta only brought Chris, Sophia and Yulia with him this time, along with the three exclusive accompanying combat maids, and did not bring anyone else. They were enough, and there was no problem with combat effectiveness. This special operation was much easier than the last time they infiltrated another neighbor, the Gabelres area of ​​the fifth prince Osla's territory.

The territory of the Sixth Prince Osdu is not like the territory of the Fifth Prince Osla, which is full of fortifications. You need to take the air route to sneak in successfully. Osdu can go through the land passage. There are not many soldiers stationed on the border of the Christopher area, and there is no need for too many garrisons. The entry inspection here is very lax, and those garrisons are almost just decorations, standing there doing nothing but opening the door.

Aosta had prepared gold coins to bribe the border guards, but now it seemed that they were completely useless. The soldiers on guard did not check the carriage and let it pass casually. Except for the officers who were equipped with standard iron armor, the other soldiers of the border guards were wearing simple leather armor. Some even had no protective gear and wore cloth clothes that could barely be considered cloth armor.

As for weapons, they were even more random, with all kinds of weapons, including swords, guns, sticks and clubs. It seemed that this group of border guards was not a regular army, but was probably recruited temporarily. The regular troops controlled by the Sixth Prince Osdu were mainly concentrated in important areas of the territory. For unimportant areas, Osdu would not directly send troops to manage them, but would leave them to the local authorities.

"The border management here is too lax. There is a locust plague and refugee problem in the nearby Bridges area. Oss should know about it. Why is it so peaceful?"

"Lord Osta, you may not know enough about Prince Osdu. The ruling model of the Sixth Prince is actually much better than that of the successor to the throne, Osdu."

"Lord Osta, if you don't consider Osdu's personality and character, he is at least much better than the eldest prince Osd in terms of his ability to manage the empire's overseas territories."

"Chris, Yulia, I didn't expect you two would think so highly of Osdu?"

"Lord Osta, please don't misunderstand me. I was just speaking casually. You don't need to learn or imitate Osta's ruling style. It has limited reference value."

"Lord Osta, what Chris and Yulia said are all true. However, your father is just conservative. If you really have to choose, without the assistance of counselors and strategists, I think Osdu is a more qualified ruler than Osder."

"Sophia, if even you think so, it seems that I need to seriously investigate that guy again."

Osta didn't expect that his exclusive battle maid, Chris and others, had an unexpectedly high opinion of the Sixth Prince Osdu's ruling ability, which made Osta a little jealous. In his impression, the Sixth Prince Osdu, like the eldest prince Osed, was the biological son of the former queen. After the former queen passed away, the Sixth Prince was not appreciated by his father, Emperor Augustus VIII, because of his tyrannical personality, and the throne was handed over to the eldest prince Osed.

Osdu resented his eldest brother more than any other prince. As the son of the former queen, Osdu felt that his eldest brother had taken away too many of his things, and he had always been resentful and waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on his eldest brother. This matter was no secret among the nine princes. The other seven princes were not the former queen's sons, and their attitude towards this matter was basically to wait and see, and not to participate. If this problem really needed to be dealt with, it would be more appropriate to leave it to their father, Emperor Augustus VIII, to solve it.

After the carriage passed the border, it entered the Christopher region. Through the window of the carriage, Osta had a new understanding of this region. The Christopher region was a polarized region, where rich and poor places coexisted. Before arriving at the capital of the territory, Heslet City, what Osta saw and heard along the way made this gentleman prince feel a lot.

There is a huge gap between the development levels of villages and towns. The villages are dirty, messy and poor, with few livestock and no oxen to plow the fields. The carts are completely pulled by manpower, and the agricultural production technology level is low. The farmers are wearing tattered cloth shirts and sweating profusely as they work hard in the fields.

Although the crops in the fields were growing well and looking lush and green, the farmers and their wives did not show any joy on their faces. They still looked sad and did not feel happy at all because of the thriving growth of the crops. This was very abnormal.

In stark contrast to the villages are the towns. The towns in Christopher, no matter how small they are, are all well built, and the living conditions are far superior to those in the surrounding villages. The difference is so great that it seems as if the two sides are not living in the same world.

These towns have complete infrastructure, cultural and entertainment facilities, and even cathedrals. The streets are clean and tidy, and the townspeople who come and go are dressed in bright clothes and look well-groomed, with faces that indicate they are wealthy and powerful.

Aosta had never seen such a huge gap between urban and rural areas. The gap between the rich and the poor was beyond the imagination of this gentleman prince. What was most puzzling was that the farmers could accept such unequal treatment and continue to work hard in the fields. The human race's Western continent was a feudal era, and all countries had feudal systems. After establishing overseas colonies in the Central Continent, these feudal systems were basically copied intact by various countries to the Central Continent.

The aboriginals in the Central Continent were originally in a primitive society. They skipped the slave era and advanced to the feudal era. This span was a bit too big, and there was no adaptation process. However, a certain gentleman prince was not good at criticizing others in this regard. Aosta was even more excessive. He tried to skip several stages from the primitive society stage to the communist society in his own territory, the Bloomfield area.

Osta didn't know much about the situation in Heslet City. For the sake of caution, he did not go to Heslet City immediately, but stopped in Zangwell City, which was the closest to the capital of the territory, and planned to start from this town to investigate the situation in Heslet City.

Zangwell City and its surrounding areas are the second largest and richest town in the Christopher Region, second only to the territory capital of Heslet City. The scale of this town is even slightly larger than the current largest town in the Aosta Territory, the port city of St. Louis.

This made Osta somewhat embarrassed. The second largest town of the other party was slightly better than the largest town in the territory of the gentleman prince. It was really embarrassing and he broke down. Osta did not inform the other party in advance of his visit. It was a private visit. Osta did not know that the third prince would come to his territory. This guy thought that Osta was still in St. Louis, the capital of the Bloomfield area.

"Dear guests, if you don't have an invitation, please go back!"

"Sorry, our invitation fell on the road. Can you please make some concessions?"

"I'm really sorry, we can't let irrelevant outsiders into Sir Bruno's party. Please understand."

"Really? Can't you just...?"

"This is a rule set by the Lord himself. It's difficult for us to change it. If you can find the invitation, there will be no problem."

"I'll go find the invitation right away."

When Osta and his party arrived at Zangwell City, it happened to be the fiftieth birthday of the city lord, Sir Bruno. To celebrate his birthday, Sir Bruno set up a banquet in the city lord's mansion and specially invited the residents of Zangwell City to come and celebrate the birthday. Every resident who came to participate in the event had a special invitation in his hand.

Osta had originally wanted to come here to eat and drink for free, and to investigate some intelligence. But because he didn't have an invitation, he felt awkward for a moment. The guards were too conscientious and would not let anyone without an invitation through. Even if Osta hinted at giving gold coins as a bribe, the other party would not accept it.

Osta had no choice but to lead his people back. He changed into a black gentleman's suit for the banquet, similar to a magician who was about to perform on stage, and wore a tall hat that just covered his forehead and part of his face. Although he was in the Central Continent, Osta was afraid that someone would recognize his true identity, so he made a lot of necessary disguises.

Influenced by Osta, Chris and the others also dressed up a little. The three of them wore Madame Butterfly masks on their faces and wore Gothic maid outfits. The strange attire of these people, coupled with the lack of invitations, made it hard to convince people of their purpose of coming here. It was understandable that the guards would suspect that they were not invited guests.

This little problem was naturally not difficult for Osta. He lowered his head and whispered a few words in Yulia's ear. The black-haired, black-eyed beauty nodded in response, her mouth slightly raised, revealing a wicked smile. She left soon.

After a while, when the beauty returned, Yulia handed several invitations to Osta. It was like a magic trick, and no one knew how she did it. In an alley somewhere in Zangwell City, several residents were attacked and knocked unconscious by a mysterious person, and were left here. The invitations on their bodies were taken away, and they probably wouldn't wake up until the end of the banquet.

Aosta walked to the gate of the lord's mansion again, handed over the invitation in his hand, and said that he had just found it. The guards looked at each other, and after a while of silence, they finally chose to let Aosta and others pass. Although the other party's behavior was suspicious, the invitation was real, and Bruno issued invitations to the townspeople. All of them were anonymous, without even a name. Even if someone pretended to be someone else, there would probably be no direct evidence.

"I found the invitation. I'm sorry for what happened earlier. This will work, right?"

"You...you guys go in, it's okay. Don't make trouble. Today is Master Bruno's birthday party. He is in a good mood. If he is in a bad mood, it will not be good for us."

"Of course, I'm here to congratulate you, I have no other purpose."

"I hope you guys are really here to celebrate my birthday."

The guards reluctantly let several suspicious guests from Osta pass. Before letting them go, as a warning, they warned Osta in a half-joking tone and implied words not to act rashly. Although the gentleman prince agreed on the surface, he must have had other ideas in his mind.

Bruno, the city lord, was not a real noble, but an honorary noble. He bought this noble title from the lord, Prince Osto, at a high price. It was a noble honor bought with money. Bruno himself was born into a large farming family. He owned many fields and properties. He used his wealth to exchange for the status of city lord.

Nearly 60% of the arable land outside Zangwill City belongs to Bruno's private land. Many farmers from nearby villages work hard on Bruno's fields. After each harvest, after handing over most of the harvest, they can keep a little food to support their families.

After entering the city lord's mansion, before he found Bruno, Osta's eyes lit up. The celebration banquet being held in this large and luxurious private villa attracted the attention of a certain gentleman. The level and hospitality of the banquet were even comparable to the banquet for business celebrities held by the Nathaniel Chamber of Commerce on the luxurious cruise ship Edward. For such a grand event as celebrating a birthday, in order to be decent, the cost cannot be saved, and the money must be invested where it is necessary.

The maids busy at the banquet were basically young and beautiful girls with curvy bodies and attractive curves. The attendants were much more daring, with only a circle of snow-white cloth around them, like a bath towel wrapped in a hot spring. People who didn't know the truth would think they had mistakenly entered a hot spring resort instead of the banquet hall of the lord's mansion.

The snow-white apron was simply tied with a belt-like strip of cloth, and the knot could be easily untied by pulling it casually. The maids blushed and looked shy, but they still performed their duties diligently. The waiters were naked when they were working, and the exposed white shoulders had no trace of shoulder straps, delicate and attractive collarbones, and the peak in front. Most of the hemisphere area, the ravines were clearly visible, exposed to the air without reservation.

A certain gentleman prince was a professional. He could tell at a glance that the waiters had no equipment under the curtains. When they were walking back and forth, they would be teased by the gentlemen around them from time to time, and suddenly touched or pinched. These gentlemen were just dressed appropriately. Under their neat clothes, they were all hypocrites.

The waiters with white cloths were a little better. Some special waiters were only equipped with a thin, almost transparent pink tulle. After putting on this tulle, they lay horizontally on a special white porcelain plate on the table, which was filled with various delicious dishes, just like a special platter. The platters blushed, and the guests around them, while enjoying the food, commented on the platters out of bad taste. The tone and topic were quite obscene and a little unbearable to hear. Some gentlemen even deliberately shook their hands and spilled some wine and other things on the platters.

These servants were all recruited from the villages in the territory. They were reluctant to come here at first, but finally had to compromise. According to the current living standards, life in the village is far inferior to being a maid in the town. After a long time, under the pressure of life, most of the servants chose to bow to life. Bruno did not restrict the freedom of the servants, and they could leave at any time. However, once they left, they would never have the chance to come back.

The tactics of a certain city lord were really clever. Faced with the hard times, many maids finally had to compromise and would rather stay than go back. Recruitment is not permanent. If the master does not like them, they can be repatriated in three to five years and sent back to their hometowns. At the same time, they will receive a considerable reward. This management model is mostly copied from the preferential policies of various countries when repatriating the imperial army's recovered soldiers.

"Your Highness Aosta, I am sorry for not coming to meet you in person. Please forgive me."

"Sir Bruno, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm just a tourist passing by."

"I'm sorry, my eyesight may be blurry. What instructions do you have here? Do you need me to inform His Highness Osdu?"

"No, Osso has been so busy lately, I'm sorry to bother him, I have something I want to talk to you about."

Chapter 99: The Real Situation under the Tyrant’s Rule

Zangwell City, the second largest town in the Christopher region, is the closest town to the territory's capital, Hershlet City. As the second largest and richest town in the territory, the lord of Zangwell City, Sir Bruno, held a celebration of his fiftieth birthday in his own mansion and invited the town residents to a free banquet to celebrate.

Although Prince Osta was the lord of the neighboring region, the Blomfield Territory, he was still recognized by the city lord Bruno when he was lurking here. Bruno's family was one of the largest landowner families in the Obelisk Empire of the human race's western continent. Bruno had seen portraits of every member of the imperial family, including the princes and princesses.

Osta did not use a mask to disguise himself, so the other party easily recognized him. After being recognized, the gentleman prince did not panic, but quickly regained his calm expression and stated his identity very directly. Since he was discovered, he would not pretend anymore and would show his cards on the spot. Bruno's family has always supported the imperial family and is fully loyal to them.

Bruno is a smart man. His family can become a big landowner, which must be related to the support of the royal nobles of the Obelisk Empire. His attitude towards Aosta is very respectful. Although the two sides have never met before, the prince that Bruno's family mainly supports is the fourth prince Aosta. However, having one more prince as a backer is not too much, and the investment cannot be placed entirely on one prince. In case that prince falls and loses in the future competition for the throne, the Bruno family will not be killed with one blow.

Just like now, the Bruno family continued to support the fourth prince Osk, and secretly had a close cooperative relationship with the sixth prince Ausdu, obviously leaving a way out. The third prince Aosta couldn't find a way to connect with the other party before. Among the nine princes of the Obelisk Empire, the first three princes were not easy to get in touch with.

Osta looked at Sir Bruno, a white-haired old man dressed in expensive clothes and looking kind. The cunning in his eyes seemed like an old fox who had been struggling in the business world for many years. It was obvious that he would not suffer a loss easily. It was more convenient to deal with smart people. Osta naturally found a seat and sat down in front of Sir Bruno, and then began to ask him some questions.

Osta did not ask directly, but chose to ask indirectly, to find out what the Sixth Prince Osdu was busy with recently, as well as other intelligence and news. Bruno soon heard the implication of the Third Prince in front of him, who wanted to know about the Sixth Prince Osdu.

Bruno naturally did not dare to hide it since the other party had come to ask in person. When comparing the third prince with the sixth prince, the answer to which of them was more powerful was obvious. The smart people already knew the answer to which one to choose.

"Sir Bruno, I heard that a prison was recently built in the Christopher area. What is that prison used for?"

"Your Highness Osta, you are talking about Culliver Prison, right? It was newly built by His Highness Osta, and is used to detain rioters. It is heavily guarded, and it is said that not even a fly can fly out."

"By the way, Your Highness Aosta. I heard that a group of special prisoners from overseas were recently detained there, but I don't know their specific origins."

"Mobs? Sir Bruno, from what I've seen along the way, the villages in Christopher's area are indeed poor, but I haven't seen any rioting people."

"Your Highness Osta, you don't know. Sometimes, what you see with your own eyes may not be true. Under the rule of Your Highness Osta, those who can stay are obedient citizens. Those disobedient troublemakers and barbarians have long been dealt with."

"Sir Bruno, can you tell me in detail what happened? I am a little interested in the matter, just asking for information, nothing else."

"Aosta will take you down. This matter starts with the policy implemented by His Highness Aosta. He..."