Now that the nobles have reached such a consensus, what about the old soldiers who revolted
The Witch of the Night looked at the speechless nobles. After a while, a noble who was sweating profusely raised his hand and said calmly that if nothing unexpected happened, those guys should be the influencers of the recent "rumors".
"From a long time ago, there were people spreading some rumors in the border areas - specifically, they were belittling the Queen while praising the Regent's previous achievements and good days.
We thought this was public opinion that could be used, so we didn't pay much attention to the spread of these rumors. But we didn't expect that after these rumors spread to the central region, they had an unexpected effect... "
"You mean, because of those rumors - because of those facts, the retired veterans in the Central District just stood up and wanted to resist?"
Hearing this, the Night Witch finally couldn't help but speak out in confusion: "How is this possible... Don't they have wives and children to support? Even if we don't consider whether we can survive, what about their wives and daughters?"
In the eyes of the Night Witch, even if there is an uprising, at least those retired veterans have to take care of their families and consider whether their families can survive after their death, right
Faced with the Night Witch's confusion, the nobles, especially those of the lower class, simply showed extremely strange expressions.
They knew that the Night Witch was the archmage in the Mage Tower, and that she had no regard for the people's sentiments. That was why they missed the time when Yang Hao was still around - at least the regent who had taken office after the death of the previous emperor was doing real work.
Therefore, after they were silent for a while, someone stood up and told the witch an extremely cruel fact.
In the central region of the Roman Empire, not to mention the normal food rations, even the abnormal food rations were taken away by some officials who were blinded by profit.
They not only took away the clean grain, but also the "rotten grain" mixed with mud, sand and sour flour.
Not only that, they were even so cruel as to secretly charge a high price for the "rotten food" in an attempt to make a lot of money with the food that was originally intended to be given to the refugees for free.
As a result, the refugees in the central area were afraid to go north after hearing about the failure of the north. The southern military district also said that the central area was too far away, so they were finally forced into a desperate situation.
When they are forced into a desperate situation, they will naturally choose to vent their anger on all the current officials, including the current emperor.
"We don't want bread! We want a regent!" In fact, it is their own demands after recalling the bad days they had in the past, while the slogan "Kill the Queen" is due to the deep-rooted public resentment.
The public simply did not understand that the Queen was just a target pushed forward by the royal family.
Even if they knew, they would only wishfully think that as long as the Queen died and the Regent returned, everything would be fine.
"So... this is the people under our control." The western rancher shrugged. "Only people who are well fed have room to think. And it is obvious that the people in the central area are not well fed at all - not only that, they are also stupid."
"Whose fault do you think this is?"
"It's meaningless to talk about right and wrong. If we insist, everyone in the "Quiet Exile Incident" is the fucking culprit. We shouldn't pay attention to that now. We can't come to a conclusion even if we discuss these things for three days and three nights."
The rancher ended the topic with this sentence. Of course, they did not have the time to reflect on their past mistakes. The most important thing now was to continue to accumulate their own strength before the old rebels were wiped out.
After this uprising, the Roman Empire will certainly be wary of various internal developments.
Almost everyone was cursing the old soldiers who had revolted. The Night Witch sighed and stood aside, holding her staff.
The witch heaved a sigh of relief after learning that these nobles had no intention of killing the little queen.
But she also knew that the goal of these nobles was to "control", and the process of "control" did not mean that they would not kill other people.
I wonder if the presiding judge Natalia will suffer bad news because of this.
…
On the other side, in the central area, near the villages and towns of the veterans of the uprising.
The scale of this uprising was probably the largest in the history of the Roman Empire, and it was also destined to be recorded in history books as the "first".
About 500 veterans gathered together and commanded nearly 500 desperate refugees to build a defense line.
These veterans who had participated in the Barbarian War were well aware of the strength of the National Army and the power of the Witch of Night. They also understood that as long as they could hold on to the first wave of offensive, they would be able to help those who were also starving in other places to stand up.
Therefore, they built their fortress to be extra strong. They built the fortress underground, covered their left eye with a black cloth to adapt to the darkness, and even prepared a large number of traps in the tunnel in advance, dug a large number of ventilation holes, and reserved an escape route.
Although it looked like just a simple underground passage, the veterans were actually confident that they could hold out for two days under the threat of enemy forces that were several times their number.
As long as there is enough food - but the question is where to get the food here
The old soldiers gathered together to talk about the official who had come to sell grain at a high price. The head of the official was impaled on a spear and swayed in the wind. After killing the official, the old soldiers were completely desperate.
They have to hold on.
"So... the food that shit-eating guy brought can only last us one day at most. Unless we go to plunder other places or officials' granaries now, but it's too late now."
"I'm more worried about the cold and dampness than this... It's winter now! It's too cold to light a fire in the tunnel without any ventilation."
"Then we shall..."
The veterans discussed and chattered, not knowing what to do. They were just veterans who could fight, but they were not NCOs, so they did not understand strategy and tactics.
They could only make plans based on experience, and just when they were discussing it so hard, the old soldier who was directing the refugee camp repair outside said that the people seemed to have something wrong and were making a fuss, and there was no way to calm them down for the time being.
What on earth is going on
The veterans looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, everyone rushed to the scene with weapons in hand. When they arrived at the scene, they found that the people were hammering something in a hole that had been dug not long ago.
It was a solid pipe. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be part of the heating pipe built by His Majesty the Regent a few years ago.
The plan was to radiate from the capital to the surrounding areas step by step. In other words, the pipelines here had already been buried underground for a year or two.
So what are you doing banging on these pipes
The veterans were confused. After they pulled a skinny farmer over to ask him about it, they realized that the farmers were planning to knock down the pipes and carry them with them, like a cross, as a blessing from the Regent and as a psychological support.
"Master Bing! His Majesty the Regent has never publicized where he was born, nor what he likes. So, we can only dismantle the pipeline he built into iron sheets, and then everyone takes a few pieces with them, hoping for his protection..."
It turned out that these peasants were worried about the war that would follow the uprising, so they wanted to seek some comfort from His Majesty the Regent.
As it turned out, His Majesty the Regent was not someone who liked to publicize his own achievements, or erect statues everywhere to establish that something was considered a holy object.
He left almost nothing worth remembering, so everyone had to work with the heating pipes they stumbled across.
The veterans looked at each other, and in the end most of them chose to understand the farmers' anxiety.
After all, to be honest, they would feel uneasy when they went to the battlefield. But under the encouragement of the late emperor, most of them would temporarily forget their fear, shout for war, and move forward bravely - that was all.
Now there is no late emperor or regent to lead them, and they feel uneasy as they have impulsively started an uprising without any leader.
In fact, these veterans are similar to these farmers. They also need some psychological comfort and some protection from the upper class.
"Let's go get one too." Someone suggested, "His Majesty the Regent will bless us."
"Yes, let's go knock one too."
Everyone responded, stepped forward, and joined the refugees in hitting the iron blocks on the pipe with the tools and weapons in their hands.
The rusty pipes were broken into pieces, and everyone was eager to put the sharp fragments in their pockets or backpacks.
In this pipe that has never been opened, the spiders and insects that make the pipe their home are fleeing in panic.
The refugees quickly caught these little bugs with joy. They felt that this was a gift from the great Regent King, and they eagerly shared and ate them.
The famine in the Roman Empire affected many people in the empire. For the peasants, it was the first time they knew what human flesh tasted like.
For the garrison in the royal capital, these peasant uprisings undoubtedly brought them a lot of trouble.
Knight Robert, the Knight Commander of the Royal Capital, followed orders and began to organize his troops to wipe out the rebels. After returning to the palace, the Witch of Night was also assigned a new task.
She had to assist Knight Robert in dealing with the rebels, find out the origin of the rebellion, and more importantly, she had to take good care of the little queen.
The prince said that the queen could not die yet. She had to hold on until the day of the marriage. She absolutely could not die, at least not before giving birth to the child.
The Night Witch lowered her head and chose to accept it, and was relieved by this sudden convenience.
On the other hand, the little queen, who was regarded as the target of public criticism, was strolling leisurely in the courtyard with the former president of the court, whom she regarded as a mother.
They had already received news from the elves and knew that it was not Yang Hao's work at all.
They no longer care about this country. They don't care about this country at all, and naturally they don't care what happens to the people in the country.
The little queen whimpered, looking forward to the day when her other father would rescue her.
The chief judge was thinking that if the situation became more urgent, she would have to ask the elves to take the little queen away in advance to prevent her from encountering any accidents.
…
The former court president Natalia had already considered herself the mother of the little empress. Even though the age difference between them was probably less than fifteen years, during this time together, she had already treated the little empress as her own child.
She felt heartbroken for what the little queen had gone through and empathized with the pain of having her tongue pulled out.
She hated everyone in the palace except the little queen, hated the saint who treated herself like an ostrich and was even more disgusted by the witch of the night who was capable of doing anything but did nothing.
But now, what is more important than disgust is to do everything possible to ensure the safety of the little queen—
The little queen may not be old enough to realize the seriousness of the problem, but Natalia is very clear that the situation is particularly dangerous for the little queen.
On the one hand, it is because His Majesty Yang Hao of Caparia is unable to rescue them.
The capital of the Roman Empire is a heavily guarded place. Just because the elves can sneak in with magic doesn't mean they can rescue both him and the little queen.
Prince Gassen had long ago had his wizard cast a treacherous spell on them.
They could not leave the palace. As long as they left the palace, all the troops of the Roman Empire would know their exact location.
At that time, the elves' wizards would not be able to sneak in and cast teleportation spells, so the elves could only take them away by land.
By then, on land, the elves' movement speed will definitely not be able to catch up with the speed of the Roman Empire army, which is supported by a network of portals everywhere.
As "locators", they will expose their location throughout the process and cause misfortune to the elves.
By then, the little queen might still be able to save her life, but I would definitely die. It didn't matter if I died, but how the little queen would be treated afterwards was a good question.
So after thinking it over, Natalia never begged her Majesty to come and save them earlier.
She knew very well that it was not the time to take them away at all costs, but now it seemed... maybe she still needed to make more preparations.
As the former president of the Roman Empire, Natalia has always had the opportunity to come into contact with magical powers.
In addition to the four common magics, the spells she came into contact with most were the spells commonly used by some assassins to "die to show their will."
These spells are meaningless in most cases, but now that both parties have been cast under a positioning spell, Natalia may be able to use her own life to transfer the spell on the little queen to herself, allowing herself to bear the "positioning" of both people and then stay behind the palace, allowing the little queen to leave this painful place early.
Natalia didn't care how she would be treated, but if possible, she wanted to see the Regent King, her King Yang Hao, who was exiled by her.
Ah, Your Majesty, my Your Majesty... I wonder if you still remember my existence
At night, the president of the court stared at the night view outside the iron-barred window in his small bedroom.
The Roman Empire is already crumbling, and Her Majesty has a chance to save the little empress soon - but she doesn't know if Her Majesty still remembers her in his heart
Would he resent his exile? Would he neglect himself? Would he save only the little queen
Natalia thought it didn't matter. Because she was also a person who made mistakes. If she had been able to fight back in court despite his frustration, perhaps the empire would not be in such a state now...
…
"well… "
The former president of the court sighed softly.
What kind of stupid thing is she thinking
As a legal worker, she knows best that there are no ifs in this world.
Those who try to make amends in the hope of getting lucky will probably get nothing in the end and can only be immersed in the thought of "what if..."
"Let's take good care of Anna first..."
The former court president was drowsy, tossing and turning in bed, trying to force herself to sleep. But at this moment, she didn't know if it was her illusion.
The moment before she closed her eyes, she seemed to see a familiar shadow stirring through the window...
What is that
Natalia was stunned for a moment. She squinted her eyes and took a closer look, and found that it seemed to be the shadow of the Night Witch holding a staff.
What is she doing out at this time
The former president of the court shrugged. Although he wanted to find out what was going on, he decided not to do anything dangerous as he was imprisoned.
Early in the morning of December 9th.
When Natalia came to the little queen's bedroom after washing up, she washed the dazed little Anna.
The Witch of the Night is also in this room for some reason.
Natalia glared at her former best friend, but the Witch of the Night simply shook her head and said that she had received orders to "guard" them during this period of time.
"To guard us? Humph... It would be better if you just told us that you are here to kill us at any time."
"Well… "
"My little queen, ignore her. Come, open your mouth and gently swallow this cool liquid... Come."
Natalia ignored the existence of the Night Witch, and after a snort, she continued to take care of her little queen as usual.
The Witch of the Night remained silent. She just watched the little queen and the president's every move, and this monitoring.