Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Among the onlookers, several people wearing straw hats were searching through the crowd.

However, they were all wearing masks.

Therefore, they cannot distinguish one from the other.

Several of the young men turned to the cold, aloof girl who was in the lead and asked:

"Miss Nie, have you found any trace of Xiao Ce?"

The woman in white at the head of the group was Nie Bing, who had left with Mr. Qianlong from the northern desert and infiltrated the Qianlong Society.

Nie Bing nodded: "Found him! He's in this group. We can go back and report now."

Upon hearing Nie Bing's words, the people beside her quickly withdrew from the crowd.

...

Meanwhile, several major merchants in Anhua City, having heard the news, had already arrived at the city lord's mansion.

Several prominent business owners gathered together.

"Gentlemen, have you all thought this through? What we're doing today is going against the Emperor!" Zhao Huan, the owner of Zhao's Trading Company, said.

Qian Dahai said, "What's there to think about! Just the fact that the King of Mobei can provide us with a continuous supply of Tianshan snow sugar, Tianshan snow salt, and the latest divine wines means we can make dozens of times the profit. For that alone, we have to save the King of Mobei!"

"That's right. We also hope that the King of the Northern Desert will prosper, because only then can we prosper. The King of the Northern Desert values ​​us merchants! Only when he is doing well can we prosper..."

"There's nothing to hesitate about. We've recruited assassins from various families. Even if the imperial court investigates, they'll need evidence!"

"Excellent, we'll be waiting for Lord Xu's order soon..."

In fact, only the people of the five prefectures of Mobei truly know the real situation in Mobei.

People from the Central Plains region knew even less about it.

Even Qian Lai, who was in charge of liaising with these companies, did not tell them the real situation in Mobei.

Therefore, the information they received was actually false information spread by Xiao Ce: the four prefectures of Mobei were now under the control of General Xing Daorong, and the Turks had been driven away by Xing Daorong and Xiao Ce. As for Xiao Ce, he was under house arrest and secretly taken to the capital.

If Xu Zhiyuan saving Xiao Ce was out of gratitude, then these merchants were more concerned with their own interests.

They had already planted more than three hundred assassins around the city lord's mansion.

Now we're just waiting for Xu Zhiyuan to give the order.

...

Xiao Yang's group arrived at the entrance of the city lord's mansion.

Da Lei, who was standing next to Xiao Ce, had already sensed the danger.

He quietly approached Xiao Ce's side and whispered a warning: "Your Highness, there are people lying in ambush all around here. This is a trap."

Upon hearing Da Lei's words, Xiao Ce immediately became vigilant.

Can you confirm how many people there are?

Da Lei shook his head: "It can't be precise, but a rough estimate is over a hundred people."

Xiao Ce nodded: "Alright, I understand. We'll keep our distance from Xiao Yang. It's obvious we're here for Xiao Yang."

After Xiao Ce finished speaking, he walked straight to the end of the line.

Da Lei, along with six of the Twelve Fiends, immediately stood around Xiao Ce.

Although Xiao Yang was puzzled, he didn't feel comfortable asking what was wrong.

As Xu Zhiyuan was about to welcome Xiao Yang inside, a man who looked like a clerk was thinking of arranging the guard team outside.

Xiao Yang naturally wouldn't allow it.

Xu Zhiyuan did not insist.

Xiao Ce also realized at this moment that Xu Zhiyuan was definitely up to no good...

After entering, Xu Zhiyuan arranged a private room for Xiao Yang to rest for a while.

He then made an excuse to leave.

Watching Xu Zhiyuan leave, Xiao Yang bowed to Xiao Ce and said, "Brother, are you sure this person is trustworthy?"

Seeing Xiao Yang's wary expression, Xiao Ce smiled and said, "What's wrong? Do you feel something's off?"

Xiao Yang nodded solemnly: "Brother, I don't have any other skills. But I do have the ability to foresee danger... This Xu Zhiyuan is definitely not right."

Xiao Ce scoffed at his words: "You have no ability to foresee danger whatsoever. If you had that ability, would you have led Xing Daorong straight into my line of fire? Would you have fallen into my hands?"

When Xiao Yang saw that Xiao Ce had directly attacked his heart, his expression was extremely awkward.

"Brother, you didn't kill me, so it's normal that you didn't feel anything."

As he spoke, Xiao Yang looked at Xiao Ce's expression and said with a forced smile, "Brother, do you already know?"

Xiao Ce glanced at him: "If you can see that, do you think I can't? However, I'm certain he wasn't after me. If he wasn't after me, then he was after you? Have you offended them?"

Xiao Yang waved his hand: "Brother, absolutely not! These people aren't worth offending... I've never even met them before..."

Xiao Ce nodded in agreement: "Then let's see how it goes, like riding a donkey while reading the script..."

Xiao Yang said with a bitter face, "Brother, could you please ask the Twelve Fiends to take care of me a little... in case they're really after me... I still have to do things for you, don't I?"

In a sudden instant, Xiao Ce thought of something: "Don't worry, I have a pretty good idea of ​​what they're planning to do?"

Xiao Yang looked at Xiao Ce with increasing confusion.

Xiao Ce muttered to himself, "If I'm not mistaken, these people do have some conscience after all!"

Xiao Yang didn't quite understand.

"what?"

Xiao Ce then said to Da Lei, who was standing to the side, "Da Lei, come with me."

Just as Xiao Yang was about to ask a question, Xiao Ce interrupted him, saying, "If you don't want to die, stay here obediently."

...

Xu Zhiyuan left in a hurry because he had searched the group for a long time but could not find Xiao Ce.

He wasn't sure if Xiao Ce was in the group.

When the heads of several merchant families saw Xu Zhiyuan approaching, they quickly got up to greet him.

After Xu Zhiyuan entered the house, he looked around and then closed the door.

"Lord Xu, how is it? Have you seen the King of Mobei? Our men are all ready, just waiting for your command." Qian Dahai said excitedly to Xu Zhiyuan first.

Xu Zhiyuan said, his expression somewhat unnatural, "Don't worry, I haven't seen anyone they've imprisoned..."

Xu Zhiyuan recounted what had just happened.

Qian Dahai asked, "Could they be hiding the prince among those guards?"

Another merchant retorted, "The prince isn't stupid. If he were with the army, he would have run away long ago! It's obvious he's not here!"

"So what do we do next?"

Xu Zhiyuan said, "My idea is to get that Second Prince drunk later. After he's drunk, we'll try to get some useful information out of him. Your assassins shouldn't rush things; make sure everything goes smoothly before you make your move."

The shop owners around them nodded in agreement: "That's right, we failed to save them, but we alerted them!"

"Lord Xu, I've heard that the Second Prince enjoys fine wine and, even more so, beautiful women. Let's go get some of the newly arrived 'divine wine'; it's strong enough that after he drinks it, it'll be easier for you to extract information from him..."

Xu Zhiyuan naturally knew the value of the Immortal Wine: "Isn't this a bit too expensive?"

"Hey, Lord Xu, let's not talk about money right now. The King of the Northern Desert is our benefactor; if we save him, our money will flow in endlessly!"

Before they could finish speaking, the door was pushed open with a bang.

"So, you actually dared to openly abduct a high-ranking criminal that the prince wanted! Do you know that this is a capital offense?"

Xu Zhiyuan saw the two people who came in; they were dressed as Xiao Yang's bodyguards, and he looked nervous.

Upon seeing this, the business owners all drew their weapons, clearly intending to kill.

Seeing this, Xiao Ce stopped teasing them and laughed a few times before taking off his mask.