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

Kyoto Castle

Inside the Immortal Abode, Nie Bing was practicing the kung fu taught by the Hidden Dragon Society's Pope in her room.

Watching Xiaohuang appear silently at the door.

Nie Bing slowly stopped, took a moment to catch her breath, and then asked Xiao Huang, "What's wrong, Xiao Huang?"

Xiao Huang bowed and said in a childish voice, "Sir, the assassin sent out by Xiao Xiangqing entered the Prime Minister's residence and never came out again. He must have failed."

Nie Bing's eyes flickered, and her pretty face turned cold: "Hmph... what a waste, he can't even do such a simple thing right."

Xiao Huang didn't respond immediately but continued her report: "Also, the matter of the Prince of Zhen's suicide has been classified as suicide, and Xiao Ce hasn't been implicated. As for Xiao Ce, the Emperor has sent Xiao Yang to handle it, and he should be released soon! Should we take any action?"

Nie Bing was silent for a moment and then shook her head: "I told you, such a stupid and low-level frame-up, how could they possibly catch Xiao Ce and even try to get rid of him? Isn't that a joke? How's the investigation you asked me to do going?"

Xiao Huang nodded: "We're investigating. However, the person who notified the jailer Zhang Ba was a child. Including that mysterious letter, saying that they were going to give us a big gift, it's obviously trying to steer us in our direction."

Nie Bing rubbed his head: "It seems the waters in Kyoto are deeper than I imagined."

Xiao Huang nodded.

Nie Bing was silent for a moment: "No need to take action! Since they've already arrested Xiao Ce, let them go. We shouldn't get involved. If Xiao Ce wants to get out, this small cell can't hold him. The fact that he hasn't come out means he doesn't want to! Let's go do our thing!"

Xiao Huang looked at Nie Bing: "Sir, then we are..."

Nie Bing said to Xiao Huang, "Go find Xiao Xiangqing."

Xiao Huang nodded: "Shall we set off now?"

Nie Bing nodded: "We should act without delay. Although he failed, we can't find a more suitable puppet for the time being. Let's also take some medicine with us."

Xiao Huang nodded in agreement: "Sir, I'll make the arrangements right away."

...

Inside Xiao Xiangqing's residence.

At this moment, Gou An, dragging his wounded body, spun back and forth like a top at the entrance of the mansion.

Although Gou An had already sent people out, more than two hours had passed.

They went to ask Gou An, but Gou An knew nothing about it.

Xiao Xiangqing was filled with rage and had nowhere to vent it, so he went to Gou An to take it out on him.

Gou An paced back and forth at the door, a very bad premonition creeping into his heart.

After all, so much time has passed since the assassination attempt; if it had succeeded, they would have returned long ago.

But the lack of response for so long clearly indicates that the situation is dire.

Just as he was looking around, he saw a carriage approaching them from afar.

He suddenly felt nervous, fearing that the assassination attempt had failed and that Xiao Xiangqing would be implicated.

If that's the case, he has no doubt that Xiao Xiangqing will push him out to take the blame.

He watched helplessly as the carriage stopped directly in front of their mansion. Seeing this, his heart nearly jumped into his throat.

Although it doesn't look like a carriage from the Department of Punishments.

His legs were shaking, and he kept looking towards the carriage.

A child who looked like a pageboy got off the carriage, and I saw this child.

Gou An's anxiety subsided; he recognized the young page.

He was the personal pageboy of Mr. Qianlong.

Upon seeing this, Gou An greeted him with a fawning expression.

"Young sir, what brings you here so late at night?"

The young page ignored Gou An and instead placed a stool next to the carriage on the ground.

"Sir please!"

Then, Nie Bing, dressed in a monk's robe and dressed like Mr. Qianlong, stepped down from the carriage.

Gou An looked at Nie Bing as she came down, even though Nie Bing had wrapped herself up tightly.

He could guess the person's identity just from the way he was addressed as "little pageboy".

"Greetings, Mr. Qianlong."

After Nie Bing got off the carriage, she lowered her voice and said to Gou An, "You're not waiting for me, are you?"

Gou An prostrated himself on the ground and replied to Nie Bing, "Reporting to sir, I was not waiting for you. I did not know you were coming and did not greet you properly. Please forgive me."

Nie Bing said calmly, "Alright, you don't need to wait anymore... the person you're waiting for won't come."

Gou An's heart skipped a beat: "Sir...do you know who I'm waiting for?"

Nie Bing said calmly, "That's right, they've all been arrested by Yin Weiyong."

"Arrest them? They're all trained suicide squads; if a mission fails, they'll commit suicide by poisoning themselves." Gou An's heart skipped a beat as he explained to Nie Bing.

Nie Bing didn't continue the conversation: "This has nothing to do with me! I'm not interested either. Take me to see Xiao Xiangqing."

Gou An, sweating profusely, nodded and quickly gestured for him to proceed.

It was already past midnight.

Since Xiao Xiangqing was lying in bed with nothing to do, she couldn't fall asleep.

The main problem was that Xiao Ce and Da Lei's attacks were too tricky; he was in pain from the pain.

"Your Highness!"

Upon hearing Gou An's words, Xiao Xiangqing immediately said coldly, "Well, have the assassins all returned?"

Gou An stood outside the door, his face grim: "No...nothing..."

Before Gou An could continue, Xiao Xiangqing burst out with curses: "No, how dare you come back? What are you doing back here? You haven't been back for so long, have the people you sent out spent the night there? Useless! All of you are useless! Get out there and wait. If you fail, even if you go yourself, you have to go and kill Yin Weiyong!"

Xiao Xiangqing became somewhat hysterical, repeatedly banging things on the doorway.

Gou An's face looked worse than if he had eaten dog shit.

Nie Bing continued speaking in a low voice from the doorway, "Eighth Prince, you still have quite a temper, don't you? It seems your injuries aren't too serious!"

Upon hearing Nie Bing's words, Xiao Xiangqing, who was inside the room, felt a chill run down her spine.

This voice was all too familiar to him.

"Gou An, you bastard! Mr. Qianlong is here, why didn't you announce him? Quick...quick...come open the door and help me up."

Gou An wore a bitter expression, thinking to himself, "You didn't even give me a chance to say it!"

With that thought in mind, his hands didn't stop; he quickly went to open the door.

He then ran inside.

Seeing Xiao Xiangqing covered in injuries, still struggling to get up.

Nie Bing walked in by herself: "Alright, stop fussing around."

Xiao Xiangqing was in so much pain that he was grimacing and covered in sweat, but he forced a smile: "Mr. Qianlong, what brings you here? Although I can't get up, I've already made the arrangements, and we'll be able to take down Yin Weiyong soon!"

Nie Bing snorted coldly: "Is that so? The people you sent out were all captured alive by Yin Weiyong? Is this your ability?"

When Xiao Xiangqing heard Nie Bing say this, she stared at Gou An with wide eyes, as if she wanted to kill Gou An with her gaze.

Gou An knelt on the ground with a thud, stammering, "Your...Your Highness, I...I...I will try to find a way...First, I'll take out those assassins, and then I'll take out Yin Weiyong."

Nie Bing interrupted, "Alright, I never expected you to be able to take down Yin Weiyong."

Xiao Xiangqing's face was grim as he said, "Mr. Qianlong, this isn't my ability. I miscalculated for a moment... Please give me another chance... I promise, I will definitely... not let you down..."

Nie Bing interrupted, "I believe you."

Xiao Xiangqing was completely bewildered by Nie Bing's words: "Wh...what? Mr. Qianlong, you...you mean..."

Nie Bing said, "Your abilities are indeed very poor, but that doesn't matter. If you had Xiao Ce's abilities, you wouldn't need my help, right?"

Xiao Xiangqing's expression was uncertain, her face full of resentment, but she dared not say it.

Nie Bing asked Xiao Xiangqing, "What's wrong? You look so unconvinced. You were beaten up like this? Do you still think you're his match?"

Xiao Xiangqing lowered her head and said, "Sir, you are right. I am indeed no match for him. Please help me. I want to repay him a hundredfold, a thousandfold, for the harm he caused me."

Nie Bing said calmly, "You'll never accomplish anything great if you're driven by hatred. First and foremost, you need to let go of that hatred..."

Xiao Xiangqing nodded through gritted teeth: "Sir, as long as you teach me, I will listen to everything you say."

Nie Bing nodded: "Very good. I approve of your attitude. Let me tell you, from now on, you must complete everything I say without fail. If you disobey me in even one instance, I will no longer help you, understand?"

Xiao Xiangqing nodded his head repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice.

"Very good, now just listen to what I have to say..."

...

next day

At the Prime Minister's residence, Yin Weiyong got up early and went to inquire about it.

One of the ten assassins died, and the remaining nine have all confessed.

Looking at the confessions in front of them, Yin Weiyong said to Bat, "Sir, your interrogation methods and efficiency are much faster than those of the officials in the Department of Punishments."

The bat replied with a nonchalant expression, "Your Excellency, you flatter me... This is merely the tip of the iceberg."

"Moreover, these individuals are all assassins. Moreover, they were all privately kept by Gou An, the steward of the Eighth Prince's residence. Furthermore, it was Gou An who issued this order. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to get involved with Xiao Xiangqing."

"So, this confession probably isn't very useful."

Yin Weiyong waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's enough! It's enough! Thank you, Mr. Bat."

The bat said to Yin Weiyong, "Prime Minister, I've used up all these people. What are your plans now?"

Yin Weiyong was silent for a moment: "I'll trouble Mr. Bat to keep an eye on them first."

The bat nodded.

With that, Yin Weiyong left.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw the prime minister's steward waiting at the door.

Yin Weiyong looked at his somewhat anxious expression: "Old Fu, what's wrong?"

The steward, referred to as Old Fu, spoke up: "My lord, Gou An, the steward of the Eighth Prince's residence, requests an audience!"

Upon seeing this, Yin Weiyong's gaze sharpened, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face: "Oh? I didn't go looking for them, but they came to my door instead?"

Butler Fu said with a worried look, "Sir, they failed last night. I'm afraid they're not here with good intentions!"

Yin Weiyong waved his hand and said, "No, no! They've probably realized they've failed, so they've come to beg for mercy..."

"Besides, the Second Prince said that they were also sent to kill me on someone else's behalf. It wouldn't hurt to go and see them."

As he spoke, he looked at the Xie Zhi that was standing beside him.

"Mr. Xie Zhi, what do you think?"

The Xie Zhi nodded: "If it were an assassination attempt, they wouldn't come knocking. Even if they have other intentions, we're all by your side, and we will not let them harm you in the slightest."

Having received the Xie Zhi's affirmation, Yin Weiyong quickly bowed and expressed his gratitude.

Then he instructed Steward Fu to bring Gou An in.

...

Meanwhile, outside the imperial prison.

There was a carriage, and inside the carriage was a young man dressed in fine clothes.

The man's face was covered, only his eyes were visible.

Inside the carriage sat three men dressed as jailers, but their faces suggested they were not to be trifled with.

"The three of you are the top assassins in our Xiao Kingdom. We're counting on you this time."

Three men dressed as jailers said, "Young master, please rest assured. We three brothers have never made a mistake since we started this business."

The masked young man nodded and took out a portrait.

The portrait is of Xiao Ce.

"This is the person you're supposed to kill. He might be accompanied by a powerful expert, so be careful."

The man at the head, dressed as a jailer, nodded: "Young master, no problem. Experts? With us three brothers, they'll have to obediently accept their fate."

The masked young man saw the three assassins with arrogant expressions and nodded.

"Alright, then I'll wait for your good news. Please wait a moment, someone will come to pick you up shortly. Once it's done, you can leave here, and I will pay you the promised reward."

The three assassins nodded.

After they waited there for a while, someone knocked on the carriage door from outside.

The masked youth opened the carriage door and saw a man dressed as a jailer standing outside.

The man nodded to the masked youth: "Young master."

The masked youth smiled slightly: "These three people are in your hands. Once this is done, I will fulfill my promise to you!"