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

The confidant shook his head and said, "They weren't sent by the King of the Northern Desert. It seems to be the group that gave us the information on the ship..."

Koichi Tojo got out of bed upon hearing this, pondered for a moment, and said, "Go and invite him over. Remember to search him..."

The confidants nodded respectfully upon hearing this.

A short while later, he arrived with a person who looked like a palace servant.

After they arrived at the door.

The confidant continued speaking to Koichi Tojo from outside the door: "Young Master Koichi, the person has arrived and has been checked. There are no problems."

Koichi Tojo then opened the door and glanced at the ordinary-looking, ordinary-height, and ordinary-everything person.

"Young Master Gu Yi." The palace servant bowed to his trusted confidant.

"You're looking for me?" Koichi Tojo asked the palace servant, looking him over.

The palace attendant nodded: "That's right. To be precise, our master is looking for you. You should know our master, right? I was the one who brought you the message yesterday..."

The palace servant was very direct, getting straight to the point.

Tojo Koichi nodded: "Okay, come in."

After the palace servants followed Tojo Koichi into the house.

After sitting down, Tojo Koichi asked, "You've come to see me so openly. Aren't you afraid of being discovered by Xiao Ce?"

The palace servant smiled and shook his head: "If Xiao Ce had the ability to discover this, Eva and Rhys wouldn't have died!"

Although these palace servants were all under the command of Feng Gui, they were not part of the group that received the orders to poison Rhys and Eva.

Therefore, they were unaware that those people had actually been discovered and bribed by Xiao Ce long ago.

They thought they were doing it secretly, but in reality, Xiao Ce was observing them all.

Seeing his confident demeanor, Tojo Koga smiled but didn't respond. Instead, he changed the subject, asking a question about himself...

"What brings you here this time?"

The palace attendant said, "Our master wishes to invite you to meet him..."

Koichi Tojo asked, "Where shall we meet?"

The palace attendant said to Tojo Koichi, "It's outside the palace; he'll arrange a place. Here's the address..."

As she spoke, the palace attendant handed Tojo Koichi a slip of paper.

The note was sealed with a wax coating, which had a pattern on it to prevent outsiders from opening it.

After rubbing off the wax coating, Koichi Tojo opened the envelope and glanced at it.

He then said to the palace servants, "I understand!"

The palace attendant asked Tojo Koichi with a puzzled look, "Will you go?"

Tojo Koichi said to the palace servant, "You don't need to know this, do you?"

The palace maid looked slightly embarrassed after being retorted by Koichi Tojo...

"You can go now! If your husband asks, just say, 'I don't want to reveal anything to you, I don't want to know if I should go...'"

The palace maid nodded.

Seeing that Tojo Koichi's expression seemed to indicate that he was about to get angry, he stopped talking and simply bowed and left.

After watching this person leave.

A trusted aide asked Koichi Tojo, "Young Master Koichi, are you going or not?"

Koichi Tojo smiled and said, "It's alright if you go..."

Before his trusted confidants could respond, Tojo Koichi had all his staff members discuss the matter together.

After discussion, they reached a consensus.

That means I should go and see them.

...

Just when everyone thought they had done these things perfectly,

Xiao Ce listened to the reports one by one.

He seemed to have a god's-eye view, seeing everything clearly...

It's a strange feeling, like when you're playing a card game and your opponent reveals their hand...

As each individual gave their report...

It wasn't until the last person reported that the people of Fusang had decided to go...

Xiao Ce stretched and said to Xiao Jiu, "Xiao Jiu, there shouldn't be any more news, right?"

Xiao Jiu said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, there shouldn't be any more news... They've all gone to sleep..."

Xiao Ce said to Xiao Jiu, "You're something else! You've figured out everything that's happening in the palace. That's even more impressive than installing surveillance cameras..."

Xiao Jiu scratched his head and said, "Your Highness, isn't this your original plan? We didn't implement it here before because we didn't have enough manpower... We did it this way back in the Northern Desert Prince's Mansion!"

Xiao Ce was stunned when he heard Xiao Jiu's words.

Because he was quite certain that he had not thought of a similar method.

He looked at Xiao Jiu with suspicion and asked, "Are you sure I told you that?"

Xiao Jiu nodded first, then shook her head and said, "Of course, you didn't tell me directly. It was the Princess... the Princess told me about this method. It's called surveillance mode."

"It involves assigning people to various locations to record events happening every hour. Then, someone else collects these records and aggregates them on a monitoring terminal. After recording, they filter out the important information and report it..."

"I arrived earlier. This team is in post-production. I had them come over—or rather, they just arrived today—to test the deployment..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ce immediately envisioned a surveillance network in his mind, albeit one using the most basic methods...

That means using an individual as a monitor, with each location consisting of a group of four people, and their messages need to be integrated.

This confirms that they have no erroneous records or omissions.

Xiao Ce suddenly remembered that he had indeed written about such a thing when he was at the Northern Desert Prince's Mansion.

Unexpectedly, Yin Pan'er is truly a talent; she actually managed to replicate this event using someone else.

This is absolutely amazing, so imaginative...

After Xiao Jiu finished explaining, seeing Xiao Ce's surprised expression, she asked, "Your Highness, you didn't know about this before?"

Xiao Ce shook his head and gave a wry smile: "I really don't know..."

Xiao Jiu then realized that Xiao Ce hadn't actually stayed at the Northern Desert Prince's Mansion for very long.

Even over there, Xiao Ce was incredibly busy; Yin Weiyong was managing all these matters...

Seeing this, Xiao Jiu said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness...shouldn't this be recorded...?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Of course it needs to be recorded!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce seemed to remember something and asked Xiao Jiu, "Am I being monitored all the time now?"

Xiao Jiu nodded: "No, everything about Your Highness is kept confidential. Unless you request it, we will not monitor you. Of course, some situations with other people will be recorded..."

After listening, Xiao Ce smiled and said, "That's fine then... Don't record my private life..."

As he spoke, Xiao Ce said, "I didn't even notice."

Xiao Jiu said, "These people were all trained by Mr. Night Owl before..."

"Does that mean there's no way to monitor them after they leave the palace?" Xiao Ce asked.

Xiao Jiu nodded again: "Reporting to you, sir, that's right... Once we leave the palace, we're helpless. After all, within the palace grounds, everything is under our control; once we leave, it's no longer within our control..."

Xiao Ce nodded: "Very good... We can train more people like this..."

Xiao Jiu nodded: "I also think that kind of person is great. So, I've definitely trained a lot..."

Just then, Da Lei walked over.

Xiao Jiu then very sensibly withdrew.

Da Lei didn't take it seriously and walked straight up to Xiao Ce.

Xiao Ce asked Da Lei, "Da Lei, did you make any progress with that Blood Nether Pavilion?"

Because of yesterday's news, Xiao Ce heard from Da Lei that they had located the Blood Nether Pavilion's stronghold in the capital.

They only tracked down one person, named Wang Dequan, who ran a security escort agency.

He was called Wang Dequan, but he was actually Feng Gui. Wang Dequan was just his public name.

As for their stronghold, they were afraid of alerting the enemy and dared not go there rashly.

Da Lei nodded to Xiao Ce: "Your Highness, not bad... We spent a lot of effort, and we really did find out who lived in that house..."

Looking at Da Lei's expression, Xiao Ce subconsciously asked, "Judging from your expression, what's wrong with those people? Do you think I know them?"

Da Lei was truly shocked to hear Xiao Ce say this.

"Your Highness, are you really able to read my mind? Are my symptoms that obvious?"

Hearing Da Lei say this, Xiao Ce became even more puzzled: "Is it really someone I know? Someone I know who is related to the Blood Nether Pavilion?"

Xiao Ce thought for a long time, but really couldn't come up with an answer.

Who is it...?

Da Lei didn't beat around the bush and directly took out two portraits.

The first portrait was of a short-haired woman whom Xiao Ce did not recognize.

When the second portrait was revealed, Xiao Ce recognized it at a glance.

"Nie Bing!"

Xiao Ce looked on in surprise and said to Da Lei, "You're not mistaken, are you?"

Da Lei told Xiao Ce that he had asked one of the Twelve Fiends, who was skilled in portraiture, to find many people who had come into contact with those people.

It was drawn based on their description.

To be on the safe side, Da Lei did not go over there, lest he alert the enemy.

"Unless those describing their appearance are lying... there's simply no way there could be a problem..."

"This is really unexpected... How could Nie Bing be a member of the Blood Nether Pavilion? Wasn't he... in... in the Hidden Dragon Society?"

Xiao Ce found it somewhat unbelievable.

Da Lei nodded: "Based on their description, Nie Bing seems to hold a rather high position..."

Xiao Ce found it interesting.

Da Lei said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, what should we do next? Should we go and close the net now, or... wait a little longer..."

To be honest, I received quite a lot of information all at once.

Xiao Ce needed a moment to process this, so he paced back and forth a few steps.

He then muttered to himself as he sorted through his thoughts.

"In other words, Nie Bing was also the mastermind behind the assassination of Ries and Eva."

"The person who contacted Japan was also Nie Bing..."

"Damn it! This woman promised me she'd help me infiltrate the Hidden Dragon Society and dig out information about those people before she left, but then she just vanished without a trace."

"Instead of helping me, he's getting me into trouble... I haven't done anything wrong..."

As Xiao Ce spoke, he noticed that Da Lei's expression was somewhat unnatural...

Xiao Ce then said to Da Lei, "Da Lei, what's wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?"

Da Lei nodded and replied, "Your Highness, I heard it from the Twelve Fiends...it seems the Princess Consort might have left with this Nie Bing...but nobody has concrete evidence..."

Xiao Ce called out twice towards the outside: "Xiao Jiu! Xiao Jiu!"

Xiao Jiu heard Xiao Ce's words and ran in.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

Xiao Ce asked Xiao Jiu, "The surveillance system you mentioned that we just had here is also present in the Northern Desert Prince's Mansion, right?"

Xiao Jiu nodded: "That's right!!"

Xiao Ce asked Xiao Jiu, "Before the princess left, were there any records of who she met in the palace and what she did?"

Xiao Jiu didn't know what Xiao Ce meant, but she nodded nonetheless.

He then added, "Of course, we don't know about some private areas."

Xiao Jiu then asked, "Do you want to investigate what happened before the princess disappeared?"

Xiao Ce nodded.

Xiao Jiu said, "Prime Minister Yin has already read these documents countless times and hasn't noticed anything unusual at all..."

Xiao Ce was somewhat disappointed.

Xiao Jiu noticed the portrait on the table and asked, "Your Highness, how do you have a portrait of Miss Nie Bing? What does the Princess's disappearance have to do with Miss Nie Bing?"

Xiao Jiu was very clever; she deduced some clues from a portrait on the table.

Xiao Ce nodded, signaling Da Lei to speak.

Xiao Jiu was indeed surprised after hearing this, and then fell into a reverie.

"Your Highness, after what Mr. Lei said, I have indeed remembered... something."

Seeing Xiao Jiu's expression, Xiao Ce quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Jiu said, "Not long after the princess disappeared, we found a body... but we have never been able to identify the body."

"Because when this body was discovered, the skin on its face had been peeled off... and the body was already badly decomposed! According to the coroner's examination, the body had been dead for about a month. However, based on some identifiable features, the person resembled a palace maid who served the princess, but the time of death did not match up."

"Because according to the maid's time of death... that maid who was always seen by the princess's side at that time. Even I saw her several times. From their disappearance to the discovery of the body, there were at most seven days, and the two timelines simply don't match. Later, the coroner said that it was possible that one of the maids stole something from the princess's maid! In the end, because they couldn't figure it out, the matter was left unresolved..."

Da Lei slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Then it all makes sense! It seems the princess's disappearance is inextricably linked to their Blood Nether Pavilion..."