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

"Not to mention people, not even a fly could get out."

They spoke with absolute certainty, but Tojo Seisuke still felt somewhat uneasy.

After personally checking twice more to confirm there were no problems, he said to the guards, "You all need to be on your guards today. Only if you can safely hand over the goods to those Illuminati members after tonight will we be considered safe. I will reward you handsomely then."

The guards nodded with absolute certainty and excitement: "Master, you can rest assured, we won't even blink an eye."

Hearing the guards' solemn promises, Tojo Seisuke smiled and nodded, finally feeling relieved for a moment.

Thinking that there were still less than three hours until dawn, he decided to go back first.

This time, he finally felt a bit sleepy when he got back, and as a wave of drowsiness washed over him, he fell asleep.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Tojo Seisuke was still fast asleep when he was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

Upon hearing the knock on the door, Tojo Seisuke jumped out of bed.

My first reaction was that something had happened.

Tojo Masasuke got up, grabbed a piece of clothing at random, and put it on.

Then he hurriedly ran to the door.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw a guard with a terrified look on his face.

Tojo Seisuke's heart skipped a beat, and then his eyes widened as he asked in a trembling voice, "What's wrong? What's wrong? What happened?"

The guard standing nearby was startled by Tojo Seisuke's appearance, his face twitching involuntarily. He then stammered to Tojo Seisuke, "The...the...master...the person...is gone..."

After reading the guard's words, Tojo Seisuke's expression turned grim as he looked at the guard and asked, "What? Who's gone? Who's gone?"

“Xiao...Xiao Ce…” the guard said with a grim expression.

Tojo Seisuke's eyes widened, and he almost roared, "How could they be gone? Didn't you say you had completely surrounded that area...didn't you say you had it completely sealed off? How could they be gone? Did you slack off?"

The guard kept shaking his head: "No...no...I didn't slack off...we didn't leave for a single moment...I..."

Seeing that he had been stammering for a long time without being able to explain clearly, Tojo Seisuke finally said, "Take me to see him."

Soon, Tojo Seisuke went to the place where Xiao Ce was being held. Outside the prison, the guards looked exhausted, but they were all very tense.

They knew very well how important this person was.

The cell was still locked up, but no one was inside.

On the way, the leader of the guards finally explained the matter clearly.

They were probably all on guard, and they swear that none of them slept last night.

Xiao Ce was sleeping in the cell with his back to them, so they didn't notice anything amiss.

It was the guards who first discovered that the man was lying in the cell sleeping, motionless.

He called out to it a few times, but it still didn't move...

He then discovered the problem, opened the cell, and found that Xiao Ce, who had been sleeping with his back to them, had turned into a scarecrow.

And Xiao Ce just vanished into thin air.

He summoned all the guards who were in charge last night and questioned them all.

The guards were quite certain, as Tojo Shōki had explained the situation to them several times, and they knew how important this person was.

Given the situation last night, even if they wanted to sleep, they didn't dare...

And so they were quite certain that not a single fly had flown by.

Everyone was on the same page, but in the end, the person just disappeared.

Tojo Seisuke walked to the door, glanced into the cell, and then said, "They've all escaped, why keep the cell locked? Open it."

The guard standing nearby, looking embarrassed, replied to Tojo Seisuke, "Master, we were just trying to preserve the scene."

"Where's that scarecrow?" Tojo Seisuke looked around.

Soon someone brought over a scarecrow dressed exactly like Xiao Ce, and this scarecrow even had a wig.

It has to be said that, judging from the background, this scarecrow is exactly the same as the real thing...

Seeing that the guard commander beside him was almost in tears, Tojo Seisuke said, "Alright, I believe you... I won't punish you... Don't worry."

The guard commander listened to Tojo Seisuke's words of comfort with disbelief, having expected Tojo Seisuke to fly into a rage.

However, Tojo Seisuke was much calmer than expected.

Just then, the guard commander nodded, walked to the door, and ordered the cell door to be opened.

Tojo Seisuke looked around and said to the guard captain, "Did any of you notice anything amiss here last night?"

The guard captain shook his head: "We didn't pay much attention to the cells, after all, we thought we'd completely surrounded them... nothing should happen..."

"So, we didn't pay much attention to it. We actually did a review. Last night was normal, there wasn't even the slightest unusual noise."

As they were speaking, the cell door was opened.

Tojo Seisuke, with his men, looked around and said, "There are no gods in this world; it's impossible to take someone away out of thin air."

As he spoke, Tojo Seisuke looked around, then stomped around the area, and soon he found a corner.

The guard commander understood and walked over, then tapped the ground.

He indeed discovered the problem. A moment later, the guard captain said with a grim expression, "It looks like there's a secret passage!"

After hearing this, Tojo Seisuke said nothing but a sinister expression, "Dig!"

As soon as he said that, they took action.

A short while later, a tunnel was indeed dug out here.

They sent one of the soldiers to try it out, and they found an exit not far from their house.

This is precisely their blind spot.

The guard commanders looked grim, wanting to explain, but Tojo Seisuke waved his hand and said, "No need to explain. This has nothing to do with you. It's obvious this was premeditated, not something done overnight..."

"Go now and take your men to blockade all ports leading out to sea. Then dispatch all ships to search the seas. All fishing boats of the Sulu Kingdom are prohibited from leaving port..."

The head of the guards nodded: "We'll need the Emperor's cooperation, otherwise, it would be difficult for us to accomplish this..."

After listening to the guard commander's words, he said, "I will go find the Emperor. Let's go do our own thing first."

"And post wanted posters. Anyone who can identify this person and provide useful information will be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces. If they can catch the person, they will be rewarded with ten thousand gold pieces!"

The guard commanders nodded: "Should we spread this message?"

Tojo Seisuke nodded: "If you're wrong, you have to admit it. There's no use in hiding. We need to take active steps to make amends. Actually, it's less than three hours. They can't possibly leave here."

The guard commanders nodded.

Tojo Seisuke then instructed his sons to lead the team.

He hurriedly went to find the Emperor.

In the old carriage, Tojo Seisuke was with his son, Tojo Senichi, whom he valued highly.

This Tojo Senichi is Tojo Koichi's younger brother. He is intelligent, and Tojo Seisuke has always felt that among his many sons...

Only Tojo Senichi is most like him.

Senichi Tojo, seated in the carriage, asked Seisuke Tojo, "Father, who do you think should do this? You don't seem too nervous..."

After reading Tojo Senichi's words, Tojo Seisuke smiled slightly and said, "What, you can tell I'm not nervous?"

Tojo Sen nodded: "Do you suspect that the person who saved Xiao Ce wasn't from the Xiao Kingdom...?"

After hearing Tojo Senichi's words, Tojo Seisuke was somewhat surprised: "Oh? Why do you think that?"

Tojo Senichi smiled faintly, then said to Tojo Seisuke, "From the way Xiao Ce came over, you can tell that he felt isolated and helpless, otherwise he wouldn't have used that method. Besides, only a few people knew that Xiao Ce had been captured, and they sent him over directly after they captured him."

"In this way, we can first send out our people in Japan. If they are from there, they will definitely take action in Japan, or even on the ship, and will not come to a place that is entirely under our control to take action. Secondly, this thing on our side is obviously not something that can be accomplished in a day."

"Furthermore, we can rule out some of Xiao Ce's people within Xiao Kingdom itself. After all, even if they received the news at the same time as us, there simply wouldn't be enough time for them to arrive..."

"In that case, it really only leaves us locals. Our own people, or their own people within the Illuminati..."

Hearing Tojo Senichi's analysis, Tojo Seisuke was very satisfied.

"Not bad...not bad, you're still very smart...continue to analyze it for me...I didn't think of this line of thinking."

Tojo Sen nodded: "Yes, Father. I suspect it's one of our own people, and also people from their Illuminati. It's actually quite simple."

"First, there's that scarecrow. You see, Xiao Ce was wearing new clothes he changed into when he landed. These clothes had to be exactly the same. This means that after someone who landed on the island was seen, they had to find someone else to match, or perhaps one of the crew members was bribed!"

Senichi Tojo stopped mid-analysis, and Tojo Seisuke exclaimed excitedly, "Senichi, you're so smart! That's definitely a premise... Then why didn't you say so sooner? Stop the car! Stop the car!"

As he spoke, Tojo Seisuke excitedly tried to stop the carriage, preparing to go...

Upon hearing this, Tojo Senichi quickly said, "Father, don't worry... don't worry... I've already sent someone..."

After listening, Tojo Seisuke smiled and nodded repeatedly: "As expected of my good son... very good, continue."

"Actually, after we captured Xiao Ce, both Tokugawa Heiyasu and Okamoto Juro were definitely jealous, and even the Emperor had the motive to take action. Secondly, there's the Illuminati. I've heard that there are several attitudes towards Xiao Ce within the Illuminati. Some want him dead, while others want him alive to use them."

"I'm more inclined to believe it was done by someone in the Illuminati who wanted Xiao Ce to live. After all, if they wanted Xiao Ce dead, they could have just killed him directly with this secret passage... there was no need to take him away."

Tojo Seisuke listened and nodded: "Your analysis is good... So, which side do you think is more likely to be involved..."

Tojo Senichi shook her head: "We'll have to see how everyone reacts before we can judge..."

"Great, Qianyi... With your analysis, even if we have problems, they won't be the biggest responsibility..."

...

As they were talking, their car arrived outside the Emperor's residence.

After requesting an audience with the Emperor, they waited.

The Emperor glanced at the sky; it was still early.

"Why are they here so early?" the Emperor asked the servant beside him.

The servant shook his head: "I don't know either. They wouldn't tell me when we asked, just saying they had something important to report..."

The Emperor scratched his head: "What's wrong? Did something happen to Xiao Ce?"

The servant shook his head again: "Emperor, he doesn't know either..."

The Emperor then leisurely changed his clothes and went to see them.

Looking at Tojo Seisuke and Tojo Senichi, he said, "You two father and son came so early, what happened? Is something wrong with Xiao Ce?"

When the Emperor casually asked this question, Tojo Seisuke and his son exchanged a meaningful glance.

Tojo Seisuke spoke up: "That's right, it's Xiao Ce who's gone missing?"

Even though the Emperor was somewhat prepared, he was still surprised: "What? Missing? Is it really Xiao Ce who's in trouble? Didn't you take it very seriously yesterday? I heard that you surrounded your residence like a siege, how could someone disappear right under your noses?"

Tojo Seisuke gave a wry smile and recounted how they had discovered the secret passage.

After saying that, he repeated the guess that Tojo Senichi had given him.

After listening, the Emperor said, "Then why are you still following my lead? Aren't you afraid that I did it? After all, according to your analysis, I have a motive! Moreover, even before you said anything, I had already guessed that it was Xiao Ce's matter. Why don't you suspect me?"

Tojo Seisuke gave a wry smile and said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, it was precisely because you asked the question from the beginning that you were cleared of suspicion. If you hadn't asked, it would have meant you had a problem. After all, my arrival so early must mean something happened... and if something happened to me, it must be related to Xiao Ce, since there's nothing else of great importance!"