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

"If something happens to me, it must be Xiao Ce's problem, since there's nothing else of great importance... So, your reaction actually means that you're fine."

After listening, the Emperor raised an eyebrow and then said, "So, who do you suspect by coming to me?"

Tojo Seisuke shook his head: "We don't know either. After all, this is a very big matter. We still think we should let the Emperor help us make a decision!"

After listening to Tojo Seisuke's words, the Emperor smiled and said, "I'm just helping with the decision; how could I possibly know? However, your method is indeed a good idea. Let's summon Tokugawa Heijikazu and Okamoto Juroku and see their reactions!"

"If they're alright, we'll go find the Illuminati. As for your speculations about the Illuminati, there's no need to elaborate..."

Tojo Seisuke nodded: "Your Majesty, then so be it."

The Emperor nodded, then said to Tojo Seisuke, "However, you should also be mentally prepared."

After hearing the Emperor's words, Tojo Seisuke frowned slightly and said, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by that?"

The Emperor said calmly to Tojo Seisuke, "What do you mean? Isn't it clear enough? I can believe your words, but will the Illuminati believe them?"

With a grim expression, Tojo Seisuke said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, so you mean they will hold me accountable?"

The Emperor nodded, then added, "Of course, don't worry too much... it's not something that's 100% certain to happen..."

Tojo Seisuke nodded: "That's right. I have nothing to hide. If I were really going to bring him here and then release him... why would I bother capturing him in the first place..."

The Emperor comforted him, saying, "Don't worry too much... I just wanted you to prepare yourself mentally..."

Tojo Seisuke nodded in agreement: "Then, Your Majesty, go and summon Tokugawa Heijikazu and Okamoto Juroku. If it really was them, we can still persuade them to stop before it's too late. Before the Illuminati finds out, we can finish the job!"

The Emperor nodded in agreement: "That makes sense... You should go and rest for a while. I'll tell you as soon as they arrive..."

Tojo Seisuke shook his head and said, "I'll just wait here. I'm not in the mood to rest."

The Emperor smiled and nodded, saying, "Alright, then you..."

Just as the Emperor was about to finish speaking, he saw someone outside who seemed to have something to say.

The Emperor then spoke directly to the person, saying, "What's wrong? Just say what's on your mind..."

A servant at the door said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, the two heads of the Tokugawa clan, Heijikasu and Okamoto Juro, have arrived."

The Emperor asked with some surprise, "Oh? Both of them have come?"

The servant nodded.

The Emperor looked at Tojo Seisuke and said, "You see, they came uninvited!"

Tojo Seisuke gave a wry smile and nodded: "It seems they already know... Their information network is really impressive."

The Emperor nodded: "Should we summon them directly to meet us together? Or..."

Tojo Seisuke said, "Your Majesty, I'm fine... I think we should all talk together. After all, it's better to speak frankly..."

The Emperor nodded: "Okay."

Then the Emperor told his servants to bring the person over directly.

After giving his instructions, the Emperor asked Tojo Seisuke, "What do you think? Do you think they might be involved in this?"

Tojo Seisuke shook his head: "Actually, in my opinion, they wouldn't do that. They might be envious, but they wouldn't, and they wouldn't dare to... After all, they know that all the forces of the Illuminati are here, so they have no reason to do it. Moreover, they have a blood feud with Xiao Ce... If it were an assassination, it might be them... But to steal him away directly, I'm almost certain it wouldn't be them."

"Of course, we'll only know once they arrive."

...

Tokugawa Heijikasu and Okamoto Juroku watched as the servants beside the Emperor approached.

"How about it?"

The servant said, "The Emperor is waiting."

Tokugawa Heiji said with some doubt, "Oh? Is the Emperor up this early today?"

Okamoto Juroku continued, "Did someone else come before us?"

The servant nodded.

Tokugawa Heiyasu and Okamoto Juroku asked in unison, "Is it Tojo Seisuke?"

The servant nodded.

As he spoke, he gestured for the two of them to proceed.

So the two of them looked at each other.

So I followed them.

After the two men entered, the Emperor didn't wait for them to speak before saying, "Your information network is quite extensive, isn't it?"

The two men smiled faintly, then said, "Hey, we knew Xiao Ce was important... We thought that with Tojo Seisuke's elaborate protection, everything would be fine. Who knew, problems still arose. What happened?"

Tojo Seisuke asked the two men, "You both know that Xiao Ce ran away, but surely you don't know how he escaped?"

The two men said warily, "Tojo Seisuke, you don't suspect that it was us who did it, do you? The reason we know is because we sent people to keep an eye on your situation. We thought that if anything happened to you, we could come and help in time."

"Yes, it's true that we're jealous that you managed to catch Xiao Ce. But we're not stupid when it comes to matters of principle..."

Seeing their reactions, Tojo Seisuke smiled and said, "Alright, that's what I just said with the Emperor... I also don't think you did it."

After listening to Tojo Seisuke's words, the Emperor nodded in agreement.

Then, the Emperor said to the two men, "Didn't you already know? Why are you here reporting to me again?"

Tokugawa Heiji nodded: "Firstly, that's true. Secondly, I'd like to ask what exactly happened. We've only heard some things, and I'm not entirely clear on the details."

"The Illuminati will definitely hold those responsible accountable for something this important. Although it concerns Tojo Seisuke, as we've said before, we are very clear about right and wrong when it comes to matters of principle."

“That’s right. No matter what, we are all one. This is called sharing the same fate. Even if Tojo Seisuke loses face, the Illuminati will not blame Tojo Seisuke’s family. We will not be implicated.”

After listening to what the two of them said, he smiled and said, "I didn't realize... you two are quite enlightened!"

The two men chuckled and said, "That's right... So what exactly happened?"

Tojo Seisuke then recounted the story... After he finished, the two nodded.

"It seems someone planned this all along..."

Has anyone contacted you?

The two then asked Tojo Seisuke, "Not yet, but it should be soon. You already know that?"

Tojo Seisuke nodded and said, "That's right, you all know, how could they not know? They're probably already here... But even if they come, they won't be looking for me. They'll be looking for the Emperor."

Then, Tojo Seisuke said, "By the way, enough of that, let's get down to business... I've already sent people out to search, could you lend me one of your men for a bit... If you find it, it'll be a great achievement for you..."

Okamoto Juro smiled helplessly: "Tojo Seisuke, you don't need to say these things, we can help you find it."

"Exactly! Head of the Tojo family, I see now... you're still too distant. After all that's happened, we've all seen through many things..."

Tokugawa Heiyasu said.

After listening, Tojo Seisuke smiled and then said, "That's not what I meant either..."

Before Tojo Seisuke could finish speaking, an imperial servant rushed over.

Before the Emperor could even ask, a servant anxiously reported, "Your Majesty, the Illuminati has arrived..."

Upon hearing the servant's words, everyone immediately stood up.

After exchanging a glance, the Emperor said, "Go and invite them over quickly."

The Emperor then waved his hand and said, "I'll go with you to pick them up."

Seeing the other family heads looking at him, he asked, "Why don't you all come together?"

Before the other family heads could speak, the servants finally seized the opportunity to interject.

"Your Majesty, the three family heads are invited by the Illuminati. They are not the ones coming to you..."

After a moment of surprise, the Emperor asked, "Did you just invite me... or did you invite all of us?"

The servant awkwardly replied that he didn't know either...

He didn't ask.

Tojo Seisuke said to the Emperor, "His Majesty the Emperor and the others have come to see you, they must have something to say about this... I'll go with you."

Tokugawa Heiji and Okamoto Jurochi said they wanted to go too.

The Emperor then said, "You shouldn't go... In case anything goes wrong, you can still figure something out from outside..."

Tokugawa Heiyasu asked the Emperor, "They shouldn't arrest you, right...?"

The Emperor said, "Shouldn't we be considering the worst-case scenario?"

They were all nodding.

Without further ado, they said, "We'll be waiting for you here..."

The Emperor took Tojo Seisuke out, and Tojo Senichi wanted to follow.

"Senichi, if they leave me there, you will take over the Tojo family."

As he spoke, Tojo Seisuke produced his family head's token.

Tokugawa Heiyasu and Okamoto Juroku both said, "Tojo probably wouldn't go that far."

Tojo Seisuke gave an awkward smile: "It's certainly not that bad, but who knows what they'll do... In the eyes of the Illuminati, we're not human beings at all, but tools."

Tokugawa Heijikasu and Okamoto Juro listened and nodded approvingly.

After going downstairs, a Westerner was waiting for me.

Tojo Seisuke asked the Westerner, "Sir, may I come along?"

The Westerner laughed and said, "Of course! You should know what this is about now."

Tojo Seisuke nodded and didn't beat around the bush: "That's right, it should be the missing Xiao Ce."

The Westerner said, "That's right, we need an explanation from you."

The Emperor asked, "Are the representatives of the Illuminati very angry?"

The Westerner shook his head awkwardly: "I don't know either, I was just acting as a messenger..."

They exchanged a few words and then had the Westerner lead the way.

...

Meanwhile, the real Xiao Ce on the other side was completely unaware that a group of people in the Kingdom of Sulu had already descended into chaos because of an imposter.

They seemed quite relaxed at the moment, even though Okamoto Juzo said they would be leaving today.

Okamoto Juzo wasn't in a hurry and invited them to have breakfast together.

This Okamoto Juzo seems to have done some research on Xiao Ce.

Not only did they use round tables, but they also ate simple porridge and side dishes, along with fried dough sticks and steamed buns.

Xiao Ce found this very agreeable and ate it very well.

Da Lei and Ye Mao watched from the side, while Xiao Ce focused on eating.

"Brother, we're setting sail this afternoon, so you'd better eat a lot."

They were afraid that Xiao Ce would start vomiting again.

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "It's alright, you need to eat your fill to have the strength to vomit."

Knowing that Xiao Ce was seasick, Okamoto Juzo smiled and said, "Okamoto Ichisaku, don't be nervous, just eat whatever you want. We have some very effective medicine for seasickness here later."

Xiao Ce listened and laughed, saying, "Thank you, Lord, but it's probably useless. I've tried many methods, but none of them worked."

Night Owl and Big Thunder nodded, and they tried all sorts of methods.

Later on, none of them had much effect.

Xiao Ce thought this might be a side effect of time travel.

After all, he remembered that he didn't have motion sickness in his previous life.

Okamoto Juzo, however, confidently asserted that it would definitely work.

This piqued Xiao Ce's curiosity.

"My lord, those martial arts hall members, were they not traumatized yesterday? Did anyone do anything rash?" Da Lei asked, feigning ignorance.

Okamoto Juzo laughed and said, "Ichirai, it would be a lie to say I wasn't stimulated... I was definitely stimulated, but not as much as you said. Being instantly killed in a one-on-one situation might be more stimulating, but you're facing fifty opponents. They know that's a matter of talent!"

Then Okamoto Juzo remembered something: "Oh right, I still have to thank you. Those doctors have already told me that if you hadn't shown mercy, they would really be dead... And, it's obvious that you stopped!"

Da Lei waved his hand with a smile and said, "Lord, please don't thank me. If you thank me, I'll feel like you're insulting me."

Okamoto Juzo laughed and said, "It's not me who should thank you, it's them who should thank you for showing mercy."

Just then, Xiao Ce suddenly remembered something and asked, "My lord, there's something else I'd like to ask you..."