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

Boudica made the arrangements quickly.

To be honest, Xiao Ce was in a very calm mood the whole way.

However, now that he knows he is about to meet Yin Pan'er, he starts to get nervous.

In fact, ever since they parted ways at the Northern Desert Prince's Mansion, he and Yin Pan'er had been missing each other.

Even during their second reunion in the Sulu Kingdom, they were not truly honest with each other.

We're all separated by a thin layer of paper.

Moreover, Xiao Ce at that time was not his true self.

Night Owl spotted Xiao Ce on the boat, wringing his hands anxiously.

"Your Highness, please don't worry... That mad Taoist priest, although he's a bit eccentric, is still reliable. Do you think it's possible that he knew we were coming and came to wait for us?"

"Besides, he's already here, so he definitely won't run away... I think he's probably at the port every day so that we can find them in time."

The comfort from Ye Mao and Da Lei made Xiao Ce feel more at ease.

However, Xiao Ce still felt somewhat uneasy.

After all, he didn't see Yin Pan'er.

After their speedboat docked at the port.

Once they reached the shore, Xiao Ce's worst fears came true.

The mad Taoist, who was originally standing on one side of the port, disappeared.

Night Owl and Da Lei searched, but the Mad Taoist seemed to have vanished.

Finally, they found someone on the other side who was dressed similarly, but was not the mad Taoist at all.

They just wore clothes similar to those of the mad Taoist.

In the end, he was just a local from the Roman Empire.

After asking around, the local confirmed that they had indeed been to the place they had just visited.

That local's comment made Xiao Ce and Da Lei's group start to doubt themselves.

Did you mistake me for someone else?

Da Lei said, "That telescope only showed a shape, not a clear picture. Maybe I misjudged it..."

Night Owl, however, said with absolute certainty, "I can't be mistaken... Although I can't see clearly, it's definitely not the person we were looking for..."

Xiao Ce nodded, then looked at the Roman man dressed in clothes similar to those of the Mad Taoist.

He only glanced at Boudica, who was following him, and Boudica exchanged a single glance with Xiao Ce.

"Your Highness, please wait here for a moment... I'll take care of it!"

Xiao Ce nodded with a cold expression.

He already felt there must be something fishy about this.

As Boudica spoke, he said a few words to the Westerners who were with him.

After speaking with the Westerner beside him, the group surrounded the Roman who had been dressed like the madman, said a few words, and then led the Roman to a secluded corner.

This Roman was just an ordinary person who couldn't handle being greeted and was so frightened that he told the truth.

After hearing the truth from them, Boudica hurriedly ran to Xiao Ce's side.

Xiao Ce sat at a stall, eating local snacks.

They watched as Boudica and her entourage made their way through the endless stream of people.

Xiao Ce asked Boudica, "How is Boudica?"

Boudica said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, you are right, and Mr. Night Owl is right too. That Roman met a man from Xiao, gave him a piece of gold, then changed into this outfit and gave us the same words he had just used to deal with us."

Xiao Ce frowned slightly as he listened, and looked once again at the bustling, chaotic dock with its huge flow of people.

Night Cat said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, if that mad Taoist priest is deliberately hiding from us, our chances of finding him, and even being able to find him, are almost zero..."

Xiao Ce nodded, still vividly remembering the elusive nature of the Mad Taoist.

"I know that, so why is he avoiding me?"

Da Lei said, "That mad Taoist priest isn't quite right in the head either... We have a hard time knowing what he's thinking about all the time..."

Boudica asked Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, what should we do next? If you need to search around here, we can stay here..."

"However, although we have people here to meet us, they are not local strongmen, so the help they can provide is limited."

Xiao Ce suggested delaying for a day or two, and having Night Owl and Da Lei stay at the dock to wait.

They went to the boat to keep an eye on this side, since the mad Taoist was waiting at the dock.

And the fact that he deliberately avoided them means that the mad Taoist priest was definitely not waiting for him.

Instead, they were waiting for someone else.

As he spoke, Xiao Ce said to Night Cat, "Night Cat, should we call the Shadow Guards over?"

Night Owl nodded: "We need some, but not too many. Your Highness, after you board the ship, have Number One find some people skilled in tracking, tracing, and finding traces... We don't need too many people."

As Night Owl spoke, he seemed to be calculating how long it would take to deploy control over the entire port.

Xiao Ce waited quietly to the side without interrupting.

After a short while, Night Cat said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, send thirty men."

Xiao Ce nodded.

"We will monitor the rest of them at sea."

The two nodded.

Xiao Ce then asked Boudica, "Boudica, do ships entering this port area need to register?"

Xiao Ce remembered that when they entered this area, their ships were registered.

Moreover, registration is required for all boats, regardless of size, and a fee is charged.

Boudica simply nodded after hearing Xiao Ce's words, without Xiao Ce needing to say anything.

Boudica immediately understood and said, "Your Highness, I understand. I will go and get the information on all the ships entering the port."

"Can you get it?" Xiao Ce asked, seeing his confident expression.

Boudica smiled and said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, the saying in Xiao Kingdom that money can make the devil turn the millstone applies all over the world... We brought enough money with us this time."

"The accounts of those representatives all obediently handed over to us, and my uncle also had a lot of money deposited here... If we put all that money together, we'd be quite wealthy here. It's just that we haven't been here long enough, otherwise, with our planning, we could have monitored the entire port... But time doesn't allow it..."

Xiao Ce smiled. That's true. Money can indeed solve 99% of the problems in this world.

There's still one percent left, which can actually be solved with enough money.

"Alright, let's split into three groups!"

"Be careful, everyone!"

Xiao Ce gave the instructions, and the people nodded in agreement before going about their own business.

Xiao Ce returned to the ship, where Night Cat and his crew were more professional.

Moreover, the chaotic atmosphere here made Xiao Ce uncomfortable, and he sensed danger...

After boarding the ship, they went to find Shadow Guard Number One and gathered twenty men to continue to the port.

The rest of the people were placed on the highest level of security.

Xiao Ce then directed the fleet to a suitable location, and then stood on the tower and looked through his binoculars.

He could see the Shadow Guards running to their respective positions one by one.

Once they arrived at their designated locations, they began monitoring.

Night Owls are indeed professionals; working with the equally professional Shadow Guards, they took control of the entire dock almost instantly.

Boudica was also very fast; it didn't take him long to produce the list of people who had entered and left the port in recent days.

Boudica followed Xiao Ce and said that they had all seen and screened these people and there was nothing wrong with them.

He also said that if anyone wanted to enter this area, they could use smuggling, using someone else's name, and many other methods...

Xiao Ce nodded, giving a wry smile: "How could I not know? This isn't just self-deception... I know all about the Mad Taoist's abilities. If he wanted me to be unable to find him, he absolutely had the power to do so..."

Boudica chimed in, “Your Highness, perhaps even tigers have their moments of weakness. We’ve laid a trap over there; anyone who shows up will surely be discovered.”

When Xiao Ce heard Boudica's words, he smiled helplessly. It was only because Boudica didn't understand the Mad Taoist.

Anyone who knows that mad Taoist priest wouldn't say such things.

Xiao Ce smiled at Boudica: "If we can find him, it means he wants me to discover him; otherwise, we're unlikely to see him..."

Boudica looked at Xiao Ce with a puzzled expression.

Xiao Ce smiled slightly at Boudica, then nodded and said, "You just don't understand that mad Taoist. You all say I'm a god, but the longer I spend with the mad Taoist, the more I realize that he's not human... he's the god."

This was Xiao Ce's true thought; that mad Taoist priest always appeared and disappeared unpredictably.

Boudica asked with increasing confusion, "Your Highness, I heard you mention that mad Taoist priest before. Isn't that mad Taoist priest one of your men? Is there some reason why he did this?"

After listening to Boudica's words, Xiao Ce smiled bitterly: "Actually, he has never truly acknowledged me... Especially after everything that's happened, I always feel that letting him follow Yin Pan'er was a mistake..."

Boudica, seeing Xiao Ce's furrowed brows, said, "Your Highness, don't be so pessimistic..."

Xiao Ce gave a wry smile: "It's not that I'm pessimistic, it's just a gut feeling, and it doesn't feel too good to me..."

Then, he said to Boudica, "Let's wait here for three days... If there's no news after three days, I can be sure that the mad Taoist is no longer with us..."

Boudica said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, rest assured, I have already used my connections here to keep an eye on the women from Xiao Kingdom who come and go... Although there are people from all countries here, there are relatively few from East Asia, especially Xiao Kingdom... So, whenever they appear, they will be remembered."

Xiao Ce nodded with a smile.

...

At this moment, in a Roman-era stone house not far from the dock.

Most of the buildings here are stone houses, and these stone houses are not very artistic; they all look pretty much the same at first glance.

At this moment, the mad Taoist, dressed in Roman attire, arrived at the door of the stone house and gently knocked.

A short while later, the door opened, and a man who was completely covered up walked out.

If Yin Pan'er were here, she would recognize the man in front of her at a glance as the man who claimed to be the real Crown Prince, Zhen Xiao Ce.

After Crown Prince Xiao Ce opened the door and let the mad Taoist into the house, he didn't waste any more words.

"Everything is going well so far."

The Mad Taoist nodded: "Master, everything is going smoothly. He has seen me and has stopped to set up control of the dock."

Crown Prince Xiao Ce nodded: "Very good, as long as he stays here, that's fine."

The Mad Taoist said to Crown Prince Xiao Ce, "Master, we can keep him here for a while. That imposter isn't stupid... He'll leave in three days at most."

Crown Prince Xiao Ce said, "It's alright, delaying it for another day is also good."

The mad Taoist priest said to Crown Prince Xiao Ce, "Master, are you afraid that Yin Pan'er will run into that imposter?"

Crown Prince Xiao Ce nodded and said, "That's right, judging by the time, it is indeed true!"

The mad Taoist nodded, still devoid of any emotion, and said, "They will all eventually go to the British Empire...it's inevitable that we'll meet sooner or later..."

Crown Prince Xiao Ce smiled faintly: "A difference of one day can make a huge difference... Moreover, tomorrow, Marcus Aurelius, the commander of this Roman naval alliance, will be returning to port with his remaining troops. The Roman emperor will personally come to greet them, after all, so many people have died..."

"The port will be under martial law again, and they won't be able to escape then... It will delay them for a few more days."

The Mad Taoist nodded: "That would be best... But what if that imposter gets wind of it and runs away?"

Crown Prince Xiao Ce said, "That's fine... If he ran away, he ran away... I only intended for you to delay him a bit... Whether it works or not is fine! If I didn't need to wait here for a few more days and couldn't leave, I wouldn't care whether he went or not..."

The Mad Taoist nodded: "However, that imposter is very stubborn; he probably won't leave rashly..."

...

In the other side of the cabin.

"Go! Leave immediately! Get the Shadow Guards, and Da Lei and Night Cat, out of here!"

Boudica looked confused. He had just received intelligence that the port would be closed again after 10 p.m. tonight.

Boudica listened to the news and then relayed it to Xiao Ce.

Boudica had only intended to mention Xiao Ce's intention to stay, never expecting such a strong reaction from him.

Boudica asked doubtfully, "Your Highness, are you sure? Actually, the port closure will only last about three days... at most delaying us by one or two days. So it won't have a big impact on us."