CHAPTER 685: CHAPTER 337: MISJUDGMENT

In the secret chamber, a few people clad in night attire suddenly burst in, then viciously dragged away Li Jiao and Zhao Yao.

Zhao Yao pretended to be scared, shouting continuously, "Let go of me..." He wanted to struggle, but having been poisoned, he had no strength at all, although it didn’t stop him from yelling.

The person in the night attire, annoyed by his noise, knocked him out with a quick slap and carried him away like a sack.

Originally being dragged, Li Jiao, seeing Zhao Yao fainted, brushed away the person pulling him.

The person who had met with Li Jiao earlier suddenly appeared. He glanced at the unconscious Zhao Yao and then turned to Li Jiao and asked, "How do we deal with the Tenth Prince, kill him here directly?"

"Just throw him into the Jinling River." Li Jiao’s tone was as casual as if killing Zhao Yao was the most ordinary thing.

"Alright, then throw him into the river." This person nodded to the subordinate carrying Zhao Yao, signaling them to do it now.

Seeing that Li Jiao hadn’t removed his disguise, this person mocked, "Are you still planning to keep that face?"

Hearing this, Li Jiao then remembered he had changed his appearance. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped his face, revealing his true appearance. If Zhao Yao were present and saw Li Jiao’s true face, he would surely recognize him.

"Did you find Prince Chu?"

"No, all the ones we found were impostors." Mentioning this, the person frowned in displeasure, "Prince Chu is indeed cunning and sinister. He arranged many fake substitutes along the way."

"If Prince Chu lacked some ability, the Crown Prince wouldn’t be so wary of him." Li Jiao didn’t find Prince Chu’s arrangements surprising; on the contrary, he admired Prince Chu’s "treachery."

"Is this the time to praise Prince Chu?" The person looked helplessly at Li Jiao, "We need to find Prince Chu quickly, or he’ll safely reach Peng City."

"It’s easier to find him once he reaches Peng City. It’s hard to find him now." Li Jiao wasn’t worried, "We can search for him carefully once he reaches Peng City."

The person asked in surprise, "Do you mean to let Prince Chu safely reach Peng City?"

Li Jiao slightly nodded, "Yes."

"Do you intend to catch Prince Chu like a turtle in a jar once he reaches Peng City?"

"Exactly. Once Prince Chu is in Peng City, he’ll be like a turtle in a jar, unable to escape even with wings."

The person didn’t approve of Li Jiao’s method, "Have you forgotten that Peng City isn’t entirely ours?" The Crown Prince and Duke Zhen only control half of Peng City, the rest is in the hands of the court.

Li Jiao nonchalantly said, "So what?"

The person still disagreed, "I think it’s unwise. If something happens to Prince Chu in Peng City, the Crown Prince will surely be suspected."

Li Jiao listened and smiled lightly, "What relation does the Crown Prince being suspected have with us?"

The person was shocked and incredulous at Li Jiao’s words, "You..."

Li Jiao looked at him with a half-smile, "What, are you truly becoming the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen’s lackey?"

The word ’lackey’ sounded unpleasant, the person glared at Li Jiao in dissatisfaction, "When did I become a lackey?"

"Haven’t you been faithfully working for the Crown Prince and them?"

"Haven’t you?" The person replied in frustration, "Weren’t the plans in Jinling all your ideas? Without you, how could the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen control Jinling City?"

Li Jiao’s gaze towards this person suddenly changed, looking at him as if he were an idiot.

Seeing the disdain in Li Jiao’s eyes, the person seemed like a fool in Li Jiao’s eyes.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Do you really think I’m working for the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen?"

"Aren’t you?"

Li Jiao didn’t speak further, silently staring at this person.

The calm gaze from Li Jiao made the person a bit nervous. He paused for a while before realizing, his expression changed drastically, pointing at Li Jiao, "You... could it be... all this time..."

Seeing this person finally understand, Li Jiao still looked full of disdain, "Did you really think your father and they sincerely helped the Crown Prince?"

The person wasn’t a fool, after hearing Li Jiao, he pondered and understood.

"I know we’re only cooperating with the Crown Prince, but if something happens to the Crown Prince, all our efforts will be wasted, won’t they?"

"Nothing we’ve done will be wasted; what we should gain, we’ve already obtained. As for the Crown Prince..." Li Jiao mentioned the Crown Prince with undisguised disdain on his face, "Let’s see if he has the ability to ascend that position."

"You don’t have any faith in the Crown Prince?"

"How do you think the Crown Prince compares to Prince Chu?"

The person replied without hesitation, "Prince Chu surpasses the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince has Duke Zhen behind him, which is something Prince Chu cannot match."

"Duke Zhen?" Li Jiao sneered, "Duke Zhen is just someone too clever for his own good." He held no regard for Duke Zhen’s methods.

"So we’re not going to bother with Prince Chu and let him go to Peng City to investigate the copper theft?"

Li Jiao said with meaningful irony, "It’s not that we’re not bothering, we simply can’t find Prince Chu, understand?"

The person nodded, "Understood." He paused but then thought of the happenings in Peng City and asked, "Should we intervene to stop Prince Chu from investigating over there?"

"No need, I’m curious to see what Prince Chu will uncover." Li Jiao said with interest, "If the Crown Prince can’t stop Prince Chu from investigating the copper theft, then things will get interesting."

This person had some understanding of Li Jiao’s malicious nature, "You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?"

"Don’t you find it amusing to watch the Crown Prince and Prince Chu duel?"

It turned out to be the case!

"You’re indeed boring."

"I’m just bored, so I let them perform for me." Li Jiao suddenly smiled brightly, "Don’t you find it interesting to toy with these princes in the palm of your hand?"

This person sighed inwardly: truly as excessive as ever!

"Not mentioning Prince Chu, you specifically had me send people to capture the Tenth Prince, yet you did nothing and then had my people throw him into the Jinling River." The person teased, "I didn’t expect even you might misjudge."

Li Jiao initially thought the Tenth Prince was exceptional, so he had him captured, but found nothing. During the captivity of the Tenth Prince, the Emperor showed no concern, and nobody came to rescue him, which was unexpected to him.

"I overthought it." He had assumed the inconspicuous Tenth Prince was the wisest among the princes and deeply favored by the Emperor. He also believed the Tenth Prince would have Hidden Guards, but after surveillance, no Hidden Guards were found. Even after capturing the Tenth Prince, no Hidden Guards appeared.

This person felt quite satisfied hearing Li Jiao admit his mistake, but dared not ridicule him too much on the surface.

"Really, I didn’t expect you’d misjudge someone one day."

Li Jiao coldly stared at him, making him too scared to continue on the topic, so he quickly shifted to another subject.

"By the way, about the situation in Runzhou Prefecture..."

"Let Prince Dai’s people and the Crown Prince’s people continue to fight."

"But the Crown Prince ordered us to quickly resolve matters in Runzhou Prefecture." The person, realizing how his words sounded, felt like a lackey of the Crown Prince again, quickly corrected himself, "Even if not for the Crown Prince, for our own sake, we should take over Runzhou Prefecture."

"Let them fight first, then we’ll seize it." Li Jiao’s tone carried such confidence, as if Runzhou Prefecture was already in his grasp. He wasn’t seizing it yet because he wanted to watch the struggle between the Crown Prince’s and Prince Dai’s men.

"Alright, as you say." The person couldn’t help but poke fun at Li Jiao, "You went to such lengths for the Tenth Prince, even changing your appearance and name..." He didn’t finish before receiving a cold glare from Li Jiao, scaring him into backing away, "I have something else to attend to, I’ll take my leave."

Li Jiao didn’t dwell on misjudging Zhao Yao; a mistake was just a mistake. It was no big deal. Upon returning to his residence, something abruptly came to mind, changing his expression instantly. He quickly summoned a guard and instructed him to head to the Jinling River at once.

The secret chamber wasn’t by the Jinling River; it was some distance away. By the time they reached the riverside, Zhao Yao had already regained consciousness.

The men in black hadn’t expected Zhao Yao to wake up suddenly, nor that he knew martial arts, and even less that he wasn’t poisoned.

The two men in black tasked with throwing Zhao Yao into the river were no match for him.

After killing them, Zhao Yao initially intended to toss their bodies into the river, but in the end, he didn’t. He dared not linger by the Jinling River; after dirtying his face with mud, he hastily left.

By the time Prince Wei’s men arrived at the riverside, they discovered two lifeless men in black, with the Tenth Prince nowhere to be seen.

Zhao Yao fled back to Jinling City, using the token Prince Wei had given him to reach an inn in Jinling.

From what he could tell, it seemed safest to seek refuge with his Eighth Brother.