Starting with a cub, the superpower boss becomes the richest man by lying flat

Chapter 157 Perhaps it wasn't the Third Prince himself who forced the abdication?

Seeing that his attempts to stop him were futile, Mo Ziyuan had no choice but to follow him step by step into the bushes.

The remaining few people exchanged glances and followed behind them. Before leaving, Zhou Qi instructed the guards to stay where they were and watch over Young Master Qian and the people on the ground who had just been "revived" by the smelling salt.

Young Master Qian quickly hid among the guards, staring intently at the group of people who were cautiously walking forward. His eyes flashed with various emotions and calculations. Zhou Qi, who was walking at the back, suddenly turned his head and met Young Master Qian's gaze. Young Master Qian quickly lowered his head and looked away.

Zhou Qi became secretly wary, and his steps became increasingly cautious.

Gao Yong, who was walking at the front, suddenly stepped on something and felt his foot slip. He almost fell over, but he managed to turn half a circle with his waist and was supported by Mo Ziyuan behind him so that he could barely stand.

Just then, an even louder rustling sound rang out. The thing that had been hiding in the grass seemed to be startled and suddenly retreated, several times faster than when it came. Before they could react, it had already disappeared into the depths of the forest under the cover of the grass and was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you see it clearly? What exactly is it?" Having lost their target, the group didn't linger in the bushes and returned to the road. Cui Shi immediately came up to them and asked expectantly.

Mo Ziyuan shook his head. "It was too dark, and the thing was almost the same color as the grass. I could only see that it was a green strip, but I really couldn't tell whether it was a snake or something else."

"I didn't see clearly either, they were running too fast," Gao Yong said.

Zhou Qi, Meng Yixuan, and Fu Jing behind him also shook their heads, indicating that they didn't see it either, and Cui Shi was completely disappointed.

"Young Master Qian, we are about to return to the capital. We are probably not traveling the same way as you, so let's part ways here!" Looking at Young Master Qian hiding among the guards, Mo Ziyuan's eyes darkened, and he began to shoo him away without any mercy.

Upon hearing this, Young Master Qian was too embarrassed to say that he and his group were also going to the capital and wanted to stay in their group. He could only reluctantly walk to the middle of his crooked followers, give them a perfunctory bow, and watch them leave.

Only when the sound of horses' hooves could no longer be heard did he look at a young man who was slumped on the ground, his face pale. "Well? Did you find out? Is that little bastard in the group or not?"

The young man, sweating profusely, shook his head with difficulty. "None of them would say anything, and the people the Third Prince arranged weren't in the group either. I really couldn't find a chance to ask."

"Useless!" Young Master Qian angrily punched a tree next to him, shaking off many leaves.

“Young Master Qian, he’s here again…” One of the henchmen suddenly stared blankly into the depths of the forest as if possessed, his voice trembling with deep fear.

"What again..." Young Master Qian scolded impatiently for a moment, then suddenly understood what he meant. He quickly turned around and followed his gaze, only to see the same scene playing out again in the distant bushes.

"Damn it, what are we waiting for? Let's run!" one of them suddenly shouted and sprinted off in the direction Mo Ziyuan and the others had gone.

With this person as a backup, the rest of the group reacted quickly and began to run with all their might. Even the young man who had been sent by Young Master Qian to infiltrate the guards and gather information was no exception. Although he had little strength left, his legs moved incredibly fast, as if they had a mind of their own. The group sprinted forward like in a race until they could no longer muster any strength and collapsed to the ground. Their eyes, however, were all fixed on the woods, and they tried to keep their breathing as still as possible.

Fortunately, their frantic run wasn't in vain; at least they didn't hear that terrifying rustling sound again.

Everyone was exhausted, but no one dared to sleep. They all stared wide-eyed into the bushes deep in the woods.

"How about we take turns resting? I... I really can't take it anymore..." the young man said softly.

"Okay, then who should rest first?" His suggestion was agreed upon by everyone, but everyone wanted to rest first, so they couldn't reach a conclusion in the end, which caused quite a bit of rift between them.

"Alright, stop arguing." Young Master Qian rubbed his aching forehead and pointed at a few of them with his index finger. "You guys keep watch for now. We'll rest for a while and then wake us up in the middle of the night to relieve you."

With his final decision, everyone immediately fell silent. The few who were called out dejectedly found a place to sit down, while the rest breathed a sigh of relief, lay down on the ground without a care, and instantly fell asleep.

At this time, Mo Ziyuan and his group encountered another group of men in black. After finally annihilating them all, everyone realized that these men were much stronger than the previous ones. They were almost sneaked into the carriage specially prepared for the young prince by the men in black. If Zhou Qi hadn't risked an arm injury to kill that man, the news that the young prince was not in their group might have been leaked.

“Your Highness,” a guard approached Mo Ziyuan, “Young Master Qian’s men came to me earlier, asking who was in this carriage and where Young Master Chu had gone. I dodged their questions, but I think they didn’t believe me, or at least not completely.”

"Besides you, have they looked for anyone else?" Mo Ziyuan felt inexplicably irritated, and his tone was not very friendly as he asked the question.

"This subordinate didn't notice; everyone was waiting to see what was in the bushes, including me."

"Recount your entire conversation from that time," Mo Ziyuan instructed the guard after summoning Gao Yong and the others to his side.

"Yes." The guard repeated his conversation with the young man word for word.

“I should have guessed it. It’s said that the Qian family, the imperial merchants, wanted to enter officialdom. I always thought they would take the imperial examination route, but I didn’t expect them to take a different path and choose the merit of supporting the emperor,” Fu Jing said. “But isn’t the Third Prince already dead?”

Not only Fu Jing couldn't understand it, but none of the people present could either. They looked at each other for a while, and then Meng Yichen said, "Perhaps it wasn't the Third Prince himself who forced the abdication back then?"

These words were like a wake-up call for Mo Ziyuan. He had always felt that their victory came too easily, something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He thought he was just overthinking it. But it turned out that the Third Prince had actually used a double as a decoy.
"Oh no! Isn't His Majesty in great danger now? And what about His Highness and his sister Xin'er!" Mo Ziyuan's expression changed drastically.

"Let's not delay any longer, let's hurry back to the capital!" Meng Yixuan suggested upon seeing this.

Everyone agreed, and they all leaped onto their horses and galloped towards the capital at top speed.