The Empress has abandoned me? I'll support a new emperor and destroy your kingdom!

As soon as it entered the densely populated area of ​​Jiangning West City, Grey Falcon suddenly felt a sense of alarm!

He keenly sensed that at least four or five malicious gazes were fixed on him from different directions!

The other party was very professional in their tracking; if he hadn't been so experienced, he would have been almost impossible to detect.

We've been exposed! Did something go wrong on Wu Laoliu's side, or were we being watched when we entered the city?

Without hesitation, Grey Falcon did not head directly to the place agreed upon with Pang Xiaopan. Instead, it slipped into a side alley and tried to escape by taking advantage of the complicated terrain.

However, the other party was clearly very familiar with this area and had plenty of manpower, following them closely.

To make matters worse, two constables suddenly appeared at the alleyway ahead, their sharp eyes scanning the pedestrians.

Grey Falcon's heart sank, realizing he might have fallen into a carefully woven trap.

He dared not risk forcing his way in; carrying such crucial evidence, if the authorities were to seize it with justification, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Left with no other choice, Grey Falcon had to abandon its original route and, using its familiarity with the secret passages of Jiangning City, made its way through a maze of twists and turns before finally risking its life to crawl out through a hole in a long-abandoned mansion.

After circling around for a long time, it was only at the first light of dawn that it narrowly escaped being followed and sneaked back to the most secluded warehouse of Huitong Trading Company in Jiangning City. It handed the wooden box to Pang Xiaopan's trusted confidant who was there to meet it and briefly explained the situation of being tracked.

Upon hearing the news, Pang Xiaopan's expression turned grave: "The other side reacted too quickly! Wu Laoliu's situation is probably dire. We must immediately inform the princess and strengthen our defenses; they might be desperate and resort to drastic measures!"

However, message delivery takes time.

Unbeknownst to them, an even more insidious net had already been cast over the imperial envoy's headquarters.

On the same night that the Grey Falcon was being tracked, at the Imperial Envoy's headquarters.

Yun Jin had been reviewing the account books until late at night, and had just rested with Qing Dai's help when a sudden commotion and the sound of clashing weapons came from outside!

"Assassins! Protect the Imperial Envoy!"

"Catch the assassin!"

Shouts, running, and fighting instantly shattered the tranquility of the camp.

Yun Jin and Qing Dai were startled and sat up abruptly, quickly putting on their clothes.

Qingdai stood in front of Yun Jin, her face pale. Yun Jin forced herself to remain calm and listened intently.

The sounds of fighting seemed to be concentrated in the front yard of the headquarters, quickly becoming sporadic, followed by a piercing scream, and then silence.

A moment later, hurried footsteps arrived outside the courtyard where Yun Jin was staying. Liu Wenyuan and Zhou Kang, along with a large number of soldiers and yamen runners, held up torches and surrounded the courtyard.

Liu Wenyuan's voice was anxious and trembling: "Your Highness! Your Highness has been frightened! A traitor infiltrated the camp with malicious intent, but he has been killed by the guards! We, your subjects, are too late to protect Your Highness; we deserve to die!"

Yun Jin gestured for Qing Dai to open the door.

The door opened, and torches lit up the courtyard. Liu Wenyuan, Zhou Kang, and others stood bowing outside the door. On the ground lay a black-clad, masked corpse and a man bound behind his back, covered in blood, trembling.

"What's going on?" Yun Jin, wearing an outer robe, stood at the door, her face ashen.

"Your Highness!" Liu Wenyuan stepped forward, pointing at the corpse on the ground and the bound man, filled with righteous indignation.

"Several thieves infiltrated the imperial camp tonight, seemingly intending to assassinate His Highness! Fortunately, the guards were alert and killed one and captured another alive! Preliminary interrogation revealed that this thief was a henchman of 'River Dragon,' a notorious salt smuggler who terrorized the Jiangning waters! They...they dared to assassinate an imperial envoy; they are utterly lawless!"

Salt smugglers? Assassination of the imperial envoy? Yun Jin's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately realized something was wrong.

What a coincidence! Just as she was about to delve deeper into the salt trade, a salt smuggler "coincidentally" came to assassinate her?

"Your Highness!" Zhou Kang stepped forward, his face showing a pained and incredulous expression.

"We found this item on this thief!"

He held up a tray with both hands, on which were several unsigned secret letters and a stack of silver notes of a huge amount!

Zhou Kang picked up the top secret letter, unfolded it, and read it aloud in a trembling but clear voice.

"...After the deed is done, there will be a generous reward. The profits from the Jiangning salt trade can be divided into three-tenths. You must obstruct the imperial envoy's inspection. If necessary, make him back down, or...eliminate any future troubles." At the end of the signature, there was a blurry mark that resembled a personal seal!

He then picked up the silver notes: "These silver notes were all issued by the 'Tongbao Money Shop' in the capital. The amount is enormous, and it is not something an ordinary person could possess! As far as I know, Your Highness's departure from the capital this time was funded by limited public funds, and all accounts are available for verification. There is absolutely no such large sum of money!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the bound man suddenly struggled to raise his head, his face covered in blood, and cried out in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness! I'm innocent! It was... it was this Qingdai girl by your side who found me the other day, gave me these silver notes and a letter, and told me to contact 'Mixed River Dragon' to create chaos on your inspection of the salt fields, preferably... preferably to frighten you back to the capital! I was greedy and confused for a moment, please spare my life, Your Highness!"

The spearhead is aimed directly at Qingdai! And at Yun Jin!

Framed! Blatantly framed!

Yun Jin felt a chill rush from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, and her blood almost froze.

She suddenly looked at Qingdai, who was already pale with fright and shook her head repeatedly: "Your Highness! This servant didn't! This servant doesn't know this person at all! This servant has never left the camp, how could I go looking for him? This is clearly a frame-up!"

Liu Wenyuan sighed, "Your Highness, the witnesses and evidence are all there; there's no way people won't believe it."

"Miss Qingdai is His Highness's personal maid. Without His Highness's authorization, how dare she collude with salt smugglers and plot against the imperial envoy? This matter... if it gets out, it will surely damage His Highness's reputation and bring shame upon the court!"

Zhou Kang was heartbroken: "Your Highness! You are of noble birth, and His Majesty has placed great hopes on you. How could you... how could you collude with salt smugglers, obstruct the salt administration, and even intend to... Alas!"

We, your humble servants, cannot believe it! But the evidence is irrefutable, and as officials of the court, we dare not show favoritism! We have no choice but to submit this matter, along with the witnesses and physical evidence, to the court for Your Majesty's wise judgment!

They worked together to pin the charges of "colluding with salt smugglers," "obstructing salt administration," "having ulterior motives," and even "assassinating the imperial envoy" firmly on Yun Jin's head!

With witnesses and physical evidence all present, and the location being inside the imperial envoy's residence, the crime was caught red-handed – it was practically flawless!

The soldiers and yamen runners around Yun Jin looked at her with a different gaze, filled with suspicion, shock, and even contempt.

Yun Jin stood alone in the courtyard, the night wind making her clothes flutter, her whole body icy cold.

She knew she had fallen into a carefully designed trap.

The speed and ruthlessness of the other party's reaction far exceeded expectations.

Not only did they become aware of her investigation, but they also preemptively framed her with a fabricated charge that could have been fatal!

What to do? Force a defense? Since the other party dared to do it, they must have already cleaned up the mess. That "salt smuggler" has probably already been bribed or coerced and will stick to indigo until death.

Searching the headquarters? It's likely that the other side has already secretly planted "evidence," and demanding a search now would play right into their hands, only confirming the charges.

For a moment, she felt a sense of despair, as if she were isolated, helpless, and unable to defend herself.