The number one rebel of the Great Wu

"Oh?"

Xiao Lie smiled faintly and looked at Chen Changgeng.

"What scheme are you plotting now?"

"Well, hehe."

Chen Changgeng scratched his head and chuckled.

A smile appeared on Xiao Lie's lips. He didn't ask Chen Changgeng what he was going to do, but instead turned around and walked into the inner room.

He then took out a box from the cabinet and reached in to take out a belt inlaid with jade.

Chen Changgeng had seen this belt once before; Xiao Jingtian wore it when he celebrated his birthday.

Chen Changgeng didn't know if it was special or not, but it was definitely worth a lot of money.

"This is a jade belt bestowed upon me by my father, and it can also be considered a symbol of the Crown Prince."

"This thing should be valuable enough, right?"

Chen Changgeng's throat tightened, and he quickly and carefully took it.

"Enough, enough!"

"Your Highness, didn't you ask me what I was going to do?"

Chen Changgeng was a little uneasy about handling such a valuable item, so he couldn't help but ask a question.

"You're definitely going to frame someone."

"Having been in my Crown Prince's residence for so long, your schemes are both ingenious and ruthless."

"But I know that whatever you do is paving the way for me."

"I believe it."

Xiao Lie emphasized the last three words.

Chen Changgeng looked up at Xiao Lie in astonishment.

Unexpectedly, he was able to win people's hearts by taking advantage of this opportunity.

He really is different now!

But at this time...

Chen Changgeng immediately knelt down with a thud, his eyes filled with tears of emotion.

"I will never forget the kindness and trust shown to me by Your Highness."

"Alright, alright, stop with the formalities, go on."

Xiao Lie smiled faintly and waved his hand.

"By the way, Father Emperor will be going on a tour outside the palace tomorrow."

"I will stay up all night to replicate this painting."

"You must deliver this painting to the palace for me first thing tomorrow morning."

Chen Changgeng nodded in agreement.

He could have easily delegated this task to his guards.

The fact that this task has suddenly been assigned to Chen Changgeng suggests that the matter is being taken very seriously.

They wanted Chen Changgeng to use the painting as an excuse to try and get him reinstated.

……

Half an hour later.

Geng Liang returned with Xiao Xizi.

The two of them were covered in dust and dirt from their journey.

"We've been to the imperial estate; the gates were tightly shut, and it didn't seem like anyone lived there."

"If we hadn't been patient and waited, we would have been fooled by them."

Xiao Xizi nodded in agreement.

"In the past, the imperial estate would always have at least fifty or sixty people stationed there."

"There are probably only a dozen or so people left inside. The outer area is overgrown with weeds, and the inside is covered with fallen leaves."

"But we peeked over the wall for a while and saw through an open window that the house was spotless inside."

"Oh?"

"Something's fishy here!"

Chen Changgeng was even more convinced of this.

Lin Dequan bought the royal estate, but deliberately made the surrounding area look like a wilderness.

There must be some unspeakable secret.

"Have you been discovered?"

If there were truly a secret, there should be people patrolling the perimeter.

Neither of them knew martial arts, nor were they spies, so Chen Changgeng was genuinely afraid they would be exposed.

To everyone's surprise, Geng Liang grinned.

"Don't worry, Brother Chen, we're both extremely cautious."

"I dismounted when we were still half a mile from the imperial estate and felt my way there."

"They did have spies along the way, but we managed to outmaneuver them!"

"Not bad!"

Chen Changgeng patted Geng Liang on the shoulder, his face full of admiration.

I didn't expect this kid to be so clever.

Then she turned to look at Xiao Xizi, after all, she had given him some tasks to do.

Xiao Xizi shook her head, looking embarrassed.

"There are few people in the royal estate, so I didn't see any familiar faces."

After Lin Dequan left, more than a dozen servants also left the mansion, including Xiao Duozi.

Most of these people were Lin Dequan's confidants, so it's normal for them to leave.

When people leave, they always have somewhere to go, which is why Chen Changgeng had that plan before.

"It's alright, Geng Liang, go and find a few guards."

"Xiao Xizi, go to the laundry room and get a few sets of commoners' clothes."

"Let's go out of town."

……

Not long after.

Outside the capital city, near the imperial estate.

Chen Changgeng, accompanied by Geng Liang, Xiao Xizi, and four guards, disguised themselves as ordinary citizens and headed towards the imperial estate.

Chen Changgeng led the way, carrying a hoe on his shoulder, while Geng Liang carried a shovel.

Behind them were several guards carrying baskets and cloth bags, seemingly heading to the mountains outside the city for some purpose.

Ordinary people swaggering around naturally attract the attention of spies near the imperial estate.

A few people had already vaguely returned.

The guard closest to Chen Changgeng was called Lao Feng, a squad leader of guards, whose martial arts skills were probably on par with Chen Changgeng's.

"How many people are there now?"

Chen Changgeng smiled broadly, pretending to be chatting happily with his companions.

"One on the east and two on the west; they've already communicated through hand gestures."

"Looks like they're going to follow us."

Old Feng was also smiling, his expression very warm.

"How's your martial arts skill?"

Chen Changgeng then asked.

"Judging from his appearance, he only has some rudimentary skills; he's just an ordinary martial artist."

"With the four of us, we could easily handle fifty more of these."

All four guards carried short swords, hidden inside their clothes, making them completely invisible from the outside.

"I didn't order you to kill anyone. I brought you along just in case of an accident."

"If things really start to get physical, drop everything and run."

"If they dare to pursue us again, we'll find a way to knock them unconscious."

Old Feng nodded and relayed the message.

After walking along this narrow path for a short while, a huge mansion came into view in the distance.

This is the Imperial Estate.

This imperial estate was built at the foot of the mountains outside the capital, surrounded by dozens of acres of fertile land, and a small river was also included within the estate.

Outside the village, there was a fenced-off area with forests and grasslands, which was generally used for raising animals and hunting.

Since it is a royal estate, it is naturally different from ordinary residences and courtyards. The land surrounding a royal estate basically belongs to the royal estate.

Even the suburban mountain outside the capital, about 800 meters high, is within the imperial estate's boundaries.

It is the royal estate's own small garden.

This is the Imperial Estate, which was bestowed upon Xiao Lie's mother by Xiao Jingtian when Crown Prince Xiao Lie was born.

However, after her mother's death, it fell into the hands of Crown Prince Xiao Lie.

Crown Prince Xiao Lie has no time to even manage his own Crown Prince's residence, let alone this imperial estate.

As the group approached the imperial estate, the expressions of the spies visibly tightened.

Just then, Chen Changgeng led his men to a sudden turn, taking another path and heading towards the suburban mountains.

The spies exchanged suspicious glances, hesitated for a moment, and then let one of them go back to report.

The remaining two quietly followed.