Jin Zijin used his finger to scrape off the mud from the sole of his shoe and found that the mud was fresh, freshly unearthed, and still moist.
He furrowed his brows deeply and said coldly, "Move the bed aside."
Several guards hurried over to the large bed and together lifted it aside.
Underneath the bed, a large hole capable of allowing an adult to pass through appeared conspicuously.
The guards stationed at the door were both shocked and angry, wondering why, despite their vigilance outside, the two won inside managed to dig such a hole.
But it didn’t make sense; it couldn’t have happened so quickly, and there was no soil left behind. Could soone have dug the hole from outside to take them away?
"Get down!" Jin Zijin instructed the guards.
Now wasn’t the ti to consider who dug the hole, but rather to capture the people first.
Jin Zijin kept a stern face and said to Prince Qin, "Stay here and watch."
After saying this, he left with a stern expression.
He took a few people to find the other end of the tunnel, and as they found it, two guards who had gone down first were also erging from that end.
This was beside the Qingshui River at the back of the Prince Jin Residence, and the hole was hidden behind a large rock, next to a sizable willow tree. Without careful examination, it was indeed difficult to notice.
Seeing a large pile of snow nearby, which was dirtier than the surrounding snow, he guessed that the excavated soil was probably buried in this snow pile.
The guards who crawled out of the tunnel took deep breaths of fresh air, nearly suffocated while crawling through it.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, there’s no one here; they’ve already fled..."
Jin Zijin glanced around and squatted down not far from the entrance. Despite being covered by heavy snow, traces of footprints could still be seen, indicating that they couldn’t have run far in such heavy snow.
He turned his head to ask the guards, "In which direction is this?"
"Here..." the guards thought for a mont and exclaid, "The nearest is the northern city gate."
The northern city gate, towards the Beiping Army Camp?
Jin Zijin squinted his eyes and shouted loudly, "Pursue them!"
If Jin Wei safely reached the Beiping Army Camp, capturing him would no longer be easy.
They had secretly set up today’s trap, concealing it from the Beiping Army Camp.
...
Elsewhere, the Duke defender, eloquently in debate, had reached a critical point in the confrontation, engaging not only with King Jin. King Jin realized that despite being in the right, and even if he were covered in mouths, he might not win against the Duke; he was already losing.
At this mont, he was contending with Jie Huanzhi.
"Duke, there’s no use in further argunt. You demanded evidence, so why not invite the Imperial Physician to examine His Highness, King Jin? If the examination results align with what King Jin claims, will you not admit that the incident years ago was deliberately orchestrated by you to render him infertile, aiming for today’s situation?"
"Humph, ridiculous!" The Duke snorted coldly, "Since you all dare to conspire against today, you must have thoroughly prepared. Your so-called evidence must have been fabricated in advance."
"Yet, the fact remains that the child isn’t King Jin’s biological offspring, correct? Do you think His Highness would willingly tarnish his own reputation to slander you?"
The Duke looked toward the Emperor, insisting, "Your Majesty, I believe that I wholeheartedly supported your ascent to the throne back then, and my contributions were significant. I also understand that overshadowing the master is the greatest taboo for a minister. However, given my age, there’s no need for you to falsely accuse of treasonous intentions to eliminate a powerful minister."
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