The women wielding long spears glared menacingly at Seventeenth Master and his group, slowly approaching. Seeing no way out, Seventeenth Master hastily drew his longsword from his waist, but before he could even grip it properly, the women at the front struck him down with their spears. A sharp pain shot through Seventeenth Master's arm, and he staggered backward!

They had been cornered, and several soldiers stood in front of the Seventeenth Prince, ready to fight to the death, but the Seventeenth Prince forcibly pulled them back.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside, and the Green-Clad Hall Master stormed in. He glanced at the scene and instantly understood. Because the Seventeenth Prince's clothing differed slightly from the other soldiers, he deduced that the Seventeenth Prince was the leader. He walked straight up to the Seventeenth Prince, gritting his teeth and angrily demanding, "So this is how you sneaked in?" He then added angrily, "That damned swindler!"

The Seventeenth Master recognized the woman, and his heart sank as he realized something was wrong. However, he couldn't figure out what had given him away that had allowed them to discover him.

Seeing that the Seventeenth Master remained silent, the woman in green waved her hand, and several women stepped forward to detain the Seventeenth Master and his companions, binding their hands and feet before throwing them into a dark cave.

Meanwhile, the Green-Clad Hall Master immediately returned to the main hall to see Zhu Wanqing.

Zhu Wanqing sat in a chair, supporting her pregnant belly, seemingly expecting what the green-robed hall master had said. The green-robed hall master, however, said angrily, "That unscrupulous merchant deserves to die! Next time I see him, I'll skin him alive and pull out his tendons..."

Zhu Wanqing sneered, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes, and said coldly, "How can you still believe that merchant is a real merchant? Or is he just a spy deliberately used by the Qing Dynasty to mislead us?"

The green-robed leader suddenly realized what was happening and became even more indignant, saying, "That damned emperor! He's really going to use any means to kill us!" After saying that, he knelt down in front of Zhu Wanqing with a thud, blaming himself, "Master, it's all because I made a mistake in choosing the right people, which has brought such a disaster upon you... I beg you to punish me!"

Zhu Wanqing glanced at the green-robed hall master kneeling at her feet, narrowing her eyes as she thought that now was a time when she needed manpower. Even if the green-robed hall master had made a serious mistake, she couldn't punish him, otherwise it would discourage the other believers. So she grinned and said with a fake smile, "Get up. You were unintentionally deceived. Fortunately, you discovered it in time, so it's not a disaster!"

The Green-Clad Hall Master was prepared to be punished, but Zhu Wanqing showed no anger. She looked up in surprise and said in disbelief, "Master? Your subordinate..." Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Wanqing stretched out her slender, white hand, which the Green-Clad Hall Master couldn't help but grasp and was pulled up.

Zhu Wanqing touched her stomach, her tone gentle but tinged with ruthlessness: "It seems the dog emperor has really gone to great lengths to deal with us. Not only did he send a prince to besiege us, but he also meticulously planned to secretly investigate our spies on the island..."

The green-robed hall master paused slightly, puzzled by something, and asked, "Master, there's something I don't understand. How did you discover it? They had done it flawlessly; there were no obvious flaws..."

Zhu Wanqing glanced coldly at the Cangyue Tower atop the mountain not far away, and slowly revealed the reason. It turned out that ever since the Fourteenth Prince suddenly suspected the truth behind the assassination attempt on the Prince's residence, Zhu Wanqing had begun to suspect that someone had leaked information about the outside world to him. However, the island had always been completely isolated from the outside world; the Fourteenth Prince had never proactively contacted anyone through letters, and everything he heard was from Zhu Wanqing.

After much deliberation, Zhu Wanqing concluded that the grain merchant of unknown origin who purchased grain at a low price was the prime suspect.