Ushi City.
Under the deep night, the once bustling night market had already lost all signs of life due to the city’s curfew.
With no nighttime activity, every household extinguished their lights and slept, the silence unusual.
This was an exceptionally rare quietness for Ushi City.
At this moment, it was only a short time after dinner, but there was not a single light to be seen within the city.
Only the moonlight overhead was particularly bright tonight.
As time ticked by, Anne finally waited for the person she was expecting.
“L-Lord, our people discovered a spy in an alley on Chengkuang Street!”
Upon hearing this, Anne asked, “Oh? Did you catch them?”
“Our group of five followed them for a while and knocked them out with a sack.”
“How many on the other side?”
“Three!”
Anne nodded in satisfaction. “It seems preventing the possibility of them having a secret passage for contact was the right decision.”
“Did you find the entrance to the secret passage?”
The soldier quickly replied, “Yes, it was behind a pile of garbage.”
At the same time, another soldier ran over to report the situation of another secret passage.
With this, both secret passages were now under Anne’s control.
“Very good. If they don’t see anyone return for a long time, they might get desperate. Are all preparations complete?”
“Haha, don’t worry, Lord. If they really dare to rebel, we’ll make sure they never come back!”
Seeing this, Anne finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But at the same time, she was worried about how things would develop from here.
Heishan Mine.
After a whole day of labor, Willis felt like her entire body was falling apart.
“This really isn’t a workload humans can handle.”
Victoria was helping her massage her body. Now, they had already returned from the mine tunnel to the dormitory.
Today, the entire mine’s security had been tightened.
Many overseers looked at the miners with unfriendly eyes.
It seemed the tension was caused by the disappearance of a soldier from the Equipment Warehouse.
However, they still didn’t know where the person had gone—only that they were missing.
So it hadn’t spread.
“As long as we succeed, everyone will be able to escape this suffering.”
Accepting Willis’s plan, Nidnia found herself imagining a future scene.
Willis only smiled, saying nothing.
“Your Highn— cough, Little Wei, they’ve strengthened patrols now. It’s not so easy to get out.”
Victoria said with concern.
Nidnia, however, winked at the two of them.
“This, leave it to me!”
Seeing this, Victoria held her forehead and sighed.
“I forgot you’re more familiar with this mine than we are… Is there a way out?”
“Of course!”
Not long after, the entire mine quieted for the night as the miners slept together.
Once everyone was asleep, Terrence and his group of three collected the bedding of Willis’s trio.
As long as no one came to check, the empty beds wouldn’t be noticed.
Then, Willis and the others followed Nidnia and quietly snuck into the overseers’ rest area.
The buildings here were more refined and intact.
From inside, the sounds of overseers and soldiers drinking and playing games occasionally drifted out.
Many had already gone to sleep.
“This way…”
Nidnia led the two of them stealthily around building after building, arriving at the edge of the wall.
Strangely, the two soldiers on the sentry posts nearby were both sitting and resting, showing no intention of standing watch.
“This is the place where the overseers sneak out to play at night, so those who know just turn a blind eye. The sentries on both sides never look this way.”
As she spoke, Nidnia removed a stone brick from the wall, revealing a hole large enough for a person.
“You really know a lot.”
“Hehe, isn’t it useful now?”
The three of them slipped through without making a sound.
Outside, Nidnia was surprised to find they had prepared a carriage.
“This is a carriage Uncle Terrence used when he was a mountain bandit. We can’t walk to Ushi City barefoot, can we?”
Willis explained with a smile, inviting Nidnia to get in.
The three took advantage of the night to reach Ushi City.
But Nidnia discovered that the city gates were closed, with many commoners waiting outside, wanting to go home or enter the city to do business.
“This… How are we supposed to…”
Before Nidnia could finish, Willis pulled her to the other side of the city wall.
In Nidnia’s astonished gaze, Victoria grabbed a dangling rope and climbed up.
The girl was stunned.
“Th-This!?”
“Don’t worry, they’re our people.”
Willis smiled.
Victoria climbed onto the city wall, where Sielyou was already waiting with people.
“Your Highness!”
Victoria saluted, then whispered a few words into Sielyou’s ear.
“I understand. I’ll send someone to inform Anne right away.”
A soldier left with a note written by Sielyou.
Sielyou, meanwhile, covered her body and face with a black cloak and mask.
When Willis and Nidnia climbed up, she asked in a hoarse voice,
“You’re here?”
“Mm.”
Seeing that the two knew each other, Nidnia looked around warily.
“Little Wei, she’s…?”
“I’ll introduce you. This is an officer of the City Defense Army. She can’t reveal her identity right now—just call her Xiao Xi.”
“She’s like us—she has a deep grudge against Willis, so she’s willing to help.”
Willis pointed at Sielyou and introduced Nidnia.
Though she didn’t know what her imperial sister was doing so mysteriously all the time, Sielyou always indulged her demands.
“I didn’t expect you’d already done so much… With Xiao Xi joining as an insider, our chances of success just increased!”
Nidnia clenched her fists in excitement.
With this person present, they could know the movements of Ushi City and the City Defense Army at any time!
She hadn’t expected Willis to reach this point!
As expected, if we follow her, we might really have a chance!
Now, it was just a matter of confirming if she truly resembled Willis.
If so, they could pull off a perfect scheme—deceiving the world with a fake for the real!
Nidnia even fantasized about helping Little Wei ascend the throne in the future and governing this already rotten Empire!
Seize the power of the world with a fake!
Just thinking about it made her blood boil!
“To bring down Willis, the more allies, the better.”
Willis declared calmly.
“But Xiao Xi alone isn’t enough. We need to unite more forces. Everyone oppressed by Ushi City and Willis must stand up!”
At that moment, Nidnia seemed to see light shining from Willis, as bright as the moon above.
After that, Sielyou led them down the city wall and through the sealed layers of Ushi City, arriving at the Castle Lord’s Mansion.
Along the way, Sielyou, now called Xiao Xi, gave Nidnia a brief rundown of Ushi City’s situation.
After listening, Nidnia was even more excited.
“Excellent! Willis’s attention is all on the City Lord’s Treasury. Now is our chance to recruit and mobilize those with ambition!”
Outside the Castle Lord’s Mansion, the four waited like thieves.
Nidnia couldn’t help but wonder,
“How can we meet that despicable woman?”
Sielyou laughed.
“Willis will act tonight, and she needs the City Defense Army to cooperate, so she’ll be out soon.”
Sure enough, as soon as Sielyou finished, the Castle Lord’s Mansion came alive.
Many City Defense Army members led groups of people dressed as commoners to the gate, handing out swords and spears.
Then, a stunning red-haired girl stepped out.
Everyone shouted in unison,
“Greetings, Her Highness the Second Princess!”
“That’s Willis!?”
Under the light of the Illumination Spell and torches, Nidnia clearly saw Willis’s face.
She turned back to Little Wei in shock.
Their appearances weren’t just similar—they were exactly the same!
At that moment, she almost thought Little Wei was her twin sister.
If not for Little Wei cursing,
“Damn woman! One day, I’ll kill you!”
Hmm, good, not sisters.
Just look alike, that’s all.
Upon confirming, Nidnia could hardly contain her excitement.
All her remaining doubts vanished—meaning their plan to deceive everyone and replace the real with the fake could work!
As long as Little Wei didn’t give herself away at the crucial moment!
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