Detective Di Renjie: The Mysterious Dynasty

Chapter 242 Afterwards
Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and Ruyan dismounted from their horses and walked slowly to Huang Shengyan's cold body.

Zhao Ji looked at Huang Shengyan, sneered in his heart, and introduced him: "This person is Huang Shengyan, the leader of the Inner Guard. Although these corpses on the roadside are wearing the uniforms of the Qianniu Guard, they should all be the Inner Guard."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie frowned and nodded slightly, with a flash of memory in his eyes: "I have met him several times before."

Ruyan casually checked the bodies on the roadside and found plum blossom tattoos on the left arms of these people, confirming Zhao Ji's inference.

"Come, give me a hand." Di Renjie turned over Huang Shengyan's body with difficulty.

Zhao Ji hurried to help and turned the body over, only to see a long knife wound on the back.

"The wound is on the back?" Di Renjie pondered, his brows revealing confusion and deep thought.

Zhao Ji guessed: "Either he was caught up while escaping, or he was ambushed."

Di Renjie nodded slightly, agreeing with both guesses, and reached into the corpse's arms to feel around.

After a moment, his expression changed slightly, and he took out the red fruit gold talisman. On the front of the talisman were three soaring dragons, and on the back were nine flying phoenixes with spread wings. The pattern was intricate and showed its nobility.

Zhao Ji showed a look of shock at the right moment: "Your Majesty?!"

Di Renjie turned around and looked in the direction of Hanguang Temple, his eyes were distant and his expression was solemn.

Zhao Ji looked up at the branches around him and didn't see any drawings.

This is normal. When transferring a prisoner, there is no need to take the prisoner's belongings with him. Yuan Tiangang would not throw away such important things.

At this time, Ruyan was still moving among the bodies of the inner guards, trying to find more clues.

Di Renjie put away the red fruit golden talisman and walked over slowly with Zhao Ji.

"Uncle, I guess this matter has something to do with the snake spirit!" Ruyan looked serious and spoke in a firm tone.

Di Renjie and Zhao Ji looked at each other and asked, "Why do you think so?"

Ruyan undressed a corpse, revealing the arrow wound: "Uncle, you see, most of these inner guards died from bows and arrows, but there is not a single arrow at the scene!"

"The rule of the Snake Spirit is that after each mission is completed, the scene must be cleaned up carefully, and no clues must be left for the other party. I just checked, and all the methods are commonly used by them. My daughter used to do the same thing."

Di Renjie nodded when he heard this, as this was consistent with his judgment.

However, Ruyan frowned slightly, still seeming to be confused: "But, the snake spirit always uses the method of flower-grafting to move the ambush location and distract people's sight. I don't know why it didn't do it this time."

Zhao Ji smiled when he heard this and walked to the front of the prisoner car: "Of course it's because of this!"

As he spoke, he knocked on the car body, and the iron plate made a clanging sound.

"It's made of fine steel, a seamless whole. It must weigh several thousand pounds. Look at the wheel tracks on the ground... it's useless to move the location!" Zhao Ji explained with a smile.

Ruyan suddenly realized what was going on and followed the winding tire tracks until they disappeared into the distance.

Di Renjie put his hands behind his back and took a deep breath: "The wheel tracks extend all the way from Hanguang Temple. This group of internal guards went to Hanguang Temple last night!"

"Who is so important that they mobilized so many troops, hundreds of internal guards, and a prisoner van made of fine steel to escort him?"

Ruyan was shocked when she heard this: "Hanguang Temple? But...but didn't we live in Hanguang Temple yesterday? We didn't hear any noise!"

Di Renjie smiled slightly: "It only shows that Huang Shengyan and his men acted secretly and efficiently, and took the person away without alerting the monks in the temple."

Zhao Ji sighed pretentiously: "What's the point? Such a secret operation, iron prisoner vans, hundreds of internal guards, are useless, allowing people to rescue people so smoothly."

"I have seen these people under Huang Shengyan before when I was cleaning up the internal guards. They are all good fighters. If we want to wipe them out completely and leave no one alive, even if it is a sneak attack, we need 300 to 500 elite soldiers to succeed."

Di Renjie nodded: "With so many people gathered together, the Snake Spirit will make a big move. More importantly, how could the Snake Spirit predict that Huang Shengyan would appear in Hanguang Temple last night?"

"Is it just a guess?" Di Renjie shook his head and rejected the idea. "Hundreds of people are not a small number. It is impossible for them to be deployed frequently. They must have an accurate source of information..."

"There was the assassination farce during the day, and the robbery and murder of the inner guards at night. It can be said that they put a lot of effort into it!"

As they were talking, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the official road in the distance.

Di Renjie, Zhao Ji, and Ruyan looked up and saw that it was the Luozhou Sima who had arrived with the yamen runners from the governor's mansion. "I am the Luozhou Sima, and I am honored to meet you, Lord!" The Luozhou Sima recognized Di Renjie at a glance.

His face was solemn as he continued, "I just received an urgent report from a passerby, saying that a large number of unidentified bodies were found on the official road, so I came here to investigate. I wonder why you, Lord, are here?"

Di Renjie smiled and explained, "We stayed at Hanguang Temple last night, and we ran into this incident on the way back to Luoyang. These people were internal guards, and they were ambushed and killed on the official road."

"Internal...Internal Guard?" Sima's face suddenly changed when he heard that.

Di Renjie comforted him, "Don't panic. This is a serious matter. I will return to the capital to see the emperor and explain the matter in person! You just need to clean up the scene and keep all the evidence."

Sima realized that he didn't have to take the blame, so he quickly agreed: "Yes, sir!"
-
At this time, Wu Zetian was walking on the path in the Imperial Garden, looking uneasy.

Suddenly, she stopped and asked Shangguan Wan'er behind her: "Has Huang Shengyan not come back yet?"

Shangguan Wan'er quickly replied, "No."

Wu Zetian frowned and whispered, "It shouldn't be like this. It should take at most two or three hours to go there and back. How come he hasn't come back yet?"

Before he finished speaking, a palace servant came running over in a hurry: "Your Majesty, Lord Di and General Zhao want to see you. They said they have something urgent to discuss. They are waiting in front of the imperial study now."

Wu Zetian looked flustered. She took a deep breath, calmed herself down and said, "Set up the imperial study!"

In the imperial study, Di Renjie and Zhao Jigong stood beside the imperial desk.

After reporting the attack on the inner guards, the two men remained silent, their eyes focused on Wu Zetian sitting on the dragon throne.

Wu Zetian tried hard to calm her inner turmoil. After a long while, she asked with a trembling voice, "When did this happen?"

Di Renjie cupped his hands and replied, "According to my inference, it was around the time of Yin last night."

Wu Zetian nodded slightly, then asked, "Is Huang Shengyan dead?"

The Queen's words revealed an unconcealable shock and unwillingness to believe.

Di Renjie stared at Wu Zetian and said in a deep voice, "That's right."

Upon hearing this, Wu Zetian took a deep breath, trying to calm her inner excitement, but did not say anything more.

Seeing this, Di Renjie had to continue his statement: "Your Majesty, General Zhao and I have personally investigated the scene, and all signs indicate that this was done by the snake spirit again!"

Wu Zetian's hands involuntarily slammed heavily on the table, her eyes burning with anger: "Snake spirit! Snake spirit!"

Di Renjie was slightly surprised. He carefully observed Wu Zetian's expression and asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, Huang Shengyan should be acting on orders, right?"

Wu Zetian raised her head suddenly and said, "No, it's not! You don't need to investigate this matter any further."

Di Renjie was completely stunned. He and Zhao Ji looked at each other in complete confusion.

Then, Wu Zetian no longer cared about Di Renjie and her anxiety. She slowly stood up and walked to the back with very heavy steps.

Shangguan Wan'er looked at Zhao Ji frantically, asking him to stop asking any more questions.

When Di Renjie saw that Wu Zetian wanted to leave, he wanted to ask more questions, but Zhao Ji stopped him in time and gently shook his head to stop him.

If you ask Wu Zetian again, she won't answer. There's no need to light a powder keg that's about to explode.

Shangguan Wan'er gave Zhao Ji a grateful glance, gestured to him and Di Renjie to go back first, and then hurriedly chased after Wu Zetian.

Di Renjie and his men were stunned. Wu Zetian was so out of control that she even forgot to tell them to leave!

The two could only retreat silently.

Behind the screen, Wu Zetian's body swayed continuously, and Shangguan Wan'er ran over quickly and supported her.

Wu Zetian uttered a few words from between her teeth: "Teacher, you finally escaped!"

As she said this, she pushed Shangguan Wan'er away fiercely and strode to the back.

(End of this chapter)