Detective Di Renjie: The Mysterious Dynasty

Chapter 333 Impression
Shangyang Palace, Ganlu Hall, inner room.

There were fighting going on inside and outside the Eastern Palace and Luoyang City, but it did not spread here, and the palace was deserted.

Wu Zetian seemed to have driven out all the palace people, leaving herself alone in the palace.

She was dressed in casual clothes and sitting at the desk. None of the books on the desk were opened, only a very bright light.

Wu Zetian sat there motionless for who knows how long, staring blankly at the palm of her hand, in which was a green toad.

To be precise, it is the base of a green toad with the words "Ming Yun" engraved on it. The green toad is the name of the late King Yong, Li Xian.

The green toad was upside down, turning over and over in Wu Zetian's palm.

However, Wu Zetian's mind was not on the green toad, as if it had already been extended to somewhere unknown along with the green toad.

Maybe it was Li Xian’s first cry when he was born; maybe it was Li Xian’s laughter in his childhood; maybe it was Li Xian’s heroic appearance when he grew up.

Later, Li Xian became an obstacle to her power and was framed by her; she even made up her mind to force her son to commit suicide...

As for the person "Li Shouxin", she had only heard of the name but never had any real impression of him.

Maybe there should be an impression, but that handsome, familiar face should correspond to another familiar name - Zhao Ji!
With a "creaky" sound, the heavy door of the palace brought Wu Zetian's thoughts back to reality.

Shangguan Wan'er walked lightly and respectfully to her, lowered her head, and reported softly: "Your Majesty, the person has been brought here."

Wu Zetian sighed softly, almost inaudibly, and then slowly put down the base of the green toad in her hand and nodded slightly, with a hint of imperceptible fatigue in her voice: "Got it, bring it in, let me see it with my own eyes."

Shangguan Wan'er did not act immediately, but dutifully reminded again: "Your Majesty, perhaps it would be more appropriate to receive him in the outer hall?"

In the outer hall, Shangguan Wan'er had already arranged a group of Qianniu Guards. Her meaning was very clear: this pair of sisters were not ordinary people and they had to be on guard against them.

When Wu Zetian heard this, a complex emotion flashed in her eyes. She gently waved her hand, signaling Shangguan Wan'er not to say more. "No need, Wan'er, just stay here!"

Shangguan Wan'er had no choice but to obey the order.

The palace gate opened again, and sisters Xiaomei and Xiaofeng slowly walked in under the guidance of Shangguan Wan'er.

The two of them walked into the magnificent palace just like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

Xiaomei was more stable, and although Xiaofeng tried her best to appear respectful, she still couldn't hide her curious eyes, which kept wandering around.

Finally, they came before Wu Zetian.

Under the snake spirit worldview and values ​​that the two have been living in, the woman before them is the source of all evil in the world, the big villain, the big devil, and an object that must be eliminated as soon as possible.

However, when you really face her, apart from that indescribable majesty and depth, she is nothing more than an elderly, vulnerable old lady.

This is what Xiaofeng thought.

According to the etiquette taught by Shangguan Wan'er, Xiaomei and Xiaofeng saluted the emperor in front of them. Xiaofeng felt strange.

"No need to be so polite. Come closer and let me take a look." There was a hint of relaxation and kindness in Wu Zetian's voice.

Xiaomei looked up in surprise and glanced at Wu Zetian, thinking to herself, "Is it because she's getting old that her eyesight isn't very good?"

The two sisters then took two steps forward so that Wu Zetian could see them more clearly.

Wu Zetian nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "What a lovely couple!"

This time Xiaomei didn't say anything, wanting to hear what Wu Zetian would say next.

Seeing that the two were silent, Wu Zetian spoke again: "Don't be restrained. You two have abandoned the dark and joined the light, and have made contributions to the extermination of the snake spirit. I wonder what reward you would like?"

Facing Wu Zetian's question, Xiaomei had to answer: "Your Majesty, the annihilation of the snake spirit was thanks to your majesty's divine power, and secondly to the planning of Lord Di and others. I dare not take credit for it."

Wu Zetian couldn't help but laugh heartily when she heard this: "If that's the case, there's already a precedent of Di Ruyan saving the emperor at Hanguang Temple. Wan'er, you should follow this example and commend them for their achievements!"

Shangguan Wan'er agreed, and Xiaomei and Xiaofeng hurriedly thanked her.

Xiao Feng took the opportunity to secretly glance at the almighty emperor again, and secretly thought that this old lady, at least on the surface, was quite easy to get along with.

Wu Zetian suddenly had an idea and said, "I gave Di Ruyan the name, what are your names?" Xiaomei replied in a deep voice, "My surname is Ruan. My name is Ruan Yumei, and my name is Ruan Yufeng."

Upon hearing this, Wu Zetian couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Ruan Yumei, Ruan Yufeng... I thought you sisters either had the surname Xiao or Yuan."

At this time, Xiaofeng couldn't help but interrupted: "We sisters were orphans and were adopted. We didn't have a surname. We were called Xiaomei and Xiaofeng. It's..."

Before she finished speaking, Xiaomei quickly tugged at her sister's sleeve, signaling her not to say anything more.

Wu Zetian seemed to have guessed it, and then Xiao Feng said: "Someone changed 'Yuan' to Ruan, and then gave you these two names, right?"

Seeing that Wu Zetian had already revealed the truth, Xiaomei had no choice but to nod.

Wu Zetian smiled and shook her head: "Wan'er, please take a seat."

Sisters Xiaomei and Xiaofeng looked at each other, each with doubt in their eyes, and were extremely surprised by Wu Zetian's overly friendly attitude.

Wu Zetian continued, "Don't worry. I am old and miss my family. Can you tell me the story of him and you? Hmm?"

Although she didn't say it explicitly, the three people in the hall already knew that she was talking about Zhao Ji.

However, as luck would have it, Shangguan Wan'er happened to bring back another piece of news: "Your Majesty, is the Crown Prince here?"

Wu Zetian was in high spirits, but was interrupted by this sudden news. She couldn't help but feel unhappy: "No! What is he doing here?"

Shangguan Wan'er said helplessly, "His Royal Highness heard that there were rebels of the Snake Spirit who wanted to harm His Majesty. As a son, he couldn't be at ease, so he came here to accompany His Majesty."

Wu Zetian had come to her senses by now, but she still said impatiently: "I see, the prince must have been very tired, let him rest!"

Shangguan Wan'er understood and immediately stepped back to make arrangements.

Wu Zetian turned to face Xiaomei and her sister and said, "Ignore him. You guys can talk!"

Xiaomei and Xiaofeng looked at each other, not knowing how to start the conversation.

Wu Zetian seemed to see the difficulty of the two people, and she persuaded them: "Let's start with your names... Speak slowly, we have plenty of time."

Unable to refuse, Xiaomei had no choice but to tell the story. After processing Zhao Ji's past, she slowly explained to Wu Zetian: "At that time, His Highness was seriously injured by Yuan Tiangang and was almost on the verge of death. It took a long time for him to recover. We sisters were the servants who took care of His Highness..."

Wu Zetian murmured to herself in a voice that only she could hear: "Oh, the relationship between the two is really like fire and water!"

As they talked, Sister Xiaomei couldn't help but be moved, and she couldn't help herself, which made Wu Zetian's eyes sparkle.

"On my birthday that year, he gave me this jade pendant as a gift..." Xiaomei couldn't help herself.

Wu Zetian's face was full of interest, but she was also a little skeptical. "Interesting, he just gave away such an important thing? It seems that he really values ​​you sisters."

Xiao Feng curled her lips and said, "Not entirely! My sister and I didn't think so at first, but later we found out that the guy was very disgusted with the identity of the son of Prince Yong."

Wu Zetian was even more surprised when she heard this: "Is there such a thing?"

Xiao Feng nodded and said, "It's true. He hates being called His Highness the most, and he never allows us sisters to mention this matter. He usually looks smiling, but once this topic is brought up, he immediately turns hostile and bites whoever he sees!"

Wu Zetian couldn't help laughing when she heard Xiao Feng's description, and then asked curiously: "Can you show me the jade pendant?"

Xiaomei naturally obeyed, took the jade pendant from her neck, and handed it to Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian looked at the small seal characters on the jade pendant and murmured, "Shouxin... This name, this name has a connection with me. If I hadn't forced him to change his name, he might have been called Li Guangxin."

In this timeline, of Li Xian's sons, the eldest, Li Guangshun, died early and his name was not changed. The rest of the sons were forced to change the second character of their names to "Shou" by Wu Zetian's decree.

Sister Xiaomei had never heard of such a connection and was amazed for a moment.

At this moment, Shangguan Wan'er entered the palace again: "Your Majesty, Lord Di and General Zhao want to see you!"

Wu Zetian, Xiaomei and Xiaofeng all looked up at the same time. After waiting for so long, it finally came.

　There is a small bug here. The protagonist's jade pendant should actually be called "Guang Mou". Shouli and Shouyi were changed later. The changes were made earlier in this world line, so it was accidentally hurt. As for the order of Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi and Xin, I just randomly arranged it because the second child was originally named Guangren, but was renamed Shouli, and the third child was named Shouyi. So it is reasonable for the fourth child to be named Shouxin.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)