Detective Di Renjie: The Mysterious Dynasty

Chapter 354 A thief meets a thief
Having killed another enemy with his own hands and of course committed a major crime, Lin Yongzhong tightly grasped the sledgehammer and hurriedly fled the inn, with a complex emotion of excitement and nervousness in his heart.

Zhang Yi had been waiting outside the inn for a long time. When he saw Lin Yongzhong successfully escape, he immediately went forward to meet him.

Lin Yongzhong didn't hesitate and handed the sledgehammer to Zhang Yi, and took off his cloak: "I have to rush back to the county government immediately, you be careful."

Zhang Yi took the sledgehammer weighing dozens of pounds, wrapped it in his cloak with some effort, nodded in agreement, and then the two parted ways.

However, when Lin Yongzhong arrived near the county government office, he unexpectedly discovered a few dim lights coming from in front of the gate of the county government office.

He immediately became alert, looked up and observed for a moment before straightening his clothes and walking forward.

When he reached the door, he saw two guards, one fat and one thin, holding lanterns, with fawning smiles on their faces: "Sir, you are finally back. I was so worried!"

Lin Yongzhong pretended to be calm: "I chatted with the governor for a while at the old gentleman's house and missed the time. I just arrived in Wuping and am not familiar with the streets. There is no moonlight today, so I got lost and came back late."

Upon hearing this, the fat man quickly blamed himself and said, "It's all my fault. I should have gone with you earlier."

Lin Yongzhong coughed lightly and glanced at the two of them: "It's not your fault. The governor is on a secret visit this time, and it would be inconvenient to have a yamen runner accompanying him. You must remember not to publicize what happened tonight. Just assume that you have returned from this county at 3 p.m. Do you understand?"

The fat and thin men smiled at each other, thinking that Lin Yongzhong was worried that the news of him getting lost would damage his official prestige, so he gave him special instructions.

They had offended Lin Yongzhong before, and now they were trying to curry favor with him, so they naturally agreed: "Don't worry, sir, we won't have to worry! Please come in, sir!"

Lin Yongzhong nodded, and the fat man immediately led the way with a lantern. The thin man closed the gate of the county government office behind him and followed.

The three of them walked forward and headed towards the officials' residential area behind the county government office.

Unexpectedly, he encountered a mysterious masked man in black in front of the guest room door, who was secretly peeping into the room.

"Who are you?" the thin bailiff shouted immediately.

The masked man turned around when he heard the voice and caught a glimpse of Lin Yongzhong and his entourage. He was immediately horrified, then he used his lightness skills to jump onto the roof and quickly disappeared into the night.

The two yamen runners pretended to be attentive and wanted to chase after him, but they couldn't even see the direction in which the masked man fled.

Lin Yongzhong also had cold sweat on his forehead. Tonight's matter was of great importance and he didn't want any complications.

"Could it be that someone from the county government is pretending to be a thief and coming here to spy on our county?" He stared at the two fat and thin yamen runners in front of him with his eyes wide open.

Seeing this, the thin yamen runner knelt down hurriedly and defended himself: "Your Excellency, you are wronged! He...he can fly over eaves and walls. There is really no one in the yamen who has such skills!"

Lin Yongzhong gradually calmed down, but his heart was full of doubts: "Who is this person?"

The fat yamen runner suddenly had an idea: "Sir, could it be the work of Marquis Pingnan?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yongzhong turned his gaze towards the fat yamen runner, his eyes full of scrutiny.

The fat yamen runner felt his hair stand on end when he was looked at, and he quickly added: "I heard that he has many experts in his house! Today you gave him another blow of power, this may be his revenge!"

Lin Yongzhong did not comment, but frowned and fell into deep thought: "Did you notice that the person just now was petite and seemed to be a woman!"

Upon hearing this, the thin man couldn't help but gasp, with the hair on his body standing on end. "You mean... Bai, Bai, Bai Tian...that female evil star?"

A gleam of thought flashed across Lin Yongzhong's eyes, and then he shook his head: "This doesn't make sense..."

After a moment's silence, he said to the two yamen runners with a serious look, "Don't let a word of this matter leak out! This county has its own arrangements! Violators will be severely punished!"

The two of them nodded in agreement quickly, and Lin Yongzhong turned away, leaving the fat and thin men standing there looking at each other with bitter smiles.

They originally wanted to show goodwill to the new county magistrate, but unexpectedly they got involved in trouble again. They were really unlucky.
-
The woman in black who escaped from the county government office could not be Ruyan, but Xiaoyun who had been searching for the secret letter in the secret room of the Marquis's mansion in vain.

She recalled Jinniang's unusual behavior in the Marquis' Mansion and Xue Qinglin's extreme reaction after Jinniang escaped, and guessed that Jinniang had stolen the letter first.

But she couldn't figure out where Jinniang came from, Xiaopu Village, and she remembered that the servant of the Marquis' Mansion mentioned that Jinniang was rescued by an old man. Later, Xue Qinglin went to the county government office and was rejected, so she thought of trying her luck at the county government office.

As a result, Jinniang did not find him, but accidentally ran into Lin Yongzhong who was returning from committing a crime. Both of them had something to hide and broke out in cold sweats.

She gritted her teeth and ran back to the yard where she had met Wen Kai during the day, wanting to explain the situation to Wen Kai and ask for help.

However, this was another wasted trip. "What? The leader is not here?" Xiaoyun was surprised.

The inner guard who stayed in the courtyard nodded and said, "That's right. Something happened in Pingnan Marquis's mansion. The leader had to show up. He took people to the county government office."

"Ah? The leader is in the county government office?" Xiaoyun was confused. "What...what's going on?"

The inner guard who stayed behind smiled and said, "If you have anything important to tell me, I will pass it on to the leader for you!"

Xiao Yun thought for a moment, and finally shook his head: "Forget it, I'd better wait until I have a chance to report to the leader in person!"

After she finished speaking, she left in a hurry without waiting for a response, leaving the confused inner guards there.
-
At the beginning of the night, there was silence in front of Di Renjie's study.

Di Renjie buried his head in writing. After a long time, he finally put down his pen, took a long breath, and raised his head.

Di Chun stood in front of the desk, seemingly having been waiting for a long time.

Di Renjie carefully sealed the two letters and handed them to Di Chun: "Send them 600 miles to the capital city with urgency, give them to Cheng Yuan and ask him for help. Send the other one to the emperor!"

Di Chun nodded and said, "Yes. I'll leave right away!"

He put the envelope into the recruitment bag he had prepared long ago and walked out quickly.

Di Renjie stood up and gently moved his wrists, which were slightly sore from writing for a long time. He twisted his neck, making a slight sound, and then he slowly walked out the door.

His gaze involuntarily turned to the backyard, and he saw that the east wing where Jinniang was was already pitch black. It seemed that the little girl was indeed very tired during the day and was sleeping peacefully at this moment.

In contrast, Wen Kai's room in the west wing was brightly lit, as if he was still thinking about the Huang Wenyue case?
Di Renjie smiled and secretly admired: "Although Wen Kai was born in the inner guard, he was indeed conscientious and dedicated in his post as governor."

However, just as he was feeling this emotion, he heard a strange noise in the backyard.

"Hmm?" Di Renjie frowned slightly, and with a flash of his body, he quickly walked towards the source of the sound.

When he stepped into the backyard, he caught a glimpse of a figure moving stealthily and stealthily in the night.

The faint light coming from Wen Kai's room just happened to illuminate that person's figure - it was Jinniang.

"Jinniang, why haven't you slept yet so late?" There was a hint of doubt in Di Renjie's tone.

Jinniang was startled by Di Renjie's sudden appearance. Her eyes flickered and she stammered, "Oh! I... I... I'm scared... I can't sleep..."

Di Renjie's eyes swept over Jinniang carefully. From her hair to her clothes and shoes, she was dressed neatly. She didn't look like she had just woken up or was about to turn off the lights and rest.

However, he did not expose her on the spot: "Oh, how about this, let you let Sister Ruyan sleep with you, okay?"

When Jinniang heard this, a smile instantly broke out on her face and she nodded repeatedly: "Okay!"

Di Renjie smiled gently and waved to Jinniang: "Come, I will take you to find your sister Ruyan."

Jinniang looked hesitant, but did not agree immediately.

Di Renjie blinked, his doubts in his heart even more intense. He encouraged again in a gentle tone: "Don't be afraid, just say whatever you want to say!"

Jinniang finally mustered up her courage and said with a trembling voice, "My benefactor, Jinniang dares to ask you for a favor. I want to bury my father back in Xiaopu Village so that he can rest in peace as soon as possible!"

Di Renjie was slightly startled when he heard this, then he slowly nodded, his eyes showing understanding and sympathy: "Of course, now that Du Er's case has been settled, burying him is a big deal, and it should be arranged as soon as possible."

He went on to say, "You don't have to worry. I will let Ruyan and Yuanfang arrange this tomorrow, and I will pay for all the expenses!"

When Jinniang heard Di Renjie's generous agreement, she was so excited that she immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to express her gratitude: "Thank you for your great kindness! Jinniang kowtows to you!"

Di Renjie quickly stepped forward and helped Jinniang up: "Hurry up, hurry up. Since you are so filial, I will not ignore you!"

Jinniang wiped her tears and continued to thank him profusely. Then she no longer cared about Ruyan and went back to her room.

Di Renjie stared at Jinniang's departing figure, pondered for a long time, and secretly sighed in his heart: "What a quick-witted little girl, she is really not simple!"

(End of this chapter)