Detective Di Renjie: The Mysterious Dynasty

Chapter 394 Straight Hook Fishing
"Take him away and keep him under guard. No one is allowed to visit him!"

At Zhao Ji's order, the Qianniu Guards took away Yang Jiuchen, who was crying out for injustice.

This guy is actually the least wronged. If the case is not solved, he will still be charged with dereliction of duty. Now he is just pinning his hopes on Yuan Qi, hoping to be rescued.

As for Cui Liang and Wu Wendeng, they obediently followed Zhao Ji's orders and went to check the "fake accounts" and "fake witnesses" they had prepared for themselves.

The situation is stronger than the person. Since Zhao is the imperial envoy and the yamen is surrounded by Qianniu Guards, what else can Cui Liang, Wu Wendeng and others do?
They could only let Zhao Ji flatten them, round them up, and manipulate them at will.

Moreover, Zhao Ji never said that he was under house arrest. At least he found some reasonable excuses. He just acted in an emergency!

Therefore, Cui Liang, Wu Wendeng and Yang Jiuchen were separated in the lobby.

From this moment on, as long as Zhao Ji is in Yangzhou, these three people will never see each other or contact each other again, no matter when they eat or sleep!
Fortresses are always breached from the inside; this is Zhao Ji's blatant psychological warfare.

The most feared thing about collusion in testimony is that someone becomes a breakthrough point. They may be able to hold on at the beginning, but after a long period of no contact or communication, can these three corrupt officials trust each other?
It’s very blue!

Zhao was not as restrained as Di Renjie. He also had some regard for procedural justice and waited until there was solid evidence before taking action.

Since we already know where the arrow will fall, what's the difficulty in drawing a target?
Besides, Cui Liang, Wu Wendeng and Yang Jiuchen are just small shrimps, the real big tiger is Ying Wang Yuanqi.

Even if Cui Liang and the other two can hold on, Yuan Qi may still trust them at the beginning, but after a while, he will definitely become suspicious.

Once suspicion arises, it is inevitable that action will be taken, and Zhao Ji's opportunity will come.

Di Renjie's unique skill, knocking the mountain to scare the tiger, always works! Zhao Ji has obviously mastered it.

If Yuan Qi was ready to overturn the table in anger, it would actually save trouble.

No matter how powerful the Iron Hand Regiment and Yuan Qi are, can they defeat the siege of the Imperial Guard?

Zhao Ji's most important task now is to quickly find out the details of Yuan Qi: for example, find out how many people are in the Iron Hand Group, how many officials in Yangzhou are involved, and the possible private salt sales network in Huaibei.

"I'm afraid these things will have to fall into the hands of the so-called Hongtong Shop!" Zhao Ji couldn't help but think.

Just as Zhao Ji was lost in thought, there was a sudden noise outside the door.

"Your Highness, the assassin has been brought here!" Xiao Bao escorted the previously captured Zhang Zhi into the lobby.

Zhao Ji couldn't stop smiling when he saw Zhang Zhi. Although this man was a killer, he was still cute.

Zhan Zhi had never been at peace along the way and was now tightly bound, with a black cloth hood covering his eyes and a cloth ball stuffed in his mouth, so he could only make muffled sounds.

Zhao Ji raised his hand slightly, signaling Xiao Bao to untie Zhang Zhi so that he could question him.

The hood and gag were taken off one by one. Zhang Zhi blinked and gradually adapted to the surrounding light.

When his eyes focused on Zhao Ji's face, he blurted out: "Don't be delusional, I will not betray the master!"

“Hahahaha…” Zhao Ji couldn’t help laughing, and shook his head, “Don’t you know that we are now in Yangzhou? You keep calling me Sect Leader, and you’ve already sold out the Iron Hand Group that you came from!”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhi was speechless for a long time.

"You...you are despicable!" He suddenly became agitated and jumped forward to fight Zhao Ji desperately, but he was stopped by the Qianniu guards on both sides and pressed to the ground.

Zhao Ji shook his head gently and said, "Although you have committed many evil deeds, you are also innocent. It is because you did not meet a good person to teach you when you were a child that you went astray!"

Zhang Zhi struggled more violently and roared, "I won't allow you to insult the master!"

Zhao Ji squatted in front of Zhang Zhi and smiled even brighter: "Alas! What a pity, you are loyal to your clan leader, but your clan leader may not be the same to you."

"I have deliberately asked you to show up on the streets of Yangzhou today. Think about it, given the style of the Iron Hand Group, how will they deal with you?"

Although Zhang Zhi seems a bit honest and straightforward, he is not really stupid. He has seen what happened to the losers in the Iron Hand Group.

So he stopped struggling and fell silent.

Zhao Ji sighed and stood up. "I have handled many major cases and personally wiped out snake spirits that were larger than the Iron Hand Group. Captured people like you often die not at the hands of the court, but at the hands of their own people!"

"On the contrary, most of those who reformed and surrendered lived a comfortable life. They no longer had to hide their heads and leak their secrets, and lived in the sunshine..."

"I'll give you a few days to think about it, and by the way, let's see what happens next!" As he said that, Zhao Jijing didn't wait for Zhang Zhi's answer, and signaled Xiao Bao to take the people away.
-
Zhao Ji’s question was easy to answer. The Iron Hand Group had always been cruel to those who failed their missions.

As night falls, inside the Iron Hand Group’s headquarters.

Two losers were kneeling in front of Sect Leader Yuan Qi. They were none other than Long Feng and Hu Yun, the two talented young masters.

Yuan Gui and other hall masters who were not implicated stood on both sides, not daring to make a sound, and the atmosphere was extremely depressing.

Neither of them completed their tasks, and they both chose a "good time" to meet Yuan Qi.

Of course, kneeling behind Hu Yun were Yun Gu, Xiong Sha and other defeated generals, each looking more miserable than the other.

Although Yuan Qi pretended to be sick during the day, he was really angry and felt uncomfortable at this moment. He covered his chest and said angrily: "Good! Good! It's great! You sent two 'big gifts' to my Iron Hand Group!"

Long Feng and Hu Yun's faces turned pale, and they kowtowed and begged for mercy: "We are incompetent, and we beg the Sect Master to punish us!"

Yuan Qi first scolded Long Feng, gritting his teeth in hatred: "I was wondering how that kid could find Prince Ying's mansion directly today! It turned out to be your fault!"

"You trapped Zhang Zhi on the official ship and did not report it in time! Do you know that the foundation of the Iron Hand Group may be destroyed because of your negligence?"

Long Feng did not dare to argue and kept kowtowing to admit his guilt.

Yuan Gui was still responsible. He knelt on the ground and advised sincerely: "Father, the mistake has been made and it is too late to regret. Long Feng's mission is to go to the capital with me."

"It was only because the incident happened suddenly that I sent him and Zhang Zhi to follow him. Therefore, I also have a share of responsibility. Please punish me, father!"

Yuan Qi looked at Yuan Gui helplessly, sighed, and asked again: "Long Feng, you said that you met a peerless master on the boat, and also met an old man with extraordinary majesty and a strong body?"

Long Feng nodded quickly and explained aggrievedly: "Yes, in my opinion, the martial arts of that expert is definitely not inferior to that of the sect master, and he uses a mechanical chain knife, which is very difficult to deal with. If not, why would I give up Zhang Zhi and escape alone?"

Yuan Qi did not comment upon hearing this. His focus was not on the "peerless master" but more on the old man.

He stood up slowly, his expression solemn: "Chain knife... I heard that the former Qianniuwei General Li Yuanfang used such a weapon. He was the right-hand man of the senior official Di Renjie! How could he appear on the same ship with the King of Yan?"

"Also, the Prince of Yan went to Yangzhou today, but he didn't hear about Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang? Where did they go?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Gui felt a chill all over his body.

Hu Yun seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, with hope flashing in his eyes: "Could it be that the peerless master is Li Yuanfang?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Qi glared at Hu Yun and rebuked him mercilessly, "Stupid! Li Yuanfang was on the passenger ship to Yangzhou a few days ago, and that swordsman appeared more than ten days ago. How could it be one person?"

Hu Yun immediately lowered his head upon hearing this, not daring to say anything more: "It is my fault that I am stupid."

Yuan Qi's eyes flashed with a thoughtful look: "From all the signs, it is certain that the King of Yan came prepared! There is no guarantee that this expert was not arranged by him!"

"Then what should we do?" asked the elephant king anxiously.

Yuan Qi shook his head slowly, his brows revealing helplessness and deep thought. For a moment, he had no good solution.

After a moment, he had made up his mind: "No matter what, immediately pass the order to cancel all recent operations of the Iron Hand Group! At the same time, notify Lin Yang to stop all activities in Huaibei. All personnel must hide and not reveal their whereabouts!"

"If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either. Let's first see what moves Prince Yan and Di Renjie will make, and then we'll counter them!" Yuan Qi's voice was steady and powerful, yet fairly calm.

Everyone quickly agreed.

"In addition, I would like to remind Cui Liang, Wu Wendeng and others to remain calm, not act rashly, keep their mouths shut, and not have any more contact in the near future!" Yuan Qi specifically mentioned the three corrupt officials again, his tone full of vigilance.

However, at this critical moment, a subordinate of the Iron Hand Group suddenly came hurriedly to the hall, looking anxious, as if there was an urgent matter to report.

Yuan Qi was still instructing everyone, and seeing this, Yuan Gui took the initiative to walk out to find out what was going on.

After a while, Yuan Gui's expression changed drastically. He hurried back to the hall and shouted in panic, "Father, something terrible has happened! The families of Governor Cui and others have reported that Governor Cui and his two men have not returned home tonight. After some inquiries, we learned that they were detained by the imperial envoy at the Canal Transport Office!"

"What?!" Yuan Qi's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and a hint of shock and anger flashed in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)