Humans in All Heavens: Starting with Detective Dee

"Have you discovered something?" Di Renjie asked hurriedly.

After listening to Wu Zetian recount the events in the palace, he felt something was amiss.

He didn't think much about being plagued by nightmares, only that Wu Zetian had killed too many people and was too cruel in her early years, which caused him to have mental problems.

What you think about during the day, you dream about at night.

However, he suspected that someone was secretly plotting against the jade toad, and before leaving, he told Di Chun to be extra careful.

In her early years, Wu Zetian fought against Empress Wang and Consort Xiao. After the two were defeated, they were cruelly executed by her.

First, they were each given one hundred strokes of the cane, then their limbs were cut off, their hands were attached to their legs, and their feet were attached to their arms.

Then they threw the two men into a wine vat, causing them to die a painful death.

Such a cruel scene led Di Renjie to suspect that Wu Zetian was recalling the scene when she executed Wang and Xiao, causing her to feel fear and unease, to the point that she had recurring nightmares.

Di Chun nodded: "Indeed, we have made some discoveries. Ordinary nightmares only cause fear when one is dreaming."

Even after waking up, one is only left with lingering fear, and will soon forget it, hardly affecting people in reality. But the emperor's nightmare is different.

It was so realistic that even the emperor was terrified and uneasy, and problems arose even in broad daylight.

Moreover, generally speaking, even if someone is afraid of ghosts, they will feel more at ease as long as there are a few people around. But the emperor was not like that at all.

These problems, along with the sudden appearance of the jade toad, make me suspect that the emperor may have fallen into someone else's conspiracy.

It is highly likely that someone secretly did something to the emperor.

Based on my humble opinion, diet is the most likely cause.

So they stared at what the emperor ate and finally noticed something wrong.

"What's the problem?"

"The Emperor has been drinking a bowl of calming soup every night before going to sleep lately."

So, the night before last, I found an excuse and prepared a calming soup for the emperor myself.

Sure enough, the emperor slept soundly that night without any problems.

I secretly kept the bowl from which the emperor used to drink the calming soup.

Upon my investigation, it was found to contain hallucinogenic drugs.

Di Renjie was startled: "Hallucination drugs?"

Di Chun nodded.

After a moment's thought, Di Renjie said, "Outside the palace, the guards of the four provinces and ten prefectures were murdered by someone using a headless vengeful ghost."

Inside the palace, someone is plotting to plunge the emperor into fear; there must be some underlying connection between these events.

"My lord, what should we do now?" Li Yuanfang stepped forward and asked.

"The most important thing now is to catch the headless ghost and the person behind him."

Seeing Di Renjie standing by the carriage without making a move, Li Yuanfang and Di Chun exchanged a glance and both understood that he was deep in thought.

We must not disturb him at this time.

The two immediately fell silent, waiting quietly for Di Renjie to come to his conclusion.

Suddenly, Di Renjie seemed to have thought of something and looked at the two of them: "Jiang Xiaolang, everything started with Jiang Xiaolang."

Since the current case is not a revenge attack by a headless vengeful ghost, then the Jiang family compound massacre and the Jiang family village massacre decades ago could not have been revenge attacks by headless vengeful ghosts either.

The other party is using a case from decades ago to lure us into believing that it was ghost soldiers committing murder.

I ask you, in the cases of Jiangjiazhuang and Jiangjia Courtyard, who told Zeng Tai that it was a vengeful ghost and ghost soldiers killing people?

After a moment's thought, Li Yuanfang immediately said, "Brother Zeng said it was the former county magistrate named Gao Rujin."

"That's right." Di Renjie nodded, a smile on his face, and said decisively, "So there must be something wrong with this Gao Rujin."

If a case from decades ago couldn't possibly be a case of a vengeful ghost, then why would Gao Rujin tell Zeng Tai these things?

He clearly knew this wasn't a vengeful ghost, so why did he say that?

Li Yuanfang continued: "He is one of the masterminds behind this, and he wants to use Brother Zeng's words to make us believe even more that this is a matter of the underworld."

Di Renjie nodded, but then looked puzzled: "You hit the nail on the head."

However, there is a problem now. According to Zeng Tai, Gao Rujin was already the county magistrate of Yongchang County during the Zhenguan era.

He is now an old man in his nineties.

It can be said that he has lived in Yongchang County for decades.

Based on the current evidence, Gao Rujin could not possibly be the real mastermind; he could only be a participant.

Why would a man in his nineties, living a peaceful life in Yongchang County, get involved in something as serious as the extermination of his entire family?

In other words, what role did Gao Rujin play in this case?

What is his relationship with the real mastermind?

According to Pang Jiugong, decades ago, when the two bloody incidents occurred, the government sent word that it was a vengeful ghost seeking revenge.

That is, the rumors of vengeful ghosts have existed for decades.

It wasn't fabricated for today's case.

Who fabricated those rumors back then?

Di Chun then stepped forward: "The county magistrate, Gao Rujin, was the one who handled the two bloody cases back then. At the time, it could only have been fabricated by Gao Rujin."

"That's right, so why did he fabricate the legend of a vengeful ghost?"

If the two murders had nothing to do with him, he only needed to investigate the cases; why would he fabricate such things?

Unless he is significantly involved in both cases.

A thought flashed through Li Yuanfang's mind, and he immediately exclaimed, "Could it be that he was responsible for these two bloody incidents?"

Di Renjie nodded: "Based on current reasoning, it is highly likely."

He fabricated this rumor to cover up his murder.

"Could he be Yuwen Chengdu's subordinate? Was he avenging his superior by wiping out Jiang Xiaolang's entire family?"

Di Chun said, "I don't think so. There was a four-month gap between the Jiang Family Compound massacre and the Jiang Family Village massacre. If they wanted revenge, why didn't they act together?"

Instead, it should be four months apart?

Furthermore, the Xilin General Temple was the burial place of Yuwen Chengdu. If it was revenge, why did his men burn down the temple?

"Di Chun is right, let's not jump to conclusions yet."

I think we should now take a closer look at Jiang Xiaolang's life so that we can better judge Gao Rujin's motives.

Let's go back to Luoyang, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty...

At this moment, Di Renjie, who is unaware that Jiang Xiaolang is still alive, cannot immediately determine whether Gao Rujin is Jiang Xiaolang.

Li Yuanfang helped Di Renjie into the carriage, and Di Chun also entered the carriage.

Outside the carriage, Li Yuanfang cracked his whip, and the group sped off once again to Luoyang, the capital.

Inside Luoyang city, outside the Lintai History Museum, an official was waiting for the three.

"This humble official pays his respects to the Elder." Upon seeing Di Renjie arrive, an official quickly stepped forward and knelt down.