Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 241: Mutton Fat Jade Turtle
It was already mid-December, and envoys from various countries once again gathered in Chang'an.

However, the canal boat capsize case, which concerned the people of Chang'an the most, has not been solved yet.

Di Renjie stood in the office of the Temple and looked out the window.

It snowed heavily last night, and the sky and the earth were covered with white. The branches were bent by the snow, making a rustling sound.

Di Renjie's thoughts seemed to be as vast and solid as the world.

Li Yuanfang was sitting by the chair, cooking wine, and the aroma of wine filled the air.

"Hey, Brother Di, since you can't make a decision for the moment, come over and have a glass of wine to warm yourself up."

Di Renjie sighed, closed the window, and looked at him enviously.

"You don't care about anything."

Li Yuanfang smiled and said, "Because I don't have as many concerns as you do. If I were you, I would have gone to His Majesty long ago and explained the situation to him. I'd let His Majesty worry about the rest."

Di Renjie slowly walked over to sit opposite him and glared at him.

"If all the ministers thought like you, Your Majesty would have died of exhaustion long ago."

Li Yuanfang smiled and said, "So I can't be a minister, and I don't want to be a minister. I will be satisfied if I can be your bodyguard."

He used a long-handled copper spoon to pour a cup of steaming wine and handed it to Di Renjie.

Di Renjie took two sips, gripping his wine glass tightly, and sighed, "Yuan Fang, I'm not concerned about Xue Rengui's official position and title, but..."

Li Yuanfang interrupted, "Don't I know you? Even if I asked you to investigate the prince, you would never back down. You're worried about affecting the war on the front lines, am I right?"

Di Renjie nodded and said, "General Xue is currently fighting in Tubo. If he knew we were investigating his family, it would definitely affect his mentality and worsen the war situation!"

Li Yuanfang sighed, "But dragging it out is not a good idea. Even if His Majesty trusts you, his patience is limited. If we can't solve the case before the day, His Majesty will definitely be dissatisfied."

Di Renjie took another sip of his wine and nodded, "I know."

Li Yuanfang thought for a moment and said, "Do you think the information provided by Cui Jia Erlang is false? I still think that General Xue would never do such a thing."

Ten days ago, Cui Yixuan's son suddenly came to the Dali Temple to surrender himself and confessed everything.

Based on the clues he provided, Di Renjie quickly found the person who instructed him to take the urgent report to the Ministry of War.

Who would have thought that the man was actually a guard of the Xue Mansion, and a guard that Xue Rengui had recently sent back to the mansion from Songzhou.

Di Renjie carefully checked the man's identity and found that he was indeed a soldier of the Songzhou Military Governor's Office.

After investigation, it was discovered that the man was traveling to Chang'an with four or five carriages.

According to the coachman, the things on the carriage were extremely heavy, most likely gold and silver objects.

Judging from the current situation, it seems that we can draw a conclusion.

The case was committed by Xue Rengui, and those gold and silver items were part of the property that disappeared after the ship capsized.

Of course, Di Renjie saw that there were still many doubts in this matter, but if he wanted to continue the investigation, he had to go to the Xue Mansion.

Xue Rengui was fighting on the front line, and Di Renjie was afraid that this matter would affect him, so he did not dare to investigate or report to the emperor, so as not to worry the emperor and put him in a dilemma.

Di Renjie was silent for a moment, then said, "There's nothing wrong with Cui Shenqing's words. They should be believed."

Li Yuanfang asked, "Do you really suspect that Xue Rengui was responsible?"

Di Renjie said slowly, "Yuan Fang, in the absence of sufficient evidence, avoid making arbitrary inferences."

Li Yuanfang said, "What should we do? We can't investigate, and we can't push the issue away. We can't just wait for someone to turn themselves in, can we?"

Di Renjie glanced at him and said, "Although a direct investigation is not possible, we can investigate from the side."

"side?"

Di Renjie stood up and said, "I'm going to find someone to help. I'll leave the Dali Temple to you for the time being." He strode out of the house.

……

The carriage followed the ruts in the thick snow and slowly moved along the street, occasionally pressing on the thick snow and making a "crunching" sound.

After a while, the carriage arrived outside a mansion on Pingkangfang East Street.

The vermilion lacquered gate with animal heads was brand new, and above the lintel were written the three characters "Duke of Liang". This was Xue Rengui's residence.

Outside the mansion gate, there was a bustling bustle. A dozen or so servants were shoveling snow. When they saw the carriage coming, they all stopped.

After a while, the carriage stopped outside the mansion gate and two people got out of the carriage. They were Gao Youdao and his wife.

Gao Youdao and Xue Rengui are close friends.

When Xue Rengui was not at home, Gao Youdao would often have his wife visit the Xue residence, and occasionally come along to chat with Xue Na. Therefore, the Xue residence's servants were very welcoming to Gao Youdao and his wife, welcoming them into the mansion's lobby and sending someone to inform Liu and the young master.

It was already past the afternoon and Xue Na had already finished school. After a while, Liu took Xue Na to the lobby to receive guests.

After a few pleasantries, Liu took Du Rong into the inner room and asked Xue Na to entertain Gao Youdao.

Du Rong followed Liu into the warm room. Liu took out her latest embroidery and showed it to her. Du Rong smiled and said, "Sister, your craftsmanship is getting better and better."

Liu smiled, took out a mutton-fat jade turtle from her bosom, handed it to Du Rong, and said, "Sister, what do you think of this turtle?"

Du Rong played with it in her palm for a while and exclaimed, "What an exquisite jade tortoise! ​​Such exquisite items are rare even in the palace."

Liu smiled and said, "If you like it, just take it."

Du Rong waved her hands and said, "Such a precious treasure, how can I accept it?"

Liu smiled and said, "It's not a rare thing. I have a lot here."

Du Rong's heart moved, and she thought to herself, "Could this be the stolen property that Di Siqing mentioned?"

She and Gao Youdao were both entrusted by Di Renjie to come to Xue Mansion to inquire about information, in the hope of clearing Xue Mansion of suspicion.

"Sister Liu, did you buy this from the West Market?" she asked tentatively.

Liu smiled sweetly and said, "You can't buy this kind of thing in the West Market. These were sent back by my beloved. I heard they were captured during the attack on Tubo."

Du Rong was shocked and said, "The items captured on the battlefield should belong to the national treasury. General Xue, what are you doing..."

Liu waved her hand and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Commander Duan said that His Majesty issued a decree to reward my beloved with some of the captured artifacts, so he asked someone to bring them back."

Du Rong looked at the mutton-fat jade tortoise in her hand and said, "So that's how it is. If that's the case, I'll accept it without hesitation."

Liu took her hand and said with a smile, "That's right."

Outside the lobby, Gao Youdao was also talking to Xue Na.

"Dalang, won't your father come back this year?" Gao Youdao asked.

Xue Na muttered, "My mother said that the war on the front line is not over yet, and my father will not come back."

Gao Youdao asked, "Did he send a message, or ask someone to bring something back?"

Xue Na nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, more than half a month ago, Dad sent General Duan back with several carts of things back to Chang'an, all of which were gold, silver and jade."

Gao Youdao pretended to be surprised and said, "General Xue is fighting on the front lines, where did he get so many treasures?"

Xue Na scratched his head and said, "I don't know either. Mother is very happy."

"Is that Brigade Commander Duan really someone sent by your father? Could he be a fake?"

Xue Na was surprised and asked, "Fake? How could it be?"

Gao Youdao said slowly, "Your father is in a high position of power now, and there are many people who want to harm him. You need to be careful."

"It can't be fake. Mother has seen General Duan's official certificate and it proves that he is indeed a soldier from Songzhou. There is also a handwritten letter from father." Xue Na shook his little head like a rattle.

Gao Youdao asked, "Can you let me see the letter?"

Xue Na trusted Gao Youdao very much. He kicked his legs and got down from the chair, saying, "Uncle Gao, wait a moment. I'll get it for you to see."

After a while, Xue Na came back with the letter and handed it to Gao Youdao.

After Gao Youdao finished reading it, a light flashed in his eyes.

He had seen Xue Rengui's handwriting, and this letter was obviously written in an imitation of Xue Rengui's handwriting. It could be deceived by ordinary people, but it could not be deceived by him, the top scholar in the seventh year of Yonghui!
He read it calmly and handed it back to Xue Na.

Xue Na asked nervously, "Uncle Gao, was this letter written by Daddy?"

Gao Youdao was afraid that Xue Na was too young to keep his word and might alert the enemy, so he smiled and said, "He wrote it, no problem."

Xue Na finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "That's good. You scared me to death just now."

In the evening, Gao Youdao and his wife had dinner at Liu Mansion and then said goodbye and left.

When the couple returned home, Di Renjie had been waiting for them for a long time.

The two men told Di Renjie the intelligence they had gathered.

After hearing this, Di Renjie felt relieved. He bowed and said with a smile, "Thank you both for your help. Now I have nothing to worry about."

Gao Youdao said, "Brother Di, you don't have to be polite. We are also trying to clear the Xue family of suspicion."

Di Renjie said with a stern gaze, "Don't worry, both of you. Now that we know they're trying to frame General Xue, this case won't be difficult to investigate. I'll definitely find the person behind this!"

(End of this chapter)