Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 278: Three Alliances
Lakeside Palace and Lake Viewing Platform.

Li Ji stood quietly by, listening to Liu Renyuan, the governor of Yingzhou, report the situation to Li Zhi.

Liu Renyuan was born into the Diaoyin Liu family. His ancestor was Liu Bao, the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu. He entered the officialdom during the reign of Emperor Taizong through family connections. When he was young, he could fight wild beasts with his bare hands.

Now he is in his forties, in the prime of his life, serving in the Yingzhou army. He looks like an upright black bear, tall and strong, full of intimidating power.

When Liu Rengui first arrived in Yingzhou, he inspected the generals in the army and took a liking to him at first sight. He also recommended him to return to Chang'an to participate in the hunting in the Forbidden Garden.

Therefore, Li Zhi had a good understanding of his abilities and knew that he was a powerful general.

Liu Rengui was different from ordinary military generals. As soon as he arrived in Yingzhou, he began to send spies to infiltrate Goguryeo and Baekje.

Moreover, the spies he sent were not ordinary people, but officials of the Dayingzhou Military Governor's Office. The recorder Sun Baoxiang infiltrated Goguryeo, and the chief clerk Xin Wenling infiltrated Baekje.

After these two civil servants sneaked into the two places, they achieved unexpected results. They successfully penetrated the bureaucratic systems of the two countries and obtained a lot of confidential information.

Liu Renyuan was sent by Liu Rengui to return to Chang'an from Yingzhou to report the situation to Li Zhi.

The most important piece of news was that Khitan, Goguryeo and Baekje had secretly held an alliance and seemed to have agreed on a battle plan to deal with the Tang Dynasty.

The specific plan is unknown, but for the sake of caution, Liu Rengui sent Liu Renyuan back to Chang'an to explain the situation to the emperor first.

After listening to this, Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "If the three families formed an alliance to attack Yingzhou, does Commander Liu have a plan to deal with it?"

Liu Renyuan cupped his hands, his eyes wide, and said, "Your Majesty, our army is fully prepared. We will make sure they never return!"

Li Zhi said: "Can you find out when they will attack?"

Liu Renyuan said, "The exact time is unknown, but according to the information sent back by Xin Zhubu, they seem to be waiting for Baekje."

Li Zhi asked curiously, "Wait for Baekje?"

Liu Renyuan said, "Yes, Goguryeo and Khitan have already sent several groups of people to Baekje, seemingly to urge them."

Li Zhi frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Baekje doesn't border us. We can only cross the border through Goguryeo. Why are they urging Baekje to do this? Could it be that their battle plan is centered around Baekje?"

Liu Renyuan lowered his head and said, "I don't know the details. After Xin Zhubu finds out, I will report it to Your Majesty as soon as possible."

Li Zhi said: "Why don't you take the initiative to attack?"

Liu Renyuan said, "General Liu's point is that if we take the initiative to advance, it will increase the logistical burden, so we choose to wait and see."

Li Zhi nodded.

Generals who come from a civil service background usually consider things more carefully. If they are military generals, they will directly ask the court for food and manpower without thinking too much.

Given the current situation in Hebei, Li Zhi really doesn't want to waste people's money and resources anymore, and Liu Rengui's approach is more to his liking.

"Okay, I know everything. Go back and tell Commander Liu. I'm waiting for his victory report!"

Liu Renyuan bowed and said, "Yes!" Then he took his leave.

Li Zhi picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, turned his head to look at Li Ji, and said, "Xiao Ji, are you here to report on the Zheng case?"

Li Ji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have already been to Yongzhou Prefecture. Zheng has already intervened in the case..."

Report everything you heard in Yongzhou Prefecture truthfully.

On weekdays in the court, in front of Li Zhi, every official appeared to be upright and clear about the distinction between public and private affairs. However, behind the scenes, they were a completely different picture.

Li Zhi originally had a good impression of Zheng Rentai. He also participated in hunting in the Forbidden Garden and won glory for the country.

However, when it came to his own family, he abused his power so much that Li Zhi was deeply disappointed.

Fortunately, Concubine Zheng was not too deeply involved, otherwise Li Zhi would be in even greater trouble.

Having said that, although Zheng was disappointing, Li Zhi was pleased with Changsun Quan's attitude this time.

Since Changsun Quan is still investigating, Li Zhi does not intend to intervene and will wait and see how the situation develops.

"Xiao Ji, you continue to help me keep an eye on it and report to me at any time." He waved his hand.

Xiaoji said, "I obey your command." Then he took his leave.

The Wannian County Government Office was empty again, and Changsun Quan was not in the office. After asking the yamen runners, no one knew where the county magistrate had gone.

Xiaoji had no choice but to send someone to keep an eye on Wannian County and return home first.

Little did he know that Changsun Quan was sitting in the Dali Temple office at this time, reporting the Changlefang case to Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang.

Di Renjie did not hesitate and after listening, he directly expressed his willingness to take over the case.

The Dali Temple's authority to handle cases is higher than that of Yongzhou Prefecture, so when the Dali Temple wanted to intervene, Xu Ang was helpless and could only secretly curse Changsun Quan for bypassing his level and department.

If it was an ordinary county magistrate, he would definitely report him severely, but since he was the prince consort, what else could he do?

Zheng couldn't do anything to Di Renjie. Fortunately, the evidence had been destroyed. Even Di Renjie wouldn't be able to investigate further, right?
In addition, this case was a bit strange. Zheng Xuankai clearly killed a woman, but the body he dug out was a male corpse.

Zheng felt something was wrong and was secretly investigating the matter.

Three days passed quickly.

Early that morning, Di Renjie had just arrived at the office and had not even had time to drink a sip of hot tea when Changsun Quan came to him.

"Minister Di Si, if you don't want to investigate this case, just say it directly. Why waste time? Are you deliberately covering up for Zheng?" Changsun Quan said with a serious face.

Di Renjie poured two cups of tea, handed one to Changsun Quan, and said with a smile, "Why do you think I didn't investigate this case, Prince Consort?"

Changsun Quan asked, "You haven't questioned Zheng Xuankai once in the past three days. Is this how you conduct an investigation?" Di Renjie said slowly, "Son-in-law, solving a case requires flexibility. If one clue is broken, you must shift your thinking and investigate in another direction. Otherwise, you'll only run into trouble."

Chang Sunquan frowned and asked, "Are you saying that the clue to Zheng Xuankai has been cut off?"

Di Renjie took a sip of tea and nodded, "Yes, the clues have all been destroyed. If we keep focusing on Zheng, we will end up in a dead end."

"Have you found other directions?"

Di Renjie extended his hand to invite Changsun Quan to sit down, then he also walked over to the table and sat down. He sat up straight and said, "In the past few days, I have investigated clearly that Zheng Xuankai has many women outside. One of them is named Jin Yan, a famous lady in Chang'an City. She suddenly disappeared a few days ago."

Chang Sunquan's heart moved, and he said, "The woman killed by Zheng Xuankai must be her!"

Di Renjie continued, "Jin Yan's husband was a horse merchant named An Lie. He was a Sogdian who ran a horse farm in Mobei. He disappeared the day after Jin Yan disappeared."

Zhang Sunquan was stunned and asked, "Could it be Zheng's doing again?"

Just as Di Renjie was about to speak, Li Yuanfang suddenly pushed the door open and said happily, "Di Siqing, you guessed it right. An Lie is hiding in a friend's house. He said someone wants to kill him."

Di Renjie's eyes flashed, and he asked, "Who wants to kill him?"

Li Yuanfang said, "It's the Right Guard General we found before, Zhou Daowu!"

Chang Sunquan looked confused and asked, "Di Siqing, why are you bringing this up with Zhou Daowu again? Has the focus of the case shifted?"

Li Yuanfang glanced at him and said, "The focus of this case wasn't originally on the Zheng family. Do you know what the relationship between Zhou Daowu and Jin Yan is?"

There was a glint in Changsun Quan's eyes, as if he had thought of something, but he didn't say it out loud.

Li Yuanfang crossed his arms and said with a smile, "It seems you've already guessed it. The relationship between Zhou Daowu and Jin Yan is the same as the relationship between Zheng Xuankai and Jin Yan!"

Zhang Sunquan's face changed color and he said, "Zhou Daowu is the son-in-law of the emperor!"

Li Yuanfang laughed and said, "Can't the prince consort find a woman?"

Changsun Quan suddenly remembered a piece of gossip his wife told him.

I heard that Princess Linchuan was very domineering and did not allow Zhou Daowu to take a concubine. Perhaps for this reason, Zhou Daowu could not help but look for other women.

As a prince consort, he naturally cannot be discovered when looking for a woman.

Perhaps it was Jin Yan's husband who discovered their affair, and Zhou Daowu was afraid that he would tell Princess Linchuan, so he wanted to kill him to silence him.

Chang Sunquan said in a deep voice: "I still don't understand what the connection is between Zhou Daowu and Zheng Xuankai's murder!"

Di Renjie said slowly, "Do you know how many men Jin Yan has?"

Changsun Quan shook his head.

Di Renjie held out his hand and said, "Five in total."

Chang Sunquan frowned and said, "I've heard that some of the famous ladies in Chang'an are extremely dissolute and shameless. It seems they are talking about women like Jin Yan."

Di Renjie continued, "What's interesting is that these five men knew each other. To be more precise, Jin Yan got to know another one through one of them."

Chang Sunquan asked, "What do you mean?"

Di Renjie gestured and said, "For example, Jin Yan knew Zhou Daowu through Zheng Xuankai, and she knew Zheng Xuankai through another man."

Changsun Quan looked thoughtful.

This is not just a matter of debauchery, but more like purposeful contact, linking one thing to another, to get closer to someone.

Then Zhou Daowu may have other reasons for wanting to kill An Lie.

Di Renjie stood up and said with a smile, "Prince Consort Changsun, we can go see Prince Consort Zhou now."

Changsun Quan nodded. He already had a vague guess in his mind, but it still needed to be confirmed.

Princess Linchuan was a very unpopular princess. When she left Chang'an with Zhou Daowu, the princess's mansion was taken back.

Now that Zhou Daowu was transferred back to Chang'an, she was not granted a princess's mansion again and was forbidden to enter the palace.

There are reports that she offended Empress Wu.

Therefore, she can only live in her husband's mansion like other women.

The three of them left the house and were about to go to Zhou's mansion when a temple official came to report that the young King of Wu had arrived.

Changsun Quan was slightly stunned, thinking that the young King Wu was really interested in this case and even followed it here.

Di Renjie did not dare to be careless. The last time he investigated the Xiao case, the little King of Wu had been hanging around him. Later he found out that the emperor was behind him.

Maybe this time he is also following the emperor's order to secretly investigate the matter.

He immediately took Changsun Quan and Li Yuanfang to welcome the young King of Wu.

After Li Ji met the three men, he casually asked about the case. Di Renjie explained the situation to him without reservation.

When Li Ji heard that the three men were going to Zhou's house, he offered to follow them, and Di Renjie did not refuse.

The four of them rode in a carriage together and headed towards Zhou's mansion.

……

(End of this chapter)