Uncle Detective Di Renjie, I build a crime-solving team

The bustling city of Luoyang passed day after day as the sun rose in the east and set in the west.

Before he knew it, Barkley, who had spent another seven or eight days in Luoyang, welcomed a brand new day.

The first light of dawn was breaking in the east. Barkley stood by the window, the tea that had gone cold was simply too hard to swallow...

A thousand words are stuck in my throat, I just can't say them.

His current state can only be described in three words: he was anxious.

After a full million taels of silver were delivered to Wu Yanhao's residence, there was no further news from Wu Yanhao.

The million taels of silver seemed to have been thrown into the water, disappearing into the belly of some unknown fish, while Barkley, the one holding the rod, remained empty-handed day after day, the bait cast into the water by Wu Yanhao's bamboo pole vanishing without a trace.

"A full one million taels of silver, Your Highness Prince Liang, are you going to betray my good intentions?"

Barkley gazed quietly at the sky. The weather was beautiful, sunny and cloudless, a stark contrast to his inner state.

Time passed by, and the morning quickly came to an end. Today was the grand court assembly held every five days, and important officials were all in the court discussing matters with Li Cunxi.

In Barkley's mind, as an envoy representing the alliance between the two countries, the emperor would surely notify him in advance if he were to meet with the emperor, so he could change into his formal attire and then sign the treaty with the emperor at the grand court assembly...

But nothing happened.

To this day, he has not been able to see Li Cunxi again.

"No, I can't just sit and wait for the Prince of Liang to come to me. I have to find out the specifics!"

"So much time has passed, I can't have accomplished nothing!"

Having made up his mind, Barkley immediately ordered someone to send a visiting card to Wu Yanhao's residence.

The servant who delivered the visiting card had just returned when Barkley said, "Go down," and looked up to see someone walking towards his house in the courtyard outside.

The man who arrived was dignified and strode confidently; it was none other than Wu Yancheng, a "good friend" whom I hadn't seen for quite some time.

"Wushi Cheng!"

Barkley exclaimed in surprise and stood up to greet Wu Yancheng.

"Oh my, I've been waiting for you forever! You've been so busy these days!"

Wu Yancheng cupped his hands in greeting and said with a beaming smile, "I've come here specifically to congratulate you, brother. My brother has been making connections in the court these past few days and has finally managed to persuade a few stubborn old men. He's also managed to convince His Majesty. There's an emergency court meeting tomorrow, so you must be very careful, brother. The best we can do is get His Majesty to sign the treaty!"

"I understand. After we return, you and Prince Liang will certainly reap the rewards!"

Barkley clapped his hands and laughed, his mood instantly improving a hundredfold.

It took so long to help him get through the process, which means Wu Yanhao definitely didn't get any benefits. He might not even have enough of his one million taels of silver.

Even so, the King of Liang didn't ask him for any extra. Doesn't that speak volumes?

How righteous!

"After I return to Lhasa, I will definitely send 500,000 taels of silver over so that my brother and Prince Liang can recover their losses."

"Brother, you actually guessed it. My brother really went to great lengths for you this time. Of the mere million taels of silver you gave me, my brother used it all to smooth things over. In the end, my brother even paid out of his own pocket to cover tens of thousands of taels of silver for you... You must have some expert trackers here, brother. I suppose you can't hide this kind of thing from your eyes."

“Brother, what are you saying? Don’t you understand? I’m not stupid enough to make you uncomfortable. Even if His Highness Prince Liang had only mentioned it to His Majesty once, I would still be grateful.”

“Brother, you’re joking. If you take someone’s money, you have to do their bidding. My brother only asked for one million taels. Whether it works out or not, you don’t need to pay any more. If you’re willing to pay, it’s a favor; if you’re not willing to pay, it’s your right. I don’t need to say anything. Everything is in my heart.”

"My dear brother, we have a deep friendship. I see you as a man of great talent, with bright eyes, auspicious signs, all four limbs intact, regular features, a bewildered and flustered demeanor, a state of perfect harmony, and utterly perfect!"

“Brother, I am but a man of meager fortune and shallow virtue. I have only gained power once, unlike you, who at such a young age became the Vice Minister of Tibet, second only to a few and above tens of thousands of others. You are truly a peerless talent! Tell me, in all of Tibet, who can compare to even a fraction of you?”

"My dear brother, you flatter me."

"Brother is too modest."

……

In Luoyang, during the Tang Dynasty, an emergency court assembly was held.

Accompanied by Li Mingyuan, Barkley stepped into the Qianyang Hall and calmly bowed in greeting.

"Envoy Barkley greets His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty."

Li Cunxi sat on the dragon bed, his expression calm and serene.

"I already knew of the envoy's arrival. I originally did not want to sign this treaty, but my beloved ministers persuaded me repeatedly, so I decided to sign the treaty with Tibet for the sake of the people of both countries."

“However, I cannot pretend that what Kalai did did not happen.”

“After the alliance is signed, the envoy needs to send Nakalai here.”

Although Li Cunxi said this, he knew perfectly well what was going on in his mind.

There's no way that young Tibetan king would send Kalai back to him.

The other side also has its pride; they certainly wouldn't do something like sending Kalai back just to uphold the alliance.

His deliberate demand for Kalai was to give the Tibetan Qinushi a chance to turn against him. If the Qinushi said something wrong, or if they learned in advance that the Tang army was far away in another country and could not return, and thus raised troops ahead of time, then Wang Xiaojie's several armies would become a righteous army.

"Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, I will certainly keep this matter in mind and, upon returning to my country, I will persuade the Zanpu to send Kalai."

Barkley bowed.

The guests and hosts enjoyed themselves immensely.

After spending half a day acting alongside Barkley, Li Cunxi returned to the Imperial Study and looked at the map with his hands behind his back.

"Wang Xiaojie should be arriving soon."

Li Cunxi glanced at it once and then looked away.

In terms of warfare,

He's an amateur.

He didn't want to do any long-range micro-management.

He's no donkey cart god of war; his micro-management skills have sent his soldiers running for their lives.

He didn't want future generations to say he was an amateur when it came to warfare.

He has already given away all the rights; whether he wins or loses, we'll have to wait for Wang Xiaojie's news.

……

Half a month passed by in a flash.

After a journey of sightseeing and enjoying the scenery, Di Renjie returned to his hometown of Taiyuan.

Having already received the news, Di Renxian personally came out to greet them and ordered his subordinate Di Fu to help Di Renjie down.

"Hahaha, big brother, it's been years since I last saw you, and you're even more robust than before."

Di Renjie got off the carriage and saw his good elder brother, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"I have been recuperating in the manor for the past few years, so I am naturally different from you. Now that you are back, don't leave. Stay with me for a few more years."

"I can't leave now, so I'll just have to wait to enjoy my retirement!"