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

The news of the Earth God's return quickly spread throughout Daliushu Village.

The elderly Zhang Laosi walked briskly with a cane, followed by his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.

Upon seeing Di Renjie's face clearly, Zhang Laosi was immediately moved to tears. He trembled as he stepped forward and knelt down before Di Renjie.

His mouth moved, but after a long while, he couldn't utter a single word.

His son and daughter-in-law were forced to flee to the mountains during the Youzhou case. In recent years, they had only heard about the local earth god. Thinking about the other statues enshrined in the temple, they immediately thought of this frail old man, who was the one in the middle of the three statues.

"This humble subject kowtows to the Earth God!"

Zhang Laosi's son and his wife knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to Di Renjie.

At Di Renjie's signal, You Huan stepped forward and helped everyone to their feet.

The villagers who had benefited greatly from Di Renjie's kindness in the past rushed over upon hearing the news. After recognizing Di Renjie, they all wept bitterly, knelt down, and kowtowed.

You Huan helped each of them down, feeling a sense of gratitude for the difference that comes with being loved and respected.

Zhang Laosi stepped forward, carefully examined Di Renjie, and felt a pang of pain in his heart.

"Lord Earth God, you've lost weight."

"Compared to back then, your energy level is much lower."

Di Renjie chuckled and said:

"I'm getting old, I'm not good anymore, my body is getting worse every day!"

"I have missed you all very much since I left, but I have been unable to come out. Now that I have retired and returned to my hometown, I have come to visit you."

After some polite refusals, Di Renjie went to the woman's house.

The dilapidated house was much cleaner after renovation, and the little girl who used to hide behind her mother has grown into a young woman.

The man who was in charge of the household had just returned from outside. Upon seeing Di Renjie, he bowed deeply and then went out to buy more wine.

Di Renjie finally sat down, and the woman brought him a bowl of tea. He took a sip and put it aside.

"In recent years, the imperial court has reduced taxes, so your lives should have improved, right?"

Zhang Laosi was overjoyed: "Lord Earth God, after you and the young master left, the new governor personally came down to appease us common folk, distributed land to us, and even sent people to help us plant crops. That winter, the surrounding villages and towns were starving, and it was the governor who sent people to deliver food overnight, which saved us from freezing to death."

“Ma Fang is a pragmatic man, and I think highly of him.”

"Later, the governor was transferred, and I was worried that the new governor would treat us badly. But to my surprise, the new governor was a good person. He visited us several times and even gave us food."

Zhang Laosi sighed deeply when he mentioned the two governors of Youzhou.

He has lived since the reign of Emperor Taizong, and only in these last few years has he had a relatively good life.

When the previous governor Liu Jin was in power, it didn't matter whether these people lived or died, so they didn't live a good life.

Fortunately, the two governors who came after them treated them like their own sons, which brought a glimmer of light to his bleak life.

"As you say, that's naturally the best." Di Renjie clapped his hands.

"You've been talking about things here all this time, haven't you been doing quite well these past few years, haven't you, Earth God?"

"I..." Di Renjie paused, "I'm fine."

Old Zhang said with concern, "You've become much thinner than you used to be."

Di Renjie touched his face and realized that he had indeed lost weight compared to before.

"Hey, why are you talking about this? You've lost weight, you're much better than before." Di Renjie chuckled and changed the subject. "When I came here, I saw a small temple outside the house with three statues inside. Because I couldn't get close, I couldn't see which gods were inside."

Old Zhang rubbed his hands together: "Right in the middle of there, is the very Earth God you are!"

"What, it's me?"

"Indeed, in the past, the Earth God and his two generals descended like gods to save us from danger. We are extremely grateful, so in the spring of the following year, we built a small temple to worship the Earth God and his two generals."

Di Renjie was utterly shocked.

No wonder he saw that the statue in the middle was just like him!

Including the shrine in Weizhou, this is the second temple that the people have built for him.

"I want to go out and see for myself."

Upon hearing this, You Huan quickly stepped forward and took Di Renjie's arm.

Zhang Laosi also got up, leaning on his cane, and walked outside with Di Renjie.

The small temple was not far away, and the group arrived at the temple and stood outside after walking a short distance.

There are memorial tablets outside the three statues. The statue in the middle is undoubtedly Di Renjie, and his round belly is very eye-catching.

To the left of the statue of Di Renjie is Wang Jinghui, and the memorial tablet below him is inscribed with "General Who Moves Mountains and Shakes Peaks".

To the right of the Di Renjie statue is Li Yuanfang, with the inscription "General Li, who splits the water and opens the way" on the memorial tablet below.

"Returning to this place now and seeing such a sight is truly delightful!"

Di Renjie stroked his beard, his gaze shifting over the three statues.

He casually mentioned it back then, and the local people really started to worship him as a local deity.

"Now that the Earth God has returned, it is a great pity that the two generals have not been able to see him," Zhang Laosi sighed softly.

“They are all high-ranking generals of the imperial court now, fighting on the front lines, so naturally they cannot return here,” Di Renjie said. “Since this matter has been brought up, I also have some questions I would like to ask.”

Zhang Laosi's expression froze for a moment, and he quickly became uneasy.

"I know you must have something to ask me when you come back, Earth God. You want to ask why I suddenly recanted my testimony in court back then, right?"

"That's exactly right. If I don't understand this matter, I'll always have a thorn in my side."

"Lord Earth God, I just didn't want to say it before, because I really didn't want to."

"What's the unspeakable reason?"

"Lord Earth God, you may not know this, but the reason why I recanted my testimony in the imperial court back then was because General Tiger forbade me to speak out."

"It really is Jing Hui."

"Later, His Majesty the current emperor privately approached me, hoping that I would keep my words to myself, and gave me some silver to live a good life and not get involved."

"This……"

Therefore, until the very end, the old man never revealed the reason for his recantation.

"I never imagined the truth would be like this in the end." Di Renjie stroked his beard.

He thought he knew most of the details of the Youzhou case, but now it seems he only scratched the surface.

"That's right. Later, when the old man returned home, his family went through a year of famine. Many people in the village were starving until one day, a group of people who called themselves Baihelin started to bring us food."

"Bai Helin? Could he be one of Ma Rong's group?"

“This old man knows perfectly well that it was His Majesty the Emperor who sent them to deliver grain to us.”

Di Renjie stroked his beard: "Perhaps the truth isn't so important anymore."