Chapter 103 Message
After traveling for half a day, Di Renjie and Zeng Tai arrived at Huzhou City with a few followers.

After some inquiries, Di Renjie and his companions dressed in casual clothes and stood in front of Yuhuaxuan, and their entourage was temporarily placed in the inn.

Di Renjie had a smile on his face, as if he was a veteran in the world of women, and had the composure of a playboy of the older generation.

In contrast, Zeng Tai's face was tense and his complexion was ashen, as if someone owed him money.

At this time, a servant came out from Yuhuaxuan and greeted them with a nod and a smile: "You two, would you like to have some fun? Please come in!"

Di Renjie nodded slightly and followed the servant into Yuhuaxuan.

"Mom, there are guests!" the servant shouted.

The madam hurried down the stairs upon hearing the noise: "Oh, you two guests, you're here really early. Please come in!"

Di Renjie smiled and explained his purpose to the madam: "Mom, we want to ask you about someone."

When the madam heard this, her face darkened immediately: "Oh, you two are looking for someone."

Di Renjie nodded.

The madam shouted angrily: "Seventh Brother, get over here!"

The servant came running over, and the madam scolded him, "Seventh Brother, you've been drinking too much wine all day and night and you've lost your mind! Bring the person who's looking for you to the brothel!"

Lao Qi hurriedly defended himself: "They said they came here to have fun."

Zeng Tai was indignant at the rudeness of the madam and was about to lose his temper, but was stopped by Di Renjie.

"Oh, mother."

Di Renjie smiled and took out a large silver ingot, placed it in his hand, and waved it in front of the madam.

The madam's eyes were immediately attracted by the silver ingot. She quickly snatched the silver and then hit Lao Qi hard.

"Seventh Brother, you are so blind! The master is here to look for someone, how can you bring him into the parlor? Why don't you get a private room so we can talk properly?"

The madam glared at Lao Qi, then with a smile on her face invited Di Renjie and Zeng Tai to go upstairs for a detailed discussion.

When they arrived at the private room upstairs, several people talked about Yingyu.

The madam continued to talk: "Speaking of Yingyu's benefactors, the most special one has to be 'Jia Ming', Master Jia. He spent a large sum of money to redeem Yingyu and lived with her for half a year."

"But I don't know what happened, but a month ago, Yingyu came back again, saying that Master Jia didn't want her anymore. I felt sorry for her, so I took her in again. And a few days ago, another Mr. Liu took a fancy to her and redeemed her."

Di Renjie and Zeng Tai exchanged glances: "So, before Mr. Liu redeemed her, she was with a Mr. Jia."

The madam nodded and said, "Yes, they live in the city. The sisters in the brothel have even met her."

After leaving Yuhuaxuan, Di Renjie walked in front and Zeng Tai walked behind, and the two chatted as they walked.

Zeng Tai couldn't help but sigh: "This case seems to be getting more and more confusing. It's really puzzling that Mr. Jia suddenly appeared."

Di Renjie was lost in thought. Suddenly, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes: "Jia Ming, Jia Ming... a pseudonym."

He turned around quickly and told Zeng Tai, "Zeng Tai, take my name card and go to Huzhou Governor Qiao Tai. Ask him to send out all the yamen runners to search the entire city and make sure to find any trace of this 'Jia Ming'."

Zeng Tai didn't understand what he meant, but he still followed the order.
-
In the Huzhou Governor's Mansion, Qiao Tai received Zeng Tai's visiting card and immediately ordered all the men in the Governor's Mansion to go out.

He ran to Zhao Ji's residence excitedly, shouting: "Chengyuan! Chengyuan! Lord Di has arrived in Huzhou!"

However, when Qiao Tai rushed into Zhao Ji's room, he stopped in shock for a moment.

Zhao Ji and Shangguan Wan'er were sitting opposite each other leisurely on the couch, with a chessboard placed in the middle. Shangguan Wan'er was holding a dice in her hand, and the two were immersed in a game of backgammon.

Qiao Tai's sudden intrusion made the two of them look up at the same time, their eyes fixed on him.

Under the strange gazes of the two people, Qiao Tai couldn't help feeling embarrassed, and beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead.

Zhao Ji smiled slightly when he saw this, stood up and walked to Qiao Tai, patting his shoulder gently with his left hand.

"I won't go. Please give my regards to Judge Dee for me."

After saying that, he returned to his original position as if nothing had happened.

Qiao Tai's body froze for a moment. He looked at Zhao Ji in surprise, and then glanced at Shangguan Wan'er covertly.

"I apologize for being rude. Please continue. I will take my leave."

Qiao Tai bowed, slowly left the room, and carefully closed the door.

He then took out the mysterious letter from his sleeve, his brows furrowed, his heart full of doubts.

"It's really strange. How could Chengyuan be so foresighted and predict that Di Gong would come to Huzhou? No wonder he was the first one to notify Di Gong when he arrived." Qiao Tai said to himself.

He put the letter away again and did not delve into it any further. Instead, he immediately went to find Di Renjie to deliver the letter.

In Zhao Ji's guest room, Shangguan Wan'er looked at him with a mischievous smile: "Why, your Lord Di is here, don't you want to meet him?"

Zhao Ji calmly checked the number of the dice and gently moved the chess piece a few times.

He replied calmly, "No."

"Oh~ I just put the letter on Qiao Tai, didn't I?" Shangguan Wan'er asked with a sly smile. Zhao Ji raised his eyebrows: "Don't slander someone's innocence out of thin air, everything I did just now was under your eyes."

This is the truth. The letter has been with Qiao Tai for a long time. This time it was just a secret signal.

Shangguan Wan'er said coquettishly, "You rely on your martial arts skills to bully others! Can you teach me how you did it? I saw you only touched his shoulder."

Zhao Ji smiled and shook his head without responding.

"Stop playing!"

Shangguan Wan'er gave Zhao Ji a reproachful look and messed up the chess pieces on the board.

"Hey, just when I'm about to win, you start to cheat, right?" Zhao Ji couldn't help laughing as he looked at Shangguan Wan'er who was cheating.

Afterwards, he calmly restored the positions of the chess pieces one by one based on his memory.

Shangguan Wan'er saw this and wanted to mess up the chess pieces again, but Zhao Ji was quick-witted and gently grabbed her slender hands.

She then struggled to break free from Zhao Ji's restraints, leaned back, and lazily lay on the couch, kicking her feet in the air like a naughty lamb.

"You're such a bad player, but every time you roll the dice you're always lucky and you can get whatever you want. How can I play?" Shangguan Wan'er muttered, her face full of grievance and dissatisfaction.

Zhao Ji looked at her coquettish look and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing: "If you can't afford it, don't play. You said I know martial arts and can control the number of dice."

"Then you wouldn't let me roll the dice. Later, you rolled both sides of the dice, but the result was still the same. Can you blame me for this good luck?"

Shangguan Wan'er heard this and sat up, pretending to glare at Zhao Ji fiercely: "Okay, okay, you are awesome, I admit defeat, okay?"

In fact, Shangguan Wan'er was familiar with the game of backgammon in the palace and had higher skills.

But Zhao Ji cheated at the beginning, controlled the points and gained the advantage, and then he had good luck, so it was difficult for him to lose.

Shangguan Wan'er gently smoothed her slightly messy hair, with a look of inquiry in her eyes: "Seriously, you seem to have guessed that Di Gong would go to Huzhou to find Governor Qiao."

Zhao Ji smiled slightly: "What kind of person is Di Gong? If I can find out, he can definitely find out too. It's not surprising that he went to Huzhou."

Shangguan Wan'er snorted coldly: "I was wondering why we couldn't win, it turns out someone has help."
-
On the other side, Qiao Tai hurried to the inn where Di Renjie was staying temporarily.

As soon as he entered Di Renjie's room, Qiao Tai bowed and said, "I am Qiao Tai, your student, and I am here to greet you, my teacher."

Zeng Tai observed quietly from the side and nodded secretly, thinking that he could emulate Governor Qiao's attitude in the future.

Seeing this, Di Renjie quickly helped Qiao Tai up and said with a smile on his face, "Please stand up, please stand up. It has been several months since we last met in Youzhou. I am very pleased that you have made great achievements in Huzhou!"

"I am so ashamed. It is all thanks to the careful instruction of my teacher and the help of capable officials like County Magistrate Zeng that I have been able to achieve what I have achieved. I really don't dare to take credit for it." Qiao Tai said modestly.

After hearing this, Di Renjie laughed and praised: "You are too modest, but County Magistrate Zeng is indeed talented."

When Zeng Tai heard the compliment, he quickly responded modestly: "You are too kind, Lord."

After some pleasantries, Qiao Tai glanced at Zeng Tai, then turned to Di Renjie and said solemnly, "Master, I have something important to report."

Zeng Tai immediately understood what he meant and said, "Sir, I will take my leave first."

Di Renjie nodded in agreement, and Zeng Tai quietly left the room.

"Please sit down. What's the matter that requires you to discuss it with me alone?" Di Renjie sat on the chair and motioned Qiao Tai to sit down.

Qiao Tai quickly took out the letter from Zhao Ji to Di Renjie and handed it to Di Renjie: "This is a letter from Cheng Yuan to my teacher. He asked me to give it to my teacher secretly."

When Di Renjie heard that Zhao Ji was in Huzhou, his face changed drastically: "What did you say? Cheng Yuan is in Huzhou, why didn't he come to see me? Did something happen?"

Qiao Tai immediately explained, "Chengyuan is safe and sound, and is in my governor's mansion. It's just that he has some inconveniences there. The specific situation is explained in the letter. You will understand after reading the letter."

Di Renjie quickly flipped through the thick stack of letter papers. The more he read, the more his brows furrowed. He even exclaimed in surprise when he read to the end.

Qiao Tai was very curious as he watched from the side, wondering what was written in the letter.

Half a day later, Di Renjie finally put down the letter and fell into deep thought.

There was too much information in the letter, and even with Di Renjie's superb brain, he had to slowly sort out everything.

Seeing Di Renjie pondering for a long time, Qiao Tai finally couldn't help asking, "Master, what did the letter say? Why are you so surprised?"

Di Renjie shook his head and sighed, "This matter is of great importance. It is better for you not to be involved in this vortex."

After hearing this, although Qiao Tai still had doubts in his heart, he did not dare to ask any more questions.

"There's no need to look for Jia Ming anymore. Just withdraw the people from the governor's mansion. You can leave now. Call Zeng Tai in." Di Renjie rubbed his forehead and said.

Qiao Tai nodded in agreement and was about to get up and leave.

Di Renjie added: "Oh, by the way, thank Cheng Yuan for me. Say that I thank him on behalf of the late emperor and the ancestors of the Li Tang dynasty."

Qiao Tai was shocked when he heard this, but then he responded respectfully: "Yes, I will definitely convey it to you."

Then he left the room, and Zeng Tai, who was waiting outside the door, came in.

(End of this chapter)