Chapter 104 Li Tang's Artifact and the Genius Transaction

Zeng Tai stepped into the room and saw Di Renjie with his hands behind his back and his back facing him.

"My Lord, what instructions do you have for me?" Zeng Tai asked.

Di Renjie did not turn around, still with his back to Zeng Tai: "Zeng Tai, are you a member of the imperial examination or did you enter the officialdom through patronage?"

Zeng Tai was a little surprised and didn't understand why Di Renjie asked this.

But he replied sternly: "I am a student of the imperial examination, and I won the first place in the palace examination in the first year of Tianshou."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie turned around in surprise and said, "Oh, it's actually the top scholar."

Zeng Tai sighed and said self-deprecatingly: "What's the use of being the top scholar? Because there is no one in the court, I am only a county magistrate now. I am ashamed to say it."

Di Renjie shook his head. "According to the rules, you are a Jinshi, a Mingfa, and a top-ranked person. You should have been promoted from the ninth rank to the sixth rank, and in ten years, you became the magistrate of a county. You have been promoted to the twelfth rank, which is not slow."

But Di Renjie changed the subject and said sternly: "But you still felt it was not enough, so you joined the Plum Blossom Guards, sold out your conscience, and became a running dog in exchange for a career advancement, right?"

Zeng Tai was so shocked that he didn't know what to do: "Ah, why did you say that, Lord?"

Di Renjie walked quickly to Zeng Tai and lifted up his left sleeve. Sure enough, there was a small plum blossom tattoo on his left arm.

"You are the inner guard!" Di Renjie said sternly.

Zeng Tai was so frightened that he trembled and fell to his knees. "My Lord, ever since this plum blossom was printed on my left arm, I have always felt ashamed."

"But I've already boarded the pirate ship, there's nothing I can do! They promised me that after the mission is accomplished, they would transfer me to Dazhou to serve as the chief secretary..."

Zeng Tai was already in tears when he said this: "I feel ashamed of your teachings."

Di Renjie's expression eased a little at this time: "General Zhao has already told me that you are not a real internal guard, but just a peripheral force they developed. And you have a repentant heart."

"He vouched for you, saying that you have not been involved with the inner guards since he arrived in Huzhou. Moreover, your hands are relatively clean, without any blood debt. For this reason, I will forgive you once, otherwise I will not tolerate you!"

"Thank you, Lord, and General Zhao for your forgiveness." Zeng Tai was so excited that he bowed deeply.

Di Renjie gently helped Zeng Tai up and said, "Since you have the heart to turn from evil to good, I will naturally help you. I know that you have a righteous heart and are talented. You should follow the right path in the future and stop associating with the inner guards."

Zeng Tai wiped his tears and said, "I will follow your instructions."

Di Renjie nodded and said sternly, "The situation is extremely critical now. I need you to find out the news from the inner guards. I hope you won't refuse."

Zeng Tai knew that something serious might have happened, so he didn't ask any more questions. He just promised, "If the Lord has any orders, Zeng Tai will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Di Renjie smiled and comforted him: "It hasn't come to that yet. Give the order and we will leave immediately and rush back to Changcheng County overnight."

Zeng Tai cupped his hands and said, “Yes!”
-
In Changcheng County, night was about to fall. Li Tang Shenqi, wearing a black cloak, led a team of people and galloped to the inn where Di Renjie was staying.

Inside the inn, after being notified, the housekeeper Di Chun hurried out to greet them.

Li Xian did not dismount and asked Di Chun, "Where is Di Gong now?"

Di Chun was surprised to see the prince in person: "Your Highness, why are you here? Our master went to Huzhou City."

Li Xian's heart tightened when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked, "When will Di Gong be able to come back?"

"It's hard to say. The master left for Huzhou today. I estimate that he will not be back until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, or maybe the day after tomorrow." Di Chun replied.

Li Xian frowned, and after a moment's hesitation, he decisively ordered: "It's too late, let's go, we will set off to Huzhou City immediately!"

At Li Xian's command, the cavalry quickly changed direction and headed for Huzhou. Di Chun was left there, confused.

Soon, Li Xian's cavalry left the county town and galloped on the official road leading to Huzhou City.

However, not long after they started walking, dozens of tripwires suddenly appeared on the official road.

The visibility was unclear in the dark night, and Li Xian and his companions were caught off guard. The horses they rode on let out mournful cries and rolled to the ground.

Li Xian and his guards fell off their horses and were completely dizzy.

Before they recovered from their shock, they saw dozens of men in black emerging from the long grass beside the road.

They swarmed over, pinned Li Xian and his guards to the ground, and tied them up with ropes.

There were several guards around Li Xian who swore to die rather than obey and protected Li Xian with their lives, but they were all killed on the spot by the men in black, and their blood splattered on the spot.

Some guards struggled, trying to intimidate the men in black: "Who are you? How dare you hijack the emperor? Let us go quickly if you know what's best for you, or you will be in big trouble!"

However, these men in black were not moved at all. They were all well-trained internal guards, so how could they be afraid of such threats? The leader laughed and said, "Who knows who will be in trouble? Take him away! Write back to the leader and say that the person has been caught."

Li Xian's large cavalry was discovered by the internal guards in charge of surveillance as soon as they entered Changcheng County, so they sent a message to Xu Shide.

Xu Shide then ordered ambushes to be set up on all the roads leading out of Changcheng County, waiting for the opportunity, and indeed, he reaped some rewards.
-
Deep in the Cuiping Mountain, in the secret lair of the Inner Guards, Xu Shide was feeling a little overwhelmed.

The inner guards had originally captured Yingyu, but Li Yuanfang suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rescued Yingyu, leaving them in a state of unrest.

Xu Shide has sent many people to chase after him, but no result has been reported back so far.

Just when he was worried, a carrier pigeon suddenly flew back.

Xu Shide quickly took the letter box off his leg, unfolded the letter, and a look of joy immediately appeared on his face: "Great, God is really helping me!"

At the same time, another team of internal guards also hurried over. They rescued Liu Chali who was imprisoned in the prison and escorted him to the nest safely.

Seeing this, Xu Shide's face lit up with joy, as if everything was under his control: "Everything is going so smoothly, it's really God's will!"

He invited Liu Chali to a secret room, then waved his hand to signal the guards to leave.

Liu Chali thought that Xu Shide had saved his life, and he was very grateful: "Thank you for saving me. I am willing to take 10% less of the King of Yue's wealth! You take 6 and I take 4."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shide was stunned at first, and then he couldn't stop laughing, and his laughter was full of sarcasm and disdain.

"Hahahahaha, Liu Chali, ah Liu Chali, what can I say about you?"

Xu Shide shook his head and wiped away the tears from laughing.

Liu Chali still didn't understand what he meant, and asked blankly: "What do you mean?"

Xu Shide stopped smiling and looked at him coldly: "What do you mean? You are so stupid that it's unbelievable. Do you think I really want to save you from prison?"

At this point, Liu Chali understood that Xu Shide wanted to kill him and silence him: "Ah! You, you are not trustworthy. You said you would share the treasure of the King of Yue with me. Without me, how can you deal with Li Gui and Wu Xiaojie..."

"That was a year ago, and I needed your help. But you have lost your usefulness now, and keeping you will only cause me trouble! It's a good opportunity to borrow your head. Your young master Li Gui will like this gift from me!"

"You..." Liu Chali wanted to say something else.

But before he could finish his words, Xu Shide had already raised his knife and killed Liu Chali like killing an old dog.

Liu Chali didn't even have the chance to react before he fell in a pool of blood.

"Humph, such a greedy fool actually dares to covet the treasure of King Yue. How ridiculous!"

Xu Shide used Liu Chali's clothes to wipe the blood off the blade, and then put the knife back into the sheath.

Then, Xu Shide clapped his hands twice, and several guards walked into the room.

The internal guards were all shocked when they saw Liu Chali lying in a pool of blood.

But Xu Shide ignored everyone's reaction and ordered: "Go and bring Li Gui here. I want to have a good talk with him."

After a while, Li Gui was brought in. He saw Liu Chali lying in a pool of blood. He was shocked at first sight, but then pretended to be disdainful.

Xu Shide waved his hand and the guards retreated out of the room.

Xu Shide and Li Gui were talking secretly about an absurd deal.

After a long time, Xu Shide's joyful high-five was heard in the room.

The guards followed the order and entered the room, and found that Li Gui's face was a little pale, and there was a hint of hesitation and indecision in his eyes.

Li Gui thought that the prince only needed to agree to raise an army to rebel against Wu, but Li Gui had a lot to consider.

He had already reached a deal with Xu Shide - using a large sum of gold in exchange for Xu Shide's promise to persuade the prince to start a rebellion, with an additional clause allowing him to meet with the prince.

It must be said that only a clear mind like Li Gui's would consider such an abstract transaction.

Anti-Wu is everything, everything is for the sake of anti-Wu. As for whether it can succeed, don't ask, as long as it is anti-Wu, it is success!

Li Gui was taken away.

Xu Shide was the only one left in the room, and he shook his head.

"It's unbelievable, incredible, and it went so smoothly. This is the cutest person I have ever met. I'm afraid there is no other person in the world who would consider such a deal."

(End of this chapter)