Chapter 130 Internal Guard
Di Chun quickly prepared a carriage, and Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang braved the rain to reach the official road from Yongchang County to Luoyang.

It was raining heavily, and it was already night when we arrived at the crime scene on the official road.

Zhao Ji held an umbrella for Di Renjie, and the three of them tread in the mud and water, taking one step deep and one step shallow, looking for the location of the tombstone.

"Sir, it seems to be this way." Li Yuanfang vaguely saw the tombstone.

Zhao Ji and Di Renjie followed Li Yuanfang along the field stalks and came to the tombstone.

"Sir, what are we looking for?" Li Yuanfang couldn't help but ask.

Di Renjie smiled and said, "Let's find physical evidence that can prove the identities of the two deceased internal guards."

"But it's the middle of the night and it's raining. How can we look for it in the dark? Why don't we take the guards with us to look for it tomorrow?" Zhao Ji suggested.

Di Renjie lowered his head to search and said, "It's near this tombstone. There's no mistake."

Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang had no choice but to follow in the search.

Di Renjie seemed to have discovered something. He reached into the small hole under the tombstone and touched a square sign.

Seeing that Di Renjie had made some progress, Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang quickly surrounded him.

Di Renjie smiled and said, "This is the key evidence that we overlooked before."

Just at this moment, lightning flashed across the sky. With the help of the lightning, the three of them could clearly see the words on the jade token: "Inner Guard"!
"It's really the internal guard!" Li Yuanfang screamed.

Zhao Ji and Di Renjie were no longer surprised; they came here only to look for physical evidence.

"Sir, it's raining so heavily and so late. It's not convenient to go back to Shendu. How about going to Lord Zeng's Yongchang County Government to rest for a night?" Zhao Ji asked.

Di Renjie nodded: "Okay."

Several people got on the carriage and came to Zeng Tai's Yongchang County government office.

Zeng Tai was awakened from his sleep. When he heard that it was Di Renjie who visited him late at night, he hurriedly tidied his clothes and served him personally.

"Master, haven't you already returned to the capital to meet the emperor? Why did you rush to Yongchang overnight?" Zeng Tai asked puzzledly.

Di Renjie put down the ginger soup in his hand and responded with a smile: "Of course I came here to investigate the case."

"Investigate a case?" Zeng Tai looked puzzled.

Di Renjie took out the inner guard jade token and handed it to Zeng Tai: "Take a look at this."

Zeng Tai took the jade token and read: "Inner Guard Office... Minister Sun Dianchen..."

He was suddenly startled, "Master, where did you get this jade token?"

When Zhao Ji heard the three words "Sun Dianchen", a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

Di Renjie explained the origin of the jade tablet to Zeng Tai: "This is something left behind by one of the two dead people on the official road."

Zeng Tai suddenly realized: "Inner Guards! No wonder my teacher said they could open the gates of Luoyang. I still remember that when we were in Huzhou, General Zhao once showed a similar jade token, and Liu Da, who was an inner guard at the time, confessed."

Zhao Ji explained casually: "That was given by His Majesty to Shangguan Cairen. I just borrowed it."

Suddenly Zhao Ji's expression changed, he remembered. It seemed that Shangguan Wan'er had mentioned that Wu Zetian intended to investigate the inner guards, and originally wanted him to go, but in the end Shangguan Wan'er said something, and finally replaced the inner guard cabinet leader, could it be this Sun Dianchen...

After Li Yuanfang knew that it was not the work of evil spirits, he regained his strength and said, "Sir, now everything is clear. The murderer deliberately created confusion to cover up the truth that they killed the inner guards by saying that Yuwen Chengdu was the revenge of evil spirits." Zeng Tai looked ashamed and bowed to Di Renjie to apologize, "I am ashamed that I was deceived by the talk of ghosts and gods, and went astray. I made rash judgments and interfered with my teacher's investigation. I am ashamed of the teachings of the saint and my teacher."

Di Renjie smiled tolerantly and did not blame him: "It is human nature to fear ghosts and gods. The design of this case is so strange that it has never been seen before. Even I almost believed that there are ghosts in this world, let alone you."

"I have to thank Chengyuan for all this. If he hadn't pointed it out, I don't know when I would have thought of this."

Li Yuanfang and Zeng Tai both looked towards Zhao Ji, but saw that Zhao Ji was a little distracted, so they couldn't help but call out, "Chengyuan, Chengyuan?"

Zhao Ji came back to his senses and quickly responded: "Oh, sir, what did you just say?"

"The master was praising you just now. What are you thinking about that makes you so engrossed?" Li Yuanfang asked.

Zhao Ji shook his head and said solemnly, "I'm thinking about the case. If all the people killed in the country were internal guards, it would be a really shocking case. Now that the head of the Internal Guards has been killed, the conspiracy is appalling."

Di Renjie nodded solemnly, his face solemn: "Chengyuan is right, the inner guards are directly under the emperor. What I don't understand is the purpose of the criminals killing the inner guards. Are they really targeting Your Majesty?"

Zhao Ji hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "I think I know something."

"You know?" Di Renjie was surprised.

"We all experienced what happened in Huzhou. Do you still remember Xu Shide?" Zhao Ji asked.

"Of course I remember. What does this have to do with this case?" Zeng Tai said.

Zhao Ji took a deep breath and said, "There is a scum like Xu Shide in the inner guard. His Majesty is furious and determined to rectify the inner guard. Originally, this task was given to me, but I am not a member of the inner guard, so it is inconvenient to investigate. So the matter was handed over to a cabinet leader in the inner guard."

Di Renjie understood immediately: "You mean, Sun Dianchen was the cabinet leader in charge of regulating the inner guards, and he was killed by the inner guards themselves? In other words, this was an internal struggle within the inner guards?"

Zhao nodded, then shook his head: "Yes, and no. The whereabouts of the inner guards are secretive, their identities are kept secret, and there are many martial arts masters. No one except the inner guards themselves can find and purge such a large number of inner guards. But if this is simply an internal struggle, I think something is fishy."

Di Renjie nodded slightly, as if thinking about something: "That makes sense. Then what do you think is strange?"

Zhao Ji frowned and said, "Have you forgotten that the palace is haunted? Your Majesty has been in danger these past few days. I suspect that there may be some connection between the ghost cases inside and outside the palace."

"No matter how bad the inner guards are, they are the most trusted force of the emperor. It is possible for them to steal and attack each other, but do they have the courage to plot against the emperor without the instructions of outsiders?"

As he spoke, there was another burst of lightning and thunder outside the room.

Di Renjie narrowed his eyes slightly, calculating the current situation.

Zhao Ji could not help but said, "Sir, this is a serious matter. Should I return to the capital immediately to report to His Majesty?"

"No!" Di Renjie immediately reached out to stop Zhao Ji.

Di Renjie shook his head slowly: "Now is not the time. We only have a general understanding of what happened, but we haven't caught any murderers, let alone who is behind it."

"Meeting the emperor at this time will only alert the enemy. We are foreign ministers and should not interfere in the affairs of the inner court. If you return to the palace, you will have no clues and will not know where to start. Your identity is also embarrassing, so you will only be afraid to act and return empty-handed."

"If this is really as you said, we should start from outside the palace. Once the ghosts outside the palace are defeated, the ghosts inside the palace will naturally have nowhere to hide."

Zhao Ji pondered for a moment, carefully considering Di Renjie's words, and thought of Princess Taiping, who was now with Wu Zetian all day, which was indeed a tricky situation.

He finally nodded in agreement: "Your Excellency is right, so what should we do now?"

Di Renjie pondered for a moment and said, "If we want to solve the case of the bleeding eagle, we must first solve the bloody case that happened in Jiangjiazhuang sixty years ago. Tomorrow, we will go to Enjizhuang again and catch the headless ghost first!"

(End of this chapter)