Chapter 182: A Gathering at Di Mansion
Today is destined to be a lively and weird day in Di Mansion.

The first wave of customers was Zeng Tai.

Zeng Tai received Di Renjie's niece Di Ruyan from Yongchang County, but found that Ruyan accidentally saved the postman sent by General Wang Xiaojie, and the postman was carrying a secret military report sent by Wang Xiaojie to the court.

This matter was of great importance, so Zeng Tai did not dare to hesitate. He memorized the contents of the military report and hurried to Di's house to meet Di Renjie.

However, when the coachman brought Zeng Tai to Di's house, Zeng Tai had already been injured, poisoned, and was dying.

Fortunately, Di Sandian never failed and saved Zeng Tai from the brink of death.

Di Chun brought a basin of clean water and was using a towel to clean the blood stains from the unconscious Zeng Tai.

Di Renjie stood in front of the window, staring at the cow-hair steel needle he found on Zeng Tai's body.

Li Yuanfang was surprised and said: "Sir, it's the Shadowless Needle!"

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie nodded slowly, his tone heavy with emotion: "Yes, the old opponents in the Youzhou case have appeared again, this is really unexpected!"

After saying this, Di Renjie seemed to remember something, turned to Li Yuanfang and asked, "Oh, by the way, did you find anything else on Zeng Tai's carriage?"

Li Yuanfang immediately took out a dull red cloth from his arms and explained, "The cloth was scratched on the carriage. Two wooden strips were added to the bottom of the carriage to make it easier to hide."

Di Renjie took the cloth, frowned, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Under the carriage? Are you saying that the murderer rode the carriage all the way from Yongchang County to the capital?"

"Maybe the murderer took action halfway." Li Yuanfang thought for a moment and said.

Di Renjie was even more confused when he heard this. He muttered to himself, "Since the murderer has such superb skills, why didn't he just kill Zeng Tai directly, but went to so much trouble?"

"The murderer must have other plans!" Li Yuanfang said with certainty.

Just as the two were talking, the sound of hurried footsteps interrupted their thoughts.

Zhang Huan ran over breathlessly and reported to Di Renjie: "Sir, Xiao Bao is back!"

"Xiao Bao?" Li Yuanfang was surprised when he heard this. "Isn't he following Cheng Yuan? Why is he back in Shendu?"

Di Renjie seemed unusually calm. He turned around to look at Di Chun who was busy, and then asked Zhang Huan in a deep voice: "Where is he now?"

"Waiting in the second hall." Zhang Huan replied.

"Let's go to the second hall." Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang and Zhang Huan hurried away.

When Di Chun saw that Di Renjie and the other two had gone out, he also packed up his towel, carried some water, walked out of the room, and closed the door.
-
Xiao Bao was the third guest to arrive at Di Mansion today. He respectfully handed over a secret letter from Zhao Ji.

Di Renjie took the letter and opened it. His expression was complicated and difficult to discern under the interweaving of light and shadow, sometimes bright and sometimes dark.

"You have worked hard. Please step back for now and have a good rest." Di Renjie said to Xiao Bao in a gentle tone.

Li Yuanfang couldn't understand Di Renjie's expression, and asked impatiently: "Sir, what did Chengyuan write in the letter?"

"Chengyuan has led his army to successfully raid the Khitan royal court. Li Jinzhong is dead, and the Xi people have rebelled." Di Renjie put away the letter and kept it close to him.

Li Yuanfang was delighted when he heard this: "That's great!"

"It's a pity that Wang Xiaojie was defeated in Xixia Shigu and retreated to Pingzhou. Moreover, the Turks appeared in Raole and fought a battle with Chengyuan." Di Renjie added.

Li Yuanfang's smile froze instantly, and he whispered in disbelief: "How...how is this possible? How could Jili Khan be so treacherous?"

Di Renjie shook his head and said with a deep look, "We can't say that now. Chengyuan said there is something else going on. The key is that Chengyuan mentioned another thing."

Li Yuanfang asked, "What's the matter?"

"He said he encountered an assassin and asked us to be careful of the assassin as well." Di Renjie narrowed his eyes and spoke word by word.

"Be careful of assassins?" Li Yuanfang's expression suddenly became serious when Di Renjie's safety was involved. Di Renjie had already made up his mind: "Weren't we wondering why the murderer let Zeng Tai go just now? Now it's clear..."
-
At night, the Di Mansion was silent. Zhang Huan, Li Lang and others led the Qianniu Guards to patrol everywhere.

Outside Zeng Tai's sickbed, Di Renjie was still holding Zhao Ji's letter and looking at it over and over again.

Suddenly, a breeze blew by and inadvertently pushed the window open.

Di Renjie raised his head alertly, but did not look towards the window. Instead, he instantly locked onto the bed, but Zeng Tai on the bed had already disappeared.

"Are you looking for me?" A sweet voice floated into Di Renjie's ears from behind, but it was a low female voice.

Di Renjie turned around quickly and saw Zeng Tai staring at him with a sinister smile on his face.

"Who are you!" Di Renjie shouted.

"Zeng Tai" said faintly: "I am your student Zeng Tai..."

Di Renjie looked at Zeng Tai's face, which had turned black due to the poison, and the girl's accent, which sounded out of place.

He stared at the "Zeng Tai" in front of him, and his mind was clear: "Stop being mysterious. The person who poisoned Zeng Tai is you, right?"

"Di Renjie is indeed powerful, but it's a pity that you are going to die. Give me your life." The fake Zeng Tai sneered, and a cold light flashed in his sleeves. Two scimitars jumped out like poisonous snakes and rushed straight towards Di Renjie.

Faced with this sudden attack, Di Renjie stood still without blinking or changing his expression.

Because the blade of Li Yuanfang's chain knife had flown to the back of the fake Zeng Tai's head like a gust of wind.

The fake Zeng Tai didn't bother to kill Di Renjie and turned around to block Li Yuanfang's attack.

The sound of metal was heard, and the fake Zeng Tai barely blocked the sharp attack of the chain knife, and his body involuntarily staggered back two steps.

Li Yuanfang was slightly surprised when he saw this, but he immediately asked, "Who are you? Why do you want to hurt adults?"

"Take a guess." The fake Zeng Tai's vague voice sounded again.
The fake Zeng Tai thought that she was no match for Li Yuanfang and it was impossible for her to kill Di Renjie. She planned to use words to relax the vigilance of Li Yuanfang and Di Renjie and retreat at any time.

Seeing that the assassin had finally given him a chance to talk back, Di Renjie smiled and said, "You are old friends from the Youzhou case, right?"

"Yes and no." said the fake Zeng Tai.

"Oh? What does this mean?" Di Renjie's interest was aroused.

Just at this moment, Di Chun rushed in as if he had no idea, and shouted excitedly: "Master! Miss Ruyan is here."

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang were both attracted by Di Chun. The fake Zeng Tai seized the opportunity and took advantage of everyone's distraction. He flashed out of the open window and disappeared into the night.

Li Yuanfang wanted to chase her, but Di Renjie gently stopped him: "Yuanfang, no need to chase her, let her go."

"Master... Miss Ruyan is here..." Di Chun touched his head and said awkwardly, "Did I get into trouble?"

Li Yuanfang smiled comfortingly: "That assassin has some tricks, I may not be able to catch up with her."

Di Renjie also patted Di Chun on the shoulder and said, "It was an unintentional mistake. You can't be blamed. Go down and tell Ruyan not to wait any longer. I'll go see her later."

"Yes, sir." Di Chun ran down in a daze.

Di Renjie looked at Di Chun's back and chuckled, "We are indeed on the same journey."

"Sir, if this guy hadn't intervened, it would not have been so easy for the assassin to escape." Li Yuanfang said with a frown.

Di Renjie didn't take it seriously, he shook his head and said, "Zeng Tai, the assassin, Xiao Bao, Ruyan, plus him, my Di Mansion is really lively today."

(End of this chapter)