Chapter 22 Follow the clues
Zhao Ji and his party set out from Sanhe County Government Office, evading Fang Qian's spies, and returned safely to the Governor's Mansion in the evening.

Zhao Chuanchen was arranged in the East Flower Hall, and the assassin was taken away to be guarded by the Qianniu Guards. Zhao was about to report to Di Renjie, but on the way he met Li Yuanfang walking towards him quickly.

"Yuan Fang, where is the lord now?" Zhao Ji asked.

Li Yuanfang raised the box in his hand and said, "My Lord is looking after Li Er in the back hall. Li Er has had another attack of snake venom. My Lord asked me to get the snow toad to treat him."

As soon as Zhao Ji heard it, he knew that it was Hu Jinghui who was secretly at work again, poisoning Li Er again, but just disguising it as a recurrence of snake venom.

Although he knew the truth, he did not say anything, but hurried to the back hall with Li Yuanfang.

When he entered Li Er's room in the back hall, he saw Di Renjie concentrating on giving acupuncture to Li Er.

Everyone held their breath, afraid of disturbing him.

Li Er's shirt had been taken off. Zhao Ji inadvertently caught a glimpse of the tiger-head flying eagle tattoo on his left arm, and his heart tightened.

When Di Renjie finished acupuncture, Li Yuanfang handed him the snow toad and said, "Sir, the snow toad has been brought to you."

Di Renjie quickly took the toad and said, "Jinghui, lend a hand and pry open Li Er's mouth and feed the toad."

Hu Jinghui sat on the bed and pried open Li Er's mouth.

Di Renjie then put the snow toad into Li Er's mouth, poked it deep into his throat, and watched Li Er swallow it.

Everyone stopped moving and waited for the Snow Toad to take effect.

After a moment, Di Renjie felt Li Er's pulse again and shook his head: "Alas, it looks like he is dying."

"Is it possible that even the Snow Toad bestowed by His Majesty is useless?" Li Yuanfang looked sad, feeling sorry for Li Er.

Di Renjie frowned and said helplessly: "The Snow Toad is a treasure of coldness, and it has the effect of removing poison and removing blood stasis, but it is not a life-saving elixir after all. I really don't understand, how can the snake venom attack again?"

Lu Dayou echoed, "I find it strange too. He was fine, but suddenly he became ill and blood was coming out of all his seven orifices."

Li Er has always been taken care of by Lu Dayou. Di Renjie strictly forbids outsiders from approaching, and Zhao Ji rarely sets foot here.

By chance today, Zhao Ji not only witnessed Li Er's dangerous situation, but also unexpectedly discovered the tattoo.

He originally thought that only after Fang Qian's death and Di Renjie got the Tiger-Head Flying Eagle Ring would he have a chance to reveal Li Er's identity, but after seeing the tattoo today, he might have a chance earlier.

But Zhao Ji suddenly noticed that Li Yuanfang beside him also had a surprised expression on his face.

"Oh, I forgot. Li Yuanfang also knows a lot about the Turks. He probably saw the tattoo too." Zhao Ji thought to himself.

He glanced at Hu Jinghui in front of him secretly and felt that this was not a good time.

Although Hu Jinghui had just poisoned Li Er, Li Er still had a glimmer of hope and a chance to survive.

If Li Er's identity is revealed at this time, it might irritate Hu Jinghui and lead him to kill him, which would be disastrous.

"We can't let Yuan Fang reveal Li Er's identity." Zhao Ji secretly planned and prepared to take action.

He walked quietly behind Li Yuanfang and tapped his lower back lightly with his fingers.

Li Yuanfang looked back in confusion, but saw Zhao Ji pointing at Li Er's left arm, shaking his head slightly, and making a gesture to keep quiet.

Fortunately, Di Renjie and Hu Jinghui's attention were focused on Li Er, and no one noticed these little movements.

Li Yuanfang was surprised to see the symbols of the Turkic royal family on Li Er, and wondered if he had made a mistake.

But Zhao Ji's actions showed that he also noticed Li Er's tattoo, which confirmed his guess.

However, Zhao Ji seemed to signal him not to tell anyone. Although Li Yuanfang didn't understand why, he still trusted Zhao Ji and responded with a gesture of silence.

When Zhao saw that Li Yuanfang understood his intention, he felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

He then turned to Di Renjie and deliberately mentioned Zhao Chuanchen's matter, hoping to divert everyone's attention.

He cupped his hands and said, "Sir, I have good news. Everything is as you expected. Zhao Chuanchen is willing to speak."

Di Renjie was indeed delighted: "Okay, where is he?"

"He is waiting in the East Flower Hall now." Zhao Ji replied.

"Okay, let's go to the East Flower Hall immediately." Di Renjie said as he was about to get up.

Zhao Ji, however, reached out his hand to stop Di Renjie and said, "Sir, there is another important matter that needs your decision."

"What's the matter?" Di Renjie asked.

"The assassin who went to Sanhe County to assassinate Zhao Chuanchen was a soldier under the guerrilla general Zhang Yong." Zhao Ji said.

"Are you sure?" Di Renjie asked seriously.

"It is certain. Both assassins have confessed that they often accept such orders." Zhao Ji replied. The matter involved the Youzhou army, so Di Renjie could not help but take it seriously.

He thought for a moment and said, "Take my imperial sword and a hundred guards and arrest Zhang Yong and bring him to your palace immediately."

Zhao Ji took the order and left, but as soon as he walked out of the gate of the Governor's Mansion, he saw several of Fang Qian's spies wandering around with suspicious behavior.

It was dark at night and there were no pedestrians on the street, but these people were wandering around the Governor's Mansion, it was hard not to attract attention.

Zhao Ji sat on his horse and thought for a moment, then pointed his whip and said, "Catch those sneaky guys first."

Seeing that the situation was not right, several of Fang Qian's spies wanted to run away but it was too late. They were swarmed by the guards and caught in front of Zhao Ji.

"Send them to the Governor's Office. Search them carefully to see if there are any fish that have escaped. After we capture Zhang Yong, we will come back and deal with them."

After dealing with the spies, Zhao rode ahead on horseback, followed closely by the guards, and rushed to Zhang Yong's mansion.
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In the main hall of Zhang's mansion, Zhang Yong, Hu Jinbao and Fang Hongliang gathered together, plotting something.

Zhang Yong's face was filled with sorrow, and he was obviously troubled.

Hu Jinbao looked anxious and asked, "Brother Zhang, is there any news from the people you sent?"

Zhang Yong sighed and shook his head, "Alas, we sent good people, but there is still no news."

"Maybe they can't find a good opportunity during the day, so they plan to strike at night. Maybe there will be good news tomorrow." Fang Hongliang was open-minded and comforted them.

Zhang Yong hesitated for a moment and said, "That's not what I'm worried about. Lord Fang sent someone to kill Zhao Chuanchen this time, which is clearly against the Imperial Envoy."

"Not to mention that the matter was exposed, even if it succeeded, I'm afraid it can't be hidden from Lord Di. I sent the person out, and I'm worried that it will be traced back to me in the end."

As he said this, Zhang Yong sat down on the chair, looking very depressed.

"There's nothing we can do. We are all in the same boat. If something happens to Lord Fang, we can't remain unscathed." Fang Hongliang saw it clearly and was not entangled.

"Having said that, I'm afraid I'll become the next Zhao Chuanchen," Zhang Yong said worriedly.

Fang Qian ordered the killing of Zhao Chuanchen to silence him, which still made his followers feel a little chilled.

When Hu Jinbao and Fang Hongliang heard Zhang Yong's words, they also had their own thoughts.

At this moment, Zhang Yong's servant came to report in a hurry: "General, it's bad, Qian...Qianniu Guards have broken in."

Zhang Yong, Fang Hongliang and the other two looked at each other in astonishment.

Before they could react, Zhao Ji had already led the Qianniu Guards to surround the main hall.

Zhao Ji walked quickly while ordering the guards: "Guard all entrances and exits, no one is allowed to move!"

He strode into the main hall with his sword in hand, glanced at everyone, and shouted sternly, "Who is Zhang Yong?"

Zhang Yong saw that Zhao Ji was coming aggressively, and knew that something bad was going to happen, but he still pretended to be calm: "I am the guerrilla general Zhang Yong, who are you, and why are you leading troops into my mansion?"

"I am a Qianniu Guard under Lord Di. I have been ordered to arrest you and take you to the Governor's Mansion. General Zhang, why don't you go with me?" Zhao Ji stared at Zhang Yong coldly.

Zhang Yong's expression changed immediately, but he soon put on a smile and said, "Wait a moment, let me inform my family."

Zhang Yong was about to turn around and leave, but Zhao Ji held him back: "That's not necessary, just go!"

Zhang Yong saw that his deception failed, and he still struggled: "Let me go, why did you arrest me, why did you arrest me! I want to see the governor, I want to see the governor..."

"Come on, tie him up." Zhao Jili ignored Zhang Yong. The Qianniu Guards quickly covered Zhang Yong's mouth and tied him up tightly with a rope.

Hu Jinbao and Fang Hongliang did not dare to stop him, and hurriedly bowed and said, "Sir, we are here as guests. Zhang Yong's affairs have nothing to do with us."

Zhao Ji took a look at the two men's clothing, body shape and temperament, and knew that they were both Fang Qian's followers in the army.

He rolled his eyes, pointed at Fang and Hong and said, "They are my accomplices, take them away together!"

"Hey, hey...what are you doing..." Hu Jinbao and Fang Hongliang were also caught by the Qianniu Guards.

After capturing the three men, Zhao Ji led the Qianniu Guards out of Zhang's mansion.

He turned around and left dozens of guards behind, saying, "Guard the front and back doors, watch over Zhang Yong's family, and don't let anyone leave the house. If the news leaks out, I'll hold you accountable!"

He planned to guard Zhang Yong's door to prevent the Zhang family from informing Fang Qian of the news. In addition, the spy in the Governor's Office had been arrested, so Fang Qian's reaction might be much slower.

"This time, let's take the initiative and prevent Fang Qian from rebelling!" Zhao Ji thought as he escorted Zhang Yong and the other two back to the Governor's Mansion.

　The collection recommendations increased a little yesterday, but it immediately went back to square one today. It’s a difficult situation. I still hope that everyone will support me more. Please.

(End of this chapter)