Chapter 224 A new beginning

The banquet lasted until dawn, and the civil and military officials gradually dispersed, but Wu Zetian's interest was still there.

She specially ordered Di Renjie, Zhao Ji, Wang Xiaojie and others to stay and report the details of the great victory on the front line.

This feeling is hard to describe, it's like the home team that the fans support wins the championship, and they watch the highlights and scores over and over again.

However, Di Renjie and Zhao Ji had to pour cold water on Wu Zetian. They wrote the story of the snake spirit in the Pingzhou war in a memorial and submitted it to Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian was smiling when she took the memorial, but after taking a look at it, the smile froze and was replaced by a dark face.

"Why not report it as soon as possible for such an important matter?" Wu Zetian asked Di Renjie without hesitation.

Di Renjie did not answer and remained silent.

Wu Zetian immediately came to her senses and coughed, "It's getting late. Except for Huaiying and Chengyuan, the rest of you should leave first!"

Wang Xiaojie and Quan Shancai looked at each other and knew that Di Renjie and Zhao Ji were going to talk about the snake spirit, and the snake spirit might be deeply involved with the emperor...

"We will take our leave now." The two men tactfully withdrew.

Shangguan Wan'er glanced around and waved her hand to signal everyone to go down.

At this time, Wu Zetian suppressed her anger and had finished reading the memorial. She smiled with a creepy expression, which was uglier than crying: "How ridiculous! How ridiculous! It's really ridiculous! Snake spirit? Ah? Xiao Qingfang? Hahahahahaha..."

When Zhao Ji heard the laughter, he raised his head slightly and glanced at Wu Zetian, cursing his bad luck. Why should he keep me as well when it would be enough to keep Di Pangpang alone?
Wu Zetian's rage erupted like a volcano. She denounced: "The third and fourth rank officials of the court are actually spies of the Snake Spirit! Huh? The chief of the inner guard house that I trust the most is actually the leader of the Snake Spirit! This is really ridiculous!"

"What a shame! What a shame!"

"Oh! Ugh!! Ah!" Wu Zetian was so furious that she tore the memorial in her hand into pieces and scattered them all over the floor.

This even surprised Di Renjie. He looked up and was about to speak, but was surprised to find that in addition to anger, Wu Zetian was also a little panicked and a little frightened.

"Your Majesty, please calm down your wrath for a while!" Di Renjie calmed himself down and tried to persuade him.

"Oh!" Wu Zetian realized her own loss of composure and finally calmed down, but a negative look appeared on her face.

"Teacher, teacher, you are really haunting me. Almost ten years have passed, and you are locked up in prison, still causing me trouble." Wu Zetian muttered to herself.

Di Renjie was unaware of the turmoil in Wu Zetian's heart. Seeing that the emperor's emotions had stabilized, he explained, "Your Majesty, the matter of the snake spirit was the reason why I did not mention it in the communiqué."

"It is precisely because they are afraid that the deeds of Xiao Qingfang, Su Honghui, Zong Huaichang, Qiu Jing and others will be publicized and damage the dignity of the court that they dare to conceal it. Your Majesty, please punish them!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Zetian sighed and said, "You handled the situation very well. Not only did you not make any mistakes, but you actually made some achievements."

How could the empress not understand that the inner guards were basically tied to her. What about the majesty of the court? Di Renjie was clearly doing it for her face.

Di Renjie bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the most important thing now is to find a way to catch Xiao Qingfang and his Snake Spirit rebels in one fell swoop. Otherwise, the rebels will surely stir up trouble again!"

Wu Zetian took a deep breath and said, "I'm afraid that the beast Xiao Qingfang has killed all the internal guards in many places or instigated them to rebel. Otherwise, how could I not know the news? How do you plan to deal with her?"

Di Renjie said confidently: "We should not make a big fuss when investigating this matter. We need to act in secret. First, we need to clean up the spies that the Snake Spirit has planted among the inner guards and court officials."

"Secondly, we need to deal with the power of the Snake Spirit in the martial arts world. According to the prisoners captured in Pingzhou, the Snake Spirit's lair is located in Liuzhou. I plan to send an agent to investigate, and perhaps there will be some news."

Wu Zetian nodded when she heard this: "I'm afraid that only the two of you can handle the matter of the snake spirit, but Huaiying is the prime minister in the court, and he has many affairs to deal with. I'm afraid he can't handle this matter with all his strength. As for the traitor in the court, you can let Chengyuan lead the Qianniu Guards to investigate. Huang Shengyan of the Internal Guard and his internal guards will also be under Chengyuan's command."

"As for Liuzhou, your Excellency's Li Yuanfang is capable of taking on this task. Huaiying, what do you think?"

Di Renjie immediately replied: "Your Majesty is wise. This arrangement is very appropriate!"

Wu Zetian thought for a moment and said, "Then it is settled. Li Yuanfang and Chengyuan are both under your command. If they discover anything, you will coordinate with them when the time is right to completely eliminate the snake spirit!"

"I obey your order." Zhao Ji and Di Renjie agreed and left the hall.

Inside the hall, after the two men left, Wu Zetian finally relaxed her tense nerves and leaned back on the throne, looking slightly tired.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Shangguan Wan'er, who had been invisible for most of the day, dared to raise her head and observe Wu Zetian's situation.

"Wan'er, make arrangements immediately. I want to leave the palace in plain clothes." Wu Zetian suddenly said.

Shangguan Wan'er had no intention of refuting and simply asked, "Yes, Your Majesty, where do you want to go?"

"Hanguang Temple." Wu Zetian spoke concisely and uttered three words.

Shangguan Wan'er was surprised when she heard this: "Your Majesty, don't you go to Hanguang Temple every year during the Yulan Festival?"

Wu Zetian glanced at Shangguan Wan'er coldly, her warning was self-evident: "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask. Don't alarm anyone when you leave the palace this time. Go and make arrangements!"

Shangguan Wan'er shuddered and nodded quickly, "Yes."
-
After returning to Di Mansion from the palace, Di Renjie put on a smile again, and Zhao Ji followed closely behind him, ready to discuss a specific plan to deal with Xiao Qingfang.

Ruyan and Li Yuanfang gathered together, talking about something. When they saw Di Renjie and Zhao Ji coming back, they went to greet them together.

"Sir, Chengyuan, you are back. What did His Majesty say?" Li Yuanfang asked first. Di Renjie took a cup of tea from Di Chun and drank it all: "His Majesty has ordered Chengyuan and I to handle the matter of the snake spirit."

"That's great." Li Yuanfang said happily.

But Zhao Ji was like a radar, vaguely aware that someone was spying nearby, and when he turned around, the feeling disappeared again.

I turned around and looked at the table in the room. There was a letter on it.

He walked to the table, picked up the letter, opened it, and his face suddenly became serious.

Di Renjie turned his gaze to Zhao Ji and asked, "Chengyuan, what's wrong?"

Zhao Ji handed the letter to Ruyan and said, "This is from Xiao Qingfang to Ruyan."

Ruyan was stunned when she heard this: "Big sister? It was written for me."

As she spoke, she took the letter, read it quickly, and suddenly let out a scream.

Li Yuanfang couldn't help but ask: "What happened? What's written on it?"

Ruyan didn't say anything, but handed the letter to Yuanfang.

Li Yuanfang unfolded the letter, and Di Renjie also came over to read it together. It said: "Xian'er, I will always keep an eye on you until you die! Big sister."

Di Renjie turned around slowly and saw Ruyan looked a little scared. He couldn't help but sneer, "It seems that Xiao Qingfang will make a move soon. This is just right!"

"Yes, if the snake spirits keep hiding here and there, it will be very troublesome. As long as they make any move, they will reveal their flaws!" Zhao Ji also added.

When Ruyan heard what Di Renjie and Zhao Ji said, she immediately plucked up her courage.

"Sir, should I still go to Liuzhou as planned?" Li Yuanfang asked.

Di Renjie did not answer, but asked Ruyan: "Ruyan, is your friend Xiaomei reliable?"

Ruyan nodded heavily: "Reliable, we have known each other for many years. She has always been an outlier in the organization, never killing innocent people indiscriminately, she is a very kind person."

"Di Chun said that the reason he survived was because he was protected by a female killer among the snake spirits. From what Di Chun described, that person should be Xiaomei."

"Moreover, in the Stone Country, Xiaomei actually wanted to let you go. She originally planned to take you to the wild and release you..."

Li Yuanfang blinked rapidly, as if he was trying to remember something but couldn't.

Di Renjie was quite interested: "Oh? There is such a person in the Snake Spirit? Can Xiao Qingfang tolerate her?"

Ruyan smiled and explained, "I heard from Xiaomei that she promised someone that she would never kill innocent people. Xiaomei is one of the people that my eldest sister trusts the most. She is very skilled in martial arts and obeys my eldest sister's orders. So my eldest sister let her do what she wants."

"But we talked about it privately. She actually has some opinions about the snake spirit. It seems to be related to her friend."

The friend was listening nearby and couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

Di Renjie nodded: "That's right, in this case, Yuan Fang can still go to Liuzhou and give it a try."

Ruyan added: "Uncle, I want to go too!"

"No, the snake spirit is too familiar with you. If you go, both of us will be in danger." Li Yuanfang immediately rejected Ruyan.

"I can wear a human skin mask, so no one can recognize us!" Ruyan explained hurriedly.

Li Yuanfang sighed, "Alas, a man and a woman are still too big a target. Some of the snake spirits might be able to recognize you without even looking at your face!"

"Ruyan, this trip is just to gather information. It's not a dangerous place. With my skills, there will be no danger."

Zhao Ji also advised: "Ruyan, you have to have more confidence in Yuan Fang. I'm afraid no one among the snake spirits can be his opponent. Can't you just make a human skin mask for Yuan Fang?"

"It's probably impossible for a snake spirit to recognize Yuan Fang just by his figure, right? As long as Yuan Fang doesn't actively provoke the snake spirit, nothing will happen."

Di Renjie nodded his head when he heard this: "This is a good idea!"

Ruyan thought about it for a moment and finally agreed: "Okay, since you all think so, Yuan Fang must promise me not to provoke the snake spirits! Safety is everything!"

"Okay, I promise you!" Li Yuanfang patted his chest and agreed.

The atmosphere in the room finally calmed down and everyone started laughing again.

In a corner of the capital, after leaving the table, Crown Prince Li Xian impatiently rushed to a small building with his two followers.

"Xiaohui, my Xiaohui, here I come!"

(End of this chapter)