Chapter 248 Everything is connected
"Can you...can you let go of me first? You're almost strangling me to death..."

Jingkong's cheeks turned red due to suffocation, and he tried hard with both hands to pry open Zhao Ji's tightly clenched fingers.

Zhao Ji hesitated for a moment, and finally released his grip, saying coldly: "Speak!"

Jingkong took a deep breath, and when his breathing became smoother, he answered sincerely: "Your Highness, I have no ill will towards you, but..."

Zhao Ji's face was as cold as frost, and he interrupted without question: "Don't talk nonsense, if you don't speak now, you won't have to speak anymore!"

Seeing Zhao Ji's tough attitude, Jingkong had to say frankly: "Your Highness and the Crown Princess are somewhat similar, especially between the eyebrows and eyes."

Zhao Ji was a little surprised when he heard this, but he immediately reacted: "Crown Princess? You mean the former Princess Yong?"

The so-called Prince Yong is Li Xian. Prince Zhanghuai was the posthumous title given to him by Emperor Ruizong of Tang, Li Dan. His wife's surname was Fang.

According to Master Jingkong, the original owner's face now looks less like Li Xian and more like his biological mother Fang.

Compared to Li Xian, fewer people know Fang.

Zhao Ji was a male, so even though his facial features were somewhat similar, it was difficult for ordinary people to associate him with Prince Zhanghuai, which is why he had never been recognized.

However, Jingkong's answer also made Zhao Ji realize that this person's identity was extraordinary.

On the other side, Jing Kong also looked surprised when he heard what Zhao Ji said. He didn't understand why Zhao Ji called his mother like that.

"Your Highness, why are you so cautious? I won't tell anyone your identity!" Jingkong thought that Zhao Ji was being too cautious and didn't want to give anyone a chance to talk.

Zhao Ji didn't care what Jing Kong thought and asked, "Who are you? What is your relationship with the late King Yong?"

Jingkong sighed and revealed his identity: "I was the personal bodyguard of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! I followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince all the way to Bazhou. That's why I was able to recognize His Royal Highness!"

Zhao Ji raised his eyebrows and asked for details: "Oh? Is that true? Then how did you end up in the inner guards again?"

Jingkong took a deep breath and explained, "This was all arranged by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. When he was demoted to Bazhou, he was worried that Wu Zetian would not let him go."

"As expected, as soon as the late emperor passed away, Wu Zhao sent people to Bazhou and forced the Crown Prince to death. The Crown Princess was heartbroken and died for love!"

As he spoke, Jingkong sighed again: "Before this, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince entrusted His Royal Highness and the last group of his confidants to Yuan Tiangang."

"At that time, Yuan Tiangang was a popular figure around Wu Zhao, handling various confidential matters for her, so it was easy for him to place me in the inner guard..."

Zhao Ji had sharp eyes and scrutinized every word of Jingkong, trying to find flaws in them.

He suddenly asked, "You said it yourself, Yuan Tiangang is a popular figure around Wu Zhao. How could my 'father' trust me and my confidant to him?"

Jingkong explained, "Alas, it was Yuan Tiangang who came to us. He secretly gathered a group of exiles and claimed that Wu Zhao was mean and ungrateful. He was afraid that she would be abandoned after her death, so he was willing to help His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"At that time, the Crown Prince was demoted to a commoner and exiled to Bazhou. His entire family was in danger of death. How could there be room for negotiation? He had no choice but to go with Yuan Tiangang reluctantly."

Zhao Ji nodded in agreement, and then asked, "What happened later? Yuan Tiangang remained attached to Wu Zhao for a long time, and even fabricated the so-called Luohe Bagua map incident to help Wu Zhao usurp the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that his crimes were extremely heinous." "You, the so-called confidants of Prince Yong, are you just going to stand by and watch?"

Jingkong was shocked when he heard this: "Your Highness, how do you know all this?"

Zhao Ji smiled slightly, but his eyes became colder: "After all, I have lived in Yuan Mansion for more than ten years. You haven't answered my question yet!"

Jingkong's scalp tingled when Zhao Ji looked at him, so he could only explain: "Your Highness, Wu Zhao's usurpation of the throne was not just because of the Luohe Bagua map. Would she not have usurped the throne without this Bagua stone?"

"At that time, we were weak and could only use Yuan Tiangang as a talisman to hide our minions and wait for the right time and strength to grow. Then we would act accordingly."

Zhao Ji frowned, this reason was not enough to convince him.

Jingkong hadn't finished his words yet: "Besides, Your Highness is in Yuan Tiangang's hands. To protect Your Highness's safety, we can only obey his orders."

"Have you forgotten? We disguised ourselves and sneaked into Yuan's mansion several times to rescue you, but we suffered heavy losses and even caused you to be injured by Yuan Tiangang."

"Since then, Yuan Tiangang's precautions have become even tighter, and we dare not act rashly..."

When Zhao Ji heard this, his expression suddenly changed, and his face looked indescribably wonderful. He didn't expect that after going around in circles, the problem finally came back to him.

It turns out that I was able to travel through time and be reborn thanks to this group of people. The original owner was simply tricked to death by these guys!
Thinking back to the dark days in Yuan Mansion, Zhao Ji felt mixed emotions. He was in jail for those few years in Yuan Mansion because of this group of people...

Jingkong secretly observed Zhao Ji's expression and kept saying, "Besides, we are not doing nothing. Xu Jingye raised an army in Yangzhou, and the King of Yue and his son raised an army in Yuezhou. We all contributed. Alas, it's a pity that we all failed at the last moment!"

"We also put a lot of effort into rescuing many members of the Li Tang royal family who were framed, such as the number one master of the Snake Spirit that Your Highness met, Kui Wenzhong!"

Zhao Ji was getting more and more curious, so he asked again, "What about Yuan Tiangang's arrest? How did you end up in Hanguang Temple?"

Jingkong laughed bitterly, "This is another case of fate playing tricks on us. Yuan Tiangang is using the names of the Crown Prince and His Highness to make the Snake Spirit more and more powerful. We are no longer able to fight him with our own strength."

"It just so happens that Wu Zhao is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Yuan Tiangang, so we came up with a plan to kill two birds with one stone. We can not only get rid of Yuan Tiangang, but also rescue His Highness in the chaos!"

The more Zhao Ji listened, the weirder his expression became. Finally, he couldn't help laughing and shook his head repeatedly: "Alas...you told the inner guards about me and the Snake Spirit, and asked them to deal with Yuan Tiangang."

Jingkong sighed, "Yes, we never thought that Xiao Qingfang was also a member of the Snake Spirit! And we never thought that Wu Zhao would let Yuan Tiangang go."

Zhao Ji took over the conversation, with a bit of self-mockery in his tone: "Of course you didn't expect that I would take advantage of the chaos to escape from Yuan's mansion..."

Jingkong nodded and said, "Yes, since then, His Highness has lost his trace. We thought that Yuan Tiangang had other plans and hid His Highness, so we tried every means to come to this Hanguang Temple."

"In the end, Yuan Tiangang himself didn't know where the prince had gone, and I was trapped here. I have been guarding this place for ten years!"

Zhao Ji looked at Jingkong speechlessly, really not knowing what to say.

　According to official history, Prince Zhanghuai's wife, Fang, lived until 711 AD, during the reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang. The posthumous title of Zhanghuai was requested by Fang before her death, so it was changed here.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)