Chapter 293 Could he be the missing prince?
Let’s talk about Zhao Ji and Di Renjie, who were strolling in the East Palace.

The two men were accompanied by two eunuchs, nominally to accompany them but in fact to monitor them.

With these two spies around, Zhao Ji and Di Renjie felt uneasy and were naturally cautious in their words and deeds.

After strolling for a while, the two of them walked to the back garden intentionally or unintentionally, and saw that the surrounding area was heavily guarded and the atmosphere was solemn.

The two eunuchs who followed them were extremely nervous when they saw Di Renjie and Zhao Ji coming here, fearing that the two would insist on going to see the lotus pond.

Zhao Ji and Di Renjie exchanged a tacit look, and both wanted to find out the truth.

However, just as the two were about to move, a eunuch came and interrupted them: "The elder has been gone for half a day, he must be thirsty, His Highness has ordered that the elder and General Zhao should have a cup of tea! His Highness will be here soon, please!"

Di Renjie smiled and sighed when he heard this, and declined politely, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness, but I suddenly remembered that I have urgent matters to attend to, so I have to take my leave first. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

After saying this, he turned around and was about to leave.

The eunuch was secretly delighted when he heard this, and quickly agreed: "Ah, since this is an important matter for the court, please do as you please, Lord!"

Zhao Ji also nodded and followed Di Renjie.

The two of them were "accompanied" by the eunuchs as they walked out of the East Palace and stopped only when they were far away.

"What a great East Palace! Who would have thought it would become a den of wolves and tigers!" Di Renjie said with emotion.

Zhao Ji was beside him and smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir. This is just a case of trying to cover up one's own faults. Even if it is a dangerous place, I will go there to try it out!"

Without having to say it explicitly, Di Renjie knew that he was going to sneak into the back garden and explore the secret of the lotus pond.

So he solemnly warned: "Be careful in your actions and don't alert the enemy!"

Zhao Ji nodded slightly, his figure suddenly stretched out, like a light swallow flying into the sky, disappearing from sight in an instant, and returned to the East Palace.

A moment later, deep in the East Palace, Zhao Ji had quietly passed the guards' blockade and arrived at a palace in the back garden.

Looking down from a high place, I saw that there was indeed a huge group of laborers gathered below. They were busy working and their noise could be faintly heard.

However, this busy scene was surrounded by a circle of closely packed soldiers, forming an insurmountable barrier that prevented any unauthorized approach.

Zhao Ji couldn't help but scratch his head. The defense was so tight that he couldn't get any closer.

However, from a high vantage point, one could vaguely see that this so-called lotus pond was just a small pit several meters square, which was not worthy of being considered a noble place.

Looking at those "migrant workers" again, Zhao Ji felt an inexplicable strange feeling in his heart, but he couldn't put it into words.

After a while, a woman in palace dress came to the back garden. It was unknown what she was saying, but the workers all bowed to her in unison.

Seeing this, the woman became even more furious and scolded him again.

Zhao Ji witnessed this scene on the roof of the temple and couldn't help but laugh. He thought to himself, "I thought so. It turns out that these so-called migrant workers are all subordinates of the Snake Spirit..."
-
As night falls, the moon shines brightly and the streets are immersed in tranquility.

In the main hall of the Di Mansion, Di Renjie was pacing alone, his brows furrowed, lost in thought.

Later, Li Yuanfang led Zhao Ji into the room quickly.

Di Renjie heard the noise, looked up, and asked hurriedly: "Chengyuan is here! What did you get in the East Palace?"

Zhao Ji grabbed the tea on Di Renjie's table, drank it all, and then said: "There is indeed something wrong with the lotus pond. Not only the pond has problems, but also the people!"

Di Renjie motioned Zhao Ji to sit down and said gently, "Don't be anxious, talk slowly!" Zhao Ji nodded and continued, "The first thing I discovered is that the lotus pond is indeed not yet completed, but those migrant workers who are working on it are all snake killers!"

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang were shocked when they heard this: "Are you saying that the twenty-two subordinates of the Snake Spirit have all sneaked into the East Palace?"

Zhao Ji thought for a moment, then confirmed: "Not necessarily all of them, but at least some of them! I roughly counted them, and there are at least five or six hundred of them!"

Di Renjie took a deep breath and lowered his head to think.

After a long while, he looked up and asked, "Anything else?"

Zhao Ji organized his words and continued, "I sneaked into the back garden of the East Palace and found that there was a guard every three steps and a sentry every five steps around the pond. It was really impossible to get close, so I didn't go down to the bottom of the pond to investigate in detail."

"But I found that the pool was only a few feet square, and the outer edge was very shallow, only the center was deep and bottomless. This was very strange!"

"Because according to Huan Bin, there are dozens of trucks transporting soil every day. It took nearly a month since we left. There would never be so much soil to dig a small pond like the one I saw!"

Di Renjie was startled and stood up suddenly: "Are you saying that they are digging a pond on the surface, but they are actually digging a tunnel?!"

Zhao Ji nodded heavily: "Judging from the amount of soil we dug out, there is only one explanation!"

Li Yuanfang's expression also became extremely serious. He turned around slowly, his eyes full of disbelief: "Digging a tunnel from the East Palace, their target is..."

Di Renjie took a deep breath, his eyes sharper than ever before, but he did not give the answer.

But the three people present understood that they must have dug under the imperial palace, and it might even be Wu Zetian’s bedroom!
After a long silence, Di Renjie slowly sat down again, his face a little pale: "It seems that the snake spirit is up to something!"

Zhao Ji hesitated for a moment, but still raised a question: "Sir, there is one more thing. The prince in the daytime is obviously a fake, but what is his identity?"

Li Yuanfang was stunned when he heard this, and then he replied: "I remember that when interrogating the prisoners in Tuoluodi, the fake Zhang said that a brother dressed as Li Xian left early. It must be this person!"

Zhao Ji slowly shook his head: "Not like that. Although this fake prince is fake, judging by his words and deeds, he is definitely not an ordinary lackey! He is very different from the mob last time!"

"The key point is that he actually knew many details about the Huzhou case, and even drew inferences from one case to another, citing the incident of Xiaohong and mocking me."

"It was not until I made up a story that he revealed some flaws, because after all, he was not an eyewitness and could not know all the details."

Li Yuanfang said unconcernedly: "Maybe this person is well-trained. As for the details of the Huzhou case, maybe the prince told him..."

At this point, Li Yuanfang paused, glanced at Di Renjie, and then said: "Your Excellency also knows that the prince is facing the threat of the snake spirit, and in order to protect himself, he is likely to answer all questions..."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie first nodded, then shook his head, his face heavy and as if thinking about something.

Zhao Ji shook his head decisively: "Not only that! Your Excellency has been the Prime Minister for a long time, and his aura is extremely strong. I am not an easy person to approach my enemies."

"Ordinary people and assassins would probably tremble with fear even if we asked them such questions, let alone just a simple conversation. But this man was not afraid at all, and even retorted."

"It can be seen that he has seen the world and is very familiar with the officialdom. He can handle this kind of thing relatively well. I even have a strange feeling that he has a certain temperament..."

Di Renjie's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he suddenly said, "That's a kind of nobility! It's cultivated from being pampered from childhood to adulthood!"

"I suddenly have an inexplicable guess. Do you think that the missing descendant of King Yong could be him?" Di Renjie suddenly stared at Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang with burning eyes.

Li Yuanfang was confused when he heard this and couldn't keep up with Di Renjie's jumping thoughts.

Zhao Ji widened his eyes, not knowing why Di Renjie's brain suddenly went crazy and came up with such a strange conclusion.

(End of this chapter)