Chapter 311 Suspicion
Ever since Zhao Ji heard the name of Prince Li Dan from Shangguan Wan'er, he had been absent-minded on his way out of the palace.

"Li Dan... Li Dan... Prince of Xiang Li Dan!" He muttered to himself, and suddenly an inexplicable chill quietly crept up his back, making him shiver.

Li Dan, as the younger brother of Li Xian, the great warrior of the Li Tang Dynasty, is a completely invisible person in the story of Detective Di Renjie, but he happens to show up at this critical juncture.

This escalates the snake spirit's conspiracy to a higher level, making the truth of the matter even more complicated.

Just talking about the current situation, there is a key clue to explain: Li Dan had been an emperor before.

After the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Wu Zetian did not immediately proclaim herself emperor. Instead, Li Xian succeeded to the throne, then deposed him and demoted him to King of Luling.

Then, Wu Zetian supported another son to ascend the throne, Li Dan. Of course, Li Dan was soon deposed, and Wu Zetian then became emperor as a woman.

After that, Li Dan was made the heir to the throne, a rank slightly higher than that of a prince, but not a legitimate crown prince.

During this period, Li Dan's family was imprisoned in the palace by Wu Zetian and held hostage.

It was not until King Li Xian returned and was reinstated as the crown prince that Li Dan became the Prince of Xiang and his family was released from the palace.

Now, a tunnel leading to the Eastern Palace was discovered in the old house where Li Dan's family lived... No wonder Shangguan Wan'er was shocked.

Wu Zetian's two sons, Li Dan and Li Xian, were both involved, and with the addition of a snake spirit, this was already a very serious case!
Thinking of this, Zhao Ji suddenly woke up, and rode at full speed to Di's mansion. He had to discuss this matter with Di Renjie.
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Inside the Di Mansion's study, with the door closed, Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang and Ruyan gathered inside to plot.

Suddenly, Li Yuanfang jumped up from his chair as if he had heard something shocking.

"How could that be? Xiaomei is one of the blood spirits? So she is an undercover sent by the snake spirit?" Li Yuanfang's eyes were full of disbelief.

Di Renjie shook his head gently, with a deep smile on his face. "I didn't say that. It's true that Xiaomei is undercover in the Di Mansion, but she may not be a member of the Snake Spirit. She and her sister Xiaofeng only take orders from the missing prince."

Li Yuanfang frowned upon hearing this, and became even more confused: "Is there any difference?"

Di Renjie smiled even more when he heard this: "Of course it's different, because Your Highness and the Snake Spirit are not the same kind of people."

Li Yuanfang was still unconvinced and retorted: "Even so, why did she choose to lurk around adults? There must be some ulterior motive behind this!"

Facing Li Yuanfang's doubts, Di Renjie smiled calmly: "I was a little confused at first, but now I understand, she is undercover beside me to help us!"

"The undercover will help us?" Li Yuanfang almost laughed. "How is that possible?"

Di Renjie laughed: "Of course it is possible, because they have a common goal with us."

Li Yuanfang's expression became serious when he heard this. He asked, "What is the goal?"

Di Renjie spoke each word with great force: "That is, eliminate the snake spirit!"

"Destroy the snake spirit?" Li Yuanfang and Ruyan exclaimed almost at the same time.

Li Yuanfang gradually lowered his head, looking thoughtful.

After a moment, he raised his head suddenly, with doubt in his eyes: "But if you want to eliminate the snake spirit, Xiaomei can openly confess her identity. We will not blame her for her identity as a blood spirit. Why does she need to be undercover beside you?"

Ruyan seemed to be thinking about something and felt sympathetic: "Xiaomei had no choice but to do this. She did it for her lover, that prince!" Li Yuanfang couldn't help but turn his head and look at Ruyan.

Di Renjie nodded slightly, with a complex emotion flashing in his eyes: "That's right, Xiaomei obeys your Highness. If Xiaomei's identity is leaked, your Highness's identity will naturally be exposed."

"And His Highness seems to be quite afraid of the Emperor. He doesn't seem to be willing to face us directly..."

"This..." Li Yuanfang stopped talking and was slowly digesting the information Di Renjie had just said.

At this time, Di Chun hurried in and reported to Di Renjie: "Master, after you left, Lu Cheng secretly burned a pile of straw paper. We were afraid of alerting the enemy, so we didn't dare to get too close. We don't know what was on it."

Di Renjie remained calm and not too surprised. He just nodded.

Li Yuanfang was shocked: "Sir, is there really something wrong with Mr. Lu?"

Di Renjie nodded slightly, his face solemnly said: "Yes, I had my suspicions about this 'Lu Cheng' in Liuzhou. Just after leaving the palace, I secretly checked Yuan Tiangang's body, which confirmed my judgment!"

Ruyan was impatient and immediately asked, "What did uncle find out?"

Di Renjie smiled slightly and said slowly: "The dead Yuan Tiangang had a mask on his face!"

"What?!" Ruyan and Li Yuanfang both looked shocked.

"Then, then doesn't that mean Yuan Tiangang is still alive?" After a moment, Ruyan was the first to come to her senses.

Li Yuanfang frowned, and suddenly a light flashed in his mind. He seemed to have grasped something and blurted out: "You mean, that 'Lu Cheng' is the real Yuan Tiangang?"

Di Renjie paced slowly, speaking in a low voice: "It's almost certain. I've talked to him before, and he knows a lot about the Luohe stele offering many years ago. But as far as I know, only the emperor and Yuan Tiangang knew about this secret, and the rest of the insiders were killed!"

"And on the papers he burned were all some arithmetic formulas, which were nothing more than calculating the time of the Luo River's miraculous event."

"So that's it." Li Yuanfang suddenly realized.

Di Renjie continued, "There is also Kui Wenzhong. I think he is also an undercover agent planted by the Snake Spirit next to me. I think Kui Wenzhong is one of the two killers you met in Tuoluodi! We have to make some arrangements to target them when Chengyuan comes back!"

Lu Cheng and Xiao Mei, the two Snake Spirit defectors, both had problems. It would be abnormal if Kui Wen Zhong did not have problems, so Li Yuanfang was not surprised.

"I was wondering why I felt a sense of familiarity with the killer I met at that time..." Li Yuanfang looked leisurely, recalling the scene at that time.

Li Yuanfang showed a distressed look on his face: "However, I feel that the fake viper is not like Gu Wenzhong. Their martial arts styles are similar, but also different."

Ruyan reminded from the side: "Perhaps Kui Wenzhong deliberately wanted to hide his identity, so he deliberately used some tricks to confuse you!"

Li Yuanfang shook his head and said, "No, his movements seem... seem to be a little faster than Kui Wenzhong! He gives me a different kind of familiarity, and I seem to have seen the battle scene somewhere before!"

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie paused stroking his beard, as if thinking about something.

(End of this chapter)