Chapter 98 Arrival at Liujiazhuang

After Zhao got the Blue Shirt Notes from Li Gui in Liujiazhuang, he did not return to the county town, but went straight to Huzhou City.

Finally, at the moment when the sky gradually turned pale, the gate of Huzhou City slowly opened. Zhao Ji rode in and rushed straight to Qiao Tai's governor's mansion.

Inside the governor's mansion, Qiao Tai saw Zhao Ji rushing towards the lobby and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

He went up to her and asked, "What's going on, Chengyuan? Why are you so anxious?"

Zhao Ji didn't waste any words: "Where is the study? Borrow some paper and pen. Also call Shen Tao over."

Seeing that Zhao Ji was so anxious, Qiao Tai did not say much. He directly led Zhao Ji to the study and sent someone to call Shen Tao.

Zhao Ji walked into the study room without any politeness. Qiao Tai was about to follow him in, but with a bang, the study door was closed by Zhao Ji.

Qiao Tai was confused by Zhao Ji's behavior.

Shen Tao happened to arrive at this time, Qiao Tai asked: "What is the matter that makes your general so anxious?"

Shen Tao bowed his head and said, "I don't know."

Qiao Tai hit a snag and stopped asking questions. He could only wait patiently outside the door for Zhao Ji to come out.

After a long time, the study door opened again and Zhao Ji walked out holding sealed envelopes.

He bowed to Qiao Tai and said solemnly, "Brother Qiao, this envelope contains a memorial to His Majesty. Please help me deliver it to His Majesty at an expedited rate of six hundred miles."

"This is a matter of great importance. I would like one of my Qianniu Guards to serve as the messenger. There are some matters that I want him to explain to Your Majesty in person."

Although Qiao Tai was puzzled, seeing Zhao Ji was so serious, he nodded and agreed: "Since it is official business, there is naturally no problem."

Zhao Ji also nodded, and then said to Shen Tao: "Shen Tao, come in with me, I have something to tell you."

Shen Tao said yes and went into the study.

Then Zhao Ji bowed to Qiao Tai and said, "Brother Qiao, this is confidential, please forgive me."

As he said this, he closed the study door again, leaving Qiao Tai alone staring outside the door.

Inside the study, Zhao Ji handed another secret letter and two volumes of The Blue Shirt Notes, one real and one fake, to Shen Tao.

"You must personally hand over this letter and these two volumes of Blue Shirt Notes to Shangguan Cairen, who is by His Majesty's side. Tell her my name and she will see you. Then give her the memorial and she will present it to His Majesty. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

Shen Tao looked straight ahead and asked no questions. He just respectfully took the item handed to him by Zhao Ji, then quietly stepped back and prepared to leave.

After sending the letter, Zhao Ji put on a smiling face and bowed deeply to Qiao Tai: "Brother Qiao, I'm really sorry."

Qiao Tai seemed quite tolerant: "It's okay, I understand. But what is the mission? Why is it so mysterious?"

Zhao Ji whispered softly in Qiao Tai's ear: "It has something to do with the internal guards, so don't ask any more questions, Brother Qiao."

Qiao Tai sucked in a breath of cold air and frowned. He didn't know that there were internal guards in Huzhou.

"Let's not talk about this, Chengyuan. Did you know that Di Gong arrived in Huzhou yesterday?" Qiao Tai changed the subject.

Zhao Ji pretended to be surprised and asked, "Di Gong has arrived in Huzhou? Where is he?"

"In Changcheng County. It was only this morning when I received a letter from Magistrate Zeng that I learned that Di Gong had arrived. It was just as Cheng Yuan said. Di Gong first went on a private visit in disguise..."
-
Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang and Zeng Tai, with the full ceremonial guard of the envoys of demotion and promotion, accompanied by drums and music, arrived at Liujiazhuang.

But the entire Liujiazhuang family was in mourning, with white banners and white cloth hung everywhere. They also invited many monks and Taoists to play music and mournful music.

Even though the county government notified Liu Chali in advance, he did not have time to remove all the funeral arrangements. He just took off his mourning clothes and stopped the drums to welcome Di Renjie.

When Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang arrived at Liujiazhuang, they were both surprised and didn't know why such a happy event turned into a funeral.

Liu Chali came out to greet him and after asking, he found out that Liu Chuanlin had slipped and fallen off a cliff and died.

Because they had met once before, Di Renjie lit three incense sticks for Liu Chuanlin in the mourning hall.

But he did not believe that Liu Chuanlin died by accident, and secretly looked at the expressions of everyone present, hoping to find some clues.

Di Renjie looked around and didn't see anything unusual, so he ordered, "Everyone get up."

Everyone stood up, and Liu Chali pointed to a beautiful woman beside him and said, "Sir, this is my wife, Fang Yingyu."

Yingyu looked at Di Renjie in front of her and bowed, her heart was stirred. Di Renjie carefully observed this couple with a huge age gap, thinking.

At this time, Zeng Tai stepped forward and negotiated with Liu Chali, "Mr. Liu, Lord Di has come to Changcheng County. He admires the elegance of your garden and wants to stay here for a few days. What do you think?"

Liu Chali looked embarrassed. "The arrival of the Imperial Envoy is a great honor to my humble abode, but there was a funeral in the manor, so I'm afraid it's a bit unlucky."

Di Renjie smiled and waved his hand: "It's okay, I never believe in these weird and supernatural things."

Liu Chali's expression froze, and he said helplessly: "If that's the case, I will welcome you with open arms."

Di Renjie nodded with satisfaction and continued, "Okay, I'll bother you then. The other day, you refused to let us in. Would you personally lead us to see the scenery in your garden today?"

Liu Chali smiled awkwardly and said quickly: "My Lord, please follow me."

The group walked into the garden, Di Renjie walked in front, Liu Chali led the way, and the others followed closely behind.

Li Yuanfang walked up to Liu Chali and asked casually, "Does the official still have any old friends in Chang'an?"

Liu Chali was stunned for a moment, then replied, "Yes, I do, but since I resigned from my post, we haven't been in touch for many years, so we are not familiar with each other."

Li Yuanfang nodded: "As the saying goes, if you don't visit for three years, you are no longer a relative."

Liu Chali didn't understand what Li Yuanfang was up to, so he had to nod and agree.

Li Yuanfang smiled and said, "During this trip south, an official in the court once told me that he was familiar with Mr. Liu, and asked me to visit him on his behalf. I wonder if Mr. Liu can guess who it is?"

Liu Chali blinked his eyes and looked thoughtful: "I can't guess, who is the general talking about?"

"His surname is Wu." Li Yuanfang reminded.

Liu Chali's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he quickly shook his head: "I don't know him. I have never known any official named Wu."

Di Renjie stopped not far away, quietly observing the changes in Liu Chali's expression, and suddenly said: "His name is Wu Xiaojie, the president of Chongwenguan under the Prince's Guard."

Di Renjie's words were so sudden that Liu Chali was caught off guard and asked, "Wu Xiaojie? Isn't he dead?"

Di Renjie raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? I didn't expect that Mr. Liu, who had resigned for many years, was still so well-informed. I only learned about the death of Mr. Wu last night. It seems that Mr. Liu knew about it a long time ago."

Liu Chali's face suddenly changed, and he quickly explained: "No, no, I just heard about it from my friend who came back from Chang'an. But I don't know this Lord Wu. Why, he said he knew me?"

Li Yuanfang smiled and said, "I think that scholar Wu remembered it wrongly. I was just asked by someone, so please don't be offended."

Liu Chali breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "How dare I, how dare I."
-
As night fell, Di Renjie summoned the butler Liu Da to ask about the cause of Liu Chuanlin's death.

He stared at Liu Da and asked in a deep voice, "Liu Da, how did your son die?"

Liu Da sighed, "Hey, don't mention it. Yesterday morning, I don't know what the master was thinking, but he took the young master to climb the mountain for no reason. At about the first quarter of the morning, the three of us set out from the village."

Di Renjie frowned slightly: "You went too?"

Liu Da nodded and replied, "Yes, I went there too. Not long after we climbed the mountain, the master couldn't climb any more. Young Master stayed with him to rest, and I went ahead to explore the way."

"I just heard the young master screaming, so I ran back, but he was gone. The master said he slipped and fell, then fainted from crying."

"I have no choice but to carry the master back to the village first, and then ask people to look for the young master."

After listening to this, Di Renjie frowned and said, "I see."

Liu Da shook his head, as if he was very sad: "Alas, my son is so pitiful, he is so young..."

Di Renjie continued to ask: "Does your master often go hiking?"

Liu Da said with a look of disdain: "Climbing a mountain? Normally I'm too lazy to even walk."

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang looked at each other and realized something.

He then asked, "Is the young master's body in the coffin now?"

Speaking of the corpse, Liu Da kept shaking his head, his face showing pity: "Yes. It was a poor thing, bloody and unrecognizable. It was really... really horrible to see."

Di Renjie also felt a heavy feeling when he heard this.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Liu Da, tomorrow morning, take me to Cuiping Mountain. I want to pay my respects in person."

(End of this chapter)