The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 121 The golden cicada escapes from its shell
It was already dusk when I came out of the palace. The setting sun and colorful clouds spread across the western sky, and the evening breeze gently blew across the willow-lined bank.

After returning to the mansion and having dinner, he took Wang Yuyan, Azhu and others to stroll around the Zhouqiao Night Market, and then returned under the moonlight.

Helian Tieshu did not go to court for the next few days, and there was no movement at the posthouse. The Xixia envoys did not even come out, and no one knew what they were doing hiding inside.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. At noon that day, Yang Jian suddenly came to the palace and said that Zhao Xu had summoned him.

Zhao Ti asked Tong Guan to drive the carriage and entered the palace. As soon as he arrived at the imperial study, before he could open his mouth, he heard Zhao Xu say, "Helian Tieshu sent a farewell letter. The Xixia envoys are leaving Tokyo."

Zhao Ti heard this and asked, "What does the emperor intend to do?"

Zhao Xu said: "As I said before, we must not let any of those who forget their roots go. As for Helian Tieshu, we'll see if we can assassinate him after we leave the country."

Zhao Ti thought for a moment and asked, "Who does the emperor intend to send to do this?"

Zhao Xu's eyes were sharp. "There is no one available, so I asked the King of Yan to come and discuss it."

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "Your Majesty wants me to take care of this matter?"

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "Prince Yan, you decide this matter by yourself. I will not force you. I don't have any detailed rules to plan here. If you have a way, go ahead. If you don't have any careful calculations, you don't have to take it by force."

Zhao Ti pondered and said, "Your Majesty, I will go back and think about this matter."

Zhao Xu said: "Helian Tieshu will leave the day after tomorrow. If you can't come up with a good idea, I will inform the various forces in the northwest to see if we can hunt down Helian Tieshu after he leaves the country."

Zhao Ti said yes, then waited for a moment and turned to leave the palace.

After returning to the palace, he went straight to the study, where he smelled a strange fragrance that filled the room. It turned out that Wang Yuyan had put a lot of mallows in a vase, which was charming and enchanting, and the fragrance of the flowers was intoxicating.

Then he thought about it and realized that it was not difficult to keep the other people from Yipintang, but Helian Tieshu needed a complete plan. It would be best if he stayed in Song territory directly, but he still had to consider the reputation and credibility of the court. He had to think of a way to have the best of both worlds.

Just then, Zhou Tong knocked on the door. After coming in, he said that he had received another letter from Helian Tieshu, asking him to come over to meet him.

Zhao Ti nodded, took the information about the King of Yan of the Song Dynasty that he had prepared a few days ago, then called Azhu to change her appearance and took King Chengzong of Zhou Tong out of the house.

When we arrived at Duting West Posthouse, we saw that the imperial guards were still guarding the gate, while the Xixia warriors in front of the gate were listless.

Zhao Ti coughed lightly, and the warrior became alert. He looked up and saw Zhao Ti and said with a smile, "Come on, come on, let's go in and talk."

The imperial guards took a look, somewhat suspicious, but did not ask.

Zhao Ti followed the warrior into the hall, but did not see Helian Tieshu. The warrior said, "The general is waiting for Master Murong in the back."

After passing through the hall, there was a row of houses. When I stepped into one of them, I saw Helian Tieshu sitting with his brows furrowed, drinking tea, and two old men standing behind him.

Zhao Ti had only seen these two old men at the Jinfeng Tower on the day the diplomatic delegation arrived in Beijing, and they had not shown up since then.

He saluted and said, "General, are you looking for me?"

Helian Tieshu put down his teacup and asked, "How is it going?"

Zhao Ti smiled bitterly, "To be honest, General, the Prince of Yan's Mansion is heavily guarded, with numerous traps and sword nets. I have gone in twice to investigate, but it is really difficult to get in. I can only escape by relying on my martial arts skills."

Helian Tieshu nodded and sneered, "This is normal. Zhao Ti is so arrogant and domineering, how could he not protect himself? Otherwise, he would have been killed several times."

Zhao Ti pursed his lips and said, "Although the assassination failed, I have found the information that the general mentioned." "Show it to me." Helian Tieshu said.

Zhao Ti took out a stack of papers and handed them over. Helian Tieshu looked at them one by one, but the more he looked, the weirder his expression became: "This Zhao Ti is uneducated, doesn't like reading, is addicted to alcohol, is greedy for women, and likes to listen to music in brothels the most?"

"Well... according to my investigation, I heard that this person is different from other princes. While others have been learning poetry and books since childhood, he likes to wield spears and sticks. However, he has not practiced any advanced kung fu. It seems that he is not good at literature but martial arts."

Helian Tieshu thought for a moment and said, "The day after tomorrow the delegation will set off to return to Daxia. You will follow me to do some things."

Zhao Ti said, "General, are you leaving the day after tomorrow? Are you going to Xiajing to do some work? I have to go back to Jiangnan to give some instructions before I can leave."

Helian Tieshu glanced at him and shook his head: "I might as well tell you that the delegation will go back to Daxia, and this general will not go back. I have some important matters to investigate in Song territory."

Hmm? Zhao Ti's heart moved. Helian Tieshu didn't leave. He said, "General, the Song border troops may check the number of people when the delegation leaves the country. If the general is not here and the number of people is not enough, I am afraid they will not be able to return safely."

Helian Tieshu smiled and said, "Since you plan to stay, you should have planned all this long ago. There will be warriors lurking in the First-class Hall to replace you. As for me... there will be someone pretending to be me."

Zhao Ti raised his eyebrows. Helian Tieshu had actually already thought of a plan to escape. He didn't know what important matter he was investigating in the Song Dynasty to make him so deliberate.

However, if he did not leave and the delegation returned alone, even if he died in Song territory, Xixia would have nothing to say. After all, he had nominally returned. If Xixia revealed that he had not returned, it would be a death sentence, and he would be charged with the crime of being a spy.

"General, you have foresight, and I admire you."

Helian Tieshu said, "Go back and prepare. We will meet in Luoyang, Xijing in five days. This is Yipintang's contact information."

As he spoke, he took out a leather scroll, and an old man behind him took it and handed it to Zhao Ti.

Zhao Ti bowed and said, "Then I will return to my residence and will come to see you again in Luoyang in five days."

After leaving Duting West Posthouse, Zhao Ti kept wondering in his mind what on earth Helian Tieshu wanted to stay and investigate?
If he wanted to continue gathering intelligence from the court, he shouldn't have gone to Luoyang. If he wanted to investigate matters in other states, some spies and people from Yipintang could do it. As for wanting to investigate the movements of the Western Army, he also didn't need to do it personally.

At this time, I came to a street and saw several cars coming from behind, and I could hear giggling sounds coming from the cars.

Zhao Ti turned his head and saw the curtain of a carriage drawn open, revealing the face of a young female Taoist priest. Her eyes seemed to be very curious as she looked at everything outside the car. She then waved to the cars behind, and all of them were women who poked their heads out.

Zhao Ti couldn't help but narrow his eyes when he saw this. One cannot sit in a carriage casually. A horse-drawn carriage is different from other cars. Not only are these female Taoists sitting in the carriage, but their behavior is also inappropriate, which is against the law.

He saw the car overtaking the three people and turning north after going a distance ahead. Zhao Ti couldn't help but ponder slightly. There were marks of Prince Duan's Mansion on several cars. Did they go to Zhao Ji's place?
He found a secluded place, took off his disguise, and said, "Let's go to Prince Duan's Mansion."

Zhou Tong and the other two nodded in agreement, and after a moment they arrived at the street where Prince Duan's mansion was located. From afar they could hear the sounds of stringed instruments and laughter coming from the mansion.

As they approached the palace gate, the leader of the palace soldiers hurriedly trotted down the steps and said with a smile, "Long live the King of Yan..."

Zhao Ti pointed and said, "What are you doing in there?"

The leader of the palace soldiers said: "His Highness is holding a Taoist meeting, there are more people..."

"Taoist meeting?" Zhao Ti thought for a moment and said, "Why not hold a Peach Banquet? I'll go in and take a look."

"Ah?" The leader of the palace guards grinned immediately, but did not dare to stop him. Zhao Ti went up the steps and went straight into the palace.

(End of this chapter)