Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 64: The gathering of rebellious groups

Zhongnan Mountain is quiet and the Mang River flows.

The sunlight is dim and the forest is dense.

Dai Zhide was wearing a green round-necked robe with water ripples and a black sword hanging from his waist. He carefully led the way in front, with Qin Huaidao following closely behind him.

Behind the two of them was the Censor-in-Chief of Jin, Li Yifu, followed by Helan Chushi and six Eastern Palace Thousand Oxen Guards.

After passing a dense forest, the bend of the river ahead suddenly appeared in front of us.

Dai Zhide stopped for a moment and saw in front of him a whole team of Jinwu Guards searching for something.

On the river bank, a corpse lay there quietly.

The coroner squatted on the ground to examine the body. A Lieutenant General of the Jinwu Guard, dressed in red and golden armor, stood by with his hand on a long sword, watching quietly.

At the same time, there were four other Dali Temple officials in red and black shirts watching from a distance.

Dai Zhide actually knew the person in front.

Dali Temple Secretary Zhang Wenguan, his subordinate Sizhi Qi Chao, and two other Dali Temple officials.

……

"Everyone has a very sharp nose." Dai Zhide said secretly, then strode forward.

A Jinwu Guard immediately came forward. Dai Zhide took out his badge and shook it gently. The Jinwu Guard immediately took a step back and then led Dai Zhide and his party towards the Jinwu Guard's General of the Household.

More people's eyes fell on Dai Zhide, as well as Qin Huaidao and Li Yifu behind him, and Helan Chushi and his group dressed as Qianniu Guards.

"It's Su Lie and Su Dingfang." Qin Huaidao said solemnly in Dai Zhide's ear, "When we attacked Jie Li, he was the vanguard and the first to break into Jie Li's camp."

Dai Zhide raised his eyebrows, then walked closer and bowed to Su Dingfang, a handsome man in his early thirties with a stern expression. He said, "I am Dai Zhide, the General of the Crown Prince's Right Guard. I greet the General of the Central Guard. I am here by order of the Crown Prince to inquire about the case. This is Li Yifu, the Supervisory Censor of Prince Jin, and this is..."

"I recognize Helan Chushi, the Prince's Thousand Oxen Guard, and Qin Huaidao, the Prince's Thousand Oxen Bodyguard." Su Dingfang nodded calmly.

"Greetings, General of the Central Army." Helan Chushi and Qin Huaidao bowed solemnly.

Su Dingfang's gaze passed over the two men and fell on Li Yifu: "Supervisory Censor, what is the letter from the Prince of Jin?"

Li Yifu bowed and said gently, "Your humble servant greets the General of the Central Army. I am just passing by."

As soon as Li Yifu said this, everyone present looked at him in surprise.

Passing by?

We are already at the foot of Mount Zhongnan. As a censor, do you have the pleasure of passing by the foot of the mountains of Mount Zhongnan?

Although Su Dingfang knew that Li Yifu was deliberately avoiding the topic, he nodded in courtesy and said, "Since you're here, let's take a look together. We have people from all over here, including the Jinwu Guard, the Dali Temple, the Qianniu Guard, the Eastern Palace, the Prince of Jin, and if it weren't for Yongzhou..."

"Your humble servant, Du Ruo, the judicial officer of Yongzhou, requests to see General Su." A clear and loud voice came from the direction Dai Zhide and others came from.

Everyone subconsciously turned around to look, and suddenly saw a young man in his twenties, wearing a green official robe and a black unbleached hat, accompanied by six or seven Yongzhou constables, standing at the bend of the mountain road, bowing from afar.

Two Jinwu guards stopped them with knives.

"Let him come alone." Su Dingfang waved his hand unhappily. Now, everyone except those from Zhuoying County was present.

No, the people from Zhuoying County were the first to discover the scene, but they were all driven out of the mountains and forests.

……

"This is the situation." Su Dingfang stood calmly by the stream, looking from the corpse to the upper reaches of the stream. He said, "The body came from further upstream and then washed up here... The coroner has examined the body in detail. The man died three days ago. Someone twisted his neck with bare hands in an instant. It was quick and easy."

Li Yifu, Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenguan, Helan Chushi, Qin Huaidao, Du Ruo and others all looked solemn.

They could all imagine that on a dark night, a figure was pressed on the back of the head by a pair of large hands, and the neck was twisted in an instant, and the person was instantly thrown into the river and quickly washed away.

"The killing was decisive and fierce, without any hesitation, which shows that he is an old hand. And this method is not the first time he has killed people, so..." Su Dingfang looked up at Du Ruo and Dai Zhide and said, "Go back and investigate. Yongzhou Prefecture will investigate Yongzhou, and the Dali Temple will investigate the entire Guanzhong Road. Find all cases of murders using similar methods."

"Yes!" Du Ruo and Zhang Wenguan bowed at the same time with solemn expressions.

"Although it is a warm winter this year, the river water is cold enough. The handprint on the neck is clearly left. After the Jinwu Guards take a copy, it will be sent to the Dali Temple and Yongzhou Prefecture for comparison and inspection." Su Dingfang said this, and everyone subconsciously looked at the neck of the corpse, and they could vaguely see the shape of the handprint.

Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. With this clue, the case would be much easier to investigate.

"It's almost the end of the year, and Zhou Cang..." Su Dingfang glanced at the corpse and shook his head slightly. "Zhou Cang chose to meet with someone in the mountains. There must be something shameful and confidential. The Jinwu Guard will go back and investigate whether he has had contact with anyone recently... The Jinwu Guard will investigate internally, Yongzhou Prefecture will investigate the market, and the Dali Temple will investigate his home... Everyone who has come into contact with him during this period will be questioned, especially whether he met anyone special."

"Yes!" Du Ruo and Zhang Wenguan bowed again, unable to say no.

"He's colluding with the thieves, so maybe he left something behind." Su Dingfang pondered for a moment, then said, "Let's stick with what I said before. The Jinwu Guards will search the official residence, the Dali Temple will search the home, and the people from Yongzhou Prefecture will search around here... He chose to meet here, so he must be staying nearby."

"Yes!" Du Ruo and Zhang Wenguan's eyes lit up at the same time.

"If things in his home or his place of residence are missing, then it means that the thief must have been there before. Ask the neighbors and look for people with special expressions." Su Dingfang's face turned slightly cold, and the others bowed and accepted the order.

In a short time, Su Dingfang had arranged everything. Then he looked up and asked, "Does anyone have anything else to add?"

Everyone couldn't help but shake their heads slightly. Su Dingfang had already arranged the directions for investigation.

"I do have a small suggestion." A calm and natural voice came from the crowd.

When everyone looked back, it was Li Yifu.

"I heard this guy is a gambler." Li Yifu took a step forward, raised his gaze slightly, and said with a bow, "I wonder if we can investigate the gambling houses he frequents to see if there are any people who have come into contact with him. At the same time, we can also look for any special people who shouldn't be in the gambling houses, appear once or twice, and then quickly disappear. Can we investigate all of these?"

"We can investigate." Su Dingfang nodded, then said, "Then, the Jinwu Guard, the Dali Temple, Yongzhou Prefecture, and the two counties of Chang'an and Wannian will each dispatch some personnel to investigate together with the Censor and the Eastern Palace. I believe that in the entire Chang'an, no one will refuse to give this honor."

"Thank you, General Zhonglang!" Li Yifu bowed seriously.

Du Ruo and Zhang Wenguan stood at the back, their eyes met lightly, and they relaxed completely.

……

East Palace, Chongjiao Hall.

Li Chengqian glanced at Yu Zhining, who was sitting across from him at the chessboard, then looked at Dai Zhide and Helan Chushi standing to one side. He said, "A gambling house that the Jinwu Guards of Chang'an can go to must be the best place in Chang'an City, and the people behind it must be the top figures in Chang'an. So, they must be from a royal palace, or the Wei family or the Du family..."

"It's the Du family." Dai Zhide bowed with a slightly ugly expression.

"Wei Du in the south of the city, go to Tianchiwu." Li Chengqian nodded slightly and said, "It's not difficult to investigate, but it's not easy to find out what's going on. So, Li Yifu asked you to come back to find me?"

"Yes!" Dai Zhide and Helan Chushi both smiled bitterly and bowed.

"Su Dingfang is a clever man. He easily threw the hardest-to-find area to you." Li Chengqian looked up and said softly, "He once fought in battle under the Duke of Wei. It seems he really learned something."

Helan Chushi immediately looked up. Isn’t the only student of the Duke of Weiguo his father-in-law, Hou Junji?
"Okay, let's talk about how the investigation in other areas is going first." Li Chengqian turned around with a serious expression.

Dai Zhide stepped forward and bowed, saying, "The Jinwu Guards discovered that he had secretly organized a group of people. They were originally planning to do something on the first day of the new year, but they suddenly disbanded..."

"Yes, there is a new scapegoat." Li Chengqian nodded.

"We didn't find anything at his house, but his wife said he dreamed nonsense at night, saying things like 'getting rich...getting rich,'" Dai Zhide said solemnly. "Later, we found his whereabouts in Zhuoying County. In a secret compartment, we found twenty silver ingots and a white jade Buddha statue."

"Hmm?" Li Chengqian frowned instantly.

"It's a newly carved Buddha statue, made of Kunlun jade." Dai Zhide bowed.

"Is there someone else involved?" Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yu Zhining wanted to say something, but after looking at Helan Chushi, he took back his words.

Dai Zhide didn't dare to respond to Li Chengqian's words. He bowed and said, "It will take some time to examine the silver ingot and the white jade Buddha statue, so..."

"So you still want to make a fuss about the gambling house." Li Chengqian nodded and said, "But the Jingzhao Du family..."

The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted Li Chengqian's words, and then Li Anyan walked in quickly, bowing and saying, "Your Highness, Hangzhou Chief Secretary Du He requests an audience."

"Du He is back, just in time." Li Chengqian couldn't help but stand up and nodded, "Please!"

Soon, Du He, a tall and slender man in a crimson robe and with a warm demeanor, walked quickly into the hall. He bowed to Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness, I am Du He, the Chief Clerk of Hangzhou. I greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Stand up." Li Chengqian nodded with a smile, his eyes involuntarily sweeping to the side.

Helan Chushi, Li Anyan, plus Li Chengqian himself, and Hou Junji behind Helan Chushi, if you count the King of Han Li Yuanchang and Du Jie who have not returned to the capital yet, the small group they rebelled in the previous life is already half complete.

(End of this chapter)