Humans in All Heavens: Starting with Detective Dee

As soon as Di Chun said this, everyone immediately thought of Fang Qian from the Youzhou case, who was Jin Mulan's man.

For a moment, the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After thinking for a while, Di Renjie immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, if the Khitan rebels, Chongzhou will be the front line for resisting them."

I think we need to pay closer attention to officials at all levels in Chongzhou now.

Especially the prefectural governors.

Although Di Renjie was a civil official, he was also quite knowledgeable in military affairs. A map of the various prefectures in Hebei Province flashed through his mind, and he immediately thought of something.

"Chongzhou?" Wu Zetian's expression turned grave. "Who is the current governor of Chongzhou?"

"The prefect of Chongzhou seems to be a man named Qiu Jing."

Di Renjie pondered for a moment before replying.

"Qiu Jing? Could it be that this Qiu Jing is one of the Snake Spirits?"

When questioned by Wu Zetian, Di Renjie couldn't say for sure, since he had never seen Qiu Jing in person.

Just then, a gatekeeper walked in.

"Your Majesty, Huang Shengyan, the commander of the Inner Guard, is now outside the gate."

"Oh?" Wu Zetian raised an eyebrow and immediately said, "Let him in."

"Yes."

"Your humble servant, Huang Shengyan, greets Your Majesty."

A middle-aged man, probably in his forties or fifties, with a beard, walked in from outside. He was dressed in the uniform of the Qianniu Guard.

Get up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Huang Shengyan..." Wu Zetian's voice rang out.

Huang Shengyan quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "Your humble servant is here."

"From today onwards, you are the new Grand Commander of the Imperial Guard."

"Oh? Thank you, Your Majesty..." The surprise was too sudden, and the joy on Huang Shengyan's face vanished in an instant. He then asked with some doubt, "Your Majesty, do you not know General Xiao?"

"This traitor is actually a descendant of the Xiao clan." Wu Zetian's eyes flashed with anger.

After Consort Xiao was eliminated, her descendants all changed their surname to Xiao.

Anyone she hated or eliminated had their surname changed, a derogatory term.

"What?" Huang Shengyan's pupils shrank. He naturally knew who Xiao Shi was, but he never expected that Xiao Qingfang was actually a descendant of Consort Xiao.

"She has served as the Grand Commander of the Inner Guard for so many years, and it is unknown how many people in the Inner Guard are people she has planted."

"Immediately detain all his former subordinates and await their fate."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Also, starting today, you will arrange for your subordinates to fill the positions in the Inner Guard Bureau to temporarily maintain its operation."

The rest...

Wu Zetian glanced at Di Renjie and the others below. Just now, they were discussing who might be the Snake Spirit's people in the border states.

Did you mention Qiu Jing, the prefect of Chongzhou?

"Your Majesty?" Di Chun stepped forward at this moment.

"Does my dear minister have anything else to say?" She spoke very gently to Di Chun, her capable minister.

"Your Majesty, after Xiao Qingfang arrested me, he thought he had the victory in his grasp, so he said a lot of things."

Generally speaking, adults have a great reputation, and Xiao Qingfang should be well aware of this.

Simply disguising herself as me would probably be quickly discovered. She can change her appearance, but she doesn't understand how I interact with adults.

This is easily exposed.

"Not bad." Wu Zetian nodded.

"But Xiao Qingfang looked very confident and didn't seem worried about this at all."

Then I suddenly thought of someone.

"Who?"

"General Huan Bin of the Thousand Bull Guard is very suspicious..." Di Chun then recounted how Huan Bin had become close to him, how he admired Di Renjie, and how he had inquired about Di Renjie over the past six months.

"To be honest, Your Majesty, at first I really thought that Huan Bin admired you, but as time went by and I got to know you better, I felt that something was wrong."

It was a vague feeling; at the time, I just felt very awkward and didn't understand what Huanbin was trying to do.

After all, he was the Grand General of the Thousand Bull Guards; he couldn't possibly do anything bad.

As a result, not long ago, Xiao Qingfang tried to secretly replace me, judging from her confident demeanor.

I suddenly thought of Huan Bin. His approach over the past six months seems deliberate, not without purpose.

This was probably preparation for today, to try and extract information about you and me, so that the fake Di Chun could infiltrate your side without leaving a trace.

"Huan Bin?" Upon hearing this name, Wu Zetian stood up abruptly, her eyes filled with murderous intent as she looked at Huang Shengyan: "Put everything else aside for now, and take the Thousand Bull Guards to arrest Huan Bin."

If he hadn't run away.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wu Zetian desperately needs to save face. The Grand Secretary of the Inner Guard, the emperor's most trusted man, is actually the leader of a rebellious organization. What a joke!

If this gets out, she will definitely lose face.

Only by uprooting the serpent spirit can her hatred at this moment be alleviated.

After hearing Di Chun's words, Wu Zetian did not think twice and immediately ordered Huang Shengyan to capture him.

After Huang Shengyan left, Wu Zetian looked at the group below again: "Huaiying? You continue..."

Di Renjie said, "Your Majesty, you just mentioned Qiu Jing, the governor of Chongzhou. Once we go to war with the Turks, the governor of Chongzhou, as a civil official, will inevitably be responsible for preparing provisions for the army and transporting other supplies. His power is considerable."

This Qiu Jing is very suspicious.

Besides Qiu Jing, I believe it is highly likely that there are also spies planted by the Serpent Spirit within the army.

"You mean the Right Guard army?"

Wu Zetian squinted her eyes.

If war breaks out with the Khitan, who will she send to fight?

Of course, it was her beloved general, Wang Xiaojie.

During the Wu Zhou dynasty, its battles against external forces resulted in far more defeats than victories.

She had few capable generals, and in her early years she even let Xue Huaiyi command troops, which was simply laughable.

Wang Xiaojie was one of the few generals who could win in foreign wars, and Empress Wu Zetian trusted him greatly.

"Indeed, Your Majesty. Xiao Qingfang has been by Your Majesty's side for a long time, and it can be said that she understands Your Majesty to the bone."

They are also very familiar with His Majesty's preferences.

Once war breaks out with the Khitan, Xiao Qingfang can most likely predict who His Majesty will send to fight.

Thinking back to the time in Youzhou, it had practically become an independent kingdom, with even the army under Fang Qian's control.

Wang Xiaojie is His Majesty's beloved general, with outstanding achievements, so he is certainly not a traitor within the Serpent Spirits.

But it's hard to say about the other members of the Right Guard.

However, based on my speculation, it is highly likely that there is a traitor within.

Wu Zetian took a deep breath: "That's right, you're right."

Di Renjie continued: "Given the current situation, it's better to leave it alone on the surface."

Meanwhile, they secretly began monitoring some officials in Chongzhou who were suspected of being traitors and had the ability to act as internal agents.

If the Khitans really rebel, we can use a counter-strategy, which might have a surprising effect.