Humans in All Heavens: Starting with Detective Dee

As a small mound was dug up, the coffin buried deep underground came into view.

A large black coffin appeared. Di Renjie ordered again, "Pry open the coffin."

"Yes." Several constables immediately took their tools and began to pry open the coffin.

The coffin lid creaked and groaned repeatedly, and it took a lot of effort to pry it open.

With a loud bang, the coffin lid was pushed aside.

The contents of the coffin were revealed, and a scene that shocked everyone suddenly unfolded.

"Huh?" Zeng Tai exclaimed in surprise, took a few steps forward, and stared intently at the inside of the coffin, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Master, what, what's going on?" Zeng Tai looked at Di Renjie with a surprised expression.

Di Renjie seemed to have anticipated this, although he had already deduced that Gao Rujin was most likely Jiang Xiaolang.

But there were still a few questions he didn't understand.

Why did he run away from the Right Guard back then?

After arriving in Yongchang County, the people of Jiangjiazhuang were all his family, and the people of Jiangjia Compound were all his clansmen. Why would he turn against his own relatives?

Because of these two questions, he first went to Qingyanggang and dug up Jiang Xiaolang's grave.

This was to completely confirm that Jiang Xiaolang was not dead.

Di Renjie stroked his beard and chuckled: "Zeng Tai, isn't it normal that there are no corpses here?"

Wasn't it Jiang Xiaolang who died on the official road?

"But, but..." Zeng Tai frowned for a moment, seemingly puzzled.

The one on the official road is Jiang Xiaolang. Since Jiang Xiaolang didn't die before, there's naturally no body here. But why is there a grave?

What exactly happened?

For a moment, Zeng Tai's mind was in complete chaos.

"Alright, Zeng Tai, have someone bury this place again."

"Take me to Gao Rujin's house." Di Renjie didn't explain further, he just gave the order.

"Yes, Master." Zeng Tai waved his hand, puzzled, and told the constables to bury the place first.

He then led the way to Gao Rujin's house.

Zeng Tai first returned to the county government office to prepare a carriage. Then, a yamen runner drove the carriage and led the way, while Li Yuanfang followed behind in another carriage.

"Sigh."

After the carriage stopped, everyone got off. Zeng Tai pointed to a courtyard ahead and said, "Master, that's Gao Rujin's house."

"Okay, lead the way."

"Yes."

The group rushed to Gao Rujin's house. When they arrived at the door, Gao Rujin's housekeeper opened the door first.

Upon seeing Zeng Tai, he hurriedly stepped forward: "So it's the old master who has arrived."

"Where is your master? Quickly, bring him out."

"Yes."

The butler first led everyone to the reception area.

He then went to the back to find Gao Rujin.

A short while later, Gao Rujin emerged, supported by a servant. Zeng Tai quickly rose and stepped forward, saying, "Senior."

"I wouldn't dare trouble you, sir."

Di Renjie stood with his back to everyone, looking smug and arrogant.

He asked casually, "You're Gao Rujin?"

"Who is this?" Gao Rujin was taken aback before noticing Di Renjie, and then looked at Zeng Tai with a puzzled expression.

"The current prime minister, Di Renjie, the old master Di," Zeng Tai introduced with pride.

Gao Rujin was shocked and immediately knelt down to pay his respects: "This humble subject, Gao Rujin, greets the Elder."

"You are Gao Rujin?" Di Renjie slowly turned around at this moment.

"Indeed, this humble citizen is Gao Rujin."

"No, your surname isn't Gao, and your name isn't Gao Rujin. You're Jiang Xiaolang," Di Renjie sneered.

"What?" Of the people present, everyone except Zeng Tai already knew Gao Rujin's identity, but he was the only one who did not. He was shocked when he suddenly heard Di Renjie's words.

Gao Rujin was inwardly apprehensive. He glanced at Zeng Tai, but still pretended to be calm and said, "Elder Guo is joking."

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to joke with you. You are none other than Jiang Xiaolang, the former General of Hanyang..."

Gao Rujin tried to struggle a bit more, but after a few words from Di Renjie, he finally collapsed to the ground and admitted his identity.

Zeng Tai, however, seemed still in shock, staring at him in disbelief: "You really are Jiang Xiaolang?"

Gao Rujin nodded.

Li Yuanfang, on the other hand, no longer believed in ghosts and gods, and the gloom in his heart completely disappeared.

Di Renjie then asked, "Why did you escape from the Right Guard?"

Gao Rujin answered, sobbing, "In the early years of the Zhenguan era, it was discovered in the army that I was involved in Hou Junji's rebellion..."

(Many times, Director Qian's TV series need to be set in a fictional world to serve the plot. Hou Junji's rebellion case is not set in the early years of Zhenguan, but it is included here to make the plot more reasonable.)

Otherwise, with four TV series, according to history, Di Renjie would have died long ago, and there would be various reign titles. But for the sake of the plot, this is the only way.

Including the Yan Shuangying series, Yan Shuangying uses an Italian Beretta pistol, which didn't even exist at the time. Director Qian also said that it was just for fun, and some things that didn't fit into this time and space were brought out.

Don't worry about that.

"My esteemed teacher, I admire you."

"A cold case from sixty years ago was solved by my mentor. Only my mentor in the world could do such a thing." After listening to Gao Rujin's account, Zeng Tai admired Di Renjie beyond measure.

Jiang Xiaolang's appearance further disproved the claims of ghosts and gods.

The ensuing question was, and Zeng Tai looked at Di Renjie: "But my teacher, I am dull-witted. How did you determine that Gao Rujin was Jiang Xiaolang?"

Previously, everyone thought this series of events was the vengeful spirit of Yuwen Chengdu seeking revenge.

"Haha, this is all thanks to Di Chun."

"Di Chun?" Zeng Tai glanced at Di Chun, still looking puzzled. Although a series of events had occurred in Liujiazhuang when they were in Huzhou, he did not know that Di Chun had also helped solve the case.

Even though he had been in Yongchang County for more than a year, he didn't really know Di Chun very well.

Therefore, they are not very familiar with Di Chun's ability to solve cases.

To put it nicely, it's called the ability to solve cases; to put it bluntly, Di Chun simply knew the answer and then deduced the process. He only needed to put a reasonable explanation on his deductions, and that was it—of course, it was easier.

"You may not know this, but Di Chun's reasoning and case-solving abilities are also extremely strong."

When I returned to the mansion in the morning, I still didn't really believe in ghosts and gods.

But then I thought that we are now in the thick of things, and perhaps something is clouding our judgment. Maybe Di Chun, an outsider, can give me some hints.

So when I told him about the case, he immediately saw the flaws in it.

then……"

Di Renjie then recounted their actions, including re-examining the scene on the official road, their reasoning process, and their search for old archives at the history museum.

The more Zeng Tai listened, the more shocked he became.

He could never have imagined such a convoluted reasoning process.