Humans in All Heavens: Starting with Detective Dee

Di Mansion, just returned to the mansion.

Di Renjie couldn't wait to ask the emperor why he wanted to see him.

Di Chun did not hide anything and recounted his conversation with the emperor.

"Good, good, Di Chun, you're right." Di Renjie smiled broadly after listening to their conversation.

He became increasingly satisfied with Di Chun.

Stroking his beard, he said, "Wu Sanxiang wanted to be the crown prince, but Di Chun's words have completely blocked any possibility of him becoming the crown prince."

As he spoke, Di Renjie stepped forward and bowed to Di Chun, saying, "Di Chun, on behalf of the Li Tang imperial family, I am grateful for your kindness."

Upon seeing this, Di Chun quickly stepped forward to help him up, saying, "My lord, you're making me feel terrible."

This is what I should do.

"Oh, you can't accept this courtesy."

Di Renjie straightened up and paced back and forth in the main hall: "Wu Sansi has always coveted the position of Crown Prince, and for this reason, he has always sent people to keep an eye on the Crown Prince."

The goal is to cause him trouble so that I can take his place.

Now that you've said this, as long as the Crown Prince doesn't commit any major mistakes...

His position is now secure; even if the Crown Prince gets into trouble, there's still Prince Xiang, Li Dan.

Your words have dashed His Majesty's hopes of making someone from the Wu clan the crown prince.

You're absolutely right. How can a nephew be compared to a son?

Even after a thousand years, no one has ever been heard of paying homage to their aunt.

Let alone royalty, even ordinary families wouldn't have anyone paying respects to their aunt.

Suddenly, Di Renjie stopped, turned around to look at the two of them, and burst into laughter: "Hahaha..."

Li Yuanfang couldn't help but step forward: "It's only because of Brother Di. If it were anyone else, they might not have been able to say such things in front of the emperor."

"Yes, you're right, that's why I say Di Chun's words have been of great merit."

Di Chun was a major contributor to the future restoration of the Tang Dynasty.

I will find some time to…

At this point, Di Renjie suddenly stopped, his expression grave, as if he had thought of something.

"My lord, what's wrong?" Li Yuanfang stepped forward and asked.

Di Renjie regained his composure: "I was originally planning to find some time to tell the Crown Prince about this matter."

But now that I think about it, I'd better not.

He's old and will die sooner or later; whether he'll live to see the restoration of the Tang Dynasty is still uncertain.

However, Di Chun and the others were still young, so he thought of making some arrangements for them while he was still alive.

Once you've done something, you can't do it secretly; you have to let people know.

Originally, Di Renjie intended to tell the Crown Prince about this matter so that Li Xian would remember Di Chun's kindness.

But upon closer reflection, Li Xian was weak and incompetent. If he were told about this, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't do something wrong in his excitement.

After thinking it over, Di Renjie decided to abandon the plan.

After expressing his thoughts, Di Chun immediately stepped forward: "Thank you for your kindness, sir, but I think it's best to let this matter rest for the time being."

Otherwise, regarding the Crown Prince, I reckon he…”

"Yes, that's what I was thinking. I was also worried about what the Crown Prince would do if he found out about this..."

"My lord, you have truly gone to great lengths for the sake of the Li Tang imperial family," Li Yuanfang couldn't help but sigh.

"Haha, Yuanfang, Emperor Taizong's legacy must not be lost."

"What you say is right."

The legacy of Emperor Taizong must be reclaimed.

Li Yuanfang also affirmed.

Di Chun thought to himself: Li Shimin's reputation is truly immense. Even decades after his death, there is still a constant stream of people who remember him and are willing to die for him. Li Yuan, the founding emperor, really has no presence at all.

……

Thanks to Di Chun's reminder, Princess Taiping stopped the investigation in time and promptly silenced Wang Zhiyuan and He Yun in the case of the Bloodstained Eagle.

Therefore, Wu Zetian summoned many people to investigate the case, but they still couldn't find any clues.

So the matter was left unresolved, but whether she secretly sent people to investigate was something that could not be known to others.

This upheaval lasted for nearly a month. Wu Zetian went on a killing spree, and the entire Shangyang Palace was filled with blood. Many of her female officials and strongmen were executed.

Even those who were not involved in the Blood Eagle case were executed.

Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free.

After this incident, Wu Zetian paid even more attention to managing the people around her.

Some of the female officials and strongmen were very close to the Crown Prince or the Prince of Liang on a regular basis.

For example, a certain strongman went out of the palace to report the news to the Prince of Liang while Wu Zetian was suffering from the effects of the hallucinogenic drug, so that he could make preparations in advance.

After this purge, all those who were close to both sides were executed.

As for Di Chun, after returning to his residence that day, the imperial edict announcing his promotion arrived at the Di residence in the afternoon.

From that day on, he officially became a member of the Imperial Guard.

A rank below the fourth grade.

Although they don't have real power, they are not people that ordinary people can mess with.

With Di Renjie behind him, he could practically do whatever he wanted within the Great Zhou Dynasty.

After receiving the imperial edict, although he was only appointed as the Inspector of the Thousand Bull Guard and had no real power, Di Chun still needed to go to the Thousand Bull Guard's special office to complete some formalities.

The Wu Zhou Dynasty had sixteen guards, including the Left and Right Thousand Ox Guards, the Left and Right Guards, and the Left and Right Majestic Guards. Among them, the Thousand Ox Guards were the emperor's personal guards, which were essentially his ceremonial guards.

The gatekeepers were responsible for guarding the main gate; there was only the inner palace, not the outer palace.

The other twelve guards were divided into inner and outer offices. The inner office was the central imperial guards, and the outer office was the military garrison, also known as the garrison troops. Each guard had fifty or sixty military garrisons under it.

A Zhechong Prefecture has about a thousand people, while a Guard has about fifty to seventy thousand people.

The Thousand Bull Guards, including the left and right guards, only numbered about 1,600 people, which is very few. Even the Thousand Bull Guard General, who held real power, only had about 1,000 men under his command.

These sixteen guards were the Southern Office, which was located south of the imperial palace. The Northern Office was located north of the imperial palace, and included the Left and Right Feathered Forest Guards and the Left and Right Dragon Martial Guards.

The Northern Army was the emperor's private army, directly under his command and not subject to orders from the prime minister or the Ministry of War. It numbered approximately 10,000 men, and Empress Wu Zetian trusted the Northern Army the most.

The Imperial Guards were responsible for guarding key parts of the palace, such as the Xuanwu Gate. This army was also the exclusive force for launching coups.

The Shenlong Coup was achieved by bribing the Northern Army, which forced Wu Zetian to abdicate.

That day, Di Chun arrived at the Qianniu Guard's office to report for duty.

The guards at the entrance led Di Chun into one of the rooms and asked him to wait.

A moment later, Di Chun, who was waiting in the room, heard a hearty laugh coming from outside.

"Hahaha, Brother Di, Brother Di."

Oh, I've been looking forward to you coming here for so long!

Di Chun looked up at the sound and saw Huan Bin, who had a stubble of beard, walk in.

Before he could say anything, Huan Bin immediately stepped forward and gave him a big hug, as if they were old friends.

"General Huan, what are you doing?" Di Chun was a little confused, wondering what Huan Bin was up to.