Chapter 109 The Aftermath
Because Xu Shide handed over the other two copies of the King of Yue's treasure map before his death, his sentence was reduced by one level.

So he was divided into five equal parts instead of being chopped into paste, and the wolves in Cuiping Mountain got a small extra meal.

Just as Di Renjie had speculated, Wu Zetian never even saw Xu Shide again from beginning to end, so naturally no complications arose.

However, for Crown Prince Li Xian, this moment was still like he was on the edge of an abyss.

His position as crown prince was preserved, but scolding and punishment were inevitable. It can be imagined that the crown prince's days in Luoyang would not be easy in the future.

Zhao Ji and Di Renjie waited outside the room for nearly half an hour, and Wu Zetian had been scolding Li Xian for nearly half an hour.

Sometimes the cursing could be heard far outside the room, and Di Renjie and Zhao Ji could hear it clearly outside the room.

The two could only wait quietly.

Suddenly Zeng Tai walked up to Di Renjie and whispered something in his ear. Di Renjie's originally tense expression instantly relaxed.

Zhao Ji asked in a low voice: "Sir, are Yuan Fang and Ying Yu back?"

Di Renjie smiled and nodded: "Both of them are safe and sound."

At this moment, Shangguan Wan'er walked out of the room and conveyed Wu Zetian's summons: "Lord Di, General Zhao, His Majesty invites you in."

Only then did Zhao Ji and Di Renjie step into the room.

Wu Zetian finally announced the punishment for Li Xian: "From now on, the Crown Prince must wear plain clothes and eat vegetarian food, reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors, and not leave the East Palace without my permission! If you make mistakes again, I will never forgive you!"

Li Xian, sweating profusely, felt as if he had been pardoned when he heard the punishment and bowed down excitedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your leniency."

Perhaps because she had scolded enough and calmed down, Wu Zetian was actually very kind to Di Renjie and Zhao Ji.

She gently rebuked Di Renjie, "Huaiying, you are a senior official in the court, how could you be so ignorant that you secretly wrote a letter to the prince and instigated him to leave the capital."

Di Renjie immediately fell to the ground and took the blame: "I know my crime, please punish me severely, Your Majesty."

Wu Zetian knew clearly whether Li Xian was summoned by Di Renjie in the letter, but she accepted the excuse given by Di Renjie.

"Forget it. Since there is a reason for it and you have made great contributions in solving the case, I will not pursue the matter. Let's add two and one to make it five. I will not reward or punish you. That's it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Di Renjie stood up calmly.

Wu Zetian's eyes shifted to Zhao Ji again: "Zhao Ji has made an invaluable contribution in uncovering Xu Shide's conspiracy this time. I have promoted you to General of the Guards before, and now I will give you a horse and fifty pieces of brocade."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." Zhao Ji also stepped out to express his gratitude.

Wu Zetian looked around and solemnly warned everyone: "The matter of Huzhou ends here. You must keep your mouth shut. If even a word of this gets out, everyone present today will be implicated!"

Everyone bowed and said, "Yes."

Di Renjie then said, "Your Majesty, the property left by the King of Yue has been found. I suggest that General Zhao and the Magistrate of Changcheng County, Zeng Tai, be responsible for excavating and transporting it on the spot to fill the national treasury."

Di Pangpang once again used his talent of having many students all over the world and took credit for Zeng Tai.

Zeng Tai has left his name in front of the emperor and added some experience to his resume. If he does a good job, he can make a big step forward.

Wu Zetian knew this very well, but she recognized Di Renjie's ability to judge people.

In Li Gui's eyes, the King of Yue's treasure was related to the destiny of the Tang Dynasty, while in Xu Shide's eyes it was enormous wealth.

But in Wu Zetian's eyes, it was nothing more than a pile of dead things.

Di Renjie proposed to send a confidant of the emperor and then pair him with a first-line local official. This arrangement was also very reasonable.

So Wu Zetian didn't hesitate and nodded directly in agreement: "Approved. Send Zhao Ji and Zeng Tai to take charge of this matter."

"I obey your order." Zhao Ji agreed.

At this point, all matters had been assigned and everyone left.

Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and Li Xian all breathed a sigh of relief when they walked out of the room.

Li Xian was soaked in sweat all over.

He bowed to Di Renjie and Zhao Ji and said, "Lord, General Zhao, I will always remember your life-saving grace."

Di Renjie and Zhao Ji looked at each other and said, "Your Highness, you are too polite. I have an unreasonable request, and I hope Your Highness will approve it." "Just go ahead, sir." Li Xian looked as if he would agree to whatever you said.

Di Renjie whispered in Li Xian's ear about Yingyu and Liu Chuanlin.

Li Xian thought for a moment and nodded: "The elder's arrangement is very appropriate, I will follow your instructions."
-
After Zhao Ji, Di Renjie and Li Xian left, Wu Zetian and Shangguan Wan'er talked about Xu Shide again.

Wu Zetian frowned, her anger still lingering: "I never thought that there would be such a shameful scum like Xu Shide among the inner guards."

"The Youzhou incident can be said to be an oversight. But in the Huzhou incident, the key officials of the Internal Guards actually made a mistake and framed the prince for money. It's simply ridiculous."

Wu Zetian's tone revealed some fear, and she shook her head gently: "If Zhao Ji and Di Huaiying hadn't figured out this matter in advance and spread it out, people in the world would have thought that I was going to harm the prince, and the consequences would be disastrous."

Shangguan Wan'er knew that if anything happened to the crown prince, the conflict between Li and Wu for the throne would immediately erupt.

After all, the emperor is old, and he may not be able to control the situation by then.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Xu Shide has been executed. There should be only a few treacherous and evil people like Xu Shide in the inner guards, but the inner guards do need to be reorganized." Shangguan Wan'er said meaningfully.

Wu Zetian looked deep in her eyes and nodded slowly: "The ice is three feet thick and it didn't freeze overnight. If there is a Xu Shide, there will be a second one. I should reorganize the inner guards."

"Wan'er, who do you think I should send to reorganize the internal guards? How about Zhao Ji?" Wu Zetian suddenly turned to Shangguan Wan'er and asked for her opinion.

Shangguan Wan'er's heart was slightly moved. She knew that her young lover was capable of doing this, but psychologically he was not willing to do this kind of spy work.

Moreover, doing such a thing is thankless and is likely to cause backlash and retaliation from internal security forces.

Thinking of this, Shangguan Wan'er replied cautiously: "Your Majesty, I think General Zhao is qualified for this task. But he is a Qianniu Guard after all, and it is not right for him to rectify the inner guards."

"General Zhao is not familiar with the internal guards. If he is sent, the internal guards will be greatly constrained and it will be difficult to achieve results. If we want to thoroughly rectify the internal guards, it is best to select capable personnel from the internal guards."

Wu Zetian nodded: "Yes, that makes sense."

The names of Xiao Qingfang, Huang Shengyan, Wang Zhiyuan, He Yun, Sun Dianchen and others flashed quickly through her mind.

Wu Zetian's eyes suddenly lit up and she said, "The head of the Inner Guard, Sun Dianchen, is not bad. He has always been loyal to his duties and has never been partial to others. He has also repeatedly reported the misconduct of the Inner Guard. He should be able to do a good job in this matter."

Shangguan Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief and complimented, "Your Majesty is wise."

Wu Zetian made a decision: "It is settled. This southern tour will take a long time. Give orders to start the journey tomorrow and return to the capital."
-
After Wu Zetian rested, Shangguan Wan'er quickly found Zhao Ji for a secret meeting and asked for credit.

After Zhao Ji heard Shangguan Wan'er's story, he was so excited that he couldn't express it in words.

He joyfully picked up Shangguan Wan'er and carried her horizontally, spinning her around a few times.

"Wan'er, I really don't know how to thank you!"

Shangguan Wan'er hurriedly patted Zhao Ji's shoulder and said with a shy smile, "I'm going to die, put me down quickly, it will be bad if someone sees me."

Zhao Ji then put Shangguan Wan'er down, gazed into her eyes lovingly, and secretly sighed in his heart: Meeting such a confidante is a blessing from my previous life.

Shangguan Wan'er and Zhao Ji looked at each other, their eyes like water: "It's not just for you. If you accept this mission, you will definitely have to run around, and I won't be able to see you."

After hearing this, Zhao Ji's heartbeat involuntarily quickened a few beats, as if an inexplicable emotion was surging in his heart.

After a long while, Zhao Ji held Shangguan Wan'er in his arms and said softly, "Thank you, Wan'er."

Shangguan Wan'er leaned against Zhao Ji, enjoying the warm embrace: "I will go back to the capital tomorrow, I will wait for you there."

Zhao Ji nodded: "I will complete the task as soon as possible and rush to see you. After returning to the capital, you must be careful and take good care of His Majesty."

Shangguan Wan'er looked at Zhao Ji in surprise: "Why do you say that?"

Zhao was not in a position to say directly that someone was targeting Wu Zetian, so he said tactfully: "The incident in Huzhou is over, but it is not over. Although the prince is fine, the fight for the throne will only intensify."

"Your Majesty is old, and his control over government affairs and the inner guards is declining. Xu Shide is a clear example. I'm worried that someone will have evil intentions, and it will affect you."

Shangguan Wan'er sensed the worry and concern in Zhao Ji's words and agreed, "Don't worry, I will pay attention. Don't think I'm so stupid. I have been serving Your Majesty since I was very young, and I am much better at dealing with such things than you."

"Yes, yes, sister is much better than me. Anyway, I will rush back to Shendu as soon as possible. No matter what happens, I will accompany you." Zhao Ji said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)