Chapter 229 "Death of Xiaomei"

Luoyang, the capital of the gods.

Since Li Yuanfang, Wen Kai and others went to Liuzhou, Zhao Ji's life seemed to have returned to its previous track, clocking in at work and living a leisurely life.

In the Inner Guard Bureau, Huang Shengyan and Xiao Qingfang have had a long-standing feud. He has carefully planned in private and collected a large amount of negative information on the Inner Guards under Xiao Qingfang, which can now be used to clean up the Snake Spirit spies.

However, this time the purge of the Internal Guards was supervised by Zhao Ji, and a big boss suddenly appeared over the heads of the usually lawless Internal Guards.

Moreover, as soon as the old man arrived, he wanted to share half of the credit for catching the traitor for free. Huang Dageling had never felt so aggrieved in his life.

The most important thing is that as soon as Xiao Qingfang left, Huang Shengyan thought he was the only candidate to be the leader of the Inner Guard Palace.

He originally thought that he could take this opportunity to eliminate dissidents, cultivate his own confidants, and thus expand his own power.

But Zhao Ji certainly would not cooperate with Huang Shengyan. He would only handle his affairs impartially and treat his confidants and dissidents equally.

In Huang Shengyan's eyes, this move was undoubtedly a contempt and suppression of him. As a result, undercurrents surged between the two and frictions continued to escalate.

At the Zuo Qianniu Guard Mansion, Huang Shengyan walked in aggressively with a group of inner guards. The Qianniu guards at the guard mansion were already used to it.

Huang Shengyan rushed into Zhao Ji's hall without even a word of courtesy and shouted, "General Zhao, I heard that you are investigating a batch of files from the Internal Guard from ten years ago?"

Zhao Ji calmly put down the file in his hand, glanced at Huang Shengyan calmly, and said slowly: "I have been granted the full responsibility for the Snake Spirit case by Your Majesty's grace. Without looking at the files, how can I tell who is loyal and who is treacherous among your inner guards?"

"Moreover, according to the records in these files, a large number of internal guards disappeared inexplicably ten years ago. It's really strange! I suspect their whereabouts are related to the snake spirit!"

Huang Shengyan heard this and sneered, "General Zhao, you don't take the inner guards seriously. Wen Kai is obviously a subordinate of the inner guards, but you only reported the news of his situation in Liuzhou to you, a general of the Qianniu Guards!"

"That's fine. You have His Majesty's order. This matter is within your authority. I will not argue with you!"

"But what you want to investigate now has nothing to do with Xiao Qingfang. I advise you not to be too curious! Otherwise, if you report it to His Majesty, you will be asking for trouble!"

Zhao Ji heard this and smiled slightly: "Huang Ge Ling is wrong. Governor Wen's intelligence was not reported to me alone, but also to Di Gong."

"It's just that the internal security is still under investigation and they didn't want to leak the news, so they bypassed the cabinet leader. Please don't make a fuss."

He changed the subject and appeared quite generous: "As for what I am investigating now, if the inner guards are really afraid, I will give the leader a favor and not investigate. If the leader doesn't believe it, you can take these files back at any time."

After hearing this, Huang Shengyan was shocked and felt aggrieved. Although he achieved his goal, he seemed to be looked down upon and he couldn't refute it.

He had to suppress his anger and ordered, "Listen to General Zhao and pack up the files!"

After a while, when the internal guards had packed up the files, Huang Shengyan said coldly: "General Zhao, take care of yourself. Goodbye!" Then he hurried away.

Watching Huang Shengyan walk away, Zhao Ji sneered, "As an internal guard, you have done so many bad things, yet you are so ungrateful. It's no wonder that I didn't save you!"

Speaking of which, when Zhao Ji checked the old files of the Internal Guards, in addition to discovering hundreds of Internal Guards who had disappeared ten years ago, he also discovered some past secrets related to his own body.

This made Zhao Ji have some doubts. How did Yuan Tiangang sneak "himself" out under the surveillance of the inner guards?
July is here, and the Snake Spirit's plan to save Yuan Tiangang has probably already begun. This time, it is extremely dangerous for Zhao Ji...
-
It was late at night and the moonlight filled the Di Mansion.

Suddenly, a shrill scream came from the east wing, breaking the silence of the night.

Inside the house, Ruyan seemed to be trapped in a nightmare. She suddenly jumped up from the couch, calling out, "Yuan Fang! Yuan Fang..."

Her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, her chest heaved violently, and her eyes were full of anxiety and fear.

As her senses gradually returned, she realized that she was having a nightmare again.

She let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, then put on her clothes, stood up, walked quickly out the door and went to the study.

In the study, Zhao Ji and Di Renjie were talking. News about Wen Kai came again, and Zhao Ji had to inform Di Renjie as usual.

There was a sound of the door opening and Ruyan walked in. When Zhao Ji saw her, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, as if he had foreseen what would happen next.

"No need to ask, Yuan Fang wrote to me, he's fine!" Zhao Ji took out a letter in advance and handed it to Ruyan.

Di Renjie laughed out loud when he saw this. Now, every time Zhao Ji came to Di's house, he would be questioned by Ruyan. He was scared of being asked so many questions.

Seeing this, Ruyan's face flashed with embarrassment: "Yuan Fang has been gone for several months, I am worried!"

Zhao Ji continued to introduce Di Renjie: "Since their first meeting, Yuan Fang and Xiao Mei have lost contact, but Yuan Fang has not been idle. Wen Kai is in charge of the governor's office, and Yuan Fang is keeping an eye on the Liuzhou soldiers."

"As expected, Liuzhou, like Youzhou and Pingzhou, has been infiltrated by the snake spirits like a sieve. However, Yuan Fang and Wen Kai have roughly grasped the list of these spies."

"And this time Yuan Fang sent a message saying that he had contacted Xiao Mei again. Xiao Mei mentioned that the Snake Spirit will make a big move, and asked Yuan Fang to wait a few more days until she could find out more."

As soon as these words came out, Ruyan's expression suddenly changed, and she said in surprise: "The Snake Spirit is making a big move? Then Yuan Fang and the others are in danger? I... I just had an ominous dream. I dreamed that Yuan Fang killed my eldest sister, but was killed by the Shining Spirit!"

Di Renjie immediately gave a comforting smile and said in a gentle voice: "You are overthinking. If you think about something during the day, you will dream about it at night. The snake spirit has been recuperating for nearly half a year. If it comes back, it will definitely not be a small fight!"

"However, their core operations are definitely not in Liuzhou. As long as Yuan Fang acts cautiously and does not expose himself easily, he will be safe. In addition, you should also believe in Yuan Fang's wit and martial arts."

Zhao Ji also echoed, "Hu Jinghui ranks third among the six snake leaders of the Snake Spirit, but Yuan Fang's martial arts were already as good as his when he was in Youzhou, and now he has far surpassed him. The Blood Spirit and the Shining Spirit may not be Yuan Fang's opponents."

After listening to the two people's consolation, Ruyan nodded, but she was still a little uneasy.
-
Thousands of miles away in Liuzhou, at the foot of Dayang Mountain.

Xiaomei covered her left arm tightly, blood stained her clothes, and one of the pair of scimitars in her hands was missing.

Her face was as pale as paper, and her body was staggering on the rugged mountain road. Every step was extremely difficult.

After running for an unknown amount of time, Xiaomei saw a dilapidated temple gate in front of her.

Xiaomei used up her last bit of strength and stumbled towards the crumbling temple door. Just as her body was about to touch the door, she could no longer support herself and fell heavily outside the threshold.

This is a small temple located at the foot of the mountain, with broken walls and in disrepair for many years.

The small temple has only one main hall, which is very simple. The doors and windows are completely damaged, but the shape of the clay Buddha statue in the temple can be vaguely discerned.

Above the main hall, a dark shadow quietly lurked between the beams. Apparently, the sound outside the temple startled him. He quickly sat up and listened. Xiaomei could no longer struggle. She gasped and shouted to the temple, "General Li, General Li..."

Li Yuanfang heard a female voice calling his name, and then he realized that it was Xiaomei. Judging from her breath, she seemed to be seriously injured.

Without hesitation, he jumped down from the beam, walked quickly to Xiaomei's side, and asked anxiously: "Xiaomei? How are you?"

Xiaomei opened her eyes with difficulty, her voice was intermittent but extremely resolute: "Quickly...quickly return to Luoyang...Shan...Shan Ling, he wants to assassinate me at Hanguang Temple, on July 15th..."

Li Yuanfang's face suddenly changed when he heard this. He was shocked and asked repeatedly: "What did you say? Hanguang Temple? Assassination? July 15th?"

Before he finished speaking, several sharp arrows shot towards the two of them like heavy rain. Li Yuanfang reacted quickly, swung his chain knife, and the arrows fell to the ground one after another.

When I looked up, I saw a group of people in purple clothes chasing me from somewhere.

The purple-clothed leader sneered repeatedly, his tone full of pride: "Great, after searching everywhere for something, it finally came to me without any effort! I was just worried that I couldn't find out who this traitor was going to meet in the small temple, and you just jumped out on your own!"

Seeing this, Xiaomei was extremely anxious and struggled to urge Li Yuanfang: "General Li, don't worry about me, go quickly and bring the news back to Luoyang! Please be careful, Di Gong and Xian'er!"

Li Yuanfang helped Xiaomei to the wall of the small temple: "It doesn't matter, these people can't do anything to me."

Seeing that Li Yuanfang didn't seem to take him seriously, the purple-clothed man lost his composure and said, "Hey, I'm asking you a question! What's your name? Who sent you here?"

Li Yuanfang turned around and faced the group of purple-clad assassins: "You are not worthy of knowing my name!"

The purple-clothed man was furious when he heard this: "How arrogant! I'll say it again, tell me your name and I'll kill you. Otherwise, I'll make sure you surrender and you'll be neither alive nor dead!"

Li Yuanfang raised a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth: "You are quite arrogant, just worry about your own lives first!"

The purple-robed leader sneered grimly: "A dead man is standing in front of me, and he is still speaking nonsense. It's really ridiculous!"

As he spoke, he swung the steel knife in his hand, and in an instant, more than a dozen men in purple rushed over and surrounded Li Yuanfang.

He was extremely proud and challenged again: "I'll give you one last chance, surrender!"

Li Yuanfang was unmoved. He leisurely took out a Kaiyuan Tongbao copper coin from his arms and said with a smile: "How about this, I make a bet with you. Before this copper coin falls to the ground, I guarantee that there will be only two of us standing in this small temple."

The purple-clothed man was stunned at first, then burst into laughter: "Ahahahahaha! Brothers, I think this man is crazy! Did you hear what he said?"

The killers naturally burst into laughter.

Li Yuanfang also smiled. He moved his fingertips slightly, and the copper coin turned into a residual image and bounced into the sky.

At the same time, his figure turned into a flash of lightning, and the sword light was like a dragon, instantly cutting through the air.

The man in purple felt a darkness before his eyes, and when he opened his eyes again, two of his men had fallen silently.

He was horrified and turned around quickly, only to see Li Yuanfang's figure like a ghost, moving through the cold fog. Every time the sword flashed, a man in black fell down.

The copper coin spun rapidly in the air and finally fell silently into the soil.

Just at this moment, the tip of the sword pierced the throat of the last black-clad follower. Li Yuanfang slowly put away the knife, and the man's body fell to the ground.

The purple-robed leader was so shocked that he was stunned and trembling all over. He couldn't even speak clearly: "You...you...I...I..."

Li Yuanfang turned around and looked at the purple-clothed man, frowned and shouted coldly: "How is it? Have you thought about how you are going to die?"

The steel knife in the purple-clothed leader's hand kept shaking, and Li Yuanfang slowly walked over.

Suddenly, the purple-robed leader let out a desperate roar and flew out of the temple.

But Li Yuanfang just moved, and the chain knife in his hand turned into a cold light, accurately piercing the leader's body and nailing him firmly to the ancient tree outside the temple.

Blood gushed out, and the purple-robed leader's eyes were wide open, full of confusion and fear, and he died with his eyes open.

After pretending to be cool, Li Yuanfang put away the chain knife and walked quickly to the place where he had placed Xiaomei.

A woman was lying against the wall with her eyes closed.

Li Yuanfang was startled and quickly checked on her: "Xiaomei, Xiaomei!"

But the woman's face had completely lost all color, with blood at the corner of her mouth, and she showed no reaction to anything around her.

Li Yuanfang was extremely anxious and kept shaking her body, trying to wake her up: "Xiaomei, Xiaomei, wake up..."

The woman on the ground still showed no reaction.

Finally, he reached for the woman's wrist with trembling hands. Her pulse had stopped beating, and she was indeed dead.

Li Yuanfang slowly put down the woman's arm, his eyes reddened, and he said softly and heavily: "Xiaomei, I'm sorry!"

It was a little hard for him to accept. Even though he was pretending, the person was gone in such a short time?

Li Yuanfang recalled Xiaomei's last words before she died: the snake spirit was going to assassinate him.

Calculating the date, there are less than ten days left until July 15th. I have to rush back as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late.

Therefore, he had no time to deal with the woman's body. He just reached out and took off the snake-shaped wooden sign hanging around the woman's neck, hid the body behind the Buddha statue, and hurried away.

Not long after Li Yuanfang left, another team of snake spirit killers arrived near the small temple.

They looked at the corpses on the ground and were terrified: "Quick, clean up the bodies."

　Little-known fact: Kaiyuan Tongbao is not a unique reign coin of Li Longji. It was already in existence during the reign of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan and was used until the end of the Tang Dynasty. I remember in the TV series Li Yuanfang threw a Xianfeng Tongbao, and there was a close-up shot. It was really hard to hold back...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)