At noon the next day, several men with merchant-like appearances rushed to the temporary residence of the Inner Guard in Baishui Town. They turned over and got off the horse, went forward and knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened. The man in the lead whispered a few words, then flashed into the house and was taken to the Inner House.

In the inner hall, Zhao Qiuniang was reporting Lai Junchen's movements to Li Zhen. "We have the exact news. Lai Junchen sent So Wen to Yongqing County to investigate the ambush case of Dali Temple officials. He himself led the rest of his subordinates to search east of Fangling, probably searching for Gan Enxin."

Li Zhen pondered for a moment and asked again: "Does he know about the major case last summer?"

"He knew," Zhao Qiuniang couldn't help but look proud on her face, and she smiled and said, "He turned the county magistrate's house upside down last night and met the county magistrate again. This morning we asked the county magistrate, and Lai Junchen also knew about the case, but he did not take it to heart, but was interested in the attacks of Gan Enxin and Dali Temple. He had been completely misled."

Lai Junchen did not investigate the case last year, which shows that the county magistrate did not reveal his words last night. Lai Junchen still knew nothing about the details of the Xingtang Association. However, Li Zhen had to admire Lai Junchen's vision, and discovered the great value of the Xingtang Association at a glance, and put Li Xian in Fangzhou to the forefront of his mind.

This result was what Li Zhen was willing to see. He tried his best to delay Lai Junchen's time and cut off all the clues of recruiting disaster victims one by one. When Lai Junchen turned around, he would find that there were no clues on the other end.

Although Lai Junchen was trapped, Li Zhen still did not dare to be careless. After all, it was not only him and Lai Junchen in Fangzhou, but also Princess Taiping and Wu Sansi's forces. Even if Lai Junchen does not investigate the disaster victims for the time being, it is difficult to ensure that other forces will not participate.

"Is there any news from Gu Daogu?"

Taoist nun Gu Ying led her men to find the rest of the forces hidden in Fangzhou. There is no news yet. Li Zhen is really worried. At this critical moment, he didn't want any accidents. Zhao Qiuniang shook her head and said that she had no news either.

At this moment, a guard outside the door reported: "Report to the commander, the eldest son asked for a meeting."

The eldest son is Li Chongrun, who is responsible for communicating with Wei. Li Zhen is also waiting for his news. Li Zhen hurriedly said: "Hurry and invite him in."

After a moment, Li Chongrun, dressed as a businessman, walked into the room. He took off his octagonal hat, exposed the flat scarf on his head, and bowed slightly to Li Zhen, "Let the commander wait for a long time."

"The eldest son is in a hurry to see me. Is there any news?

"My mother hopes to meet Commander Li."

"Oh—" Li Zhen said softly and asked, "Does the princess know about Xiaoen Temple yesterday?"

"She probably didn't know."

Li Zhen nodded, then stopped mentioning this matter, and asked with a smile: "When will the princess see me?"

"If the commander is convenient, I will be in Luling Palace tonight."

Li Zhen pondered for a moment. Foreign ministers did not allow him to privately meet Prince Luling, and the princess could not. He would definitely not meet her in the name of a visit. If it was an excuse for investigation and inquiry, it would be fine. Thinking of this, Li Zhen smiled at Li Chongrun and said, "Please tell the princess that I came to Fangzhou this time to receive the imperial edict. Maybe some things should be asked about the princess. Please arrange it and try to cooperate with my investigation."

Of course, Li Chongrun understood what Li Zhen meant. It would be better if this result was the same, but the nature was different, so they could be more calm.

"I understand. I will go back and tell my mother and ask her to arrange it. We will wait for Commander Li's investigation tonight."

Li Chongrun hurriedly said goodbye and left. Li Zhen thought for a while, then smiled at Zhao Qiuniang and said, "Please work harder for a while to find Gu Daogu's whereabouts and see if she needs our help."

"Unclear job"

At this time, Di Yan on the side smiled and said, "It's better for me to go with my senior sister."

Di Yan originally wanted to come to Fangzhou with Li Zhen to investigate the case and find some fun, but unexpectedly, there was basically nothing to do after arriving in Fangzhou. She stayed in the mansion all day and did nothing, which made her feel so depressed.

Zhao Qiuniang didn't dare to agree easily. She looked at Li Zhen, and Li Zhen nodded with a smile. Di Yan's martial arts skills were very strong, and she could help Zhao Qiuniang with her help.

At night, Li Zhen led a dozen inner guard soldiers to the Luling Royal Palace outside the north city. He was walking in the official business process, wearing a formal inner guard robe and holding the sacred decree given to him by Wu Zetian, and slowly walked towards the steps of the palace.

Several guards stepped forward and stopped him, "Who is it?"

Li Zhen raised the edict and said loudly: "Li Zhen, the deputy commander of the inner guard, came to Fangzhou to perform official duties according to the emperor's will. Please report to His Highness Luling King, Li Zhen asked for a meeting."

The guards were shocked and turned around and ran into the palace. Soon after, a middle-aged eunuch came out and smiled and said, "Is there anything wrong with Commander Li when he sees the prince?"

"Ask some simple questions and perform official duties"

"So that's the case, but the prince is not in good health and is inconvenient to receive it. If the princess is asked for the prince's question, is that OK?"

"This..." Li Zhen pondered for a moment, and reluctantly nodded, "Okay, it won't take too long, just ask a few questions."

"Then Commander Li, please follow me."

The eunuch took Li Zhen to the palace hurriedly, with several inner guards following him, and the rest of the warriors were waiting outside the palace. Soon, they came to a small palace. The eunuch smiled and said, "The princess is waiting in the palace, and I'm afraid she can only lead one person in."

Li Zhen gave instructions to his two subordinates and asked them to wait outside the hall. He followed the eunuch into the hall.

The palace is not big, with huge curtains separating the palace into two. The outer hall is brightly lit. There are several palace maids standing, but the inner hall is a little dim and filled with a faint fragrance of flowers. It seems that she is in the garden outside the hall. A noble lady with her hair combs her hair and a long light green dress standing inside the hall, looking at Li Zhen walking into the inner hall with a smile.

Li Zhen immediately guessed that she was Princess Wei, so he hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Li Zhen meets the princess"

Wei Lian waved his hand and said to several palace maids and eunuchs: "You all retreat."

The palace maids and eunuchs retreated one after another, and only Li Zhen and Wei Lian were left in the hall. Wei Lian smiled faintly, "You are very smart. You can come to see me on the excuse of being a regular person, so you can block the mouths of some people with bad intentions."

"Li Zhen does have business at home."

Wei Lian looked at him deeply, "Please sit down."

Li Zhen sat down on an ivory couch, and Wei Lian knelt down in front of him. Only then did Li Zhen see her appearance clearly. She was very beautiful, but her chin was very sharp and her eyes were like peach blossoms, which made her look charming again. Only the first time she met, Li Zhen felt that she was an extremely smart woman.

At this time, a confidant maid came in to offer them tea. Li Zhen found a figure appeared behind the curtain. Wei Lian seemed to have known it for a long time, so she winked at Li Zhen, picked up the teacup and asked, "What business does Commander Li have to ask me?"

Only then did Li Zhen understand why the lights outside were bright and the lights inside were dim. In this way, the people inside could clearly see the situation behind the curtain. Princess Wei was indeed very smart and handled the details very well. Li Zhen asked: "First of all, Princess Wei invited the families of officials from Fangzhou to the palace to watch the lanterns during the Lantern Festival. This seemed to violate the regulations that the prohibition of seeing foreign officials."

"It turned out that this is the case. In fact, we did not violate the regulations. First of all, the prince did not come forward, and secondly, no foreign officials entered the palace. It was just the wives and daughters of some wealthy families. More importantly, I just invited them to the palace to watch the lanterns and did not meet them privately, so I don't think I did not violate the rules."

"Can there be witnesses in what the lady said?"

"Of course, any palace maid or eunuch in the palace can prove it, or Commander Li will visit these families, and they will tell you the truth."

Li Zhen nodded, "I will write it in the report according to the facts. In addition, I also want to know whether His Highness Luling King did anything to the victims during the drought in Fangzhou last year?"

"There are mainly disaster relief. We used 1,000 stones of grain to set up three porridge sheds in Fangling County to provide porridge to the victims in the name of the prince, but the prince did not show up."

At this time, the favor behind the curtain slowly retreated, and there were only the two of them left in the hall. Wei Lian immediately lowered his voice and said, "Someone in the palace is monitoring us to meet with foreign officials. We are short stories, what do you need me to do?"

"I hope to eliminate all clues about private-equity disaster victims as soon as possible, so the Wei family will have to absolutely obey my orders."

"You can find Chongrun for this matter, I gave him a gold medal."

Li Zhen shook his head, "The gold medal is not effective. They are more resistant to the eldest son's orders. I don't want to pass the eldest son, I want to order them directly."

Wei Lian seemed to know that this result would be. The Wei brothers did not listen to Li Chongrun's command, which was expected by her. This was not the same as playing polo, but was related to the Wei family's most vital interests. It was not that they could command a gold medal.

Through the investigation in the past two days, Li Zhen has discovered a clue. Neither Li Xian nor Li Chongrun recruited warriors from the victims, but the Wei family did it. Of course, this matter is also related to Li Xian. After all, Wei is the princess, and those who are interested can blame him. King Luling used his wife's name to recruit private soldiers.

Wei Lian faces a dilemma. Can she trust Li Zhen and hand over the command of the Wei family guards to him? This is because she spent nearly ten years to build a private warrior with more than 300 people. Once they are handed over to Li Zhen, what will happen? She doesn't even trust her own son, will she still trust an outsider?

But Wei Lian was also very clear about the crisis she was facing. The emperor had set his sights on them. Not only Wu Sansi, but Lai Junchen and others were going to kill them. Princess Taiping might have bad intentions. Their only foreign aid now is Shangguan Wan'er. Shangguan Wan'er sent Li Zhen. If she didn't believe Li Zhen, she would have almost no foreign aid.

Of course, the warriors are commanded by Wei Bo and Wei Song. As long as the Wei Bo and Wei Song brothers firmly grasp the warriors in their hands, it is actually okay to listen to Li Zhen’s orders.

After repeated consideration, Wei Lian decided to cooperate with Li Zhen. I believe that Li Zhen this time, she took out a jade pendant and handed it to Li Zhen and said: "Combine the gold medal with this jade pendant. Their brothers will obey your command. As for the gold medal, I will let Chongrun give it to you."

After pausing, she said, "In Longling Villa in the southwest of Fangling County, you can find the two brothers."

Li Zhen bowed slightly and smiled: "Thank you for your trust in the princess. I believe that after the matter is over, I will return the gold medal and jade pendant to Zhao."

Wei Lian smiled faintly, "It doesn't matter if you don't return it, I will change it to another token."
Chapter completed!