The Heavens Begin with Detective Di Renjie

Chapter 39
Shen Youzhi ran in the mountains for half an hour before gradually calming down his excitement, and began to think about the next action——

Right now, the most important thing is to return to Prince An's Mansion first.

It has been almost three months since I disguised myself and sneaked out of the palace.

Although before he came out, he had already made an excuse to retreat to Bigu, but this is not a long-term solution after all.

Three months has almost reached the limit.

Therefore, he had to return to the palace as soon as possible and become King An Li Xuan again, so as not to arouse suspicion.

The second is to start developing your own power and control Changzhou in your own hands.

Not to mention covering the sky with one hand like Yuan Qi did in Yangzhou, at least put enough eyeliner first to understand the troubles, and then consider gradually infiltrating into the officialdom and the army.

But this step can't be taken too hastily, it can only be done slowly, like running water slowly moistening the beach.

Before this long process is completed, all Shen Youzhi has to do is to wait with peace of mind.

Because it won't be long before another shocking case is brewing.

That case is extremely important to Shen Youzhi, and it is also an important part of his plan, and it is also the key to whether he can develop his own power.

Changzhou, Shoujing Bookstore

This is a small book store, covering an area of ​​less than two acres, and the collection of books is mostly old books. Most of the people who come here to search for books are idlers and scholars, not students who are taking exams.

Therefore, the bookstore's passenger flow has never been large, and there is not even a single customer at this time.

In the book shop, only the shopkeeper He Yingqiu was bowing his head and sorting out the latest accounts.

dong dong dong-

A series of footsteps sounded.

The shopkeeper, He Yingqiu, quickly raised his head: "What's your request?"

He stopped in the middle of his speech, just because he saw the face of the visitor.

He Yingqiu got up in a hurry and bowed his head to the visitor.

The person who came was none other than Shen Youzhi.

This book shop is not an ordinary book shop, but he specially opened it for the convenience of his own activities. There is a secret passage under the book shop, which can directly lead to Prince An's Mansion.

"Lead the way."

Shen Youzhi said lightly.

"Yes."

He Yingqiu quickly replied.

Afterwards, he led Shen Youzhi to the back room.

In the back room, He Yingqiu groped a bit, and soon found the mechanism of the secret passage.

click-

The agency opens.

boom -

A bookcase suddenly shifted, revealing a small hidden door.

Shen Youzhi looked at He Yingqiu and asked, "Did something important happen when I left?"

"Returning to the prince, during the time you left, no one came to visit except some Taoist hermits."

He Yingqiu answered truthfully.

Shen Youzhi nodded.

After all, he is just an idle prince and rarely interacts with people in the officialdom.

Therefore, although his status is high, his power is extremely small, far from Yuan Qi's promises in Yangzhou, and even inferior to Pingnan Marquis Xue Qinglin in the original book.

If it weren't for the title of "Daoist", I'm afraid even those hermits would not come to visit him.

But this is also good, so that he has a great degree of freedom, and can use the identity of "Shen Youzhi" to carry out many plans in private.

Shen Youzhi didn't ask any other questions, and walked into the secret passage slowly.

After Shen Youzhi entered the secret passage, He Yingqiu activated the mechanism again to hide the secret passage again.

Afterwards, he returned to the counter and continued to work as the shopkeeper of the bookstore.

Shen Youzhi walked quickly through the secret passage, and soon arrived at another secret door.

He twisted the mechanism hidden in the stone wall, and the secret door slowly opened, revealing a fresh and elegant hut.

This is the small building where he retreated to Bigu.

Finally home.

Shen Youzhi felt in his heart.

He walked out of the secret path slowly, came to his hut, and then began to take off his disguise, put on a Taoist robe, and become King An Li Xuan again.

Not long after, Shen Youzhi looked at himself in the mirror after cleaning up, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Come on!"

Shen Youzhi shouted loudly.

After the words fell, several guards quickly walked into the small building.

"See Your Highness King An!"

The guards knelt on the ground together.

"Get up."

"Yes."

"Go find Zhao Xiu."

Shen Youzhi ordered.

Zhao Xiu is the steward of the palace and Shen Youzhi's confidant.

During the days when he left the palace, he took care of many trivial matters.

When the guards received the order, they didn't dare to delay for a moment, so they immediately went to find Guan Shi.

After about half a stick of incense, Zhao Xiu was led by the guards to the attic.

When he saw Shen Youzhi, his tense heart finally relaxed.

For the past three months, he has been living in fear, for fear that the fact that the prince left the mansion privately will be exposed.

In order to deal with those visiting guests, he racked his brains and thought of various reasons to decline.

Nothing happened at all, the prince came back smoothly, and his mission was considered completed.

"Okay, you guys back off."

Shen Youzhi ordered the guards.

"Yes!"

Several guards stepped back.

Now, only Shen Youzhi and Zhao Xiu were left in the small building.

"My lord, you are back."

Zhao Xiu said with relief.

Seeing him like this, Shen Youzhi praised him with a light smile: "You have worked hard during this time."

In terms of age, Zhao Xiu was one year younger than himself, but he was mature enough to manage the affairs of the entire palace and deal with intricate interpersonal relationships.

Zhao Xiu was commended, and besides being happy in his heart, he also said humbly: "It's a villain's honor to be able to serve the prince!

Back then, if there was no prince, the villain would have been in hell long ago! "

When Shen Youzhi first arrived in Changzhou, in order to expand the servants of the palace, he bought the young Zhao Xiu from Ren Yazi on the side of the road.

At that time, he was seriously ill and was dying, and even his teeth were sold at a discount.

If Shen Youzhi hadn't bought him and paid a doctor to treat him, he would have died ten years ago.

With this life-saving grace and the ten years of getting along with each other, Zhao Xiu is absolutely loyal to Shen Youzhi.

Shen Youzhi also absolutely trusts this confidant.

It can be said that Zhao Xiu was the first confidant he developed after he came to Changzhou.

"After staying here for three months, it's time to go out to meet guests." Shen Youzhi said slowly: "Go and make arrangements, invite all the guests who have visited these days, and say that the king has left the customs. Specially invite them to come over and talk.”

Although the people who came were idlers and hermits, Shen Youzhi's invitation to them was not for the sake of fame, but just to give him a reasonable explanation for the time when he closed the door to thank guests.

"Yes!"

Zhao Xiu replied respectfully.

Then he stepped back slowly to complete the prince's order.

Shen Youzhi also walked out of the attic slowly, ending the three-month retreat.

After he came out, he immediately went to the ancestral hall and offered three sticks of incense to his parents who passed away.

His father, Li Xin, was framed by cruel officials and demoted to Zhaozhou during the Chuigong period, that is, when Li Dan was emperor and Empress Wu was in charge of the country.

However, on the way to relegation, Li Xin suddenly suffered from a serious illness and died in a hotel in Guizhou.

After his father died for no apparent reason, within a few years, his mother Zhou Shi also died of depression.

Shen Youzhi always felt that there must be human factors behind his father's mysterious death.

But now, he doesn't have the ability to find out all this, so he can only temporarily hide the suspicion in his heart.

(End of this chapter)