290: A minor official from Bingzhou

Well, as a True Buddha, it was only natural for Tang Ku to accept this bow, but who gave him the title of First Imperial Preceptor, and the title of the Emperor's own brother?

Well, it was understandable for Li Chengqian to promote him like this to consolidate his position; naturally, this would also provide him with quite a bit of convenience.

Yang Fengqing was stunned, then couldn't help but stand up under the force of Tang Ku's power, cupping his hands and bowing, "Is the Holy Monk here specifically for the missing persons case in our Bianzhou?"

"Not at all!" Tang Ku said, "This Poor Monk has been traveling the world and just happened to pass by. I only learned of this matter after hearing the soldiers announcing it on the street. Your Excellency, could you tell me what exactly has happened?"

"This..." Yang Fengqing smiled bitterly and helplessly, "Holy Monk, it is not that we are unwilling to explain, but this matter is truly a bit too bizarre. I fear... I fear that anyone who hears of it would not want to believe it!"

Tang Ku chuckled, "As for the so-called supernatural and strange, this Poor Monk has seen quite a lot in this lifetime, and I have experienced many kinds of demons and monsters. You may just speak, there is no need to worry!"

Governor Yang thought for a moment, then said, "How about this, this matter is mainly handled by the assistant judge in our prefecture office. He knows the details best. I will call him over and let him explain it to you in detail. What do you think?"

Tang Ku nodded and said, "Good!"

The governor immediately sent someone to invite him. Before long, a subordinate official had already brought a man into the prefecture's reception hall.

After the young man arrived, he first bowed to the Governor, then, under the Governor's introduction, he continued to salute Tang Ku and introduced himself, "Your subordinate, Bianzhou assistant judge, Di Renjie from Bingzhou, pays respects to the Holy Monk!"

Tang Ku had just picked up his teacup, and upon hearing this, he almost spat out the tea in his mouth. It took him a while before he finally said, "Could it be Di Huaiying from Bingzhou?"

The young man couldn't help but be stunned, then smiled and said, "This junior is not well-known, yet I did not expect the Holy Monk to actually know me. It is truly a great honor!"

Tang Ku pursed his lips, not knowing what to say.

Previously, whenever historical upright officials, incorruptible officials, or capable ministers were mentioned, the first person the common people would think of was basically Bao Zheng.

But besides him, there was another capable minister even earlier than Bao Zheng, who possessed equally heaven-reaching abilities, and was also frequently mentioned in operas and storytelling: this official, Di Renjie. In history, he was even largely regarded as the greatest detective of all time!

The current Di Renjie was still an obscure minor official, his rank only being the eighth grade. However, observing his appearance and temperament, he already possessed a certain aura of authority. If he were handling this case, Tang Ku believed that even without himself here, the truth would soon come to light.

Tang Ku even felt that his presence here was merely icing on the cake.

Looking at Di Renjie, Tang Ku smiled slightly, looked him up and down, and suddenly laughed, "Official Di, you have a dignified appearance and the bearing of a Chief Councilor. Why are you relegated to being a minor official?"

Di Renjie was instantly startled, then bowed his head and said respectfully, "The Holy Monk is too kind with your praise. Huaiying merely happened to pass the imperial examination and obtained this actual post; it is already a tremendous stroke of luck! As for being a Chief Councilor, I truly dare not aspire to such a thing!"

Tang Ku only smiled and said nothing. After a long while, when Di Renjie began to feel a bit uneasy from being stared at, he finally said, "Forget it, why don't you tell me about the missing persons case that has occurred recently? Perhaps I can be of some help!"

Di Renjie couldn't help but be slightly stunned, turning his head to look at the Governor with a questioning expression. The Governor couldn't help but recover from his astonishment and immediately nodded.

To be honest, he was truly frightened by Tang Ku's words.

The current Great Tang Imperial Preceptor had said that this young man named Di Renjie had the bearing of a Chief Councilor. Although he was currently only an eighth-grade minor official, with these words from the Holy Monk, his future could be described as limitless!

If the Holy Monk had said it, could it be false? This Tang Sanzang was the legendary Guangdu Xin Buddha, a True Buddha who could truly be mentioned in the same breath as the Buddha, and perhaps even held in higher regard in the hearts of the Great Tang people!

Therefore, this sentence from Tang Ku was almost comparable to an imperial edict. And since Governor Yang was already relying on Di Renjie's ability to solve cases, he dared not underestimate him even more, which is why he nodded solemnly.

With the Governor's approval, Di Renjie dared not delay and began to recount the events that had occurred previously.

"The missing persons case began a month ago, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Qiqiao Festival. That day is of the utmost importance for young men and women; during it, they express their deepest feelings to each other, exchange tokens of affection, and pledge their lives to one another, which is common. However, something abnormal happened. On the day of the Qiqiao Festival, twelve men in the prime of their youth went missing, right after meeting with the women they admired..."

Di Renjie was very familiar with this matter and immediately told Tang Ku everything he knew.

It turned out that on the day of the Qiqiao Festival, the young people of Bianzhou would, under official organization, participate in activities such as poetry gatherings or lantern festivals. It was possible for them to meet the women they loved at these grand events. Moreover, ordinary people naturally had no opportunity to participate in such elegant activities. Those who were able to participate were nothing more than the children of officials and young misses from some major Families. Among them, those who were outstanding in both literary talent and character were numerous, and in the past, ninety-nine percent of them were able to become lovers and eventually get married.

But this year, an extremely strange thing happened.

On the night of the Qiqiao Festival, twelve scholars actually went missing, and even their families could not find any trace of their existence.

"Your subordinate has already sent people to inquire. Ninety percent of the scholars were outstanding figures who were both talented in literature and martial arts. Not to mention anything else, even in ordinary brawls, these people belonged to the kind of martial arts experts whom three or five people could not get close to. Moreover, their literary talent was brilliant, and the poems and songs they wrote, while perhaps not destined to be passed down through the ages, were certainly excellent works..."

Di Renjie reported, "This is the first suspicious point of this matter... The second point is that since that day, people have been going missing every few days. Over the past month, just within the prefecture, the number of missing persons reported by the various counties has exceeded the total number of missing persons in the entire country since the founding of our Great Tang. Based on this, your subordinate suspects that such large-scale disappearances are definitely caused by someone playing tricks behind the scenes..."

"Combined with the news that came from the capital not long ago, it is very likely related to those enemies of our Great Tang... This matter is extraordinary. I originally wanted Governor Yang to report this matter to his superiors and inform the imperial court as soon as possible, but there were simply too many missing people, and we struggled to explain the cause, so it was put on hold. Now that the Holy Monk is here, we can finally have some hope. I suspect that this matter should be the work of ghosts and gods that transcend human imagination, and is not something that human power can achieve... Holy Monk, am I guessing correctly?"

Di Renjie's words were clear and logical, and he grasped some minute details very accurately, definitely not comparable to ordinary officials. Even Governor Yang felt that he had gained a lot of face.

Tang Ku frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then said, "I roughly know... Hmm, actually, as you said, this matter should be man-made. But for now, there is no need to report it. Hmm... Governor Yang, leave this matter to this Poor Monk. But to solve this case, I still need the help of this Official Di. I would like to borrow him from you for a few days. What do you think?"

Governor Yang was overjoyed, almost moved to tears, "Finally, someone is willing to share our worries... This imperial envoy monk... what a good person!"