Chapter 1700 - 309

The courtyard layout, with a square overhead and a circular canal below, though it hasn't rained, the water curtain is unbroken, and a lotus jar placed in the central area emits wisps of white smoke.

It looks beautiful, but also brings waves of cold air, making one unaware of the summer heat while in this place.

Tan Wenbin touched the jar surface with his hand and sighed, "Brother Xiao Yuan, can Mr. Li's family manage to get one of these too?"

"They can, but you'd first have to persuade Grandmaster to demolish the yard and house, dig three more feet deep into the foundation for the array materials, and do minor repairs every year with major ones every three years."

Tan Wenbin: "Does it cost that much? The Zhao family is truly extravagant."

"Their old residence on the mountain could easily form an array by borrowing the mountain's terrain, but now that they want to hide in the city, the cost is certainly much higher."

"Then, Brother Xiao Yuan, did they relocate specifically to the city because they anticipated future trouble and got nervous?"

"Ding..."

The bell at the door rang, indicating someone was coming in from outside.

Tan Wenbin returned to his posture as the second house master, lifting his chin, his gaze dispassionate.

Li Zhiyuan remained motionless, continuing to sit on a small stool, watching the leaves drifting away in the small canal in front of him: "It's Zhao Yi."

Tan Wenbin relaxed, used his pinky to clean his ear, feeling a bit self-conscious.

Thanks to that white centipede, his hearing was better than Brother Xiao Yuan's, but for "perception," merely having a "feeling" isn't enough; one's mind also needs the corresponding "knowledge."

Zhao Yi is now disguised as Zhao Xu, even changing his walking habits.

Tan Wenbin's memory database didn't update in time.

Zhao Yi pushed the door open, then turned to close it.

"Li, something's happened!"

"Outer team leader, something's happened!"

The two spoke in unison.

Zhao Yi: "Have you also encountered a fake?"

Tan Wenbin: "Your second aunt is fake."

Zhao Yi nodded.

Tan Wenbin: "What fake did you discover over there."

Zhao Yi: "Ha, you might not believe it when I say it."

Li Zhiyuan: "Is it your dad or your mom?"

Zhao Yi: "Li, can't you let me set it up a bit first?"

Li Zhiyuan: "Alright, set it up."

Upon hearing the second aunt was fake, Zhao Yi was not surprised, indicating that the fake found on his side must have been more shocking; apart from his dad and mom, there was no one else.

Zhao Yi pulled out a stool and sat facing Li Zhiyuan across the small canal:

"My dad and mom are both fake."

Tan Wenbin squatted beside Zhao Yi and asked, "Are your real parents kidnapped and held somewhere secret?"

Zhao Yi looked at Tan Wenbin and said, "Deputy team, there's no need to be so subtle."

Tan Wenbin: "In matters like this, even if you're the best of friends, it's not suitable to be too aggressive right away."

Zhao Yi: "Think about how we got the human skin on our faces; I think my parents have already been recruited by Fengdu ahead of time."

Tan Wenbin: "My condolences."

Zhao Yi touched his pocket, took out a few coins and a piece of red paper, wrapped the coins, and handed it to Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin accepted it.

Then, Zhao Yi looked at Li Zhiyuan: "Li, do you want it?"

Li Zhiyuan ignored him.

Zhao Yi: "Ah, I even told my second uncle, secretly let him go to the Underworld to choose officials first, I reckon my second uncle's cursing me down there now."

Tan Wenbin: "Your second uncle would understand, after all, the benefits surely go to family first."

Zhao Yi: "Mm, hearing you say that, I feel better."

Li Zhiyuan: "Is the ethics joke over?"

Zhao Yi lit a cigarette and said, "Oh, how big a deal is it."

Li Zhiyuan: "Can we get to the point now."

Zhao Yi exhaled a smoke ring and said, "Cui Xinyue, Chen Cui'er, Zhao Heming... when you find several cockroaches in your home, it means there's actually a nest."

Tan Wenbin: "Outer team, are you worried that right now you're the only real one in the entire Zhao family?"

Zhao Yi tugged at the skin on his face: "No, even I am fake."

Li Zhiyuan: "Replacement ratio."

Zhao Yi: "I've met the eldest son's two sons, they seem normal, no change, but if my parents hadn't exposed any flaws, there would seem nothing out of the ordinary.

But regardless, they couldn't have replaced the whole clan, including the servants, because a force capable of doing this wouldn't have needed to do so.

Therefore, preliminarily deduce, the replaced targets should be my Zhao family core members, the four houses of this generation.

Additional condition, the day after tomorrow is the Family Head's, my grandfather's birthday, and he will take the four houses' people to the old mountain residence for ancestor worship.

Previously, Grandfather disliked the noise of too many children, so he set a rule that each house could take at most two children, meaning those of my generation.

This rule, even though many of my generation have grown up now, hasn't changed in these years."

Li Zhiyuan: "Hard to enter the old mountain residence?"

Zhao Yi: "For you, it's certainly not hard, but in this world, not everyone has the skills to change locks under the Great Emperor's nose."

Tan Wenbin: "So, their purpose in replacing the Zhao family core members is to access the Zhao Family Mountain's old residence?"

Zhao Yi: "My Zhao family graves are also within the old residence's array coverage, oh, and of course, there's the treasure vault too."

Tan Wenbin: "I remember you said there's one in the city too?"

Zhao Yi: "Everything in the city is a replica of the old residence, and there is indeed a treasure vault, located beneath the museum, but the real essence is still in the mountains."

Li Zhiyuan: "Their objective isn't for wealth."

Zhao Yi: "Indeed, that would be overkill."

Li Zhiyuan: "Identity confirmation."