Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 203 So Ruthless
While Huang was in a daze, Wang Yan finished questioning the three people.

The three men stared intently at the note that had been handed to them; what was written on the note would determine their fate.

Finally, Wang Yan unfolded the note, and after a moment, he looked at Sang Dian beside him.

The three of them were pulled aside together.

Knife up and down.

The eunuch Huang forgot the pain of the arrow wound and instead grinned and squinted his eyes.

It was too bloody; he couldn't bear to watch it.

Hearing the sound of someone falling to the ground, the eunuch Huang couldn't help but glance at them.

Oh dear, he saw two round heads fall to the ground.

The three men killed two of them, and the third man stood there trembling, his face full of confusion and fear, clearly not expecting to survive.

Wang Yan looked at the living craftsman: "You are right about one thing. Last February, you transported 30,000 arrowheads to Baozhou, but in fact only 10,000 were delivered."

Wang Yan asked, "Daming Prefecture used twenty mule carts, but what were more than a dozen of them carrying?"

The craftsman learned why he had survived, all because of this one sentence. They seemed to be able to discern the truth or falsehood in every word he uttered.

The craftsman's legs went weak: "Brocade."

Wang Yan pressed further, "Where did this brocade come from?"

The craftsman trembled: "We don't know either, it's all...it's all..."

The craftsman looked at Tan Xiang, but dared not say another word.

Wang Yan stopped asking questions, and Sang Dian reached out and pressed down on the craftsman's shoulder, causing the craftsman to immediately slump down.

The craftsman was not killed in the end, but was left aside. The craftsman, who had escaped death, was in tears and trembling uncontrollably.

Sangdian then captured another craftsman and brought him over.

After killing three people, the craftsmen were already deathly pale.

Sangdian took the cloth ball out of the craftsman's mouth. Before the craftsman could speak, he started vomiting, vomiting for a long time as if he wanted to vomit up all his bile.

However, he didn't keep Wang Yan waiting for long before pleading, "Your Excellency... it's not that we won't say... it's that... we dare not say."

“It is a capital offense for us to buy and sell goods through the arsenal... Our families are also being held hostage... We will die whether we speak out or not... If we don't speak out... Fortunately, our families will still have a way to live.”

Wang Yan's gaze was deep, showing no sympathy for the craftsman. He said indifferently, "I will report to the Emperor that those who were killed tonight were plotting rebellion and their families should be held accountable."

The craftsman's eyes widened.

Therefore, even if they don't reveal the truth, their clansmen will die. Moreover, it's a heinous crime of treason... there won't be a single survivor in the clan.

That angel is so cruel.

The craftsman was utterly despondent and fell silent. Sang Dian, however, gave him no time to think and grabbed him by the collar.

“I said…” the craftsman said in shock, “When goods were transported between the two arms workshops, each workshop kept 10% of the profits, and the rest were all taken by the army.”

The craftsman took a deep breath: "Usually, it's the commander and deputy commander who come to give us instructions."

“They won’t tell us the truth, but we’ve been doing this for a while, so we can guess pretty much what’s going on. Armor workshops have all sorts of accounts, and arrowheads actually refer to brocade, armor plates to tea, leather to… salt, and miscellaneous items could be anything.”

“The furthest we’ve ever sent goods north was to Dingzhou Armory. I remember it was last May. The accounts listed it as armor pieces, but it was actually tea.”

Upon hearing this, Tan Xiang, who was standing nearby, began to struggle.

Wang Yan asked, "Do other military equipment workshops keep records like this?" The craftsman lowered his head and replied, "At least the military equipment workshops in Daming Prefecture do." They would know this so clearly because they were naturally eyeing the money from selling their goods.

Although they were given some money each time, it was ultimately too little.

They had secretly considered using this to blackmail Commander Feng into giving them more money, but they didn't dare. After all, they were cheap lives, constantly on the move, and too easily killed.

but……

The craftsman pointed to the soldiers: "Those Wednesday came to us... wanting to join forces with us to ask Commander Feng for money. They know quite a bit about this."

On Wednesday, when the craftsman pointed at him, his eyes revealed hatred, clearly resentful of being betrayed by the craftsman.

But the craftsmen couldn't care less about that now.

Since his entire clan is going to die, what is there for him to fear?
I was brought here on Wednesday.

The cloth bundle that had just been taken out of his mouth, Zhou San said, “Your Excellency… every time we escort goods to the north… we entrust them to the people of Hu Yue Village. The craftsmen in the military workshop have never delivered goods that far because the commander does not trust them. But we have been to that village, which is located within Zhengding Prefecture. I am willing to lead the court to find that village. As agreed, we must go to the village to deliver the goods. In the past, the village delivered salt and silver, but now the court is strictly inspecting, and the commander only wants silver, spices, and medicinal herbs.”

"If we arrive in time, we will definitely be able to find those goods in the village. Just now, Deputy Commander Tan spoke in a hurry, he must have wanted to cover this up and tell some lies so that the angels... would find nothing."

In order to survive, he would also point out other people.

Tan Xiang had stopped struggling at some point, and even more cold sweat was pouring down his forehead. He had killed Feng Chuan, naturally fearing that Feng Chuan would reveal the truth, but he still hadn't been able to stabilize the situation.

Or perhaps he knew that the angel only wanted one person: if Feng Chuan lived, he would be the one to die.

After struggling with all his might, Tan Xiang finally managed to spit out the wad of cloth from his mouth.

“Wang Shitian…I can testify…it was the magistrate who instructed us to frame the He family.”

If he could testify alive, Wang Yan could exonerate the He family. Given the kinship ties between the He and Wang families, it was impossible for Wang Yan not to be tempted.

The magistrate used the fifth master of the He family to drag the entire He clan into trouble.

“There’s no framing,” Wang Yan said. “Would the He family not know where the brocade was being transported? Since they knew that selling smuggled goods violated the laws of the court, they should be punished accordingly.”

Tan Xiang looked surprised. Wasn't it said that Wang Yan and He Tan were as close as brothers? Why was he showing no mercy at all?
So this is useless.

Tan Xiang was unwilling to give up: "I beg the angels... to show me a way to live. Even if I... am going to die, I'd be willing to spare my family's lives."

Wang Yan looked at Feng Chuan's corpse: "You used the court's people to smuggle goods, personally killed the commander, and you still want your clansmen to live?"

"unless……"

Wang Yan's voice grew even colder: "You can do what Commander Feng cannot."

Tan Xiang's gaze shifted several times. He didn't know what Wang Yan was talking about, but for the sake of his children, he firmly said, "I can."

After Tan Xiang finished speaking...

Several ledgers were handed out from inside the room; they were all the yin-yang ledgers that Xie Yuyan had selected.

Wang Yan handed the accounts to Eunuch Huang: "I trouble you to leave Daming Prefecture now and go to the capital to report this."

The eunuch Huang nodded repeatedly: "I will definitely hand these over to the imperial family."

The accounts are physical evidence, and he is a witness. As long as the imperial family knows about the crisis in Daming Prefecture, they will send someone to rescue Wang Yan.

“But,” said Eunuch Huang, “how am I supposed to get out of the city?”

Wang Yan looked at Tan Xiang.

Tan Xiang understood, and his pupils contracted even more.