Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 262 Clues
He Tan and Wang Yan had Jiao Da investigated, but they only found that Jiao Da was related to Han Tong and his group. Jiao Da's name was indeed not found in the official register of the government office.

It is true that the imperial court conscripted soldiers from Jiaoda Village, but there were also many people who paid money to evade military service. Since the man did not have a copy of the old armor book, it could not be proven that he had any connection with the army.

"The chronology records we saw before were fake."

In order to deal with He Tan, Daming Prefecture deliberately fabricated these documents.

Now that Prefect Liu is dead, those officials know they can't deny it, so they found the real register of years.

Wang Yan mounted his horse and hurried toward the government office. Sang Dian did not dare to delay and continued, "Jiao Da joined the army in the fifth year of Zhiping. Later, he went to the Weisheng Army. Because of his natural strength and skill in throwing spears, he was promoted and given important positions."

Weisheng Army.

A cold glint flashed in Wang Yan's eyes. It seemed that Prefect Liu's case involved more people than just these.

But they will try every means to exonerate themselves.

Right now, the court will only arrest the ringleaders. Most of the officials who followed Prefect Liu and others and embezzled money will be demoted and have their salaries reduced. As long as they are not in danger of losing their lives, they will deny it as much as possible, and you will never get the truth out of them.

Wang Yan said, "Xie Qi has met Jiao Da. Call him over."

“I’ve already sent someone to call them,” Sang Dian said.

Knowing that the case involved Madam Xie, he knew it couldn't be delayed, and he had already made all the necessary arrangements before coming over.

In fact, Xie Qi didn't know much. At the time, he was trying to find evidence of collusion between the Xie family and the government. He was paying attention to those who had visited the Xie family and felt that Jiao Da was a bit suspicious.

The fact that the Xie family bought the corpse from Jiao Da proves that they were in cahoots. The only difference was that the Xie family transported smuggled goods, while Jiao Da trafficked people.

Wang Yan's expression was somber: "The young women of Chenyao Village were once abducted."

“You mean,” Sang Dian said, “that those women were sold through Jiao Da?”

Wang Yan said, "Jiao Da's act of looting and selling was by no means accidental. We don't need to wait for news from the Weisheng Army. We should bring out all the officers above the rank of captain in the prison for interrogation."

Sang Dian responded.

Now that Jiao Da has returned to Daming Prefecture, he must be associating with those people. How could Jiao Da alone bring so many women out of Daliang?
Upon arriving at the yamen, Sang Dian immediately began arranging the interrogation.

For the prisoners in jail, tonight is destined to be exceptionally difficult.

……

When Xie Zishao arrived at the yamen prison, he was immediately hit by a foul stench.

It smelled of blood, stench, and burnt flesh.

Most prisoners lose control of their bladder when subjected to severe torture, and only in this way can their mental state be rapidly broken down.

Wang Yan sat in the chair in the center, saying nothing, but the aura of majesty and killing intent emanating from him was chilling to behold.

Xie Zishao couldn't help but shudder. It was hard to imagine that this Lord Wang was the same person he had met at Baode Temple earlier that day.

Tan Xiang, standing next to Wang Yan, couldn't help but tremble.

After spending a night in jail, he was no longer the glamorous man he once was. Although he wasn't the one being interrogated, just looking at him made him think about his own future.

Wang Yan's intercession on his behalf will save his life, but if he does something wrong and offends this angel, he will be immediately re-convicted.

Tan Xiang could sense that Wang Yan was in a bad mood today.

Clearly, the human trafficking incident had angered Wang Yan.

Xie Zishao stepped forward.

Wang Yan said calmly, "You investigated Jiao Da. In a moment, see if any of these people have ever associated with Jiao Da." Smuggling goods is different from human trafficking; the latter is even more abhorrent, so the fewer people who know about it, the better.

This is not the main business of Prefect Liu and his associates; it's just to curry favor with the local lords. If we investigate further, it may involve deeper interests.

Therefore, even if someone knows some inside information, they will not easily confess.

Wang Yan turned his gaze to Tan Xiang again.

Tan Xiang's legs went weak and he almost knelt down. He hurriedly said, "I really don't know about these things. Either I've only been in Daming Prefecture for a short time, or I haven't... haven't fully gained Feng Chuan's trust yet."

Feng Chuan must have known, but who killed him? In order to save his own life, Tan Xiang decisively attacked Feng Chuan.

He made the right choice. Without Feng Chuan, he could stay by Wang Yan's side and make contributions. But it would be difficult to save his life.

The screams continued, and the jailers, without stopping, used almost every trick in the book to keep the prisoners teetering on the brink of life and death.

After another round of interrogation, Xie Zishao stepped forward.

Among the kneeling prisoners, one of them began to tremble uncontrollably, terrified that the feet would stop in front of him.

When his body and mind were on the verge of collapse, his brain also stopped working. He really couldn't remember whether he had seen Master Xie when he was with Jiao Da.

Those feet never reached him, but he could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.

He didn't know when, but everyone around him was taken away, leaving him alone. Then he saw the scarlet official robe and Wang Yan with deep eyes.

A civil official was more terrifying than a military general.

The general said in a trembling voice, "I don't know much either; I just follow Commander Feng's orders."

Wang Yan's arrangements worked.

In fact, Xie Zishao had never met anyone other than Jiao Da, but those with a guilty conscience are unaware of this and are always worried that they might give themselves away at some point.

"Do you have a wife, daughters, or sisters?" Wang Yan's deep voice rang out.

He immediately understood something and the general hurriedly said, "I already said, as long as the women in the family are not harmed." If the women in the family were to be reduced to a lowly status, that would be more cruel than killing them.

Moreover, having committed the crime of abducting and selling women, no matter how the women in one's household are punished, no one will feel any pity for them.

Wang Yan stopped speaking, and the general said, "Jiao Da met Han Tong in Weisheng Army. At that time, Han Tong obtained evidence of smuggling goods by Daming Army and wanted to go to the capital to file a complaint. Jiao Da gained Han Tong's trust and went with Han Tong and others, but secretly sent someone to Daming Prefecture to report the news."

"The reason why Han Tong and his gang were lured to Xingren Prefecture and captured in one fell swoop was because Jiao Da cooperated from the inside and outside."

"After Han Tong and others were killed, it was Jiao Da who revealed that Han Tong had been hiding in Chenyao Village, which led to the massacre of Chenyao Village. As a reward, the commander at the time, Xu Renyuan, assigned Jiao Da the task of selling women from Chenyao Village."

"After that, Jiao Da continued to do this kind of work. After Xu Renyuan was promoted, Jiao Da came under Feng Chuan's command."

Wang Yan asked, "Does the Xie family know about this?"

The general shook his head: "The Xie family knows that Jiao Da is involved in some shady dealings, but they don't know that Jiao Da is working for the army."

Wang Yan took another step forward, and the general felt the oppressive aura coming from above, causing him to tremble even more violently.

"Did you kill Jiao Da?"

The general swallowed hard: "It was... it was Commander Feng who sent someone to get rid of him. He said... Inspector He came to Daming Prefecture and was afraid he would find out about Jiao Da's affairs, so... he took action."

What else do you know?

The general racked his brains, fearing that Wang Yan would not be satisfied: "I... I also know that Jiao Da had an accident the last time he sold women... He said... two people almost escaped on the way, but thanks to his vigilance, he caught them and brought them back, but he accidentally killed one of them."

“A day later, I was drinking with Jiao Da, and he brought up the matter again, saying... “This trip was a bit strange. There were supposed to be seventeen women, but there were two extras. He thought the kidnappers over there had counted the wrong people, but now it seems there might be something else going on. He should go back to Kaifeng Prefecture to investigate.”