Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 269 Attention
The county government office of Daming County.

Xu Huaiyi was sitting at his desk handling official business when he soon discovered a lot of files that had suddenly appeared. He called the clerk over to inquire about them.

The clerk said, "These are the confessions that were just extracted from the prison last night. Those soldiers, in addition to selling goods privately, also sold women to the Western Barbarians."

“This morning, the villagers of Chenyao Village came to the government office to report to the authorities.”

Xu Huaiyi said, "Is it all for those women who were abducted?"

The clerk nodded: "Lord Wang said before that we should continue the investigation. If we can find out where those people are, we should try to bring them back to their hometowns. They are all innocent people. Some of them were abducted shortly after giving birth, leaving behind a child. The villagers helped raise the child, but they couldn't keep it alive."

"Even the adults aren't eating, let alone the children. How could a child so young, separated from its mother, possibly survive?"

“Those people are all-powerful. We even investigated the matter in Chenyao Village, but since it involved bandits, the government took over.”

Fearing he might cause trouble for his master, the clerk quickly explained the situation.

Xu Huaiyi nodded: "I remember there was a similar case of abduction and trafficking in Daming Prefecture before."

The clerk immediately knew which case Xu Huaiyi was referring to: "Are you referring to the case of Yang Xie?"

Xu Huaiyi said, "She was the woman who was sold to the Xie family to marry into the Yang family."

The clerk said, "Your Excellency is truly astute; you've gotten right to the heart of the matter with just one question. That case was orchestrated by those military officers who instructed Jiao Da to commit it."

The case hasn't been thoroughly investigated yet, so the clerks only dare to mention the military officers. As for whether Prefect Liu and others were involved, that's a matter for their superiors to worry about.

Xu Huaiyi tapped the case file: "Last night, we also found a woman who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery?"

The clerk was taken aback, and hurriedly looked at the case files, then said awkwardly, "There have been too many case files lately, I haven't had time to look at them carefully yet."

It was only mentioned briefly in a long and detailed account, and it's really hard to understand without careful reading.

When the woman was found, she had many wounds on her body. The yamen doctor went to treat her, but could not save her. Because of this incident, the military officer was still being interrogated.

"Is the Xie family of Daming Prefecture related to these things?" Xu Huaiyi asked the clerk.

The clerk replied, "I don't know. The cases are piled up and need to be sorted out one by one. I haven't asked about these yet."

Xu Huaiyi nodded: "If you need my help, just come and ask me."

The clerk dared not order his superiors around in Bianjing, and bowed with a fawning smile: "I'll have to trouble you then, sir."

After the clerk left, Xu Huaiyi continued to review the case files.

Wherever Wang Yan was, things were always arranged properly, and everything in the government office was in good order, leaving him with no room for error. Even lazy clerks elsewhere dared not take advantage of the situation.

Every day, all the tasks performed by the officials had to be signed and stamped and presented to Wang Yan. Wang Yan not only saw them but also remembered them clearly. When he asked about a certain matter, he would go directly to the official in charge.

The case files handed to Xu Huaiyi all required review by the Ministry of Personnel. Xu Huaiyi had handled other cases before, and not only were all the documents mixed together, but many files were riddled with errors, clearly the result of his subordinates' shoddy work. He pointed out the mistakes, causing a group of officials to complain bitterly and privately give him the nickname "troublemaker," all of which Xu Huaiyi was aware of.

If all officials were like Wang Yan, why would he have to act this way?
This gave him plenty of time to carefully examine the case files. The cases in Daming Prefecture were intricately intertwined, involving collusion between merchants and officials. Logically, Wang Yan and the others should have been focusing on investigating Prefect Liu, so why were they suddenly asking about these things?
Was it really a sudden confession from a military officer?
Xu Huaiyi decided to go and see for himself, so he made up an excuse to go to the yamen prison. The details that weren't written in the case file were the purpose of his trip.

Overnight, the interrogated general was covered in wounds, and the old servant who guarded the general's courtyard was also captured.

The old servant has confessed everything. The general has harmed at least five women in Daming Prefecture. They were all bought from Jiao Da. This man takes pleasure in torturing women. The woman discovered yesterday was tortured for the longest time.

The generals were so afraid that the women would commit suicide that they would knock out their teeth in advance. If they encountered someone who had bitten her tongue to commit suicide, they would simply burn off the wound with a branding iron to prevent her from bleeding to death.

However, the last woman was different. When the general brought her back, she was covered in wounds, which should have been inflicted by Jiao Da.

Xu Huaiyi suddenly felt that there was something fishy about the case.

The kidnapper should have done everything possible to ensure the safety of the woman in his possession. Each woman was worth a sum of money, so why would he beat her instead? There must be more to the story.

Jiao Da has caused quite a stir this time, not only bringing someone back to life but also keeping a woman in his grasp. Xu Huaiyi feels that Jiao Da should be thoroughly investigated.

They also found out why Wang Yan suddenly became involved in the case.

Furthermore, he had always felt that Yang Xie was unusual, and with so many reasons coming together, Xu Huaiyi could not ignore them.

Let's start with Jiao Da's portrait. Xu Huaiyi thinks we can use our informants to investigate where Jiao Da has been and where the women in his possession come from.

Xu Huaiyi walked out of the prison and was about to go to the market to get some food when he saw a long line of people in front of a shop in the distance.

"What are they doing?" Xu Huaiyi asked someone.

"The Yang family's clay stove shop," the old man said with a smile, "is where everyone is buying clay stoves."

Xu Huaiyi had heard of the Yang family's clay stoves: "Didn't they say they didn't have any left to sell?"

“That was before,” the old man said. “Madam Xie was falsely accused of not being at home, and there was no one to take charge. Now that Madam Xie has returned, the shop has naturally reopened. The Yang family has moved all the clay stoves they had stored over. I heard that it won’t be long before everyone can buy whatever they want.”

Seeing Xu Huaiyi's confusion, the old man laughed and said, "Because many kiln craftsmen in our Daming Prefecture have gone to work for Madam Xie, several kilns have been relit today and started firing clay kilns."

“These clay stoves must be good,” said someone who knew the inside story. “I heard that the lady of the house ranked the craftsmen into three classes: superior, middle, and inferior. How can that be done? You can’t just say it.”

"That requires three veteran craftsmen to inspect the ceramics fired by the other craftsmen and rank them according to their skill level. You can imagine how much effort the craftsmen put into firing the ceramics. That's why everyone wants to buy ceramics fired at that time."

"I also heard that the Buddhist porcelain used in the Dharma assembly at Baode Temple in a few days was also made by Madam Xie."

As the two people talked, more people gathered around.

With little to do in the winter, everyone enjoys joining in the fun, and the news quickly spread throughout Daming Prefecture.

Xu Huaiyi looked at the Yang family's shop. It seemed he had to go to the Dharma assembly to meet that Madam Xie. If he could follow Jiao Da's clues to find out Madam Xie's identity, that would be the best outcome.