Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 35 Frankness
The gaze that was cast upon them was like a cluster of light shining in the dark night, impossible to ignore.

It's Wang Hechun.

Xie Yuyan's lips curled up slightly, a smile that vanished in an instant.

She knew that Wang Hechun would notice her actions at this time.

She borrowed power from He Tan, how could Wang Hechun not have noticed? Besides, she didn't intend to hide it; this was exactly the result she wanted.

It's not easy to lie to smart people, so it's better to openly take advantage of each other and avoid obstacles.

Before she was on this ship, she needed to conceal her identity, but now the situation is different...

This was not the time for her to speak with Wang Hechun. The two looked away from each other almost simultaneously, as if they had never tried to meet or exchange glances.

Xie Yuyan looked at Master Du on the ground again.

Grandpa Du had his eyes closed, his breathing was slightly rapid, and he was not quite lucid.

Xie Yuyan had seen this kind of illness many times, and she casually reminded him, "The Du family patriarch has arrived."

Grandpa Du, who was slumped over, felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water. His eyelids twitched immediately. He pinched the soft flesh on the inside of his thigh and forced himself to regain his senses.

He really did faint, leaving his son to face all of this. When he wakes up again, he will surely be in prison.

After a long, heavy breath, Master Du opened his eyes, but what came into view was the Xie family, who terrified him. Xie family had a beautiful face, but in his eyes she was more ferocious than the Rakshasa demon.

Old Master Du forced himself to look around, but there was no sign of his eldest son.
He was deceived.

Grandpa Du's face immediately turned red, and he coughed violently. After his breathing calmed down a bit, Grandpa Du had to face the current situation.

Now that things have come to this, there's no going back on what's been said. He now needs to figure out how to secure a way out for the Du family.

Old Master Yang still held onto a sliver of hope that Old Master Du would faint and shut up, at least giving him a chance to catch his breath. But then Xie interfered again, which only fueled his hatred for her.

Old Master Du crawled a few steps, trembling, to He Tan's feet: "Inspector, in the past two years, the Yang family... did help us... sell goods, but they gave us money before."

He Tan's face was cold and stern: "Is this the only year the Yang family has given you goods?"

Bartering is a common practice among border residents.

The truckloads of goods that the Yang family shipped out are long gone, but if we can confirm with the Du family what the Yang family received in return, we can deduce where the Yang family sold the goods.

Old Master Du's lips trembled, unsure whether he should speak, for it was, after all, a much bigger crime.

"The Second Master gave you the goods because it's hard to sell this year, right?" Xie Yuyan added fuel to the fire. "With the current crackdown on contraband so strict, isn't it extremely dangerous to keep them in your hands? Besides, whether this business can still be done or not, we have to arrest a few people and throw them out to test the waters."

At this point, Xie Yuyan looked at Master Du again: "Even if this matter is not exposed today, the court will find out about you sooner or later, unless you have already destroyed those things."

of course not.

He sold some, and kept some hidden in the Du family's possession.

Grandpa Du's head was throbbing with pain. He didn't know whether to worry about the Du family's possessions or to resent Grandpa Yang.

He thought the Yang family was finally willing to give them even greater benefits, but it turned out they were just playing them and pushing him out to be the scapegoat.

Standing not far away, Yang Mingjing looked at Master Du's appearance and suddenly felt that he looked familiar. It was as if a thread had grown out of them, and the other end of the thread was held in Xie's hand.

Xie only needed to lift a finger to make them do whatever he wanted, and then... they had to do it.

“It’s Qingbai salt,” Old Master Du said resolutely. “Yang Mingshan personally delivered it to the Du family. I sold about fifty catties, and there are still several hundred catties hidden away…”

The Western Xia Dynasty was rich in bluish-white salt, which was inexpensive and had little bitterness. Among the foreign goods that the imperial court explicitly prohibited from being traded among the people, bluish-white salt was the first one.

Upon hearing this, Old Master Yang broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly stopped Old Master Du, saying, "If you're determined to frame someone, you can always find a pretext. Don't try to smear the Yang family. The Yang family gave us money, not some smuggled goods. What 'blue and white salt'? I've never seen it." As soon as he said this, Old Master Yang's eyes widened. He realized he had made a mistake. In his eagerness to distance himself from the blue and white salt, he admitted that the Yang family had helped the Du family transport goods.

“We didn’t sell goods to the Northwest, we just… sold them to Shaanxi Road. Even if you have salt in your home,” Old Master Yang said in a trembling voice, trying to salvage the situation, “you got those yourself, it has nothing to do with the Yang family.”

A mysterious smile appeared on Old Master Du's face: "I'm not stupid enough to let you do whatever you want. You dare to say you have no dealings with the people from the west? I saw them at your estate."

At this point, Master Du looked at He Tan: "I don't know if that person is still on the estate, but I've heard him speak, and his accent is that of someone from the Northwest... or at least someone who has lived there for a long time... If the inspector can arrest him and interrogate him thoroughly, he will know whether what I said is true or false."

Grandpa Du couldn't recall much more at the moment, but he was certain that the man was no ordinary person.

Old Master Yang could no longer hold on, and his body finally went limp. The imperial court already knew about the manor outside the north city. Even he didn't know if the fourth son's family had hidden anything there, but... there was indeed a man from the northwest living in the manor, who would always help guide them when they came and went with their goods.

This time, the man followed them to Daming Prefecture, but did not leave in a hurry. He was probably trying to find out the current situation in Daming Prefecture.

“It seems we’ve made quite a haul this time,” He Tan said, looking at Old Master Yang. “Old Master is getting on in years and might not remember clearly. Why don’t we go to the yamen with you and ask Yang Mingshan properly?”

Old Master Yang's shoulders began to tremble. He thought he would be able to rescue his fourth son soon, but he never expected that he would be taken away with him today.

The father and son were actually going to meet in prison.

……

"What are you doing? Let go of my grandmother."

Yang Ji's voice came from outside the door, followed by the two old ladies' hoarse shouts: "What happened? This is my house... Why won't you let me in?"

Xie Yuyan could tell that Yang Ji hadn't seen the two old masters come out for a long time, so he instigated the two old ladies.

However, it's a bit too late.

He Tan's gaze darkened: "Since you're so eager to come and hear the news, then take us to the patrol office as well."

The soldiers responded.

The other elderly people in the room looked at each other, not daring to breathe, hoping that He Tan would forget about them so that they could go home.

He Tan, who had already reached the door, suddenly turned back: "Once their clan chief arrives, send them all to the yamen. They are involved in smuggling foreign goods, so we must investigate them thoroughly."

"My lord, I'm innocent! My lord..."

The elders all knelt down, but He Tan strode out of the Yang family's main hall.

The soldiers helped up Old Master Yang and Old Master Du and followed them out.

Xie Yuyan stood in the room until everyone left, leaving only her and Wang Hechun sitting in a chair.

The door was closed.

Wang Hechun said, "Please sit down, Madam Xie!"

His voice was calm yet tinged with a hint of aloofness; someone else might have been startled.

Xie Yuyan walked over leisurely and sat down next to Wang Hechun.

Without beating around the bush, Wang Hechun raised his eyes and met Xie Yuyan's gaze again: "Madam Xie helped the yamen solve this case, and the yamen should reward you. What does Madam want?"

Xie Yuyan did not dodge, and at this moment a glint flashed in her eyes: "Didn't the adults already give it to me? After sending away Second Master Yang and Fourth Master, I can take over the household smoothly. This is enough."

"So what's next? What else do you want?" Wang Hechun was not surprised by Xie Yuyan's frankness.

Xie Yuyan's lips curved into a smile again: "Yong'an Ward and the entire Daming Prefecture."

(End of this chapter)