Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 413 Intentional Homicide

Xie Chengrang had already planned it out. Now was the time for the Dali Temple to collect written evidence and confessions. His written evidence was crucial to convicting Weng Yi and others, so Cai Zheng and Xu Huaiyi would definitely be able to use it.

The yamen took away this evidence, which confirmed that he was not an accomplice of Weng Yi and others.

After writing the last character, Xie Chengrang breathed a sigh of relief, decisively signed his name, and handed it to the clerk next to him. After the clerk left, Xie Chengrang did nothing else but obediently leaned against the corner, waiting for the yamen's decision.

Unlike Xia Ziqiao, whose family would pull strings for him, Xie Yizhi, upon hearing of his misfortune, would only plead with the court to conduct a thorough investigation and punish him severely. Having finally found an opportunity to demonstrate his impartiality and integrity, he naturally wouldn't let it slip by.

Xie Chengrang closed his eyes, and the image of a person gradually appeared in his mind: the Xie family of Daming Prefecture.

The Guo family's fleet just happened to be passing by and helped the government arrest Manager Li; there was nothing suspicious about it. But he just couldn't stop thinking about it.

It's possible that the timing of the Guo family's fleet appearance was just right.

Is it really just a coincidence?
Xie Chengrang frowned. He was likely to leave unscathed this time, but the Xia family was in deep trouble. The path he had painstakingly paved was just waiting for a final push, so he could take his elder brother's place in the marriage alliance with the Xia family.

But if Minister Xia's career is hindered and the Xia family's status is not as good as before, how much benefit can he gain from marrying Second Sister Xia?

It could easily become a burden.

He might have to give up the Xia family and find himself a better wife.

……

Xia Mengxian looked at the hourglass on the table. After being summoned to the palace, he waited in the duty room for the emperor to summon him. Three hours had passed without him realizing it. The guards around the emperor came several times, saying that the emperor was still discussing matters with several ministers and asked him to wait patiently.

As darkness fell, Xia Mengxian frowned, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Rather than waiting to meet the emperor, it was more about isolating him from the outside world.

Xia Mengxian stood up and walked out, bumping right into the guard who was about to enter.

The eunuch immediately asked, "Where is Minister Xia going?"

Xia Mengxian frowned: "There are still many official duties in the yamen. Since Your Majesty is busy, I will go and arrange the official duties first, and then go to the palace to wait."

“That won’t do,” the eunuch said. “If His Majesty finds out, he will punish us.”

He paused slightly at this point, then said, "I think the discussion over there is almost over, and it will be Minister Xia's turn soon."

Xia Mengxian took a deep breath, trying to discern something from the eunuchs' faces, but these eunuchs always wore the same expression, whether in public or private.

However, Xia Mengxian is now 80% certain that there is a problem with the Ministry of Justice, and that the Emperor's actions are intentional.

As Xia Mengxian was pondering, he heard the voice of the eunuch in charge: "Minister Xia, His Majesty summons you."

Xia Mengxian followed the eunuch and walked until they reached the Chuigong Hall. By then, it was completely dark, but the hall was brightly lit.

The eunuch escorted the attendant into the main hall to report, while Xia Mengxian waited outside.

The curtain was lifted, and voices coming from inside the hall could be heard. It sounded like a woman. Xia Mengxian frowned. The Chuigong Hall was where the emperor summoned his ministers to discuss state affairs. How could there be a woman there? Could it be that the Cining Palace had been revived and was now interfering in state affairs again?

Xia Mengxian listened carefully, and the words gradually came into his ears.

"At that time, Master Shen was the prefect of Jiangning. He arrested many members of the Holy Sect, so the Holy Sect devised a plan to kidnap the two young masters of the Shen family to blackmail Master Shen, but they never had the chance. Then, during the Lantern Festival, they discovered that Fourth Madam Shen had gone out to see the lanterns. It was a coincidence that there was a disturbance in the market that night, and we took the opportunity to kidnap Fourth Madam Shen." Xia Mengxian was surprised to hear this. Fourth Madam Shen had been missing, and the Shen family had searched everywhere without success. Now, the Shen family had finally found her?
He was quickly startled again. The "Holy Sect" mentioned by the people in the main hall—wasn't that the Demonic Sect? Xu Huaiyi had just captured the members of the Demonic Sect today, and the palace was already talking about this matter; there must be some connection between them.

Xia Mengxian seemed to understand why he had been summoned to the palace for several hours. If he hadn't investigated, it might have caused a major incident in the Ministry of Justice.

The curtain was lifted, and the eunuch came out. He seemed not to see the anxious expression on Xia Mengxian's face, but simply stepped forward to lead the way for Xia Mengxian.

Xia Mengxian took a deep breath, straightened his official robes, and tried to calm himself. Upon entering the main hall, he immediately saw the nun kneeling on the ground.

Xia Mengxian's brows furrowed even deeper. He recognized the nun; she was none other than the nun Mingzhen whom Xu Huaiyi had captured.

Sure enough, something happened.

Not only did someone bring the nun into the palace, but she also met the emperor.

The official remained silent, but Shen Chongzhen, who was standing to the side, spoke first: "Since you have captured Fourth Sister, why haven't you sent a letter to the Shen family?"

Master Mingzhen said, "We used a sleeping potion on Miss Shen, but for some reason, she woke up halfway through and escaped while we were away."

“We caused quite a commotion while trying to capture Fourth Sister. Although we managed to bring her back tied up, it attracted the attention of the neighbors. Fourth Sister struggled fiercely, and Jingxuan and I went to calm her down. In the process, we accidentally killed her…”

Years later, when Shen Zhongzhen heard about the circumstances of her daughter's murder, she couldn't help but tremble: "They clearly wanted to kill her, and they even talked about comforting her..."

Just as Abbess Mingzhen was about to defend herself, a weak voice said, "It's not about appeasement, it's about killing. Shen Si Niangzi is missing, and suddenly there are many more patrols on the streets. This is the first time we've done something like this, and we didn't expect it to turn out like this. We panicked immediately."

"Keeping Lady Shen in our hands might lead to discovery..."

“If we release them, and since Lady Shen has already seen our true faces, and given our status as nuns, we will soon be able to be found at Yunqi Temple.”

If Jingxuan didn't speak, everyone in the hall would forget that there was another nun in the hall.

Jingxuan reached out and pressed forward, as if Shen Si Niangzi was right under her hand: "I used force, and she used force too. Shen Si Niangzi struggled fiercely, but neither of us let go."

“The missionaries won’t let us release people, and we are in danger at any time. But if we ‘accidentally’ kill someone in an emergency, there’s nothing the missionaries can do.”

Jingxuan looked at Master Mingzhen: "We all say it was an accident... but we all know in our hearts that we killed him intentionally. We'll only feel at ease after he's dead and buried."

Master Mingzhen said in a panic, "No... I didn't... Don't talk nonsense."

Jingxuan's bloodshot eyes were fixed on Master Mingzhen: "It takes a long, long time to smother someone to death... We've all lost our strength, but she's still moving."

"Just when you were about to lose control... you... sat down on it, and for a long time afterward you didn't... get up."

"Her shoes fell off, her feet twitched and twitched, her hands were clenched into fists, and her eyes remained open until the very last moment."

Upon hearing these words, Abbess Mingzhen, who had been kneeling, slumped down in the main hall.

“After killing Shen Si Niangzi, we buried her in the temple, and no one has discovered her since,” Jingxuan said, her expression suddenly changing. “But we all forgot that Buddha saw it.”

"Shen Si Niangzi died too tragically. Buddha wanted to avenge her death, so he asked me to... personally dig out Shen Si Niangzi's remains."

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhongzhen turned pale, clutched her chest, looked at the two nuns, and then turned her gaze to Xia Mengxian.

“These are the wicked criminals who killed my daughter… It’s been over ten years, and we finally caught them, but there are still people trying to exonerate them.”