Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 43 Like a ghost
Inside the prison of the patrol and inspection office.

Hearing the screams coming from not far away, Yang Mingshan's hands trembled involuntarily. Whenever the jailers passed by, he would breathe rapidly, fearing that their feet would stop in front of him.

Yesterday he was still wondering when the government office would let him go home. With just the "Xie family" case, even the patrol office wouldn't be able to keep him for long.

After all, it was the Xie family who bought the body from the kidnappers. Besides, the woman survived, so they couldn't be held responsible for a death. The worst outcome would be a few lashes.

But little did he expect that things would take a sharp turn for the worse. Not only did he fail to leave the prison, but even more people were sent there.

When Yang Mingshan saw the familiar faces, he was shocked, especially when he saw his father being dragged into a prison cell; he was overwhelmed with fear.

But it doesn't end here.

He also saw Master Du and several elderly men from Yong'anfang.

Then, from the insults directed at the Yang family, Yang Mingshan guessed the truth: the imperial court had discovered their smuggling of foreign goods.

The night that followed was exceptionally long.

Yang Mingshan lived in extreme fear every moment, especially when he heard those screams, as if the jailer's whip was lashing him.

Some people in the prison began to beg for mercy, and some cried.

Before the authorities could interrogate them, many people told the truth, and Yang Mingshan repeatedly heard his own name mentioned.

"It was all Yang Mingshan's doing; he was the one who sold me the Qingbai salt."

“The estate was bought by the second master for the fourth master.”

"They would always have us deliver the goods to the village, and sometimes to the northwest, to a warehouse."

“I know where that warehouse is.”

"I've seen tall, imposing merchants, and they speak strangely. They might be foreigners colluding with the Fourth Master."

“I’m telling the truth. We’re just following the orders of the Fourth Master.”

Yang Mingshan's heart sank to the bottom.

So many people have implicated him, yet the authorities haven't come to interrogate him. It's like he's waiting to die, an extremely agonizing situation.

Dawn finally broke, but the interrogations in the prison never stopped.

In a daze, Yang Mingshan heard his father's voice.

“I bought that estate for him, but I don’t know what he’s done with it,” Old Master Yang said, coughing. “I thought he was just trying to make some money from the clan. I wanted to meet that beast, question him personally, and get him to confess.”

The estate outside the north city was managed by Yang Mingshan himself. Everyone else could get away with it except him, and besides... recently he has indeed been leading the caravans to the northwest.

“It wasn’t my father. My father never did it.”

A sudden voice broke the silence.

Yang Mingshan's eyes lit up; it was his eldest son, Yang Ji.

"What nonsense are you all talking about?" Yang Ji continued to defend Yang Mingshan. "Don't throw all the mud at my father. I've been to that estate, and there was no hidden goods at all."

“You can’t escape either,” said Master Du. “Your father values ​​you the most, and he must have told you about these things. I handed over all the accounts of my business with your father to the yamen. You dumped the salt on me, and now you want to use the Du family as a scapegoat? Dream on.” The Du family is finished this time, and he can’t let the Yang family escape either, especially Yang Mingshan, who encouraged him to smuggle goods.

Yang Mingshan collapsed to the ground. With Master Du around, he couldn't escape, but he couldn't drag Ji Ge'er into it again. If he was sentenced to prison, he would need someone to help him out so that he could return home sooner.

Yang Mingshan had made up his mind that when he was interrogated, even if he was severely tortured, he would never implicate Ji Ge'er. But at that moment, he heard a voice.

"No one can escape."

Yang Mingshan subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.

The cell door was just opened, and several figures stood not far away.

The speaker was a woman, and she looked at the person in front of her. "It's not imprisonment, nor is it exile; you're not going to survive..."

Yang Mingshan's heart was gripped. He stared blankly at the woman. The lantern in the soldier's hand shone a little brighter, and the woman's face became much clearer.

That's the "Xie family".

The person in front of "Xie" trembled at these words. Then Xie seemed to say something else, which Yang Mingshan couldn't hear clearly, but he saw the person's straightened back bend down again.

Even though he knew that "Ms. Xie" was talking to that person, Yang Mingshan felt that "Ms. Xie" was deliberately letting him hear. Because he and Yang Ji were also the ones who "wouldn't survive."

While Yang Mingshan was stunned, the jailer led the man forward. When the man passed in front of Yang Mingshan, he turned to look at Yang Mingshan. Yang Mingshan's eyes narrowed again. He recognized the face. It was Steward Wu, who worked for Xie Chongjun.

The Xie family was also dragged into it.

The usually arrogant Manager Wu was now looking disheveled and flustered, his eyes filled with complex emotions, seemingly lost in thought, and it took him a long time to recognize Yang Mingshan.

Manager Wu was about to say something when a jailer pushed him, and he immediately walked forward again.

……

Manager Wu came to the patrol office with Xie Chongjun to confess his crimes.

From the moment the Xie family decided to arrange a marriage with the Yang family, everything was handled by Steward Wu. Therefore, the Xie family made him take all the blame, and Steward Wu had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.

After the master agreed to the matter, he returned the indenture to him, and from then on, his family was no longer private slaves.

They would regain their status as respectable men and settle down alone in Daming Prefecture, which was a great temptation for him.

Looking at it this way, it was a good thing. Even if the yamen handed down a heavy sentence, saying that he was involved in the abduction and sale of people, he would not be guilty of death. On the contrary, it would allow his family to be freed from their lowly status. So he made up his mind to do everything according to the master's orders.

But unexpectedly, he encountered "Mrs. Xie" at the government office.

Manager Wu had seen Xie's body before, and he was amazed to hear that Xie had come back to life. Now he was seeing a living person...

For some reason, he became even more terrified.

When "Ms. Xie" looked at him, her eyes were full of coldness... reminding him of some unpleasant things.

After he bought the corpse from the matchmaker, he examined it carefully and even reached out to test "Xie's" breath. He clearly remembered the icy feeling coming from the tip of her nose.

All those details came rushing back to him, making him feel that the "Xie family" in front of him was more like a ghost than a human.

What Xie said at the beginning was even more terrifying.

"It's not imprisonment, it's not exile, you're not going to survive..."

She seemed to know everything.

“If the Xie family fails to fulfill their promises to you and instead tries to harm you,” Xie Yuyan said, “you can come to me, and I will help you.”

After “Mr. Xie” finished speaking, Manager Wu suddenly felt a cold wind blowing in through his collar, and the light flickered, making “Mr. Xie’s” figure seem to become blurry.

Manager Wu seemed to have lost his soul, walking forward in a daze. Suddenly, he saw Yang Mingshan in the prison, and then he saw the same fear in Yang Mingshan's eyes.

When you're terrified, encountering someone else who is equally terrified only makes it feel more frightening.

Manager Wu staggered, feeling another soul and spirit leave his body.

……

Xie Chongjun, standing outside the prison, seemed to hear some noise, but unfortunately he was too far away to hear clearly.

There must be a prisoner protesting their innocence.

Xie Chongjun took a deep breath and was about to leave when the prison door in front of him opened again, and a section of lotus-colored skirt appeared in front of him.

(End of this chapter)