Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 435 Clarification
Master Zhiyuan could not understand what Xie Yuyan and Wang Yan were saying.

However, Master Zhiyuan was always gentle, so he didn't ask any questions. Instead, he waited for Wang Yan and Xie Yuyan to continue, and then he slowly sorted things out.

Mother Yu replaced the tea with hot tea for everyone.

Wang Yan took out a stack of documents and handed them to Xie Yuyan: "These are the results of Xu Huaiyi's recent interrogation at the Ministry of Justice."

Xu Huaiyi followed me back to Bianjing from Daming Prefecture. He was involved in all these cases, and most importantly, he even questioned the cause of Xie Lao Xiang Gong's death.

If anyone could possibly unravel the entire case, it would be Xu Huaiyi.

Wang Yan arranged for Cai Zheng and Xu Huaiyi to work on the case together because of this, which is why the information about the demon cult was later handed to Xu Huaiyi.

“The case of the sorcery cult in Bianjing is now connected with the case of officials and merchants in Daming Prefecture colluding to sell women,” Wang Yan said. “Manager Li saw Jiao Da’s portrait and confirmed that the person who came to take the woman away was him. Moreover, the last time the He family sold the woman to the north was in November.”

Wang Yan admired Xu Huaiyi for this. He had made preparations, and if Xu Huaiyi did not think of the case in Daming Prefecture, he would have Cai Zheng remind him from the side. Unexpectedly, Xu Huaiyi had copied all the case files related to the Liu family in Daming Prefecture at some point, and even drew a portrait of Jiao Da.

“You also appeared in Daming Prefecture in November,” Wang Yan said, looking at Xie Yuyan. “When you woke up, did you check your injuries?”

Although the case had been handled by the yamen and an old woman had come to examine her, Wang Yan was not familiar with Xie Yuyan at that time. He only looked at the case file submitted by the yamen and did not inquire about the details. Later, as he became more concerned about her, he went back and reopened the case, but there were no further clues, so he could not speculate on the case based on it.

Xie Yuyan nodded: "There are injuries to the neck and back of the head, but apart from the bumps and bruises, there are no wounds from whipping or beatings."

She held out her hands: "There are also marks on my wrists, but they haven't been there for long."

“Women who are abducted and sold into slavery are imprisoned for at least one or two months due to the long journey they are transported. The wounds on their wrists must be a mixture of old and new ones, and their skin is often broken and ulcerated. They are also beaten, verbally abused, and threatened by their traffickers along the way, and their scars are almost all over their bodies,” Wang Yan said. “From this, we can infer that you have not been imprisoned for long, or that your identity is special, and that Jiao Da and his men dared not lay a hand on you.”

“Jiao Da once told someone that there were two extra women he brought back to Daming Prefecture for some reason. We found the woman who had been tortured beyond recognition in the courtyard and deduced that the two extra women were me and her,” Xie Yuyan said. “When Jiao Da tortured her, he must have been interrogating us about our origins, so Jiao Da should not have known my identity.”

Another point is that the woman hid the engraved jade bead because she was afraid that people would discover her identity through it.

Wang Yan said, "So it seems that you can only stay bound by Jiao Da for a short time."

“When Jiao Da picked up the people from Bianjing, the number should be correct. The He family couldn’t have sent them away without counting the number of people.”

"Upon arriving at Daming Prefecture, Jiao Da discovered that there were two extra people, indicating that something had gone wrong along the way."

"It was probably around this time that someone abandoned you on Jiao Dache."

Xie Yuyan and Wang Yan exchanged glances: "There's another possibility."

She paused for a moment, then slowly said, "We got into the car ourselves."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yan's eyes narrowed. He had considered this possibility on his way here, but Xie Yuyan's words made him realize the urgency of the situation. So what exactly happened to make a woman flee in such a hurry? The two of them borrowed Jiao Da's carriage to leave, but they never expected to perish at Jiao Da's hands.

Wang Yan's expression turned solemn. He knew the woman hadn't escaped; otherwise, Xie Yuyan wouldn't be here in her place. He certainly wouldn't thank Jiao Da; if Jiao Da hadn't killed the woman, Xie Yuyan wouldn't be standing before him.

Instead, he felt even more furious and fearful, attributing all the pain and danger the woman had endured to Xie Yuyan. If Xie Yuyan hadn't been clever enough to escape from the Yang family, he too would have been suffocated alive in the coffin.

"Jiao Da didn't premeditate the murder; he silenced you to prevent the truth from being exposed. This can be seen from the fact that he sold you into a ghost marriage. If he knew the stakes, he wouldn't have risked future trouble for a few dozen strings of cash."

Xie Yuyan nodded: "It's all thanks to the marriage between the Xie family and the Yang family at this time, otherwise there really would have been no chance of a turnaround."

At this moment, Yu's mother was pale, her eyes filled with astonishment and fear. She understood that the eldest daughter-in-law was investigating her background, but she never expected the matter to be so complicated.

“On the surface, it is Jiao Da who is the one who is harming people,” Wang Yan said, “but the real culprit is someone else.”

Xie Yuyan said, "Then we need to find out why I appeared in Daming Prefecture."

It wasn't a coincidence that she got into Jiao Da's car; rather, it was the real reason behind it. Why did she leave? Was she intentionally harmed? Or was she forced to flee?

Wang Yan slowly said, "All the evidence points to the Xie family as your identity. The late Prime Minister Xie passed away in November, and Xie Wenjing suddenly appeared in the capital."

"Before Xie Wenjing arrived, her personal servant suddenly died. The other servants on the estate either had never seen Xie Erniangzi, or had been sent away from the capital."

Few people in the village had actually seen Xie Erniangzi. When Old Madam Xie moved to the countryside to recuperate, she took only the servants she trusted. These servants were already quite old, and over the years some had died or left. When Old Madam Xie passed away, her loyal servants even volunteered to follow her in death.

As a result, only three people remained to serve Xie Er Niangzi in the inner quarters: one left the estate after the death of Old Master Xie, one died of illness, and the other was currently by Xie Wenjing's side.

Aside from his duties at the government office, Wang Yan has been busy with these things lately.

He also determined the generational names for the Xie family women: Xi, Wen, Yi, Yu, Yue...

If his guess is correct, Xie Yuyan was born into the Xie family, and was two generations removed from Xie Wenjing. Perhaps this is why Xie Yuyan had his eye on the Xie family in Daming Prefecture.

Although Wang Yan could not see the whole picture regarding the Xie family matter, judging from A Yan's actions, the Xie family must have harmed and used her more than protected her.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have developed a personality that requires her to do everything herself and doesn't easily trust others, because both perseverance and sharpness are cultivated through tempering.

Xie Yuyan took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, his expression remaining calm: "So if the Xie family is willing to acknowledge me on the day the relic box is enshrined, it will at least be a heartwarming story of family reunion."

"If they refuse to admit it, then what awaits the Xie family will surely be a bloodbath and justice will prevail."

The next chapter will be released tonight.