Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 472 Appearance
Xia Ziqiao reached into his waistband, pulled out a voucher, and handed it to the legal officer.

The clerk's eyes narrowed, but he still shook his head.

Xia Ziqiao then took out a waist tag with three characters engraved on it: Jiyisi.

The clerk's gaze shifted several times before he finally reached out and took the redemption ticket, quickly stuffing it into his sleeve: "I'll try it tonight."

Xia Ziqiao patted the legal officer on the shoulder: "The Ministry of Justice will come to take you away early tomorrow morning. As long as you get through tonight, your career will be smooth sailing in the future."

The judge remained silent.

After making these arrangements, Xia Ziqiao led his men out of the Kaifeng government office.

……

Liu Erlang was thrown into prison, and after all that commotion, he actually woke up.

Upon seeing this, the constable once again reached out and covered Liu Erlang's mouth and nose.

Liu Erlang had never suffered such torment. His eyes were filled with tears, his limbs twitched, his chest heaved but he couldn't catch his breath, and he finally fainted again.

Before leaving, the constable gave Liu Erlang a final kick on the back of the neck, the force of which was just right, enough to make him faint for at least an hour.

The two constables instructed the jailer guarding the gate, "Don't speak to him," and then left the prison.

Silence returned to the prison.

A quarter of an hour later, the prison door was opened again, and two jailers carried Liu Erlang to the room behind the duty room.

A doctor stepped forward to examine Liu Erlang's injuries and then fed him a few pills.

After a long while, Liu Erlang finally let out a groan and slowly opened his eyes.

He first noticed two oil lamps on the table, then saw someone bent over handling official documents. As his gaze moved around, he saw more clerks moving back and forth, each doing their own work.

Just then, someone came in to report.

"The legal officers are interrogating Huang Zongwu and Hu Ying, and the two of them insist that Lady Xie has altered the articles they wrote."

A familiar voice rang out: "Keep an eye on him, and record everyone who associates with the legal officer."

The clerk continued, "When Xia Ziqiao left, he also gave the legal officer a voucher."

The man then instructed, "Take your men to that money exchange, retrieve all the accounts related to the Xia family, and determine which shops in the city have dealings with the Xia family."

Once the clerk left, Liu Erlang's scattered thoughts finally came together, and he recognized that familiar face—it was Xu Huaiyi.

The person next to Xu Huaiyi... was actually Wang Yan.

Liu Erlang opened his mouth.

Wang Yan clearly noticed that Liu Erlang had woken up. He raised his eyes and looked over. His deep and solemn gaze startled Liu Erlang. Liu Erlang instinctively tried to get up, but his legs gave way and he fell to the ground again.

Wang Yan ignored Liu Erlang and continued talking with Xu Huaiyi.

After a long pause, Liu Erlang stood up again. He roughly understood why Wang Yan had ignored him; if he hadn't been so eager to publish a tabloid in Bianjing, he wouldn't have caused such a mess.

However, he was even more grateful that he still had some sense and did not falsely accuse Madam Xie, otherwise he would have truly been facing a dead end.

Liu Erlang huddled in the corner, thinking about what he had experienced. The feeling of being on the verge of death was clearly imprinted in his mind. The most terrifying thing was not that he would die, but that he was afraid that his mother and sister would also suffer the same fate.

He will never forget this feeling in his life.

All of this stemmed from his arrogance, and from then on, he never dared to do it again.

He would be more careful and think things through more thoroughly. Liu Erlang wiped the moisture from the corner of his eyes and slowly got up and moved forward.

Wang Yan and Xu Huaiyi ignored him, but did not stop him from moving around in the room. He tentatively walked to the table to look at the documents on it.

He then saw many familiar names: Master Liang, He Daosheng, these people who wrote tabloids, and officials from Kaifeng Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice.

Besides these, there were some people he didn't know.

Upon seeing this, Liu Erlang realized that Wang Yan and Xu Huaiyi were investigating the Xia family. Every step the Xia family took was like a spider spinning a thread, eventually forming a large net that trapped everyone, including the Xia family, within it.

Before Liu Erlang could figure out what was going on, Wang Yan said calmly, "Your matter is not over yet."

Liu Erlang felt a chill run down his spine.

Wang Yan said, "Later, someone will take you out of the prison. You must leave Bianjing and try to hide well so that you don't get caught."

"If things go well, you'll be safe and sound."

"If things don't go well, you could become a fugitive."

Liu Erlang's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to ask Wang Yan if there was any other way to go.

Wang Yan's gaze was icy, clearly leaving no room for negotiation.

"Do you dare?" Wang Yan said. "If you don't dare, you'll stay in this cell. Tonight, Xia Ziqiao will order someone to take your life."

Liu Erlang took a deep breath: "Dare...I...I caused this, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

Wang Yan stopped speaking, and immediately a jailer came to take Liu Erlang out.

After Liu Erlang was led out of the house, Xu Huaiyi looked at Wang Yan and said, "Actually, you didn't need to scare him like that." Even someone as focused on his case as he was could sense Wang Yan's malice towards Liu Erlang.

It was clearly a deliberate punishment of Liu Erlang.

Because of that tabloid? Liu Erlang's recklessness almost harmed someone else?

Back in Daming Prefecture, Xu Huaiyi had sensed something unusual about Wang Yan and Lady Xie, but he hadn't mentioned it to anyone. In his mind, he would only investigate matters related to a case; otherwise… they were irrelevant to him. However, based on his previous understanding, Xu Huaiyi couldn't help but wonder if Wang Yan's current actions were because of Lady Xie.
Wang Yan said, "I only had him brought here for his father's sake; otherwise, he would have been kept in the dark about what would happen later."

If Liu Erlang hadn't met Wang Yan and Xu Huaiyi, he would have remained trapped in fear until someone revealed the truth.

In other words, in Wang Yan's eyes, his arrangement was already quite merciful.

Xu Huaiyi had often heard people mention Wang Zhuangyuan's gentlemanly demeanor, but after spending several time with him, he only felt that Wang Yan... didn't seem to be very magnanimous.

……

Liu family.

He Daosheng walked around the courtyard, making sure his men had guarded every door properly, and then breathed a sigh of relief. Now all he had to do was wait for Liu Erlang to finish the paperwork at Kaifeng Prefecture, and then he could leave Bianjing with the money.

That money was enough for him to buy houses and land, and he no longer needed to make a living as a staff member. He could only blame Liu Huizeng for being useless. Over the years, he had only managed to become a junior official in the Secretariat and had never had the opportunity to be transferred to a post outside the capital.

If Liu Huizeng could be transferred to a post outside the capital, he could also be recommended to become a civil servant, and there would still be hope for the future.

He Daosheng thought for a moment, picked up his tea and took a sip. After a while, just as he was about to go to check on the situation in each courtyard, he heard footsteps. Then the door was kicked open, and the next moment Liu Huizeng appeared in front of him.

"Take him down." Liu Huizeng gave the order, and the guards immediately stepped forward.

He Daosheng, a frail scholar, was no match for these people. He cried out, "Don't touch me! I've had your family members under guard. If something happens to me, they..."

He Daosheng's voice stopped abruptly because he saw Liu Siniang supporting Zhou Shi standing not far away.

Liu Hui sneered, "Your show is over. Now it's my turn."