Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 476 Deception
The emperor's expression grew even more solemn, and the eunuch dared not reply.

After a moment, the Emperor put down the edict in his hand: "I am tired and need to rest."

The eunuch responded and immediately stepped forward to serve.

Once the emperor was asleep, the eunuch left some men to keep watch while he himself led a few others to the Inner Palace's prison. The inner palace appeared peaceful, but in reality, after dark, people were secretly sent to the dungeon.

The chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department personally interrogated the eunuch, who was covered in blood and had many cuts and lacerations on his body.

A basin of salt water was poured over him, and the eunuch woke up trembling. The pain immediately made him scream in agony.

“It really wasn’t me,” the eunuch shouted haphazardly, “I didn’t send any message out…”

The chief executioner glanced at the eunuch carrying out the execution, and the eunuch drew his dagger and stepped forward.

The head guard said calmly, "Only a few of you were on duty in the main hall that day. Who exactly eavesdropped on the conversation between the Emperor and Lord Wang? I have plenty of ways to make you talk. You might as well tell me sooner rather than later, and the Emperor will reward you with a quick death."

Even after he finished speaking, the room was still filled with pleas for mercy.

"I am wronged."

"I...don't..."

The head constable put on a stern face and said coldly, "Continue the interrogation. We don't mind crippling him, as long as we don't kill him... We must find out who leaked the message."

It is a disgrace to the Imperial Household Department that spies have been planted around the Emperor.

……

Inside Bianjing City.

A figure was kneeling in a courtyard, his cloak covering most of his face. After a while, someone finally opened the door and came out of the house.

He immediately raised his face.

Under the moonlight, Xia Mengxian looked extremely anxious.

The visitor said, "Our master is not in Bianjing, so why are you doing this?"

Xia Mengxian said anxiously, "If my family doesn't lend a hand soon, I'm afraid I won't escape this calamity."

The visitor said, "The master has never restrained you. You are a third-rank official. Can't you get away on your own?"

Xia Mengxian was speechless for a long time before finally saying, "I was too careless this time. I didn't expect such a small matter to cause such a big commotion."

The visitor said, "If you hadn't been so eager to save the He family and your own son, you wouldn't have been caught red-handed."

Xia Mengxian clenched his fists: "I also wanted to protect the trade routes along the Bian River and take care of Xu Huaiyi in the process."

It's pointless to say these things now.

“After this, I am willing to go north,” Xia Mengxian said, “to guard the trade routes at the border market, to raise another He family, and to find a way to raise money for my master.”

The visitor was finally persuaded and said, "Then I'll think of another way."

Xia Mengxian's face lit up with joy; even if things didn't go well, he could still save his life.

……

Wang Yan and Xu Huaiyi hurried along and finally arrived at Zhuxian Town, with Kang Liang leading the way.

“There is a village called Dingjia Village at the foot of the mountain. The second house to the west of the village entrance is where Qiao Dalang lives,” Kang Liang said. “I informed the village head in advance, and they will be waiting at the village entrance.”

If a few people, accompanied by government officials, were to enter the village at this time, it would surely alarm the villagers. However, if they were notified in advance, it would not cause too much of a commotion.

Kang Liang dismounted at the village entrance, and the village head immediately came over to greet him and bow to everyone.

Kang Liang asked, "After I left, did Qiao Dalang go out?"

The village headman waved his hand: "He wanted to leave once along the way, but I persuaded him to go back. He's at home now." As he spoke, the group headed towards Qiao Dalang's house.

The village head went up and knocked on the door, but no one answered. He squatted down and looked through the crack in the door, but the room was pitch black.

“He may have fallen asleep,” the village head said. “Please wait a little longer.”

Wang Yan frowned and looked at Sang Dian beside him. Sang Dian understood and nimbly jumped over the courtyard wall, then opened the door from the inside.

Even after all that fuss, there was still no movement inside the house.

Kang Liang frowned: "Something's not right. Qiao Dalang knew we were coming, so how could he..."

Everything was too illogical.

This time, without waiting for Wang Yan's instructions, Sang Dian and several constables had already gone to the main house.

Once the lights were lit in the house, the village head shouted first, because at the moment the lights came on, a shadow of a person hanging from the roof beam was cast.

"It's dead."

"It's dead."

The villagers around the village head shouted, startling the others in the village.

Wang Yan and Xu Huaiyi entered the house.

Sangdian had already lowered the person hanging from the beam.

The man's eyes were half-open, his expression was distorted, and his body was stiff; he had clearly been dead for a long time.

Xu Huaiyi held the lamp and leaned closer to examine the man's neck. There were two obvious marks on it, one from hanging upwards and the other from being strangled backwards.

“They must have been harmed by someone,” Xu Huaiyi said.

Kang Liang's face was deathly pale: "He was still alive when I left, I'm sure of it..."

As soon as Kang Liang finished speaking, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

"The Bureau of Investigation and Statistics is handling a case, so get out of my way."

It was clear that those people had a conflict with the constables that Wang Yan had left outside.

The constables couldn't stop those people, and Xu Wei, the leader, barged straight into the house.

When Xu Wei saw the dead body on the ground, a fierce and sinister look appeared in his small eyes. He glanced at Wang Yan and Xu Huaiyi and then ordered, "The Bureau of Military Affairs has been searching for this spy for a long time and has finally located his whereabouts. I didn't expect someone to kill him first to silence him."

"No one is allowed to leave the house until everything is cleared up."

Wang Yan looked up and met Xu Wei's gaze.

Two gazes met, and Xu Wei instinctively shrank back. However, he braced himself against the overwhelming intimidation, reached into his robes and pulled out a waist token, as if to add a mark to himself: "Any case involving espionage can be directly handled by the Bureau of Secretarial Affairs. As long as it is verified that you gentlemen are not involved in espionage, you will be released immediately."

Kang Liang seemed startled, and after a long while, he said, "This man is Qiao Dalang, how could he be a spy?"

Xu Wei said, "When you came here, did you not investigate thoroughly? This person frequently travels between Bianjing and the north. I do not know anything about Qiao Dalang, but I know that this person is related to Northern Qi."

"It's clear that this spy has been silenced, and the murderer is probably connected to Northern Qi. You gentlemen don't want to bear such a crime, so... please cooperate with us in the investigation."

Wang Yan and Xu Huaiyi needed to get back to the city before dawn. If anything went wrong with Liu Huizeng, Wang Yan could rely on the Emperor's decree to stabilize the situation.

Wang Yan stared at the corpse on the ground for a moment and then said, "This person is not Qiao Dalang."

These words were obviously not directed at Xu Wei; his gaze fell on Kang Liang: "You deliberately lured us out of the city and trapped us here."

A look of panic flashed across Kang Liang's face, but he forced himself to remain calm and said, "What do you mean by that, Lord Wang? This person... this person really is Qiao Dalang."

Wang Yan stopped talking and walked out. At that moment, more than a dozen archers strode in through the door, their arrows all pointing at Wang Yan.