Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 504 Can't Run Away

When the two guards saw that the third manager had been beaten, they began to struggle again.

The third manager had just regained his footing when Zhao Zhongliang raised his hand and slapped him across the face. This time, the third manager didn't utter a sound.

Zhao Zhongliang called again.

After seven or eight slaps, the third shopkeeper's face was already red and swollen, and blood was spilling from the corner of his mouth. The third shopkeeper's gaze became even more gloomy, and he still refused to speak.

Zhao Zhongliang stopped what he was doing and said to Xie Yuyan, "I had never seen him before, but I had seen one of his hands and heard his voice."

Xie Yuyan nodded: "It's him."

Jiang Qi, who was standing next to Zhou Guangyuan, nudged him: "Didn't he just remain silent?"

Zhou Guangyuan sighed: "He didn't say a word even after being beaten like that, which shows he was afraid that Zhao Zhongliang would hear his voice and recognize him."

Jiang Qi nodded in sudden realization. Don't these smart people get tired of thinking so much every day? Luckily, he wasn't that kind of person.

Xie Yuyan asked Zhao Zhongliang, "Where is Magistrate Xu?"

Zhao Zhongliang said, "It's not far from here. I blew the whistle just now to send a message to Lord Xu."

When Xu En arrives, we can hand over the Third Manager and the others to him to take away.

After waiting a while, everyone saw Xu En arrive in a hurry.

Upon seeing the bound person, Xu En's face lit up with joy: "You caught them?"

Xie Yuyan nodded.

Xu En laughed and said, "This fellow is very cunning. It's all thanks to Madam that he was able to get away."

Xie Yuyan looked at the merchants beside him: "It's all thanks to everyone's joint efforts."

Xu En nodded to the crowd.

Xie Yuyan continued, "We will search downstream along the riverbank. If anyone tries to escape by swimming, we will tie them up and send them to the yamen."

"Then I'll have to trouble you all." Xu En finished speaking and, without delay, led the Third Manager and the others onto the ship and left. He still needed to check if Xia Ziqiao and his men had been captured.

After Xu En and the others left, Xie Yuyan had Zhou Guangyuan and Jiang Qi lead the group to search along the riverbank, while she boarded a carriage by the roadside.

Master Jingyuan was waiting in the car.

Xie Yuyan asked, "Why doesn't the nun show herself?"

Master Jingyuan twirled the prayer beads in her hand: "This humble nun has always disliked seeing outsiders."

As she spoke, she thought for a moment and then asked, "Who was the person we just captured?"

The carriage moved slowly forward. Xie Yuyan said, "Those people must be extremely skilled at sailing, otherwise they wouldn't have chosen to leave by water. That's why I had people find shacks to ambush them. A person who is good at swimming will definitely be able to escape by swimming in a critical moment."

"They had ships, a group of ruthless guards, and dared to collude with officials to do business."

"What is the nun thinking about?"

“Ordinary merchants who rely solely on waterways for a living could not possibly have such abilities,” Master Jingyuan thought for a moment. “Their business must be extremely profitable.”

"You told me about the Zhao family's case, which involves smuggling salt. Since they can smuggle goods to the Northwest, they can also open up other checkpoints to go north and southwest..."

Xie Yuyan nodded: "Smuggling goods is extremely profitable, and besides transporting them by land, there is another method that is even more common."

Master Jingyuan's eyes lit up: "You mean maritime transport?"

"So, their public identity might be maritime merchants?"

Xie Yuyan said, "Maritime merchants are not uncommon in our dynasty, but to be able to extend their reach this far... shows that their power is considerable."

If maritime merchants are law-abiding citizens, the court will naturally not investigate them. But it's a different story when they influence the court. Abbess Jingyuan felt that this matter should be brought to the attention of the Empress Dowager.

"That's all we can speculate on," Xie Yuyan said. "However, now that we've arrested the person, we're not afraid of not finding out the truth."

Even if it provokes retaliation from those people, as long as they take any action, we can follow the clues to investigate further.

The third manager must be arrested. In this way, whether it is to maintain their prestige or to try to turn the tide, those people will have to sit at the chessboard and continue to make moves.

Master Jingyuan looked at Xie Yuyan again. Xie Yuyan raised her head to meet her gaze: "Master, have you thought of something again?"

Master Jingyuan nodded: "Has Madam considered this...?"

Xie Yuyan listened quietly.

Master Jingyuan uttered a few words: "To become Empress Dowager?"

The carriage ran over a stone, causing the carriage to shake violently and the curtain to flutter open slightly.

Xie Yuyan seemed not to have heard Master Jingyuan's words, and reached out to lift the curtain: "It's dawn."

In the short time that followed, the darkness gradually faded, and a gray hue enveloped the world.

Before Abbess Jingyuan could finish speaking, she said that before becoming Empress Dowager, one must first become Empress. If time could be rushed, it wouldn't be impossible, as the Emperor's health could still hold out for a few more years.

After the emperor's death, one can directly enter the Cining Palace.

Master Jingyuan glanced at Xie Yuyan again; clearly, Madam Xie did not want to mention this matter.

It's a pity that if Madam Xie were to agree, she would have a new obsession.

……

Inside the cabin, Xia Ziqiao clutched his stomach tightly, blood seeping through his fingers as he looked at the ship's guards in horror.

After the official boat surrounded them, the guards on board took out daggers and stabbed him.

He was able to break free thanks to the guard's serious injury; he almost lost his life.

The moment Xia Ziqiao saw the soldiers boarding the ship, his heart finally settled back into his stomach; he was saved. But tears soon followed.

He won't die now, but he'll soon be thrown into prison, and it's unknown whether he'll be exiled, banished, or... beheaded.

Two soldiers stepped forward and pulled Xia Ziqiao up, about to tie his arms with ropes. Xia Ziqiao immediately shouted, "I'm injured. If you tie me up like this... I'll die before we get to the government office."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers hurriedly checked Xia Ziqiao's wounds.

Tearing open some of his clothes revealed the wound on his stomach.

The incision, only about half the length of a little finger, cut through the skin and flesh without damaging the internal organs. Blood dripped out, but it would soon dry up.

The two soldiers couldn't help but burst out laughing; it was the funniest thing that had happened to them all night.

“You won’t die,” the soldier kicked Xia Ziqiao. “Useless thing.”

As Xia Ziqiao was about to be taken away, he remembered something else: "My cousin Ge Yingfu escaped."

The soldiers were startled when they heard the word "escape," but...

The soldier said, "If he swims, he can't escape. You'll see him in prison soon."

Hearing the soldier's words, Xia Ziqiao breathed a sigh of relief. Ge Ying had abandoned him and fled for his life; he had to avenge this.

……

Most of the people on the boat have been arrested, but some managed to escape by swimming in the chaos.

The officers and soldiers were not in a hurry and continued to clean up the mess, as if they had no intention of chasing after those people anymore.

The swimmers paddled frantically, desperate to get away from there as quickly as possible.

Ge Ying was one of them. He was not a good swimmer and could only float on the water by clinging to a plank. After resting for a while, he started to slap the water with his legs. Although he was exhausted, he persevered. He was already far away from the boat behind him and would soon escape death.

As dawn broke, I was finally able to see everything around me clearly.

Ge Ying strained to look ahead, and it seemed as if the riverbank was not far away. Ge Ying was overjoyed and continued to paddle with both hands and feet. However, he soon noticed something was wrong.

That wasn't the riverbank, but rather a boat that was gradually approaching.

Many, many ships.

It is a fleet of ships.