Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 512 Assassin
Sang Dian watched as her husband's gaze darkened. They were about to see Madam Xie, but another mishap had occurred.

After pondering for a moment, Wang Yan said to Sang Dian, "Go to the Ministry of Justice."

Sang Dian breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Yan galloped towards the Ministry of Justice, while the poor bailiffs ran wildly behind him. He had never seen an official in such a hurry.

When the master and servant arrived at the prison, Zhao Zhongliang was already pacing anxiously in his cell. Upon seeing Wang Yan, he immediately spoke up: "Lord Wang, I suddenly remembered something that concerns Madam Xie."

Zhao Zhongliang had hesitated before, wondering whether to tell this official everything, but after learning the official's identity from the jailer, he felt relieved.

As the eldest son of Prime Minister Wang, the top scholar of Daliang, and a special envoy sent by the emperor to handle Xia Mengxian's case, he can naturally be trusted.

Wang Yan had the cell door opened, walked in himself, and looked at Zhao Zhongliang: "Say what you have to say."

Zhao Zhongliang immediately told him about Wu Qian asking him to deal with Madam Xie.

“This Wu Qian used to help us find work,” Zhao Zhongliang said, “but most of the time it was escorting goods or protecting wealthy families.”

"This time, they offered me a high price to go to the South City Wharf to capture Madam Xie, and they also asked me to find a jade pendant in Madam Xie's house. After I succeed, they'll give me one hundred strings of cash as a reward."

Zhao Zhongliang paused slightly at this point: "Wu Qian also said that if there is no chance to arrest someone, we should just get rid of them. Since we have lives on our hands, the boss over there will give us money as compensation."

“I hadn’t met Madam Xie yet, so I wrote a letter and sent it to her to warn her to be on guard.”

"Later, I was too nervous dealing with the Third Manager on the Bian River... so I forgot about this matter. After escaping from the Bian River, I should have reported this to Magistrate Xu so that we could find Wu Qian."

Wang Yan nodded and immediately looked at Sang Dian.

Sang Dian understood: "I'll take men to the county government office, the prefectural government office, and the prison."

Seeing that Wang Yan hadn't sent anyone to inform Madam Xie, Zhao Zhongliang hurriedly said, "I'd appreciate it if you could send someone to the South City Wharf to check. Although many people have been arrested these past two days, if the person who wanted to harm Madam Xie isn't among them, they might still send someone there..."

Wang Yan said, "Don't worry, nothing will happen at the South City Wharf."

Before Zhao Zhongliang could speak, Wang Yan asked, "After this case is closed, are you still going to the South City Wharf?"

Zhao Zhongliang was taken aback, wondering why this Lord Wang was asking this. He said, "The brothers I brought back from the Northwest are temporarily staying there."

Wang Yan nodded and did not continue speaking, but said, "The yamen will conclude your case soon."

"Once we find Wu Qian, we will bring him to you for identification."

Zhao Zhongliang bowed to see Wang Yan off, then sat back down on the haystack, carefully pondering the words Wang Yan had just said.

A thought flashed through Zhao Zhongliang's mind, and he looked surprised. So... was Lord Wang giving him a hint just now? Lord Wang and Madam Xie have some connection.

They started by deliberately looking after him, and now they're bringing up the South City Wharf again...

Zhao Zhongliang patted his head. Lord Wang had hinted at it time and time again, how come he hadn't noticed? So whether he was outside or in prison, it was actually Madam Xie who was taking care of him.

……

South City Wharf.

The dock was as busy as ever.

The boat was piled high with goods going in and out of Bianjing. The boatmen chatted and laughed as they unloaded the cargo, and Yang Xiaoshan would occasionally chime in; it was a scene of great harmony and joy.

"I heard that quite a few people from the porcelain trade have come."

"Is Madam Xie going to become the head of the Bianjing porcelain business?"

This was meant as a joke, but it unexpectedly elicited a response from the nearby employee.

“That’s true,” the hired hand said. “When I came here, I heard that… the old man surnamed Han from the porcelain shop had been arrested.”

"Which one?"

"Who else could it be? Isn't the largest porcelain kiln in Kaifeng theirs? Last year I did manual labor for the Han family, moving their porcelain."

“However,” the worker said, “their family is very vicious. If they are not satisfied, they will beat and kick you and find all sorts of ways to deduct your wages. If you resist, you can forget about doing any work in the porcelain business in the future.”

"If Madam takes over the porcelain business, we'll have good days ahead."

After discussing it for a while, everyone finally turned their attention to Yang Xiaoshan's face: "Manager Yang, is what he said true?"

Yang Xiaoshan laughed and said, "I don't know either, but my family will definitely open a porcelain shop in Bianjing."

This was as good as saying nothing. They had already received word that porcelain from Daming Prefecture would arrive in a few days. When they were short-handed, they would come to help with the unloading. They would all compete to do the work for Madam Xie, earning 120 coins a day and being able to eat at the restaurant.

Many of them were eyeing Madam Xie's fleet, and if the fleet were to add more ships, they would all want to get involved.

As everyone was talking, Yang Xiaoshan pointed to several large boxes on another boat.

"Help me move these boxes to the yard in a bit," Yang Xiaoshan said. "There's been an accident on the Bian River, so goods are only allowed to enter but not leave for the next two days. We'll have to wait a while before we can transport them again."

The hired worker readily agreed and turned to lift the boxes.

In no time, the box was placed in Madam Xie's courtyard.

After the hired workers left, there was no movement in the yard. One of the boxes moved, and a corner of the lid was pried open. Then, half a face was pressed against it, and the person inside gasped for breath through the gap. It took him a while to catch his breath. Just as he was thinking of opening the lid completely and escaping, he heard footsteps again. He quickly pulled his face back and put the lid back on.

The next moment, an older woman ordered, "Take these boxes to the storeroom and put them away."

The man peered out through the gaps between the wooden planks of the box and saw several figures approaching. He counted carefully and found there were at least four or five men.

Even if he rushed out now, he wouldn't be able to deal with so many people. Thinking this, he tried to curl up and hold his breath to avoid being noticed.

"Hey, why is the lid of the box loose?"

What he feared most came to pass. Upon hearing this, the man's heart nearly leaped out of his throat. He gripped the dagger tightly, ready to fight to the death at any moment. Fortunately, a heavy thud reached his ears. The people outside did not pry open the box to check, but instead re-studded the nails.

The man breathed a sigh of relief, but soon grief welled up inside him.

After all that, we're back to square one.

Ever since he arrived at the South City Wharf, everything has gone wrong for him, as if he had seen a ghost. Not only did he fail to assassinate Madam Xie, but when he tried to leave, he found that he couldn't get away either.

One more chapter