Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 513 Collapse
Zhang Wei was sent by Xu Wei of the Jiyi Division, and he arrived at the South City Wharf two days ago.

Lord Xu gave him two tasks: first, to keep an eye on everything at the South City Wharf and relay messages to Lord Xu; second, if Lord Xu's plan succeeded, Xie would soon be arrested by the yamen.

If things don't go smoothly... he'll do the second thing: find an opportunity to kill Xie.

He disguised himself as a hired laborer looking for work and found out where Xie lived, but what happened next was completely out of his control.

He didn't wait for the yamen to come to the dock to arrest him, and even Lord Xu didn't send anyone else.

Just as Zhang Weizheng was hesitating about whether to take action against Xie, a commotion came from Xie's courtyard. People were rushing in and out in a panic, as if something had happened.

Zhang Wei probably missed the opportunity to assassinate, and took advantage of the chaos to successfully sneak into Xie's courtyard.

After finally finding Xie's house and sneaking inside, he discovered that no one was there. Just as he was about to leave, he heard the whispers of the servants outside. He then realized that the reason the courtyard was in such a mess was because Xie had received news that someone was secretly framing her. Therefore, Xie decided to temporarily leave Bianjing by boat.

Zhang Wei breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment he heard more bad news. While he was searching for Xie Shi everywhere, Xie Shi had already left through the back door.

Are we just going to give up like this?

Zhang Wei didn't think of Lord Xu's instructions. He couldn't just return empty-handed. Besides... the current situation didn't allow him to think too much. Several men were about to come in and carry the boxes. In his haste, he took out the cloth from one of the boxes and hid it inside himself.

According to his plan, the box was to be carried to the ship, and he would sneak out and deal with Xie Shi then.

His plan was sound, but he never expected that after the crates were loaded onto the ship, someone would nail the lids shut. If it weren't for some gaps between the planks, he would have suffocated inside.

He could have easily cut open the box and gotten out with his dagger, but the ship's crew happened to be talking around the box, and if he made any noise, he would definitely be caught red-handed.

Being trapped in the box for several hours, no one knows what it feels like.

Fear, worry, and pain weighed heavily on him, and he was on the verge of collapse.

Even firm beliefs are gradually being eroded.

Just then, he overheard people outside discussing the news that Minister Xia had been arrested.

With Minister Xia arrested, what would happen to Lord Xu? Zhang Wei, who dared not act rashly to begin with, felt utterly hopeless at that moment. He couldn't help but wonder if what he was saying was true or false. He soon got his answer, because the boatmen obeyed orders and turned the boat back to Bianjing.

Zhang Wei was on the verge of tears. If he had known this would happen, why would he have made this trip?
The boat finally docked. People were still coming and going on the shore. Zhang Wei, who was almost exhausted, carefully pried open the box lid. Whenever he heard someone approaching, he would stop and grip the dagger tightly, afraid of being discovered.

He finally managed to create a crack in the lid, but now... it's been nailed shut again.

Zhang Wei even felt that all of this was not a coincidence, but that someone was deliberately trying to harm him, and he almost gave up the idea of ​​escaping.

After a long while, Zhang Wei finally picked up the dagger again and smashed it against the lid of the box.

But he regretted it as soon as he smashed it.

Rather than wait to die, he decided to try to survive. With all his might, he finally managed to open the lid of the box again.

Zhang Wei lay on the box, breathing heavily.

The room was unusually quiet, as if no one had noticed the commotion. After regaining his senses, Zhang Wei quietly crawled out and immediately fled. He no longer had any intention of assassinating anyone; he only wanted to escape from this place smoothly.

For him, this place was hell. Thinking this, Zhang Wei cautiously pushed open the door.

As the door opened, Zhang Wei was able to see the situation outside.

At this moment, Zhang Wei felt as if he had truly arrived in the deepest hell. He gasped, his eyes widened, and he felt as if he were frozen in place.

There were people in the room, and a lot of them.

In the center chair sat an official, in his early twenties, his scarlet official robes reflecting his solemn expression. The young man was surrounded by at least three guards, and several hired laborers stood not far away.

Several gazes fell on him, especially that authoritative gaze, which made Zhang Wei's legs go weak and he collapsed to the ground.

Recalling the scene of carefully prying open the box, Zhang Wei felt pathetic. He thought he was getting away with it, but it turned out to be a joke. His every move was seen by others.

His fighting spirit was completely worn down, and Zhang Wei felt as if he were worlds apart from the people in front of him. Nothing he did, no matter how much he struggled, could escape their eyes, especially since that person was... Wang Yan.

“Lord Wang,” Zhang said in a trembling voice, “I was sent here on the orders of the Advisory Commissioner Xu Wei. I am just a lowly clerk in the Advisory Commissioner’s Office and can only follow his orders.”

Wang Yan's expression remained unchanged, but for some reason, Zhang Wei sensed a murderous aura emanating from him.

"My lord, spare my life! My lord, spare my life..." Zhang Wei kept kowtowing.

Wang Yan remained silent, and Zhang Wei understood that Wang Yan was waiting for him to reveal all the inside information.

Once Zhang Wei understood this, he stopped struggling and told everything he knew: "Xia Mengxian summoned Xu Wei to Bianjing so that he could secretly deal with Lord Wang... and Lord Wang..."

Since he saw Wang Yan here, it means that Wang Yan knows everything, and there's no point in him hiding it anymore.

"Through Liu Erlang, who wrote the Bianjing tabloid, the Xie family was implicated, and they were falsely accused of leaking secrets and colluding with the enemy."

“We are the Bureau of Secretarial Affairs, so it is easy for us to fabricate charges. We have many letters exchanged with the vassal states. As long as we send these to the Xie family’s residence, the Xie family will be unable to defend themselves. It is impossible for the Xie family, a mere merchant, to obtain this information. As long as the court follows the clues, it can implicate Lord Wang and his son.”

Before Zhang could finish speaking, he wanted to reveal where he had put the letter in order to lessen his punishment, but then he noticed that someone from Wang Yan's side was handing him a wooden box.

Zhang Wei swallowed hard. The wooden box contained the letter he had brought. He had buried the box in the Xie family's courtyard, but it had already been dug up long ago.

Wang Yan opened the box and took out the letter to read it.

Zhang Wei said, "These...letters...are actually left behind when we were exchanging messages with merchants from the Western Regions. Most of them are about buying and selling goods...and...there are also some unimportant messages, such as the rotation and transfer of military officers at checkpoints...we also buy information from them and present it to the court."

"That is why our Northwest Military Affairs Bureau has been able to survive."

Wang Yan said coldly, "He used the information he obtained from the Western Barbarians to exchange for official positions, and then used the information from Daliang to exchange for money from the Western Barbarians. Xu Wei, this border official, turned the Bureau of Strategies into a huge business."

Zhang Wei kowtowed again: "Xu Wei did all this; we were just following his orders." He was trying to use this as a way to save his life; it was his only way out.

Just as Zhang Wei was kowtowing until his head was bleeding, another voice rang out, this time from a woman.

"Was it really Xia Mengxian who ordered the Imperial Secretariat to kill me?"

"Or is it only Xia Mengxian?"