Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 514 Confession
The person he had been searching for so desperately suddenly appeared before him, leaving Zhang Wei with a mix of emotions.

This is the Xie family.

She wore a lotus-root-colored dress and exuded an air of elegance with every gesture. Even standing next to Wang Yan, she was not overshadowed in the slightest.

On the contrary, they complement each other perfectly.

Wang Yan alone was already terrifying; with Xie Shi added to the mix...

Zhang Wei felt the large net enveloping him tighten even more. It seemed to dig into his flesh, making it hard for him to breathe, and more sweat streamed down his forehead, blurring his vision.

"Besides Xia Mengxian...there are...there are also..."

Zhang Wei didn't dare to say that name, but his shock made him blurt out, "And... Xie Shumi."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Wei seemed to have lost some of his strength and became even more listless.

Wang Yan said, "Say it again, who is it?"

“Thank you, Privy Councilor,” Zhang Wei pursed his chapped lips and repeated, “It is you, Privy Councilor Xie.”

At this point, his voice was almost trembling with tears.

Wang Yan then asked, "Did Xu Wei tell you?"

Zhang Wei shook his head: "It was Lord Xu who let it slip... I... I realized it."

Wang Yan said, "So, Privy Councilor Xie is an accomplice of Xia Mengxian?"

Zhang Wei said this time, "I don't know either, it shouldn't be... I can't be sure, at least on the surface, Xie Shumi and Xia Shangshu's relationship is not too close, at most they are colleagues with similar political views."

Since the matter had already been brought up, Zhang Wei had no choice but to reveal everything he knew: "But what I can confirm is that Xie Shumi and Xu Wei are not ordinary people. On the surface, Xu Wei works for Minister Xia, but in private, he has been passing messages to Xie Shumi quite a bit."

Wang Yan said calmly, "The Secretariat is under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, so it is normal for Xu Wei to report to Privy Councilor Xie."

Zhang Wei shook his head and said, "It's different... If it's for official business, we won't meet secretly at the estate. Nor will we report Xia Mengxian's matter to Xie Shumi."

"Xia Mengxian had the Secretariat collect incriminating evidence against those officials, and Xu Wei also made a copy and sent it to Privy Councilor Xie. I was Xu Wei's trusted scout, but he never let me handle matters related to Privy Councilor Xie; he did everything himself. That's why I became curious and secretly kept an eye on Xu Wei's every move."

"During a drunken moment, Xu Wei let slip that when he was serving as the military advisor in Shaozhou, Xie Shumi had saved his life and secretly promoted him to head the Secretariat. Xie was his benefactor."

Wang Yan stared at Zhang Wei: "Xu Wei is a cautious person. How could he easily let you know these inside stories?"

“Yes,” Zhang Wei pursed his lips, “it’s because I gave my cousin to Xu Wei as a concubine. So Xu Wei also treats me as half an brother-in-law.”

He went to great lengths to curry favor with Xu Wei and did indeed reap some benefits. If it weren't for his drinking spree last year, he might have been promoted. Zhang didn't take on the assassination of Xie Shi because he wanted to gain merit in front of Xu Wei again and thus advance further. Little did he know that this would lead to his demise.

Xie Yuyan heard "Shaozhou" again. Previously, the Third Manager had also intentionally mentioned Qujiang County in Shaozhou. It seems that there was more to the story of Second Master Xie back then.

Wang Yan asked, "Do you have any evidence of Xu Wei's private dealings with Xie Shumi?"

Zhang Wei shook his head: "No, I investigated these things secretly not to deal with Xu Wei, but just to find out what he wanted and cater to his preferences. How could I dare to hide any evidence?"

Zhang Wei's eyes were full of sincerity, probably because Wang Yan didn't believe him: "If I can produce evidence, I will definitely hand it over to you, sir, in order to earn merit and reduce my punishment. I will never dare to deceive you again."

Wang Yan did not press further, but instead asked, "Do you know how many scouts Xu Wei still has in Bianjing?" Zhang Wei nodded hastily, "There are seven who stay in Bianjing year-round, and five more were brought this time. They are all there to deliver messages for Xu Wei. Xu Wei doesn't rely on these scouts to take action, but rather on the officials he controls. Even the Imperial Guards have generals who follow Xu Wei's orders."

"Two of them are commanders. Xia Mengxian supplies them with a lot of money every year so that they can be used at critical moments. I am willing to identify those scouts and those coerced officials."

Wang Yan looked at Sang Dian: "Have him write down the names of those people. If any escape, arrest them immediately."

Sang Dian responded.

Zhang Wei breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he knew that arresting those people for Wang Yan might not guarantee his survival, he had no other choice. With Xu Wei down, many people would be arrested, and even if he didn't confess, people would still talk about it. It was better to earn merit first.

Just as Zhang was about to relax, Wang Yan suddenly asked sternly, "Do you know Wu Qian?"

Zhang Wei shuddered in fright, then instinctively shook her head: "No...no..."

He thought carefully for a moment and said with certainty, "I don't know."

"Where is the third manager?"

Zhang Wei shook his head again.

"You don't even know who's behind Xia Mengxian?"

Zhang Wei hurriedly said, "Xu Wei said that there are merchants supporting Xia Mengxian, and those people are quite powerful. He also sent his scouts to keep an eye on him, but they were killed by the people there. This made Xia Mengxian very unhappy, so he specially summoned Xu Wei to the capital to give him a lecture."

Wang Yan said, "After that, Xu Wei didn't send anyone to keep an eye on them anymore?"

Zhang Wei was unsure. After a moment's thought, he hesitated and said, "Besides us investigators, Xu Wei also has some people he keeps on his own. Even if he investigates again, he won't use the people from the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. He'll probably hand it over to those people."

"Given Xu Wei's personality, he won't let things go without figuring them out first."

Sang Dian took Zhang Wei away, and everyone in the room also left.

Mother Yu poured hot tea for Xie Yuyan and Wang Yan, and then went outside to stand guard, leaving only Wang Yan and Xie Yuyan to talk.

Xie Yuyan looked at Wang Yan: "Do you think Xu Wei, who is secretly investigating those merchants, might inform Xie Yizhi of the information he obtained?" It seemed as if a thread was about to connect the dots.

Could Xu Wei, Xie Yizhi, and the Third Manager all be connected to the rebellion in Shaozhou?

Xu Wei investigated the person behind Xia Mengxian. After learning that the other party was a merchant, he still sent his scouts to keep an eye on him, simply because he was curious about the identities of those merchants.
It was quite interesting that the third manager directed her attention to the Xie family when she was arrested.

Xie Yuyan recounted how the third manager had intentionally mentioned the Xie family to her.

He said "You are Lady Xie" twice.

"I think the first time he mentioned the Xie family of Daming Prefecture, and the second time he realized that I was related to Xie Shumi. That's why he went on to mention Shaozhou."

Wang Yan continued, "The relationship between the Third Manager and Xia Mengxian is already very clear, and with Xie Shumi... it's more like they're probing and testing each other."

"To put it bluntly, they all want to take advantage of each other."

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