Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 534 Sincerely
Xie Yuyan coaxed the cat into eating a few pieces of dried meat, and the cat curled up on her lap and started yawning.

After eating, one should sleep; no one is as carefree as this little raccoon.

For some reason, Xie Yuyan didn't feel sleepy when the cat didn't come; instead, she felt sleepy when she heard the cat snoring.

“Madam,” said Mama Yu, “why don’t you go to the inner room and rest for a while?” These past two days, Madam has been sleeping late, sometimes until almost dawn before the oil lamp in the room is blown out. If she could rest during the day, she would feel much better.

Xie Yuyan nodded: "Come and call me in about two quarters of an hour."

Entering the inner room, Xie Yuyan lay on the couch, and the cat turned over and snuggled into her arms again.

The raccoon's soft fur had a faint, pleasant fragrance, indicating that it had been washed before being brought here. Xie Yuyan stroked the raccoon's paws, wondering if the raccoon had once accompanied Wang Yan in his studies like this.

Now that she mentioned it, she realized she hadn't seen Wang Yan for several days.

Thinking of this, Xie Yuyan drifted off to sleep. In her hazy state, she heard voices outside, and then the door opened, and a person walked to the soft couch.

Xie Yuyan opened her eyes and saw a handsome face.

Wang Yan gestured for silence with his hand, removed his official hat, straightened his official robe, leaned against the soft couch, and took her hand.

"My lady," Wang Yan said in a low voice, "I need to find a place to rest for a while."

When Xie Yuyan woke up, the cat was still asleep. There was no one else in the room. He still had some lingering memories in his mind, but he didn't know if they were real or from a dream.

Xie Yuyan was about to get up when he glanced at the peony on his pillow, its purple petals surpassing all other flowers.

Wang Yan really did come here.

She had instructed her mother that Wang Yan's arrival did not require an announcement, which is why he went straight into the inner room. Seeing that she was asleep, he didn't speak to her, but sat on a stool and rested against the soft couch for a while.

They came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

Although he left no words behind, his quiet companionship left a unique mark on her heart.

……

Inside Baode Temple.

Xie Zishao, barefoot, sat in the meditation room and complained to Master Zhiyuan.

"I thought that coming to Bianjing would allow me to witness the prosperity of the capital," Xie Zishao said, "but who knew that my tenth sister would be so heartless as to send me to find a suitable porcelain kiln."

As he spoke, he wiggled his ten toes.

“Master, look,” Xie Zishao said, “several large blood blisters have appeared.”

Master Zhiyuan didn't want to see it, but he was afraid that Xie Zishao would not give up and would insist on putting his feet right under his nose.

He muttered a few lines of scripture before reluctantly glancing at it. He didn't see any blood blisters, but he did see the toes wobbling as if they were about to fly away.

“Amitabha,” Master Zhiyuan said, “Thank you for resting at the temple before you leave. I will have someone send some medicine powder over in a little while.”

Xie Zishao laughed: "Master is so kind to me. If I had known, I should have stayed at the temple as soon as I arrived in Bianjing."

Master Zhiyuan said, “There are many inconveniences in the temple, and we have to close the gates early. If you stay here, it may cause you to miss something important.”

“I’m not afraid,” Xie Zishao said. “The temple walls aren’t high, and I’m not used to going through the door.”

Master Zhiyuan was speechless. From Daming Prefecture to Bianjing, he had tried to hide from everyone, but in the end, he couldn't hide from any of them.

“Master,” Xie Zishao said again, “why didn’t you ask me if I had found the porcelain kiln?”

Master Zhiyuan wanted to say that he didn't care about these things, but then he heard Xie Zishao sigh: "This matter concerns the lives and livelihoods of the people of Bianjing." Master Zhiyuan didn't want to hear it, but he couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

“What my tenth sister said,” Xie Zishao said, “if things are not handled properly, I don’t know how many people will be displaced in the future. Their fields and houses will be taken away by the government, and people will lose their livelihoods, be burdened with debts, and have no choice but to flee.”

Master Zhiyuan didn't want to ask any more questions, but he couldn't control his tongue: "Why is this so?"

Xie Zishao sighed deeply, and after a long while said, "I don't know either, but I believe what my tenth sister said is true. So right now, I need to find more porcelain kilns, convert them into coal kilns as soon as possible, and then fire porcelain as quickly as possible."

"Fortunately, our porcelain industry has no shortage of porcelain clay or craftsmen. We can't fire porcelain from the big kilns, but we can think of a way to fire some porcelain from the Bianjing kilns."

The contracts that Han Si signed most often were for porcelain produced by the Han family's kiln. Solving this problem would reduce the trouble by more than half.

Xie Zishao said, "The porcelain business still needs to send the porcelain to the market. Before that, we need to make sure that my tenth sister is firmly in her position as the head of the business."

Master Zhiyuan instinctively wanted to nod, but he managed to control himself and asked, "Then... what can we do?"

Xie Zishao immediately perked up: "Tenth Sister said that the temple is making pills. Will we be able to use them when we transport porcelain in the future? Master, please think of a way to get the medicine made as soon as possible."

Master Zhiyuan was tricked when he started fiddling with his prayer beads; this Mr. Xie was there to supervise the construction.

“Master, please don’t be angry,” Xie Zishao said. “I’m fishing with a straight hook, and you still fall for it. This only proves that you are truly compassionate.”

Master Zhiyuan had no desire for compassion; he only wanted to kick Xie Zishao out of Baode Temple and regain his peace.

……

In the study of the Prince's mansion.

Wang Bingchen looked at his younger brother: "Have you figured it out? Where has Zheng-ge been going these past few days?"

Wang Bingcheng nodded and said, "I had someone follow him and discovered that he entered the Bianjing Porcelain Shop three times."

He knew who the porcelain shop owner was, and with some people secretly spreading rumors, Wang Bingcheng's expression was not good at this moment.

Wang Bingchen remained silent for a long time. Wang Bingcheng stood up and said, "I'll go and call that scoundrel over. I'll ask him myself, brother, what's going on between him and that Xie woman?"

Wang Bingchen interrupted, "If you ask him, will he tell the truth?"

“If you dare not speak,” Wang Bingcheng’s eyes blazed with anger, “then we’ll have to use family discipline.”

Wang Bingchen said calmly, "If these are useful, there's no need to start with Zheng Ge'er."

The problem isn't with Wang Zheng, but with Wang Yan.

Wang Zheng at most knew Xie Shi; the one who was rumored to have had an affair with Xie Shi was Wang Yan.

Wang Bingcheng actually hoped that Wang Zheng would take the blame. Wang Zheng was also good at studying, but he was much worse than Wang Yan. If his reputation was ruined, at most he would not be able to enter officialdom in the future, and the Wang family could support him.

But Wang Yan... he was the top scholar of the Liang Dynasty, and the Wang clan will have to rely on him in the future.

"Have you checked the household accounts?" Wang Bingchen asked. "Has Zheng'er received any money of dubious origin?"

“I’ve investigated,” Wang Bingcheng said, not needing his brother’s explanation. “I asked them all carefully, and there’s absolutely no such thing.”

Wang Bingchen sighed, "I do hope so."

If Xie could bribe Wang Yan and Wang Zheng with money, this matter would be much easier to handle.

Interest relationships are always easy to clarify.

I'm afraid it might be genuine.