Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 570 Xie Wenjing's Identity
Inside the room, the old man huddled in a corner. The two people outside were speaking in hushed tones, and he could only hear a few words. But he wished he were completely deaf.

Especially when words like "Ministry of Justice," "death squad," and "King Qin" appeared, he simply covered his ears. To survive, there were some things he couldn't know.

After a long while, when the house was completely silent, the old man cautiously walked out.

The two men remained seated at the table, their faces showing no sign of distress, appearing just like close friends chatting.

The old man went over and poured hot tea for them, then hurried out of the house as if fleeing.

Wang Yan looked at Prince Huai: "Prince Huai may be disappointed. What we need to do may not be the same as what Prince Huai wants."

The way Wang Yan said "we" so naturally made the Prince of Huai smile inwardly. Clearly, in Wang Yan's heart, he and Xie Yuyan would always stand together, while everyone else would be separated.

The Prince of Huai said, "What I want to do right now is to capture those people. I have nothing to blackmail you with. On the contrary, if I force you to do things for me, you can report it to the Emperor. Royal family members are most afraid of these things."

Wang Yan said calmly, "In that case, Your Highness, please tell me where you wish to begin your investigation?"

“The Xie family,” said the Prince of Huai, “is now revealing more and more of their secrets. Even if we don’t investigate Xie Yizhi, someone else will. Xie Yizhi holds a high position and wields great power. Once someone gets hold of something and uses it against him, it will cause a huge mess.”

Wang Yan asked, "Has Your Highness discovered anything?"

The Prince of Huai sighed: "You don't trust me because I've been hiding in the shadows all along. Since that's the case, I'll say a few more words."

As he spoke, he looked out the window: "According to the information I found, Old Mrs. Xie is not sick."

Wang Yan showed no surprise whatsoever.

Upon seeing this, the Prince of Huai suddenly smiled: "If Lady Xie has not forgotten the past at all, then all that I have investigated is naturally useless." No one knows these inside stories better than the real Xie Wenjing.

Wang Yan would not reveal anything about Xie Yuyan. He looked at the Prince of Shanghuai and said, "Your Highness, please speak freely. Even if you are wrong, I will not refute you."

Wang Zhuangyuan's words left the Prince of Huai speechless for a moment, and he could only continue: "After Master Xie and his wife passed away in Shaozhou, Old Madam Xie fell seriously ill and was treated by Physician Ding at that time."

"Old Madam Xie trusted Doctor Ding very much. Whenever she had an ailment, she would definitely ask him to come and take her pulse. I also saw the pulse records of Old Madam Xie in Doctor Ding's hands."

"In the three months after the news came back from Shaozhou, thanks to the careful care of Physician Ding, Old Madam Xie had gradually stopped taking medicine. But for some reason, her condition suddenly worsened."

"Doctor Ding said that after Old Madam Xie became 'seriously ill,' he had come to her house to take her pulse, but he was turned away at the door. The next day, he heard that Old Madam Xie had developed hysteria, but he did not know which doctor had treated her."

"Since they were used to the same doctor, why change him at the last minute? Not only that, the Xie family quickly sent Old Madam Xie to the estate to recuperate."

"Logically, shouldn't we have invited several doctors to treat the patient? Why were they sent out of the capital so easily?"

Prince Huai took another sip of water to moisten his throat: "Next to the Xie family's old residence lives Scholar Luo. The Luo family heard Old Madam Xie shouting and yelling, and they chased after Xie Yizhi, thinking he was the murderer of Xie Yisong. It was precisely the Luo family's words that corroborated Old Madam Xie's hysteria." "Xie Yizhi went to Shaozhou to help, how could he possibly harm his second brother? This matter caused quite a stir, and Old Madam Xie even broke Xie Yizhi's head. Many officials in the capital saw Xie Yizhi's wound, which was very serious, showing that Old Madam Xie used all her strength at the time."

"If Grandma Xie isn't insane, could what she said be the truth?"

Wang Yan asked, "Besides these speculations, does the Prince have any evidence?"

The Prince of Huai said, "This estate has been kept very clean by the Xie family. Most of the servants who served Old Madam Xie died when she passed away. The rest of them know little about the inner affairs of the household."

"Therefore, there is no direct evidence at present."

"But we can still approach it from other angles."

Wang Yan raised his eyes, and their gazes met. Without needing to say anything, Wang Yan already understood what the Prince of Huai meant.

Other evidence is gone, but the real Xie Wenjing is still here.

“Perhaps Xie Wenjing is not Xie Yizhi’s daughter,” said Prince Huai. “It is strange enough that a newborn baby would be sent to the estate to keep her grandmother, who suffers from hysteria. Her biological mother has ignored her all these years. When I was injured and met Xie Wenjing, she was not just coincidentally in the woods. That day, her maid was carrying a bundle, and the two of them were in a hurry. After bandaging my wound, they left.”

"So, she actually escaped from Xie Family Manor. Unfortunately, she couldn't get away that time and was quickly captured by the Xie family. I have evidence of this. The day I was injured and went missing, my guards saw the Xie family's commotion while searching the surrounding area."

Wang Yan said, "Since the Xie family is willing to go to such lengths to find someone, they must be afraid of being found out. Just say that Second Madam Xie was preparing to return to the capital to find Master Xie, and that will cover it up. I suppose when Prince Huai inquired about Second Madam Xie's identity, he heard this and that's why he didn't suspect anything."

Prince Huai nodded: "No matter how much we try to cover it up, if Xie Wenjing's identity is questionable, we will definitely find out the truth. You should know that when Xie Yisong's wife, Xu, was abducted by the rebels, she was about to give birth."

"If Old Madam Xie knew that Xie Yisong had a daughter still alive, would she take her granddaughter away from the capital and hide in this manor in order to protect the child?"

"Does this make sense? Xie Yizhi is, after all, Old Madam Xie's own flesh and blood. Xie Yisong is already dead, and we can't send our only son to his death. Even if she wanted to do it, the rest of the Xie family wouldn't agree. Weighing the options, we might as well send her out of the capital."

"In order to protect her granddaughter, Old Mrs. Xie must have reached a consensus with Xie Yizhi to tell the public that Xie Wenjing was Xie Yizhi's daughter. Coincidentally, Xie Yizhi's wife, Zhou, was also pregnant at that time, and the baby was less than a month old when she gave birth."

"Perhaps it was because of the trouble at home that Zhou was too worried and thus gave birth prematurely. Premature babies have an 80% chance of dying. If that child hadn't survived, wouldn't that have made the lie work? Xie Wenjing would have smoothly become Xie Yizhi's daughter."

"Xie Yizhi and Zhou must despise Xie Wenjing. If I hadn't found out Xie Wenjing's identity, Xie Yizhi would have made a move against Xie Wenjing sooner or later."

In the eyes of the Prince of Huai, this should be part of the truth.

The Prince of Huai paused for a moment: "Now, does Hechun, like me, suspect that there are other secrets behind the rebellion that occurred in Qujiang, Shaozhou back then?"

There is one more chapter

(End of this chapter)