Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 624 Seeking a meeting
The ropes binding Master Wu were untied, and Yang Kuan led him to rest aside.

Yang Kuan said to Master Wu, "Don't even think about running away. You'll be caught and brought back, and then you and Wu Qian will both die."

“If you do something wrong, Madam Xie will not give you another chance.”

Master Wu took a deep breath and then nodded: "Understood." He hadn't realized before that Yang Kuan could be so respectful to someone.

It turns out that Yang Kuan wasn't incapable of speaking; he was simply unworthy of it.

As for running away, he certainly wouldn't dare to have such a thought. Just a few words from Madam Xie had sent chills down his spine. What he was about to face was not as simple as he had imagined.

Master Wu looked at Yang Kuan: "Tell me, can this matter be handled smoothly? What if the people besieging the caravan weren't sent by Xie Yizhi? What if they disobey the leader's orders?"

Yang Kuan handed Master Wu a water pouch and then said calmly, "You don't need to worry about this. Perhaps your leader has already received their secret message."

Mr. Wu wanted to say something more.

Yang Kuan said, "Those people chose to surround the caravan here, but they didn't make a big fuss. Instead, they sought more reinforcements from the government office and resolved the matter efficiently. Do you know why?"

If they had received the support of the imperial court, the caravan would probably be in jail by now.

Master Wu frowned and pondered: "They must be using the caravan as bait to lure Madam Xie into their trap."

“They’re not just trying to seduce our lady,” Yang Kuan said, “they’re also trying to seduce people from your demonic sect.”

The Demon Sect came here for the caravan, but now that those people have made their move first, are they going to try and steal from the Demon Sect? The reason they haven't left in a hurry is that they are confident they can join forces with the Demon Sect.

“When the old lady came here, she fought a battle with those people and found out everything.”

Master Wu believed that what Yang Kuan said was true. Whenever he thought of Madam Xie, his heart turned cold. If he had met Madam Xie earlier, he and his son would have stayed far away from her.

……

The light in Xu Shu's room was still on. She had been sleeping very late these past few days, dealing with various affairs within the sect and reviewing secret messages sent by her spies.

When Xu Shu learned that Xie Yuyan's caravan was surrounded by government troops in the mountains, she was quite surprised and didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed. Before she could even make a move, the caravan had been dealt with.

To her surprise, she no longer needed to put in the effort; to her disappointment, things were no longer under her control, and she might not achieve the results she wanted.

So Xu Shu stopped and had someone ask the caravan for more details about what had happened.

Upon asking this question, she discovered that the result was even better than she had guessed.

Xie Yuyan's caravan plundered a village. To cover up their crimes, they even attempted to massacre the villagers. Fortunately, the villagers resisted fiercely, attracting the arrival of government troops, which scared the caravan away.

The government officials then pursued the caravan and trapped them in the mountains.

Xu Shu knew that the so-called robbery must be fake; Xie Yuyan's caravan would not stoop to the level of bandits and try to steal the villagers' property.

What could those farmers possibly have? Just some rice and wild vegetables. The goods in the caravan's hands were far more valuable. To cause trouble and disrupt the business would be a losing proposition.

However, as long as the county government turns a blind eye, who can speak up for the caravan now?
As Xu Shu was thinking, the steward who was serving her entered the room: "Sir, the people from the sect caught someone during their patrol just now. When they searched that person, they found a secret letter addressed to you."

Xu Shu raised an eyebrow in surprise: "For me?"

The steward responded, "Because the letter... mentioned Xie... Master..." Xu Shu's face immediately darkened: "The patrolling believers saw the letter?"

The steward hurriedly said, "They didn't read it, but they were worried there might be a problem, so they specifically informed me, and that's why I opened the letter."

Xu Shu breathed a sigh of relief. Many people in the sect knew about her relationship with Xie Yizhi, but as long as this matter was not brought to light, no one dared to say it openly.

Seeing that the esteemed leader's complexion had improved, the steward continued, "The letter said that they were the master's men, who had been secretly watching the Xie family's actions. They thought this was a good opportunity, so they made their move. However, the caravan discovered their ambush and managed to escape. But after several days of siege, they have now captured all the members of the caravan."

Xu Shu's face lit up with joy: "You caught them all?"

The steward responded and took out a name card, handing it to Xu Shu: "This servant has checked and there is no problem, but whether it is indeed the master's name card or not, Your Excellency still needs to compare it."

If they can produce Xie Yizhi's name card, they can prove their identities.

Xu Shu took the name card and held it up to the lamp to examine it. She knew exactly what kind of ink and paper her beloved Xie Lang liked to use, not to mention the seal on it, which was undoubtedly Xie Yizhi's.

The steward said, "Should we call him in for questioning?"

Xu Shu nodded and instructed the steward to take the person to the outer room for questioning first, and then let them in if there were no problems.

After a while, the steward brought a young man in.

The man bowed to Xu Shu and said, "Greetings, Second Madam."

Xu Shu didn't particularly like the title "Second Madam," but it somehow connected her to Xie Yizhi, so she let the man call her that.

"I am a prison guard in the county. I used to work for Magistrate Liang. Last autumn, Magistrate Liang was promoted to Bianjing. I escorted him all the way and had the honor of seeing the prosperity of the capital. I also... visited the residence of Privy Councilor Xie."

That's already made very clear.

A minor county magistrate could not possibly enter Xie's residence unless he was one of Xie Yizhi's men.

Xu Shu said, "You and Magistrate Liang are just superior and subordinate?"

The man immediately replied, "The county magistrate is my cousin."

That's right. Magistrate Liang clearly intended to take Supervisor Liang to the capital so that he could familiarize himself with the route.

"Was this also left by your cousin?" Xu Shu pointed to the name card on the table.

Liang, the guard, immediately said, "Just a few days ago, my cousin sent this to me, telling me to be careful of the caravans coming and going, especially the one under that Madam Xie's command."

At this point, Liang, the prison warden, said, "However, my cousin did not instruct me to do anything. What I did was... to use the banditry as an excuse to bring the caravan to justice."

Xu Shu nodded: "You've done a great job."

Supervisor Liang hurriedly waved his hand: "This subordinate... acted on his own initiative. Fortunately, no trouble was caused. How dare I ask for any credit? As long as the Privy Councilor and you don't blame me, that's enough."

Xu Shu knew what Liang Jian was thinking. Some officials had been left in impoverished county towns for many years, hoping to get a chance to be promoted.

This is probably how it happened. He encountered the Xie family's merchant caravan here and didn't want to watch them leave, so he decisively took action.

(End of this chapter)