Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 682 Ruin

While the imperial court outwardly dealt with the factional strife, it secretly amassed troops and headed to Fujian.

The people on Fujian Road, however, were completely unaware.

Xie Yizhi clenched his fists. Xie Wenjing and her maid had been arrested, and although he was anxious, he felt there was still room for maneuver. Who could prove that Xie Wenjing was his daughter?

It could be that he colluded with the demonic cult, or it could be that someone used the demonic cult to frame him.

This hardly qualifies as empirical evidence.

That's why he arranged for the censors to impeach Wang Xiangong. As long as he attributed everything to factional strife, officials who opposed the new policies would stand on his side without any scruples.

Even the Emperor of Daliang cannot act arbitrarily, so even if the Emperor trusts Wang Yan, Wang Yan still needs to have the ability to quell all doubts.

That's simply impossible, unless...

Xie Yizhi closed his eyes, unless the things he had done using the demon cult were completely exposed.

So he wrote a secret letter to Yang Jun, telling him to stabilize the situation and not to lose his composure.

It now seems that Yang Jun either did not follow his instructions or made a mistake that Wang Yan seized upon; otherwise, the court would not have acted so decisively against Fujian.

They still managed to find the key.

Xie Yizhi took a deep breath. He felt that the game was already lost. If he weren't in Bianjing, he could still leave Daliang with his men. But now, the mansion was guarded inside and out. Without the court's permission, he couldn't even think about stepping out of here.

Xie Yizhi's body went limp, and she slumped into the chair.

After an unknown amount of time, the study door slowly opened, and then a person walked in.

Xie Yizhi opened her eyes and saw Xie Chengrang.

“Father.” Xie Chengrang stepped forward and bowed.

Xie Yizhi said calmly, "What are you doing here?"

Xie Chengrang looked out the door and said, "I heard that Father is not feeling well, so I have come to visit him."

Xie Yizhi knew that Xie Chengrang had something to say, so she gestured for him to come closer: "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Xie Chengrang said, "Father has an old ailment in his shoulder. If I massage it for you, it might ease the pain."

Xie Yizhi didn't say anything more, watching Xie Chengrang walk behind him and put his hands on his shoulders.

Xie Yizhi had long seen through Xie Chengrang's seemingly compliant demeanor, but in reality, he harbored ulterior motives.

Xie Chengrang's hands slowly began to knead, the pressure just right, making Xie Yizhi feel comfortable in an instant.

“Father,” Xie Chengrang lowered his head and whispered in Xie Yizhi’s ear, “someone asked me to deliver a message to you, that they have a way to help you.”

Xie Yizhi's eyes widened suddenly. He turned to stare at Xie Chengrang, and after a long while, he suddenly revealed a mocking smile. He had raised several good sons! His eldest son was secretly investigating him, wanting to put him to death.

The illegitimate son, whose connections with outsiders have been unknown for a long time, is clearly someone else's spy planted next to him.

After a long pause, Xie Yizhi came to his senses and asked, "What can he do for me? Help me get acquitted? Let me return to the Privy Council?"

“It seems that’s not the case now,” Xie Chengrang said. “If they could do that, they would have sent a message long ago, asking me to persuade my father to serve them.”

Xie Yizhi's heart sank. Xie Chengrang said, "They only said they could help Father clean up the mess."

Xie Yizhi remained silent for a long time. Only when the light in the room dimmed considerably did he ask, "Who are the 'them' you're talking about?"

Xie Chengrang asked, "Father, have you ever heard of 'the East'?"

Xie Yizhi's eyes narrowed again. Of course he knew about "the boss." When smuggling goods at sea, they often encountered people from the boss's group and had even had several conflicts.

The owner had dealings with many merchants from various domains, and his influence at sea was not only fearsome but also truly terrifying.

He agreed to the marriage alliance with the Xia family because he guessed that Xia Mengxian had connections with his employer.

If he can take control of the master in time, he can completely control the sea routes near Daliang and make at least hundreds of thousands of strings of cash every year. With that money, what can't he do?
Little did he know that his employer had already placed a pawn beside him, and it was his own son.

"Why do they think I would lose this round?" Xie Yizhi suddenly said. "The Emperor has only allowed me to recuperate in my residence; he hasn't sentenced me yet."

“Father can’t win,” Xie Chengrang said. “Our Xie clan will also perish…Father needs to make plans in advance.”

If things hadn't come to this point, he wouldn't have come to Xie Yizhi to say these things.

Xie Chengrang never expected that Xie Yizhi would run into trouble so soon after his "boss" found him.

If all of this had happened later, or if Wang Yan hadn't targeted Xie Yizhi, the credit for exposing Xie Yizhi would have gone to him. Of course, he wouldn't have filed a complaint against Xie Yizhi in court; instead, he would have tried to blackmail Xie Yizhi and then firmly grasp the Xie family in his hands.

Xie Chengrang felt that his plans had come to an abrupt end before they even began, as if it were all a dream. It was as if some unseen hand had completely destroyed the promising path that lay before him. Now, let alone his career, even saving his life was difficult.

All he's doing now is trying to find a way to get off this sinking ship.

……

Jianning, Fujian.

Suddenly, a troop of soldiers rushed into the Xiangjun camp stationed here. The newcomers unfolded a document and swiftly dismissed several Xiangjun commanders, replacing them with military officers dispatched by the imperial court to take command of all the Xiangjun in Fujian Province.

As if a calamity had struck from the sky, the entire Xiangjun camp was thrown into chaos. Several commanders attempted to resist, but were quickly suppressed.

Xu En and his men searched several commanders' residences and found several boxes of gold. When the boxes were opened, the bright yellow color was dazzling, and even Xu En, who had seen a lot, couldn't help but frown.

If a few lowly commanders could find these things, one can only imagine what the officials and generals in Fujian must be like.

“It should have been investigated long ago,” Xu En suddenly said. “The exploitation of these assets has cost countless lives.” With the evidence from Fujian, if anyone dares to say that all of this has nothing to do with the Privy Council and Xie Yizhi, he can stuff that person’s mouth with the gold.

Without the Privy Council, would they dare to act so blatantly?

After dealing with the main camp of the Xiang Army, Wang Yan looked at Xu En and said, "You still need to take over the remaining camps."

They acted quickly to prevent chaos in Fujian. Their target was the military commanders, and if they caused a mutiny, the situation would be dire. That's why Wang Yan waited until Yang Jun, the military commander of Fujian, left before he made his move.

Xu En greatly admired Wang Yan. He had rushed all the way here and started working without rest. As a civil official, he had the physique of a military general, which was truly remarkable.

Xu En nodded: "Take down the leading commander, captain, and military leader, and the rest will not dare to cause trouble."

Wang Yan looked at Xu En: "To intimidate the soldiers, we might as well take a few heads first."

Xu En had the same thought, but he hadn't said anything because he was afraid Wang Yan would think he was too murderous. Unexpectedly, Wang Yan spoke first. For some reason, he felt that the current top scholar was exceptionally different.

(End of this chapter)