Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 747 Next step

The moment Li Da moved, a figure appeared in front of the door, and the next moment, the two half-open doors were closed.

Li Da's premonition was correct; someone broke into his house, and it was someone who wanted to kill him.

He thought the sword hanging over his head was finally gone, but it fell down just like that. Li Da was about to shout, hoping to startle the patrolmen in the city, but he shut his mouth as soon as the thought crossed his mind, because his youngest son was being held in someone's hand, and a gleaming blade was pressed against his son's neck.

"General Li," the man said, "my master would like to speak with you for a few minutes."

Before Li Da could speak, the child, upon seeing his father, began to struggle wildly. The blade immediately cut through his skin, and blood flowed down instantly.

He hadn't seen his wife and children yet, and he was only thinking about escaping for his own life, but now... he couldn't just stand by and watch his children die.

"Put it down, put it down..." Li Da said, "Let's talk this out."

The man ignored him and looked into the room: "General Li, please..."

Li Da glanced reluctantly at the door, countless possibilities flashing through his mind. Perhaps... if he saw the person inside, there would still be room for maneuver.

Thinking of this, he retreated step by step until he reached the door of the main house.

The lit room felt like a cage, waiting for him to walk right into it, but he had no choice.

Finally, Li Damai stepped inside. He wanted to see the person in the house and perhaps persuade him to spare his whole family.

His gaze swept across the room; he knew his own home all too well. He first looked at the chair opposite him.

There was no one on the chair, so he immediately looked in the corner, where there was a table where his wife often sat fiddling with needle and thread.

Immediately, a familiar scene came into his view.

A woman dressed in a ginger-yellow dress sat there, but Li Da's heart sank at that glance. The woman's head was hanging low, slumped in the chair, and blood was flowing down her dress, drying on the ground. She was clearly dead.

Li Da stood there frozen, doing nothing but clenching his fists.

Because he knew that the moment he agreed to go in, he lost his chance to struggle.

He heard a whooshing sound behind him, followed by a burning sensation in his chest. He looked down and saw a blade protruding from his body. Li Da staggered forward two steps before falling to the ground.

The people on the ground gradually fell silent, and the body of a child was thrown over and placed next to his father.

The lights in the house were blown out, and two men dressed in black came out and went into the courtyard. They reported to one of the men, "The couple, the two children, and the four servants have all been dealt with."

The leader of the group said, "Take all the valuables out of the house." When the authorities come to investigate, they will only assume it's a case of thieves.

"Look again for any suspicious letters."

The subordinate responded.

Two hours later, they searched the entire courtyard several times, and all suspicious notes were taken away.

Before leaving, the leader went inside and personally examined the bodies of Li Da and his family. Whether it was a misperception or not, under the moonlight, Li Da's lips curled up slightly, revealing a strange smile.

The leader kicked him in the face.

The group waited a while longer, as if waiting for someone to break into the courtyard and catch them red-handed, but it was almost dawn and the surroundings remained silent.

The leader ordered the group to leave, but they would not return to Bianjing immediately to find Lady Wu, in case someone followed them and tried to trace her.

But they would send the message back to inform Madam Wu that the matter had been handled properly and without any obstacles.

In fact, they were prepared this time. They might be caught on the spot, but they would risk their lives to send a message home. To put it bluntly, Li Da's death was just a test.

The three walked out of the Li family's courtyard and disappeared at the end of the alley in the blink of an eye. ...

Half a day later, a letter was delivered to Madam Wu.

Madam Wu said, "It seems that Madam Xie has truly forgotten what happened before." Madam Xie's words are not to be trusted; only by trying it ourselves can we know the result.

Li Da had met with Madam Xie. If Madam Xie hadn't met with misfortune, she would have thought of Li Da and at least sent someone to try to find him.

At this point, Xie Yuyan would certainly want to seek justice for Madam Xie, so how could she not care about these relevant witnesses? Many of her subordinates were gathering information for her, and logically, they should have found Li Da before them.

There's only one possibility that they beat them to it... that the Xie family knew nothing at all, so naturally they had no way to investigate.

“We should thank Li Da,” said Madam Wu. “If he had found Xie Shi, we wouldn’t have had the chance to do all this.”

Since the Xie family has truly forgotten, they can make further arrangements based on this.

After speaking, Madam Wu stood up. She needed to inform the Princess Consort of this news. Perhaps by the time the Princess Consort finished her postpartum confinement, their plans would have already made progress.

The Xie family's carefree days are about to end.

……

When Wang Yan came out of the yamen, it was already past noon. Someone had died in the prison, and they had been organizing the case files all night. When they went to court today, the Dali Temple reported this to the Emperor, which made the Emperor furious. He immediately ordered the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate to thoroughly investigate the case.

As Wang Yan had predicted, the acting judge of the Court of Judicial Review took full responsibility for the crime and has now been dismissed from his post.

If the Court of Judicial Review makes a mistake, the burden on its shoulders will become even heavier. If the case does not yield a satisfactory result for the emperor, even the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review will find it difficult to protect himself.

Xu En looked at Wang Yan, who seemed to have never been as anxious as him.

Could it be that Wang Yan really has some method?
“Go back and rest for a while,” Wang Yan said. “You can’t come up with a solution right now.”

Xu En sighed and nodded.

The two mounted their horses and headed home separately.

Sang Dian spurred his horse to catch up with his husband, and sure enough, a moment later, Wang Yan looked at him and asked, "Is there any news from Lady Xie's side?"

Sang Dian immediately said, "Su Man sent someone back with a message that Madam went to bed early last night. This morning, the doctor came to take Madam's pulse. He didn't leave a prescription, but only instructed the family to prepare more medicinal meals in the coming days."

Wang Yan's furrowed brows relaxed a little. The doctor hadn't prescribed any medicine, which meant that A Yan's health wasn't too bad. A gentle diet would be enough to restore her spirits.

"Have Sangzhi go and ask what medicinal herbs are needed for the medicinal cuisine."

Sang Dian understands that whatever is needed should be sent.

"The lady also left a message for her husband."

Sang Dian intentionally saved this for last, and sure enough, Wang Yan reined in his horse, looked at him, and asked, "What did A-Yan say?"

Sang Dian smiled and said, "Madam, please tell your husband to rest well and not to overwork himself."

Wang Yan was originally going home, but upon hearing this, he decided to change direction and head to the South City Wharf.

“My lord, you can’t leave,” Sang Dian said. “Someone from the palace came early this morning to inquire and learned that you haven’t returned home yet, so they changed their schedule to come home at noon. You will have to receive a reward and express your gratitude then…”

"Not only the young master, but the lady must also stay at home to await the imperial court's reward."

(End of this chapter)