Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 775 Lying
Dali Temple Yamen.

Guo Huang, the newly appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was about to sit down and examine the official documents on his desk when he saw the magistrate hurriedly enter the room.

“Guo Shaoqing,” the judge said urgently, “Xie…Xie Yizhi wants to see you, sir, saying he has a confession to give regarding the case.”

Guo Huang took a deep breath. This day had finally come. Xie Yizhi was a smart man; he knew how to gain more benefits. He didn't need to wait until he was executed; by then, the world would have changed. He could use his merits to protect his wife and children, leaving a glimmer of hope for the Xie family, so they could make a comeback in the future.

Guo Huang entered the investigation office and ordered his men to bring Xie Yizhi up.

After giving the order, footsteps sounded, and Xie Yizhi, looking disheveled, appeared in front of the group.

Guo Huang asked with a stern face, "What details of the case do you have to confess?"

As Xie Yizhi emerged from the dark prison, his eyes struggled to adjust to the bright light, causing him to squint slightly. After a moment, he was able to make out the people in the room.

Those present were just minor figures who usually had to fawn over him, but now they were showing off their official power to him.

"The court has not yet convicted me, so I do not need to bow to you all," Xie Yizhi said, looking at Guo Huang. "Bring me a seat."

The Liang Dynasty court was quite tolerant of its civil officials, especially important officials like Xie Yizhi. Unless they committed crimes of treason or rebellion, they would at most be stripped of their official positions. Therefore, even at this point, they would not completely break off relations.

Guo Huang nodded to the constable beside him, who immediately brought over a chair.

Xie Yizhi sat down. He was now certain that the Guo Shaoqing in front of him was the person he was looking for. If he hadn't been so eager to use him to deal with Wang Yan and Xie Yuyan, he wouldn't have been so easy to talk to.

With the right timing, location, and people all in place, Xie Yizhi didn't delay any longer: "I lied."

The room fell silent.

Guo Huang asked, "Which matter are you referring to?"

“I did not kill my mother,” Xie Yizhi said, pausing for a moment, “and I certainly did not kill my father.”

The judge standing nearby finally couldn't help but say, "Even now, you still dare to dream of exonerating yourself?"

Guo Huang glanced at the judge, and his reproachful gaze silenced the judge.

Guo Huang said to Xie Yizhi, "The yamen has the evidence..."

"What evidence?" Xie Yizhi asked. "My confession? Or the coroner's autopsy report? My father was murdered, but that doesn't prove I was the one who did it."

“I did stop Xu Huaiyi from performing an autopsy on my father, but not to cover up my own crimes.”

This piqued the interest of all the officials in the room, and several pairs of eyes stared intently at Xie Yizhi, waiting for him to deliver the results.

Guo Huang asked, "Then who are you covering for?"

Xie Yizhi leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath: "My second brother Xie Yisong's only daughter, Xie Wenjing..."

"That is, Xie Yuyan now."

Upon hearing this, the people in the room all showed expressions of disdain. The framing was too obvious, and no one bothered to argue with it.

Only Guo Huang remained tense, sternly rebuking, "This is the Dali Temple; you cannot speak such nonsense here."

Xie Yizhi remained calm and continued, "I wanted to kill her, but I had to cover for her because if the court investigated, they would inevitably question her identity, which might implicate my second brother and my mother's case."

Guo Huang seemed to have no choice but to suppress his anger at being mocked and continued to interrogate, "Why is your mother involved?"

Xie Yizhi said, "That Vice Minister Xu said he wanted to perform an autopsy on my mother. I wonder if the body sample has been returned?"

Guo Huang looked at the judge, who immediately said, "Xu, the Vice Minister, went to the Xie family estate yesterday and has not yet returned the documents."

Guo Huang said, "Send someone to urge them." "No need," Xie Yizhi said, "I've already said it, it's the same whether you check the corpse records again or not."

Xie Yizhi straightened her back, a hint of hatred flashing in her eyes: "My mother felt that there was something fishy about my second brother's death, so she has been secretly investigating it."

His mother favored his second and third brothers. After his third brother passed away, she devoted all her attention to his second brother. How could she let go of the tragic deaths of his second brother and his wife? He thought that his mother's move to the village and her unwillingness to see him again was an expression of her dissatisfaction with him. Unexpectedly, his mother was collecting evidence against him, wanting to put him to death.

“She spent more than ten years and actually got the evidence,” Xie Yizhi said, leaning forward. “Thanks to this, the Xie clan chief found out about it. Fearing that it would harm the interests of the Xie clan, the chief found my father and told him everything.”

"I am fortunate that I am my father's only son, and my career has been smooth over the years. I will soon be able to take over from him and support the Xie family. Otherwise, my father would not have taken the risk of harming my mother for my sake."

Even the clerk recording the events gasped in shock; he never expected to hear such an outcome.

The other officials also widened their eyes, as if they hadn't clearly heard what Xie Yizhi said.
"Don't believe me?" Xie Yizhi said, "When my mother passed away, it was my father who was with her at the estate."

"Xu Sicheng's methods of solving cases are superb. He has been investigating for so long, he must have made some progress. When you see Xu Sicheng, you can ask him if he has the evidence and knows who the murderer who killed my mother is."

Xie Yizhi stopped, giving the people in the room enough time to recover from their shock.

“My mother was recuperating on the estate, and her sudden death did not arouse suspicion among others. My father also handled the funeral arrangements, so no one suspected anything at the time, except for one person.”

Guo Huang asked, "Are you talking about Xie Wenjing?"

“After my mother passed away, Xie Wenjing should have been dealt with,” Xie Yizhi said, a hint of regret flashing in her eyes. “Perhaps feeling guilty towards my mother and my second brother’s family, my father refused to lay a hand on her no matter what.”

"Besides, the evidence my mother collected has not yet been found. Keeping it with Xie Yuyan will help him track down the whereabouts of the evidence."

"So, I secretly arranged to drug Xie Wenjing, intending to force her to hand over the evidence when she was seriously ill. Who knew that she would find an opportunity to escape the manor and even run into the injured Prince Huai."

Xie Yizhi crossed his hands. This was his second regret. Knowing about this matter, he should have decisively eliminated the root of the problem and killed the person first.

In the end, he was defeated by greed, wanting to take advantage of this opportunity to send his own daughter to marry into the royal family.

“I persuaded my father to deal with Xie Wenjing according to my method, but before that, my father had to try to gain Xie Wenjing’s trust and make her willingly hand over the evidence, so that we would have no more worries.”

The officials looked at each other, surprised that the old Prime Minister Xie was such a person; no wonder he had a son like Xie Yizhi.

“When I arrived at the estate, something had already happened. My father was lying in the backyard, covered in blood. I tried to help him, but it was too late. My eldest son must have witnessed this and mistakenly thought that I killed his grandfather. Later, I covered up the cause of my father's death, which made him even more convinced that I was the murderer.”

Guo Huang said, "In the end, you still didn't see Xie Yuyan kill anyone."

Xie Yizhi had already guessed that Guo Huang would ask this question: "When my father was murdered, the manor was in chaos. Xie Wenjing and her servant fled the manor at that time. If that's not enough, I have more evidence..."

“I had already arranged for the people of the Demon Sect to deal with Xie Yuyan. Although the people I sent secretly released the master and servant, they brought back the clothes Xie Yuyan wore that night to report back, as I had instructed.”

"Her clothes were covered in blood, which confirmed my suspicions. I didn't burn that blood-stained dress; instead, I buried it on the estate. I can tell you where it is. There are still Xie Wenjing's old clothes on the estate; you can take them for comparison."

Guo Huang frowned: "Why did you keep those things?"

Xie Yizhi gave a self-deprecating smile: "Then I have to thank Xu Sicheng. He kept pressing me, believing that my father died a violent death. I left the blood-stained dress because I was afraid that if he went crazy and insisted on investigating further, I would have to give him a murderer to avoid being accused of patricide."

Guo Huang said, "Then why didn't you tell the truth before?"

Xie Yizhi said, "Xie Wenjing has climbed up to the Wang family. If Wang Bingchen and Wang Yan are determined to protect her, it will be useless even if I speak. So I deliberately revealed half of what I said, leading Xu Sicheng to investigate the case. As long as Xu Sicheng is indeed honest and upright, he should discover the problem."

Another murmur arose, as everything Xie Yizhi said had truly astonished them.

After saying all this, Xie Yizhi's expression relaxed considerably, even showing a hint of anticipation, as if she couldn't wait to see Xie Yuyan arrested: "I advise Guo Shaoqing to immediately send someone to the estate to bring Xie Wenjing back for interrogation."

"Xu, the Vice Minister of Justice, was on good terms with Wang Yan and Xie Wenjing in Daming Prefecture. His return to the Dali Temple was also thanks to their help. No matter how honest a minister is, he can't escape the concept of 'favoritism'. Don't you agree?"

(End of this chapter)