Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 785 Prison Break
Guo Huang was sent flying backward and crashed heavily to the ground. Instant pain shot through his abdomen. He tried to scream, but instead of a sound, the filth inside his stomach gushed out.

Guo Huang was hunched over, convulsing in pain, barely able to breathe. The officials and yamen runners present were so frightened that they froze and forgot to help him up.

This was a junior official of the Court of Judicial Review, yet Wang Yan kicked him into such a state, which shows just how furious Wang Yan was.

Having learned from past mistakes, no one dared to stop Wang Yan again.

Wang Yan didn't care about getting entangled with anyone. He quickly reached Xie Yuyan's side, took the person from Liu Song's hands, and anxiously looked at Xie Yuyan.

"Ayan." Wang Yan's voice was trembling as he stroked Xie Yuyan's cheek and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

“A-Yan”.

When Liu Song saw the red eyes of the court official, he realized that the court official truly cared for the eldest daughter-in-law, even more so than the rumors outside.

Feeling his hand being squeezed, Wang Yan's panicked heart was finally calmed down a little.

Xie Yuyan was about to speak, but another trickle of blood slid down the corner of his mouth.

Wang Yan felt as if his heart was being gripped tightly, as if a tattered cloth was stuffed into his chest, making it impossible to breathe. If anything were to happen to A Yan... he dared not imagine what he would do.

"Don't scare me, A-Yan..." Wang Yan said, "What exactly happened?"

The jailer next to him felt Chao Qinglang's gaze sweep over him, and he was so frightened that he trembled and the instruments of torture in his hand fell to the ground.

"Your Excellency, we haven't...we haven't even subjected you to torture yet, we haven't done anything..."

Another jailer instinctively tried to escape. He struck Lady Xie with his disciplinary rod, but only once. Suddenly, Lady Xie vomited blood. Even he was startled. Before he could figure out what had happened, the Imperial Attendant burst in... He felt he might not live much longer. Even if he survived, he wouldn't be able to stay in the Dali Temple.

Without Wang Yan's instruction, Su Man rushed out to fetch a doctor, while Liu Song, standing nearby, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, saying, "They haven't even had time to be tortured yet..."

These words relieved the jailer, but what Liu Song said the next moment almost made him cry.

Liu Song continued, "But I don't know what these people did to Madam. They can't produce any evidence, and their testimonies are inconsistent, so they want to force a confession. I suspect... they planned to harm Madam long ago. Even without Madam's confession, they wanted to make sure Madam couldn't leave this prison."

Liu Song said with grief and indignation, "If the Imperial Attendant doesn't come, they will definitely succeed."

"I've seen too many women commit suicide because they couldn't bear the humiliation. If I hadn't been here... what would they have said? Who could have controlled it?"

“This is right under the emperor’s nose, in the Dali Temple prison… We’ve been crying out for justice for so long, but no one has paid any attention. Yet, Guo Shaoqing dares to cover up the truth with his own hands.”

Guo Huang caught his breath and tried to speak, but all he could hear was Liu Song's voice. This lawyer was exceptionally quick-witted; he had covered the entire matter, from speculation to confirmation, all by himself.

"Letter words...female...yellow..."

Guo Huang clutched his stomach, pointed at Liu Song, wanting to reprimand Wang Yan but lacking the strength, and could only glare angrily at Wang Yan.

Wang Yan had no time to pay attention to Guo Huang and quickly turned his gaze to Xie Yuyan, unconsciously tightening his arms around Xie Yuyan.

"A-Yan!"

Wang Yan called out softly, hoping that A-Yan would open her eyes and look at him. Just as he was becoming extremely anxious, he felt Xie Yu-Yan's hand move again, her fingertips sliding in his palm.

Wang Yan carefully examined the characters she had written.

fake.

Fake? Liar. Wang Yan didn't breathe a sigh of relief. He could tell at a glance whether the blood was real or fake, and besides, he could feel her body trembling slightly, clearly suffering from pain.

These should be symptoms of poisoning.

Even if she prepared the poison herself, wouldn't it still be more dangerous?

Guo Huang finally stood up and had someone help him walk towards Wang Yan: "Wang Yan...you trespassed into the Dali Temple...seriously injured this official...you still..." Wang Yan didn't want to waste time, so he picked up Xie Yuyan and walked out.

"You...you...you still want to break me out of prison...Do you know what crime this is? Release the prisoner immediately...This official...this official..."

Wang Yan ignored him and continued walking forward.

"Guards! Guards!" Guo Huang shouted, "Take...take them down...I..."

Guo Huang coughed violently again, and the pain in his abdomen made him break out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, his shouts had an effect. A cacophony of footsteps sounded as jailers and yamen runners gathered around. However, when they saw the scene before them, none of them dared to step forward.

It wasn't just their fear of Wang Yan's identity, but also Wang Yan's menacing appearance.

Guo Huang always remembered what he had to do, so he forced himself to continue giving orders: "Hurry...do it...if you let...they leave, you will all...be punished."

Even so, no one dared to step forward.

Liu Song stood imposingly behind Wang Yan, almost forgetting that he was holding a legal document, not a stick.

"Step aside."

Wang Yan shouted, and the constables blocking his way all retreated. He continued walking forward with Xie Yuyan in his arms. Guo Huang wanted to step forward himself, but in the end, he didn't dare to move.

Seeing that Wang Yan was about to walk out of the prison, Guo Huang hurried after him, saying, "Wang Yan, this is Daliang... not your... Wang family... even if your father is... the prime minister, you can't..."

Wang Yan looked at Guo Huang: "Guo Shaoqing is really working hard. Who is he working for?"

Guo Huang was taken aback by what he was said, and was inexplicably surprised. Could it be that Wang Yan had seen through his intentions?

Wang Yan continued, "You just want me to make a mistake, right? Then I'll grant your wish."

Wang Yan held Xie Yuyan tightly with one arm, stepped forward, drew the long knife from the constable's waist, and the blade flew out of his hand, heading straight for Guo Huang.

Guo Huang's eyes widened in horror. He tried to dodge, but he was frozen in place, watching helplessly as the blade approached him, flew over his head, and then felt a lightness on his head as his official hat was pulled off by the steel knife.

Guo Huang's legs trembled, and he could not stand for a moment. He collapsed to the ground. If the knife had been just a little bit off, his head might have been split open.

The prison fell silent for a moment, then everyone retreated, as if respectfully seeing Wang Yan off.

Liu Song felt a surge of joy, wishing he could retrieve the steel knife with the corrupt official's hat stuck in it and take a stroll through Bianjing City.

As soon as Wang Yan stepped out of the prison, he saw Huang Ping, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and a group of officials hurrying to greet him.

Huang Ping looked at Wang Yan and Xie Yuyan, his face darkening, and said, "What does the Imperial Attendant mean by this?"

Wang Yan, his imposing manner undiminished, met Huang Ping's gaze: "Minister Guo arrested people without cause. Did Minister Huang inquire about this? Bringing people to the prison and then secretly poisoning them, what is the meaning of this?"

Huang Ping had only just heard that Guo Huang had captured Xie Yuyan, and before he could even find out the details, he heard that Wang Yan had come knocking on his door. He rushed over, only to find this scene... Xie was being held in Wang Yan's arms, her life hanging in the balance...

Wang Yan felt Xie Yuyan in his arms suddenly move, and the next moment a mouthful of hot blood gushed from her mouth.

The hot blood splattered onto his official robe, as if it were burning through his flesh. Wang Yan dared not make any further movements, staring in horror at the person in his arms, an unprecedented sense of fear enveloping him.

"Your Excellency, please put the person down first, let me take his pulse."

The urgent shouts brought Wang Yan back to his senses. He looked up and, through his blurry vision, saw Su Man leading the imperial physician to him.

(End of this chapter)