The sky gradually brightened, and the people inside the city rose early to get on with their lives. Those with a bit of money to spare would light a lamp, while the poorer ones simply felt their way in the dark to start the fire and cook breakfast.

Zhù Ying and Zhang Xiangu both woke very early. Zhù Ying had planned to rise early and head near the yamen to gather news, and since the two of them shared the same bed, the moment Zhù Ying stirred, Zhang Xiangu woke as well.

Zhang Xiangu said, “Why are you up so early?”

Zhù Ying said, “I’m going to listen for news.”

Zhang Xiangu also climbed out of bed. “I’ll go with you.”

Zhù Ying did not refuse. Given the current situation, it was better for the mother and daughter to move together. They ate breakfast in a hurry, then waited a while longer until the sky had fully brightened before setting out. Just as Zhang Xiangu was about to step out the door, she realized she had forgotten to cover her eyes; she rummaged for a long time before pulling out the black cloth and tying it on. This time Zhù Ying carried no carrying pole, only a little money on her person. She locked the door and the two of them walked together toward the yamen.

The further they went, the more people there were on the road. Zhù Ying listened to passersby talking and gathered that it seemed the yamen had something to announce. Zhù Ying and Zhang Xiangu exchanged a glance; Zhù Ying turned and caught sight of the black cloth over Zhang Xiangu’s eyes, reached up and straightened her face, then took her by the arm and walked with her toward the yamen entrance. They had not arrived particularly early, and people had already filled the spaces up front. Zhù Ying didn’t dare push to the front for fear of being recognized, so she tugged at someone nearby and asked, “Hey, friend, what’s going on?”

The man was around thirty. Finding himself called “friend” by a child of ten or so, he said with some amusement, “You don’t know what’s happening and you’ve come to watch the excitement anyway?”

“The way you put it, you do know? There’s still time before it starts — tell me a little…”

This fellow turned out to be a straightforward sort. He said, “Early this morning the city gates were sealed. They said that yesterday another imperial envoy arrived overnight and sorted out the Chen Family’s case by morning! Impressive, isn’t it? The judgment is today! Look around — there are men posted at every street corner, all for this business. The two imperial envoys the Emperor sent here, each one has their own kind of usefulness…”

At that point he became less forthcoming, grinning with a “you understand” look in his eyes. Zhù Ying thought about Censor Zhong and what that one had accomplished. Oh — he had dealt severely with Yu Ping and the others. That was the kind of thing that would make people fond of him. If she herself hadn’t been shunted around from one place to another, she probably would have thought Censor Zhong was a thoroughly good man.

The straightforward fellow had just finished speaking when a gong rang out and someone called, “The imperial envoy is coming out!”

Zhù Ying was still short, and Zhang Xiangu was not tall either. Fortunately a temporary platform had been erected in front of the yamen, and both Zheng Xi and Sheng Ying had taken seats on it, so Zhù Ying could see both of them clearly. Sure enough, her earlier guess had not been wrong: this Zheng Xi was indeed Seventh Young Master Zheng, and the deputy envoy Sheng Ying looked exactly as she had seen him from the shadows the night before.

Zhang Xiangu gripped her daughter’s hand tightly. She had said many times “if we can’t save him, we won’t,” but now that the moment had come, she still hoped with all her heart that her husband would be unharmed.

Zheng Xi and Sheng Ying yielded to each other politely, and it was Master Huang who stepped forward first to make introductions: this gentleman is the chief imperial envoy, and that one is the deputy, both bearing the Emperor’s mandate to investigate the Chen Family’s case. Then, in plain and simple speech, he explained: “We know rumors have been flying around the prefecture with all the detail in the world — curses and the like — leaving everyone unsettled. The imperial envoys, mindful of the people’s welfare, have examined the case thoroughly and brought it to a clear conclusion, so that everyone may live in peace of mind!”

The crowd erupted in cheers.

A young and handsome imperial envoy who had come overnight, sorted out the case overnight, sealed the city gates at first light, and was now ready to close the case! How satisfying! Over these past two months, everyone had indeed been living on edge. The area around the Chen estate, once a bustling residential neighborhood, had been nearly emptied of residents. To have it cleared up all at once — that was truly wonderful!

Master Huang waited for the cheering to die down a little, then pressed both hands downward. “Quiet, please!” The bailiffs sounded the bronze gong, and the scene fell silent. Zhù Ying’s heart, too, had tightened. She had guessed that Seventh Young Master Zheng might be an imperial envoy, and so she had taken a gamble, shared what she had discovered with him, and kept the physical evidence back. Whether Seventh Young Master Zheng believed her, and how much, and what he would rule after believing her — she was not entirely certain.

Zheng Xi did not shout himself; he spoke a sentence at a time, and Jin Liang along with the bailiffs then bellowed it out to the crowd.

Zheng Xi’s ruling was as follows: upon investigation, this was a case of grave-robbing, not a case of cursing; the cursing had been nothing more than a smoke screen.

Chen Wei was the mastermind of the cursing scheme, but he had not personally carried out any curse, and no one had been injured or killed by it. He had had no knowledge of the grave-robbing, yet the grave-robbing had its root in his malicious intentions, and so he was to be escorted to the capital for a re-hearing before sentencing.

The “demon Daoists” who had come from the capital were a gang. They were accessories in the cursing scheme, but since no one had been harmed or killed, it could only be treated as an attempt. The grave-robbing, however, was entirely their doing; opening a coffin and exposing a corpse was a capital offense under the law. This death sentence was to be carried out after they were escorted to the capital for review.

The local charlatans had not formed a gang; they had been recruited temporarily. They had had no knowledge of either crime, yet they had objectively taken part in both and had failed to discover and report the matter promptly. They were to be punished — punishment there would be. Each man was to receive a number of strokes of the board proportionate to his level of involvement. When the strokes were done, the elderly Daoist who had served as the go-between was to be taken along to the capital as a witness; the rest were to be released on the spot.

The family members of the local charlatans who had been detained were also all to be released, to return home together with their kin.

He then displayed some of the stolen goods as proof that what he had said was true, before having them packed into boxes, sealed, and transported to the capital. Once the case was formally decided, they would be returned to the Chen Family.

From the moment he uttered his first sentence, the murmur of discussion had never ceased; the bailiffs had to keep beating the gong just to maintain order. The turns this case had taken were simply too bizarre! People loved hearing secrets about wealthy households, and the story of a man cursing his own elder brother alone could keep tongues wagging for a long time — yet hidden within it was something like this, and grave-robbing at that!

Those of moral sensibility condemned Chen Second Young Master for abandoning human decency; those fond of excitement speculated about whether there were further secrets yet to emerge — adding a touch of entertainment to their tense daily lives.

Over and again the crowd cried “Clear-minded magistrate!”, praising Zheng Xi for judging the case plainly and handling it brilliantly.

Chen Meng collapsed weeping before the two imperial envoys.

Zhang Xiangu clutched her daughter’s sleeve with both hands and murmured, “It’s all right now, it’s all right now.”

Zhù Ying answered her, saying, “We should get ourselves ready to go fetch Father home and nurse his injuries.”

“Yes.”

The number of strokes the local charlatans received varied. The most well-respected elderly go-between was sentenced to forty strokes; the lightest sentence was twenty. Zhū Shenhan received thirty in the middle. They had all already received varying amounts of strokes before today — the lucky ones had suffered only one light beating, the unlucky ones considerably more — but all of them had fared much better than the “demon Daoists” from the capital. Zhū Shenhan had always been an ordinary man with ordinary luck: from start to finish he had neither escaped punishment altogether nor received the most severe beating.

He muddled along somewhere in the middle.

To be released at this point was already an enormous stroke of fortune. These charlatans had more or less been able to guess: what sort of people came looking for them? First, those seeking blessings — including prayers for children. Second, those seeking to ward off misfortune. Third, those wanting to harm someone else. One chance in three, was it not? Yet everyone had indignantly declared their innocence, since no one had directly come to them and asked them to perform rituals to harm another person.

Every one of them inwardly resolved: next time, I definitely won’t do anything like this again — I must understand what I’m getting into before I act!

Zhang Xiangu was pretending to be blind and couldn’t see anything, but Zhù Ying had things figured out. The floggings still had a while to go, and she tugged Zhang Xiangu away from the crowd. Zhang Xiangu said, “Why are you leaving? Let’s wait until he’s finished and then carry him home!”

Zhù Ying said, “They strip them to beat them, and it’ll go on for a while yet. Hurry — use the time to go buy some medicine for bruises! It’ll go up in price once it’s too late! And another thing — where will we put him once we bring him home? Three of us can’t squeeze into one bed! Get moving fast, take care of all this and then come back for him — there’ll still be time. Best of all would be to find a flatbed cart to push him home.”

Zhang Xiangu was a capable woman; the moment Zhù Ying spoke she knew it was the best plan. Hearing fewer voices on both sides, she knew to turn into a side alley, and pulled the black cloth from her face in one motion: “Done! Once we get your father back, I won’t have to keep up this act!”

She had worn the blindfold as a disguise, fearing the authorities would arrest her. What was there to fear now?

She walked and scolded at the same time: “If we had nothing to do with it, why did they come after us in the first place?”

Zhù Ying was in a decent mood and explained, “I expect several groups were all fighting among themselves — the prefecture yamen, Censor Zhong, and now this Censor Zheng, each with his own idea.”

Zhang Xiangu praised Zheng Xi for a while: “This last envoy is good! He doesn’t stir up unnecessary trouble and he understands how things work! I’ll burn a stick of incense for him when we get back! It would have been even better if they’d spared that old fool a few strokes!” By now, the fact that he was going to be let go after just a beating had made this man a good person in her book.

Zhù Ying said, “We’re here.”

She knew the roads and visited two medicine shops before gathering all she needed. Besides the bruise ointment, she also bought some herbs to reduce internal heat. The shops were almost empty — even the physicians had gone to watch the spectacle, leaving only young apprentices to mind the doors. One apprentice asked them, “Don’t you want to wait for my master to come back and take your pulse? What are your symptoms?”

Zhang Xiangu said, “Beaten with a rod. Running a fever.” If Zhū Shenhan hadn’t received quite so many strokes, and if the area weren’t unfamiliar to her, she would have been tempted to save the money for the fever herbs and gone out to forage some herself.

Being in the charlatan trade, one knew a little rudimentary medicine — but compared to a proper prescription from a shop, balancing principal and supporting herbs, it was nowhere near the same.

Zhù Ying also asked the medicine shop whether they had any old broken door planks or the like, and received a plank rotted two inches along the bottom, for which she also paid ten copper coins. Zhang Xiangu asked, “What do you want that for? You’d be better off just buying firewood!” It would need splitting to burn anyway. Zhù Ying said, “Tonight I’ll sleep on this!” She estimated that after the beating Zhū Shenhan had taken, it would take a few days before he could move properly; they would not be able to leave this place for a while.

They went back and tossed the medicine and the broken door plank into the rented room, then ran back to the yamen entrance to collect their man. Zhù Ying kept a careful eye on the outer edge of the crowd watching the sentencing and flogging at the yamen, where a number of flatbed carts stood with people perched on top watching the excitement. Zhù Ying picked out one that looked fairly new and asked whose it was. She struck a deal with the owner: once he had finished watching, she would borrow his cart for a short while in exchange for twenty copper coins.

And so she and Zhang Xiangu earned the privilege of standing on the cart to see better.

Over on the other side, the flogging was more or less finished. Zhū Shenhan had completed his, and had been tossed to one side with a garment draped carelessly over him. The most well-respected go-between was still receiving his strokes, but there were only a few more left. Zhù Ying estimated that a little while longer and they would all be done; Zheng Xi and the others would then say a few perfunctory closing words, and that would be the end of the matter. Then they could drag Zhū Shenhan back to nurse his injuries, and use the time of his recovery to make fresh plans for what came next.

She had it all worked out quite nicely in her head — but then circumstances shifted without warning!

As it happened, all the beatings were finished and Zheng Xi had just said a few words about obeying the law going forward, and was ordering that the detained family members of the charlatans be brought forward and released together, when he turned to Sheng Ying and said, “We are nearly done here. I have a matter I’d like the local people to help with — why not have them search for your niece at the same time? They know this ground well. While they’re at it, we can go and check on the prefecture prefect’s injuries. We might come back to find the person right in front of you. Does your niece have any distinguishing features?”

Sheng Ying showed a flicker of surprised delight. “As always, Seventh Brother thinks of everything!”

Zheng Xi was just about to reply modestly when a bailiff came running in. “Trou-trou-trou — trouble! Another — another envoy has arrived!”

Master Huang snapped, “The imperial envoys are right here — what other envoy could there be?”

“Censor Zhong Zhong Zhong…”

Zheng Xi said, “Is it Lord Zhong? Fifth Brother, let us set our business aside for the moment.” He straightened his robes and rose to go meet the newcomer.

Zhù Ying stood on the cart and rose on tiptoe, catching sight of a mounted entourage parting the crowd in the distance and heading this way. The crowd grew ever more packed — it was quite a spectacle.

The arrivals were Zhong Yi and Zhou You.

——

Zhong Yi’s square face wore an expression that could not by any measure be called pleasant. Beside him, Zhou You was visibly furious.

The night before, because it was already late, Zhou You had come back and reported the situation, and Zhong Yi had not paid it much mind. He had assumed Zheng Xi would take custody of the suspects that evening and meet with him the following day, that seeing the Chen brothers and the like was only to be expected, and that actual work on the case would probably not begin until the day after. He had felt perfectly comfortable waiting to decide whether to set off immediately until after speaking with Zheng Xi the next day. For this reason he had specifically instructed Zhou You to be polite. If the two of them could come to an understanding, he would be allowed to have a small share in the witchcraft case and take some credit back to the capital — that would give him something to say.

He had never imagined that Zheng Xi would be such a formidable figure — working through the night without so much as pausing for breath! He had moved even faster than Zhong Yi himself had when investigating this case! Any chance of sharing the credit was likely gone. He also couldn’t simply sit with his feet up at the lodging house waiting for Zheng Xi to call on him — that would make him look lazy. The moment Zhong Yi heard that Zheng Xi was passing judgment, he quickly changed into his official robes, ordered his entourage to be prepared, and rushed over to meet Zheng Xi.

On Zheng Xi’s side, after an entire sleepless night he had been ready to wrap things up — and now here came Zhong Yi on top of everything! In their hearts, Master Huang and the others cursed this imperial envoy who had “come specifically to deal with them” back through eight hundred generations of his ancestors, yet they still had to maintain order and greet him with smiling faces — for the other imperial envoy was watching.

After an exchange of pleasantries, Zhong Yi and Sheng Ying spoke a few words with each other, and Zheng Xi returned Zhou You’s skin-deep smile with a warm and courteous one of his own. Noticing the slight hollows under Zheng Xi’s eyes, Zhong Yi said with concern, “You have really worn yourself out! What difference would it make to let the case rest a night? Without adequate rest, how can one think clearly enough to sort out a case?”

Zheng Xi smiled and said, “I’m impatient by nature — I’ve already sorted it out. The longer this case dragged on, the more unsettled the people became. All manner of rumors were flying around, which was very bad. Fortunately it has now been fully investigated.”

Zhou You couldn’t help but retort, “What? You? Investigated it? Did you grow a third eye?”

Zheng Xi said, “Just a stroke of luck.” He calmly explained the facts of the case to Zhong Yi. It was quite simple: a foolish young wastrel had tried to harm his elder brother, and had been exploited by a gang of grave-robbers who took the opportunity to plunder the wastrel’s ancestral tombs. What made it particularly notable was that the wastrel’s father was the current Chief Minister — meaning that the Chief Minister of the present dynasty had had his ancestral tombs ransacked.

Zhong Yi’s expression changed dramatically. “What?”

Zheng Xi proceeded to display the stolen goods.

Zhong Yi then said, “In that case, those local charlatans should not have been released — they should all have been taken up to the capital! If the local people see no severe punishment, they will think there is nothing seriously wrong with doing such things, and once we leave, not only the Chen Family’s burial grounds but those of every wealthy household in this area will be in danger!”

Zheng Xi sighed. “Elder Uncle, there is a point at which one must stop. Even if they were taken to the capital, what punishment could these duped accessories receive? I carried out the punishment publicly precisely to serve as a warning to the people. Enough is enough.”

Zhou You hesitated, wanting to step forward; though he had been spoiled all his life, he still remembered some proprieties, and in a public setting he was a “subordinate official.”

Seeing Zhong Yi still frowning, Zheng Xi said, “Elder Uncle, you have been away long enough. You ought not to stay away too long from the capital — away too long from His Majesty’s side.”

Zhong Yi was startled into alertness. “Has it been so very long? Ah… heroes truly do emerge from youth!”

Zhou You muttered under his breath, “He’s still young? What an old relic!”

Zheng Xi ignored him and invited Zhong Yi to go together to call on the prefect. Zhong Yi had no fondness whatsoever for the prefect — in fact, he was still irritated that the prefect had refused to hand the suspects over to him — and he said, “I think not. He and I are already at odds. Seeing me might only make his injuries worse.” Having said that, he fixed a long heavy gaze on Master Huang. He had not been wrong — this pack of lackeys truly were dogs!

Zhong Yi could not believe that Zheng Xi, with no assistance from local bailiffs, having just arrived in the prefecture city, could have sorted out this case in a single night with every thread tied neatly in order. And yet when Zhong Yi himself had been investigating? Those little villains had blocked him and stalled at every turn! He truly wanted to stay one more day and deal with all of them severely!

Master Huang sensed things were turning dangerous and resolved that until Zhong Yi left, he would stay at Zheng Xi’s side — no matter what. He stepped ever more respectfully to Zheng Xi’s side, which turned Zhong Yi’s stomach, prompting him to swing his sleeve in irritation. “Very well then! Wait a moment — I will host a banquet at my lodging house for the two of you as a welcome — ah, a celebration of your success.”

Zheng Xi offered two polite words, raised his hand to see Zhong Yi off — and at that moment, a young boy came rushing out of the yamen. First he shouted, “Imperial envoy, please uphold justice for this student!” Then, catching sight of Zhong Yi, he changed his cry to, “You villain, give me back my father and mother!”

“Roar!” The crowd that had been beginning to disperse surged together again! My! They had come expecting to watch a trial, and instead there was this extra spectacle! At ordinary times, people of that rank were far above them, and you couldn’t even steal a glimpse through the crack of their gate; yet here they were, making a scene in broad daylight in public — how rare!

Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Ying, however, had no interest in watching this drama. They only prayed it would be over quickly so they could drag Zhū Shenhan away and treat his injuries. Zhang Xiangu kept murmuring under her breath, “Why isn’t it over yet? Why isn’t it over yet?”

Zhù Ying said, “I think they’re almost done.” From her brief encounters with Zhong Yi and Seventh Young Master Zheng, neither seemed the type who would be willing to play out a farce for ordinary people to watch. If there was to be a row, they would have it behind closed doors at the yamen. This boy was the prefect’s son; Zhù Ying and Zhang Xiangu had not seen him during their time helping at the yamen, but his clothing gave a fairly clear indication of his status.

Zhang Xiangu said, “Well then, let them hurry up and be done!”

Though both Zheng Xi and Zhong Yi were startled, they each made a prompt decision and issued the same order together: “Escort this young gentleman inside to speak at length!”

Master Huang made a pretense of stepping forward to help calm the boy: “Young gentleman, this is not the place to speak of such matters. Here — you there, come quickly…” In truth he was using his body to shield Zheng Xi and the others’ subordinates, so that the boy could finish shouting his accusations against Zhong Yi. Whether or not the prefect lived or died, pinning it on Zhong Yi was just right. Even if it turned out to be a misunderstanding, no harm done!

The boy had a bit of the hot-bloodedness one expected in a boy his age. He was certain that Zhong Yi had killed his parents. Still struggling, he shouted at the top of his voice at Zheng Xi, “Don’t be deceived by him! He harmed my father! When father was carried back, mother thought father was dead and died herself from shock and fright! This morning father woke and heard that mother was dead, and he also — mmph mmph!”

At this point, if no one plugged his mouth, everyone would be able to see that Master Huang had deliberately let him carry on.

The spectators were thoroughly satisfied and broke into discussion. Zheng Xi and Zhong Yi moved swiftly and together to get the boy back inside the yamen. The crowd outside slowly dispersed. Zhù Ying and Zhang Xiangu had no heart to discuss what had become of the prefect’s household; they retrieved the cart, lifted Zhū Shenhan onto it and settled him there. The cart’s owner had just watched a thoroughly satisfying spectacle and was in an agreeable mood; he did not go back on his word. He even said what bad luck Zhū Shenhan had, and lent a hand helping them pull the cart.

All along the way people pointed and stared. The further they walked toward home, the fewer people accompanied them on the same road, until at last the only one still walking alongside them was Xu Jia.

Xu Jia: …This woman isn’t actually blind! And they’re not decent citizens! And the man of this family has … What in bloody hell kind of luck have I been walking into?!

——

“You should count yourself lucky!” Zhang Xiangu said crossly to Zhū Shenhan.

Zhū Shenhan lay face-down on the cart; Zhù Ying and Zhang Xiangu walked on either side of it. Zhang Xiangu walked and spoke at the same time. “When we get back, I have more to settle with you.”

Zhū Shenhan said, “All right, all right! Getting out of this alive really is a stroke of luck! You don’t know — that Daoist Xu had his clavicles run through with a skewer. Damn! This line of work really is no good!”

The man pulling the cart heard this and turned to ask Zhū Shenhan, “Brother, was it really that brutal?”

Zhū Shenhan said, “They deserved it, though — they dragged the rest of us into their mess! Hah — and I thought I was just going along to put on a bit of a show! I thought I was lucky, agreeing to take money without even asking whether I knew how to recite scriptures — I could hum a few notes and follow along to eat and drink and be merry, and who would have thought it would come to this… Hey, Sanlang — remember this: there is nothing for nothing under heaven!”

Zhang Xiangu could no longer contain herself and let loose: “As if we needed you to tell us that, you walking corpse! You nearly got us all killed! The prefecture and the county both wanted to arrest us! If the imperial envoy hadn’t judged the case with a clear head, we’d be in a dungeon right now! You worthless turtle!”

She kept up the scolding all the way to the rented room. The cart owner helped carry Zhū Shenhan inside. Zhang Xiangu said, “Thank you so much! Have a drink of water before you go! Ah — don’t put him on the bed yet. This set of clothes is too cursed — let me take it off and burn it before I settle him down. Thank you so much.”

Zhù Ying fished out another ten copper coins for the cart owner. The man smiled and said, “Little brother, you’ll do better in life than your parents.”

Zhù Ying smiled. “Your kind words are much appreciated. Take care.”

The cart owner left. Zhang Xiangu was stripping Zhū Shenhan’s clothes off while she spoke: “No telling how many lice and fleas are on his head and body. I can’t have them fouling the bedding — if you can’t move after being beaten, you’ll just lie there and get bitten all over! Bear with it a while. I’ll get you properly cleaned up and then you can lie down in comfort.”

Zhū Shenhan said, “Agreed.”

While she was doing all this, Xu Jia came in. He had thought it over carefully and decided he would rather refund the rent than continue having these people as tenants. The Chen Family case was more or less settled, and this street would quickly return to its usual bustle — finding new tenants would be no trouble. Having a charlatan family that had been through official proceedings living here was simply bad for business, not to mention that the woman’s hard bargaining had made the original deal far too unprofitable.

Xu Jia came in with a smile, ready to speak his piece — but saw Zhù Ying coming to meet him with a hatchet in hand.

Xu Jia’s smile froze.

Zhù Ying asked, “Something you need?”

The words that had been on the tip of his tongue shifted course as they came out: “Just checking whether you need anything.”

Zhang Xiangu said, “A gift, is it?”

“Ah…”

Zhang Xiangu took Zhū Shenhan’s clothes to the kitchen and stuffed them into the stove, then came out and gave his hair a thorough combing, put him on the bed lying face-down, and went out to the outer room to fetch water, saying, “We really don’t have any spare money.”

Xu Jia said, “Ah, well in that case… you go ahead and keep busy. Should I fetch a doctor?”

Zhang Xiangu said, “We already bought medicine.”

Xu Jia backed his way out the door. Rubbing his neck, he returned to his own front door and was feeling for the key to unlock it when someone suddenly came running up and nearly made him jump out of his skin right there on his own doorstep. “Who is it? What do you want?”

The newcomer said, “What’s wrong with you? Having a fit? Quick — Master Huang from the yamen is passing on the orders of the imperial envoy, calling all the neighborhood heads and block heads to come and receive instructions!”

Xu Jia recognized the man as one of the yamen runners and relaxed, asking with a smile, “The imperial envoy has leisure to bother with the likes of us?”

The runner said, “There’s more than one envoy! The one who just finished the case — Censor Zheng — he has no quarrel with the prefect, so of course he has leisure.”

Xu Jia didn’t even bother opening his door; he fell into step alongside the runner and asked as they walked, “Hey — what was that about the young gentleman from the yamen just now?”

The runner said, “Don’t even get me started! His own son practically killed his own father!”

“Come on, tell me…”

“What’s there to say? The sons of this world really are sent to claim debts. First there’s Chen Second Young Master, and now there’s our young gentleman here. His mother saw his father carried back in and thought he was dead; unable to bear it, she killed herself. His father woke up, saw that his wife was dead, and couldn’t draw another breath — he fainted dead away, but didn’t die. The boy didn’t sort out what had actually happened before he ran out there to settle accounts with Censor Zhong!”

Xu Jia gnawed on his finger and said, “Once the prefect comes to and realizes his son has stirred up trouble with the imperial envoy…”

“Exactly — scared to death of course. And Censor Zhong didn’t come off well either — he was more or less ‘persuaded’ away, looking rather sheepish. Right now, with this whole mess, the newly arrived Censor Zheng is managing everything. Whatever he tells you to do, you absolutely cannot cut corners!”

“Of course not, of course not! What a capable man this new envoy is! I wouldn’t dare!”

Xu Jia kept saying “I wouldn’t dare” all the way to the yamen. In the rear quarters, where the rooms had not yet been repaired, preparations were underway for the funeral, and the sound of weeping shook the air. Zheng Xi and Sheng Ying, however, sat in the front hall with perfect composure — one primary, one secondary — ready to attend to the matters that concerned them.

Zheng Xi gave two instructions: “First — have any of you seen a young peddler traveling with his mother? Twelve or thirteen years old, fair-skinned, sharp-witted. Second — does anyone in this prefecture city know of a man named Xu Youfang?”