It was his first time handling a case. This straightforward young man had begun with a measure of solemnity and a small thrill of excitement. He worked hard to suppress his emotions, telling himself not to get carried away, not to give others the impression of being reckless and impulsive.
He sat there, facing the suspects kneeling before him, and asked one by one the questions he had prepared — how to investigate, how to conduct the questioning, how to draw out the truth to give the Emperor a proper account. He had prepared for this before leaving the capital. Of course he would begin with simple questions, to let the suspects lower their guard, then progressively deepen the inquiry.
Luo Sheng had imagined several scenarios: the suspects cowed by the majesty of the law and confessing everything — how he would handle that; the suspects refusing to open their mouths — how he would handle that; the suspects being cunning and wily — how he would match wits with them.
Questioning Yao Chun, one could not say it was entirely outside his expectations. Yao Chun confessed with remarkable ease — the most favorable of the scenarios he had imagined.
Not long into the exchange, however, a creeping sense of tedium began to take hold.
So this was solving a case? This was trying a case?
What on earth was this?!
This Yao Chun was far too cooperative!
At first, Yao Chun’s “story” had kept him engaged — curiosity had allowed him to keep listening. But toward the end, a strange and ineffable awkwardness began to well up from somewhere deep within him, and finally became a kind of humiliation.
Yao Chun’s “story” was done. Vice Official Yin asked, “Does the consort have any further questions?”
Luo Sheng could no longer sit still. What was stirring in his heart — he could not say whether it was shame, resentment, or anger. He thought: perhaps this was what the Buddhists called “affliction.” He stood, his expression flat. “You’ve already tried it all — so be it, then.”
Vice Official Yin, Zhù Ying, and Su Kuang exchanged a glance, thinking: this consort — it seemed he was not the “honest and earnest” sort described in the tales, but rather a particular kind of “simple and guileless.”
The three had discussed beforehand how to wrap this case up neatly with the consort present. Without the consort, this was a case Zhù Ying had discovered, with the credit going to her. Yin and Su had rushed about and done a great deal of work, and with more people, the course of investigating Yao Chun had also turned up local unlawful connections — that too was merit. The three could share the credit, and the Court of Judicial Review would have its own portion of the achievement. The Board of Personnel had provided intelligence — even if they had no merit, they had labored at least.
The wicked man was Yao Chun, and the accomplices of the wicked man. The good people — they all played good people.
With the Emperor sending the consort, things were different.
All three were agreed: give the consort something to take back, but without letting the consort make a mess of things.
Before Luo Sheng arrived, the three had come to a shared understanding — Yao Chun’s case, they would credit in full to the consort’s account. The three of them, meanwhile, would turn their attention to the local situation.
What they hadn’t expected was that the consort would not cooperate and refused to accept the credit and simply retire to rest.
Luo Sheng retreated to his own room. The remaining three sat together drinking tea, discussing how to keep managing this ancestor of theirs.
Vice Official Yin said, “After all, he is Princess An’ren’s son. At least he didn’t turn overbearing and self-important, pushing the three of us aside and charging in blindly to make a mess of it.”
Su Kuang said, “He has his dissatisfaction, and we’d better manage it well. If we don’t, when he goes back, one word from him will outweigh ten thousand from us. No matter how busy we are here, if he doesn’t say good things about us, the Emperor will hold it against us.”
Zhù Ying said, “Since his temper hasn’t gone all the way bad, there’s still room to negotiate. If neither of you has other ideas, I actually don’t mind having him involved in what comes next.”
“I’ve had his measure by now — he’s not a fool, he just hasn’t gone sly like a monkey.” The eldest in the group, Vice Official Yin spoke with a certain elder’s tone. “We keep playing games with him, this one case we can muddle through, but I’m worried about what comes after. He actually treated us fairly. If he decides to be difficult, when we go back we won’t be able to swallow what’s coming.”
Su Kuang was also anxious. Luo Sheng’s wife was Princess Yongping — this princess wasn’t yet as overbearing as her mother-in-law and aunt-in-law, but if she decided she wanted to, she could be even more overbearing. She didn’t need any technique to deal with them — she could just come at them straight.
Zhù Ying said, “Then invite him to participate?”
Vice Official Yin said, “He’s not a fool — he’s already seen through our arrangement. How do we suggest he get involved without it being too obvious?”
Zhù Ying said, “I’ll go.”
“You?”
Zhù Ying said, “I was on my way to an outside post far away anyway.” She was on her way to a posting two thousand seven hundred li away to be county magistrate — you could hardly send her farther into exile. Even if she offended a powerful family, what could they do to her? Strip her of office? Then she wouldn’t need to be “exiled.”
Yin and Su started to be polite with her: “This… how can we let you carry this alone…”
Zhù Ying said, “This is the most efficient way. Since he’s willing to work, let him carry a bit of the load too — that’s not bad either. Wrap things up early and I can be on my way. That settles it!”
Since Luo Sheng arrived at the post station, its lodging arrangements had changed again.
When Zhù Ying had first arrived at the post station, knowing her rank was not high, she hadn’t claimed the main courtyard even when there was no one of higher rank staying there. When Vice Official Yin and Su Kuang arrived, the main courtyard went to Yin. Now that Luo Sheng was here, Yin had no choice but to move aside.
Zhù Ying went back to her own room first, intending to change her clothes before going to have a proper conversation with Luo Sheng.
To her surprise, before she had even finished changing, a calling card arrived from Luo Sheng’s side inviting her over for a talk.
Zhù Ying hurriedly finished changing and went to Luo Sheng’s room.
Luo Sheng was seated, and on seeing her enter the room, actually stood and took a step forward to greet her. Zhù Ying said, “I couldn’t dare accept this.”
Luo Sheng sat back down, visibly working to maintain his expression, and said quietly, “What is there to not dare accept? And there’s no need for that either.”
Zhù Ying gave a slight bow. Luo Sheng said, “Before I came, I saw Seventh. I asked him how to handle a case, and thought I could give it a try. You people.”
Ah — Zhù Ying realized: Luo Sheng was also Zheng Xi’s cousin by marriage, their mothers being cousins. In this capital, imperial relatives all had such connections — like village relatives, but not quite. Which was why people easily forgot what kind of relationship they had.
With a look of total sincerity and wide-eyed innocence on her face, Zhù Ying asked: “What did Lord Zheng teach the consort? What did you gain from the questioning just now?”
Luo Sheng was momentarily disoriented by her expression: “What, what? That just now was…” Wasn’t that all prepared lines, like the odes of praise composed for when the Emperor asks questions? Lines set up for me?
He quickly thought of another possibility, and his expression darkened: “Am I supposed to have gained anything? Gained everyone’s goodwill?”
Zhù Ying looked genuinely puzzled: “You said you’d consulted Lord Zheng, didn’t you? What kind of goodwill? Isn’t it cleaning up the mess?”
Luo Sheng said, “Cleaning — cleaning up the mess?”
Zhù Ying glanced left and right, and quickly waved at Luo Sheng’s attendants. Luo Sheng hesitated. Zhù Ying said, “Still in a hurry — do it fast, something that’s not for you to hear.” Luo Sheng’s good nature worked in her favor and he said, “You all step outside. I have something to ask Lord Zhù.”
With everyone sent out, Luo Sheng said formally: “Please enlighten me.”
His gaze was sincere, but also carried a mild threat. Zhù Ying had no more intention of playing games with him and spoke directly. “What does the consort think is the hardest part of handling a case?”
Without waiting for Luo Sheng’s response, she answered herself: “For different people, it’s different. I happen to love investigating cases. But in any case, establishing the facts is only the beginning. You absolutely must keep this in mind: cleaning up the mess afterward is the hardest part.”
Luo Sheng said, “In this present case, the Council of State has already prepared several candidates for the successor position for the Emperor to choose from. Though no order has come down yet, someone will handle the aftermath. There are people for that.”
Zhù Ying slowly shook her head.
“What?”
Zhù Ying said, “Before you arrived, we also thought through how to handle the case with you. Everyone knows that you haven’t often left the capital before, so handling a case would make you a newcomer, while I and Su Court Attendant are both veterans at the Court of Judicial Review, and Brother Yin is at the Board of Personnel. We couldn’t put you at a disadvantage. Cleaning up the mess is the hardest part — we didn’t want to leave that to you. If things were actually arranged that way — after that new official has had more experience in the future and comes to understand what happened, he’d resent these old foxes for the rest of his life. On his deathbed he’d still be telling his grandchildren, when I was young, I was taken advantage of by some old scoundrels.”
Luo Sheng said, “I told you — someone will handle the aftermath. Don’t try to fool me.”
Zhù Ying said, “What do you mean by cleaning up the mess? If you can define it that way, then you don’t fully understand yet. Of course what you said counts as cleaning up the mess — but that’s not all of it. You heard Yao Chun confess all that just now. Didn’t you hear anything in it? If you don’t mind, I can explain it to you in detail. Learning to handle cases — everyone starts out as a beginner.”
“Tell me.”
“Finding Tian Pi’s remains — and even then, we can’t necessarily establish whether it was natural death or murder, and the remains may not even be findable. Say we do establish homicide — punishing Yao Chun and the other criminals doesn’t count as cleaning up the mess, that’s called closing the case. But Yao Chun, as you’ve established, has been serving as local official here for several years, hasn’t he?”
“Isn’t that already known?”
“So what else did he confess?”
“Hmm?”
“Enriched himself handsomely — transferred government assets. How were they transferred? Who handled the transactions? Why did no one report it? Were there other people involved? After all this time, how did a servant manage to impersonate an official without anyone detecting it? What were they all doing? And then there’s the corruption and perversion of justice — does he stand as the only wicked person, with everyone else innocent? If we were to go after all those people…”
Luo Sheng said, “That’s exactly what should be done.”
Zhù Ying said, “It would implicate too many people — and this is a thankless job. You are the consort, a man of privilege — if this were handed over to you, the three of us would be very comfortable. But you’re also a newcomer, and throwing yourself headlong into this would be bad for your future career too — and it would make us look unkind.”
Luo Sheng frowned. “Would it really be that serious? This is an imperial case!”
Zhù Ying said, “If you’ve truly made up your mind, let me tell you one more thing, and you consider it?”
“Speak!”
“This is the real ‘cleaning up the mess’ — it’s the major issue: we needed to get some accounts back before the new official takes charge, didn’t we? And with insufficient manpower, with no military tally, and with no control over the government offices, the only option was to risk going under cover of night and grab a few hidden account books. The next day, with the city knowing about this affair, the government officials came to the post station to see us — and meanwhile, the government offices caught fire. The account books were all burned.”
Luo Sheng’s expression grew serious: “No evidence left? Everything gets pushed on Yao Chun? The government offices must still have people who broke the law!”
Zhù Ying spread her hands: “For the three of us, this is the cleanup that needs to be done. Whether to investigate, how to investigate, how much can be uncovered, how to report it, how to close the case?”
“Of course it should be investigated in full and reported as it actually is…”
“Where does ‘as it actually is’ lie?”
Luo Sheng said, “You’ve told me the truth — don’t worry, since I’ve come, I’m not about to just grab a share of the credit and leave, putting you all in a tight spot. What you call ‘cleaning up the mess’ — I consider it part of the case, and it should also be investigated.”
“How do you plan to investigate? The key question is: who here can be trusted? Who is reliable?”
Luo Sheng opened his mouth, then closed it. The visible accounts were gone; using the hidden accounts would barely work. Was it just these few of them? He wanted to say they should request more orders from the capital to send people down, but felt that was not right either. He asked in return: “Before I left, Seventh said you were sharp and capable and that I could speak plainly with you about anything. Now give me one plain word: what do you plan to do?”
Zhù Ying said, “You want the plain version, I’ll give it to you plain. I’ve already ordered the men we brought to take over the government offices. All other county offices are left for now — let them maintain order first.
Track through the hidden accounts, and those connected to the hidden accounts, take them all in. Then work from the officials, clerks, merchants, and servants who carried out Yao Chun’s orders — follow the threads. The court can dismiss them all in one sweep, but we can’t do that without hard evidence. All assets involved, to be seized in their entirety. That’s the case.
Also, since the Emperor has sent you, you need to distinguish yourself further.”
Luo Sheng said, “What do you mean?”
“Don’t we have to make some preparations for whichever official is coming to take over next?”
“Hmm?”
“Look into the assets — everything to be confiscated and reported. Yao Chun practically emptied the treasury. When the new official arrives, what does he have to work with? Collect it fresh? Or ask the court for funds? I think this falls on you to submit a memorial, requesting that some grain and money be left on hand locally. That’s also cleaning up the mess. And pacifying the people, making sure no strange rumors spread that would damage the court’s dignity, at least until the new official arrives to take over. Still cleaning up the mess.”
Luo Sheng nodded: “Good! You really are a thorough person.”
Zhù Ying said, “Barely keeping things from falling apart. Consort, are you really determined to wade into this murky water?”
“What murky water is this? You’re all being too cautious.”
Zhù Ying sighed. “A river — a tall person walks through it just fine, a short person walks in and chokes. Your height is above the waterline.”
Luo Sheng said, “What height or no height? As long as you work with heart, anyone can make it to the far bank.”
Zhù Ying smiled. “Then shall we start now?”
“Let’s!”
Luo Sheng proved as good as his word. For a newcomer, he took his work seriously, always saying “I must not let the Emperor down.” He engaged in real, substantive negotiations with the local officials — what he called negotiations was summoning the local officials and having each of them explain themselves.
One could well imagine no one would admit to having committed crimes alongside Yao Chun. So Luo Sheng “detained” them all, had each family’s home sealed off, and then continued his “negotiations.”
Luo Sheng spoke patiently and earnestly: “You are all men who have studied the classics. How can you be without shame? It would be better for each of you to say what you have done yourselves. Think of your wives and children.”
The officials pulled long faces: “Consort, we were all deceived — we ourselves have not broken the law.”
Luo Sheng continued urging: “Won’t you think of your wives and children?”
The officials were thinking of them, but couldn’t see them — they were all sealed away.
Zhù Ying was busy as a dog, and in the intervals between arresting people and conducting searches, she would steal a glance at Luo Sheng. On looking, she couldn’t help but marvel — he was truly Princess An’ren’s own son, born knowing instinctively how to oppress people.
Zhù Ying, Vice Official Yin, and Su Kuang were far more exhausted than Luo Sheng.
What they had to do included but was not limited to: clarifying all of Yao Chun’s other crimes and obtaining evidence; seizing stolen goods and assets; investigating and sealing the property of those connected to Yao Chun as evidence; pacifying the people; maintaining the normal operations of the prefecture.
The most troublesome part was maintaining the prefecture’s normal operations, because the treasury had been emptied by Yao Chun, the officials had been detained by Luo Sheng, and there was neither money nor people. Vice Official Yin and Su Kuang jointly nominated her: “You’re meant to be a local administrator — you should be good at this! We’ll handle more of the case, and this falls to you!”
What they said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Fortunately, Zhù Ying had brought Qi Tai along. With all the local account staff being unreliable, she put Qi Tai to work on the accounts. She drew out a portion of Yao Chun’s stolen funds to temporarily replenish the treasury, producing a clean new set of books to hand over to the incoming official as a kind of courtesy gift. She also needed to prepare that separate set of complete evidence for the evidence books.
Qi Tai was a man who knew how to do accounts. Asking him single-handedly to quickly sort out an entire prefecture’s accounts in a short time was somewhat challenging — but starting fresh from scratch without worrying about the past, making a clean new set of books, was actually quite easy. And the other evidence books of Yao Chun’s crimes were not yet complete, so there was no need for him to handle that account yet.
Qi’s daughter, watching her father actually staying busy, and the employer checking his books each evening and nodding in approval — she finally breathed a sigh of relief: her father’s rice bowl seemed safe for now, thank heaven and earth!
Qi Tai’s books were growing larger and larger, and amid all the chaos, there was also an outbreak of bandits.
To collect evidence of Yao Chun and his accomplices’ crimes, Zhù Ying and the others had no choice but to discuss matters with Luo Sheng and issue a notice: anyone who had been wronged by the authorities could come and file grievances.
This undoubtedly accelerated the pace of evidence collection, yet also received many additional cases. Even matters not connected to crimes by Yao Chun and his officials had people coming to lodge complaints.
With “Tian Pi” arrested and most local officials “detained” by Luo Sheng, criminals saw their chance. The public order in the prefecture city was actually worse than when Yao Chun had been in charge!
The guards — having sided with Yao Chun in the siege on the post station and also having done his bidding in the past — were mostly locked up by the soldiers. The soldiers could conduct interrogations, but solving crimes was a bit out of their expertise.
A few people broke through a connecting wall and robbed the grain shop owner’s household. Another group kidnapped a wealthy man’s son and demanded ransom.
Both cases were picked up by Vice Official Yin, who found Zhù Ying and Su Kuang: “You two — which of you is handling this? I’m not suited for this kind of thing.” Yin also wanted to contribute and had found himself a direction: accompany Luo Sheng in wearing down the officials. The case-solving went to Su Kuang, the miscellaneous affairs to Zhù Ying.
Two cases — so the two drew lots. Su Kuang went to catch the thieves; Zhù Ying went to find the kidnappers.
Zhù Ying first summoned the wealthy man, who came in floods of tears: “I only had this son at the age of fifty!”
“How old is the boy?”
“Eight years old.”
Zhù Ying looked at the ransom note. Written on it: three days from now, at dusk, bring ten taels of gold to the woods outside the city to redeem the boy. Non-compliance would be without recourse.
Zhù Ying pocketed the ransom note and said, “Is your son of a mild temper? Think carefully before answering — does he occasionally beat or abuse servants? Does he throw tantrums to get things from you? If he does, that’s not a mild temper. If there’s one person with a bad temper between your son and the kidnappers, you can just wait to collect your son’s corpse.”
“My boy is always very gentle. And clever and eager to learn. This note was written by him — I recognize his handwriting.”
Zhù Ying looked at the paper and said, “You’re not telling the truth — leave.” She had him thrown out.
The wealthy man was stunned. Zhù Ying wasn’t going to uphold justice for him, and with the entire prefecture lacking anyone to manage this, he had no choice but to resign himself to raising the ransom.
Zhù Ying, however, quietly called Hou Wu over: “You served in the army — you can shadow someone, right?”
“It should be… fine.”
“Follow him. See if the kidnappers have more contact with him, and whether there’s anyone suspicious around him. A wealthy man’s child, surely there was someone around him at all times? And yet the kidnappers had him write the ransom note himself? Little Wu, go check which shops sell paper like this — look and remember the paper’s appearance, go check the various shops. Don’t bring the note — just look at it, memorize what it looks like, then check which shops carry the same type. Go quickly.”
After dispatching those two, she called Cao Chang over: “Go around the streets and find out what this family’s reputation is like. Does the father squeeze his tenants and have them thrown in jail over rent? Is the son a pampered little master who kicks trees just for being trees?”
Having given her instructions, she went off to deal with the rest of the matters. The account-keeping had Qi Tai for that, but searching out evidence, personally going to the relevant people’s homes to retrieve evidence — that was still her job. When new accounts, finances, and assets were uncovered, she had to take them back to Qi Tai for compilation and addition to the case file.
She turned up one official and one clerk, and Luo Sheng crossed them off his “detained but still counselling” list. They were no longer “officials” for Luo Sheng — they became “co-conspirators.”
After Luo Sheng turned up one official and one clerk, Hou Wu came to report: “The young master’s attendant is suspicious. I shadowed him and saw him meet with someone with a scar on his face. He said: the official office has no time to deal with kidnappings. Everything is going smoothly — once we’ve got the gold, we’re out. The person with the scar nodded.”
Copper coins were bulky in large quantities, silk and cloth even more inconvenient — so the kidnappers wanted gold. Easy to carry, high value, compact.
Zhù Ying said, “A scar is a distinctive marking — easier to find.”
“Already found him. He and four others often drink wine in a small tavern on the western side of the city. No child with them. The child’s probably not in good shape.”
“Keep watching.”
“Yes.”
Cao Chang came back from his rounds and said, “The old man — some say good things, some say bad, but doesn’t sound like he’s driven people to death. Lately to accumulate merit for his son, he’s even been distributing gruel. No word of any enemies. The boy is the kind of young master you see everywhere — reportedly likes to laugh.”
On the other side, Little Wu came to report: he had found two paper shops carrying that type of paper. Many people bought it, and one of the buyers was that very wealthy man. Zhù Ying said, “The timing is about right. Let’s go.”
Zhù Ying put on plain clothes, brought along some men, and went first to the wealthy man’s home. The wealthy man had already assembled ten taels of gold, and was preparing to head out at dusk to redeem his son. Seeing Zhù Ying arrive, he had to go and receive her: “My official, I’m just preparing to go redeem my son, I really have no time. Please allow me to welcome you properly once my son is back.”
Zhù Ying said, “Call out all your servants.”
While the wealthy man stood dazed, Zhù Ying had already ordered the household gate shut, and told Hou Wu: “Go, drag that person out.”
Hou Wu, with his one good eye, reached out and hauled out a young servant, saying: “It’s him!”
The person’s face went dead white. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed: “Spare my life! Spare my life! Where have I offended the official? We were the ones thrown out, too…”
Little Wu kicked him over: “So many useless words!”
Zhù Ying said to the wealthy man: “The scar-faced man — that’s your servant’s accomplice! He has no child with him at all. Judging from the three days they kept him with no food or water — where do you suppose your son is now?”
“What? Wan Cai! You! Where have you hidden my son?!”
Wan Cai waved his hands frantically: “That’s not me! Don’t wrongfully accuse good people! You were the ones who drove us away too…”
Zhù Ying said, “Let me tell you how this goes. I’ll personally go with your people to pay the ransom. The gold can stay here. Whether you see your son or not, my people will bring the scar-faced man back. If he comes back standing up, the crime is kidnapping your master — transportation of three thousand li. If he doesn’t come back standing up, the crime is murdering your master — and he’ll be cut in two. This person I’m taking away. You can just forget you ever had this servant.”
The wealthy man panicked: “My official! My official! Please save my son!”
He had already given up on Zhù Ying before, but Zhù Ying had been secretly investigating — this gave him hope again, and he began pleading once more.
Zhù Ying said, “Stop talking. Come, take this thing back! You can rest assured, I’ll have him beaten three times a day — once he talks, there won’t be any more beatings. If he won’t talk, we’ll just wait until he starves to death. His accomplice might get lucky and escape, but this one’s done for. You go redeem your son. Hou Wu, go with him.”
This way of handling things was very much to Hou Wu’s taste. He said nothing snarky now, just said loudly: “Yes!”
The wealthy man panicked, and the servant was even more panicked. Zhù Ying spoke: “Little Wu, you come with your rope.” Then to the servant: “Don’t talk?” She pressed the knife to the servant’s neck. “When you find the scar-faced man at the city’s western tavern with your people to deliver the ransom, he’ll be waiting there for the money. I know you’ve arranged to meet your partner at the mountain temple outside the city tomorrow, then split the money and go your separate ways.”
The servant’s face yellowed — all the color of someone caught dead to rights. The wealthy man and his wife clearly saw it all now and kowtowed together: “Please, my official, uphold justice for us.”
Zhù Ying said, “Finished your tantrum? Then let’s go.” She led people straight to the spot outside the city where the ransom was to be paid.
Scar-face and four others were seated on the ground in front of the idol, drinking wine, naturally without a child.
Scar-face saw the wealthy man coming and was unconcerned that he’d brought a few extra helpers — he had no child with him anyway. Without seeing the child, these people couldn’t do anything to him.
He smiled and made to rise: “The money?”
Zhù Ying, not wasting words, drew her knife and slashed straight down! Scar-face saw the move and rolled and scrambled to run. His companions also scattered in all directions.
Hou Wu and several soldiers drew their sabers to give chase. Zhù Ying stepped forward, grabbed Scar-face by the topknot, and pressed the knife to his throat. Scar-face said, “Don’t you want the child?”
Zhù Ying said, “Guess.”
She tied Scar-face behind her horse and dragged him all the way back into the city, drawing a crowd of onlookers.
Over on the other side, Su Kuang had also broken his case — with a gong-beating procession, the stolen goods were paraded back, and the arrested thief was beaten to a bleeding mess and marched through the streets. The two came face to face at the post station entrance and shared a smile.
Killing the chicken to frighten the monkey was always effective. They currently had insufficient manpower for keeping the peace and weren’t actually local officials here — the only approach was to grab whatever case came up and handle it hard and fast, as a deterrent.
Once the bandits had quieted down a bit, they had more energy to handle the main case.
Another half a month passed before Zhù Ying began drafting the case report, with Su Kuang assisting her. Vice Official Yin and Luo Sheng could only each write their own memorials — neither of them was particularly skilled at the case-work itself.
Besides writing a separate file for each person involved in the case, Zhù Ying also had Qi Tai produce two sets of accounts: one was the clean, organized prefecture ledger, and the other was a record of the stolen assets.
The funds temporarily topping up the treasury had all been seized from the assets of the various suspects.
The remaining seized assets were then catalogued, itemized, and sealed. These would all need to be sent to the capital. Since she couldn’t supervise the entire journey herself, she didn’t put her hand into that piece.
She only conferred with Luo Sheng and the others and, from the seized assets, reserved a small sum as “hardship compensation” for the garrison soldiers. This was also drawn from the confiscated funds. After all, it had all come from seized criminal assets — if it spared the common people a little suffering, so much the better.
Finally, she wrapped up all the cases received during this period. Those that required reporting to the Court of Judicial Review for review also had their case files written up.
When everything was done, Luo Sheng led Yin and Su back to the capital with the suspects, the seized assets, and the case files, to report to the throne.
Luo Sheng said, “Are you not going back? You’re actually the chief investigator.”
Zhù Ying said, “I’m an official being posted outside the capital. I still need to be on my way. If I used this case as an excuse to go back, people might think I was looking for any opportunity to avoid going far away, and that the whole time I just wanted to stay in the capital. I left in a clear and open manner, and when I come back someday, it should be through solid achievements, standing tall and upright. I won’t look for this kind of shortcut.”
“Staying in the capital isn’t a bad thing either,” Luo Sheng said. “The capital also lacks capable people like you.”
“The consort is too kind. I left the capital openly and squarely — when the day comes to return, I’ll come back through accomplishments, standing tall. I won’t take this kind of shortcut. Take care on the road. Please ask the court to send someone soon to take over.”
Luo Sheng said, “Don’t worry — I’ll petition the Emperor as soon as I return, to urge them to send someone here quickly.”
Though Luo Sheng was a pampered consort, on the return journey he did not complain or drag his feet but pressed on diligently and quickly. Within a few days he was back in the capital.
This was a major case! The whole court and country had been discussing it, and it showed no sign of dying down after nearly a month.
Luo Sheng returned to the capital and received an imperial audience right away. The Emperor, worried about his son-in-law, didn’t want him to exhaust himself talking, so he brought the Council of State and the three judicial offices to hear his report together.
Luo Sheng’s speech was clear and his mind was sharp. He reported the details of the case, and without any hesitation mentioned all that Zhù Ying and the others had done.
When the Emperor heard that Zhù Ying had even left a clean set of accounts for the treasury so the incoming official could put it to immediate use, Chen Luan offered a word of praise: “Zhù Ying has always done things with care and thoughtfulness.”
The Emperor said, “A careful and good-hearted person.”
Luo Sheng said, “Yes. She taught me a great deal.”
The Emperor was quite satisfied with this son-in-law. The case had been handled impressively too. He thought Vice Official Yin, Zhù Ying, and Su Kuang had been efficient and thorough — giving the consort the substance while preserving the consort’s face. He thus said: “Zhù Ying is quite a talent — what a pity she’s been sent as a county magistrate, and to such a remote place!”
The Council of State also knew the distance was too far. Wang Yunhe and Chen Luan were increasingly worried and no longer wanted Zhù Ying going that far. Wang Yunhe thought: taking this opportunity to place her somewhere closer would also be fine. Local officials could serve anywhere.
Little did they know that Luo Sheng was a man of the most straightforward honesty. He said, “Zhù Ying herself was not inclined to come back. When we parted, I asked her why she didn’t come back to the capital with us to make the report. She said: she left openly and squarely, and when she returned it would be on merit, standing tall and upright. She wouldn’t take such a shortcut.”
The Emperor was even more pleased with his son-in-law — the child was honest, not grabbing others’ credit, not hiding others’ virtues. He looked at his son-in-law with increasingly benevolent eyes and said, “Good, good — then as he wishes. Ha ha!”
The Council of State didn’t know whether to feel satisfied or rueful, and let the matter drop. Wang Yunhe also memorialized that someone should be promptly dispatched to take over.
The Emperor said carelessly, “Then let it be Chen Meng.”
Chen Luan quickly memorialized: “He’s only been county magistrate for a few years — wouldn’t this promotion be a bit fast?”
The Emperor said, “He was made county magistrate so you could temper him. I think he’s been doing well. Besides, that place needs rebuilding from the ground up — he’s not going there to enjoy himself. Are you reluctant to let him go?”
“I wouldn’t dare!” Chen Luan was actually pleased. He had been thinking it was almost time to call his son back or give him another promotion after all this time outside. Otherwise he couldn’t feel at ease about resigning from the chancellorship.
Chen Meng, sitting at home, gained several promotions out of nowhere. Yin, Zhù Ying, and Su Kuang were not so fortunate. Though their merits were recorded, those heading three thousand li away still headed three thousand li away, those serving as Court Attendant still served as Court Attendant, those serving as Vice Official still served as Vice Official. If there was any gain, it was that Zhù Ying’s honorary civil rank was elevated to the very top of the first rank — one step away from wearing the crimson robes.
She was now waiting for Chen Meng to come and take over.
Zhù Ying had submitted a memorial for the Emperor, sent back by Luo Sheng. It had nothing to do with the case — it was a request to extend her deadline for arrival at her post by a month and a half.
All postings had a time limit for arrival. Delayed arrivals were penalized. She had been held up here, and thus requested the extension. And because of the hard work, she needed a few extra days to recuperate.
The Emperor and Council of State approved without hesitation. Zhù Ying then calmly waited at the post station for Chen Meng to arrive. While waiting, she also casually had the fire-damaged accounting room requisitioned and repaired — after all, she was temporarily in charge.
The garrison officer frequently came by to spend time with her, and their cooperation had netted the officer a small additional income. The officer, the wealthy man whose son had been rescued, and others praised her to the skies.
“Young hero,” “keen eyes that see through all things,” “champion of the people”…
Zhù Ying said, “Can I possibly be as good as you all say?”
They all said, “Better, even!”
In the capital the stories were even wilder. Luo Sheng had a favorable impression of Zhù Ying, and when he praised her, the princesses heard about it — and who doesn’t love a good story? As it spread, the content gained much imagined embellishment and a touch of supernatural color. In the end it turned into: “On her way to her posting, Zhù Ying was staying overnight at a post station and encountered the ghost of her old acquaintance Tian Pi appearing in a dream to her” — a scenario that very satisfyingly matched popular expectations.
Not only was the story content exaggerated, but it spread extremely widely, nearly to the point where everyone in the streets and alleys knew it. The Court of Judicial Review colleagues brought out the case files and told a few more of the cases she had broken during that month — such as rescuing a small boy from kidnappers. This story was widely enjoyed, and partly because “the hostage was in his own home all along” was such an unexpected hiding place. Who wouldn’t find that startling?
To celebrate this unexpected creative touch, people began inventing their own added scenes and plotlines, and the story gradually became distorted as it spread.
Stories like this also circulated widely in the pleasure quarters — stories were something everyone loved. An interesting story was also a small antidote to the bitter lives lived there.
Xiao Jiang listened as the girl learning the pipa told her several of these stories, and then said in a deliberately flat tone: “Not bad, I suppose.”
But once the girls were seen off, Xiao Jiang said to Xiao Ya: “Xiao Ya, pack the bags. Hire a cart. We’re leaving!”
“Oh? Where to?”
“Oh, if you don’t want to come, just stay here and watch the house and collect the rent for me, then. I’ll hire someone else.”
“That’s not what I meant, Mistress — wherever you go, I go too. But why? Isn’t it fine here?”
Xiao Jiang said, “Go out and walk around, see the world. Isn’t that good?”
That person — had she also lived through all these extraordinary events alongside her? So many heart-racing moments? Why must I stay here in this capital city, collecting my rent, reading my scriptures, day after day the same, today no different from tomorrow, no distinction between being alive and being dead?