Cave Chief Asu’s eyes changed. He had never imagined “writing down” anything resembling a legal code. The Qixia clan had no written language — where was a legal code to come from? Moreover, having to put everything into writing and petition that court bit by bit, case after case — more and more of it — he was growing genuinely tired and suspicious of the whole business.

Zhù Ying read his expression and, without rushing, added one more line: “Little sister already knows how to write, doesn’t she? Just have her do the writing.”

The spark of suspicion in Cave Chief Asu’s heart was tamped down another fraction. He nodded and said: “Let me think on it.”

For the rest of the evening, through the end of the banquet, Zhù Ying did not raise the subject again.

When the banquet ended, several people — though they knew full well something still remained unresolved — were pleasantly flushed with drink. Zhù Ying, who had not touched a drop, went first to look in on the market supervisor.

The market supervisor had accepted this post and carried out his duties diligently. He had not expected calamity to fall from the sky. Zhao Feng’s family had put him up in a guest room to recover, and the wound in his chest still ached. He also thought ahead to the weeks of recovery during which he would not be able to preside over the market — and his heart ached for that too, since managing the trading post had brought him certain modest perquisites, and being laid up meant losing them.

The door to the bedroom was pushed open. Zhao Su put his head in first, stepped inside, then moved aside to let Zhù Ying enter. The market supervisor struggled to sit up: “Magistrate!”

Zhù Ying said: “You have a wound — lie back down. Let’s talk slowly.”

She first asked after the condition and state of his wounds. He said: “I took two blades and survived.”

Then she asked him to describe the situation at the time. He said: “Everything was going well — the trading was proceeding smoothly. It had been many sessions now, and there had always been some disputes over quality or the occasional scuffle, but that’s normal for any market. This time was different. In this humble one’s view, they came with the clear intention to kill. They singled out the big merchants — they knew who to target to hit so accurately.”

“Were you watching from the beginning?”

“They came charging in on horseback and sent everyone scattering. I rushed to intervene and was wounded in the process. By the time I reached them, they had already cut down two people.”

Zhù Ying asked the question she cared most about: “Did you see the killers?”

“I did. Three men, all mounted — they came in a triangular formation,” the market supervisor said with certainty. “Later, young Master Zhao also arrived, and everyone moved together to overpower two of them. The third one leapt from his horse onto a rooftop and escaped.”

“My, my — quite an impressive skill.” Zhù Ying clicked her tongue. “Rest peacefully — your wound was sustained in the line of duty. You are granted a month’s leave, full pay maintained, and I am giving you two strings of copper cash toward medicines and treatment. Get well soon. You are the one most familiar with the trading post — the sooner you are healed, the sooner you can return.”

“Magistrate, your great kindness and virtue are engraved upon this one’s heart.”

The market supervisor tried to rise and see her out. Zhù Ying said: “Don’t move. You can rest easy now, yes?”

“Thank you, Magistrate.”

Zhù Ying did not linger and went directly to look at where the bodies lay. Between those who had died at the scene and those who had since succumbed to their wounds, there were now four corpses in the room, each covered with a white cloth.

Zhù Ying lifted the white sheets covering the bodies. Of the four, she recognized three — opening a trading post required merchants, and she had met all the major ones. Three of them were locals; one was from a neighboring county. Their clothing was not particularly fine — merchants from a poor part of the world, even the prosperous ones, had their limits. Zhù Ying examined their wounds closely. The killer had not hesitated for a moment — whatever part of the body was struck, the cut was decisive.

Zhù Ying asked: “Where are their goods and attendants?”

Zhao Su said quickly: “When the market supervisor was wounded, Father ordered people to keep order. Most were told to stay put inside the trading post. Some fled in the panic. The dead merchants’ goods have been sealed, and their attendants have been lodged together in one place.”

Zhù Ying said: “Come — let’s go see the injured.”

Zhao Su said: “This way.”

Father and son had managed this sudden crisis with considerable competence — Zhù Ying was reasonably satisfied. She went with Zhao Su to comfort the wounded. Compared to the quiet of the dead, the cries of the living were deafening: “Magistrate! I knew the magistrate would not leave us without justice!”

They had been lying there listening to the sounds of the banquet earlier, feeling the bleakness of their situation. Now that Zhù Ying had come, they felt the county magistrate was the same as ever. Zhù Ying had never been a drinker, and she came to them without a trace of wine on her — had not even belched on her way — which made people feel even more strongly that she was indeed a good official. She told the injured not to lift their bandages: “Once it has been wrapped, don’t disturb it. Rest and heal. I will give you an accounting. How is your food?”

The injured said: “We have food and drink — we’re managing, managing well.”

Zhù Ying also asked Zhao Su: “Their goods have all been sealed?”

Zhao Su said: “Yes — men have been put on guard over everything.”

After seeing them, she went to the trading post itself to look in on the merchants who had been frightened by the incident. Official trading posts issued numbered tags and assigned permanent stalls. It was the turn of summer into autumn, the weather still hot, so lodging there was not uncomfortable. Zhù Ying moved through by torchlight, one stall after another, looking at tense and anxious faces. People gradually clustered together. Some could only manage to say “Magistrate.” Others asked what had happened. Some cried that they had been wronged.

Zhù Ying spoke loudly: “There has been a killing at the trading post. Human life is precious. All of you are witnesses. I will need you to remain for a few extra days! Do not move about freely during these days — you will be questioned from time to time regarding the case. The county has called in Captain Ding with soldiers — from now on, soldiers will be stationed here to protect the trading post! A resolution will be forthcoming shortly — your regular business will not be disrupted.”

A low murmur rippled through the crowd. Zhù Ying understood that the root of the matter still lay with the case. Only if the case was handled cleanly — transformed in all appearances into an ordinary commercial dispute — could further upheaval be prevented, the trading post continue to operate, and good relations with the Asu family be maintained.

She reassured the assembled merchants once more: “You are all people who have traveled far and wide and seen the world. Please be patient — I will be questioning each of you in turn.”

A concrete procedure was far more credible than vague assurances. The merchants gradually retreated to their own spaces to rest. Zhù Ying first toured the entire trading post by torchlight, then went to the scene of the killing itself. The major merchants’ stalls were distributed at different points, and she went to each in turn. The trading post had an earthen floor — blood had soaked into the soil and in the darkness of night had turned black. Some footprints were still legible, along with horse hoofprints.

Three horses, no hesitation, headed straight for the stalls. Combining this with the state of the bodies — the victims had been watched and studied in advance.

Premeditated murder.

Zhù Ying set aside everything she had heard from Zhao Feng and others, and looked only through her own eyes. She arrived at the same conclusion.

Looking at the patterns of human movement, the merchants had clearly been caught entirely off guard — they had barely managed to move two or three steps before being overtaken. One had slipped and fallen; the long smear of a falling body was still visible in the soil. Someone had gathered around and lifted them — probably their attendant. Someone inside the trading post had made a move to intervene, hesitated, then stepped back. The killers had not fled immediately after the act — they had continued to slash and cut, and from the blood trails it was possible to trace the path of their movement through the trading post as they went.

Zhao Feng had brought men to stop them, intercepting two of them at a distance from the stalls — one had been caught first, then the second at a slight distance behind. The third had abandoned his horse. She also found the market supervisor’s footprints — he had planted himself in front of one of the horses, then fallen at an oblique angle.

Zhù Ying held a torch in one hand and steadied herself on a ladder with the other, climbing up to examine the rooftop by which the third killer had fled. Picking her way around footprints, she climbed to the roof and traced the faint impressions in the tiles — the man had jumped across several rooftops before leaping down over the trading post’s fence and running.

She reviewed everything she had seen, and confirmed the identities of the three killers. There should be no Ahun among them. She had met Ahun in the settlement — he was a nimble fat man, nimble meaning in his expressions; he was among all the people there the one who had spoken to Zhù Ying with the greatest warmth. If all three killers were his slaves, the suspicion that he had masterminded this was extremely strong.

She went and sat in the room where the market supervisor and Zhao Feng were resting, and told Tong Bo to bring people: “Tonight, question five people first.”

Among the five was someone Zhù Ying had met while browsing the county town — she addressed him by name: “Wang Si — is this your first time here?”

Wang Si’s face was the picture of misery: “Magistrate! I’ve been wronged!” He wore plain cotton clothing, patches at the elbows. Merchants too ranged from the wealthy to the barely-scraping-by — not all of them were prosperous. A small trader who had finally scraped together a permit to enter the market and then walked into this? Seeing that Zhù Ying knew his name, his tears fell freely.

Zhù Ying said: “Don’t cry. Tell me what you saw.”

Wang Si had seen nothing: “We small traders crowd near the big merchants’ stalls hoping to catch some trade on the margins. I’m new here — couldn’t get close enough. Fortunately this saved me from getting cut. I only saw a few horse legs flashing past.”

Zhù Ying reassured him briefly, then called the next person.

After questioning all five, she left the trading post. On the way, she said to Zhao Su: “You handled the situation properly — you and your family have done well.”

Zhao Su was not in the least pleased. He said: “And yet trouble still happened.”

Zhù Ying said: “It was bound to. This counts as a kind of reform for the settlement — where has any reform ever been carried out without something going wrong? Next time someone may well come to cut at me. I’d honestly rather have someone come for me — what’s the point of doing all this if someone takes it out on these people instead? As far as you’re concerned, the matter is settled — stop worrying over it. This is already the seventh month. After the wheat is harvested, the grain tax needs to be collected and sent to the capital. You’ll be leaving soon. How is your coursework?”

“What? Oh — the case…”

“Your coursework,” Zhù Ying reminded him. “You need to be on your way before the new year’s enrollment. Surely you’ll need a period to settle in and get a feel for the capital first? When you arrive, there’s no need to go calling on anyone. Just look around the capital.”

“Yes.”

“The capital is a place of grand opulence — there are those who spend a fortune in a single gesture, and those who go hungry. There are good people and bad people. Use your own judgment.”

“Yes.”

“If you bring servants, they should ideally have some command of the official language.”

“Yes.”

The two walked and talked, Zhù Ying saying something and Zhao Su committing it to memory. At last Zhù Ying said: “Once the case is resolved, come back with me to the county seat and I’ll prepare a few more things for you.”

“Adoptive Father.”

“Go on.”

Zhao Su saw Zhù Ying back to the guest room, then went to find Zhao Feng and reported the conversation. Zhao Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief: “The magistrate is extraordinary!” He nearly forgot to concern himself any further with the case and began thinking instead about how to put together Zhao Su’s travel kit. Money was essential. Warm clothing, naturally. And a servant — absolutely a loyal one!

While father and son made their busy plans on one side, Cave Chief Asu and Su Yuan were not idle on the other.

Cave Chief Asu was not enthusiastic about “writing things down.” But when Su Yuan heard the words “write a legal code,” she could not help but be reminded of the time Zhù Ying had asked her to write a “heroic epic.”

She said: “Father — I’ll go write it right now!”

Cave Chief Asu said: “Write what?”

Su Yuan had her arguments ready: “We have no written language, and therefore no legal code. Now that a case has arisen, without a written document the court cannot close it. To produce a document, you need content to put in it. Our uncle letting us write it is giving us an opportunity — we get ahead of the Suoning family. We seize the first position!”

She pressed her father: “Before us, no one has ever gone to the court and explained things about us in any kind of detail. Now whatever we say is what it is — whatever we write, that’s what Qixia looks like. I’ll write it, read it to Father when it’s done, and then ask our uncle to look it over and see which version sounds better.”

Cave Chief Asu said: “We may have need of them, but that doesn’t mean we must take whatever they say as gospel.”

“Which is precisely why we have to speak first! For instance, take Uncle Ahun — we write that by our law, killing a slave is no offense, and that Uncle Ahun personally killed no one. Your court can’t count him as a criminal! And as for going forward — once we’ve had more dealings with people here, there will inevitably be some killing and wounding. If things ever get really out of hand, I’m afraid they truly will send soldiers. There’s a difference between that and our uncle saying it.”

The previous confrontation — though it had been court officials who tricked the tribal chief into a trap and burned him alive — the court had still sent troops to put down the “mountain people.” The fighting had gone on until the court’s troops were exhausted, and then both sides had quietly agreed to let matters rest. Otherwise, with Cave Chief Asu’s temperament, he would never have given his sister in marriage to a valley landowner like Zhao Feng and gone twenty-odd years without causing trouble for the valley below.

When it came to open confrontation, they simply could not beat a regular army with the full court as its backing.

Cave Chief Asu said: “That’s also true.”

Su Yuan said: “Our uncle naturally won’t work solely for us — he has his own post and career. But he is genuinely kind — he’s a person who thinks of others. These months I’ve been living and watching in the county town, and he’s not only good to us. Even those local landlords — hmph, none of them are easy to manage. Our uncle sees it all and doesn’t make a great fuss of it. He’s not a ruthless, scheming man.”

Cave Chief Asu said slowly: “All right.”

Su Yuan said: “Then I’ll go write it! And what about this current matter?”

Cave Chief Asu sighed: “Tomorrow I’ll discuss it with him.”

“Yes!”

Su Yuan went off to improvise a legal code on the spot. She had no idea how to begin, and the result was a scattered, uneven mess. She thought: to learn a skill and accomplish things properly, you cannot be afraid of making a fool of yourself. I’ll just write, and when I don’t know something I’ll ask our uncle.

Cave Chief Asu stood at the window looking out at the night sky, thinking for a very long time — so long that the sky suddenly opened and rain began to fall.

Neither father nor daughter knew that at that same moment, Zhù Ying was still awake. She had gone to question the wounded merchants once more, gathering their testimonies. One survivor — a major merchant who had remained alive — said that when he heard the sound of hooves he had assumed some distinguished guest was arriving, and he walked out of his stall personally to look. He saw three riders.

Other injured parties had been struck before they even had time to react and had not seen the attackers clearly. Some had clearly seen which specific person had cut them.

Zhù Ying compiled all the information and arrived at a truth that was not entirely grim — Ahun’s distant kinsman through the cave chief had not personally committed any act of violence. Only his slaves had. He had the good fortune of being born into a position where even killing was done by other hands on his behalf — technically, he did not have to answer with his own life.

The next day, both Cave Chief Asu and Zhù Ying rose very early. Su Yuan’s legal code had not had nearly enough time to be completed — she had scratched down a little, found it unsatisfying, crossed out and rewrote, deleted and revised, until in the end all that remained was the single line “masters who cause death shall not be held liable” — and Su Yuan, looking at that line herself, felt it was far too conspicuous. She crumpled the page and threw it away.

Father and daughter came to meet Zhù Ying empty-handed.

Zhù Ying had planned to question a few more witnesses. Seeing them, she instructed Gao Shan and the others to take the interviews and record the statements, then settled in herself to negotiate with Cave Chief Asu.

Cave Chief Asu said: “I’ve brought Ahun here.”

Zhù Ying said: “Then please have him brought in.”

Ahun appeared looking nearly intact — except for a bruise on his left cheek, almost certainly from a slap by Cave Chief Asu. His usually round, good-natured, merchants-smile-for-all face was gone, replaced by a grim, jowly look of hostility. Cave Chief Asu said: “Do you still not know you were wrong?”

Zhù Ying invited him to sit down first, and said: “Things have come to this point. Let me simply have your reason.”

Ahun gave a cold laugh: “You people are deceitful and scheming — what more reason do you need?”

Cave Chief Asu said: “It was your slaves who acted under your direction — and you still point fingers at others?!”

Zhù Ying could address Ahun as an elder kinsman by the family’s relationship — she used that form of address perfectly naturally now: “Elder Brother — I’ve been deceitful and scheming without ever having done anything to you specifically.”

Ahun’s chubby cheeks twitched with fury: “This market!”

There it was — a matter of profit and loss. Zhù Ying looked at Cave Chief Asu with innocent eyes. Cave Chief Asu said: “And would you disregard everyone else’s welfare?! Isn’t the settlement better off than before?”

“Am I not your kinsman?! Am I not of the Asu family?! Did you think of me?! You and your brother both benefit — only I come out with nothing! You two are the ones thick as thieves! Who are you to call yourself my blood relative?!”

It was clear that Cave Chief Asu was moments from being infuriated to death by this man. Zhù Ying said: “Elder Brother — you see, I said this was an ordinary case of killing for financial gain — it has nothing to do with anything else.”

Cave Chief Asu gathered himself back from the edge, and said: “He was wrong regardless! I’ve brought him — deal with him however you see fit — you can take his head or drain his blood, I leave it entirely to you. Ahun himself — no!”

Zhù Ying said: “He must compensate the families of the dead and wounded, and he must not commit any further offense.”

Cave Chief Asu said: “Agreed!”

Ahun leapt to his feet: “On what grounds?!”

Cave Chief Asu said flatly: “That’s how it is.”

Both parties agreed: Su Yuan and Zhù Ying would draft a memorial to be submitted to the court, rendering this affair as a straightforward case of “killing for financial gain,” with no mention of any inter-tribal conflict. Ahun, as a “man of standing in the settlement,” would — in accordance with the Asu clan’s customary law — not face death. He need only surrender the killers and pay a fine.

Zhù Ying calculated the losses and announced compensation: burial money for the dead, medical expenses for the injured, and the cost of repairing the damage to the trading post — a total of two hundred and thirty-nine strings of copper cash. Cave Chief Asu slapped aside Ahun’s protest with one blow and said: “Agreed.”

As for the three killers — since they were not registered subjects of the valley below, Cave Chief Asu had full authority to deal with them directly. There was no need for Zhù Ying to report to the Court of Judicial Review, nor did the Board of Justice need to issue approval. The two of them consulted briefly. Zhù Ying assembled the merchants in the trading post, and Cave Chief Asu’s executioner raised his blade — three heads fell.

Cave Chief Asu said to Zhù Ying: “There is one more thing I owe you a reckoning on! Bring him!”

He then had Ahun bound and brought forward, and ordered a powerful warrior to administer twenty lashes. Zhù Ying watched Ahun’s expression and said: “Elder Brother — let this matter end here. And let everything that follows be handled the same way.”

Cave Chief Asu said: “Agreed!”

The merchants had been somewhat uneasy — Zhù Ying had always shown leniency toward the “mountain people,” and they had worried she might conceal this incident to protect her achievements. Now they watched three heads roll and Ahun take his lashing, and raised a unanimous cheer. Zhù Ying signaled to Captain Ding: “This is Captain Ding — from now on he will be present at every trading session. Understand clearly — I am not guarding against any specific person or group of people. I am guarding against all who would do wrong. If any among you harbor ill intentions, the same will apply to you — arrest and summary punishment!”

Su Yuan translated this for Cave Chief Asu. Cave Chief Asu said: “The timing is right — you go back with your uncle. Finish writing that document. I’ll manage matters in the settlement.”

“Father.”

“If anyone at home has complaints, let them complain to me — you shouldn’t have to manage the family household while also taking on grievances. Go!”

Zhù Ying stayed one more day before departing. During that day, she personally struck the bronze gong to reopen the trading post.

Because the previous trading session had not run its full three days, the merchants still had unsold goods. Some traders had come down from the mountain in the days since and had been living through what felt like an eternity of anxiety, afraid of reprisals. Seeing normal operations restored, their nerves gradually steadied. They planned to bring fewer goods on the fifteenth of the month and see how things stood — if there were no reprisals, they would continue trading as before.

The site of the killing had been washed clean by rain and re-packed with fresh earth. Almost no trace remained — even the labor costs had been charged to Ahun.

Captain Ding stood at the head of twenty men, all of them erect and proud. Merchants who ordinarily dreaded this type of soldier now felt a certain reassurance in the sight of them.

Zhù Ying and Cave Chief Asu walked through the market together, occasionally picking up small items as they went. Cave Chief Asu would pause at stalls where the sellers’ clothing and appearance resembled his own people, and ask: “What are you selling? How much? What do you exchange for it?” and similar questions.

Zhù Ying said: “Elder Brother — when you return, please give more attention to things at home. An unstable rear will make it difficult to manage what lies ahead.”

“Of course!” Cave Chief Asu agreed at once.

For the moment, Zhù Ying could not appropriately involve herself more deeply in the internal affairs of the settlement. She could only offer that single word of counsel — and in any case, she still had Su Yuan.

When trading ended, all the survivors completed their transactions smoothly enough. Several relatives of the deceased also came to collect their compensation. Seeing that the killers had already been brought to justice, they raised no more outcry — instead, they knelt in gratitude to Zhù Ying for seeking justice on their behalf. Zhù Ying was full of regret in her heart — the fault lay squarely with Ahun, and yet her hands were tied, and she could only judge as she had judged, even unwilling to let Ahun’s matter disrupt relations between the two peoples. For now, all she could do was record the names of those involved.

Zhù Ying said: “It was my negligence. The weather is hot — hurry home and see to the burial. Chief Clerk Mo — have the money exchanged for them.”

Ahun had brought no money with him. Zhao Feng advanced it first; Cave Chief Asu would later recover it from Ahun and return it to Zhao Feng.

With that, the case was closed. Zhù Ying and Cave Chief Asu parted at the trading post — Cave Chief Asu bound Ahun and headed up the mountain. Zhù Ying set off with Zhao Su, Su Yuan, and her own attendants for the county seat.

Zhao Feng remained behind to handle the follow-up affairs. Zhù Ying also gave him one additional assignment: “Build a few more rooms — for Captain Ding and his men to use when they come. The captain should have a private room; the rest can share two rooms. Put it right next to the trading post — not too far away.”

Zhao Feng said: “Rest easy, Magistrate. Consider it done.”

Zhù Ying said: “Ah-Da, you come with me to the county town first — the matter of distributing the wheat seed will need you to manage.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying set off for the county seat. From the day of the incident to now was only six days.

Back in the county seat, Administrator Guan and the others came out to receive her. Zhù Ying said: “It’s settled — the killers have already been brought to justice.”

Administrator Guan was startled: “Without reporting to the Court of Judicial Review?”

Zhù Ying said: “Those were Su clan people. Does the Court of Judicial Review have jurisdiction over them yet?”

Administrator Guan said: “Then — how was justice carried out?”

“Caught and killed,” Zhù Ying said. “Cave Chief Asu is also a man who understands the larger picture. All right — in the future there is no need to panic like this whenever something happens; the strain is exhausting. Issue a notice to reassure the people: say that the killers have been brought to justice. And that in future, if anyone of either group commits an offense, each will answer to their own law. Regardless of which people, I will treat all equally.”

Administrator Guan answered loudly: “Yes.”

Zhù Ying and the party returned to the county office. Zhù Ying said to Su Yuan: “You will need to write a memorial as well — have it ready and we’ll send them to the capital together.”

Su Yuan said: “I can write a memorial a little now. But this legal code is rather difficult.”

“Write the memorial first. Once that’s done, I’ll teach you to write the other.”

“Wonderful!”

Zhao Su said: “Watch your feet — don’t trip.”

Su Yuan noticed that his face had relaxed into something approaching an unusual smile. She said: “Did something good happen to you? You’re grinning like an idiot.”

Zhao Su didn’t even rise to the bait, and said: “Idiots who can’t write — I wonder who that might be?”

While the two bickered, Gu Tong came walking back from the county school. Seeing the crowd, he knew Zhù Ying had returned, and ran over, calling out: “Teacher!”

“Teacher — you’ve resolved everything?!”

Zhù Ying said: “Go help Administrator Guan.”

Gu Tong glanced at the pair of “cousins-in-law” who had now gone quiet across the way, said yes, and went off to find the administrator. Zhù Ying sent the brother and sister on their way, and then Gu Tong came running back: “Teacher!!!”

“What is it now?”

“You did it! It’s remarkable! The mountain settlements and the valley haven’t had anything like this for years — when trouble came, it was always resolved by fighting. Apparently in the very distant past there were cases of capturing a criminal and returning them to the other side for handling, but the details have long since been forgotten.”

Zhù Ying noticed he was excited. She said: “It’s not done yet — the memorial still hasn’t been submitted. Have you helped or not?”

“I’m going right now.” Gu Tong went running off again, energetic as ever.

Zhù Ying went home and changed clothes first, then sat in the study to draft the memorial. She recorded the sequence of events, her own process of investigation, the evidence, and the basis for the judgment. Then she wrote out the agreement she had reached with Cave Chief Asu — the jurisdiction by territory, the mutual notification — and at the end wrote her own view: the overall goal was to bring the two sides into alignment; where alignment could not be achieved through persuasion, the other party’s customs could, for now, be preserved.

Then she spread out a fresh sheet of paper and began drafting the outline of the Legal Code — though writing an entire system of law was her strong suit, improvising a whole new one from scratch was still quite difficult. She reminded herself that the Su clan had no existing legal code at all, so making it too complicated would be beside the point. She thought about it and decided to take the structure of the legal codes she had memorized as a model, organizing it into sections and filling in the content she needed to write.

The first thing she wrote was “Succession.” She listed daughters alongside sons as possessing equal rights of inheritance — on the condition that as long as they kept their birth family’s surname, and any children they bore also took the mother’s surname, they would not be considered to have “married out.” She deliberately blurred the line between a woman marrying out and a man marrying in — readers in the capital, if they encountered this text, would most likely interpret it as a form of “accepting a son-in-law,” and not a demeaning one.

In the “Assault and Injury” section, she removed the clause that reduced punishment for a husband who killed his wife while increasing punishment for a wife who killed her husband, and wrote in its place “mutual assault and injury” — treating both sides the same.

Whatever provisions she had long found objectionable in existing law, she changed freely in this new code. What “reform”? Better to simply build something from scratch.

Only on the matter of “human hierarchy” — the Asu clan subdivided people into ranks even more intricately than the court — was she truly without recourse, and she left it out of the written text with a silent sigh.

By the time her draft was complete, Su Yuan had also finished her draft memorial. After dinner that evening, Su Yuan came with her draft to ask for Zhù Ying’s corrections.

Zhù Ying saw that she had already grasped the essential structure of a memorial — open with respectful address to the Emperor, then proceed to the matter at hand. She said: “As long as you follow this framework, you won’t go very far wrong.”

Su Yuan asked: “And as for our Legal Code — I thought about writing it the way we talked about before. What do you think?” There was a small note of caution in her voice.

Zhù Ying said: “Let me see your draft.”

Su Yuan smiled wryly and produced a few sheets covered in scrawled additions and deletions: “This is all there is — I couldn’t figure out how to write it.”

Zhù Ying picked up her brush and said: “Like this — a law code is divided into chapters first, and then content is filled into each chapter. What you need right now is to let people understand that you and a son are no different — so write it that way. You don’t need to write out any distinction between sons and daughters — don’t write out any difference between husband and wife either. Don’t go out of your way to declare anything. Don’t write a line saying that if a daughter is capable enough then she can do such-and-such. Simply treat men and women as the same kind of person. Is that so difficult?”

“It is a little difficult — they are not as capable as I am.” Su Yuan added: “Present company excepted — our uncle and my father aside. Uncle, then how should it be written? Our decisions have always been rather ad hoc. Father dislikes having things written down because it feels as though your hands and feet have been tied up. And I also can’t quite say which situations call for which punishments.”

Zhù Ying said: “Then I’ll fill it in, and you can review it at the end.”

“Yes!”

Zhù Ying worked through the draft she had prepared earlier, section by section, filling in content. Some provisions — like a curfew — were simply inapplicable and were left out. The detailed five-degrees-of-mourning kinship system and nine-degrees-of-family classification, as well, were not worth the trouble of including — she omitted them entirely.

The two of them discussed and negotiated until midnight and had barely written an opening. Over the following days, the two continued to finalize the Legal Code. Zhù Ying wrote only the sections she needed; Su Yuan was entirely satisfied with this uncle’s advocacy. On the question of “harsh punishments,” the two had a mild disagreement — Zhù Ying felt that some of the Su clan’s penal practices should not be publicly declared; Su Yuan felt the uncle was too soft.

Su Yuan said: “These punishments exist and will be applied whether or not they’re written down. If we don’t write them and then actually go ahead and cut off hands and feet, gouge out eyes — and then people want an explanation, I don’t want to keep having to explain everything to the court. I’d rather not have to deal with it.”

Zhù Ying handed the brush to her: “Then you write it.”

Write it then — Su Yuan took the brush and wrote.

Though there were provisions Zhù Ying did not particularly like, the Legal Code ultimately took shape. Together with the memorial, the whole was dispatched to the capital.

Zhù Ying said to Su Yuan: “This isn’t urgent military business — a reply won’t come before the eighth month at the earliest. You may attend to other matters in the meantime.”

Su Yuan said: “Will the court agree to this?”

Zhù Ying said: “It’s not a question of whether the court agrees — it’s a question of informing the court that this thing exists. When you take charge in the future and petition the court for formal appointment, they’ll find the old records and be able to use them.”

Su Yuan laughed: “I understand — get there first.”

Zhù Ying said: “That’s right. There’s one more thing for you to keep in mind.”

“What?”

“Ahun.”

“What about him?” Su Yuan asked.

Zhù Ying would not say another word, and simply sent Su Yuan back to her studies. She kept Su Yuan away from the classics and instead had her read law and history. Su Yuan didn’t press further — but she filed a mental note that Ahun was a matter she needed to take seriously.

Zhù Ying continued to manage county affairs while waiting for a reply from the Council of State. She anticipated that the Council would accept her handling of the case. The court had never actually exercised real control over the Asu family — even apprehending criminals had long been virtually impossible. Now, not only had the killers been brought to justice, but Ahun had been punished by Cave Chief Asu as well. It was a result that any reasonably sensible government could accept.

It had been decades since the court’s reach had extended this far into any branch of the “mountain peoples.” Though technically outside administrative jurisdiction, what had been achieved was actually a tighter degree of control — no wonder Cave Chief Asu felt a measure of discomfort.

In good spirits, Zhù Ying summoned the local gentry again to coordinate the distribution of wheat seed. She gave the majority to the influential landowners and a smaller portion to farming families with sufficient able-bodied workers. She did not allow them to plant their entire landholdings with winter wheat — instead, she issued seed equivalent to one-third of each person’s registered acreage. That way, even if something went wrong, the other two-thirds of their yield was safe.

The gentry received their written vouchers with great satisfaction and went home to wait for the time to collect their seed. Zhù Ying then instructed them on planting methods. They were all literate — there was no need, for now, to engrave it on stone monuments. If the crop failed and methods needed to be revised, the stones would have been cut for nothing and the songs composed for nothing.

For the same reason, she had not yet asked Xiao Jiang to compose a melody ahead of time.

Gu Tong watched his grandfather walk away clutching his voucher with a pleased expression. A small rebellious impulse stirred in him. He lowered his voice and asked Zhù Ying: “Teacher has always shown consideration for the poor and common people — so why would such a good thing be given first to the gentry?”

Zhù Ying asked: “Is this a good thing?”

“Isn’t it?” Gu Tong was now also a little worried on his family’s behalf.

Zhù Ying said: “If it is a good thing — when the young shoots come up, I drive a flock of sheep to graze in them. Who can chase the sheep away — a gentry household, or a poor farmer?”

Gu Tong’s face cleared: “I see.” Then he said: “People aren’t really that terrible, are they?”

Zhù Ying said: “People can be good — but you cannot afford not to think of the worst possible case. If it really does happen, what will you do? If the sheep eat all the shoots, even if you punish the offender afterward, you cannot recover a whole year’s worth of growth.”

Gu Tong said: “I see now.”

Zhù Ying said: “Isn’t Gu Weng letting you come home yet?”

Gu Tong was aghast: “Are you trying to send me away?!”

“Shouldn’t you go home to help with the autumn harvest?”

“That — that doesn’t mean I can’t still wait on you here!”

“You should be able to go home.”

Gu Tong reluctantly agreed: “All right — at worst I’ll take a beating.”

Gu Tong took his bedding home. He walked in on his own, held his head high, and paid his respects to Gu Weng. Gu Weng was as if nothing had happened: “When does the county school let out for the holidays?”

Gu Tong said: “Same as last year — the harvest break. Teacher sent me home to help.”

“Go on then — your room is all ready.”

His grandmother took him by the hands and said: “Our Ah-Tong is home!”

For the duration of the harvest, Gu Tong stayed at home. Now that he had found a model for himself, he wanted to learn by observing what that model did. Zhù Ying went out during the harvest to walk the fields, and he followed her example and went out to watch as well — how much he actually understood was uncertain, but the intensity of the farmers’ labor was perfectly clear to him.

Then he suddenly remembered that his teacher had arranged for a “fire and theft prevention” scheme, and he rushed off to check on it. The farmers were up to their eyes in harvesting the rice — they had no time to indulge him in any exercise. Even the meekest, most good-natured farmer would tell him: “Young Master, once we’ve finished cutting the rice there won’t be anything to set fire to, will there? Go play somewhere else.” Having said their piece, they stopped paying him any attention and bent back to their work.

Gu Tong had no choice but to go home and help his grandfather with the accounts.

Zhù Ying, learning of his efforts, merely laughed and moved on. She herself was occupied with overseeing the harvest, moving from checking on the farmers cutting the rice to inspecting the granaries. As soon as the rice was in, the wheat planting would begin — this year she planned to start three to five days earlier than last year to see how that affected the results. To do that, the seed needed to be prepared even earlier.

The harvest this year was also quite good. The increase in yield per acre was not as dramatic as the previous year’s jump, but it was up a bit nonetheless. Every day, Zhù Ying wore a trace of a smile on her face.

One day, she was discussing with Zhao Su the matter of his journey to the capital, and she brought out two fur-lined cloaks: “I brought them back but never wear them. You can use them in the capital.” In his heart Zhao Su had wanted to raise the topic on behalf of his cousin — Su Mingluan had asked him about wheat seed multiple times, and it was clear she very much wanted some. With his departure imminent, thoughts of his maternal clan stirred a complex feeling he couldn’t quite name. But the warmth of the two cloaks settled over his heart, and all he could say was a simple: “Yes, yes.”

After a moment, he cautiously raised the question of the wheat seed. Zhù Ying said: “Hmm — I still have some left over. Let her have a portion to try planting. I’m not worried about her damaging the crop.”

Zhao Su smiled: “Adoptive Father is truly compassionate.”

Zhù Ying was about to demur when Tong Li came running in from outside: “Magistrate! This is bad!”

Both people in the room looked at him. Tong Li, bent over his knees, said: “Something happened! There’s been a killing — and there are bandits who have broken into someone’s home! There’s — there’s — there’s more than one of them!”

Zhù Ying said: “Oh.”