Outside the Chang’an County Office, many onlookers had gathered, but the black-lacquered ceremonial gates—normally wide open to allow commoners to attend court sessions—were tightly shut, preventing anyone from hearing what was happening inside.
The crowd waited expectantly. Shortly after, the ceremonial gates suddenly opened, and Ah’man and the others were beaten out with clubs. He Shisan, trying to protect Ah’man, took several blows from the punishment sticks. The pain burned like fire. Several yamen runners held him up and threw him out of the gate. He fell to the ground with a thud. Despite the pain, He Shisan struggled to his feet and shouted, “Why won’t you accept our complaint? What are you afraid of?”
A yamen runner barked, “Shut up! If the magistrate hadn’t seen that some of you are old and some are young, he would have tied you all up and given each of you a hundred strokes!”
A scholar in the crowd who was familiar with the law remarked, “A hundred strokes is the punishment for false accusers. You haven’t even investigated, so how do you know it’s a false accusation?”
The yamen runner was momentarily stunned, then became furious with embarrassment. Pointing at the scholar, he cursed, “Don’t think you’re so great just because you’ve read a few law books. Why should our county office investigate court officials based on a few printed confessions? If that’s how things worked, anyone who wanted to harm an official would just print some confessions, post them around Chang’an, and our office would have to investigate. How could we live like that? Who would dare to be the Chang’an County Magistrate? Would you like to take the position?”
The scholar shrank back, hiding in the crowd and no longer daring to speak. Ah’man was indignant. Despite her leg being struck by clubs earlier, she limped toward the yamen runner and angrily said, “We want to harm them? Fine, then explain this: how did Shen Que know my brother was returning to Chang’an to seek help? He’s a Middle Commander in charge of Chang’an’s gates. If this wasn’t planned, how could he predict military situations thousands of li away? This case is full of suspicious points, yet you dismiss it without investigation and call us false accusers. Where is your conscience? Where has it gone?”
By the end of her speech, she was in tears: “Is this how you treat frontier soldiers who guard your peace?”
Ah’man wept bitterly, and the family members of the Tianwei Army, moved by shared suffering, also broke into tears. Their cries were heartrending, and the onlooking commoners sighed in sympathy. Indeed, regardless of whether the printed confession was genuine, they felt Ah’man’s suspicions were valid. How could these officials, skilled at judging cases, not see this point?
The yamen runner couldn’t answer Ah’man’s questions. Angrily, he pushed her, making her stumble. “You worthless woman, accusing your husband! Say another word, and we’ll strip your pants and beat you!”
He Shisan caught Ah’man in time. The young man’s blood was boiling, and he disregarded the consequences entirely. He shouted at the yamen runner, “By what right do you bully people? Did my brother risk his life at the frontier protecting the Great Zhou just so you could bully us?”
His words stirred the other youths, who surged forward and began shoving the yamen runners. Several yamen runners grew furious and started striking them with punishment sticks. Some youths had their heads broken open, blood flowing freely. Some onlookers couldn’t bear to watch: “Don’t hit them!”
“They’re just twelve or thirteen-year-old children! You can’t be so brutal!”
“Stop! Any more and someone will die!”
Some righteous commoners rushed forward, grabbing the yamen runners to prevent further violence. Seeing the crowd’s anger, the yamen runners finally stopped. They spat at Ah’man and the others: “Dare to come back to the county office with false accusations, and you’ll get more than just a beating!”
The black-lacquered gates slammed shut, leaving behind the battered and bruised families of the Tianwei Army.
The commoners sighed collectively and gradually began to disperse. Some who admired Ah’man and her group lingered. The white-robed scholar who had spoken up earlier said to Ah’man, “Madam Sheng, you can’t fight the powerful. Those you’re accusing are the Prime Minister and the Emperor’s teacher. You can’t win this case. Please drop it before you lose your lives.”
Ah’man didn’t answer. She only asked for a silk handkerchief to bandage the bleeding youth’s head wound. Calmly, she asked the gathered families, “The road ahead is difficult. Do you all still want to pursue this case?”
He Shisan was the first to respond: “Yes!”
The others answered one after another: “Yes!”
“Even if we lose our lives, we must pursue this!”
Ah’man nodded, then said to the white-robed scholar, “Thank you for your concern, sir. But our loved ones didn’t die by Turkic swords. They died because of the schemes of the Zhou people. They were all so young and shouldn’t have died. If we don’t seek justice for them, who will?”
She paused, then continued, “As their family members, we’ve lived like rats for six years. But as painful as our existence is, at least we’re still alive. They are dead. And not only are they dead, but they bear the shame of losing battles and territory. But was losing the six prefectures of Guannei their fault? They never abandoned the people of the six prefectures. Today, we’re willing to sacrifice our lives to clear their names to the world. They weren’t useless defeated soldiers—they were heroes of the Great Zhou!”
The white-robed scholar was deeply moved by her words. Fighting back tears, he nodded and said, “Madam Sheng, perhaps you should go to the Metropolitan Prefecture.”
“The Metropolitan Prefecture?”
“The new prefect, Xue Wanzhe, was previously the governor of Yangzhou. When he was there, the people called him ‘Xue the Just.’ He’s a rare upright official. Perhaps he will accept your case.”
Following the scholar’s advice, the Tianwei Army families supported each other and slowly made their way to the Metropolitan Prefecture.
Along the way, they were surrounded by onlookers. Some mocked them, saying they were crazy to accuse high officials based on a confession of questionable authenticity. Others cursed them outright, claiming they had fabricated the confession to clear the shame of being the families of defeated soldiers. He Shisan, young and hot-tempered, wanted to argue with each critic, but Ah’man stopped him. Now was not the time to waste energy on verbal disputes; they needed to focus on convincing Prefect Xue to take their case.
They entered the Metropolitan Prefecture, and the vermilion ceremonial gates slowly closed behind them. Their hearts were filled with unease, wondering if another beating awaited them.
In the main hall, Metropolitan Prefect Xue Wanzhe sat in the principal seat. He was about fifty years old and had a stern countenance. He Shisan knelt with a thud, holding Shen Que’s confession, and shouted, “Prefect Xue, my brother died unjustly! The other brothers of the Tianwei Army also died unjustly! Please help us seek justice!”
Following his lead, the other Tianwei Army families also knelt, each weeping and begging Xue Wanzhe to uphold justice for them.
Xue Wanzhe surveyed the people before him. There were elderly men, young women, and teenagers around fifteen or sixteen. Each one was bruised and swollen; some even had bleeding head wounds. They had suffered violence, and the perpetrators, whoever they were, shared one common trait—fear of getting into trouble.
But Xue Wanzhe was not afraid. Otherwise, with his talents, had he not interfered in too many affairs, he wouldn’t have struggled in his official career for years only to remain a fourth-rank Metropolitan Prefect, unable to reach the position of a Ministry Director, let alone Prime Minister. He signaled for his subordinate to take the confession from He Shisan’s hand and quickly read through it.
The Imperial Guards had already destroyed all the printed confessions, so this was Xue Wanzhe’s first time seeing Shen Que’s confession. The more he read, the more alarmed he became. No wonder no one wanted to take this case. Not only did it involve powerful figures, but if the verdict was overturned, it would completely reverse the established conclusion about the Tianwei Army case. Everyone knew that it was because of the Tianwei Army case that the Emperor could stand as an equal to the Empress Dowager. If the case were reopened, wouldn’t that imply the Emperor had made a terrible mistake six years ago?
Moreover, the Empress Dowager was already elderly, while the Emperor was only twenty-three. Power in the Great Zhou would inevitably concentrate in the Emperor’s hands alone in the future. Offending the Emperor meant living in constant fear thereafter. This was why the Chang’an County Magistrate dared not accept the case.
The matter was grave. Xue Wanzhe remained silent in contemplation. He Shisan, seeing him read the confession without speaking, grew anxious and kowtowed, saying, “Prefect Xue, I know the person I’m accusing is very powerful. But my brother died with one hundred and eight arrows in his body. He was a man of iron will and integrity. He shouldn’t have suffered injustice for six years. Please help us seek justice and clear the Tianwei Army’s name!”
Xue Wanzhe didn’t respond directly. Instead, he pointed at Shen Que’s confession on the desk and asked, “Did you know that the Imperial Guards destroyed all printed confessions in Chang’an early on?”
He Shisan nodded, “Yes, I knew.”
“Yet you still dared to keep one privately? That’s a capital offense!”
He Shisan was startled momentarily, then raised his head and said, “So be it. If my brother’s grievance cannot be addressed, then I will have no more hope for this world. Rather than living like that, I’d prefer to be executed. Eighteen years later, I, He Shisan, will be a hero again!”
The other youths also joined in: “Without justice, we might as well be executed!”
The hall erupted in clamor. Xue Wanzhe shouted, “Silence!”
The youths finally quieted down. Xue Wanzhe asked He Shisan again, “You’re not even fourteen years old, yet you dare to commit a capital offense. Where are your parents? How have they raised you?”
He Shisan’s eyes reddened, and he murmured, “They’re dead.”
Xue Wanzhe was taken aback. He Shisan continued, “After the Battle of Luoyan Ridge, they were constantly pointed at and gossiped about. Combined with my brother’s death, they couldn’t bear the grief, so they passed away one after another. Now I have no father, no mother, and no brother. I’m all alone.”
Xue Wanzhe said compassionately, “Then you should cherish your life even more, to avoid worrying your family in the underworld.”
“Cherish my life?” He Shisan laughed briefly, then held his head high and said, “If I cherish my life at the expense of my brother’s grievance, living as a coward, what meaning would there be even if I lived to a hundred? I would rather die now than live as a spineless coward!”
Xue Wanzhe was deeply moved. He hadn’t expected a boy not yet fourteen to speak such impassioned words. He turned to Ah’man and asked, “Sheng Ah’man, your Sheng family also has only you left. Do you feel the same way?”
Ah’man nodded calmly, “Prefect Xue, I’ve already given up the honor of being a Duke’s wife. Why would I care about my life?”
Xue Wanzhe asked the others, “Do you all feel this way?”
Without hesitation, they answered one after another, “We would rather lose our lives than fail to clear their names!”
Ah’man suddenly smiled and said, “Prefect Xue, you ask us, and we can still answer you. But many others can no longer even answer.”
Xue Wanzhe asked, “What do you mean?”
“He Shisan and I, though left alone, are at least still here. But does Prefect Xue know how many Tianwei Army soldiers have no one left in their families? Take my brother’s good friend, Cao Wulang, for instance. He was raised by his widowed mother, who taught him from childhood to serve the country with utmost loyalty. So with a heart full of passion, he joined the army at fourteen, determined not to let the barbarians step one foot into our Great Zhou territory. Yet such a loyal and brave young man not only died tragically at Luoyan Ridge but also had to bear the shame of losing battles and territory. His widowed mother, unable to endure the humiliation, hanged herself. His entire family… is gone.”
As Ah’man spoke, her eyes filled with tears. She broke down sobbing, “And in the Tianwei Army, how many more suffered like Cao Wulang? How many loyal sons of the country have lost their entire families? They can’t ‘cherish life’ as Prefect Xue suggests.”
“They shouldn’t have died. They should have been heroes, deserving respect from the people of Great Zhou, not scorn. If not for the treacherous officials’ schemes, the tragedy of Cao Wulang and others would never have happened. And what about the people of the six prefectures? What was their crime? They only wanted to live peacefully, yet they became sacrifices in a power struggle. In this conspiracy, how many people from the six prefectures became slaves to the Turks? How many families were completely wiped out, with not a single survivor? Prefect Xue, have you seen the countless bones at Luoyan Ridge? Have you seen the countless bones across the six prefectures? Can the architects of this scheme still be called human? Or in their eyes, are the soldiers guarding the frontier and the hardworking commoners not considered human at all?”
Faced with Ah’man’s series of questions, Xue Wanzhe was visibly moved. Ah’man wiped her tears and said, “If Prefect Xue won’t accept our complaint, we’ll go to the Court of Judicial Review, to the Censorate, to Daming Palace. Unless all of us die, we will not stop filing complaints.”
Having said this, she prepared to leave disheartened. Xue Wanzhe suddenly said, “Wait.”
Ah’man stopped. Xue Wanzhe said, “Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they treat all beings as straw dogs. Though I, Xue Wanzhe, am insignificant, I am willing to do what little I can for the loyal souls of our soldiers. I will accept your complaint.”
Ah’man was overjoyed. She and the others kowtowed, saying, “Thank you, Prefect Xue.”
Xue Wanzhe nodded. Looking at Ah’man, he suddenly asked, “Don’t lose heart. Do you remember Zhang Hongyi, the Military Governor of Guizhou?”
Ah’man replied, “Of course I remember.”
“He is my good friend,” Xue Wanzhe said. “Recently, he wrote to me about Shen Que being escorted to Chang’an. In his letter, he mentioned the Tianwei Army case.”
Xue Wanzhe paused. He didn’t mention that Zhang Hongyi had also written about Cui Xun in his letter. Zhang had wondered how a sycophantic official could write such elegant semi-cursive script, and how such a man would risk his life and travel thousands of li for a friend’s grievance. Thinking of the printed confessions posted throughout Chang’an, Xue Wanzhe suddenly understood why Cui Xun had journeyed to Lingnan despite his illness. He and upright officials like Zhang Hongyi weren’t even as righteous as a supposed sycophant!
Xue Wanzhe gradually decided in his heart. He and Zhang Hongyi had become officials in the same year, and neither had enjoyed a smooth career. Now past fifty, much of their youthful passion had faded. But today, that fire seemed to be rekindling. Looking at Ah’man, he said, “Allowing the people to believe that Great Zhou’s sky is an endless night—that is the fault of officials like us. Now you are risking your lives to bring light to the darkness. If we continue to stand by and do nothing, we will not deserve to be called servants of the Great Zhou. Rest assured, the Tianwei Army case will not depend solely on your efforts.”