Though Zhao Su was brimming with aspiration, when he came to say his final farewell to Zhù Ying he was still respectful and deferential.

Zhù Ying said, “One more thing I want to impress on you.”

Zhao Su immediately stood straight to listen.

Zhù Ying said, “The capital is a place of great brilliance and splendor, but it is also a tangled mass of dragons and serpents. You must keep a firm hold of yourself.”

Zhao Su said, “Yes.”

The rest had already been said well enough in the days before. Zhù Ying had prepared official documents for him, along with several letters. “The letters are here. How you use them is up to you.”

Zhao Su accepted them carefully and tucked them away. “Adoptive father’s kindness toward me is as great as a second birth.”

Zhù Ying knew that between them it had begun as a transaction, as a kind of mutually beneficial arrangement, but by now that transaction had taken on a different flavor. The days they had spent together had gathered a little warmth to them. Zhù Ying said, “Do not waste your time.”

“Yes.”

At Zhao Su’s age, if his studies were already complete, going to the capital was considered young. If he intended to keep studying, he was getting a bit old for it. To seek an official post through the proper path again would be quite difficult. But if he were to go at it from the side road of his identity as “son of a Ying woman” — that was not a label easily shed, and it would follow him.

It was still a genuine test of his abilities.

Zhù Ying had no intention of “guiding” Zhao Su in this regard. An adoptive son was not a natural son. The relationship and the path into officialdom — she had already smoothed the road this far. To also dictate every single step would be going too far. A man she had forced upward: if Zhao Su could not stand on his own, he would become the weakest section of the dam.

For Xiao Wu, who made regular trips to the capital, there was no need for Zhù Ying to say much at all. She only told Xiao Wu, “Just watch how Sanlang conducts himself. Beyond that, do not do anything extra.”

Originally she had planned for Zhao Su to stay in her residence in the capital. But Zhao Feng wanted his son to have his own property — his own home, so he could come and go freely without worrying about being an imposition. He told Zhù Ying, “We’ll borrow the house for a few days. Once we find a property, we’ll move out. We don’t want to put you to too much trouble.”

They assumed that Zhù Ying’s household was like that of any other official — the immediate family, or even just part of the immediate family, had been brought along to the posting while the main household remained in the hometown. With men and women living there, it would be inconvenient. Zhao Su was no longer a young boy; he needed his own social life and dealings.

Zhù Ying had no objection and said, “By the time he gets to the capital, the examinations will almost be upon him. Where is the mind for house-hunting? After the new year, the school will open again, and the Directorate of Education has lodgings provided for students from out of the capital. Settle in there first, study well, and if he passes the examination, he can buy property afterward — there’s no rush.”

She thought back over her study room at home — nothing there that couldn’t be seen. So she said, “He’ll need to study. I have a whole room of books there. He can make use of them — but he may read, not damage.”

Zhao Su was overjoyed and bowed once more.

Zhù Ying said, “Go.”

And so Zhao Su set out on the road to the capital. Su Mingluan was still in the valley and came with her in-laws to see him off. Watching her cousin’s figure recede into the distance, Su Mingluan thought to herself: The capital? What sort of place is it? Someday I too will go and see.

Zhù Ying’s thoughts were considerably simpler: time to get back to work.

……

The autumn harvest was now complete. Wheat planting did not require her hands-on involvement at this stage, and it was still some time before the time came to sell from the village. This was a good moment to gather the county’s officials, constables, and runners together for some instruction, teaching them the principles of investigating cases.

Magistrate Guan and the others knew a little — they had been the ones handling cases before, and they all admired Zhù Ying’s skill and were curious how she did what she did. It was not just the judicial officer, constables, and the body examiner who came — even Magistrate Guan himself came to sit in.

The next day, everyone gathered at the county office. Magistrate Guan noticed a few women off to one side chatting quietly, drawing glances from a few of the male constables. He thought to himself: This is unseemly!

He coughed pointedly and glared hard at the male constables. “What are you all looking at?!”

After dressing down the men, he turned to the women. “Chattering away — what kind of conduct is this? This is a county office, not a street-corner tea stand! Don’t go bringing the gossiping habits of idle women in here.”

The women’s faces flushed scarlet. Anyone would feel embarrassed being called out publicly like that. They had only been a little excited. The female wardens among them — or perhaps “female detention officers” would be more apt — had heard that Jiang Zhou also wanted to listen in. They had all been moved by the idea and come together as a group. Opportunities like this were rare for them, and they were not very well versed in matters of discipline and protocol.

Being reprimanded by Magistrate Guan, they pressed their lips together in silence.

Magistrate Guan still had a nagging feeling something was off: Ah — it’s not entirely proper for women to appear in public like this!

Zhù Ying arrived with Hou Wu. Magistrate Guan thought to himself: I’ll raise the matter privately with the magistrate afterward. Having a female body examiner who knows these things is sufficient — what business do the other women have joining in?

Zhù Ying said, “Everyone knows what we’re doing today?”

Everyone replied in unison, “Yes.” The women were especially careful — they answered shortly and then stood attentively.

The weather was neither cold nor hot, just right. Hou Wu brought over a stool for Zhù Ying to sit on. Zhù Ying said, “Today I will first address a few points that must be firmly remembered. First — upon arriving at any scene of incident, do not wander about carelessly. This applies to any scene whatsoever. The county office should issue a public notice about this, instructing the whole county. Otherwise — anyone who leaves traces at the scene of a violent crime in future should not bother crying injustice.”

Magistrate Guan said, “Yes, your subordinate will go draft it at once.”

Among those below, Gao Shan and the others reached into their document pouches at their waists and pulled out some paper and small writing implements, opened a little ink bottle and dabbed the brush, and began to take notes. Among the constables, one or two also took notes, but most just stood there blankly. Jiang Teng and Jiang Zhou both produced their own paper and brushes. Jiang Zhou wrote out a few characters, found she was writing too slowly, and finally tucked away her paper and brush, instead helping Jiang Teng hold down her paper. “My lady — let me copy yours afterward.” Jiang Teng said, “Work a bit harder yourself.”

Jiang Zhou glanced at Magistrate Guan and thought to herself: I can recognize the characters — I just write slowly.

Among the female wardens there was a flicker of panic — they had not brought such things. One quick-thinking young woman rummaged frantically through herself, produced an eyebrow pencil, and the girl beside her offered a piece of plain silk. She managed to scratch out a few characters on it.

Zhù Ying waited until they had all finished noting, then asked, “Remember to bring paper and a brush next time.” She had assumed that bringing paper and a brush to a lesson was the most natural thing in the world. She had not mentioned it when issuing the assembly order, not imagining that constables who were usually fairly sharp would show up like simpleminded folk, with barely two or three writing brushes among them. The pay she gave constables was certainly enough in this region — buying some paper and brushes would be trivially easy.

Including constables and the judicial officer in the same session already had a somewhat leveling quality to it that many were not comfortable with. Magistrate Guan didn’t like having women sit in either. With that one comment from Zhù Ying, a judicial officer chimed in: “They’re not lazy — it’s just that they can’t read.”

Zhù Ying was mildly surprised. “Oh. All right then — everyone go buy paper and brushes. Starting tomorrow, one classical stele passage to be memorized each ten-day period. I want you to fully memorize the literacy stele, every character recognized. You as well.” That final sentence was addressed to the women, who dared not argue back. “Yes,” they said.

Zhù Ying sighed and added, “I will be checking your work.” She had erected the literacy stele precisely because so few people in the county could read — even among the constables there were some who were completely illiterate, and those who could read were half-illiterate. She didn’t have enough teachers who could teach reading, and had assumed people would teach themselves. She did not expect there would still be a group who didn’t know to bring something to take notes with.

Tong Li and Tong Bo were a little better — they could take notes. Zhù Ying said, “You two can read. Stay as well.”

“Yes.”

She reorganized them into groups — the judicial officer’s level would receive more rigorous instruction, while the constables would receive something more basic, beginning with literacy. The first day came to an end there. She would have to find time to give the judicial officer and the others supplemental sessions, while pushing the constables to work on reading on their own.

Jiang Teng and Jiang Zhou exchanged a glance. Jiang Zhou said, “My lord, we can both read — may we… may we also sit in?”

Zhù Ying turned to Jiang Zhou. “You can write it yourself — so why weren’t you writing?”

“I write too slowly. I know all the characters — I can copy it out when I get back and memorize it. I can learn it, truly! I really can!”

Zhù Ying said, “Fine.”

A foolishly happy smile broke across Jiang Zhou’s face. Among the female wardens, two stepped forward and said, “My lord, we’ve memorized the literacy stele as well. May we also sit in?”

Zhù Ying asked, “And you can write them all?”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying said, “Bring brush and ink.” Tong Li and Tong Bo went to bring over a table and lay out the four scholar’s tools. Zhù Ying began to test her writing on the spot. She started with a connected passage — she dictated the multiplication table and told her to write the fourth line. The young woman quietly hummed to herself, hummed until she reached the fourth line, and began to write.

She tested several passages, then tested individual vocabulary, and finally individual characters. With each round, the young woman wrote more slowly. She made a few errors and wrote a few wrong characters in between, but Zhù Ying passed her anyway. “Very good — you may come and listen.” She also tested Jiang Zhou’s literacy.

The women silently clasped each other’s hands. Others who wanted to be tested also came forward, and Zhù Ying simply took out a sheet of paper and had them copy out a passage from memory. Those who got seven parts out of ten correct would be counted as passing. One step at a time. Several male constables also came forward to request a test, and a few more passed.

Zhù Ying reorganized them into groups again and said, “All right. That’s enough for today.”

The attendants cleared away the tables and chairs. Zhù Ying clasped her hands behind her back and walked back to her office. Magistrate Guan followed after her, only to find Zhù Ying inside already giving instructions to Hou Wu. “All right, you can go.” Magistrate Guan waited for Hou Wu to leave before entering and saying, “My lord — is it not somewhat inappropriate, men and women mixed together like this?”

Zhù Ying said, “Criminals don’t refrain from killing women when they commit murder.”

Magistrate Guan reluctantly accepted this and lowered his voice. “Extraordinary, that’s what it is! How can those young women read? No, no — what I mean is — how did they come to learn to read? No, I mean — there’s the literacy stele, yes, but no one to teach them? Was it Xiao Jiang? How did they come to want to learn?”

Zhù Ying smiled and said, “Take your time thinking about that.” Inwardly she thought: Why? Because male constables, even without literacy, carry the confidence that they can keep their jobs. Women, to hold on to their positions, have to climb heaven and earth to learn whatever more they can.

Magistrate Guan had some objections to the female wardens sitting in on the session — that much was visible on his face. Zhù Ying didn’t want to say too much to him about it, for fear he might use it as a lever against the women’s vulnerabilities.

Magistrate Guan’s confusion having been more or less resolved, he cupped his hands. “Your subordinate will go draft the public notice.”

“Thank you.”

Not long after Magistrate Guan left, Hou Wu came back dripping wet, wringing the corner of his jacket as he walked. Zhù Ying looked up in surprise. “I told you to go find someone. How did you end up with someone’s washing water poured over you?”

Hou Wu said, “My lord, you don’t know — when siblings quarrel, this was nothing! I went to their house and had barely said that you, my lord, feeling pity for their father being killed unjustly by A’Hun, wished to call them over to discuss matters. The words were barely out when the eldest brother said the criminal had been punished and all they wanted now was to live their lives quietly. Before he finished speaking, a young man and woman came rushing from the back — both shouting and fighting, and that young woman was genuinely fierce! Now I know why that kind of woman is called a ‘splasher’ — she really does splash water! She was splashing at her eldest brother, and I happened to be in the way.”

“What were they quarreling about?”

“These three siblings — the two younger ones want to avenge their father.”

Zhù Ying raised an eyebrow with interest. “Oh? Go take a closer look at this young man and woman — find out where they usually go. Come report back once you know.”

Hou Wu said, “My lord? Oh! I’ll go right away!”

“Go change into dry clothes first.”

“Right!”

Hou Wu ran back and rummaged through everything, quickly changed, and rushed off to keep watch. Zhù Ying felt the day’s business was more or less wrapped up, and headed back to the inner quarters to rest.

She ran straight into A’Jie and Aunt Du on their way out. A’Jie smiled and said, “It’s autumn — time to get some nourishment. Tonight we’re having lamb.”

“Wonderful!”

Aunt Du said, “Should we set some aside for Hou Wu as well? I just saw him come back soaking wet.”

Zhù Ying said, “Count everyone in — including Scholar Qi and Cao Chang.”

“Certainly!”

A’Jie said, “What happened to him?”

Zhù Ying mentioned it in passing. A’Jie gave her a look. Zhù Ying smiled pleasantly: “An eye for an eye — surely you don’t think I’ve forgotten?”

“Little Zhù! But surely…”

“Even if not now, it needs to be prepared for. I can see A’Hun is not far from his end. I used to read the law, read history, and couldn’t understand — if the law was already set out clearly in plain terms, why was there still the story of Tiying who petitioned to save her father? Do you know what I realized?”

A’Jie said, “I heard that afterward the law was expanded to nine chapters.”