Guan Cheng’s heart was uneasy.
He had not known, when he accepted Huang Shi’erlang’s gifts, that there was such a gap in the records, and he silently cursed himself for it.
He had no time to think about Huang Shi’erlang; he was busy explaining himself to Zhù Ying: “My lord, I truly had no prior knowledge of this situation!”
Zhù Ying said, “Neither did I.”
County yamen officials accepting gifts and then giving certain people certain advantages in certain matters was what one might call “human relations.” It had been done before, it was still done now, and Zhù Ying had never said one couldn’t receive a single coin. The matter of building and improving water infrastructure was something Fulu County had been doing all along, and the problem was really not a large one.
Guan Cheng hastened to add, “Truly! When Huang Shi’erlang spoke to me about the canal, he never said a word about unregistered households!”
Zhù Ying asked with curiosity, “Oh? Would that ordinarily be something that got mentioned?”
The old man was nearly driven to tears by her question and grew incoherent: “It wouldn’t be mentioned — no, no, actually it would — a little. The truth is… everyone tacitly understood! Before, things were — chaotic — and then you came and… no, I mean, even the numbers weren’t known, just that there might be some. Ah — that’s not what I meant either.” By the end, he was so frustrated he stamped his foot.
Over the past few years, a certain understanding had formed between those above and below in Fulu County, and Guan Cheng in particular had come to know what Zhù Ying cared about and what was beyond the pale. In ordinary times Zhù Ying was very reasonable, but there were certain things that could not be done.
What Guan Cheng had not anticipated was that all of this would lead straight to a case of unregistered households and hidden lands — and Huang Shi’erlang had not breathed a single word about it.
Before Zhù Ying’s arrival, the unspoken rule in Fulu County had been: I know you have hidden land and unregistered people, and you know I know, and I know you know I know, but as long as you don’t make the county’s accounts look too bad and you stuff enough money my way, I look the other way and pretend not to know. When business needs to be done — such as this canal project — the hidden fields were treated the same as registered ones; the canal ran through them too.
Guan Cheng and his colleagues had never even established a precise count of the hidden fields and unregistered people. So long as both officials and gentry profited, that was enough.
In the three or more years since Zhù Ying had arrived, she had deployed one method after another, and unregistered households and hidden land were among her concerns. Guan Cheng himself had faced similar repercussions before, and his year-end performance review was still in Zhù Ying’s hands — and Gu Weng at the time had also been thoroughly dressed down.
Having behaved himself properly for a good while, Guan Cheng had forgotten what he used to be like when he cut corners, and had come to think of himself as a person who had always kept to the straight and narrow. Now he simply saw Huang Shi’erlang as a trap he had fallen into.
Guan Cheng dared not pass on to Huang Shi’erlang the news that Zhù Ying had already detected a problem. What Huang Shi’erlang had offered was nowhere near enough to make Guan Cheng bear that risk. Zhù Ying had a razor-sharp mind — all Guan Cheng had done was mention a village’s approximate name and location, and she had immediately seen that the numbers didn’t add up. The entire county was in her head; how could he pass anything along or keep anything hidden? Let Huang Shi’erlang fend for himself!
Guan Cheng was terrified that Zhù Ying would think this business was like the earlier matter of the misappropriated military camp fields — that he had been involved from the start and had profited from it. Heaven be his witness — all he had done was accept a few gifts from Huang Shi’erlang a few days ago!
Guan Cheng swore up and down, “I’ll return everything to him the moment I get back!” Then a thought struck him: hadn’t Huang Shi’erlang made a great show of sending gifts earlier, only to have them sent back by County Magistrate Zhù? Could it be that her lordship had already foreseen something like this would happen? Well! No wonder she was the county magistrate — a proper official from the capital at that. He himself clearly still had some room for improvement.
Zhù Ying saw that his distress appeared genuine and couldn’t help laughing: “What’s the rush? No one is going to call you to account.”
Guan Cheng caught his breath and said, “I’ve turned over a new leaf — I’m not about to come to grief over this fellow! My lord, what are we going to do — tell me your orders.”
Zhù Ying said, “What is there to rush about? You accepted his request; the original plan was always to carry out this infrastructure project in the county, and after I heard about it I wanted to go have a look at the work site. What exactly is the problem with that, hmm?”
Guan Cheng couldn’t believe this was going to pass over him just like that.
Zhù Ying continued, “Xiang Le — go and get Mister Qi. And you know how to do calculations, don’t you? You and your sister can come along too.”
The siblings cupped their fists: “Yes.”
Zhù Ying said to Guan Cheng, “Do you remember what I just said?”
Guan Cheng’s mind went blank and he struggled to recall. The harder he tried, the less came to him. Zhù Ying shook her head: “Go and get ready — we’re leaving immediately.”
Guan Cheng walked out in a daze. Once he was far enough away, it suddenly came back to him what Zhù Ying had said. Ah! He understood now — she was telling him to act as though he knew nothing. The implication must be: don’t alert Huang Shi’erlang. Guan Cheng felt not a shred of sympathy for Huang Shi’erlang. Damn it, he had nearly been dragged down by this fellow. He did feel some sympathy for Lin Weng, though — a man who had been living perfectly well was about to be dragged down by his son-in-law.
He got ready quickly and hurried back to await Zhù Ying’s orders. Zhù Ying had already gone to the back quarters to change her clothes and was calling people together to leave. Zhang Xiangu came chasing after her from behind: “Hey, you just got back — you’re going out again without even resting? Has something happened? Is there a fire?!”
Zhù Ying said, “More or less.”
“What?!”
Zhù Ying smiled, picked up her blade, and strode out with long steps.
She had been mentally prepared: Huang Shi’erlang was bound to have all manner of unsavory practices. Building up a genuine fortune through honest means was ordinarily a slow process. To accumulate wealth rapidly, some unlawful methods were usually required. In a remote place like this, the specific content of what it took to accumulate Huang Shi’erlang’s kind of wealth was not difficult to imagine.
That Huang Shi’erlang had so “candidly” laid all of this in front of her was something she had not expected.
On her return, there would normally have been a number of people coming to consult her or present calling cards for an audience, but she was moving briskly and had already summoned Guan Cheng, so those with non-urgent business all kept their distance.
Zhù Ying took her party and rode straight to the villages. Riding on horseback, they naturally made good time. They arrived before dark — at this time of year the days had grown long, and people were beginning to prepare their evening meals. In the summer heat, many had carried their tables and stools out to the earthen-floored open spaces in front of their homes to eat in the breeze.
Zhù Ying and Guan Cheng cross-referenced the villages, circling the extra one on their charts. They did not go there first, but went instead to the neighboring village. The neighboring village was a large one with a population of several hundred. The village head’s household had several hired helpers and a maidservant, and he lived in a sizeable house. Even in summer it was his habit to eat outdoors; the helpers had carried the tables and chairs out, and the maidservant was arranging the bowls and chopsticks on the table.
Village children ran over: “Third Uncle, there are people of quality outside!”
“Go on, what would you know about people of quality?”
“Really! They’re dressed so well! All on horses!”
The village head, hearing the child give a detailed account, came out himself to look. Before he even reached the village entrance he saw Zhù Ying. He recognized her and also recognized Guan Cheng. He had brought grain taxes to the county seat before, and had exchanged a few words with these two. He hurried forward: “My lord! This commoner respectfully greets the county magistrate and the county chief official.”
Zhù Ying dismounted and said, “Aren’t you Wang Zhan? Get up and speak.”
Wang Zhan rose. The fact that Zhù Ying remembered him made him quite happy: “That’s me, your humble servant. Your honored feet grace my humble ground — what orders does my lord have? I will certainly see to them.”
Zhù Ying said, “I’m here to look at the irrigation canals. My legs are tired — might I trouble you for a cup of water?”
Wang Zhan quickly led the party into his own courtyard, urged the servants to boil fresh water, scald the bowls and chopsticks, draw well water, and bring out his prized tea to brew. He also began arranging to slaughter chickens and cook a meal.
Zhù Ying said, “Never mind all that fuss — I came to see how the canals are working and check the roads, all so the villagers will be better served in the future. If you go to all this trouble, it’ll seem as if it’s we who are inconveniencing you.”
“No trouble at all, no trouble!” Wang Zhan said quickly.
Zhù Ying said, “It’s hot, and I haven’t much appetite. Whatever you have a little of will be fine.”
Xiang An very deftly produced money and handed it to Wang Zhan for the food. Wang Zhan didn’t dare accept it; Zhù Ying said, “Take it.”
Wang Zhan’s lower lip trembled for a moment as he stood holding the coins, then he said loudly, “Yes!” He had heard that Zhù Ying would pay for food when she visited the countryside, but had never imagined it would happen to him. He had never before encountered an official escort that paid for their food — and certainly never a county magistrate. That said, in all his years he had also never seen a county magistrate who came personally to the villages year after year to oversee various projects.
He quickly arranged the meal and also had people take Zhù Ying’s party’s horses to be fed hay and watered.
After the party finished eating, Zhù Ying called Wang Zhan over to ask questions. She was already planning to work on the canals anyway; conducting a site survey beforehand was only natural. Wang Zhan was delighted: “We clear the silt from the canals every winter — they’re just barely adequate in normal times, but on the most critical days of the year they’re under terrible strain! If they could be cleared out and widened a bit, with stone embankments — that would truly be wonderful!”
Zhù Ying didn’t turn in early that night; with torches to light the way she and Wang Zhan went and inspected the canals, then said, “We’ll take another look in daylight tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
Zhù Ying spent the night in the village. The village looked tolerable — the people’s clothes had few patches. Wang Zhan’s household bore some resemblance to Yu Miaomiao’s family back in Zhu Family Village in former days — relatively prosperous. So the night’s lodging was not bad: there was mugwort to keep mosquitoes away, and the horses were looked after properly.
Before she slept, Zhù Ying called Guan Cheng over and asked, “He made a request of you too, didn’t he?”
Guan Cheng had been dreading any mention of “requests,” and said quickly, “No, he didn’t. Truly! This area was already scheduled for work, so I just conveniently worked in a small favor. The Huang family’s landholdings are mostly in Sicheng County — they don’t have anything like nine villages’ worth here; just two. So I thought to myself, this work is just the county’s regular project, so it was easy enough to slip this in. I genuinely didn’t know he had this kind of ulterior motive.”
Zhù Ying said, “You need to pay closer attention in the future. When he came to you, you should already have known there was an extra village here.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Zhù Ying said, “I know what happened. This sort of thing doesn’t happen a second time.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve had a long day. Go rest.”
The next morning after breakfast, Zhù Ying made another pass over the canals. Qi Tai and others accompanied her. Qi Tai had, in former times, been primarily an accountant. After arriving in Fulu County, Zhù Ying had acted rather like an unreasonable superior: “You can calculate figures — civil engineering quantities are just addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division too; get on with it.” In practice, the treatment Zhù Ying gave him was better than the terms he had originally negotiated, and she never pushed him into social engagements. Qi Tai had endured it, and from the first year had doubled up doing this as a side duty. Over the years, he had even picked up some basic knowledge of small-scale civil engineering.
When the calculation was done, Zhù Ying asked in passing, “Where does the water flow from here? Do you have disputes over water rights?”
Wang Zhan laughed honestly: “It’s all right, actually — that’s the land of the great Huang Master. There have been disputes and quarrels, but since his power is in Sicheng County, we don’t come off too badly.”
Zhù Ying said, “Why is there dispute? Simply because there isn’t enough, and everyone wants more. If there’s more to go around, there will be fewer quarrels. All right — Chief Official Guan, let’s go and look over that side.”
Wang Zhan pressed them to stay for lunch before going; Zhù Ying said, “No, we have more to do. Who manages things in that other village? What’s the village head’s name?”
Wang Zhan said, “The man who handles things in their village has the family name Huang — they say he’s distantly related to the great Huang Master, and lives there as the manager.” Then his expression faltered slightly.
Zhù Ying frowned. “Something’s wrong — how is it I have no memory of any such person?”
Wang Zhan said, “They don’t go much into the county seat. Oh dear…” He blinked, his expression showing a hint of anxiety.
People like Wang Zhan and his fellow villagers ordinarily spent their lives farming and paying taxes, rarely even venturing to the county seat. It had only been since Zhù Ying arrived and had a bit of road repaired that their trips to the county seat had become somewhat more frequent, with young people in the autumn going to town after the harvest to do a bit of casual labor carrying oranges and the like. They had no concept of “the neighboring village being full of unregistered households.”
Interaction between neighboring villages was also limited, and who in a village would have a clear picture of everything?
Wang Zhan now abruptly came to the realization: was something wrong with that village?
Zhù Ying said, “Round up a few people and come with me.”
“Right away!”
Zhù Ying borrowed twenty or so able-bodied men on the spot from Wang Zhan’s village and set out in a large company for the neighboring village.
The neighboring village had no idea what was happening. Wang Zhan rode on a donkey and went ahead into the village to call Steward Huang out to welcome the county magistrate. Steward Huang knew there were canal works in the offing, and came out to greet them with a broad smile, thinking to himself: Shi’erlang handles things as swiftly as ever.
Wang Zhan unconsciously showed a smile himself and exchanged a few pleasantries with Steward Huang.
Steward Huang stepped forward: “This humble man respectfully greets my lord. Please, honored lord, come to the hall for tea.”
His living quarters here were even a notch better than Wang Zhan’s, because he had to receive the agents Huang Shi’erlang sent to collect rents; his tea was also of a somewhat higher quality.
Zhù Ying said, “Let’s look at the canals and farmland first. Move along.”
Steward Huang accompanied the party on an inspection of the fields and canals, pointing out various things: “Here, all of this — there’s only the one waterway running through, and that side gets hardly any water. Another channel needs to be cut. But opening a new channel takes up quite a bit of land, and that means fewer crops and less yield. Best if it’s properly calculated — enough water without occupying too much farmland.”
Zhù Ying asked as if by chance: “How many people does it take to work all this land? How many people do you have here?”
Steward Huang smiled. “Not that many — just this one village.”
They made a rough circuit of the area, and Zhù Ying silently took a count in her head. The sun was fierce, and Guan Cheng was dizzy and lightheaded from the heat, though he dared not complain. Finally he heard Zhù Ying say, “I know enough now — let’s go back and talk things through. Earth and stone quantities, labor requirements — they’ll all need to be calculated. Requisitions will need to be issued.”
Steward Huang smiled until his eyes became slits: “Yes! My lord, this way please.”
Without realizing it they had walked quite a distance, and the walk back took some time as well. The sun had tilted westward by the time Zhù Ying’s party reached his courtyard. The horses hadn’t even been led away to drink when Zhù Ying said, “Hmm? How is it I’ve never seen you before?”
Steward Huang froze.
Zhù Ying stood where she was without moving, and stared at him without blinking. Steward Huang blinked: “My lord is so busy with affairs — why would you have time to notice someone like me?”
“Ah. Does your village have enough draft oxen?”
“Just barely managing.”
Zhù Ying said, “That doesn’t seem right. I’ve met all the village heads and headmen in the area — every autumn harvest I conduct a personal inspection. The county yamen arranges for poor households to borrow oxen, and those arrangements are handled through the village heads and headmen. I’ve never met you. What is the explanation? Where is your household registration? Have you been paying your taxes? Have you been performing your labor service?”
Steward Huang stood there stupefied, unable to understand how an inspection of a canal had turned into an inquiry about his household registration. They had already looked at the area, hadn’t they?
Zhù Ying wasted no more words on him and gave a sharp command: “Take him!”
The steward shouted his innocence. Zhù Ying said, “Go and bring a few of the villagers here.”
More people were summoned from the village. Without household registrations on file, there was no way to sustain any argument. Besides, ordinary farmers didn’t know how to argue their way out; they could only insist: “I don’t know anything — he came to collect, and we paid.”
Zhù Ying straightforwardly had Steward Huang bound with a rope: “Bring him back for a thorough interrogation!”
Steward Huang called out his grievances: “My lord! My lord! I belong to the great Huang Master!”
Guan Cheng kicked him: “In front of my lord, who dares call themselves a ‘great master’?!”
Steward Huang said, “It’s Huang Shi’erlang! He is Lin Weng’s son-in-law! A man of great estate! You’re aware of him, are you not?”
Zhù Ying said, “Where are the account books?”
Steward Huang behaved like an aggrieved child, insisting he was truly one of the Huang household’s people and hadn’t done anything.
Zhù Ying said, “The county yamen has never demanded your accounts before. If you produce them now, I will treat this as though nothing ever happened.”
Steward Huang said, “I only watch over the farming here.”
He wore a thoroughly disgruntled expression, his sense of being wronged feeling entirely genuine.
Zhù Ying sighed and in straightforward fashion gave him twenty lashes. After twenty strokes, Steward Huang was bewildered: “My lord, I haven’t lied! This is truly the situation!”
Guan Cheng bellowed, “Have you lost your mind?! You still dare to say this, at a time like this? Confess! How did you conceal these household registrations?!”
Steward Huang said, “This humble man really has only…”
Guan Cheng said, “My lord, this person is playing mad and acting stupid. It may not be possible to get anything out of him quickly — better to take him back and put him to the question. A thorough inquest will produce results.”
Zhù Ying said, “Go to the accounts room — seal the books and bring them!”
Steward Huang was taken away. The villagers were all in a state of terrified helplessness. Zhù Ying had entered the village with a reception from Steward Huang, who had addressed her as “county magistrate,” and so the villagers had not dared to mob her.
Zhù Ying assured the villagers: “Everyone go about your normal business. The county has a matter to question this person about — it has nothing to do with you.”
An old farmer gathered his courage to ask, “My lord, what if the landlord comes to ask questions? We can’t handle that kind of pressure!” As he spoke, his knees bent all the more deeply, as though he might drop to the ground at any moment.
Zhù Ying said, “Whoever comes to ask, tell them to come to the county yamen and find me. My name is Zhù Ying. If anyone beats you, you can also come to the county yamen and find me — I will stand up for you.”
The old farmer said quietly, “Yes.”
Zhù Ying said, “Affix the seals — let’s go!”
Tong Li and the others posted seals on all the doors and windows of Steward Huang’s dwelling. They commandeered a cart, loaded Steward Huang onto it, and the party departed in full force.
Zhù Ying had always been the focus of attention in the county seat. People were not surprised when she left the city in a hurry; but returning with a cart carrying someone who appeared to have been beaten — that was a bit unusual.
The county residents had learned from experience: this sort of thing usually meant a case had come up and the magistrate had gone out to handle it. But there had been no sound of anyone beating the drum to file a complaint!
People gathered to look, but all found Steward Huang completely unfamiliar, and broke into murmured speculation.
Zhù Ying brought Steward Huang to the county yamen, placed him in the jail cell, and let Guan Cheng and the others go home to rest. She herself went back to the inner quarters to wash up and change. Zhang Xiangu came in carrying clean clothes, stood by the bathing tub and said, “Well! You’re willing to bathe? Looks like the business is done and you won’t have to run off again?”
“Mm.”
“Goodness! Be careful — your skin has gone red — what if you scrub it raw? You’ll get scars.”
Zhù Ying already had a few knife scars on her body, and after all that time going out in the summer heat, then scrubbing hard on top of it — what if she damaged her skin?
Zhù Ying said, “Do I seem like someone who doesn’t know her own limits?” She bathed quickly. When she was nearly done, Zhang Xiangu put the clean clothes aside and said, “Lean your head this way — I’ll wash your hair. In weather like this, you’d start to smell if you didn’t.”
Zhù Ying enjoyed a comfortable hair wash, wrapped her hair in a cloth towel, put on her clothes, and said, “It smells nice.”
Zhang Xiangu kept wrinkling her nose and said, “In this heat, take a couple of days off.”
Zhù Ying said, “The rest of it will all be easy.”
Zhang Xiangu’s understanding of “easy” and Zhù Ying’s were probably rather different.
The second day, Huang Shi’erlang didn’t appear. The third day, he still didn’t appear. Then came a delivery to the back quarter’s side gate: a seductively dressed young woman with a full, shapely figure, fair skin, and black hair — a pretty woman by any measure. Accompanying her were a maidservant and a young boy attendant, both around eleven or twelve years of age, with charming features, pale and soft-looking.
The woman was conveyed by sedan chair to the side gate of the inner quarters. The people who brought her knocked at the gate and attempted to deliver the occupants inside.
Zhang Xiangu was in the back quarters — she spent her summers in the county seat, and only went out early in the mornings or evenings when the sun was not yet up. Du Dajie came to say, “Madam, someone has brought a gift…”
Zhang Xiangu said, “What sort of gift? How did you get so frightened?”
“A person — a person — a person…”
“What?!”
Du Dajie repeated “a person” three times, and three persons were indeed what had been delivered. Zhang Xiangu had never received such a “gift” before; she was stunned for a moment, then angry: “What is the meaning of this? Where is San’er? How could this be allowed to happen? She would certainly never want this!”
That went without saying — what were the chances that Zhù Ying would take a beautiful concubine? Pigs would fly first!
Zhang Xiangu thought of how her own daughter had once been sent as a gift to Zhou You by the prefectural governor, and had nearly not come back, and her anger blazed hotter still. She might not be able to do anything about Zhou You, but she could certainly say: “We won’t accept this — send them back! People are not objects to be sent back and forth — they have fathers and mothers too! What sort of heartless person does a thing like this?”
Huang Shi’erlang’s material gifts had failed, and now the delivery of people had also failed. Because the people were sent back, Lin Weng came to hear of it, and he hastily told his son-in-law, “Our County Magistrate Zhù is not interested in this sort of thing! Stop adding complications where there are none!”
Huang Shi’erlang had no choice but to humbly ask, “What does his lordship like, then?”
Lin Weng thought for a moment and said, “He has a deep love for the people, especially compassion for the poor and the weak, and he protects the old, the young, women, and children. As for hobbies… son-in-law, I think you’d best just abide by the law.”
Huang Shi’erlang said, “His people were seized, and his premises were sealed! He’s checking household registrations now! Father-in-law, could you accept a situation like this if it happened to you?”
Lin Shi also helped her husband speak: “Father, it’s not that we’re making trouble. For the sake of the family property, something has to be done. We can’t let them keep investigating like this. If some gifts can be offered to protect the people and the land, that’s still the better deal.”
Lin Weng said, “Even if everything is reported accurately, the situation isn’t bad.”
Lin Da-lang said, “Ever since his lordship came to Fulu County, anyone who has been cooperative has only come out better, never worse.”
Lin Ba-lang added, “Those who played tricks behind his back — that was a different story.”
Huang Shi’erlang curled his lip. “Is that so?”
Lin Weng said, “That’s certainly so — we’ve done the calculations. How much tax do you avoid in a year by hiding one plot of land? His lordship levies strictly by the law, and the rate here is one-tenth. After reporting your land, anything involving road repair or canal work is all planned with your property included. As for draft oxen and seeds — if you are short and want to borrow, those things are also recorded in the county yamen’s rolls. If there’s a disaster, the county manages it, and you don’t have to trouble yourself over it at all…”
He didn’t give his son-in-law the specific figures from his own household accounts — for instance, how much additional grain and money would need to be paid after reporting honestly — but laid out how much benefit could be obtained in return; the net after addition and subtraction actually showed a saving. He just explained the principle in broad strokes.
Huang Shi’erlang’s jaw tightened and he ground his teeth. “A miscalculation.”
Lin Weng also said earnestly, “Son-in-law, you are thirty-four this year, and the county magistrate is only twenty-four. I expect he reached the position through genuine ability. He is not like those officials of the past who refused to take up their posts or who spent their days in drunken stupor. You cannot continue to be so careless!”
Huang Shi’erlang said languidly, “All right. I understand. Let us call it a gift I have given him. Hmph!”
Privately he ran the numbers. If things were truly as Lin Weng described, then even if he reported everything honestly now, there would be no real loss. But if he didn’t have to report at all, wouldn’t that mean double the gain?
Huang Shi’erlang thought: this little county magistrate is indeed a tough opponent. Very well — for now I still need his connections, and my landholdings in Fulu County are not that large. I’ll endure for the time being. Things are still better back in Sicheng County! Since this step has been taken, I’d better recoup and then some before I transfer back to Sicheng County!
Lin Weng and his sons were pleased to see him cooperating relatively well and reporting his hidden land and people. Huang Shi’erlang could sometimes be domineering and willful, but after meeting with the county magistrate he still knew how to behave and wouldn’t cause disasters!
Huang Shi’erlang said, “I would ask my honored father-in-law to put in a word on my behalf — to request the release of my steward. I am willing to report my fields and tenant households honestly.”
Lin Weng said, relieved, “Well then, very good. Very good.”
Huang Shi’erlang said, “As my honored father-in-law knows, I have never personally managed the accounts and could not likely sort them all out myself. I’ll have Wang Jia go to the county yamen to report the accounts.”
Lin Weng said, “Good. Get things ready on your side and have him come to me first — I’ll take him to the county yamen.”
Lin Weng agreed readily, but went to the county yamen rather carefully.
As it turned out, the county yamen was its usual self — no obstruction whatsoever. The accounts Wang Jia brought were verified against the records and entered under Huang Shi’erlang’s name. The household registration officer brought people to go personally and register every individual. Whether classified as Huang family bondservants and tenants, or as ordinary commoners — whatever their status, once registered, there was a corresponding tax for each, and that rule would not be changed.
Zhù Ying gave the household registration officer her orders: “Because of a single status designation, are so many people’s paths forward to be cut off? Where the records can show them as registered free commoners, record them as such. As for those claimed to be bondservants — there must be contract documents. If there are none…”
The household registration officer understood: “This subordinate understands.”
Next came the measuring of the land. Zhù Ying copied the account books — this was her old profession. She then sent people to verify the figures, and finally had Xiang Le accompany Wang Jia to remove the seals and return the premises to Huang Shi’erlang.
This entire matter went back and forth for half a month before it was fully resolved.
When Guan Cheng came to report, the weather had grown even hotter. He had been running around constantly, working extremely hard — partly because Huang Shi’erlang had been quite rude to him and accused him of not following the rules. Guan Cheng found himself thinking: ah yes, that’s how things used to be done.
He had replied at the time: “Before is before, and now is now. If you want to talk about before, I can just as easily go back and reopen the old accounts with you — shall we?”
He had spoken boldly, but inwardly he had no solid footing, for he was also afraid Zhù Ying might reopen old accounts with him. After half a month of this, he had lost a noticeable amount of weight, and still no old accounts came up. Only then did he carefully venture, “Finally finished before you leave for the prefecture capital, my lord.”
At the end of June this year, Zhù Ying still needed to go to the prefecture capital. Although the system had been established by Prefect Lu, she could not be less respectful to Leng Yun than she had been to Prefect Lu. Unless Leng Yun said there was no need to come, Zhù Ying was going.
Zhù Ying said, “There’s still a month — no need to rush. Are the accounts all in order?”
“This subordinate checked them once, Mister Qi looked them over once, and young Xiang checked them yet again — if something still goes wrong after all that, this subordinate will just have to accept defeat.”
Zhù Ying took the register and said, “Why be so downhearted? Have the steward released and returned to him.”
“Yes.”
After Guan Cheng left, Zhù Ying went through the accounts over several days and found no problems. She still included the area in that year’s water infrastructure work as planned based on her earlier survey, but the irrigation channels could not be constructed according to Steward Huang’s original proposal — that would have been laughable. By his plan, his share of water would be more than enough while the water supply to nearby villages would be insufficient.
Zhù Ying and Qi Tai drew up a new plan. Qi Tai said, “My lord, I can’t guarantee this will work perfectly — this isn’t my line of work.”
Zhù Ying spread her hands. “You say that every time. What are you afraid of? If you can’t do it, no one else can — look at this entire county: how many are capable of doing this? At least you know how to calculate!”
Using Qi Tai was also a last resort. Given Fulu County’s educational level, even literate people were scarce; forget about anyone specifically trained in engineering. They could find a few builders for putting up houses, and well-diggers too, but for large-scale projects like this — there was no one. Everyone had to step up themselves.
While the two of them were chatting idly — Qi Tai still disliked socializing, but found Zhù Ying’s company particularly relaxing — she was such a reasonable superior: she loved hearing the truth, and if you told her the truth she neither got angry nor retaliated, so Qi Tai was quite satisfied, and had gradually been able to bargain with her and even exchange a few light remarks.
They chatted for a bit, and then the drum outside sounded. Tong Li ran over: “My lord, someone has filed a complaint. By the accent, he’s not one of ours — I asked, and he’s from Sicheng County. He’s here to accuse Huang Shi’erlang!”
“Oh?”
Tong Li said, “He’s accusing him of forcibly taking a woman — of abducting his younger sister.”