With their gear in place, Zhù Ying stowed the fortune-telling pennant and the peddler’s pole inside the cart, sat herself up front with the curtains all open, and the donkey cart rolled forward with the breeze cutting through — quite refreshing.

Xiang Le and Xiao Liu took turns driving. Xiang Le was currently at the reins and asked, “Prefect, which road should we take?”

Hedong County covered quite a lot of territory, and they had to pick a direction to start. Xiang Le’s family business had passed through Hedong County before, so he was fairly familiar with the roads of several of its townships.

Zhù Ying said, “Just keep to the road and keep moving.”

Xiang Le drove in silence while Xiao Liu looked around curiously, with Xiang An riding the mule alongside. All three were inwardly curious: the things they had equipped themselves with — were they not going to be used?

Xiang Le was driving aimlessly when Zhù Ying suddenly said, “Stop — turn down this road and go that way.” As if she knew the way instinctively. Xiang Le obeyed and turned off; before long they had arrived at a village.

Zhù Ying said, “Good, let us go take a look.” She ducked out of the cart, and Xiao Liu and Xiang Le scrambled to get out of the way — but she had already nimbly jumped down on her own. Xiang Le went to reach for the peddler’s pole, but she stopped him.

The arrival of strangers in the village drew curious onlookers. A girl not quite fully grown came up and asked, “Who are you people?”

Zhù Ying said, “Just passing through — looking to beg a drink of water and ask a few things.”

Xiang-brother-and-sister and Xiao Liu exchanged glances, eyes wide with astonishment: the Prefect’s accent!

Zhù Ying’s speech at that moment was neither the standard official tongue, nor the local dialect of Fulu County, nor even quite that of Nanping County where the Southern Prefecture was located — not the local dialect of Hedong County either. Yet it clearly had the flavor of a nearby regional dialect.

The girl said, “What did you want to know?”

Zhù Ying pulled out two copper coins. “Get us some water first — fill up our gourd too.”

The three of them stared at each other, went around the circle of looks, then went around again. A sense of fellow suffering and fellow admiration arose spontaneously. They came from different backgrounds and different experiences, yet in one and the same superior, they had felt the same kind of pressure — and from that a sense of camaraderie bloomed.

They did not even know what Zhù Ying had come to the countryside to find. The Xiang siblings were from Fulu County, and based on what they had seen and felt there, they had assumed this was an undercover visit to hear about grievances. Wealthy households oppressing the poor, a husband’s family beating a daughter-in-law to death, that kind of thing. But Zhù Ying was not asking about that at all — she was just chatting with the girl about everyday things.

Xiang An noticed the girl’s cheeks had gone faintly pink; she looked at their Prefect — tall, well-formed, bright-lipped and white-toothed, easy with words yet not creeping uncomfortably close, keeping a polite distance. The topics Zhù Ying raised were not about harvest yields or whether the local officials were fair — they were the talk of a trader: when would the local rice be harvested, what was the price of rice last autumn, how much had it gone up in spring, had anyone in the village started growing wheat, and when the time came, would they sell.

The girl asked, “Why do you ask all this?”

Zhù Ying smiled. “Small trade — just asking the price.”

The girl said, “Price? Autumn is dirt cheap, spring it gets extremely dear. We don’t have much extra grain here. Old Third Grandfather at the head of the village is the local notable — perhaps he has some to spare. And I’ve heard someone is growing wheat, though we haven’t started here yet.” She also offered to show Zhù Ying the way to that Old Third Grandfather’s house.

Zhù Ying did not decline, and followed her there. Old Third Grandfather’s family was the wealthiest in the village, but by Zhù Ying’s assessment, they did not have much extra grain either. At this time of year, most households were running low on stores, while the poor were desperately waiting for the autumn harvest.

Old Third Grandfather looked the four of them over. Zhù Ying’s clothing was somewhat better — a patch only at the cuff — while the other three had patches at the elbows and knees in several layers. He did not take them for merchants of any note; he himself was no great landowner either, and they ended up trading carefully hedged words with each other. Xiang-brother-and-sister and Xiao Liu dared not say a word, listening as Zhù Ying chatted him up. She said she didn’t believe he really had that much rice, and he was surely trying to push the price down. And that if the price was right, she would definitely come to buy.

She also asked whether the village folk were accustomed to eating wheat flour or wheat gruel, and if not, whether they would take it to sell.

After enough of this, Zhù Ying bought two sheng of rice from Old Third’s household as a gesture, tucking it all into a small cloth sack. Having asked about the price of rice, she moved on to selling the items she had picked up along the way — since she had bought things hastily, the selection was not complete. She sold the nicer novelty items to Old Third, sold needles to the poorer households at fair prices, and even coaxed the children to spend their few saved copper coins on sweets.

The three companions were utterly thunderstruck.

This Zhù Ying was one they had never known before! All they could say was: extraordinary. All three were around sixteen or seventeen years old. Xiao Liu, owing to his family’s connections, had heard the stories of “Little Prefect Zhù” — a financial deity within the Court of Judicial Review, an upright judge who could spot a criminal at a glance, a fierce fighter who had pursued a killer through injury. Xiang Le and Xiang An had seen a principal official who kept her word and cared deeply about the people’s welfare.

How could she also be this?!

After they got back in the cart, she urged Xiang Le to continue down the road to the next village.

By the time they reached the next village, it was nearly dusk. They had made their rounds and then asked a household for lodging. Unlike going to a village as a county magistrate, with the village head and local headman receiving you — now they were staying with a poor household, just an old couple. Their daughter had married out; their two sons had both gone to work for a local landlord.

In this household, Zhù Ying discovered the old man made rather good bamboo goods — small bamboo baskets, small bamboo cages, that sort of thing. She took the money she had earned in the previous village and bought a batch of his goods, stacking it all on the donkey cart. She also bought some beans from this village.

The next morning, Zhù Ying said, “Today we need to pick up the pace!” In what felt like an instant that morning, they covered three villages.

Back in the cart, Zhù Ying said, “This road is wide — there should be a sizable market town ahead. Let us rest there.”

Sure enough, the next settlement was a larger market town — two crossing streets, the longer one running horizontally and the shorter one vertically, with most of the shops facing the main long street. They found a small inn and settled in for the night.

Xiang An went to the kitchen to check on the food, Xiao Liu tended to the animals, and after eating, Xiang Le brought hot water for washing and attended to Zhù Ying’s evening routine. After Zhù Ying finished washing her feet, Xiao Liu could not hold back any longer and asked quietly, “Prefect, what are we actually looking for out here?”

Zhù Ying said, “Looking at how people are living.”

Xiao Liu said, “We’re not listening for grievances?”

Zhù Ying laughed. “You thought we came out here just to decide cases?”

“Didn’t we?” Everything Xiao Liu had heard from childhood was that Zhù Ying was the most formidable person in the entire Court of Judicial Review — and now that she was going to the countryside and not deciding cases, what was she doing? Prefects had to hear cases too, didn’t they?

Zhù Ying said, “Deciding cases is of course important. But there are more pressing things I need to see.”

“What — what things?” Xiao Liu asked without thinking, then snapped his mouth shut, afraid Zhù Ying would think he was questioning her.

Zhù Ying said, “Seeing whether there are any people not in the household registers — any land not registered with the yamen.”

Xiang Le said, “Asking outright — they probably won’t tell you.”

“I already got answers.” Zhù Ying thought for a moment and decided to give the three of them an explanation: “Wherever you go, there are always traces left behind — it is only a matter of whether you can detect them. For instance, a person can never tell you things they have never experienced. Take Old Third Grandfather, the first one — he could say ‘after paying taxes, there’s still some grain left over, and the rice price is cheap.’ But the last one that evening — not a word about officials, runners, taxes, grain, or payments crossed his lips. Looking back at it, that most likely means he was not in the household register. Even cursing would be something — refusing to even curse means no dealings with them at all, having no knowledge of them.”

The Xiang siblings privately reflected that they were not foolish people, and Xiang Le had himself gathered intelligence before. Hearing this now, their understanding suddenly broadened. Xiang An said, “So that is it!”

Xiang Le said, “I understand — watching closely and listening carefully, that is the meaning. Then — how does one actually bring these lands and people out from hiding? I fear it would be… quite difficult.”

Zhù Ying nodded. “Correct. Where land consolidation is severe, the other evils are only worse. Huang the Twelfth in Sicheng County was one example. Not only are local bullies and strongmen rotten — but the officials who cannot manage those bullies and strongmen, do you think they are any better?”

Xiang An could not help worrying on Zhù Ying’s behalf. “If this requires you to personally travel everywhere yourself, that is too exhausting. What about the county magistrates below? How do you get them to do their part? If those above lead by example, those below will follow — as long as you set the tone, things will inevitably improve somewhat.”

Zhù Ying said, “If I had to personally travel everywhere myself, that would actually be ideal. But unfortunately I cannot interfere so directly. To step in right at the beginning is to signal that I do not trust them. Once there is no trust between superior and subordinate, the work downstream cannot be done — and it is not just incompatibility that’s the problem; the fear is that they will obstruct each other and each undermine the other, which would ruin everything completely. So the approach is to observe quietly, get the facts clear in my own mind. If I come across any cases, I keep them in mind — as long as it is not an urgent matter of life and death, I wait until I am back at the prefecture to deal with them.”

The Xiang siblings understood — their father’s injustice had been handled in just this way.

Xiao Liu also greatly admired this. “No wonder the stories say you are so impressive! They say you recognized a disguised official at a glance!”

The Xiang siblings had not heard this story; both turned to look at Xiao Liu. He recounted the story of Tian Bi with great relish and embellishment.

Zhù Ying said, “It has grown into this? That was because I had seen him before — of course I could tell the person in front of me was an impostor. Enough — let us sleep!”

The four of them had taken one room; the innkeeper had added a bed. The best bed naturally went to Zhù Ying; the other three slept on the makeshift extra beds. There were not enough beds, so in the end the innkeeper took a door off the firewood shed, balanced it on two long benches, and that served as a third bed for them. This sort of thing was nothing unusual — inn owners had seen every sort of traveling merchant imaginable. The kind who took a single room for just one person, at most adding a personal attendant, were considered picky guests. Far more common were the ones who crammed many people into one room for the price of one, leaving the staff to clean up for half a day afterward. Even so, that was more profitable than the common dormitory. The innkeeper grumbled about it under their breath for a moment, then thought no more of it.

The four of them ate and went to sleep.

The next day, Zhù Ying went into the market town and stocked up on some goods. She casually sold the little bamboo cages she had bought in the previous village at a small shop in town for a slightly higher price. The shop owner tried to haggle her down; Zhù Ying said, “I am just passing through — if the price is not right, I’ll move on; I don’t come back this way.”

The shop owner said, “Then go.”

Zhù Ying didn’t even turn around — she hopped right back into the cart. The shop owner’s wife called after her from behind: “Hey, young sir, come back — I’ll buy them!” She scolded her husband for not knowing how to do business. The couple worked the routine — one plays the villain, one plays the kind one — and bought Zhù Ying’s goods.

The three companions continued to stare in dumbfounded amazement. They simply could not understand: how was it that after saying all those weighty, patriotic things the night before, the very next morning she was haggling over a single copper coin with a small shop — and winning?! Did she need the money?!

Zhù Ying swept through Hedong County’s larger market towns in a flash. It was impossible to see everything — even in Fulu County, she could not claim to have visited every single village. But it was still far better than having Magistrate Wang arrange a model tour and escorting her to receive local gentry.

Near the exit from Hedong County, she set up her shoulder pole one last time and sold everything at the last two villages, down to the last item. Xiang An took note: on this one trip through Hedong County alone, the total earnings came to one guan and three hundred and eleven copper coins. When Zhù Ying had started casually buying things, they had assumed it was for the costs of this undercover trip — but no…

Even more unexpected: she had said she would not deal with grievance cases. Yet when she encountered a local strongman doing business with large measures for buying and small measures for selling and lending money at usurious rates, she flipped out her pennant, shook out her clothes, and pulled a long outer robe over herself. She got down from the cart and walked to the man’s gate, saying: “This poor Daoist has been reading the heavens at night, and I fear a calamity is coming for this household.”

The people of the house came out to drive her away, but the old matriarch inside heard her and called her in to do an exorcism. Xiang An and Xiang Le could not follow inside, and watched as she went in and stayed for quite a long while. After a moment, a scholarly-looking young fellow came home in a huff: “Another swindler has come, I take it? Let me see if this Daoist has a proper certificate!”

All three were given a tremendous fright; Xiang An and Xiang Le were about to rush in and snatch her out. But then no sound came from inside, and after a while Zhù Ying walked out carrying a sack of copper coins on her back.

They made a few twists and turns to reach a quiet place for a rendezvous before making their departure. Xiang An, ever curious — and in a rather girlish way at that — asked, “Prefect, just now — I heard a young fellow walk in and say he was going to check your certificate.”

“Indeed? Well, here it is.”

She actually produced a Daoist certificate from her front, issued by the circuit city.

Zhù Ying slung the coin sack onto the cart. “Ten guan — there we are!”

If she had been out in the field for a full twenty days, she might well have earned back the cost of the whole expedition!

And then they finally entered Nanping County.

Throughout this journey, Zhù Ying had not approached any government offices, had not exerted any official authority. She blended perfectly with her surroundings, the peddler role utterly convincing. The other three kept almost forgetting her true identity, yet they were struck with awe at her talent for making money. Xiang An thought: If the Prefect were to go into business, where would there be any business left for the rest of us? A thousand blessings, what a thought — the Prefect is a great official of the prefecture, how could I be thinking of her going into business?

Xiao Liu was even more reverently admiring — he had never seen an undercover inspector who made money along the way.

Being a young man with plenty to say, he spoke up: “Prefect, Nanping County looks nicer than Hedong County — there shouldn’t be too much trouble here, should there?”

Zhù Ying shook her head. “This place is no ordinary matter. There are the households of current officials here.”

The Southern Prefecture had produced a handful of officials over the years, but in accordance with court regulations, they all served in other places. Some had brought their families to their posts with them; others had left their families back home. In Nanping County, there happened to be the family of one Jing Gang — the highest-ranking official currently from among the Southern Prefecture’s own people, a from-sixth-rank county magistrate serving elsewhere. His entire clan was here in Nanping County.

This man’s father, Elder Jing, had been among the local worthies who came to welcome Zhù Ying when she first arrived at the prefecture yamen, holding the first position in the row of local elders. He had also chatted a while with Zhù Da, who, though a titled elder for several years now, had never really developed the proper airs of one. The old fellow, seeing what Zhù Da was like, had been rather self-satisfied. What he hadn’t counted on was that Zhù Da’s particular sensibilities were quite different from other people’s — on hearing that Elder Jing also had a son serving elsewhere as an official, he asked cheerfully, “Oh! Then we’re in the same boat! What rank is your son?”

That one question left Elder Jing thoroughly speechless.

One only understood the full difficulty of having a current official in one’s jurisdiction once one had actually served as a local official and encountered it. You had not yet made contact with him; there was no established rapport between you. His family was right here in the territory, meaning you could not ignore them. If they committed an offense, you could not simply judge them as you would an ordinary commoner. Elder Jing, even were he guilty of something, could not be dragged in front of the yamen and publicly beaten with the plank before everyone’s eyes — because he too was a titled elder, and the court had its face to preserve.

Sure enough, once they entered Nanping County, once the authority of official robes was stripped away, many things became visible that had not been visible before.

Nanping County also had some hidden fields and hidden households, and the Jing family itself had concealed quite a few! Asked about it, their answer was of course that as an official’s family, the court bestowed certain privileges, including a certain amount of tax-exempt fields. Beyond that, Nanping County truly was somewhat more prosperous than the other three counties — Fulu County had only begun to improve in the last couple of years; before that, it had been considerably behind Nanping County.

Zhù Ying said to Xiao Liu and the others, “Let us not enter the prefecture city. When we’ve seen roughly enough, we head back quickly to Hedong County, then make our way back unhurriedly.”

Xiang Le thought: Once we are back, I too will put on different clothes and crouch down in the city for a proper look, and see all the things I could not see before.

Zhù Ying’s plans were well laid. She looked over the farmland and surrounding areas, and while she was at it, also inspected the river channels and other irrigation infrastructure. On the river she also spotted a number of milling establishments; making inquiries, it was — as she had expected — Jing family property.

She gazed at the prefecture city walls from a distance, observing that merchants, travelers, and other foot traffic came and went with reasonable ease.

“Let us go back — we need to move quickly. Magistrate Wang must be waiting impatiently for us!” Zhù Ying said.

She climbed back into the cart. The peddler’s pole had by now been cleared of all goods; the needles too were sold out; the fortune-telling cloth she had folded up and tucked inside her front, leaving only the bamboo rod sticking out.

The other three were in good spirits. Xiao Liu let out a shout: “Giddyup!” And the party headed back toward Hedong County.

They had not gone far when the sound of galloping hoofbeats came from far behind, along with someone shouting, “Get out of the way! Are you blind?!”

Xiao Liu looked back and the words were out before he could stop them: “Uncle Hou?”

“Whoa —” Hou Wu reined his horse to a halt, staring at them in bewilderment. Zhù Ying said from inside the cart, “Don’t stop — keep moving!”

They ran on for a good long while before stopping out in the open country.

Zhù Ying asked, “What is going on?”

Hou Wu gasped several deep breaths. “Prefect, something — something — something happened.”

Zhù Ying handed him the water gourd. Hou Wu drank several large gulps before he could speak. “Something happened — several cases, at that!”

“Slow down.”

“Right,” Hou Wu said. “Prefect, you were away in Hedong County, so the official communications dispatched to Hedong may not have reached you. Let me start from the beginning. After you left for Hedong County, things were calm in the prefecture. We kept watch, and didn’t even see anyone come to the yamen to file complaints. Xiao Wu even said, maybe someone is deliberately blocking people from filing? I personally stood watch outside for a while — saw no one being blocked from filing complaints; there just weren’t any. Word is, before you arrived here, a batch of people were released from the big prison — then the review of old cases began, and the streets were being cleaned up…”

Xiang Le sighed.

Hou Wu said, “Don’t interrupt — there’s a reason I’m saying all this! Think about it, Prefect — when they released people in such a hurry, there were bound to be mistakes! Former Prefect Qiu — now the Prefect of Yiyang — and the current Magistrate Guo of Nanping: they are all a muddle-headed lot, but frankly anyone competent would have left this place long ago. I don’t mean you, Prefect — I mean them! Now, with all that rushing about to release prisoners, they went and let out one man who was up to no good!”

Xiao Liu asked anxiously, “He — he committed another crime?”

“Not that exactly! Word is, when he was released, the victim in the original case couldn’t sit still — after getting to the bottom of things, they came to the prefecture yamen to file a complaint! But the man had already been released, and now couldn’t be found to arrest again. How do you explain that to the victim?

He had been locked up because he gave a passing look at the Jing family’s young lady, and the Jing family’s people grabbed him and threw him in jail. That was before you arrived; Magistrate Guo had already released him. But who would have known — he was a repeat offender! Brawling, theft and petty crimes, running confidence schemes — there was nothing he didn’t do. None of those crimes had gotten him caught, but giving a look at someone of high standing — that got him arrested.

Now he can’t be found again.”

When he was released, everyone looked at the reason for the arrest — and thought: all this, just for a look? The county yamen felt it was wrong, so they released him. But his other crimes had not vanished with the release. And wasn’t the new Prefect supposed to be a real upright judge? So the victim went and filed a complaint! Those up front in the yamen, like Young Master Gu, and those in the back quarters, like Huajie, all agreed it was a matter that could not be ignored. They stabilized the victim and didn’t let them be driven away.

That was the first matter.

“And the other?”

“Theft!”

“Oh?”

“Think about it, Prefect — in a place like this, what valuables does anyone have?” Hou Wu said. “Anything of value, people guard it with their very lives. Yet somehow there was a thief who went and stole! Stole quite a bit of gold and silver jewelry, some with gemstones, and some very fine clothing and skirts. During the cleanup of the streets, arrests of thieves hadn’t stopped. When you went to Hedong County, they were still at it. This time they didn’t catch the wrong person — they caught the actual thief. When the stolen goods were examined, there was trouble.”

Xiang An said, “The items’ origins were questionable?”

Hou Wu shook his head. “The stolen goods had legitimate owners, all right. Sigh — it’s the Southern Prefecture’s own renowned phoenix chick — from the Jing Gang family’s household. He has gone off to serve as an official; his several brothers are at home attending to their parents. All are married. The jewelry and clothing belong to the fifth branch of the Jing family. Word is, it was the sister-in-law who had them sent over as a gift. Proper official-quality goods — the likes of which people here had never seen.”

“Isn’t that good?” Xiao Liu said.

Hou Wu said, “Good, nothing! The thief was caught and the stolen goods recovered — but then he said he was innocent, that he hadn’t stolen from the Jing family; he had lifted it from… from… from the female prison warden who works in our prefecture yamen! He wept and wailed that he might dare to steal from an official family with his very life — but not from a female warden living in a small courtyard with low walls and an unsecured gate. Easy pickings.”

Zhù Ying said, “Which prison warden?”

Hou Wu said, “The one called Jiao Jiao. Fair-skinned, fine long eyebrows — that one!”

“I know.” Zhù Ying nodded.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. Continue — is that all?”

Hou Wu said, “Would a simple theft case be worth coming to trouble you, Prefect? There is a follow-up. Young Master Gu said the smell was off. He went out to sniff around and came back with information he’d gotten through his uncle — it seems this Jiao Jiao had something going on with the fifth son of the Jing family, and it wasn’t entirely clean.”

“All hearsay? Is there any hard evidence?”

Hou Wu said, “Of course Jiao Jiao denied it! But we asked some others in the prefecture, and there was something to it. This Jiao Jiao — her background is a bit murky; some say she was a wandering singer fleeing hard times, some say she is the illegitimate child of a courtesan, left to fend for herself. At any rate, by the time people took notice of her, she was already here. An orphaned girl, dressed in rags, within a few days was able to dress herself properly, and a short while after that was no longer renting a room but had bought herself a house. Later she joined the prefecture yamen.

Then things got even stranger! The fifth branch wife of the Jing family brought people to beat Jiao Jiao at her home. Jiao Jiao ran to the prefecture yamen for protection, and then she made a scene at our prefecture yamen too. Good grief, what a commotion!”

“The Registrar of Merit and the others didn’t manage it?”

Hou Wu said, “The fifth branch wife wanted to take someone. A Registrar of Justice assistant sent word to Jing the Fifth, who came and took his wife away. The Jing family also made clear that henceforth Jiao Jiao had nothing to do with them — but they also didn’t want this person staying in the prefecture city. They wrecked Jiao Jiao’s house! Hung two large worn-out shoes at her gate.”

“Do those two actually have a liaison?”

“Jing the Fifth went to her room often,” Hou Wu said. “I quietly went and looked at her room — there were a man’s personal effects inside.”

Zhù Ying said, “I see.”

But this still would not have been worth sending Hou Wu all this way. From what Zhù Ying knew of Hou Wu, she would not have sent him to keep watch over the household in the first place if Gu Tong could easily command him. Something bigger must be behind this.

Hou Wu said, “Jiao Jiao apparently wanted to have it out face-to-face with the fifth branch wife of the Jing family. The people from the Registrar of Justice’s office felt this was a disgraceful spectacle and ordered her to stop making a scene. She couldn’t go home, so she was staying in the duty rooms. The yamen people didn’t dare make a decision, and said to wait for you to come back and decide. The old Elder Jing’s calling card had also been sent over, out of concern that it might find its way to you in Hedong County. Young Master Gu and the rest of us talked it over, and I was sent to find you and report.”

“Lively times…” Zhù Ying said.

Hou Wu said, “Prefect, what now?”

“Back to Hedong County. You ride behind us, slowly — don’t overtake me.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying led the three of them and went straight back to Hedong County, leaving Xiang An outside to watch the cart, while the other three slipped back into the Guanyin temple.

Inside the temple, Ding Gui was pacing anxiously in circles. When he saw her come back, his legs went soft and he half-knelt: “Prefect, you have finally returned! I have been on the verge of collapse!”

All these days, he had been carrying the meals into the room and eating them on her behalf, then going to eat his own portion afterward. He also had to conceal the fact that Zhù Ying was not there — which was easy enough, since saying the Prefect had instructed no interruptions was enough to keep ordinary people away.

Zhù Ying said, “Good. Go and invite Magistrate Wang to come.”

“Yes. But you…”

“I can change my own clothes.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying changed into proper attire. Ding Gui also brought Magistrate Wang. Magistrate Wang had been even more anxious these past days than Ding Gui. He entered the rear guest room of the Guanyin temple and found Zhù Ying seated in a meditative posture.

He waited a short while. Zhù Ying opened her eyes and said, “Old Wang?”

“Prefect! These past days…”

Zhù Ying said, “I just dozed off during meditation. In the dream a young boy appeared — he said he was a Dragon Maiden, a servant of the Bodhisattva — and told me that something had arisen back at the prefecture, urging me to return quickly. Has something happened?”

Magistrate Wang stared wide-eyed. “A — no, I haven’t heard of anything…”

Zhù Ying said, “In that case, let us do another round of inspection before I head back…”

Before she had finished, Xiang Le came in and said, “Prefect! There is a communication from the yamen!”

Zhù Ying and Magistrate Wang exchanged a glance. Zhù Ying said, “Show them in.”

Hou Wu came in in a hurry and presented a letter with both hands. “Prefect, something has come up at the prefecture — please return.”

Zhù Ying said in a deliberate tone, “What could possibly be the matter?” She broke the seal and read it. “It seems I must go back after all. They actually went and mistakenly released a dangerous criminal! Old Wang — your county wouldn’t have released a criminal under the guise of an innocent person, would it?”

Magistrate Wang was alarmed. “How could that happen?”

Zhù Ying said, “It is just that in their rush to clear the old cases, they made a blunder. Well, there is no help for it — I suppose I first need to go set right the wrongful imprisonment, and then we can discuss other matters. I am sorry for all the disruption.”

“Not at all, not at all.”

“Is the abbot here? I must thank him in person.”

Zhù Ying had made quite a sum on her travels, of which her honest earnings from hard work came to only about two guan; the rest had come from fleecing a local bully in the guise of a fortune-teller, netting her several tens of guan. She was quite generous with it — she gave the abbot twenty guan. All in all, there was still a surplus.

Half-jokingly she said to Magistrate Wang, “These days I have been staying here, drawing on county funds again, haven’t I? Write up a list and come to the prefecture to file for reimbursement.”

Magistrate Wang this time genuinely “would not dare.”

Zhù Ying stopped teasing him and gave the order to set out and return to Nanping County.

On the road back to Nanping County, during rest stops at the posthouse, Zhù Ying went through the official correspondence that had accumulated over the past few days. Among it were the matters Hou Wu had already described. There were also several routine items, plus court bulletins. Zhù Ying leafed through them — nothing new of note, everything as expected.

The next evening she arrived at the prefecture city.

Wang the Registrar of Merit, Magistrate Guo, and the others all came out to meet her. Gu Tong was among those waiting. Zhù Ying noticed the Registrar of Justice, Li, had taken a half-step forward — the Registrar of Justice had previously had a very low profile, but now he was unable to hold back, which almost certainly meant it was related to the case at hand. Not only was there the matter of the mistakenly released criminal, but the solved theft case had also managed to set fire to the prefecture yamen itself. Registrar Li wished he could run to a temple and burn some incense right about now!

Wang the Registrar of Merit was also considerably ill at ease. The Jing family’s trouble had originally offered an opportunity to quietly probe the new prefect’s reactions — and perhaps negotiate a little understanding. But unfortunately this matter was now tangled with his own affairs. Jiao Jiao was a female prison warden — and when the prefecture had been recruiting female prison wardens, he had been the one overseeing it. The final approval had come from Prefect Qiu at the time — then Marshal Qiu — who had since been transferred to Yiyang Prefecture.

So Jiao Jiao’s trouble was also his trouble. He needed to work with the Prefect to smooth over this little romantic scandal.

Magistrate Guo also did not dare to watch too gleefully from the sidelines — the prefecture yamen was in his Nanping County, there had been a thief, which reflected poorly on his own public order.

All three had expressions on their faces and converged around Zhù Ying from every side, pushing even Gu Tong to the margins.

Wang the Registrar of Merit said, “The prefecture cannot be without you, Prefect! You are its anchor — with you here, all evil is repelled. The moment you left, every ghost and demon came crawling out of the woodwork.”

Zhù Ying said, “Is there really such a serious case that everyone has been thrown into such a panic?”

“Well, it’s just…”

Zhù Ying said, “Come — let us sit down and talk through it properly.”

The party moved to the signing chamber. Zhù Ying sat down; Xiao Huang and the others brought tea and water; Xiang An wrung out a face cloth and brought it to her. Zhù Ying wiped her face as she spoke: “People are not saints — oversights will occur. As long as matters can be corrected, that is fine. Registrar Li — the one who was mistakenly released, Lai Chun, yes? Deploy more men to bring him back and give him a thorough investigation.”

“Yes.”

Wang the Registrar of Merit said quietly, “That theft case?”

“The perpetrator is in hand, the stolen goods are recovered — isn’t that so?” Zhù Ying said. “Assess the goods, tally their value, determine a penalty based on the value — what could be simpler? Return the items to the victim, as long as the victim can provide evidence of ownership.”

Wang the Registrar of Merit said, “The concern is… the Jing family… this… and one of our own yamen staff is caught up in it.”

Zhù Ying asked, “And where is the person?”

Inside, Wang the Registrar of Merit and Registrar Li were mentally cursing the fifth branch wife of the Jing family through all eight hundred generations of her ancestry. “An ignorant woman,” “lacking all sense,” “bringing ruin on the household,” “raised without any proper standards” — they heaped on every condemnation they could think of. They wished they could tell Jing the Fifth to divorce her right now. What was the use of a wife who could only cause trouble?

But they still had to answer: “She is being held in the duty room at the moment — she cannot be allowed to go home. The Jing family woman is a busybody, but Jiao Jiao herself is of dubious character. One making a scene is not the problem — but letting the people see it would be a spectacle, damaging to the dignity of the court.”

Zhù Ying said, “Is there any solid evidence?”

Wang the Registrar of Merit said, “A woman and her gossip — where would solid evidence come from? But from what this subordinate can see, there are appearances to be dealt with here — clearing her out would be cleaner.”

Registrar Li quickly added, “There is also the matter of the stolen goods to be clarified…”

Zhù Ying said, “How did she come to be brought in to begin with?”

Wang the Registrar of Merit’s face pinched a little. “At the time it was because we could not find suitable literate women to serve as wardens, and we took her on thinking the female prison did not require any particular skills.”

“Has she ever previously committed any offense?”

“Ah, well — never heard of any.”

“Bring her in.”

Seeing she had not called for a formal court session but was receiving the matter in the signing chamber, Wang the Registrar of Merit and the others drew their own conclusion in their minds: the Prefect knows the lay of the land and is going to handle this quietly, under wraps, without making it a public affair. This was the best possible outcome.

Jiao Jiao was quickly escorted in by yamen runners.

Zhù Ying had seen Jiao Jiao before. She was the most attractive of the female prison wardens, and in truth, when such a good-looking young woman had been mixed in with the others, it had been hard not to notice her. At the time, she had seemed a bit arrogant and a bit improper — not very sociable with the rest. But at the time, with Xiao Jiang and her maidservant as the true outsiders, they had seemed even less sociable, and Jiao Jiao had not stood out quite so much.

Now alone, she was clearly more striking than the average person.

Registrar Li snapped, “Wicked woman! After everything you have done — confess now!”

Zhù Ying waved a hand. “Speak properly. What is going on?”

Jiao Jiao knelt on the ground, tilted her face up toward Zhù Ying, and there was something almost coquettish about her expression. She said, “Prefect, may your humble servant explain? They are just trying to pin this on me. I am wronged!”

Zhù Ying looked her over. The way this woman dressed — just maintaining that head of fine hair required at minimum several dozen coins of hair oil every month. Even in the middle of trouble she had not spared herself her powder and rouge. From this, it was clear her meager official stipend would not be nearly enough to support this lifestyle. Zhù Ying asked, “Where is your home? What business do your parents and elders do?”

Jiao Jiao was taken aback for a moment and said, “My parents are both dead.”

“I see. Ah-Tong — take down the third volume from the left-hand shelf.”

Gu Tong retrieved the volume. Zhù Ying said, “Open it — give her paper and brush. Have her write.”

On the page were some test questions Zhù Ying had randomly composed for assessing yamen staff. Jiao Jiao’s forehead broke out in a slight sweat. She began to write, and Zhù Ying watched closely as she wrote a little, then nervously peeked toward the door. Sharp-eyed, Zhù Ying spotted someone lurking outside and ordered them brought in.

Hou Wu went out and “invited” in two people: a Registrar of Merit assistant and a Registrar of Justice assistant. Wang the Registrar of Merit and Registrar Li each quietly asked their own subordinate: “Why are you here?”

The Registrar of Justice assistant said, “The escaped criminal — still not found yet.”

“Then why are you still standing here?! Get out there and catch him!”

Over to the other side, the Registrar of Merit assistant murmured, “The new staff recruitment…”

“Can’t you see I’m busy right now? Can’t whatever you have to say wait until later?”

Inside, Jiao Jiao finished writing a page, and Xiao Liu brought it to Zhù Ying, who scanned it. “Her handwriting is reasonable — not surprising she made the cut.”

Wang the Registrar of Merit let out a quiet breath of relief: this means things can be smoothed over.

Zhù Ying said, “For now, take her back to the duty room for a few more days. Once that other case is settled, we will ask her about this.”

The yamen runners quickly escorted Jiao Jiao out. Wang the Registrar of Merit and the others looked at Zhù Ying. She said, “Tomorrow — have the Jing couple summoned here.”

Everyone gave their assent.

Zhù Ying rose and said, “Oh, I almost forgot to say — those who came with me to Hedong County each get three days off. You do not need to attend me.”

She went out the door, turned, and made her way to the prison, had the apprehended habitual thief brought up, and questioned him first.

The thief had not imagined that a single burglary would unravel into such a case; he had been beaten over quite a few rounds already. On seeing Zhù Ying he immediately cried out, “Injustice!”

Zhù Ying said, “You didn’t steal anything?”

“I — I did steal, but I didn’t dare go into the Jing family’s house. People there have official connections — I didn’t dare steal from them!”

Zhù Ying looked him over carefully and asked, “How did you steal?”

“Just — just climbed over her back wall. There was no one at her house during the day.”

“What was in her room? What did the furniture look like? What did the cabinets look like? What were the locks like? Were there any interesting decorative items?”

“Yes!” The thief rushed to describe. He told of the furnishings of Jiao Jiao’s rooms, the boxes and trunks, the satin duvet cover embroidered with peonies, the silver clam-shell powder compact on the table…

Zhù Ying asked a few more specific questions, then ordered him to remain in custody, and went — under the anxious gaze of Wang the Registrar of Merit and the others — to Jiao Jiao’s house.

Jiao Jiao’s gate had no worn-out shoes hanging on it, but there was a foul smell — it had apparently been splashed with filth. Registrar Li hurriedly stepped forward: “Prefect, it is unpleasant here…”

“Open the gate.”

The yamen runners, holding their breath, opened the door. Zhù Ying allowed no one to follow — she went in alone. Inside, the place had been ransacked; the traces of chaos were mixed and many. She went to the back of the house first, and sure enough found the thief’s footprints there. Then she went inside. The furnishings matched the description. Moving around to each room, she found the satin duvet cover embroidered with peonies — smelling just as foul as everything else; the kitchen pot had received the same treatment.

“That will do — lock it up, everyone move away.”

Only then did she turn back toward the inner quarters, where Zhang Xiangu and the others intercepted her. Zhang Xiangu said, “You smell like sweat! Go wash and change before you come in.”

After twenty-some days on the road, especially the time shuttling between counties incognito, she had not exactly been fastidious. Zhù Ying smiled, went and cleaned up, and Zhang Xiangu toweled off her hair. Zhang Xiangu grumbled that she had been so careless; Zhù Ying didn’t explain what she had really been doing and only said, “When you are away from home, nothing is as convenient as being at home.”

“If you know that, why keep going away?”

Even so, Zhang Xiangu was happy enough to bustle about and arrange the evening meal, and strictly forbade anything too tiring tonight: “Whatever it is, it can all wait for tomorrow. Didn’t they send messengers chasing after you to Hedong County?”

Zhù Ying said, “That means there is nothing else.”

She rested properly through the night. Early the next morning, Elder Jing arrived with his son and daughter-in-law. Their family’s preference was not to have the female family member appear in official proceedings. But the prefecture yamen had been disgraced by this same daughter-in-law, and so there was no desire to extend her any further courtesy. Elder Jing had no choice but to escort the two of them himself.

Zhù Ying received them in plain clothes in the signing chamber.

She was as courteous as ever toward Elder Jing: “The matter of the case has nothing to do with you. Let them explain themselves clearly, and that will be enough. Your family suffered a theft; the stolen goods have been recovered; once the case is closed the items can be returned to you. The fifth son is young — in future he must be more careful in his conduct. As for the young wife — her conduct here was rather improper. Without a shred of evidence, and without asking any questions, she came and raised a scene at the prefecture yamen, casting aspersions on a prefecture staff member and damaging the dignity of the court. Should I punish her — or not?”

The fifth branch wife said, “I have evidence!”

“Oh?”

She pointed at her husband and said, “I found a lock of a woman’s hair in his case, wrapped in paper! With disgraceful words written on it! That shameless woman — it is that shameless woman who is damaging the dignity of the court! Prefect, you cannot keep such a shameless woman in the yamen! That shameless woman…”