Administrator Zhang left the yamen. Zhù Ying did not linger in the administrative office either; she had the files gathered up, and Ding Gui carried them with her as they headed toward the rear residence.

As she stepped out the door of the administrative office, she found the Justice Department Head had materialized again.

He had a slightly anxious look and came forward: “Prefect…”

Zhù Ying said, “Tonight you handle two things.”

All the Justice Department Head’s anxiety evaporated at once: “Please give your orders, Prefect.”

“First: go and look into Zhang the Scoundrel. Since he’s a devoted gambler, where does he usually gamble? Don’t tell me there’s no one running a gambling house and taking a cut! Who does he owe gambling debts to? Who collected those debts? Where are the ledgers recording the borrowing and repayment, and when was it settled? Does Zhang the Scoundrel have any income beyond selling his fields? And remember — confiscate all the gambling equipment and bring it here!”

“Yes.” The Justice Department Head felt he had a grip on things.

Zhù Ying said, “Second: go find all the witnesses to the field sale! When kinsmen buy and sell farmland there must be witnesses — clan elders, neighbors. They must be there.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying also warned him: “It’s harvest time — you must not disturb the people! If everything is thrown into chaos, I won’t need to deal with you — Administrator Zhang will come looking for you himself!”

The Justice Department Head shuddered: “Yes.” Then he tried tentatively to ask about the other cases.

Zhù Ying said coldly, “Do the work that is yours to do.”

“Yes.”

It was harvest season; the yamen was one of the more leisurely places. Both Zhangs had returned to the countryside. Zhang the Scoundrel, who would normally be in the city drinking and gambling, had gone back to deal with his newly acquired “estate.” Zhang the Wealthy, having lost a parcel of land and lost face, still had other family business to manage — life had to go on.

The Justice Department Head took advantage of the fact that the city gates were not yet closed, took a few men, and slipped out tight against the closing gates. He was, quite literally, on the case through the night.

……

Zhù Ying took the files with Ding Gui back to the rear residence, first setting them in the outer study, then hosting a welcome dinner for Su Mingluan and her party.

The dinner was set up in the front courtyard; Zhù Ying sat at the head, with Zhù Da and Zhang Xiangu and the others to her left, and Su Mingluan with her daughter and the rest to her right. The city restaurant’s cook was a step up in skill from the county town, with full marks for appearance, aroma, and taste. Su Zhe was alternately drawn by the dishes before her and then distracted by staring at the plum-blossom practice posts in the courtyard.

Su Mingluan smiled: “What are you looking at?”

“That — what is it?” Su Zhe whispered to her mother.

Zhù Ying said, “Practice posts.”

Heaven have mercy — she only knew how to steal candy from small children; she did not know how to raise them! Chuizi and Shitou only happened to be in her care because they had had nowhere to go; she had kept Chuizi because he had genuine talent. Their daily care was handled by Zhang Xiangu, Huajie, and Xiao Ya and the others. The boy himself was fairly perceptive and had even tried to serve as a half-capable errand-runner for her. What she actually did was hand Chuizi a book, explain it simply twice, and that was that.

Given that Chuizi had real talent, teaching him this casually had somehow not produced any serious defects.

Boys were raised that way; for girls it would be the same. What Zhù Ying could do in raising a child was: “Do you want to read? Do you want to learn?” When Qi’s daughter had first come to the Zhù household, she had been quite young; Zhù Ying had hoped she might inherit her father’s vocation, but unfortunately Qi’s daughter had no talent in that direction, so Zhù Ying had not pressed her.

She was quite easygoing about it. Just as with the literacy steles she had carved — if you want to learn, learn.

Su Zhe could not be left entirely to chance. But Zhù Ying truly had no gift for teaching children; she could only manage “answer any question” — and thought for a moment before saying, “Xiang Le, do a demonstration for her.”

Xiang Le and his sister were seated at the far end. Hearing this they both stood up; on the practice posts they stepped from one to the next in quick succession, then turned a somersault and jumped down.

Gu Tong, Xiao Wu, and the others all called out: “Excellent!”

Su Mingluan said, “Ah — so it’s you two.” She recognized them as the attendants who had dealt with A’Hun.

Zhù Ying said, “Exactly — both trustworthy. Come, sit back down.”

Then the meal began. Su Zhe kept looking at the two siblings, then at the dishes, then at the practice posts. Su Mingluan called her twice before she finally sat still and ate a bit. Zhù Ying said, “She’s still young — there’s plenty of time. As long as her lessons are done, there’s nothing wrong with having an interest in something and a hobby.”

Su Mingluan said, “Please do arrange some of this kind of study for her — being too bookish won’t do either.”

“The six arts of a gentleman — all will be taught. First she needs to learn to read and pick up more of the spoken language.”

“Whatever Godfather says.”

After that the two of them stopped discussing business at the table. Zhù Ying also exchanged a few words with Su Qingtian and helped Su Zhe identify a few things around the table.

After the meal, Zhù Ying asked Su Qingtian where she would be staying. Su Qingtian laughed and said, “I need to thank Teacher for that — the long-term rental I arranged hasn’t been confirmed yet, so I’ll first borrow a room at the Fulu County Association Hall.”

The Fulu County native-place association hall had been set up partly to accommodate people from Fulu County; anyone from the county could stay there. As time passed, the association had developed another side business — guests from the county staying short-term had evolved into a de facto inn. And since one of the original reasons for setting up the association was to sell oranges, the hall had included a warehouse from the beginning. Over time, local merchants and travelers had also made use of it to store goods cheaply for short periods; the hall had thereby developed into a combined inn and storage facility.

Su Qingtian could not claim to be from Fulu County, but she was from a neighboring county — a short-term stay of a few days was fine, and the room fee was within her means. She could also use the Fulu Association’s contacts, ask about where to rent, and it was all very practical.

Gu Tong quickly said, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? My uncle is currently in charge over there this year.”

Su Qingtian said, “What a coincidence! That puts my mind at ease.”

Zhù Ying said, “Talk about this privately afterward. Gu Tong — I’ll give you a note; send them over later and say a few words.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Da found the dry wine rather dull and said, “You’re back to talking shop again! Eat your dinner properly.”

Zhù Ying said, “Fine, we’ll eat.”

Zhang Xiangu muttered under her breath to Zhù Da, “You just keep quiet.”

On the other side, Huajie asked Su Mingluan, “Does the child have any particular habits?” She was thinking it over: this little girl was clearly rather important, and she would need to be looked after more carefully than Chuizi and Shitou. Small boys grew up through being tossed and tumbled around; girls needed more attention.

Su Mingluan and Huajie talked at length about child-rearing. The more Zhù Ying watched, the more she frowned. While she exchanged a few words with Su Qingtian and explained a few things to Su Zhe, she felt genuine unease in her heart. Huajie had spent so many years pouring so much of her energy into this family’s affairs — it had cost Huajie so much of her own time. Now she was going to have Su Zhe added to her plate; who knew how many more years it would tie her up.

When the dinner ended and everyone dispersed, Zhù Ying waited until Su Mingluan and the others had gone to their courtyard, then went to Huajie’s room.

Huajie was still going over accounts; Su Mingluan’s arrival had brought a great many gifts for the Zhù household. Huajie said, “Come in. This new little lady isn’t getting a free ride, is she.”

Zhù Ying said, “There you are, having to deal with all this again.”

Huajie was slightly taken aback: “What do you mean? Godmother is getting on in years and her eyes aren’t so good at night. These things can’t just sit in a pile — of course I’ll take care of them.”

Zhù Ying said, “Put that aside for a moment — I have something to discuss with you.”

“Go ahead.”

Zhù Ying said, “You were still talking about taking on a student. But looking at things as they are, how would you ever have a free hand?”

Huajie laughed: “Look at things as they are right now — who else could I hand this over to? It’ll have to be me! You’ve just become Prefect; there are so many things waiting for you to handle. Wait until you have some breathing room, and we’ll discuss it properly. The current situation doesn’t allow you to make any missteps.”

“Hmm?”

Huajie said, “Some matters of medical learning.”

Zhù Ying said, “Oh. Do you need books, or do you need to consult someone in particular? I have some free time now — look, the four counties don’t need me to personally go down there; I only need to deal with these county magistrates. I’m quite free, actually. Come on — is there anything you need me to do?”

Huajie said, “Then can you find me some medical texts and prescriptions?”

“What kind? Or just anything you can find?”

Huajie said, “Last time you got me some from the National University — there are parts I don’t fully understand. The府 school might have something similar. Hmm… I’ll also write down the parts I’m unclear on; can you ask the medical studies scholar for me?”

“Fine.” Zhù Ying agreed readily.

Huajie said, “If you have time, let’s also talk about how to raise this little Su girl.”

“First — call her by her name. Her little name is Xiao Mei; her proper name is Su Zhe — call her what you like. Second — she will be taking over from her mother someday. Third — she still can’t speak the local dialect fluently and hasn’t finished recognizing all her characters yet.”

Huajie said, “That’s straightforward then — first she learns at home, how does that sound? I can also teach her to read characters. Does her initial education need to use the classical texts, or should we use the literacy songs?”

Zhù Ying said, “Start with the literacy songs — the first section doesn’t need to be rushed; she wouldn’t understand it anyway. Once she’s memorized the remaining fifteen sections, I’ll start teaching her to read books.”

“Good.”

The two talked it over a bit more. Zhù Ying helped Huajie finish going through the accounts, then settled on what gifts to prepare for Su Mingluan to take home. Zhù Ying said, “With all these extra people now, Xiao Ya can’t manage alone — we need to hire more, especially a cook!”

With Xiao Ya alone, just making meals for the household was more than one person could handle. Four members of the Zhù family; Su Zhe with four servants; plus Chuizi and Shitou. Then Gu Tong and his attendant typically ate here too. Xiang Le and Xiang An were with Zhù Ying — wherever she ate, they also ate. Xiao Wu and Ding Gui used to eat with the household, but since they both had official duties they had shifted to eating at the yamen kitchen.

Over a dozen people!

Huajie said, “I’ve been thinking about this too — but it seems there aren’t the kind of trained cook-women here that we used to see before.”

Zhù Ying said, “As long as the person is trustworthy, that’s enough.”

“Fine, then I’ll look into hiring people.”

“Right. And if you hire, hire two at once.” Zhù Ying thought it through: Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da were both getting on in years; there were five young children in the house; Su Zhe had brought her own servants but one couldn’t expect them to serve the Zhù household — that would not look right. Hou Wu had come to live out his retirement; he’d been used rather hard these past few years.

The two agreed: Huajie would hire two cooks and two maids. Looking at Huajie’s situation — not even a companion at her side — it was rather lonely. Zhang Xiangu was getting older and needed someone young to look after her daily needs. Zhù Da now greatly enjoyed being with Shitou, who he called “silly boy” — the silly boy could also watch out for him, keeping him from falling when there was no one else to hold him up.

Huajie said, “Don’t take on too many male servants outside — you’re an official now; you have orderlies for that. Too many people in the household is also hard to manage. Besides, Xiang Le and Xiang An have families of their own; you need to be prepared — if they want to go home someday, you can’t hold them.”

Zhù Ying said, “Naturally. I think Chuizi is looking promising — I’ll take him on as an apprentice.”

“He’s how old?”

“Apprentice, apprentice — he’ll grow up in a few more years! Once he can serve in Gu Tong’s stead. Gu Tong will need to go out and make his own way in a few years.”

Huajie said, “So you want to treat him the same as Gu Tong?”

“Children’s personalities aren’t settled yet. But from what I’ve seen of him, he seems capable. If the person turns out to be good, why wouldn’t I? He’s a hundred times better than the sort of idle, dissolute heir that Jing Wu was.”

Huajie thought about it and said, “That is a fair point! We ourselves are not from any distinguished background, and we’re no worse than anyone else!”

Zhù Ying laughed: “Exactly, exactly!”

Huajie said, “But right now you’re still short of people.”

“It’s not that I lack people — the whole yamen does my bidding now. What I lack are trusted inner-circle people — isn’t that right?”

“Mm.”

“And why are trusted people so precious? Because they are rare! Every person only has one head and one heart. Look at Director Zheng — in all these years, how many truly reliable people has he gathered around him? Truly useful people don’t need to be many. Too many, and none of them actually count as close. As long as people are willing to work for me, and the things I arrange they cannot refuse, and everything I want is delivered, and everything I do reaches people — does it matter whether they’re my inner circle or not? In life, having one or two true confidants is enough.”

She was not greedy.

Huajie said, “Mm.”

“You see — every problem has a solution. We say everything we’ve thought of, work through it together. Once we’ve worked it out, the matter is solved. Come — I’ll help you with the accounts; the day after tomorrow we’ll go to the府 school and look for books at the medical scholar’s place.”

With Zhù Ying joining in, the household accounts were tallied in no time. Huajie, concerned that Zhù Ying was straining herself too much, urged her to go to sleep the moment the accounts were done. Zhù Ying came out of her room and went to the front courtyard, back to the study, where by lamplight she read through all the case files she had brought back.

Among the twenty-two cases Administrator Zhang had adjudicated, seventeen had no fundamental errors; five were problematic. The most typical was the Zhang family farmland dispute — and she had already sent the Justice Department Head off to investigate. The other four, large and small, also involved wealthy households being in the right while the poor households were in the wrong. Two were similar to Zhang the Scoundrel’s case — sheer unreasonable troublemaking; the other two were cases where the poor party’s reasoning simply would not work out, but they were genuinely convinced someone had wronged them.

……

The next morning, Zhù Ying had breakfast at home. Su Mingluan and her daughter were planning to go out and explore with Su Qingtian. Zhù Ying had Xiao Huang accompany them to show them around and prevent any sharp-tongued passerby from causing trouble. Every place had its scoundrels, and not every woman who was harassed responded by suffering in silence. Scoundrels like Lai San probably weren’t the only ones in the prefectural city.

She herself took all the previously reviewed files to the front yamen. The yamen opened its doors as normal that day.

Zhù Ying went through that morning’s tasks. Xiao Wu, Qi Tai, and Works Department Head Peng had the heaviest loads — they had to oversee all the various matters feeding back from below during the harvest, the kind of unexpected incidents that would crop up based on experience from previous years and needed to be prepared for in advance. These could not be predicted with any certainty, and all three were a bit tense.

The Justice Department Head still had not returned. Military Department Head Zhang was as leisurely as ever. Only Department Head Wang — seeing the Justice Department Head absent — wore a thoughtful expression.

Zhù Ying said a single sentence: “If you can’t decide, report it. All right, dismissed.” And went back to the administrative office.

Gu Tong followed inside and said, “Teacher — should I go and stand watch at the yamen gate? What if someone comes to file a complaint? The Justice Department Head isn’t here!”

Don’t let Administrator Zhang take over again, for all the world!

Zhù Ying said, “If I were you, I’d first change my clothes and go squat by a teahouse wall for half a day.”

“Eh?”

“Plain clothes. Squat by the wall — not inside sitting down. If there are no idlers at the teahouse, go squat by the roadside at the market.”

Gu Tong could not fathom it, but he still went back and changed. He was the son of a county wealthy family — not every piece of clothing he owned was silk or brocade; plain blue, navy, grey, and green cotton robes made up most of his wardrobe, though they were all long gowns without patches. He picked the plainest one and went out the door, running into Xiang An on her way back. They exchanged greetings. Xiang An was a quiet girl; because Gu Tong was always around Zhù Ying, the two were acquainted, and Xiang An asked, “Young Master Gu, you’re…”

“How’s this?” He did a little display.

“Strange get-up. Your shoes are wrong, your hat is wrong. All jumbled.”

“Oh! Thanks for the tip!”

Gu Tong rushed back to change his headscarf and swap his boots for cloth shoes, then truly went out and eavesdropped for half a day. Everything he heard made him more and more agitated. He never came back for lunch — because the time when peddlers squatted by the roadside eating cold dried rations and washing it down with cold water was also the liveliest time for chatting. The person beside him, a peddler who did not know him, even broke off a finger-width piece of flatbread and handed it over as an act of charity.

Gu Tong endured it all, and in order to get them to keep talking, slipped away to buy a bit of pickled vegetable and came back to share it around — and then sat there listening to them praise Administrator Zhang for “taking pity on the poor”!

To hell with it! Taking pity on what! Teacher was working herself to the bone for all of Southern Prefecture, and they had nothing in their mouths but Administrator Zhang’s name! To hell with it! To hell with it!

“Hey — why aren’t you eating?”

“Eating, eating!” Gu Tong said.

At long last he heard someone mention Zhù Ying: “She’s young, but she really gets things done. Even daring to touch the Jing family — she’s a good person.”

Then someone else said, “That Zhang the Scoundrel — I know him. He’s a confirmed gambler; he’s almost certainly in the wrong.”

Someone else: “That makes sense! He came to me once and bought two catties of lychees on credit and never paid! Miserable wretch!”

“So Zhang the Wealthy is the one hard done by this time. The Administrator…”

“The Administrator taking pity on the poor is always good — Zhang the Wealthy isn’t just going to accept this, is he? If he has the ability, he should go to the Prefect and get the judgment reversed.”

Gu Tong thought inwardly: you people truly are… truly are what, exactly?

Doing good and wanting to stay calm about it is genuinely very hard! Gu Tong clutched his dried flatbread with a dark expression and walked back toward the yamen. Rounding a corner carelessly, he collided with someone; the person swore, “Watch where you’re — hey? Young Master Gu?”

Gu Tong’s mood was already sour, nearly throwing a curse back — then he looked: “You?”

The two knew each other; this person was a yamen clerk. Behind him, the Justice Department Head’s eyes were shining: “Young Master Gu — is the Prefect in the yamen today?!”

……

The Justice Department Head had finally returned by afternoon! In his entire life of handling cases he had never operated this methodically or this efficiently! Half a day and half a night, and it was done!

Just as Zhù Ying had said: certain illegal activities on the ground — minor officials and clerks absolutely knew about them. For various reasons they would not take action. But when the senior official pressed them with force, these minor officials and clerks, weighing the situation, found the superior was not easy to put off — and so they gave these people up.

The Justice Department Head was a prefectural yamen official; but his day-to-day work involved capturing criminals and the like, so he knew this territory well. Had it been Department Head Wang instead, he might not have been as familiar. And had the Prefect been Leng Yun, he would certainly have known nothing of it.

The Justice Department Head very quickly unearthed the gambling house proprietor that Zhang the Scoundrel habitually frequented. Turning his face stern, the proprietor had no choice but to produce the accounts. The Justice Department Head scanned them, found the relevant entry, and saw that it was recorded as a “loan.” He demanded the deed.

The proprietor said, “It was returned to him.”

“Nonsense!”

“It’s true — the debt was settled, and the deed was burned.”

The Justice Department Head gave a cold laugh: “Those debts of yours — can they stand the light of day? Surely you kept something as leverage?”

“Truly not.”

“Are there no other deeds? Did you not give him a receipt?”

The proprietor said, “He can’t read a character — why would he ever think to ask for a receipt?”

“Then you’re coming with me!” One glance from the Justice Department Head, two underlings came forward with an iron chain and locked up the proprietor — and not just him, his brother too. Physical evidence was insufficient; human evidence would have to make up the gap. They were about to confiscate and nearly ransacked the whole gambling house!

The proprietor cried, “Justice Department Head, spare us! Spare us! There is one! There is a deed — it wasn’t burned!”

He finally dug out Zhang the Scoundrel’s original promissory note. Written on it was perfectly clear: on such-and-such a date, Zhang the Scoundrel’s gambling debt of such-and-such a sum, interest of such-and-such, repaid by Zhang the Scoundrel on such-and-such a date in cloth. The entire note had a large diagonal check marked across it indicating cancellation.

The Justice Department Head slapped him on the head several times: “Getting too big for your britches! Even daring to try and fool me! Say it — what is this about?”

The proprietor wept and said, “Isn’t it because… we feared the authorities?”

Gambling was illegal. Simply participating — regardless of whether you won or lost — could get you beaten up to a hundred strokes, and winnings were treated as theft, which compounded; the maximum penalty reached exile. Needless to say, the house always won, so generally the proprietor could be sentenced to exile. Unless what was being wagered on was — archery competitions, that sort of thing: these were martial training and even betting money on them was not criminal. These particular fellows had no such legitimate skill; they ran every kind of gambling game — except they made a specific point of not running archery.

The proprietor kept two sets of accounts: one was the sham “lending accounts” for show; the other was his real ledger — his gambling proceeds. He could not run such a large operation on his own; he had partners and needed to give them their shares, which meant he had to keep a record of income, expenses, and dividends. And because each party also worried the other might skim off the top, the proprietor kept the canceled deed as evidence for settling accounts with his partners.

The Justice Department Head slapped him on the head a few more times: “You’re all literate men — why not put your minds to something decent?! Instead of this!”

The proprietor thought: you didn’t say this when you were taking my presents, now did you?

Then on to Zhang the Wealthy. The family was frantic with anxiety, anger, shame, fury, and despair, yet forced to keep working. Having lost the land and lost face, life still had to go on.

The Justice Department Head showed up; Zhang the Wealthy burst into tears the moment he saw him. Instead of comforting him as before, the Justice Department Head opened with, “What are you bawling about, like a woman at a funeral? Come on, quickly! The Prefect’s back, and truly she is brilliant — she saw the problem the moment she returned. When the deed was drawn up, who witnessed it, who acted as guarantor?”

The Zhang household shrank back and asked nervously, “Justice Department Head — surely you’re not playing a trick on us? The Prefect doesn’t seem to like wealthy households, does she?”

“Pfft!” said the Justice Department Head. “The Prefect is brilliant — what do you mean she doesn’t like wealthy households? It’s lawbreakers she doesn’t like! Wasn’t that just the Jing Wu case? Did Jing Wu do right? Ha! Daring to lord it over the yamen — not beating him to death was already merciful. To put yourself in the same category as the Jing family — look at yourself and see whether you deserve it. Make your minds up quickly — if you don’t want to appeal, I’ll leave! Next time someone comes to file a suit against you, I’ll hand everything straight to Administrator Zhang and wash my hands of you entirely.”

Zhang the Wealthy heard this and dropped straight to his knees: “Justice Department Head, please save us!”

The whole family knelt after him. The Justice Department Head shook his head and sighed: “Where were all of you before this? Come on, quickly!”

With the Justice Department Head taking the lead, the witnesses were found, the private deed was also located. The Justice Department Head assured them: “You are a witness — going to the yamen to put it on record is their procedural lapse, not your fault. You won’t be beaten. Besides, your pressed fingerprint is on this — did you think you could hide from it anyway?”

He comforted the witness, then said to Zhang the Wealthy, “You are the aggrieved party — you still need to come forward yourself! Otherwise if Administrator Zhang makes a private accommodation with the Prefect and backs down quietly, there could still be problems later. You need to show up yourself.”

Hearing “show up,” Zhang the Wealthy flinched again. The Justice Department Head snapped, “What a spineless coward! Lock him up!”

Zhang the Wealthy, in all his life, could not claim to have been completely law-abiding, but he had never driven anyone to their death or forced anyone to sell their wife and children. He could not see what great sin he had committed to have ended up in this state.

And then his heart lightened somewhat — the Justice Department Head went directly to Zhang the Scoundrel’s house and put the dead-drunk Zhang the Scoundrel in chains too!

Before dawn, the matter was settled. He had ridden hard through the night, and the following afternoon arrived at the prefectural city. Zhang the Wealthy’s household had money and prepared a horse for him; Zhang the Scoundrel’s newly acquired land could not be ridden, so he was dragged along on foot. Even at harvest time the prefectural city had more people than the county town, and this little procession entering the city drew a crowd.

The Justice Department Head had the chains removed from both men before the yamen gates and had Zhang the Wealthy beat the drum once more to file a fresh complaint!

……

With someone filing a complaint — and it was a case Administrator Zhang had already ruled on — Zhù Ying stepped forward to preside.

She called the court to order. Zhang the Wealthy’s new complaint had been drafted by the Justice Department Head at his house; it was written clearly enough. Everything had been arranged by Zhù Ying; she still had Administrator Zhang attend the hearing beside her and opened proceedings to let the public come and watch. Even in harvest season, whoever was free remained free. Even Su Mingluan and her daughter, and neighboring Magistrate Guo, were seated in plain clothes keeping a low profile to observe.

Zhù Ying first had both parties state their cases, then issued an order: “Bring the gambling house proprietor forward!”

The proprietor was ashen-faced, kneeling down and saying, “Prefect, this lowly one will never dare again!”

People in the crowd recognized the proprietor; his business in the “underworld” was fairly well known, and everyone knew what he did. First luring people into gambling, letting them win small amounts to hook them, then cheating them out of everything, and then lending to them at interest so they could keep gambling — until he had absorbed their entire household. Who knew how many families had been ruined and lives destroyed by him. Anyone who made it out from his clutches with only their skin was considered lucky.

Everyone cursed him.

Zhù Ying looked over the promissory note and said, “Twenty strokes.”

After the twenty strokes were done, she asked again, “When was the debt incurred, when was it repaid?” It was all written on the deed — Zhù Ying asked deliberately; she wanted the proprietor to say it out loud himself.

The proprietor said, “Borrowed on the second day of the second month; repaid on the third day of the fourth month.”

“Borrowed how much, repaid how much?”

The proprietor said, “Borrowed twenty strings of coins; two months at six percent per month; repaid twenty-two strings and four hundred cash. Converted to cloth — twenty-three bolts.”

Zhù Ying then asked Zhang the Wealthy when the field was purchased and how much was paid.

Zhang the Wealthy knocked his head on the ground: “This lowly one was foolish — I didn’t register the transfer at the yamen…”

The Justice Department Head barked, “Answer the question!”

Zhang the Wealthy had his mind wiped clean by the reprimand; the Justice Department Head had to repeat the question. Zhang the Wealthy said, “Deed signed on the second day of the fourth month — payment and deed exchanged simultaneously. He wanted thirty strings; the land hadn’t been worked in several years and wasn’t worth that much. We bargained down to twenty-five bolts of cloth.”

“Ohh—” A collective sound of understanding rose from the onlookers.

Zhù Ying then asked, “Where are the witnesses and guarantors?”

The clan elder came forward and said, “It was this old one who witnessed it; the cloth was indeed handed over. I remember there was a seal on it — a character meaning ‘wealthy.’ Only I don’t know if it can still be traced now.”

Zhù Ying looked at the Justice Department Head, who said, “It’s all sealed up — it can be traced!”

Zhù Ying said, “Go verify it.” She had the plaintiff and defendant separated into custody — no one was to visit either without her order. She found the proprietor irritating to look at and had him beaten another twenty strokes.

The proprietor cried, “Don’t beat me! The money from that transaction wasn’t all spent yet — I have some stored in the city…”

The Justice Department Head cursed “scoundrel’s hide” under his breath and took people to seize it; putting it all together, Zhang the Wealthy’s seal was indeed there.

Administrator Zhang’s official countenance revealed nothing. Only then did Zhù Ying have Zhang the Scoundrel brought in to answer. Zhang the Scoundrel tried to deny everything: “Regardless, there’s no official record — I…”

“Twenty,” said Zhù Ying.

Zhang the Scoundrel had barely taken two strokes before he was screaming to the heavens. Zhù Ying said, “He can still yell.” The runners hit harder. Zhang the Scoundrel, seeing things going badly, shouted, “I’ll confess! I’ll confess! They said the Administrator only looks at who’s poor, and the poor can have whatever they want, so I wanted to get my ancestral land back by trickery.”

Having said it, the twenty strokes were not reduced by a single blow.

Administrator Zhang, when he became angry, also adopted the standard official posture for expressing anger. He said indignantly, “How dare the scoundrel?! Daring to exploit my love of the people like this!”

Zhù Ying said, “But he didn’t manage to exploit it, did he?”

She struck the gavel; the runners began to maintain order. She proceeded to announce the judgment.

First, Zhang the Scoundrel’s case: the field was to be returned to Zhang the Wealthy; Zhang the Wealthy would register it at the yamen and pay the back taxes. Previously not coming to court in person and sending a steward instead was contempt of court — but he had already been beaten for that, so no further penalty. Evading taxes was punishable — but having suffered considerable losses through this lawsuit, even though Zhang the Wealthy himself had been at fault for concealing the property, the fine could be deferred: pay half next year, the other half the year after. Zhang the Wealthy was to take this as a lesson; if similar concealment were discovered in the future, there would be strict punishment.

Then Zhang the Scoundrel: first, for filing a false accusation, the penalty would be applied to the accuser instead — the problem being he already had no money and no property left. A few tumbledown rooms he owned were confiscated; anyone in his clan who wanted to buy them could do so at an internal price, with the money going to the authorities. Then for contempt toward Administrator Zhang, fifty strokes added — the strokes given during the interrogation were for the investigation and were not unwarranted, so they did not count; another fifty were to be given.

That concluded the main case.

As a result of this case, a gambling matter had been uncovered — which could not be ignored. Zhang the Scoundrel had gambled and lost everything, but having lost was also punishable! One hundred strokes — the ones previously given were for the interrogation, and that was not unjust, so they did not count; another hundred were to be given.

The proprietor, together with his few business partners, had, by the cumulative calculation, reached the threshold — they were sentenced to exile.

At that time, gambling was still quite commonplace. Officials generally turned a blind eye; there were simply too many to catch. When someone gambled at home in small amounts for entertainment, there was no real standard for intervention. Only excessive gambling would result in a serious crackdown, because gambling winnings counted as “stolen goods” that could be confiscated. Many officials who recovered confiscated goods did not necessarily return everything to the victims.

Zhù Ying was different. She commended the Justice Department Head: “Meticulous and thorough — very good.” Then she went through the canceled promissory notes one by one, checking each personally. On the spot she had those involved in gambling brought before her.

There were quite a few; she first had two from within the city brought in. The Justice Department Head was enthusiastic and quickly produced two. These two were bleary-eyed and shabbily dressed, with a sprinkling of grey in their beards and hair. One of them, the younger-looking one on the left, had lost both parents; there was no one in the household, and no one managing his gambling.

Zhù Ying said, “Beat him.” First the beating for gambling, then an investigation into his household and dependents. Five strings of coins distributed as travel money; he was ordered to set himself up in a legitimate livelihood, with his subsequent behavior to be observed.

After the beating, five strings of coin were drawn from the proprietor’s confiscated funds and given to him.

The other, older one — the onlookers called out, “He sold his wife and daughter, all for gambling — he’s not a good person!” Zhù Ying had his file checked; his household had a wife and daughter, but no sons. He said, “I don’t even have a son — what good is family property to me?”

Zhù Ying looked at his gambling debts. She drew from them the redemption money for his wife and daughter; by official order she redeemed them. On the grounds that the couple was elderly and the daughter young, she further had the daughter established as the household head, with the husband and wife listed as dependents under the daughter’s household registration. From the proprietor’s confiscated goods, five mu of farmland and three rooms were allocated to the household head. The family was ordered to support themselves going forward.

And she further decreed, “Gambling shall henceforth be prosecuted as theft! Anyone who lends to those engaged in theft shall be suspected of criminal conspiracy! Whoever lends to such a person — the yamen will question them for conspiracy to cause harm and financial ruin.”

Zhù Ying lifted the stack of canceled promissory notes she had in her hand and said, “There are other aggrieved parties besides these. Family members come and collect! Those with children or other family members who were sold off — they will be redeemed at official expense and restored to free citizen status. Those whose wives’ dowries were used as gambling stakes — the dowries are to be returned to the wives.”

When passing judgment, she cited the law. The subsequent orders regarding the return of gambling assets etc. cited the “Yun Da Tong” passage from the Book of Rites — “the aged had their comfort, the able-bodied had their contribution, the young had a place to grow; the widowed, the orphaned, the lonely, the disabled all had care; the men had their vocation, the women their home” — as justification for the reasonableness of her arrangements. Her reasoning was that a gambler could not manage a household, so the person in the household with a clear head should take charge — which was saving an entire family. The authorities also bore responsibility for ensuring that decent citizens did not sink into slave or base-class status.

Today only two families were settled; going forward, the evidence on hand would be worked through systematically. Any new gambling addicts and proprietors found — bring them in and keep beating. For gambling addicts with family members, provide them a certain amount of property to re-establish a household. For those who had been sold away, redeem them. To prevent the proprietor and Zhang the Scoundrel from being beaten to death in one session, today’s count did not reach a hundred, so it would be divided over several days.

Tomorrow there would be a continuation. The day after that too…

The people felt this case had been settled with immense satisfaction. A collective cheer rose: “Excellent!”

Amid the cheering, Zhù Ying said to Administrator Zhang, “Administrator — come with me for a moment.”