The Prefect struggled to control his expression, while the Censor showed a flicker of surprise.

The Judicial Officer at the side stepped forward and said: “Where did this woman come from? Stop your wild claims! Which county are you from? Take her away!”

Since Zhù Ying’s departure, the officials of Wuzhou Prefecture had been replaced in a batch, and this Judicial Officer did not recognize Wang Fuqu. An unruly scene had broken out during the Censor’s reception, and now someone was filing a complaint — the Judicial Officer stepped forward first to handle this “unexpected incident.”

The Censor, however, said: “Wait.” He turned and gave instructions to an attendant, ordering that Wang Fuqu be taken to the post-station inn where he was lodging, to be questioned there.

Of course the Censor could not have come alone. There were two Censors — one primary and one deputy — accompanied by several clerks and attendants. Once in a local area, they could also requisition additional personnel at their discretion. One attendant stepped forward and said to Wang Fuqu: “Madam, please come with me.”

The Judicial Officer asked: “What do you mean by this?”

The senior of the two Censors said to the Prefect: “When a Censor arrives at a prefecture, surely the Governor understands what that means?”

This was not a routine local inspection by a Censor — it meant there was a special matter requiring investigation. Whatever he intended to look into, there would be reason for it.

The Prefect considered himself to have been conscientious since taking office, with no errors to speak of, and so he said: “I would appreciate enlightenment.”

The Censor watched his attendant help Wang Fuqu to her feet, then said: “Let us speak inside.”

The atmosphere turned awkward and tense. The group entered the Prefect’s residence. Though the Censor’s rank was not high — he still wore a blue robe — he sat at the upper position beside the red-robed Prefect. The other Censor sat below him, and only below them were the local officials of the prefecture.

The Prefect’s gaze locked steadily on the Censor, waiting for him to continue. The Censor swept his eyes across the faces of all seated officials, and finally looked at the Prefect: “So the Governor truly did not know.”

He beckoned to his attendant, who produced official documents. The Censor displayed his credentials to the prefectural officials, explaining that he had come to inspect affairs within Wuzhou territory.

The Prefect asked: “What affairs, specifically?”

The Censor said: “All of them.”

The Prefect stared at the Censor’s young face and repeated: “All of them?”

“Yes. All of them.”

The senior Censor was named Yu Qingquan. He was exactly thirty years old this year. He had risen to become a Censor rather than being relegated to a small county because there was nothing to fault in him: a family of scholar-gentry, education through the examination path, a proper appearance, married to a daughter of the Zhong family, and his teacher was no stranger either — a fellow student of Xian Jing and another pupil of Wang Yunhe. He himself had both learning and ability. He had studied the classics and walked the orthodox path; his prospects shone brilliantly before him.

The Grand Council had issued orders to the Censorate, requiring not only an inquiry into the matters raised in the memorials submitted by the five county magistrates, but also — since they were traveling this great distance anyway — a general survey of Wuzhou’s various aspects. There should be no more trouble.

The current Censor-in-Chief was surnamed Wang, a distant relative of the Deputy Director of the Court of State Ceremonial. After considering the present situation and reflecting on circumstances in Wuzhou, he concluded that this was a matter touching on “remote tribal peoples,” required traveling three thousand li, and involved a comprehensive inspection. Since Wang Yunhe was the one demanding the investigation, Yu Qingquan could make this journey. Whether he did well or poorly, Wang Yunhe should not make trouble for him.

Yu Qingquan was willing to make this journey. He had an interest in Wuzhou — an interest rooted in Zhù Ying, and, deeper still, in Wang Yunhe. Years ago, it was because Zhù Ying had arrived at the Wang residence and jumped the queue that he had waited outside for an extra half-hour. He had remembered ever since.

Before heading south, he had been given case files to study, and besides the memorial complaints there were also some archived records from the various ministries. He found that the tax revenues of Wuzhou had no arrears — no small feat for a remote area. He saw too that the population was growing. Looking further at the local gazetteer, he found it filled with praise for Zhù Ying, and his interest deepened.

Before arriving, Yu Qingquan had already formed an estimate. From all the records, Wuzhou had problems — yes — but not to the exaggerated extent being claimed. Complaints were always like this; whichever side made them, the language would be inflated. In actual investigations, most cases found the plaintiff feeling sufficiently aggrieved while the defendant still felt wrongly accused.

Although the primary mission of this visit was to investigate the “remote tribal peoples,” in Yu Qingquan’s heart, he was more eager to see what kind of place Zhù Ying had made of Wuzhou under her governance.

His deputy, Guo Jun, had reached the same general estimate, but was not particularly interested in Wuzhou’s governance. The matter had been triggered by the five counties’ complaints; resolve that source and the matter was essentially finished. Don’t ask too many questions, don’t make trouble for yourself — that was Guo Jun’s view.

Seeing complications arising, Guo Jun grew displeased and said: “What have you people been doing?” It seemed there were other matters besides the tribal chieftains’ complaints. If a complaint had been filed directly to their faces, it would be hard to ignore, and they couldn’t return to the capital anytime soon. Guo Jun’s expression worsened.

The Prefect, suppressing his anger, said: “I don’t know what the two of you wish to investigate. Tell me and I’ll have the files prepared.”

Yu Qingquan was no veteran, but he had often heard his seniors mention that local officials were skilled at deceiving inspectors — dumping decades of rotted, useless accounts on them, from which nothing could be determined. He was unperturbed: “There’s no rush. I can see that Wuzhou looks quite new; there can’t be any great matter. Why not begin with the woman just now. As for what we intend to investigate, I fear the Governor won’t be able to prepare for it regardless.”

He then addressed the Chief of Staff and Military Commissioner whom the Prefect had introduced: “The county magistrates of the five counties sent memorials to the court, reporting that they had been ill-treated by the Governor. If the Governor issues orders, they will likely refuse to come. Could I trouble the two of you to pass word to them? I wish to meet them. I can also go into the mountains to meet them.”

Gasps filled the room. The Prefect’s face went white with fury: “Outrageous! Outrageous!”

Guo Jun said: “Governor, do not be agitated. Whether it is so or not, we shall know once we have investigated; we will absolutely not wrong the Governor!”

You’ve both come to investigate and you still say you won’t wrong me? The Prefect forced down his fury: “The innocent have nothing to fear!”

Yu Qingquan said: “Naturally.”

He turned to Guo Jun: “Let us return.”

The Prefect suppressed his anger and saw them to the gate. At the gate he looked out and saw — Wang Fuqu had not left!

The Assistant Judicial Officer stepped forward and asked: “How did this come about?”

Yu Qingquan’s attendant stepped forward, embarrassed: “This madam refuses to go.”

Before he could continue, Wang Fuqu tightened her grip on the horse-hitching post, demonstrating exactly why she hadn’t gone.

Wang Fuqu clutched the horse-hitching post and turned to shout loudly: “Who knows where you’d take me to silence me? What are you people incapable of? The Prefect is helping his man forcibly take a decent girl! You drove my daughter to disappear — no sight of her living, no trace of her dead! Give me back my daughter!”

Her shouting drew a crowd of onlookers; more and more people gathered, and Yu Qingquan and Guo Jun found themselves unable to leave. The Judicial Officer moved to have people drag Wang Fuqu away, but Wang Fuqu screamed: “Grown men have no shame — coming to drag a woman away.”

The Judicial Officer hurriedly called for female constables, but the female constables were stopped by Jiang Teng. Who was left to act? The messenger reported back: “The Prefect told women to stay inside and not come out to make a spectacle of themselves. None of them are here.”

Guo Jun, who had wanted nothing to do with this, couldn’t help frowning: “What a complete mess!”

Yu Qingquan’s gaze darkened slightly, when suddenly he heard an elderly voice ask: “What’s going on here?”

The crowd parted to open a path, and an old man walking with a staff came through. The people all called him: “Elder Jing.”

Yu Qingquan ordered an attendant to find out who this was. He was quickly told that this was an honored elder — his son held a sixth-rank position, no lower than either of the two Censors’ ranks. Yu and Guo both walked forward two steps to welcome Elder Jing, and asked him if he knew what this was about. Elder Jing said: “I don’t know either. The heavenly envoy can simply ask. We’re a small place — there hasn’t been a big case here in many years; it must be a small matter. What does the Governor say?”

The Prefect found himself being roasted over a fire, utterly unable to understand why this local gentry elder had chosen to meddle at this moment.

What the Prefect did not know was that the local gentry had said agreeable things to his face while inwardly disliking him. The new Prefect had been relatively attentive to preserving the gentry’s face; unfortunately the gentry had enormous interests in commerce and industry. When Zhù Ying was here, she had painstakingly bound most things together, including factory women workers and the like. The new Prefect had then promoted “agriculture as the foundation,” requiring villagers to remain within their home communities with no unauthorized movement, restricting female workers, and simultaneously limiting the acreage of sugarcane fields, mandating that newly reclaimed land must grow grain. Whatever the surface justification for the new Prefect’s various measures might be, the money in the gentry’s pockets had undeniably shrunk.

Then there was the matter of official positions. With a whole cohort of young men coming up, when Zhù Ying left, everyone had pinned their hopes on the new Prefect. He had achieved nothing in this regard whatsoever. Why help him, then?

As for the Zhang and Fan family boys studying in the capital — Zhù Ying had drawn them into official positions wherever she went. Zhù Ying always took care of her own people, wherever she was.

Who to help? Did anyone need to think about it?

Yu Qingquan and Guo Jun found themselves unable to get away. Wang Fuqu was still shouting beside them, and the gathered crowd kept growing.

Yu Qingquan said: “Then let us hear it. You there, woman — come down from there. If you won’t speak properly, how can anyone uphold justice for you?”

Elder Jing also stepped forward: “Madam, my surname is Jing. I act as guarantor for these officials here. Come down and speak your piece properly.”

Wang Fuqu said: “My third maternal aunt’s brother-in-law married a girl from your family — you can’t deceive me! Among neighbors, speaking nonsense is the kind of thing that will spit through your backbone for generations!”

“No deceiving, no deceiving,” Elder Jing said.

Yu Qingquan found himself compelled to hear the case in public alongside the Prefect. By this time the south had already warmed into spring; people were not afraid of the cold, and the crowd was three layers deep.

First came Wang Fuqu’s complaint. She knew how to write, and produced a written petition. The handwriting was poor, but the content was reasoned and well-founded. After reading it, Yu Qingquan frowned and asked the Prefect: “Did the Governor arrange a marriage?”

The Prefect had long forgotten this matter. Because Wu Ren was a student at Huajie’s school for tribal peoples, the Prefect had casually mentioned it to Huajie — nothing more than that. Huajie had replied at the time: “The child’s fortune-reading shows she would bring misfortune to a husband.” In the Prefect’s mind it had simply passed — not because his memory was poor, but because the matter was so trivial it wasn’t worth deliberately remembering.

He shook his head.

To Wu’s family this was a catastrophic affair, and Wang Fuqu was incensed to the extreme: “Your Excellency! White words from a red mouth — how can you say such a thing? If it weren’t for you putting out the word to help that animal seize a decent girl, where would he have gotten the audacity to use your power as his own?”

Elder Jing said: “Speak properly; don’t hurl abuse. Who is this person you say intends evil?”

Wang Fuqu named the Prefect’s personal attendant directly. Yu Qingquan asked the Prefect: “Does such a person exist?”

Only then did it come back to the Prefect: “Oh! So that’s what this is about!”

So there was such a person?

Yu Qingquan ordered the man brought over. He was right there in the residence and came forward quickly, looking somewhat bewildered and aggrieved. Yu Qingquan observed him: around thirty, neither short nor tall, his features somewhat slippery — very much the image of a quick-witted servant.

Yu Qingquan asked: “How did you use your master’s power to forcibly claim a man’s daughter? Confess the truth!”

Upon seeing Wang Fuqu, the man seemed to half-understand, half-not. He knelt down in an aggrieved manner: “Your Excellency, please hear me. This matter has nothing to do with my master. It is that I personally have feelings for the young lady in my heart. And she never said no! She must have feelings for me! It’s only that her birth-chart is inauspicious and she would bring harm to a husband. So I thought — well then, let’s not hold a formal wedding ceremony. The two of us can live together; I would treat her the same as a wife, and living together wouldn’t be much different from being married. I don’t know why her family could bear to tear apart two people with feelings for each other.”

Wang Fuqu fixed her eyes on him, her pupils burning crimson. All her prepared words flew from her mind; she wanted nothing more than to bite this wretch to death: “You beast! Spouting blood from your mouth! My clean, honest girl — would she look twice at you? What are you even worth?”

A nearby bailiff sighed inwardly and stepped forward to shout: “Woman, you may not make a scene in a public hearing!”

It was normal for bailiffs to maintain order; the senior officials said nothing. The bailiff seized the opportunity: “Since you can’t speak properly, have someone who can speak clearly come. Have your master come!”

Wang Fuqu and the bailiff exchanged a look, momentarily confused: “What master?”

The bailiff relaxed, and said: “You slave-woman, how dare you make a scene in a public hearing? Has your master not taught you manners?”

Wang Fuqu remembered her lines: “What kind of talk is that? Who is a slave? My family is a proper, law-abiding free household! How could we let our daughter marry a lowborn wretch as his wife?”

Elder Jing struck his staff on the ground loudly: “Nonsense! It has always been forbidden for the free to marry the servile!”

The expressions of Yu Qingquan and Guo Jun turned severe; both looked toward the Prefect together: “Governor.”

The four words “forbidden for the free to marry the servile” had prevented how many lovers from being together — and now, at last, they had done something useful. Wu’s family were free commoners; the servant who had come with the Prefect was, in all likelihood, of servile status.

This was a transgression of taboo.

Even if servants of great households sometimes did manage to marry women of good standing from the common people, it was something that could not be openly stated. Even if done, there would be remedial measures. Like the Gan family’s wedding arrangement.

Wang Fuqu continued: “I don’t even ask about status — I ask: with no matchmaker, no betrothal gifts, and without my family’s consent, how did they dare to simply decide my daughter had to end up in his mouth? What kind of reasoning is that? They carried this out far too smoothly! Do they make a habit of it?”

Thinking of her daughter who had gone into the mountains, she felt anguish. If not for the twist of fate that had brought her family into contact with the Zhù household, her child would have been either driven to her death or violated by now!

Wang Fuqu said bitterly: “In broad daylight, a beast has put on a human skin! A father official who preys on the people!”

The Prefect’s gaze grew even more menacing: “Don’t make accusations…”

The attendant quickly interjected: “Your Excellency, the customs of Wuzhou are like this… tribal families don’t restrict their children’s marriages…”

Elder Jing erupted in fury: “Utter nonsense! Where in Wuzhou are there tribal savages? They are all the Son of Heaven’s subjects! Whose family doesn’t follow the rites of propriety, wanting their children to elope? Rubbish!!!”

The crowd began to roar.

Before long, elders like Elder Zhang and Elder Fan also arrived, first saying they had come to pay respects to the Censor, but expressing surprise at encountering such a scene. Wang Fuqu’s third maternal aunt’s brother-in-law also came, helping to curse: “We have all kinds of customs here, but not one that lets beasts bully our daughters!”

The crowd surrounded the Prefect’s residence and refused to let the attendant escape. When officials tried to take him away, the crowd said: “They must be planning to secretly release him!”

Elder Jing then offered a suggestion: “Bring a standing cangue, lock him in it outside the residence, then issue a proclamation for the people to disperse.”

Yu Qingquan and Guo Jun, seeing the crowd’s anger, nodded in agreement. Their impression of the Prefect had already worsened considerably.

Elder Jing and the other elders quickly worked to give them both a way out: “The Censors are good officials, standing up for everyone! Don’t surround them — it would look like we’re picking a quarrel with the officials.”

The people only dispersed once they had watched the attendant be locked in the standing cangue. Yu Qingquan was about to order everyone to go home when, without warning, someone from the crowd came forward with a stack of crumpled papers, begging them to administer justice.

Yu Qingquan said: “Submit the petition. Starting tomorrow, we will conduct our inspection…”

The man below him wailed: “Please, Your Excellency, rule on it now! Otherwise I fear I may not see Your Excellency tomorrow. The yamen owes me money!”

Upon detailed questioning, it emerged that the Prefect’s residence had been fitted with a full set of new furniture — finely crafted, very expensive — and the bill had never been paid.

With this one beginning, a flood of petitions followed. There were people accusing the Prefect of trying to drive a widow and orphans to their deaths, each claim more severe than the last.

Elder Jing and the other elders helped clear a path, just barely escorting Yu Qingquan and the others back to the post-station inn. Wang Fuqu followed them the whole way: “Please, Excellency, grant me protection — otherwise I fear they will come in the night and bury me alive. My daughter disappeared without warning.”

Yu Qingquan had no choice but to issue a proclamation to the people: just submit your petitions, I will receive them all, but do not surround me. He arranged shelter in the inn for Wang Fuqu’s entire family, and then stayed talking with Elder Jing and the others until past midnight.

After seeing Elder Jing off, Yu Qingquan was finally about to rest when suddenly sounds of commotion arose outside. Guo Jun stared blankly: “Is Wuzhou really this chaotic? Didn’t we hear that the customs were simple and honest, and that the people were growing more prosperous?”

Yu Qingquan ordered an attendant to go see what was happening. Before the attendant had even gone out, the inn-keeper arrived: “Your Excellency, this is bad! The Prefect sent men to deliver gifts to you two, and the people found out.”

Yu Qingquan said with some surprise: “Is there no curfew?”

The inn-keeper said: “Well, the spring plowing is coming up, isn’t it? Some people, to prepare for the spring plowing, are out in the fields watching the water channels — and they spotted it.”

Delivering gifts to inspecting Censors was something most local officials did, and Censors generally accepted a portion of such gifts at their discretion. After the day’s events, it would have been stranger if the Prefect hadn’t rushed to send gifts to smooth things over. Now that the people had called it out, what had been acceptable to receive could no longer be accepted. As for what had been sent — the Prefect could only hope for the best.

Yu Qingquan and Guo Jun dressed properly and went out with torches to reassure the people: “We are here on orders from His Majesty and the court to conduct our inspection; we will absolutely not show partiality to wrongdoers.”

Only then did the people gradually disperse. The gifts the Prefect had sent were scattered and strewn across the ground; several bolts of silk had been torn into a tangled mess.

Yu Qingquan and Guo Jun could finally rest.

At cockcrow the next day, the two of them were up again, and looked at each other. Yu Qingquan said: “I had thought the hardest part of this journey would be the travel. Little did I expect…”

Guo Jun said: “This Prefect — he’s no good!”

Yu Qingquan shook his head: “His predecessor was too good.”

“Hm?”

Yu Qingquan said: “All along our journey, the dialects became harder and harder to understand, did they not?”

“Yes! Yesterday everything was understandable!”

“Some spoke imperfectly, but the gentry’s official Mandarin was passable enough. That woman was also impressive — she can write now. The civilizing work has been well done; that I believe now.”

Guo Jun said: “And so disciplined! Doesn’t take concubines, doesn’t indulge in pleasures and revelry. Even shows compassion for the poor and weak…” In Wang Fuqu’s words, Zhù Ying had excelled in every way. In Elder Jing’s words, Zhù Ying had been a parent to the people.

These two even offered examples: how Zhù Ying had used only bamboo furniture, while the new Prefect came back and immediately wanted to redecorate the residence. How the Zhù household kept only three or five female servants, four of whom had been hired later. How she had found livelihoods for orphans and widows, letting them support themselves rather than suffer abuse from others.

Yu Qingquan passed judgment on the new Prefect in one phrase: “A rigid, pedantic mediocrity who has provoked widespread resentment. He has the complete form of official conduct, but his practical administration is a complete shambles.” He held back an unspoken thought: Even I would do better than him if I came here!

Yesterday they had collected many petitions. The new Prefect seemed to have deliberately set himself against his predecessor; some things did not need to be “corrected and rectified.” Elder Jing had said it well: “He wanted to show he was different, so he deliberately went against everything. Otherwise how would he show that a new Prefect had arrived? He wasn’t working for Wuzhou’s benefit — he was working for his own display.”

Making a good thing bad — that, too, was a kind of talent.

Guo Jun said: “Now it’s come to this, and we still haven’t met the tribal chieftains.”

“Do not use the word ‘tribal savages,'” Yu Qingquan cautioned.

“Fine then. I was hoping to head back sooner; now I can see that won’t be possible.”

“Then let us work quickly.”

Guo Jun turned his face toward the capital, but saw only the inn’s walls: “The capital is so much better…”

……——

At this time, the capital was holding a grand wedding ceremony.

It was now the third month — the day set for the Prince of Qiyang to take the eldest daughter of the Luo family as his bride.

A郡王 taking a principal wife followed prescribed procedures: what rank of official would be sent as envoy, what type of procession would be used, what preparations the bride’s family needed to make, what kind of escort would accompany her into the palace — and so on.

The costumes for the couple had been commissioned since the end of the previous year. The bride was young, and the flower crown for her head had been specially made; it pressed heavily down upon her.

The Princess Consort’s wedding robes were elaborate and weighty. The little girl, supported on both sides by two attendants, received her father’s instructions, boarded the carriage, traveled to the palace, descended from the carriage, walked on foot, and performed the rites. By the end, it was only through two strong attendants gripping her arms that she managed to complete this prescribed ceremony.

The capital’s officials had no respite either.

Those of sufficient rank and relevant connection were required to first go to the palace to witness the grand occasion. The Eastern Palace held a wedding banquet, but palace regulations meant officials could not stay too late.

The Emperor had issued orders in advance: not only was the palace to be celebratory, but the estate of Princess Yongping was also to be lively, so some officials had to be divided off to go to Princess Yongping’s residence to offer congratulations. Even the Chief Ministers had to go to Princess Yongping’s estate for a cup of wedding wine.

Zhù Ying, as an official of the Court of State Ceremonial, had to attend the wedding banquet at the Eastern Palace, and even more so had to drink the wedding wine at Princess Yongping’s residence. With many guests, the Princess’s estate had made every preparation, and Shi Yin had exerted every effort to arrange the guests properly.

The moment Zhù Ying stepped into the estate, he came forward to meet her: “Junior Vice Director! Junior Vice Director, there is something I wish to entrust to you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Shi Yin said: “Junior Vice Director, please look — there are so many people here, and I fear I cannot attend to everyone. Your seat is over there. As for the people around you, I ask that you help keep an eye on things. If anything happens, please inform me promptly.” He also pointed to a small eunuch to accompany Zhù Ying for ease of passing messages.

Zhù Ying said: “Why stand on ceremony? It’s the Princess’s happy occasion — would anyone cause trouble?”

Shi Yin said: “You don’t know: today all manner of people are here. Up above are the Chief Ministers, over there are the imperial clansmen, and around you are practical men of ability. Over in that direction are sons of great families, and right beside them are some idle young nobles.” He mouthed the words “idle young nobles” very softly.

In short, a group of people who ordinarily never crossed paths had all been gathered together today!

Zhù Ying said: “Understood.”

She walked inside with the small eunuch and indeed discovered some interesting situations. Different people had different arrangements, grouped with those of matching status. Wang Yunhe was placed with Shi Kun, the Six Ministry Secretaries, and others of similar standing; the area around Liu Songnian was filled with refined literary scholars; the various princes were together; and Zhù Ying also noticed many of the “sons of great families” she had heard of but seldom encountered.

These people’s families enjoyed great renown throughout the realm, yet Zhù Ying had had little contact with them. They looked at her the way one looks at a “stodgy old soul.” She neither went out with courtesans, nor had any celebrated literary compositions, nor any stories of romantic elegance — she spent her days thinking about getting things done, advancing in rank, and making money. Terribly vulgar.

Zhù Ying was only on familiar terms with those from such families who had actually entered official service and made a name for themselves — people like Zheng Xi.

The person beside her was Sheng Ying, who seemed quite at ease in such settings, already drinking with those around him. Zhù Ying looked around at her surroundings and found it genuinely dull. She looked over at Liu Songnian, who appeared to be thinking of leaving.

Zhù Ying was about to go over and greet him when suddenly she saw a small eunuch with a worried expression hurry over and say something to the table where Wang Yunhe and Shi Kun sat. Wang and Shi set down their chopsticks, said a few words to their host, and departed together.

Zhù Ying and Liu Songnian looked at each other. Liu Songnian said: “Something is going to go wrong.”

Zhù Ying said: “It probably already has.”

The small eunuch’s expression was deeply troubled, and Zhù Ying recognized his face — he was one of the Emperor’s personal attendants, an adoptive grandson of Lan Xing.