Wang Yunhe had returned a little late today. The emperor had kept him back for a chat, and by the time he arrived, quite a scene had already been playing out at the prefectural office gate.

Wang Yunhe’s return immediately gave the capital prefectural office’s constables a backbone. The girl was still weeping out her grievances, and the crowd of onlookers had not yet dispersed.

Wang Yunhe’s brow furrowed slightly. He turned to the girl and said, “Since you know your father’s body is not yet cold, what you should be seeking is the arrest of the true culprit to bring peace to the deceased — not pointing at someone you suspect and demanding the authorities make an arrest at your direction. If you have a grievance, come and state it. If you have a written complaint, present it at once. Then go home and await the verdict. If you have no written complaint, this office already has knowledge of the case — go home and wait.”

The girl had come on a surge of courage, and upon seeing him that courage faltered slightly — but she still wanted a “straight answer.” The Head Constable Zhang at her side couldn’t hold back and said angrily, “Since when has the magistrate presided over this office and decided a case wrongly? You want a ‘straight answer’ — or do you want to control the authorities and command them to do your bidding?!”

He had been maintaining order here for quite a while. In the old days, a thorough beating would have scattered the crowd and been done with it. But since Wang Yunhe had become prefect, it couldn’t be handled that simply and crudely — you had to reason with people, and you had to be gentler about it. What should have been straightforward crowd control had turned into a sort of push-and-pull that only attracted more onlookers, and was driving him half-mad.

The girl tried to say something more, but the onlookers actually found Wang Yunhe’s manner acceptable, and Head Constable Zhang’s words had some logic to them. An elderly man spoke up: “Miss, if you want an explanation from someone, but you don’t trust that person to give you one, why seek it from him in the first place?”

And so they all joined in advising the girl to leave; Wang Yunhe cupped his hands to the crowd and said, “Many thanks to all the neighbors for your trust.” Someone led off by saying, “Because Your Honor is worthy of trust!”

At that, Head Constable Zhang and the others joined in urging the crowd to disperse, and soon enough everyone had scattered.

Wang Yunhe turned back into the office, and his expression became grave. This case had to be solved quickly!

Zhù Ying and the others, following Pei Qing, had not waited at the gate watching the drama — Pei Qing had already brought them in through the side entrance to wait for Wang Yunhe.

When Wang Yunhe came back and was told Pei Qing was waiting for him, he dispensed with pleasantries. He first summoned Fan Shaoqi and the other capital prefectural office officials to get a briefing on the situation, and then invited the Court of Judicial Review delegation in for a joint discussion.

Zhù Ying and Bao the Evaluating Official followed Pei Qing to the small reception room, where host and guests took their seats; Zhù Ying sat at the first position below Pei Qing, and looking across the table she saw Fan Shaoqi and the capital prefectural office’s judicial officer — not a constable or minor functionary in sight. The clerks the Court of Judicial Review had brought along were all waiting outside.

The two offices first had a frank exchange. Wang Yunhe said, “His Majesty has already ordered the capital prefectural office and the Court of Judicial Review to handle this case together, and today His Majesty has issued further instructions. I have already met with Prefect Zheng. For the moment, clarifying the case is the top priority. The two offices must work together in good faith. There must be no damage to our working relationship. I know there are those who are displeased, and those who are eager to get ahead. Whatever thoughts you may be harboring, keep them to yourselves!”

Pei Qing agreed. “Precisely! What’s the point of my keeping the suspect from you and you keeping the scene from me? We’ll only end up tripping each other up, and when the deadline arrives and the case is unsolved, whose face will look good?”

Fan Shaoqi gave a cough and said, “Now that we’ve spoken plainly, what approach should we take next?”

Pei Qing deferred to Wang Yunhe first. Wang Yunhe said, “Let’s first pull together the facts of the case.”

So the capital prefectural office’s judicial officer, He Jing, presented what the capital prefectural office had established. He said, “The male corpse has been identified as Ma, a southern army captain. The fatal wound was to the neck; the murder weapon was the saber belonging to Zhou, a northern imperial guard captain. The female corpse is a courtesan from the establishment, known as Yingying; the fatal wound was to the chest, also consistent with a bladed weapon, and the wound matches Zhou’s saber. Inquiries established that Zhou and Ma quarreled on the previous night, during which Zhou threatened to kill Ma. The next day, a servant discovered Ma and the courtesan dead in the room. After the incident, a headcount was taken — not a single person from the brothel had fled.”

Wang Yunhe had seen the postmortem record and knew all this already; He Jing was explaining it for Pei Qing’s benefit. Pei Qing then listened as He Jing described conditions at the scene — for instance, that the scene had been sealed. The male corpse was on the floor; the female corpse was bound to the bedpost, and so on.

Pei Qing raised an eyebrow inwardly and thought: that General Ma certainly had some unusual tastes. Yet from such a father came a daughter bold enough to make a scene at the prefectural office gate — hard to say whether she took after him or didn’t.

After He Jing finished speaking, Pei Qing glanced at Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying said, “Zhou is currently in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison under watch by officials from the Ministry of Justice. Hmm — yesterday this official and Bao the Evaluating Official went to Fifth Niang’s establishment, but did not enter the scene, and could only question the witnesses and take a look around outside. We were also permitted by the capital prefectural office to take a quick look at the body. We have established that General Ma had a poor reputation in the pleasure quarter and was given to cruelty, though he did pay well. As for Zhou — a typical profligate young man. As for the other details, I respectfully ask the capital prefectural office’s permission to let this official see the scene, the murder weapon, and the body one more time.”

He Jing said, “The judicial officer is certainly a direct speaker.”

Zhù Ying said, “Fifteen days, and one has already gone. It’s already past midday today — being indirect won’t do.”

Wang Yunhe said, “Agreed. Let’s first settle on a plan, then summon the relevant personnel and assign tasks.”

Pei Qing said, “Magistrate Wang is absolutely right.”

The two of them — along with Fan Shaoqi — drew up a plan: each office would send a coroner, the two coroners would examine the body together again, and then they would inspect the murder weapon. After that, they would jointly re-examine the crime scene, and at the same time they would re-interrogate Zhou You. Fan Shaoqi said, “Since time is short, this official will accompany Vice Minister Pei to the scene. Perhaps the magistrate could go to the Court of Judicial Review first to re-interrogate Zhou You?”

Wang Yunhe said, “That will be fine.”

So the coroners and constables from both offices were summoned; some were sent to clear the scene at the flower street, while others went to the coroner’s hall to examine the body. The male corpse remained as it had been; what was different was that the murder weapon had been brought as well. Pei Qing, supporting the saber on a cloth, looked at it: blade and scabbard had been separated; blood could be seen on both the blade and the hilt, but the scabbard was perfectly clean.

Bao the Evaluating Official said quietly to Zhù Ying, “Quite a step up from an ordinary imperial guard’s saber.”

Pei Qing said, “It’s his saber.” He then compared it with the wound on the male corpse — the length of the blade and cutting edge matched. For the female corpse, it was hardly appropriate for him to pull aside her clothing and make comparisons, but the damage to her outer garment could still be seen, and it was also consistent.

Coroner Yang recited in a businesslike manner, “A midwife was brought in for comparison — the wounds match.” Coroner Tian glanced at him, and Coroner Yang nodded. In fact, the male coroners had quietly verified this themselves in private beforehand; they could not simply take a midwife’s word for it.

Wang Yunhe asked, “And?”

Pei Qing set the saber down with both hands and said, “I have no further questions. What about the rest of you? Speak up — don’t hem and haw and obstruct the work!”

Bao the Evaluating Official said, “This might not have been done by a man. That many cuts — a woman of comparable strength could manage it. Since this was a man given to cruelty, it could be a revenge killing…” He was well acquainted with Zhou You, and while he might believe that the Young Master Zhou could direct his henchmen to beat someone to death, personally doing it himself didn’t quite fit.

Pei Qing said, “Don’t speculate here. Speak to what you’ve observed; state your doubts.”

Bao the Evaluating Official fell a little quiet. Zhù Ying said, “Unless General Ma was seated, it was probably a man — the cut is to the neck, a high position. For a woman to have made it, she would have to be very tall. But we can’t completely rule it out.”

Everyone nodded.

He Jing said, “We reached the same conclusion. The greatest suspect, apart from Zhou, is the household of Fifth Niang. However, each member of Fifth Niang’s household has a witness to account for them.” The courtesans had their clients as witnesses; the servants had been busy all night and slept among the attendants of Zhou and Ma. Fifth Niang and her family of three seemed to lack adequate witnesses, and they could move freely about the house, so their suspicion was not negligible — yet Fifth Niang and her husband were both old and not up to it physically, and their son openly admitted he had gone in and out, saying it was to show the way and help prepare things, after which he left.

He Jing also provided another detail that Fifth Niang’s household had not mentioned to Zhù Ying: “Both the front and rear gates were bolted from the inside.”

Pei Qing said, “If the gates were bolted from the inside, why is Zhou You still the main suspect?”

He Jing said, “He was the only one who quarreled with Ma that day — he’s the only suspect, and it’s his saber.”

The two then discussed back and forth along the lines of “this is too obvious” versus “perhaps that is precisely why it was meant to look this way,” and ultimately arrived at the same conclusion: without more concrete evidence, Zhou You remained the prime suspect, but it couldn’t be said definitively that it was him.

He Jing thought to himself: in the old days, if it wasn’t Zhou You, this case could simply have been decided this way — at worst, beat him a few times and see if the scoundrel confesses. But not anymore.

Wang Yunhe said, “We cannot wrongfully pin a murder on him just because he is a person of poor character. Let us go look at the crime scene.”

But Zhù Ying said, “With the prefect’s permission—”

Wang Yunhe said, “Have you seen something?”

Zhù Ying looked again at the female corpse. The body had changed somewhat since the day before. She looked at the battered face and said, “I have a question — how can we be sure the dead woman is actually Yingying? Can you still identify anyone from this face? Who made the identification?”

Head Constable Zhang said, “Fifth Niang identified her — what of it? How could she not recognize one of her own?”

“On what basis did she make the identification?”

Head Constable Zhang said, “How should I know?”

Wang Yunhe said, “No, that still needs to be verified clearly.” He Jing also said, “Fifth Niang needs to be questioned again.”

Zhù Ying said, “If it really is her, then no matter. But if it’s a substitution — where did the substitute come from?”

——

The whole party then went to Fifth Niang’s establishment. Yesterday’s visit had failed to bring in any customers, and Fifth Niang was hoping the case would be resolved quickly. She had given the rooms another sweep, hoping she might attract a few curious-minded guests and recoup some money. She had already been desperately considering whether to use this as a selling point — then decided against it, thinking it would be better to hire a monk or a Daoist priest to perform a ritual, redecorate, and then reopen…

The arrival of He Jing alone was enough to give Fifth Niang a headache; with Wang Yunhe in the party, her knees went a little weak. But none of these people were in the mood to exchange pleasantries with her; they walked straight in to examine the scene the moment they arrived.

Wang Yunhe said to Zhù Ying, “Look carefully — if there’s anything you don’t understand, speak up.” He still remembered how Zhù Ying had gone door-to-door investigating for the Cao Shi case.

Zhù Ying said, “Yes.”

This time she had come prepared, knowing in advance what she wanted to look at and what tools she would need. She first had someone bring a ladder, propped it against the courtyard wall, and climbed up to get a bird’s-eye view of the whole layout — and also to check whether anyone might have recently climbed over the wall. Then she took a bamboo pole and a spool of red thread, and stepped into the small courtyard.

The courtyard’s layout resembled an ordinary household’s, except there was no kitchen or well; its furnishings and refinements were more expensive than the house Zhù Ying was currently renting.

At least fifty strings of coins a year in rent, Zhù Ying thought.

She looked over the ground inch by inch. Fortunately, no rain had fallen in the past few days, and with the capital prefectural office’s constables standing guard and keeping people out, some traces had not yet been washed away. Zhù Ying carefully made her way around the traces and footprints on the ground, drawing faint circles around them one by one. Wang Yunhe watched the line of circles she was drawing, read the patterns of movement they indicated, nodded gently, and said, “Don’t step on anything she has circled.”

Zhù Ying did not go into the main room first; she went to the side rooms. People had originally been lodging in both side rooms but had now been moved to other courtyards. The furnishings were a little more worn, though the original pieces had been of decent quality. **There were also quilts that hadn’t been folded away, and the dressing table was in some disarray. She used the bamboo pole to prod about and found there was nothing of value left, and asked, “Were the things taken away by you?”

Outside, Fifth Niang quickly questioned her girls; Wang Yunhe also asked Head Constable Zhang, “Did anyone take things during the confusion?”

Head Constable Zhang said quickly that no one would dare, and when they saw this the courtesans on Fifth Niang’s side also knew better than to lie, and admitted, “We took them ourselves.”

Wang Yunhe then had them account for the items to verify the count tallied.

Inside the courtesans’ rooms, Zhù Ying made out seven or eight sets of men’s footprints — belonging neither to General Ma nor to Zhou You, and not matching any man in the household.

The side rooms examined, she slowly worked her way along to the main room. The main room still smelled heavily of perfume, with a faint trace of blood mixed in — very faint, and unpleasant. Below the bed post lay a length of red rope, undone; before the bed, a puddle of blood; a small table in front of the bed had been knocked over, and a porcelain vase had fallen from it and shattered in pieces; there was also a low table with a number of strange objects on it.

The floor of this room was finished with polished stone tiles; blood had seeped into the grouting between them.

Wang Yunhe looked at the stone tiles, a flicker of disappointment in his heart. He had hoped Zhù Ying might find something there; an earthen floor would have been easier — stone tiles like these would be far more difficult.

It was broad daylight. Zhù Ying examined the doors and windows and asked, “Were the doors and windows closed at the time?”

Everyone there said they didn’t remember clearly; when the word went out that someone was dead, everyone had rushed over. They thought it might have been closed? There had been pounding on the door? As for the windows, no one could say.

Fifth Niang’s son said, “The doors were closed. The windows too. Otherwise you could have seen inside from the window and wouldn’t have needed to pound on the door for someone to open it.”

Wang Yunhe nodded and asked Zhù Ying, “What else can you see?”

Zhù Ying used the red thread to rope off a perimeter around the bed, then crouched down and examined it carefully from every angle. “Quite a few people came through — these ones were all here.” She used the pole to point out Fifth Niang’s family, two courtesans, and said there were also eight other men’s footprints — which left everyone startled. Fifth Niang was most taken aback: so many people had come through, and she herself could barely recall them, yet this person had counted them out? She stared wide-eyed, seeing on the polished stone floor only a very faint, hazy impression of what might or might not be shoe shapes.

Zhù Ying was already quite satisfied! There were far fewer footprints here than at the gate and courtyard. At the time, dozens had crowded at the gate; twenty or thirty had gotten into the courtyard. Only these few people had been in the room — not bad at all.

Among those eight men’s footprints, Zhù Ying identified five belonging to constables. Head Constable Zhang thought to himself: no wonder he’s so full of himself — this person actually has the ability to back it up. I used to see him defer to me and ask for guidance, and took him for a newcomer; didn’t expect he had this kind of skill…

Bao the Evaluating Official said, “If any of those had been clients from that night, they’d be very hard to track down.” He also looked at the courtesans, suggesting they be brought back for questioning.

Fifth Niang quickly said, “Who would dare stay and watch what General Ma was doing, or be anywhere nearby? Give people chills just thinking about it! When General Ma stayed the night, the girls finished with their own clients and went to sleep elsewhere.”

Head Constable Zhang, speaking for his superiors, scolded, “Why didn’t you make that clear before?! Why wait until we ask?”

Fifth Niang said, “No one asked — I didn’t dare volunteer things.”

Everyone sighed, noting this down to be asked about more carefully later. Zhù Ying then slowly made her way toward the back gate. Leaving the main room, she was back on the ground where she could draw her circles again. She drew them all the way to the small rear gate, which was now sealed from the outside — though the bolt was on the inside.

She had now finished a complete pass, and returned to the front of the room, telling Bao the Evaluating Official to go inside: “Bolt the door.”

Bao the Evaluating Official rubbed his arms. “What for?”

Zhù Ying said, “Let’s see if the door can be opened from the outside.”

Opening a door or window from the outside was not particularly difficult — a wire, a hairpin, sometimes a strip of copper or wood could do it.

Head Constable Zhang thought to himself: that’s true enough.

The fit of this door was quite snug; the door panels were not flush but interlocking, so that when closed there was no gap in the middle — the carpentry was clearly excellent. The windows were the same. Zhù Ying assessed the situation, suppressed the urge to show off her skills in front of them all, and said, “Come on out.”

Head Constable Zhang said, “A seasoned criminal could open it. And you don’t even need to do that — lift the panel on one side off its hinges and that does it too.”

Wang Yunhe had someone find a way to open the door and windows, and nodded at Zhù Ying. “Note this down.”

Zhù Ying went to the small rear gate of the courtyard next. This she had already looked at before and was confident about — the gate panel was very loose, with wide gaps, and the bolt could easily be slipped open with something like a hairpin.

The footprints at the rear gate were very few; Zhù Ying made out four: one belonging to Fifth Niang’s son, known by the nickname Xiao Fan; one belonging to a woman whose footprints didn’t match anyone presently visible; and two constables who had probably come here to patrol or post the seal.

She then went to look at the room where Zhou You had stayed — which was Ling Ling’s room. The footprints here were much neater and fewer than in the room where General Ma had died — which was Yingying’s room. She identified Zhou You’s footprints; this man had also not approached the rear gate; in fact, he had only two rows of prints going to the front door — one going in and one going out, without any back-and-forth at all. This room also had some of the establishment’s own footprints in it.

After she had finished, Zhù Ying was increasingly sure of her suspicions. Wang Yunhe waved his hand and had the whole of Fifth Niang’s establishment sealed. Fifth Niang actually started crying. “Magistrate, magistrate — how are we to live? Please, at least leave us somewhere to stay!” She had been hoping to avoid having the whole place sealed, just as before — only the specific rooms related to the case.

Wang Yunhe said, “Take them in.”

Head Constable Zhang said, “Plenty of room in the holding cells!”

Fifth Niang stared, utterly stunned — she hadn’t imagined she’d end up making a trip to the capital prefectural office. Zhù Ying sidled up to Pei Qing and said quietly, “Sir — ask the capital prefectural office to keep the detainees held separately. It might yield something.”

Pei Qing said quietly, “What have you seen?”

Zhù Ying said, “I don’t have enough certainty to tell you yet. But after we get back to the prefectural office, there may be some clues to follow.”

Pei Qing nodded and spoke to Wang Yunhe, who said, “Of course!”

——

Everyone made their way back to the capital prefectural office with the detainees. Fifth Niang kept pulling her sleeve across her face to hide it, cursing the murderer’s entire ancestry in her heart. Which cut-throat bastard had killed someone in her establishment?!

At the capital prefectural office, Wang Yunhe still didn’t interrogate anyone right away. He first had the men and women separated into different holding cells. He then gathered all the investigators from both offices together for another review of the case.

He opened: “Not Zhou You?”

Fan Shaoqi was startled. “How did you know?”

Wang Yunhe fixed his gaze on Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying said, “Zhou You’s footprints coming and going from Ling Ling’s courtyard are just two — one in, one out — unless he can fly.”

Fan Shaoqi drew a sharp breath; He Jing asked, “Are you sure?”

Pei Qing said, “If it’s not him, isn’t that all the better? As long as he’s cleared, His Majesty won’t hold us to the fifteen-day limit, and we can take our time solving the case properly.”

Fat chance, He Jing thought. If Zhou You was wrongly accused, he’d be storming the capital prefectural office gate — and it was the capital prefectural office that had arrested him! True, Wang Yunhe had been at court then, but the capital prefectural office had gone ahead and arrested Zhou You on an apparent caught-in-the-act charge, and with Wang Yunhe to back them up, they’d done it boldly enough. In the old days, you could just pin it all on Zhou You — it’s not like Zhou You could find the real culprit himself, so let him take the blame; he could handle it. But not now, not with the Court of Judicial Review on the scene.

He Jing stared intently at Zhù Ying. “Are you absolutely sure?”

Zhù Ying said helplessly, “I want it to be him even more than you do.”

Wang Yunhe knew the circumstances, pressed his right fist to his lips, and gave a cough. “That remark stays in this room.”

Head Constable Zhang thought to himself: if she has a grudge against Zhou You, that would at least explain why she came to steal the case away.

Wang Yunhe asked again, “What else did you see?”

Zhù Ying said quietly, “There is a woman who has never appeared — yet her footprints are in Yingying’s courtyard. And there are no footprints belonging to Yingying herself in Yingying’s courtyard.”

Wang Yunhe said, “You’re sure?”

Zhù Ying said, “Yes. I… suspect this is a case of substitution. The woman in the coroner’s hall is not Yingying. The coroner’s woman has flat feet — the prints in the courtyard don’t belong to flat feet. Then there’s Xiao Fan — he’s also wrong. He entered carrying something heavy, and on the way out he was moving alongside a woman, supporting her.”

Pei Qing said, “Be very careful making claims like that!”

The room was astonished; everyone murmured among themselves. Even the capital prefectural office’s constables, who had been annoyed with her, stared at her in disbelief. Coroner Yang said, “Flat feet?”

Zhù Ying said, “Yes. The shoes don’t belong to the body either — a person’s sole and gait wear down the shoe differently. Have the women identify the body one by one, and ask them why they say this is Yingying — the answer may be there.”

People were still in doubt; Wang Yunhe said, “Interrogate!”

Fifth Niang was brought up first; He Jing conducted the questioning. Fifth Niang was a woman who had seen much of the world — she could entertain high officials, but being cross-examined in the capital prefectural office still left her rattled inwardly.

She dared not shift blame onto Zhou You, and even less could she admit to any involvement — she could only cry her innocence. But He Jing was no warm and kindly man; a slap of his court block and he ordered, “Twenty strokes first.”

After the twenty strokes, he questioned her again. The twenty strokes had hurt, but they weren’t crushing; Fifth Niang could still speak coherently. Seeing that He Jing was not a gentle soul, Fifth Niang became more forthcoming. “Yingying really is dead! That outfit was newly made this very year! That silk flower — very fashionable, cost me five hundred coins!”

Zhù Ying, standing to one side listening, thought to herself: dammit — I’m going to go learn to make silk flowers tomorrow.

He Jing had Fifth Niang escorted to view the body and make a careful examination. Fifth Niang said, “It’s her! Or else where did this outfit come from?”

The courtesans were also brought in to identify the body; they all said it was Yingying, because both the build and the clothing were hers. Pei Qing asked Zhù Ying quietly, “Is it really not her?”

He Jing then had the women look at the female corpse’s feet, and finally it was Ling Ling who said, “This foot isn’t Yingying’s! It— it— it looks more like Yanyan’s!”

It turned out that because of the Feng Furen case some time ago, a few of the younger girls in the brothel had privately taken off their shoes and socks to look at their own feet. Yanyan had a mole on her foot that the others had teased her about, and so they remembered it. Actually, Yanyan’s mother had also been an official courtesan, not one who had been demoted into servitude midway through. Yanyan’s build and Yingying’s were very similar.

He Jing was furious and had Fifth Niang brought back to be beaten further.

Frightened by the beatings, Fifth Niang said, “Yanyan was already dead! How would I have thought to connect it to a dead person?”

“When did she die?”

“Just a couple of days before.”

“Mm? When we asked you, why didn’t you say so?”

Fifth Niang was also frustrated. “For a house like ours, girls dying young — isn’t that common? We even reported it to the capital prefectural office and had her name struck from the register!”

“How could you be so careless?”

Fifth Niang was so close to bitter laughter, even after the beatings, that she could only suppress her anger and try to maintain the same soft, graceful composure she wore in ordinary times. “This is a common thing — young girls don’t last. They stay a few years, and then when they’re past their prime and worn out, they either move on elsewhere or they go to the graveyard…”

“Where is the body?”

“Carried out and buried, of course…”

He Jing had Fifth Niang taken away and rushed back to report. By now the lanterns had been lit; their light made Wang Yunhe’s face look very grim. He said, “It could actually come to this!”

He also said, “Have them make identifications — confirm exactly who it is!” Then he gathered everyone and insisted that everyone present was to keep what had happened today strictly confidential. Interrogation would continue the next morning; the identity of the deceased had to be confirmed.

Everyone received a pass from him and went their separate ways home. Outside the capital prefectural office, Pei Qing gave Zhù Ying a pat on the shoulder and said with a laugh, “Well done! Haha!”

Bao the Evaluating Official and the Court of Judicial Review’s clerks all said, “Master Little Zhù — impressive work!”

Zhù Ying said, “Don’t say that yet — it may not be as I think. And even if it is, the real culprit still hasn’t come out.”

Bao the Evaluating Official said, “Xiao Fan looks likely. What if we interrogate him tomorrow?”

Pei Qing said, “Don’t speculate rashly! Everyone go home, and I want to see all of you at the Court of Judicial Review tomorrow! Anyone who lets this leak and ruins things — I’ll deal with them!”

Everyone agreed.

Pei Qing then brought Bao the Evaluating Official and Zhù Ying with him to Prefect Zheng’s residence to report in person to Zheng Xi that evening.

Zhù Ying stood to one side without trying to get a word in; she waited for Pei Qing to finish, and then Zheng Xi said, “Zi Cheng has worked hard. Sanlang should also be a little more modest — don’t let a pleased expression show at the capital prefectural office.” He also said Bao the Evaluating Official had worked hard too.

Bao the Evaluating Official said, “It is entirely due to the Prefect’s coordination from the center, Vice Minister Pei’s able direction, and the remarkable abilities of Judicial Officer Zhù — this official was merely along for the journey.”

Zheng Xi said, “You also did your part.” Not tripping things up was itself quite good; being a reliable partner on the road was not bad at all.

Zheng Xi also asked Zhù Ying, “Are you confident?”

Zhù Ying said, “It will be the third day at dawn; there are still plenty of days before fifteen. Better to also go through the social circles of General Ma and Zhou You to see if either had enemies. Better safe than sorry.”

Zheng Xi smiled. “Up to your mischief again. Fine. Zi Cheng — tomorrow I’ll mention it to Magistrate Wang as well; you bring it up with their deputy prefect too. Do a thorough check. If the deceased is not Yingying, then where she went is very important and must be traced. Two tracks at once.”

Pei Qing, Zhù Ying, and Bao the Evaluating Official all said, “The Prefect is wise.”

Zheng Xi said, “Zi Cheng and Sanlang will continue working with the capital prefectural office tomorrow,” and pointing to Bao the Evaluating Official said, “You — quietly go around the flower street and the surrounding area and ask whether there has been anyone seen resembling Yingying.”

Bao the Evaluating Official was a little excited by this assignment. “Yes.”

Zheng Xi then let them go.

——

Zhù Ying gripped her pass and deliberately slipped through the night patrol’s grasp to test her own agility, making it all the way home without having to show the pass once — an inward source of deep satisfaction.

Drawing near her own courtyard, she suddenly frowned — the Zhù household had guests! Several horses were tethered at the gate!

Moving closer, she recognized one of the horses as Jin Liang’s. She let out a long breath and stepped forward, knocking on the gate. “I’m back!”

Jin Liang came to open it personally and said, “What a busy person you are!”

Zhù Ying craned her neck to look inside. “Hmm? You’ve brought a group of men to have it out with me on behalf of your comrades?”

Jin Liang pulled her inside. “You already know — good! Come on, let’s have a proper talk.”

Seeing that he didn’t look angry, only a bit urgent, Zhù Ying said, “All right. Mother, A’Jie — help with some tea, please. Don’t worry — it’s nothing serious.”

Jin Liang glared at her; Zhù Ying smiled and said, “The man is already dead — you’d better think about how you’re going to handle the aftermath.”

The two went to Zhù Ying’s room — in the small reception room in the middle, four burly men were seated, packing the small round table to overflowing. They all looked at Zhù Ying with urgency, measuring and assessing her. Jin Liang made introductions: these were his comrades from the southern army. Zhù Ying said, “I know — the two on the left almost came to blows with the imperial guards at the capital prefectural office gate yesterday; the one on the right was there, but in civilian clothes. Only the last one wasn’t present anywhere.”

Jin Liang said, “Well? My little friend here — worth something, right?”

The one who hadn’t been present rose and cupped his fists. “Sorry to intrude so late at night. We’re rough men, not good with words. Jin Da said Prefect Zheng’s office won’t cover for anyone. But we worry that even if the Court of Judicial Review doesn’t want to, all kinds of personal obligations may be too much to handle. We don’t need the Court of Judicial Review to openly announce anything. We just want to know the truth. The Zheng household won’t tell us, so we had no choice but to come on the strength of Jin Da’s friendship and ask the young friend here.”

Zhù Ying took the tea tray that Zhang Xiangu handed over, set it on the table in passing, and gave Zhang Xiangu a push. “No need to watch — go to sleep. This is nothing serious.” And she shut her outside the door.

Turning around, Jin Liang had already finished pouring the tea and handed Zhù Ying a cup. Zhù Ying said, “Dammit — I forgot to eat dinner. The case has a fifteen-day limit; there’s still time. Why are you all in such a rush? Even if you wanted to take private revenge, Zhou You is still in prison. Jin Elder Brother — you’re not usually someone who loses his nerve!”

Jin Liang said, “I’d like to keep my nerve, but I’m afraid the others will lose theirs. The thing is, if it had been handed over to the capital prefectural office or the Court of Judicial Review from the start, that would have been one thing. But with the imperial guards getting involved, and Zhou You’s uncles and elders trying to protect him, and His Majesty taking sides — naturally tempers run high. The southern army and northern army, once they start fighting, get branded with a label and nobody comes out well. Then…”

Jin Liang was a southern army man and also one of Prefect Zheng’s old retainers — whatever happened, there could be no incident.

Zhù Ying looked at the other four; they all said, “We need justice for Old Ma.”

Zhù Ying said, “What a coincidence — I have a few questions about General Ma that I’d like to ask.”

“As long as it can clear Old Ma’s name, ask anything you like! We’ll answer everything. As long as justice is done for Old Ma, we will repay you generously!”

Zhù Ying said, “No need for repayment — I’m not accepting gifts for this.”

They all smiled, having already found out that Zhù Ying’s household had not accepted the Zhou family’s gifts — that was precisely why they’d come; no need to tell Zhù Ying that.

Zhù Ying said, “Was General Ma a saint who had cultivated virtue through ten lifetimes?”

What?

Jin Liang said, “Don’t go back to your old trade right now.”

Zhù Ying shot him a glance; Jin Liang closed his mouth. The one who had nearly charged into a brawl asked, “Friend — what do you mean by that?”

Zhù Ying said, “Zhou You’s father left him such immense protection! If General Ma isn’t a man of ten lifetimes’ virtue, I’m afraid his merit won’t be enough to break Zhou You’s charmed shield — he might even find himself controlled by it.”

Jin Liang asked, “What do you mean?”

Zhù Ying said, “From what I’ve seen today, ninety-nine percent certain it’s not Zhou You. Now both offices are being grilled over a fire. It’s not enough for me to say so — the two offices need to find the real culprit before they’ll take my word for it! To find the real culprit, every person, event, and object connected to the victim needs to be sifted through. General Ma — can he bear scrutiny?”

The several southern army officers said together, “Old Ma was a good man!”

Zhù Ying said, “Did he beat his wife? Curse his children? Punish his subordinates? Don’t tell me ‘all men are like that’ — every one of those counts as cruelty and heartlessness. And then there’s the fact that he died in a brothel — that could also be called a lack of personal virtue.”

She watched Jin Liang struggle to hold back four colleagues, barely keeping one down before another sprang up, and laughed. “The common folk aren’t interested in how righteous your General Ma was. They love a twisted story. Dying in a brothel, preceded by a quarrel — this is the kind of tale that will live on people’s tongues for two months. Whatever you say to defend him, the more you protest, the more enthusiastically they’ll talk, certain you’re covering something up. The best thing is to ignore it and let it pass. Or bury it under something else more worth gossiping about. Right now not only are you lot making a scene, but his daughter has joined in too. It can’t be suppressed.”

Besides — from the female corpse and the reputation in the pleasure quarter — tsk — this General Ma, inwardly, might not be so fine.

Jin Liang said, “Stop talking in circles — what should we do? Just let Zhou You walk away?”

Zhù Ying asked, “Why are you even more set against Zhou You than I am?”

At this the southern army men looked at each other with suspicion. Zhù Ying said, “Which is it — do you want to find the real culprit, or just sink your teeth into Zhou You?”

“The real culprit is really not him?”

“Nine out of ten it isn’t! Do you still want to escalate things? That won’t help Old Ma. And it won’t help that young lady, either. She’s already stirred things up. If — just suppose — Zhou You gets out, you know how he is. That young lady — if her father’s name gets dragged through the mud, she’s going to have an even harder time of it going forward.”

Jin Liang said, “That child’s disposition — she’s stubborn through and through. Old Ma was a good father; he was very careful in bringing her up: made her study books, made her manage the household. Old Ma…”

Zhù Ying said, “I will find the real culprit. Even the evidence that’s inconvenient to state openly, I can handle… You all need to think clearly about this: if it’s not Zhou You, how are you going to handle that?”

The several southern army officers said together, “We want the real culprit! As long as there’s solid proof! As for Zhou You — if he’s innocent, we’ll apologize to him!”

Jin Liang said quickly, “Have you lost your minds?! He’ll walk all over you!”

The southern army men all stood and cupped their fists at Zhù Ying. “We trust Jin Da. Jin Da vouched for you, so we trust you too. Friend — don’t disappoint us!”

Zhù Ying said, “All right then — I admire your sense of loyalty. I’ll find the real culprit; and whatever I uncover, whoever it turns out to be, I’ll tell you all my suspicions. You can decide for yourselves what to do. If something unflattering about Old Ma comes up in the investigation, I’ll do my best to cover it up. If I can’t cover it up, I’ll help you think of a way. If it really can’t be suppressed, just don’t blame me.”

“Many thanks!”

“You’re welcome — I’m doing this out of respect for Jin Elder Brother. If it had been a few strangers who came like this, I wouldn’t have seen them.”

Jin Liang sighed and walked out last, and asked, “Old Ma…”

“I looked at the female corpse — the marks on the body weren’t pretty. Are you sure Old Ma had no particular… tastes?”

Jin Liang said, “His wife passed away a couple of years ago; a man who goes to a brothel and gets a favorite there — nothing unusual about that.”

“Mm?”

“Hey… don’t say anything to my sister-in-law, all right?” Jin Liang said quietly. “It can’t be jealousy, can it? Over a woman at a brothel?”

Zhù Ying said, “That, I really can’t say. Just be mentally prepared — he may not be exactly a model gentleman.”

Jin Liang’s heart sank. He cupped his fists and left.