By the time Zhù Ying got home it was well into the night, the sound of insects seeming louder than usual. She didn’t knock at the door but climbed over the wall and up the roof as she always did, landing in the courtyard quiet as a cat.

The west wing’s window glowed with an amber light — Huajie was still there waiting. Zhù Ying pushed the west wing door open; Huajie said: “You’re back?”

“Mm.” Zhù Ying answered while washing her hands.

Huajie saw she was back and was reassured. She had always trusted Zhù Ying, and slept soundly through the night. In two other places in the capital, however, three people got not a wink of sleep.

…

The young woman Fu was far from sleeping soundly. She had been drifting in and out when a sudden fright woke her. She was a woman who could read; she snatched up the slip of paper and quickly lit a lamp to read it. A few lines of characters — instructions. The slip told her: if she wanted to be free of her husband, the following afternoon at a certain hour she was to go to a certain place. When she saw an older couple, she was to tell them her story. Burn after reading. Appended was a code word: “Danggui.”

Across the way, in the back street of the pleasure quarter, Niu Jin unfolded the paper ball and it too bore a few lines of characters — instructions. It told him and his wife: if they wanted to get their daughter back, the following afternoon at a certain hour they were to go to a certain place. When they saw a young woman, they were to tell her their story. Burn after reading. Appended was a code word: “Pear.”

The young woman Fu, holding the slip of paper, thought: could it be the Buddha is showing his power and sending me to meet someone who can help me break free of this suffering?

The Niu husband and wife, holding the slip, thought: could it be that sincerity reaches the divine, and someone is sending us to meet someone who can help us get our daughter back?

Both sides lost all desire for sleep.

The young woman Fu sat at her table staring at the slip, straining to memorize the address and code word, then looked at the words “burn after reading” and hesitated. Burn it and she’d have no proof, no backup if something went wrong. Don’t burn it, and the mysterious help might stop coming. Should she go tomorrow? If she didn’t go, she could see where it was headed — straight into the fire. If she did go, would it actually help?

The Niu husband and wife were the same. The pleasure quarter by now had some guests already asleep, though many lights still burned. They’d been standing outside this particular house for days; the nightwatchman went by and shook his head: “You can’t just keep standing here. It’s already like this tonight — she can’t take guests. Go rest.” The couple had stood there a while, then went home to discuss their options. Niu Da’niang said: “Just go and look. The child can’t wait.” Niu Jin said: “What if it’s a con?” Niu Da’niang said: “They didn’t ask us for money. Just go look.”

The bell in the tower struck. Niu Jin made his decision: “Then we go see!”

On the other side, the young woman Fu was also jolted awake by the bell: what if I go and then what? If I don’t go — I might get through today, but can I get through tomorrow?

The time written on the slip was afternoon. Both parties, twisting with anxiety, kept reading the time and place over and over.

The young woman Fu thought: I’ll get there early, stay nearby, watch whether anyone goes in, see whether this person is human or a ghost.

The Niu husband and wife planned: get there early and see who’s arranged this!

The young woman Fu ate a few bites of breakfast, then entrusted her son to the abbess: “I’m going out to see if I can borrow some money to buy some time. I can’t leave right now — if I leave, he won’t look after the child.” The abbess said: “Amitabha, go then. Remember you still have a child here.”

The young woman Fu went out the main gate and, in the flow of people coming and going, said loudly to her husband: “I’m going to borrow money! The child is still in here — if you’re any kind of human being, don’t take it out on the child!” Her husband had been intending to seize her and drag her back, but if she was going to borrow money, that was not entirely out of the question. He said: “I’ll wait right here. If you don’t come back, I’ll lay it all on this nest of bald-headed thieves and demand the person!”

The young woman Fu turned back into the nunnery, sobbed hard, then, supporting her head, went out through the back door.

She arrived at the designated location — an abandoned, derelict courtyard. The season had left it thick with overgrown weeds; good for hiding. She stood outside looking for a suitable place to conceal herself. At that very moment, two other people approached from the other direction. She moved to hide, but her head wound hadn’t healed; she moved too quickly, her vision went dark, and she stumbled and sat down hard on the ground.

The young woman Fu’s noise drew the Niu husband and wife’s attention — they had also arrived early. Niu Jin in front, Niu Da’niang behind, the two of them tiptoed over and asked: “Young woman, why are you here alone?”

The young woman Fu looked up at these two people and answered: “I was just passing by…”

Both sides froze. The young woman Fu looked: this abandoned derelict house, one older couple. The Niu husband and wife looked: one young woman. Both sides felt something — but were not quite sure. The Niu couple’s clothes were not fine, but clean and presentable without patches — well within the realm of a fairly well-off household’s steward. But the young woman Fu wore plain cloth, patches at the sleeves and elbows, and a bandage on her head; however you looked at her, she did not seem like someone capable of helping the Niu family.

Yet when the four eyes met, both sides had the feeling that this must be the one. Still neither dared make the first move. Niu Da’niang helped the young woman Fu to her feet; the young woman Fu thanked her. Then both sides randomly chose a direction to walk, moved off — but not too far, keeping that derelict courtyard in sight, waiting until the agreed time had passed. And both thought: could it be…?

Niu Da’niang nudged Niu Jin. The young woman Fu, holding her head, and both sides carefully made their way back toward the derelict courtyard. Reaching the gate, both stopped.

Niu Da’niang pointed at the building: “You too?”

The young woman Fu said: “You also?”

And so, outside the courtyard gate, they faced each other.

The young woman Fu said: “Danggui.”

Niu Jin said: “Pear.”

The code words matched. They needed a place where they could speak, and neither could spare the time. In the end they supported each other inside the tumbledown place.

The courtyard gate made a creak as it fell shut behind them.

Inside the main hall of the courtyard, a thick layer of dust lay everywhere — no sign at all of any recent occupation. The three had no time for ceremony; they told each other their stories. The young woman Fu heard it: the Niu husband and wife couldn’t even save their own foster-daughter — she could only curse: “She fell from your own body. If you don’t want her, that’s one thing — but to actively harm her? You had the chance to let her live decently — why insist on making her into a ghost?”

As she said it, she thought of her own son. She had run away — there was no help for it — and thought the son would have food enough under the clan’s eye. She absolutely could not bring herself to take a child with her at the time. She could not understand in any way why a mother would do this to her own daughter! If she could have taken her son away, she would have! The young woman Fu couldn’t hold back her tears.

Niu Da’niang thought of her foster-daughter, so much effort invested, and faced with this helplessness, she cried too.

Niu Jin took a dim view of the young woman Fu’s husband: “He contracted the vice to begin with — that alone was already wrong. When he’d gambled away the estate was precisely the time to repent and reform. Even a prodigal who returns is not beyond salvage. But to beat a small child and coerce his wife — a tiger does not eat its own cubs. Truly worse than an animal!”

Niu Jin’s heart suddenly moved, and he said: “My daughter — danggui. And you ought to separate from your husband.”

The young woman Fu said: “That would be absolutely wonderful!”

Niu Da’niang said: “Let’s still think about what to do! The children are both suffering.”

This one sentence snapped the other two out of it. The slips of paper had shown them where to meet, but had given no instructions for what came next. Surely just meeting each other wasn’t going to settle everything? Both pulled out their slips. They were astonished to find the ink had faded. Niu Da’niang started: “Oh no! Could it be because we didn’t burn the slips, and so now they won’t help us?”

Niu Jin said: “Don’t panic. If we burn them now it’s not too late!”

The young woman Fu pointed at the table: “Look!”

On that table was a thick layer of dust — and on it lay a piece of paper with a new flint-and-steel set beside it. They picked up the flint and tinder; Niu Jin struck a fire and burned the slips. The young woman Fu produced hers and they were burned in the same flame. Niu Da’niang then made a new discovery: she lifted the paper that had been underneath and said: “There are characters on this one too.”

The three leaned over and looked. It read: Mutual Aid to Remove Harm.

All three felt a jolt in their chests. Reading on, the writing was simple and direct. As long as the young woman Fu’s husband lived, he could blight her entire life — not just hers, but also her son’s. She could not truly abandon her son — so that man had to die. The Niu family’s foster-daughter was the same — the birth mother had been confirmed even by the Niu couple themselves. There was no way to say she wasn’t the original child; the old courtesan was iron-set on taking her daughter back, and there was no one who could stop that. She also had to die.

But you cannot do it yourselves — so you help each other. “Mutual Aid.” If willing: go to the tree behind the house and take a box. Inside are two letters explaining the method. If not willing: burn after reading, and both of you go back to your separate misfortunes, each to suffer in your own way. A reminder: counting on evil people to have a sudden change of heart is a dream. Even if they repent, you will have already suffered the consequences. By the time they repent, both women will have been sold who knows how many times and passed through who knows how many hands. If you don’t mind that outcome, also fine. It’s nothing to do with anyone else either way.

Both sides felt their hearts pounding wildly.

They were filled with shock, hesitation, fear — and a thread of: could this be permitted?

They wanted to leave, yet their feet would not move.

The young woman Fu thought of herself, then of her son, then of her husband who had already brought a buyer to take her. The buyer was older than her own late father. The buyer’s principal wife was a formidable woman. In her youth, any concubine, maid, or serving woman who dared grow close to her husband was sold away if it was light, mutilated if it was serious. So to this day she had no son. That was why she wanted someone else to bear a child.

The Niu husband and wife had been standing outside the pleasure quarter for days. They had watched the dissipated young lords, the various old and middle-aged and young men, all manner of strange figures coming and going. Were they willing or not?

The young woman Fu shifted her feet. Niu Da’niang also moved. Niu Jin, using the pretext of “burning this piece of paper too,” deliberated. The paper was burnt. He picked up the flint-and-steel and said: “Let’s look first at what kind of letters they are, then decide.”

…

The Niu husband and wife returned home. Neighbors asked with concern: “Niu Old Master — any leads? Maybe you should just go file a complaint with the authorities?”

Niu Jin smiled bitterly: “That’s her birth mother.”

“I just heard something — maybe it can help you.”

“What is it?!” Niu Da’niang asked urgently.

The neighbor said: “Yesterday at Wannian County there was a case — a minor official apparently said, whoever wants to take the person, first pay one hundred strings…”

Niu Jin said: “That was a minor official — only someone of that standing could do something like that. We raised this child — even if she produced the money, would I really sell our daughter back to her? Price it as high as you like — for people like us, raising a child, how much does it really cost? “

The neighbor sighed: “Then what can you do?”

Niu Jin thought of what his letter had said and replied: “Since it can’t be settled with reason, and we can’t just rush into a lawsuit, let me go find someone who specializes in lawsuits.”

The neighbor said: “In the capital these days, what good litigants are left? The skilled and resourceful ones are either dead or have fled.”

Niu Jin said: “Still have to try.”

“It’s already late today.”

“The time is tight — let me go look for the person first, and arrange a meeting. We can talk in detail tomorrow — woman, hurry!”

The neighbor sighed behind them: “Such a fine girl!”

The neighbor also knew the Niu foster-daughter having watched her grow up. Going home, they lit a stick of incense before the small household Buddha image: “Buddha Buddha, open your eyes — let that old vile woman die tonight, right there where she stands!”

The Niu husband and wife went out looking and, following the directions from the letter, found a destitute-scholar litigant living in a small single room. The litigant, seeing business at the door, first lit up: “Come in, come in — whether it’s property disputes, assault, or marital cases — guaranteed to win!” Then he went cautious: “There’s nothing illegal going on, I hope?”

Niu Jin said: “Nothing like that. It’s about our daughter. We came in a hurry today — didn’t bring a gift. Tomorrow—” he looked over the litigant’s cramped living quarters— “tomorrow morning, I invite the gentleman to the tea house over there to discuss in detail.”

The litigant said: “Fine!”

The Niu husband and wife went home. That night they still slept poorly. Early the next day they got up; Niu Da’niang couldn’t eat. Niu Jin went out and bought breakfast. Niu Da’niang said: “We’re having guests soon — I can’t eat now either. Let’s wait and eat a little with them.”

The two of them hurried to the tea house. It was early morning — working people were busy, and those without work were not out wandering yet. Just this one table of guests; the proprietor and server had no choice but to see them. The litigant and the Niu couple exchanged greetings. Niu Jin ordered tea, fruit, pastries, and a breakfast with meat dishes. The litigant ate a good half-meal and then asked: “Old Master, what exactly is the matter?” Niu Da’niang opened her mouth already choked up with tears.

“Madam, don’t rush. Tell it slowly.”

Niu Jin told it, while Niu Da’niang sobbed alongside. Between one telling and one crying, the proprietor and server — now with idle time — came over to listen too. The litigant had finally pieced together what had happened, and his first question showed he knew his business: “That courtesan — official or private?”

Niu Jin said: “Private.”

The litigant’s mouth was faster than his brain — he’d already asked and now regretted it. He hadn’t had a substantial case in a long time and had gotten a bit too eager. He cleared his throat: “To speak plainly — there have been precedents for foster-parental bond to take precedence over birth-parental bond, but those were cases where both sides were of equivalent social standing. In your situation — one party is of base status, one party is common folk. The mixing of base and common status is already against propriety. Her reclaiming the child, along with the argument of a daughter supporting her mother in old age — by reason and by feeling it all holds. I expect Old Master already understands this in your own heart — otherwise you wouldn’t have been standing watch outside that private courtesan house.”

Niu Jin said: “Gentleman, just tell us what can be done — I will be generously grateful.”

The litigant leisurely ate another piece of braised pork, wiped his mouth, and finally said: “A private one is easier to manage than an official one. If she were official, I’d urge you to give up. Private — there’s still room. But it requires…” He made a money-rubbing gesture.

Niu Jin said: “As long as the case can be won.”

Another round of haggling. Niu Jin said: “Left in a hurry — didn’t bring money. Gentleman, rest assured — you and I can draw up a document…”

“Ah ah ah — that won’t do!” The litigant said. The authorities didn’t like litigants — and he was going to write a document? Asking to be beaten?

Niu Jin said: “Give me time to raise the money. Come to my home later in the afternoon and collect it.”

The litigant said: “Understood! I’ll go write the petition right now — your matter can’t afford to wait!” Niu Jin had the proprietor pack up food for the litigant to take home. The litigant accepted the paper parcel without objection and took his leave. But the proprietor was a warm-hearted soul; he came and sat across from Niu Jin: “Old Master — you can’t trust this person! With that money, better hire a couple of men and spirit the girl away and hide her. Far more reliable than finding him!”

Niu Da’niang had actually been thinking: “Since the lawsuit can win — why still kill anyone? Is killing people easy?” Hearing the proprietor put it this way, she quickly asked: “What do you mean?”

“All these big talkers, not one of them comes through! The skilled, resourceful litigants of the capital — they’ve either been sent away in exile or they’ve fled. This one — did you see how he dressed? The way he ate like a starving ghost come back to life — does he look like a capable person? Don’t let him con away your old-age savings and your daughter still not be rescued. With that money, you could negotiate with that old madam for a price and buy the daughter back yourself!”

The Niu couple took in a good earful from the proprietor, and returned home full of hesitation. They had half-genuinely raised some of the money. When the litigant arrived that afternoon, Niu Jin said: “Still short five strings.” The litigant said: “Old Master, this really is — if you were going to bargain, you should have bargained this morning. I’ve already written a half-finished petition and brought it — the price you’re offering now is only the price of the first half. I’ll have to tear off the second half and give you just the first.”

While the two were still negotiating, suddenly a neighbor came rushing in: “Niu Old Master! Great news! The Buddha has shown his power!”

Niu Jin stood up: “What great news have I got?”

“Ah — that old madam — this morning someone found her drowned in a well! There’s a broken wine jug at her gate too — drunk and fell in! Go get your daughter quickly! Don’t let someone else get ahead of you!”

The Niu couple was overjoyed. Niu Jin said to the litigant: “Sorry to have made you come for nothing. The breakfast this morning was on me. Here’s five hundred copper cash — take it home for a cart.”

The litigant still wanted to argue: “Her identity is already known to people — don’t you want to file a case to legally reclaim her?”

The neighbor spoke first: “What sort of person are you, with such bad manners?! The child’s birth mother is gone — doesn’t it fall to the foster parents? She’s not an official courtesan — private. Pay a little money and she’s redeemed. Niu Old Master, keep the money — you still need a sum to go bring your daughter home!”

Niu Jin felt as if doused with cold water: “Right, right. Woman — put the money away — let’s go bring our daughter home.”

…

The river surface in the early morning was covered with a thin mist — barely any at all. The whole pleasure quarter was sleeping. Exhausted from half a night’s work, they still needed to wait just a little longer before getting up, sending guests off, and getting on with the day. The young woman Fu was terribly tense. Her letter had told her to come at this time and said: from a certain door, a woman would come out carrying a letter. This woman would stand not far from the well by the river bank. All she needed to do was one light push, and it would be done.

By some unseen hand, everything had already been arranged for her.

Could it really work?

The young woman Fu hid behind a willow tree, watching that small door — and a woman really did come out wearing a large red gauze skirt, her walk somewhat less than modest, yet her bearing still retaining a trace of former attraction. This woman walked to the well, passed the willow where she was hiding, and sure enough was carrying a letter.

The young woman Fu waited patiently — several times she reached her hand out, then pulled it back behind the tree. The woman seemed to run out of patience as well and cursed at the river: “What kind of game is this? Keeping old niang waiting — are you mocking me?” She took out the letter and looked at it again, muttering: “Three hundred strings — three hundred strings is still too little. I need to ask him for five hundred strings — and twenty bolts of fine fabric, no, forty bolts.”

The young woman Fu no longer hesitated!

She lunged forward! With a splash, the woman fell into the well. The young woman Fu grabbed the letter, wrenching it away, then ducked back behind the willow. The pleasure quarter slept on. Finally, not a sound from the well.

The young woman Fu’s heart pounded wildly.

She had killed someone!

Not a white blade in, red blade out. Just that light push.

The paper was crumpled in her grip; she smoothed it out and read the contents: someone wanted to buy this woman’s daughter, but because of all the commotion she had created it had drawn too much attention, so they did not want to go to the house openly, and did not want others to know. If willing, come to the well outside in the early morning when there are no people, carrying the letter, to discuss face to face. The offer was three hundred strings — of course, negotiable.

The young woman Fu rolled the letter into a ball and tucked it into her robe.

She ran at full speed to the nunnery. She sat on the ground leaning against the back gate, so tense her hands and feet were shaking, with no memory at all of how she had gotten back. After what felt like a very long time, a young nun came in and said: “Young woman, why are you here?”

The young woman Fu hugged her head and said: “I went out early to try to beg some money. Didn’t eat breakfast and my head felt a little faint. Sitting here to recover.”

The young nun helped her up: “Let’s go back inside and figure things out slowly.”

The young woman Fu went inside and said: “I’m better now. Let me go help in the kitchen and then bring a bowl of porridge to the child.”

“The Master says, give the young boy one egg too.”

“Ah… yes!”

While ladling porridge, she casually threw the paper ball into the stove, watching the fire there dim for a moment and then brighten, slowly burning the paper ball to ash.

Watching the stove fire, she thought: what about my situation? Will they keep their word?

The kitchen grew more busy. The young woman Fu helped ladle the porridge into large buckets, watched the nuns carry them out for breakfast, then ladled two bowls from the bottom of the pot for herself, took a white-boiled egg, returned to her room, peeled it, mashed it into the porridge, and spoon-fed her son. The child had been beaten very badly — shaken awake, he coughed blood. He opened his mouth and took one bite, looked at his mother and smiled, and said: “Mother — don’t cry.”

The young woman Fu had lost all appetite and said: “Mother isn’t crying. You eat.”

The child managed half a bowl and couldn’t manage anymore. The young woman Fu carefully lay him back down flat. She had heard the abbess say this nunnery was not very experienced in treating children’s ailments, but it was clear enough — there might be internal injury; recovery would not be easy. The young woman Fu had been hardhearted when she left, but now she was face to face with the child again, a glimmer of hope had reappeared, and she couldn’t bear to let the child go. She thought of getting the child well.

By the time the porridge had cooled, Huajie arrived, asking: “What’s the matter?”

Huajie had the nunnery on her mind. Coming today, she thought Zhù Ying must have made a move and things should be settled — but she saw the young woman Fu’s husband still outside the gate, so she came to ask if anything had changed.

The young woman Fu said: “He — can’t eat.”

Huajie said: “You eat first. I’ll watch the child for a while.”

The young woman Fu ate two bites and then suddenly asked: “Is that beast still outside?”

Huajie nodded. The young woman Fu felt both dread and hatred — and spilled some of it onto that mysterious person who had made the plan: my part is done. Why is that beast still alive?

The room was very quiet. Du Elder Sister said: “I’ll go help the abbess.” She had spent two years living here and knew the place well. Finding the abbess, she produced a document: “Master, I have a difficult matter.”

The abbess said: “Has your ordeal not passed?”

Du Elder Sister said: “This thing — I have it and it feels wrong to me. But I don’t know what to do with it.”

The abbess looked at the document: “Ah, so you owe your master. They gave it back to you?”

Du Elder Sister said: “I don’t owe any money.”

The abbess gave a long sigh: “This is to save your life. Without this money, you would have been taken away.”

“I know. But this…”

The abbess gently stroked her head: “Think it through yourself. It’s never too late.”

“Master — I’m a slow-witted person.”

The abbess said: “If you give this back to her, there can be no turning back. If you don’t give it back, when you have trouble in the future, she may not necessarily protect you.”

Du Elder Sister’s face showed distress. The abbess said: “Life is long. Think slowly.”

“Yes. Master, I’m going back to help.”

Though Du Elder Sister rarely spoke much, Huajie noticed something was off and asked: “Du Elder Sister — is something the matter?”

Du Elder Sister blurted out: “I was just thinking of the young woman Fu.”

The two of them — mistress and servant — sighed together. They looked at the young woman Fu, who sat there in a daze. Both were worried for her: she could use the child’s illness to stall a day or two, maybe three to five days. But then what? That man’s breakfast was two buns the nunnery had handed out — and he had complained there was no wine and meat, and kept saying he was taking wife and child home. The young woman Fu kept thinking: where is my result? Have they done it?

Suddenly she also remembered: wait — I still have something to do that I haven’t!

She ran out to find the abbess. The abbess was going over accounts. A young nun stopped her outside the room. The abbess put down the account book and came out: “What is it?” The young woman Fu cried: “The child — the child is coughing blood.” The abbess said: “Go — I’ll come right away.”

She came and looked at the child’s sickbed and said: “We can only do our best and let heaven decide.”

The young woman Fu cried again, then suddenly said: “Can — can we try asking another physician?” Her voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke, very embarrassed.

The abbess felt great compassion and said: “You may try. If there is a suitable one, have them come to look. I just ask that the child not be moved. And moreover, his father is still outside…”

The young woman Fu immediately stood: “I’ll go out the back gate.”

That day she went to many medicine shops begging for medicine, and many people saw her on the street. The next day she continued avoiding her husband and going out. Coming back that evening, she heard a young nun say: “The man isn’t at the gate anymore. Be careful.”

The young woman Fu knew she had brought much trouble to the nunnery — the young nuns had been shouted at in the vilest terms by that man. She said quietly: “If it really comes to it, I’ll leave. I can’t keep causing trouble for all of you.”

The young nun felt a small flash of relief but, hearing the young woman Fu say it like that, felt embarrassed, and said: “We’re all hard-luck people — we can shelter you as long as we can. If you can escape, better to run. Run far away and don’t come back — otherwise they’ll find you.”

The young woman Fu let out a bitter laugh: “Where can I run?”

While the two were talking, another nun came running in: “Young woman — go look quickly — is that your husband?”

The young woman Fu said: “Him? What’s he doing now?”

“Dead — just a street or two over in an alleyway…”

The young woman Fu jumped up as if jolted: “What?! Dead — dead — dead?!” “This is miraculous,” she said very quietly.

“Young woman?”

“I… let me go look.”

That man was lying at the edge of the road, a large bloody gash on his head, a stone lying beside it — clearly the weapon. At his feet was a cloth bag, its seams come apart, embroidered with fine cranes, with a few dice scattered around it. The ground of the alley had bamboo poles scattered across it.

The young woman Fu looked, then retreated step by step, pressing her chest, thinking: is this freedom?

She stood staring blankly and attracted attention. Someone said: “Where did this young woman come from? Frightened? Go home quickly.”

The young woman Fu drew one deep breath and said: “That is my husband.”

The bystanders all looked on with sympathy. Someone murmured: so young and already a widow — what will become of her?

Before long, constables arrived, making way through the crowd and asking: “What happened here?”

Bystanders, sympathetic toward the young woman Fu, spoke up for her in a jumble: “Her husband — just dropped dead walking down the road.”

The constables asked: “How did he die? Where is he from? Why is he here? Does he have any enemies? Come with us to Wannian County!”

The dead man was no great personage; no one like Zhou You was involved. Not enough to disturb too many powerful figures. Whatever ward the incident occurred in was in whose jurisdiction it fell. Wannian County first took the person and the body and left. The constables also asked: “Young woman, your head is also wounded — was that done by an enemy?”

The young woman Fu said: “No — I can’t go with you! My son is still sick!”

The constables were sympathetic: “Your husband died a sudden violent death — you need to come explain first. Then you can take the body home and bury it properly. Otherwise leaving your husband’s body laid out while you worry about your son is also not proper.”

However much she pleaded her son’s case, the young woman Fu was also taken to Wannian County.

…

The county office drew nearer and nearer, the young woman Fu’s heart grew more and more afraid, and her head hummed and buzzed. She clenched her teeth and kept going.

At the gate of Wannian County, in a daze, she saw a youth in green robes come smiling out from inside, saying to those inside as he walked: “No need to see me off, no need to see me off!”

The constables quickly came to pay their respects: “Minor Official Zhù.”

“Minor Official Zhù” said: “Is this — a case? Magistrate Liu, might I take a look as well? Just look — I won’t do anything.”

The Wannian County magistrate came out from inside: “Adjudicator Zhù, still the same temperament.”

The constables scrambled to pay their respects to the county magistrate.

The county magistrate’s heart sank a little at the sight of a corpse being carried in, and asked: “What happened?”

A constable said: “The neighborhood elder reported a male corpse found in an alley. When we arrived, this young woman was standing nearby saying it was her husband, so we brought them both.”

The county magistrate ordered the body and the person both brought inside, then called for the county examiner. The young woman Fu’s heart rose to her throat. She saw that Minor Official Zhù look at herself, then at the body — a look of hesitation. The county magistrate said: “Sanlang is an Adjudicator of the Court of Judicial Review — surely not…”

Court of Judicial Review? Named Zhù? Minor… Minor Official Zhù? Wait — isn’t that Lady Zhu’s younger sibling?!

The young woman Fu felt as if she had grabbed a lifeline and lunged forward: “Minor Official Zhù? Do you know Lady Zhu? I’m staying at the Compassion Blessings Nunnery… please — ask Lady Zhu to look after my son!”

“Minor Official Zhù” was astonished: “You are the young woman Fu?”

“Yes!”

The Wannian County magistrate and Zhù Ying were on cordial-face terms only. He also didn’t like Court of Judicial Review people interfering in his cases. Today Zhù Ying had come to thank him for settling a troublesome matter; there wasn’t much of a gift — just a calling card, delivered in person — a gesture of regard.

Now that this had happened, the county magistrate both didn’t want Zhù Ying to involve herself and feared that if the case were poorly handled it might be investigated. So he co-opted Zhù Ying as a “witness” and pulled her in. He asked: “Does Adjudicator Zhù know this woman?”

Zhù Ying stepped forward and in a low voice told him and the chief clerk about the young woman Fu’s situation. She said: “My elder sister mentioned it. She slammed her own head against the gate to avoid going with her husband — that’s how she got that wound. These past few days my household has also had some troubles, so I haven’t paid much attention. I thought her husband had come to his senses and left. How did he suddenly end up dead? I’d thought the one to go first would be her son — a three-year-old child beaten nearly to death by a grown man, just to force the mother out. Tsk tsk.”

She lowered her voice further: “A small thought of mine — it would still be best to ask this young woman what she has been doing these past two days, whether she was involved. After all, this husband was utterly without benevolence or righteousness from the start — it wouldn’t be strange if the wife had some ideas of her own.”

This went right to the county magistrate’s thinking. He brought down the gavel and questioned the young woman Fu first.

The young woman Fu thought: this is truly uncanny!

She told everything about the past few days: “I thought about borrowing some money to buy some time, and also hoping someone could help treat my son properly. Didn’t expect the child to cough blood — so I went around asking if there were any good pediatric physicians…”

She had witnesses and physical evidence; the child’s wounds were real.

The county magistrate brought down the gavel: “Any suspects at the scene?”

A constable said: “Only the bystanders who were watching.”

He also asked what else was at the scene. A constable produced a stone. By now the county examiner had also arrived. The Wannian County examiner was a little rougher in his methods than the Jingzhao Prefecture one. He held the stone up to the wound and said: “The weapon is precisely this stone!”

Zhù Ying looked at the stone, then at the young woman Fu. The county magistrate asked: “What is it?”

Zhù Ying said: “I’d like to look at the scene, if I may?”

The county magistrate, remembering her abilities, thought: might as well let her look. He told the county examiner to go.

On the other side, the chief clerk had grown suspicious and asked: “Young woman, why aren’t you grieving?”

The young woman Fu knelt on the ground staring up at him. Zhù Ying shook her head: “She’d be doing well not to laugh.” Barely had the words left her mouth than the young woman Fu really did laugh. Zhù Ying was completely at a loss for words.

The county magistrate coughed and said: “It appears it was not this woman.”

He and Zhù Ying went to the scene. The scene was by now completely chaotic — all sorts of people had been through it. Zhù Ying was not genuinely trying to find the “true culprit.” After looking around she said: “I’m not in a position to say much. If this matter comes to the Court, I’ll speak up then. If it doesn’t reach the Court, there’s nothing to say.”

The county magistrate was still polite: “Adjudicator Zhù, you have something in mind — do we still need to play riddles with each other now?” Zhù Ying then pointed to where the bamboo poles were scattered: “There are scrape marks here — the mark of a foot slipping.”

The county magistrate also looked around carefully and nodded: “Mm — stepped on the bamboo pole, head struck the stone. Fell.”

Seeing this, he already had in mind to close the case as an accident. A violent death in his jurisdiction meant he had to solve the case — not to mention it reflected poorly on his public order. If there was an obvious knife wound or other clear sign of murder, he would have to find a culprit regardless. This case, however — an accident was an outcome he could accept.

Zhù Ying crouched further down and looked more carefully, then suddenly asked: “Was the body face-up or face-down? Where was the wound? After falling, did the body rotate?”

The county magistrate, simultaneously a little annoyed at her meddling and thinking: this Court of Judicial Review person really does have some ability. She can be consulted when there are real difficulties. Better not to offend her unnecessarily. He asked the constables. A constable said: “When we arrived, the body was face-up, wound on the back of the head.”

The county magistrate said: “So he stepped on the bamboo and slipped, struggled as he fell, turned, and his head struck the stone.” He had the constables demonstrate on the spot: “You two, wait over there to catch him. You — go over there and fall.”

The constable thus designated silently cursed his luck, and went through the motions of falling — the position landed just right. The county magistrate nodded: “Good. This should be an accident.” He thanked Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying said: “I was just carried away by curiosity and thought the whole thing was rather coincidental. Couldn’t help myself from saying something.”

The two exchanged pleasantries. Zhù Ying appeared quite embarrassed. Hearing the county magistrate was having the examiner fill in the death form and have the young woman Fu claim the body and take it away, she said: “Seeing her is also pitiable — I’ll put in a few hundred copper cash for a cart. Otherwise how is she going to transport the body?”

The county magistrate smiled: “Sanlang, you really are soft-hearted.”

“Magistrate Liu is teasing me — if I didn’t do it, I’d get an earful when I got home.”

The money paid, Zhù Ying walked away without looking back, not another glance at the young woman Fu.

…

The young woman Fu took the money, claimed the body, and asked the abbess: “Help have it cremated.”

The abbess said: “Your money probably won’t be enough.” A few hundred copper cash worth of firewood would be enough to char the body — probably not enough to burn it completely to ash. A charred corpse was rather frightening.

The young woman Fu sighed: “Then there’s nothing for it but to hire a few people and find a piece of ground to bury it. I have no more money to manage things for him. The child…”

The abbess said: “Sleeping.”

The abbess didn’t ask anything more. Some of the younger nuns didn’t have that kind of self-restraint; after evening prayers, a few came and asked the young woman Fu: “What happened?”

The young woman Fu said: “That dead one stepped on a bamboo pole and slipped, head hit a stone and he died. Wannian County had me claim the body and bring it back for burial. I don’t have the money; the cart fare was given to me by Minor Official Zhù. The one Lady Zhu always talks about — her sibling who also came here once.”

The nuns chattered among themselves: “Oh, so that was her! She’s a good person…”

The young woman Fu said: “Indeed. A good person.” Though only slightly warm in manner — compared to the mysterious person who had helped her plan everything, certainly more reassuring. That other one, hiding in the shadows, was always frightening — she never knew when they would suddenly surface and require something of her.

She didn’t know how things had gone for the Niu couple…

…

The Niu couple reclaimed their foster-daughter, and all three embraced and wept together. Unlike the violent death of a common person, the drowning of a courtesan at the bottom of a pleasure-quarter well was utterly unremarkable. There was a body, a well, and a drowning — no one gave it a second thought.

The examiner didn’t even want to carefully inspect the corpse of an old, faded courtesan. The death form was filled in: slipped and fell in the water.

The Niu couple moved first to file a complaint. They paid money to redeem their foster-daughter. Their stated reason was also that they were old and had no one to care for them. They were also willing to accept punishment for having originally taken in the child in an improper manner. Their complaint had been filed, and this actually aroused the suspicions of the Chang’an County — but the Niu couple at that time had been at the tea house preparing to see the litigant, with the entire tea house full of witnesses.

The case was adjudicated at Chang’an County, which was a different jurisdiction from Wannian County. Chang’an County also considered itself to have investigated — wrote a passable conclusion, and closed the case summarily.

The Niu family of three also had absolutely no desire to contest the old courtesan’s estate. Chang’an County took the ownerless property and had it sold. Another old courtesan bought it and continued the same old business. The Niu family also stopped asking about the matter, found another place to live, and simply arranged for a son-in-law to be married in. They were resolved to have nothing more to do with any of this past, from that day forward. Both they and the young woman Fu tried to forget, burying the past deep in their hearts. Niu Jin always told himself: the letter said, if I didn’t fulfill the agreement, I should be careful I couldn’t escape from my registration status. Now my daughter is already out of that status — I have nothing left to fear from being threatened.

He did not know that the person who had planned the entire affair had no intention of threatening him with anything.