The Mystery of Zhang Gong

Master Lan Felt the Two Looked Slightly Familiar. One Looked Liked Zhang Ping, and the Other Looked Like Chen Chou…

Lan Jue stood in silence for a while before asking, “how did you know I saw you?”

“Since Master Lan could see me, then I could see Master Lan,” Zhang Ping replied.

Lan Jue asked again. “Then how did you guess it was me?”

“Master Lan was recently impeached, so you haven’t dared accept any gifts. You came out from Lan Residence wearing homely clothing and didn’t appear to be a residence servant.”

Lan Jue was taken aback for a moment; he somehow wanted to laugh. “Since you guessed it was me that day, why didn’t you tell me about that matter?”

Zhang Ping lowered his eyelids. “It actually wasn’t that big of a matter. Just a little bit of money – in addition, the debt was between me and your guard – so it had nothing to do with Master Lan. Besides, if I reported such a small matter to Master Lan, then even if they weren’t angry with me, they would’ve tried to fix me up; what I’m managing is a small business.”

Lan Jue raised his eyebrows, not knowing what to say.

Zhang Ping put down the dustpan and returned to the table, taking the eight copper coins from its surface. “The noodles were three wen and one bowl is six wen, but since it’s old I’ll make it five wen.”

His fingers were thin and long, and his voice was stiff and upright. 

Lan Jue watched him pocket the money. “When I came over, you were only willing to sell me plain noodles. Was it because you were sure I wouldn’t be eating your noodles?” 

Zhang Ping didn’t answer; he wiped the tabletop with a rag.

Lan Jue stood aside and couldn’t help but think how this matter could be regarded as a pile of jokes; to encounter such an interesting examinee through this wasn’t such a bad thing. 

Every preliminary round of the Imperial Examinations was a major event for scholar’s seeking fame in the world and an interesting event for the court ministers. Especially for ministers like Master Lan who were promoted through the Imperial Examinations; it was like watching amateur young chicks desperately trying to squeeze into the woods with their own pairs of old bird eyes – there was a strange kind of contentment that came from speculating their futures. 

After so many years of watching so many people, Master Lan felt quite sure about his foresight. 

With Zhang Ping’s mannerisms – with how he spoke and acted – if he could make a name for himself and enter the court, a new, extraordinary branch would stretch out from the honest and upright forest.

He smiled and turned to leave. Before he left, he said, “never mind; this misunderstanding came from me being too suspicious. You’re called Zhang Ping? If your wisdom is as great as your insight, it may not be long before you serve as a minister like me. Before then, if I have the opportunity I’ll come again to taste your noodles.”

Zhang Ping piled up the wooden stools; Lan Jue’s figure had already turned a corner, leaving a long shadow that dragged and passed behind him over the old brick wall. 

Zhang Ping packed away the shed, pushed up a cart, and began his journey home.

»»————-¤————-««

When he arrived at his dorm, he smashed a jar of pickled garlic, hastily washed his face, put on the only Changshan he had that could be considered normal-looking, and went to Jiqing Teahouse located by the alley’s entrance. 

Chen Chuo was spinning around the stairway inside the teahouse; he immediately rushed over when he caught sight of him. “My Boss Zhang, you’re finally here. The two real bosses have already arrived, and tea has already been prepared upstairs. Hurry!” 

He dragged Zhang Ping upstairs and entered the small private room on the second floor.

In the private room, a (1) Tea Doctor was serving tea to a man and woman sitting at the table. The man was about fifty or so, his face round with kindness and his body wide. The woman appeared to be younger than forty, her generous face coated with white powder; a pair of big gold pendants inlaid with jade swung around her ears, her raised willow brows adding a sense of capability to her. 

Chen Chuo bowed to the two individuals and said with a smile, “Mr Jin, Mrs Jin, I’m very sorry. Brother Zhang was delayed for a while, causing us to neglect you. I apologise on his behalf.” Beside him, Zhang Ping said, “this Mr Jin is the famous class teacher of Laixi Troupe. I’ve hastily met you before.”

Mr Jin stood up and chuckled. “You flatter me. Us troupe members cannot compare to you scholarly gentlemen.” 

Zhang Ping suddenly understood what this ‘good business’ Chen Chuo was trying to introduce to him. 

Prices in the Capital were extremely high and the costs for exam preparations were huge; many poor examinees had to find a way to bring in money as subsidy. 

Different ways were divided into different ranks. 

The first rank, selling poems and poetry essays; the second rank, selling calligraphy and paintings. Materials made in both ranks would be hastily put together, but one needed a way to make their name known. If one did well and their false reputation floated into court, allowing their poems, calligraphy, or paintings to be noticed by an examiner in advance, it’d be a great help for them in the Imperial Examinations. 

If one couldn’t do well for the first and second ranks, then they could only silently find ways in the third rank. Before every Imperial Examination, many new novels would appear in the Capital’s bookstores; within the secret compartments, brand-new erotica novels were written with life and colour. New plays would be staged every month by major theatre troupes in the Capital, the sweet maidens behind the carved balustrades singing all kinds of sweet and charming poems. 

Zhang Ping knew that Chen Chuo had recently become a script-writer, and was writing for a romance play; it told a tragic story of a young maiden who accidentally developed amorous feelings during Autumn and how she eloped with a scholar but was then snatched by a general to become his concubine. She encountered the scholar after giving birth to two babies and didn’t know whether she should abandon her children and elope with the scholar again or not. 

Zhang Ping had once told Chen Chuo before, during the middle of the night, which details to pay attention to and which methods to use to turn the pages faster. 

Zhang Ping was very grateful to Chen Chuo for his good intentions of helping him find a job, but Zhang Ping’s works had always been based on facts. In terms of circumstances, he currently had no work to participate with and he couldn’t just groundlessly make something up, therefore he didn’t think he fit this job. 

After they familiarised with each other and seated themselves, Master Jin went straight into the topic with a frank manner; his troupe had recently wanted to line up a new play, and they urgently needed someone to write a new script for it.

“It needs to be fast! Fast and powerful enough!” Mr Jin said. With his eyes glowing, Zhang Ping could guess what kind of power he wanted, and honestly said, “I- No-”

Chen Chuo quickly held him down with his sharp eyes and deftness and cut off his words. “The play Mr Jin wants, I dare use my head to guarantee that Zhang Ping is the most suitable candidate for it! He’s always been the best at this. Sometimes, when I can’t sleep at night, I’ll ask him to tell me a story. The things he told me caused me three nights of not daring to close my eyes!”

Mr Jin clapped his thigh. “Excellent! Zhang (2) Gong-zi really is a one-of-a-kind talent! I need exactly this kind of power to crush those sons of bitches from Qingyuan Troupe!” 

Mrs Jin nibbled on her melon seed, her eyes narrowed with a smile towards Zhang Ping. “Zhang Gong-zi, if the script you write is more popular than that from Qingyuan Troupe, then you’d become a talent comparable to even Red Leaves in Western Hills – you might even become this year’s top scorer for the Imperial Examination!” 

Zhang Ping responded calmly. “The last few books from Red Leaves in Western Hills’ ‘Beacon of the Frontier Fortress’ series are fake. According to speculation, this person should’ve died a long time ago.”

Red Leaves in Western Hills was the first person to write legend scripts in this dynasty; it was said that even the Emperor and Prince Huai liked to watch the legends he wrote. Once, when the Empress Dowager watched his famous work ‘Grand Thief in a World of Chaos’, and saw Princess Wei Chang sacrifice herself out of love for the Grand Thief, she silently wept to herself. The identity of this person had always been a mystery. A few years ago, after writing ‘Beacon of the Frontier Fortress’, he claimed to have sealed his pen; since then, he’d been hiding in Jianghu. 

“Red Leaves in Western Hills must’ve died a long time ago, everyone understands this – those sons of bitches from Qingyuan Troupe also knows this. That’s why they’re flagrantly prospering with a dead man’s money. Fuck, this isn’t a playful matter!” Master Jin said. 

Laixi and Qingyuan Troupes could be considered as two of the most outstanding troupes in the Capital. They’d always been competing with each other, exhibiting various means to steal plays behind the scenes. 

Mr Jin received information that Qingyuan Troupe wanted to make the relationship between the Grand Thief and the Princess from Red Leaves in Western Hills’ ‘Grand Thief in a World of Chaos’ into a play, and had recently begun preparing for it. 

Since this relationship had made the Empress Dowager cry before, Laixi Troupe felt deeply threatened by this, so they needed to hurry and make a new play that would overwhelm Qingyuan Troupe. 

“We have to be fierce, otherwise we won’t be able to hold them down!” Boss Jin gritted his teeth. “If you can work hard to make a vicious script, then nobody would dare change it. For a play of ideal lovers, Minister Lan from the Ministry of Rites got engaged with his wife’s matters, involving his sister and brother-in-law. Things like pregnancy… “

Mrs Jin quickly coughed with her face green, stopping Mr Jin’s words. “So we thought about it and chose a ready-made script. But, there’s one more thing we have to talk about first…” Mrs Jin’s expression turned embarrassed. “Gong-zi also knows that Red Leaves in Western Hills has an ever-changing reputation. The world is vulgar, so we had no choice but to…” 

Chen Chou coughed. “Brother Zhang, it’s like this. Mr Jin told outsiders that this play was written by a layman Buddhist. It’s the boy Ma Lian – he’d already accepted the money and agreed, you see…”

Ma Lian is also an examinee for the preliminary round, from Sichuan, a rarity who managed to become well-known through script-writing. He entered a tier of poem compositions openly reprimanding Zhang Ping being unworthy of becoming a scholar, and how he and others felt deeply ashamed of being an examinee with Zhang Ping. 

Zhang Ping’s voice was as flat as a board. “I don’t mind as long as Ma Lian agrees…” 

Mr Jin didn’t even wait for him to finish speaking before he smilingly said, “Zhang Gong-zi is such a generous person – then it’d decided! The script we chose includes a ghost. In an era like this, we need some supernatural themes to make our plays more interesting. If they have a grand thief and princess, then we have a maiden and Great Immortal!” 

Chen Chuo clapped. “See, Brother Zhang, I just said you were suitable. You’re the best for ghost stories. If someone as timid as me wrote this play, I’d be scared to death before even finishing the beginning.”

“I’ve always believed there aren’t any ghosts in this world,” Zhang Ping said. 

Chen Chuo quickly pulled on his sleeves, but Mr and Mrs Jin didn’t mind; maybe it was because they believed someone who didn’t believe in ghosts would write more daring ghost play, so they continued to enthusiastically talk about plays with Zhang Ping. 

“Zhang Gong-zi, things like ghosts indeed exist because the things I’ve told you are all true. Ten or twenty years ago, my cousin from my mother’s side was charmed by a weasel…” 

»»————-¤————-««

On the first of May, Lan Jue had an urgent official’s business to attend to, needing him to visit the Ministry of Justice to check some old files. 

He personally sat on a sedan chair to the Ministry of Justice; he’d just come in before he saw a constable holding two people and shoving them to the other side. Master Lan felt the two looked slightly familiar.

One looked like Zhang Ping, and the other looked like Chen Chou… 

He asked Official Liu Dan beside him. “What case is this?”

Official Liu Dan asked, “the case hadn’t been tried yet. I don’t know the specifics, but I heard that one of the scholars named Zhang Ping intended to murder the class teacher of a particular theatric troupe.” 

(1) Tea Doctor – someone who have amazing skills in making and serving tea

(2) Gong-zi – used to refer to a young man of a noble or official’s family; Zhang Ping is referred to as ‘gong-zi’ because he’s a scholar.