The Mystery of Zhang Gong

The Middle-Aged Man Threw Himself to his Knees and Kowtowed. “Master, There’s Something Strange About Our Class Teacher’s Case; That Year, Lady Li Also Died Strangely.” 

The steward responded with a hum and was about to leave before Lan Jue stopped him again. “Never mind – don’t say anything about the script yet. Just say the play was sung very well and we’ve troubled them. Lead the characters and the troupe leader to Xiaohua Hall for their reward.”

Accepting the order, the steward hurriedly left. Lan Jue and Wang Yan went to Xiaohua Hall first; not long after, the clown man from before came over with the two who played as Yudie and Husband Hu. The man’s face had already been washed clean, whilst the pair from《*Fox Husband》still had their make-up on. 

Lan Jue had a servant give several red envelopes as their reward; they expressed a thousand thanks as they accepted them. “I just listened to two scripts sung together, which was interesting in a disorderly way. I wonder if I can take a look at both the original and revised versions of the script?” Lan Jue asked. 

The three troupe members looked at each other. In the end, it was still that man who apologetically smiled and spoke up. “Master Lan, we’re very sorry, but our Class Teacher ordered us to never casually show others our scripts-” 

Lan Jue raised his hand. All the servants around them withdrew and the hall’s entrance doors closed; only Lan Jue, Wang Yan and the three troupe members remained in Xiaohua Hall. 

“It’s getting late; Minister Wang and I still need to attend court, so let’s make the long story short and stop beating about the bush. You deliberately sang the new and old scripts together because you already recognised the person I invited to be Assistant Minister Wang from the Ministry of Justice – the play was sung specifically for him. If any of you have anything to say, you can directly speak up.” 

The expressions of the three below them changed. The middle-aged man threw himself to his knees and kowtowed. “My small tricks truly couldn’t be concealed from both Masters. Master, there’s something strange about our class teacher’s case; that year, Lady Li also died strangely. This humble one was bold and wanted the Heavens to investigate!” 

Wang Yan straightened his clothing and sat upright. “Who is Lady Li and what’s so strange about your class teacher’s case?”

The middle-aged man responded, “Responding to Master – it’s a long story. Our Laixi Troupe was originally called Lijia Troupe. I’m called Li Qi, and the ones who sang《Fox Husband》is my nephew Qing Shu and niece Xianghe. We’re all from the old Lijia Troupe.” 

Turns out this troupe actually belonged to Wife Jin née Li’s maternal family. Her grandfather, Grandfather Li, sang in his early years and later became a class teacher himself for his own troupe. 

Under him were a man and a woman. The eldest man was Wife Jin’s uncle who didn’t want to follow such a career and instead made a cloth business, so Grandfather Li allowed one of his proud disciples to live with his family and marry Wife Jin’s mother. The child was born following the surname Li and was the Li Family’s foundation. 

Who would’ve expected, (1) man proposes, God disposes – Wife Jin’s younger brother died of smallpox when he’d just turned ten, and her father also turned ill and passed away shortly after. Wife Jin’s husband, Jin Lifa, had organised a small troupe once during his earlier years, so took advantage of this situation and took over Lijia Troupe. He was afraid that if he changed the name from (2) Lijia Troupe to Jinjia Ban it’d make the Li Family uncomfortable, so he changed the name to Laixi Troupe. 

“Now this is interesting. Even if Wife Jin’s father and younger brother died, her widowed mother shouldn’t have been able to afford the troupe’s maintenance. She still had an uncle, which the troupe should’ve belonged to anyway. How could it be taken over by a Jin?” Wang Yan asked. 

“Alas, this is a lamentable matter. Grandfather Li was a great charitable person; however, nobody knew why but Li Family’s descendants never flourished. Eldest Young Master Li married many wives and concubines; ten or twenty years ago, one of his daughters died. Later, he adopted a child to take over his business, but in the end, this child wasn’t his own and looked down on our troupe, so he returned him to our Lady’s husband,” Li Qi said. 

Wang Yan nodded lightly. “The lady who died is Yudie from the play. Why did you say she died strangely?” 

“Reporting back to Master – after the separation, Eldest Young Master lived beside Li Family’s old residence, so I know better than anyone else about his family matters. The lady who died is called Li Niang. She was raised in her chambers and, like all the ladies from those big families, her family traditions couldn’t be more rigorous.”

Since childhood, Li Niang had never gone outside and instead, stayed indoors all the time; other than her paternal aunt who’d come over from time to time, she’d almost never met any outsiders. 

But on a particular day, Li Niang suddenly died. She was neatly dressed, on her bed, her expression serene as if she’d fallen asleep. 

Her family couldn’t understand her cause of death, so they secretly invited a witch for questioning – the witch told them Lady Li Niang’s soul had been spirited away. 

Wang Yan lightly knocked on the table surface. “How absurd – she died suddenly without a cause, why didn’t they report it to authorities?” 

Li Qi replied with his head down, “…I shouldn’t be saying such things, but I once heard rumours in private… The reason why they didn’t report it to authorities was that when they examined Lady Li Niang’s body, they found out she’d been several months pregnant…” 

Wang Yan slapped the seat armrest. “This is clearly rape and murder, making reporting this to authorities even more necessary – these ignorant common people, for their distinguished faces they let a murderer get away with his crimes for nearly twenty years!”

“But Lady Li Niang never had the opportunity to come into contact with men. Even if she was to come to my home, it’d be through a small doorway into the courtyard – she had absolutely no way of encountering anyone else. The witch said she must’ve been charmed by the spirit, so her funeral was held secretly, even… Even her body was burnt to ashes before being buried…” Lin Qi said. 

Wang Yan frowned and was silent for a moment before asking, “And then?”

“And then… And then everyone stopped mentioning this matter. This should’ve been long left in the past; who would’ve thought our class teacher would find someone to write a play for it? Wife Jin even allowed them to write it according to this. After the script was written, the class teacher was very upset and told us to not perform it; he found someone else to rewrite it.” 

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows. “It was your class teacher who was upset?”

“Yes. After the script was completed, Leader Jin was away from the Capital for business so Wife Jin ordered us to start performing first. On the day the class teacher returned, he watched the play and was very unhappy, saying how this was definitely no good, and found someone to rewrite it. This is why they had two scripts on-hand.

It was after I finished reading the first script that I remembered this strange matter; in addition to the class teacher’s sudden assault, I believe this is far too coincidental. When we came to perform at Master Lan’s residence, Xiao Wu recognised Master Wang, so this humble one was bold and deliberately had them perform with both scripts to make Master pay attention. Please forgive me.” 

Lan Jue just drank tea whilst he listened; Wang Yue spoke, “Yes, hearing you admit to this also made me remember that even if you forgot your words, you wouldn’t have mistakenly put both old and new scripts onto the fan; such an artificial move, on the contrary, would’ve given the game away.” 

Li Qi kowtowed. “Master is wise and sharp! (3) You can clearly distinguish the downy feather of Autumn!” 

Wang Yan unfolded his fan and laughed with a ‘haha’. “Alright, alright. I dislike listening to such flatteries. You believe Lady Li’s death from several years ago is related to the recent case involving Class Teacher Jin because of the script Zhang Ping wrote; however, there’s no concrete evidence, so we need to investigate this matter in detail. But rest assured, if there’s any injustice, it’ll definitely come to light.” 

Li Qi repeatedly kowtowed again. 

Before he and the other two left, Wang Yan called Li Qi back again and casually asked, “By the way, when Lady Li died, was Wife Jin and Jin Lifa married?”

“They’d just gotten married. Our Lady was pregnant at the time and was staying with her maternal family. Lady Li Niang would often come over and chat with her, it was said that…”

Li Qi’s expression flickered.

“What was said?” Wang Yan asked. 

Li Qi hesitated. “This is just irrelevant gossip. It was said that the one our troupe leader wanted to marry back then was Lady Li Niang, not our Lady, but since his family managed troupes before, he changed to marry our Lady.”

Wang Yan laughed. “If he hadn’t married your Lady, I’m afraid this troupe won’t exist anymore. This was predestined.” 

“Yes. Soon after our Lady gave birth, her younger brother died of smallpox. It certainly is destiny.” 

A long sigh.

After the three troupe members left, Wang Yan held his teacup and seemed to be under a trance for a long while before saying, “Pei-zhi, what do you think of this case?”

Lan Jue yawned. “It’s not like I work in the Ministry of Justice, so what do you expect me to think of this case? I’m just here for the excitement is all. Minister Wang shouldn’t worry about the case anymore. Hurry – wash your face, rinse your mouth and change your robes; it’s time to attend court.” 

Wang Yan stood up. “That’s right. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring my court robes and sedan chair to your residence; otherwise, I would’ve seriously delayed my attendance to court.” 

Lan Jue ordered someone to make some strong tea and arranged a side room for Wang Yan to prepare himself; he also washed himself, ate some rice, changed into his court robe, and went ahead to attend court.

»»————-¤————-««

After court, Lan Jue didn’t dare make delays; he went to his ministry’s (4) yamen again and was busy until the afternoon. Not feeling too top-heavy, he returned home early. As he was leaving the (5) Imperial City, he saw Wang Yan hurriedly rush over from the other side with large strides, appearing to burst with life. 

Wang Yan grabbed Lan Jue’s sleeves and dragged him under a tree; with shining eyes, he whispered, “Pei-zhi, I’ve already thought out the general clues for this case, but I’m afraid the information would leak out so I don’t dare interrogate Wife Jin. Bring me to Zhang Ping and the truth will all come to light.” 

Lan Jue smilingly said, “Then that’s good.”

Wang Yan patted his shoulder. “This is all thanks to you, Pei-zhi! What Li Qi said today was truly an unexpected delight!” 

“It was as easy as lifting a finger, so I don’t dare claim any credit. After the case is closed, Minister Wang just needs to remember to pay me back with a jar of wine.”

“Of course, of course! I need to hurry off to work, so I’ll leave first.”

In the end, Lan Jue had to give the other a slight reminder. “To me, Li Qi’s words were still a bit… Anyway, it seems Minister Wang would need to experience a lot more toils.” 

Wang Yan narrowed his eyes and smiled. “I know that Li Qi’s words aren’t detailed enough; alas, enough of this, I’m leaving to my ministry now.” He cupped his hands and left. 

Lan Jue watched him leave and slowly walked out of the Imperial City. 

On the way back to his residence, Lan Jue inadvertently lifted his sedan curtains and caught a glimpse of Chen Chuo holding a bamboo basket walking in the direction of the Ministry of Justice. 

Lan Jue returned to his residence; instead of making up for his lack of sleep, he changed into plain old clothing and left his residence riding a small sedan chair. He got off at a secluded intersection near the Ministry of Justice’s prison and found a teahouse. He picked a private room with windows facing the streets to sit in, ordered a pot of tea, and drank slowly. 

Drinking tea slowly – even he found this a little funny. How many years had it been since he last did something so impulsively? In the end, the desire to investigate thoroughly was part of human nature; he was even setting his heart on such a small case. 

Whether it was purely for the case or for Zhang Ping, Lan Jue wasn’t too sure. 

After about two-quarters of an hour, in the distance, he saw Chen Chuo carrying a basket coming towards this direction from the Ministry of Justice. 

Lan Jue paid the tea bill and exited the teahouse; he just happened to meet Chen Chuo at the entrance. Chen Chuo reluctantly smiled at him. “Brother Cao, what a coincidence. Why are you here?”

Lan Jue carefully observed his expression; just as he expected, Zhang Ping hadn’t told Chen Chuo his real identity. 

He smiled. “I was visiting a friend nearby and came in for a cup of tea on the way. Brother Chen, you… Are you visiting Brother Zhang?”

Chen Chuo looked down and released a long sigh. “Alas, turns out even Brother Cao you have heard of this; bad news really does run quickly. It’s all my fault for soliciting work for Zhang Ping, thus causing trouble for him.”

“I’ve heard that Minister Tao from the Ministry of Justice is an honest and upright official; since he’s personally trying this case, he’d definitely prove Brother Zhang’s innocence.” 

“I trust Brother Cao’s words. I keep thinking…” Chen Chuo looked around and lowered his voice. “I kept thinking that Zhang Ping actually knows who the murderer is. Today, Assistant Minister Wang from the Ministry of Justice went to interrogate him in prison and asked him some questions about Class Teacher Jin and his wife. Zhang Ping answered him well, but he actually dared tell Assistant Minister Wang he was wrong. Assistant Minister Wang’s expression turned green on the spot and he left immediately; everyone in the prison said he didn’t know what was good for himself. Assistant Minister Wang was clearly here to help him, yet he said he was wrong. So now I wonder – does Zhang Ping know who the culprit is? But for some reason, he doesn’t dare say it… “ 

This is interesting. Lan Jue suddenly felt he didn’t come in vain.

He thought for a moment and said, “Brother Chen, when you go visit Brother Zhang again, tell him that it was me, Cao Yu, who sent you. Just let him remember that if he knows who the culprit is, never tell anyone else; before any evidence comes to light, don’t let him tell Chief Minister Tao. Bear this in mind.” 

*Mistranslation from previous chapter, the play is actually meant to be called ‘Fox Husband’, not ‘Fox Youth’

(1) Man proposes, God disposes – meaning, ‘human beings can make any plans they want, but it’s God that decides their success or failure.’

(2) Lijia Troupe and Jinjia Troupe – Lijia (李家) means Li Family, Jinjia (金家) means Jin Family

(3) You can clearly distinguish the downy feather of Autumn – meaning ‘you can distinguish right from wrong (and vice-versa)’

(4) Yamen – a governmental office or body 

(5) Imperial City – a ‘city’ in Beijing that includes many historical sites such as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, etc. It’s surrounded by a wall and can be accessed through seven gates.