Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Investigate First
Magistrate Huang didn’t eat breakfast. So his midday meal came early, and it came heavy.
He had just finished when a yamen clerk from the criminal office brought Li Wen Cai in and presented a letter of accusation.
Magistrate Huang read it slowly, as if savoring each word. Then he looked Li Wen Cai up and down with the same careful attention, like he was deciding whether this man could be trusted with a teacup.
With a mild smile, he shook the paper once. “You are Li Wen Cai?”
“I am.”
“You are Li Xue Dong’s third uncle?”
“I am.”
“Are you still within the five degrees of mourning?”
Li Wen Cai’s jaw tightened. “His household married into the family. They don’t count as our Li Family.”
“Oh.” Magistrate Huang nodded, as if this were fascinating. “Then the Li Family genealogy does not record Li Xue Dong?”
“It does,” Li Wen Cai said, the words forced out like stones.
“Oh.” Magistrate Huang nodded again. “Since he is recorded in your Li Family genealogy, are you and Li Xue Dong still within the five degrees of mourning?”
Li Wen Cai bit down hard. “Counting from his great-grandmother’s side, we’re still within it. We’re past the third degree.”
Magistrate Huang lifted the accusation, shook it twice, and asked as gently as if inquiring about the weather, “You claim your nephew Li Xue Dong’s licentiate was earned by someone else taking the exam under his name. Do you know who this ‘someone else’ is?”
“His sister,” Li Wen Cai said without hesitation. “That Little Nan girl. In their whole household, she’s the only smart one.”
Magistrate Huang drew the sound out. “Oh…”
He set his gaze on Li Wen Cai again. “Little girl. Little Nan. Is that her name? Is she called Little Girl, or is she called Little Nan?”
“Little Nan,” Li Wen Cai answered, irritated. “Her mother didn’t want another child. She got pregnant anyway, gave birth to a girl, and never named her. So Little Nan became her name.”
“I see.” Magistrate Huang nodded. “How old is she? When did she enter school? Which school? Which teacher does she study under?”
“She’s fifteen,” Li Wen Cai said quickly, then corrected himself as if he’d been wronged by the calendar. “They say she’s two years younger than Xue Dong, but it’s really only one. Xue Dong was born at year’s end; she was born at the start. She’s a full fifteen.”
He huffed. “She never went to school—she’s too smart for that. Hear it once, she can recite it. See it once, she remembers it.”
Then, perhaps realizing how that sounded, he changed direction mid-sentence. “But she has been studying. Since last autumn she’s been living at the Gao Family School with her brother. She attends lessons with him.”
Magistrate Huang nodded again, as if collecting beads on a string. “This matter is extremely serious. It must be investigated carefully and made completely clear. Go home for now.”
Li Wen Cai leaned forward. “How many days will it take the magistrate to make it clear? This is obvious. There’s nothing to investigate.”
Magistrate Huang smiled like a man speaking to a child holding a knife. “No less than three days. No more than five. Rest assured—go back first.”
Li Wen Cai clasped his hands. “Then I will go home and wait. Magistrate, you must examine every detail and judge impartially.”
“Rest assured,” Magistrate Huang said, and waved him away.
When Li Wen Cai finally left, Teacher Yao muttered, baffled, “Has he gone mad? He looks normal enough.”
A clan finally produced a licentiate, and this man ran straight to the county yamen to accuse him of cheating. If that wasn’t madness, what was?
“Among people of the same clan,” Magistrate Huang said calmly, tapping the accusation with one finger, “hatreds as deep as the sea are common.”
He looked up. “Send word. Invite Teacher Gao to come at once.”
Teacher Yao hurried out.
Teacher Gao had just seen off two clan elders from the Li Clan, along with a crowd of young men bringing thank-you gifts. He stood in his courtyard, stroking his beard, feeling inspired enough to recite a poem—
When a courier called through the fence: the magistrate requested him. Now.
The poem died on his tongue. Teacher Gao changed clothes in a rush, borrowed a donkey, and rode to the county town.
Teacher Yao led him into the office and poured a cup of strong tea.
Teacher Gao accepted it, smiling politely. “Two clan elders came to my house to thank me. I had a few cups with them.”
“It seems there are still people in the Li Clan who understand courtesy,” Magistrate Huang replied, sliding the accusation across the table. “Have a look.”
Teacher Gao read it at speed. His face tightened, then darkened, then tightened again. Finally he looked up and blurted, “He grows more shameless with age!”
“You know him?” Magistrate Huang asked, not surprised.
“I do. When I first began my studies, I shared a schoolroom with Li Wen Cai. Even then he was shameless and unruly—always bullying people by relying on numbers and power.”
Magistrate Huang nodded. “Then about the matter he accuses—does Li Xue Dong truly have such a clever sister?”
“He does have a sister,” Teacher Gao said, frowning as he searched his memory. “As for whether she’s clever… I never paid attention. The girl keeps her head down. She either hides in some corner or trails right behind Auntie Huang. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her whole face.”
At that, Magistrate Huang seemed to relax by the smallest measure.
“And the grudge between their households?” he asked.
Teacher Gao sighed. “Hard to call it a grudge, but I’ll tell you what I know. Xue Dong entered school at eight. He wasn’t especially gifted, but he was diligent.”
“Late autumn three years ago, his father fell ill and died. After that, Xue Dong stopped coming. I had someone check once—they said he’d been sick the whole time.”
“Then last October his eldest sister brought him and his sister back. She had him board at the school and told me again and again: if anything happened, let the sister pass a message. Don’t let Xue Dong leave alone.”
Magistrate Huang and Teacher Yao exchanged a glance.
Teacher Gao’s voice softened. “That sister—Little Nan—follows him everywhere. The eldest sister said Xue Dong had been ill for a year or two and was weak, so the girl stayed with him to care for him.”
He hesitated, then let out a long breath. “But it wasn’t only illness.”
Teacher Gao wiped at his eyes, embarrassed by the motion and angry at himself for needing it. “After Xue Dong’s father was buried, Xue Dong was bedridden a long time. When he finally could walk outside and took a turn around the village, Li Wen Cai’s two older grandsons beat him. They said Xue Dong’s third sister was there—fierce enough to protect him.”
“Only half a month later, those same grandsons mistook Little Nan for Xue Dong and smashed a club into her head. She lay unconscious for two or three days.”
Teacher Gao pointed to the side of his own head. “Right here. A scar this long. My little daughter likes Little Nan. She saw it while combing her hair. My wife saw it too—she cried when she told me.”
“Auntie Huang said Little Nan told her she follows her brother so that if someone strikes in the dark, the attacker won’t know which is which. She can take the blow for her brother.”
He swallowed hard. “Poor girl.”
“And when Xue Dong came home after doing well in the county exam,” Teacher Gao continued, “not far past Gao Family Market Town, Li Wen Cai’s grandsons surrounded him again. Luckily the five siblings were there and had sticks. Little Nan was so frightened her crying could be heard in the neighboring villages.”
Magistrate Huang listened without interrupting. When Teacher Gao paused, he asked, “How much land does Licentiate Li have?”
“Thirty-seven mu of good paddy fields,” Teacher Gao said, “and five brick-and-tile rooms.”
“That is not little,” Magistrate Huang said, tapping the accusation again.
Teacher Gao nodded grimly. “Li Wen Cai is the village head of Little Li Village. His elder brother by the same mother is a clan elder. The clan head is his cousin within the third degree. He has five blood brothers, seventeen or eighteen sons and nephews, and even more grandsons. People say no one in the clan dares provoke him.”
He wiped his eyes again, angry now. “Xue Dong becoming a licentiate is a road to live for those siblings.”
Magistrate Huang’s gaze sharpened. “For this academy exam—where did the silver come from?”
“Old Master Kuan of the Wang Branch,” Teacher Gao said at once. “Li Shi Kuan.”
He explained how, after Li Xue Dong placed third in the county exam, the clan refused to help, and Old Master Kuan quietly stepped in.
When he finished, Magistrate Huang nodded slowly. “I understand the gist. This case must be tried. When the time comes, I will need Teacher Gao to appear.”
“The magistrate is too polite,” Teacher Gao said, straightening. “I will come whenever summoned. I only ask that the magistrate return justice to Xue Dong and his siblings. Li Wen Cai has gone too far.”
“Rest assured,” Magistrate Huang said mildly. “Thank you for your trouble.”