Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Trial I
Only after Magistrate Huang arrived in Li Family Market Town did Clan Head Li Wen Gang finally learn—from Li Wen Xi, of all people—that Li Wen Cai had filed an accusation against Li Xue Dong.
Li Wen Xi himself had only just found out. First he saw Magistrate Huang, and then he saw his own brother, Li Wen Cai. Put those two sights together, and the truth practically slapped him.
Li Wen Gang didn’t have time to ask how or why. He rushed to plant himself at Magistrate Huang’s side, all deference and smiles, while Clan Elder Li Shi Kuan barked orders at the clan’s able-bodied men. Under Teacher Yao’s direction, they raised a platform at the ancestral hall gate, propped up a canopy for shade, and roped off a wide open space for the proceedings.
The other clan elders scattered like ants kicked from a nest. Some ran to host the yamen clerks and yamen runners who’d come with the magistrate. Others waved Teacher Yao’s list and shouted names, sprinting from house to house to drag people out and shove them into place.
Magistrate Huang had brought a dozen or so runners and clerks. A trial had rules, and the yamen’s rules came with boots.
Li Wen Xi didn’t care about rules. He grabbed his youngest brother, Li Wen Cai, and slapped him seven or eight times in quick succession. It still didn’t get him an answer—why write the accusation, and why refuse to withdraw it?
—
Gu Yan and his party of several dozen reached the outskirts of Kun Shan County. The senior attendant who’d gone ahead returned from the city with a report: County Magistrate Huang Xian Zhou had gone to Li Family Market Town to try a case.
The moment Gu Yan heard “Li Family Market Town,” he snapped his whip. The crack split the air like a gunshot.
“Go take a look,” he said.
They skirted the county city and headed straight for the market town.
By the time Gu Yan arrived, the platform and canopy were already set at the ancestral hall gate. Everyone who’d been summoned was present, including Li Yu Zhu and Li Yin Zhu, who’d been left at home. Everything was ready.
All that remained was the defendant—Licentiate Li, Li Xue Dong.
Gu Yan’s party rode in like a procession that had misplaced its humility: thirty or forty men in bright clothes on spirited horses, brazen and impossible to miss.
At the edge of town, Gu Yan glanced sideways at a few women by the roadside who stared until their faces went slack. He reined in. Shi Gun didn’t wait to be told; he hurriedly handed up a black gauze veiled hat.
The Heir Apparent was blessed with a face people couldn’t help staring at—and cursed with an absolute hatred of it. If he stepped outside, the veil went on.
Gu Yan put it on and, from horseback, studied County Magistrate Huang Xian Zhou from afar.
Huang Xian Zhou was already looking back.
Gu Yan met his gaze without blinking. The last time he’d seen him, Huang Xian Zhou had been on his second posting in this little Kun Shan backwater and had been squatting here for seven years. Back then he’d been darker, thinner, and—somehow—even more irritating than he was now.
Hadn’t Gu Yan once stripped him of his degree? And after that… what happened to him?
Gu Yan tried to remember.
Nothing came.
A county magistrate in a tiny county simply wasn’t worth the effort of recall.
Nearly everyone in Li Family Market Town had crowded around the ancestral hall. Bodies pressed shoulder to shoulder, breaths and sweat and curiosity thick in the air.
Gu Yan dismounted. With Shi Gun and several pages and guards shielding him, he walked through a corridor the crowd opened on instinct, as if his presence carried its own law. He made half a slow circle around the platform, chose a perfect spot to watch, snapped open a folding fan, and began to wave it lazily—waiting for the entertainment to start.
Then the cart from the Kun Shan County pier came clattering in at a run. The crowd parted. The cart went straight to the ancestral hall and stopped beneath the canopy.
Teacher Gao jumped down first. Li Jin Zhu followed, then turned and lifted Little Nan down.
Li Yu Zhu and Li Yin Zhu saw their eldest sister and rushed forward.
“Eldest Sister!” Li Yu Zhu managed to keep her voice steady.
“Eldest Sister!” Li Yin Zhu’s voice wobbled and cracked, already dragging a sob behind it.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid!” Teacher Gao blurted, beating them to it as if fear could be outpaced.
Li Jin Zhu set Little Nan down, then reached for Li Xue Dong. His face was paper-pale. He guarded his thin cloth long gown as if it were armor and hopped down from the cart with stiff, hurried steps.
“Nothing will happen,” Li Jin Zhu murmured. Her eyes flicked to the platform and canopy, then back to her sisters. She patted Li Yu Zhu and Li Yin Zhu once each, firm and quick. “Don’t be afraid. What can they do?”
“With Eldest Sister back, I’m not afraid,” Li Yin Zhu said, pressing close to her like a child finding a wall.
Eldest Sister was back, and just like that, the fear finally had somewhere to go.
Li Yu Zhu hugged Little Nan hard. Little Nan leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Second Sister, don’t be afraid. Brother is a licentiate now. He’ll be fine. Even if something happens… it’ll be a good thing.”
Li Yu Zhu swallowed. “Mm.”
She tried to smile at Little Nan, but it broke halfway.
Teacher Yao smoothed his long gown, stepped forward, and bowed with formal precision as he reported to Magistrate Huang.
Magistrate Huang rose and smiled toward Clan Head Li Wen Gang. “Everyone’s here. Licentiate Li has arrived as well. Then let’s begin.”
A table had already been set on the platform. The yamen runners spread a purple-red cloth over it and arranged everything in neat order: the lot-tube, the wooden block, the official seal, and the writing tools. The inkstone sat ready, ink already ground and waiting.
Magistrate Huang took his seat. A dozen yamen runners lined up on both sides, water-and-fire staves planted like fence posts. After three cries of “Mighty!” the world went quiet.
The clerk strode forward, chin high, and stopped before the platform. Facing the crowd, he called in the plaintiff, Li Wen Cai. Li Wen Cai knelt. The clerk unfolded the accusation petition and read it out with practiced cadence, rising and falling like a singer performing for tips. When he finished, he snapped the paper once, bowed slightly to Magistrate Huang, and stepped back to stand beside the platform.
“Li Wen Cai,” Magistrate Huang asked with a mild smile, “did you write this accusation petition?”
“Yes!” Li Wen Cai lifted his face. Finger-mark welts stood raised across his cheeks, but his neck was stubbornly craned.
“You claim our county’s newly awarded licentiate, Li Xue Dong, passed because someone impersonated him.” Magistrate Huang’s tone stayed calm. “Then tell me—who was the impersonator?”
“It was his sister!” Li Wen Cai twisted around and jabbed a finger toward the small figure shrinking behind Li Yu Zhu. “Little Nan!”
“That little maid?” Magistrate Huang leaned forward to peer at the half-hidden face. “Hmm. Do you have witnesses? Do you have physical evidence?”