Chapter 60

In the afternoon, just before noon, when the sun was at its peak, the magistrate finally awoke slowly from his recliner. After adjusting to the sunlight, he turned over as if wanting to sleep more, but then remembered something and lifted his head to ask the attendant,

“Where’s Sun Jin? Tell him to come in; what have those two done after waking up yesterday?”

Soon, someone respectfully entered the room, bowing low, almost lowering their body to match the height of the reclining magistrate, and said, “The county lieutenant is here.”

“Did you call for me?” Sun Jin replied upon entering, but unlike the usual attendants, he often had a smirk on his face, flattering those in power, swaggering with an air of arrogance. Once he was in the room, he turned to the magistrate, “I’ve remembered your orders from yesterday; I told the young attendant to keep an eye out for those two. Today, as soon as they stepped out, the word came back saying they wanted to explore Yingqiu City and are looking for Zhou Mazi.”

“Who?”

“Zhou Mazi,” Sun Jin, ever the opportunist, took the chance to stir trouble, saying, “The hunchbacked one who’s slow at his work, loves to complain, and always gets shouted down by the Chief.”

“Who cares if it’s Zhou Mazi or Shen Mazi! I’m asking what this person does and if he has any connection with those two!” The County Magistrate barked, perhaps because he’d just woken up, his temper especially foul. As he berated, he snatched the official robe draped beside the bed and hurled it fiercely at Sun Jin.

Sun Jin nimbly dodged it, taking no offense. Shamelessly, he shuffled closer again, plastering on an ingratiating smile as he said, “Truly this lowly one didn’t grasp Your Honor’s meaning. That Zhou Mazi is one of the magistrate’s men in our yamen. He always shirks work. You must have seen him quite a few times, Your Honor, the one with the pockmarked face. He muddles through his days in a daze. Besides, his old mother is still part of his household. There’s no need to worry he’ll cause much of a stir.”

“Oh?” The Magistrate was about to unleash his fury again, but paused at the mention of “old mother.” After a moment, he said, “Then there indeed is no need to worry. Get out! Let me sleep a while longer.”

Even though the Magistrate had said this, Sun Jin, truly obtuse and also fond of scheming—a combination that constantly led to his suffering repeated setbacks, yet he never learned his lesson—was up to his usual ways. Utterly unable to read the mood, he remained standing in the room. He even edged closer to the Magistrate’s lounge chair, promptly blocking out a good patch of the bright sunlight, before respectfully piping up, “Might County Magistrate find a moment to enlighten this lowly official? Why send men to investigate those two? And what about the repairs for the weir… why are those no longer mentioned? Myself, and that band of brothers, are all ready to serve the Magistrate with utter devotion, until our very last breath!”

Whether irked by having his peaceful nap disturbed or simply disgusted by Sun Jin’s display of stupidity, the Magistrate whipped around, sprang up from the lounge chair, and this time went beyond merely hurling his robe; the official cap piled on the chair joined the barrage aimed at Sun Jin’s head.

“You don’t understand a word I say, do you?”

This ruckus was loud enough to draw attention. The yamen runners guarding the corridor below all lowered their heads, stifling giggles. They weren’t likely just amused by the sight of Sun Jin dodging the Magistrate’s projectiles, hopping about in disarray; perhaps it was also seeing the Magistrate, who habitually slept until the sun was high in the sky, finally meeting his match today – something “one thing overcoming another” – getting a taste of his own medicine administered by Sun Jin.

Within moments, the Magistrate was back standing still, sweat pouring down his face, gasping for air. He sank back onto the lounge chair and waved Sun Jin over.

This time, even dense as Sun Jin was, he dared not approach. He crept forward just a tiny step and whined miserably, “This lowly one truly doesn’t understand, Mag—”

“Fine! I’ll spell it out for you clearly today!” The Magistrate clutched his chest, finally catching his breath, then lifted a finger, pointing it accusingly at Sun Jin. “First! They said they were here to deliver a letter, and you actually believed them? Seems you haven’t been yelled at enough by that one surnamed Shen! Look at the way she answered, at her eloquence – she’s clearly someone significant! How could she possibly be just an ordinary courier under Sun Ma? Besides, even if delivering a letter, who brings their younger sister along? You think they’re just sightseeing?”

“The way those two carried themselves… it really did seem like they were just sightseeing…” Sun Jin muttered under his breath.

“Second! Do you even comprehend why I ordered you to plug that large breach? Because if the scandal breaks, none of us will escape unscathed! But now these people have stumbled onto it! What’s the point of patching it now?” The Magistrate ignored his muttering, continuing his tirade. “If that group is truly found out, you and I are genuinely done for, it’s true. But don’t go thinking they’re any kind of benevolent characters! The secret’s out, and countless lives were lost here. Why, you think that if you run to plug it today, they won’t turn around tomorrow and pin the whole tragedy on you? Right now, the move is to watch and wait. Act only when the time is right. Besides, we’ve done nothing wrong! Those unjust ghosts who died untimely deaths won’t come knocking on our door!”

This torrent of scolding wilted Sun Jin for a good while. He seemed to ponder silently for a long time before maybe grasping it. But if he truly understood, why then, as the Magistrate settled back properly into the sunlight, closing his eyes and waving him away, did he pipe up with another question:

“Then should we still send someone to follow those two?”

“Watch and wait! Watch and wait!” The Magistrate snapped irritably, his eyes shut tight. “Is this too difficult to understand?! Don’t go!”

As expected, just as the Inn Boy had said, walking two streets from the inn and crossing a fork in the road brought them suddenly into a more open area. This row of mud-brick houses had clearly stood for quite some time; traces of flooding from the mountain torrents, likely predating the construction of Yingqiu Weir, were still visible on the peeling walls near their bases. The sun hung slightly lower in the sky. And unlike the bustling central market street of Yingqiu City with its neat rows of roof tiles, this same sunlight falling on this row of ramshackle, aging dwellings cast shadows that were deeply pockmarked like the uneven walls.

The ground beneath their feet was similarly rugged, only slightly better than the small path at the village entrance. With each step, they left prints that were neither too deep nor too shallow. Chen Shu clicked her tongue as she walked, occasionally seized by mischief, stomping her feet to flatten protruding clumps of dirt before trotting quickly to catch up to Shen Jie.

Shen Jie hadn’t paused along the way. The streets within Yingqiu City were straightforward, the Inn Boy’s directions clear, and Shen Jie had likely also seen a map of Yingqiu City amidst the many official records she’d perused. She had a clear plan in mind. When they reached the entrance of this sloping alleyway, one look down confirmed that the Zhou family house stood out distinctly amongst the many dilapidated, low dwellings. Not for any other reason, but because it was the only courtyard where cooking smoke arose.

Wispy traces of smoke drifted up from within the courtyard. The breeze caught them, stretching and twisting the smoke into shapes that raked the air like claws. Bathed in the bright autumn sunshine, the smoke seemed so intensely clear it might vanish at any moment, yet it stubbornly lingered, curling about the courtyard, refusing to dissipate.

They hadn’t been the only ones up all night yesterday. The County Magistrate, the County Security Official, those magistrate’s men – all had returned later than the two women. While the yamen required attendance at dawn roll call, today was not an ordinary day. Those who had made a racket last night were probably all still sound asleep at home. Even if roused, they were likely only just rising.

Exactly like the cooking smoke just now beginning its lazy ascent.

Shen Jie merely glanced up at it, her mind already understanding. She walked forward the last couple of steps, stood at the gate, and knocked firmly.

A voice responded from inside the courtyard almost immediately. The voice, however, was hoarse and rasping – a woman’s voice, clearly not belonging to “Zhou Mazi.”

“Who is it?”

“We met your son at the yamen last night,” came the reply. “We agreed he would guide us on a brief tour of Yingqiu City today; we’re just here to trouble him for that favor.”

The courtyard gate crashed open with a “bang!” A wave of food aromas struck them first. Then, as their eyes adjusted to make out the face before them, they saw an old woman whose clothes were barely sufficient to cover her frame. Her skin was wrinkled like a chicken’s, and her hair as white as a crane’s. The deep canyons on her face seemed deeper than the boundless Yushui River itself, carved almost like fissures.

“Looking for him?” said the old woman. “He’s still asleep! Don’t know what schemes that yamen has been cooking up these past days; they’ve practically worked the man to death!”

She spoke without bothering to gauge Shen Jie and Chen Shu’s expressions. Her hand was already moving to slam the door shut when Chen Shu hurriedly stepped up and pressed a hand against the gate door, which looked on the verge of collapse.

As she put her weight against it, a flicker of surprise surfaced in her mind.

Though the elderly woman seemed gaunt, her strength was far from ordinary. As Chen Shu assessed the grip, she determined the old woman had several measures more strength than Yun Shen even. Upon closer inspection, though the elder’s frame was thin, prominent green veins stood out on her arms, and her hands, large as palm-leaf fans, clearly belonged to one who had long earned a living by the sweat of one’s brow.

Since descending the mountain, Chen Shu had encountered but a few such elderly folk. This one before her counted, as did the long-departed Granny Painted Face. Comparatively, although Granny Painted Face had possessed far greater skill than this old woman, there existed aspects where she could not match this matron.

At the very least, the face of this old woman before them lacked the dark hint of death’s shadow that had clung so stubbornly to Granny Painted Face.

The elderly woman’s eagle-sharp eyes swept back to Chen Shu. This time, however, her grip slackened slightly, and her tone softened: “What’s the matter, little girl? You’re not from the magistracy, are you?”

“We hail from Diancang Pass and indeed are not citizens of Yingqiu,” Shen Jie stated steadily. “We made acquaintance with your son last evening and, finding him kindhearted, came today seeking news on a mere chance.”

“It isn’t this old woman meaning to trouble you,” the elder said. “He returned late last night, only waking just now. I fear he’ll soon be summoned back by that county magistrate to attend to some matter or other – these days he truly has no rest. Please, return. Yingqiu—”

Her words were cut short as Zhou An emerged from the inner room, drawn by their voices. Spotting him, Chen Shu’s eyes lit up, and she leaned towards Shen Jie, whispering urgently: “So it’s him!” Thankfully, the matron was a little hard of hearing and didn’t catch it, or Shen Jie’s carefully woven explanation would have been torn wide open by that single remark.

Zhou An, seeing both women, needed no further explanation of their purpose. Giving his mother a reassuring nod, he stepped forward to usher the two guests inside. This humble courtyard dwelling was a world apart from the yamen gatehouse. Even in broad daylight, they wouldn’t think to light the oil lamp reserved solely for New Year’s. Light flooded in only through the propped-open window, serving as their sole illumination.

Upon entering the room, the lingering smell of incompletely burned firewood from the neighboring cookfire drifted in, slightly acrid. Yet neither Shen Jie nor Chen Shu was one to be pampered. Among the three, it was Zhou An who coughed twice before speaking: “I know why you have come.”

“I overheard what you said yesterday before the County Security Official,” stated Shen Jie, not mincing words. She produced a substantial lump of silver directly from her sleeve. “The funds you require, I can supply them. All I ask is that you recount to me, down to the fine detail and exactly as it happened, what the County Magistrate and the County Security Official have said and done in these days since the large weir was wrecked. Any sum beyond your debt shall be your compensation for guiding us through the city today.”

Though the light was dim, the silver still caught and reflected a distinct gleam. Zhou An stared at it, transfixed for a long moment, before suddenly jerking his head up.

“There’s no need to give me silver,” he said, his eyes flashing with a fierce light identical to his mother’s. “You — you must be a high official from Diancang Pass, yes? If I tell you the unvarnished truth, can that wretched magistrate be driven out; forced back to the capital?”