Bloodstained Plaque

As soon as it was light, people arrived outside the Yunlai Inn.

First, two constables stood at the door, their hands on their knives, their faces tense. After a while, four more came, followed by constables, carrying shackles and chains.

The shopkeeper stood behind the counter, his eyelids twitching. He hadn't slept since returning last night. Before dawn, he had the shop assistants boil water, sweep the floor, and wipe the tables, pretending to be as usual. But when the yamen runners arrived, he almost couldn't catch his breath.

There were a few early risers in the lobby who had gotten up early to catch their train, but when they saw this commotion, they stopped eating and quietly moved to the door to watch the excitement.

The door to the east wing of the backyard opened.

Shen Gui came out, with A Yue following behind. She had changed into clean shoes and socks, but she still walked slowly, carrying the half-cold pancake from last night in her arms.

The leading constable, surnamed Ma, was usually the loudest on the street, but today he glanced at Shen Gui before speaking.

"Are you the stranger in gray?"

Shen Gui did not answer.

Constable Ma, losing face, hardened his voice further: "The county government has ordered you to be brought back to court for questioning. Zhou Laizi is dead, and Zhou's wife is with you. You can't escape this."

When A-Yue heard the words "Zhou family woman," her fingers clenched tightly.

"If you want to go out into the world, you have to go through these things," Shen Gui said calmly.

A-Yue hummed in agreement and stepped out from behind Shen Gui.

"Put them on." Constable Ma pushed the shackles forward.

Shen Gui walked forward, and Officer Ma was stunned for a moment, his hand frozen in mid-air.

The constables instinctively scattered, but quickly realized something was wrong and hurriedly surrounded him, their scabbards clattering together, but none of them dared to actually put the shackles on the gray-clad man's neck.

The shopkeeper stood behind the counter, his lips twitching. He wanted to say something to smooth things over, but was afraid of saying the wrong thing. In the end, he only managed to squeeze out, "Sir, it would be good to go. The magistrate is discerning and will surely find out the truth."

A-Yue suddenly looked up at him.

Feeling guilty under her gaze, the shopkeeper immediately lowered his head and started fiddling with the abacus, the beads rattling erratically.

It's only two streets from Yunlai Inn to the county government office.

But today, people walk very slowly on these two streets.

The shops along the street had all opened halfway. The wonton vendor peeked out, the butcher was still holding a cleaver, and the cloth shop assistant was peering through the crack in the door. The benches in several teahouses were full of people, but no one was drinking tea; they were all staring at the group of people in the middle of the street.

The news, spread by an unknown source, goes like this: the madwoman from Guhuai Village was taken to the city by a man, Zhou Laizi was killed, a case of stealing a wife and committing murder, and the county government came to arrest him early in the morning.

These words were passed around and changed several times by morning.

Some say the outsider was a womanizer who took a fancy to Zhou Laizi's wife and killed her in the night.

Some people say no, that Zhou Laizi should have died long ago.

Someone lowered their voice and said that the crazy woman wasn't originally Zhou Laizi's; she had been sold into the family and had caused a scene a year ago, even going so far as to the county government office.

The words had barely left his mouth when someone next to him tugged at his sleeve: "Are you out of your mind?"

The person shut up, but shutting up doesn't mean forgetting. Many people remember, but they just don't dare to say it.

Two layers of people had already gathered at the entrance of the county government office, all of them standing on tiptoe to look inside.

When Shen Gui stepped into the main hall, the county magistrate was already seated there.

The county magistrate, surnamed Hu, was in his forties and had a somber expression. Standing beside him was his advisor, Master Huang.

As soon as A-Yue stepped through the door, she stopped in her tracks.

She looked at the plaque with the inscription "A Clear Mirror Hanging High," at the bailiffs standing on both sides, and at the desk in the hall; the color drained from her face little by little.

She remembered this place, the spot where she had knelt a year ago.

At that time, her voice was hoarse from shouting, her forehead was bruised, and her fingers were gripping the cracks in the floor tiles. She cried and said that she was not Zhou Laizi's wife, but the people in the hall only asked her if the marriage contract had been signed with her fingerprints, if the Liu family had acted as guarantors, and if the Zhou family had taken her away.

Now she's standing here again.

Magistrate Hu slammed his gavel.

"Who is in the hall?"

After the sound faded, the area outside the yamen (government office) quieted down a bit.

Master Huang stepped forward, unfolded the paper, and read in a shrill voice: "Zhou, the leper from Guhuai Village, Changluo County, and his wife Chen Ayue, three years ago, with the testimony of a guarantor, agreed to marry Zhou. There is a marriage contract, an old judgment from the county government, and a guarantee from the Liu family."

When A-Yue heard the words "I wish to marry Zhou Shi as my wife," her lips trembled slightly.

Master Huang continued reading: "Last night, Zhou died, and her body was left in Guhuai Village. Chen, however, followed a man from another place into the city and stayed at Yunlai Inn. According to the law, she should be charged with murdering her husband and taking his wife, and inciting a madwoman to run away."

A hushed silence fell outside the hall.

"You're saying that too quickly, we haven't even asked yet."

"Shh, keep your voice down."

"Are you out of your mind?"

Magistrate Hu slammed the gavel again.

"quiet."

The sounds outside the hall subsided.

Magistrate Hu stared at Shen Gui: "What is your name? Where are you from? Why did you bring Mrs. Zhou into the city last night?"

Shen Gui looked up at him: "Where are the files?"

There was a moment of silence in the hall.

Master Huang sneered, "Who do you think you are, to presume to look through the county government's files?"

Shen Gui looked at Magistrate Hu.

Magistrate Hu felt very uncomfortable being stared at, as if the other person was sitting on top of him and he was the prisoner being interrogated.

He slammed his hand on the table: "You audacious scoundrel, you enter the court without kneeling and refuse to answer my questions. Take him down!"

The two constables stepped forward, but stopped three steps in front of Shen Gui. It wasn't that they didn't want to move, but their feet seemed to be nailed to the ground. Shen Gui didn't make a move, or even move at all, but the two of them just didn't dare to get any closer.

The people outside the hall saw this scene and started to speak again.

"Why aren't you taking it?"

"What are you afraid of?"

"Do you think we'll be wrongly accusing an innocent person again this time?"

Magistrate Hu's face darkened. He picked up the gavel and slammed it down heavily: "Anyone who makes a disturbance will be punished for disrupting court proceedings."

The constables, brandishing their fire and water sticks, turned around and shouted insults, causing the crowd to take a half-step back.

"The marriage contract is here, the old judgment is here, and the Liu family's guarantee is here. It's all in black and white, with official seals all in place. Chen is indeed Zhou's wife, and no one can deny that." Master Huang held up the three pieces of paper.

Shen Gui asked, "Didn't she say it wasn't her own choice?"

"How can the words of a madwoman be taken as truth?"

"What about before you went mad?"

No one answered in the hall.

The area outside the hall also quieted down for a moment.

A-Yue's fingers loosened a little, and crumbs of cold pancake fell to the ground.

Magistrate Hu's face twitched; he had no intention of getting bogged down in the marriage contract case. He raised his gavel and slammed it down heavily:

"Zhou Laizi died in Guhuai Village. If you confess, I can be lenient with you. If you try to argue again, you will be given twenty strokes of the rod as a warning."

Master Huang immediately said, "Someone, sign this."

A clerk brought over a confession, already written on the paper: "[Shen, a stranger, murdered Zhou, robbed Chen, and tricked her into fleeing.]"

They don't even have names, yet they are already guilty.

A-Yue looked at the paper and suddenly trembled. Three years ago, it was the same thing. She stood in front of Shen Gui and said in a very soft voice, "Don't press it."

"Shut up, you madwoman." The clerk frowned.

Shen Gui raised his hand, and the confession in the clerk's hand suddenly broke in two.

No one saw how it broke; half a piece of paper floated down and landed on the ground.

A loud commotion erupted outside the hall.

Magistrate Hu suddenly stood up: "Rebellion! Rebellion! Destroy the confession in court! Arrest him!"

Just as the constables were about to move, someone outside suddenly shouted, "Make way, let me in."

The crowd was thrown into disarray.

A man squeezed in.

He was in his thirties, his face was tanned dark, and his left sleeve was loose, with the cuff tied up, swaying back and forth with his steps.

He pushed too hard and fell on the threshold. When he got up, he hit his forehead and blood was flowing down his brow bone.

Someone recognized him.

"Xu Yanqing?"

"The peddler who helped this crazy woman escape?"

Xu Yanqing knelt down in the hall, took out an oilcloth package from his bosom with his right hand. His hands were trembling so badly that he had to untie it twice before he could do so.

Inside the oilcloth was a tattered piece of letter paper, well-preserved. Xu Yanqing held the letter paper above his head.

"Your Excellency, I, Xu Yanqing, am your witness."

"What credentials do you have?" Magistrate Hu's expression changed.

Xu Yanqing's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice was hoarse at first, but grew louder and louder later:

"Last year, when Miss Chen ran away, I caught her. She didn't elope with me, nor did she seduce me. She begged me to send a message to Jiangping Prefecture, saying that she had been trafficked!"