Chapter 7

Luo Chengye's home stood right beside the monks' quarters of Lotus Flower Temple. A narrow alley ran between two large compounds, with a tiny courtyard squeezed into its far end. The main dwelling measured a room and a half, while the side room was only three paces wide, too narrow to live in, and had been rented to a neighbor for storage. Luo Chengye had died in that room-and-a-half dwelling.

County Commandant Hao Jin personally tore away the sealing strips bearing the official stamp and invited Bao Lang and Magistrate Wu inside to inspect the scene.

Luo Chengye's corpse and scattered entrails had already been carried back to the County Yamen as evidence. The copious blood spattered everywhere had dried, and flies circled and buzzed amid a pungent, foul stench, like offal gone rotten at a butcher's stall. Wu Zhiyuan nearly vomited on the spot and hastily pulled out a silk handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth.

Bao Lang showed no sign of nausea. Instead, he carefully looked around. The room and a half was so small that someone standing in the middle could see all four walls. The ceiling was higher than the room was wide; judging by the original structure, it seemed to have once been a large room later partitioned into smaller ones.

As the county's Unworthy Marshal, Luo Chengye commanded thirty or forty Unworthy Men, yet his home had nothing but four bare walls. The only furnishing was a narrow, low couch against the wall, without even a mat spread over it.

Bao Lang asked, "Why is it so empty? Were the other furnishings taken to the County Yamen?"

County Commandant Hao Jin answered respectfully, "No. His home was always like this."

Bao Lang gave a cold laugh. "Don't tell me this dead dog was so incorruptible in life that he was washed clean of every penny."

Hao Jin said quietly, "Luo Chengye had something of a gambling habit..."

"He gambled away all his furnishings, even his official uniform? The first time he met me that day, his uniform didn't fit. It wasn't that he couldn't join the banquet-he didn't have a decent set of clothes. You found him another one overnight? Heh. So your supposedly foolproof arrangements amounted to assigning a gambler to guard my pearl."

Bao Lang's voice was icy and venomous. Despite the scorching weather, cold sweat streamed down Hao Jin's forehead and into his eyes. He did not dare wipe it away, only blinked to let it trickle down on its own.

Shrewd, seasoned, and ruthless, Luo Chengye had been one of Xiagui County's most capable men. He had brought the local underworld thoroughly to heel, and even their superiors in Huazhou had borrowed him several times to solve cases. Had his background among the outlaw brotherhood not tainted him, he would long since have been promoted from clerk to official. Perhaps because he saw no hope of advancement, and someone had lured him into it, he had taken to gambling over the past year. Within days, he had lost everything he owned, then used his position as Unworthy Marshal to force loans out of many wealthy households in town and keep gambling.

Those wealthy households had come to the County Yamen to complain of his extortion. Hao Jin had long been displeased with Luo Chengye and had berated him in private many times, but he still could not break the habit. Had his superior Wu Zhiyuan not wanted to flatter the military governor with the reputation of "Huazhou's finest constable," Hao Jin would never have dared entrust a matter this important to a gambler like Luo Chengye. Yet a county commandant was the padding trapped between the layers of a jacket: when things went well, he received no credit; when they went badly, neither side had a kind word for him.

Wu Zhiyuan could no longer bear the bloody murder scene. Covering his nose and mouth with his silk handkerchief, he tried to smooth things over. "There's nothing in this room; we can see it all at a glance. Let's step into the courtyard to talk."

The three men went into the courtyard, where a young member of the Unworthy Men knelt on the ground, waiting to be questioned.

Hao Jin hurriedly introduced him. "This is Wang Liangcai, one of Luo Chengye's men. He was the first to discover Luo Chengye dead in his home."

Bao Lang said slowly, "Tell me what happened."

Wang Liangcai swallowed nervously. "Special Envoy, I was due to take over the shift that morning. I went to the rear courtyard of Lotus Flower Temple at dawn to report for duty and heard that the pearl was missing. I rushed here to Chief Luo's home to tell him to hurry to the scene. I knocked for a long time before Chief Luo came out, yawning, and opened the door. When I told him Baozhu had been stolen, he was stunned too..."

Bao Lang interrupted with a frown. "What? He was still alive then? You didn't see the corpse as soon as you opened the door?"

Wang Liangcai answered at once, "No, no. Chief Luo was perfectly alive then. He usually supervised the night shift and slept at home in the mornings. He was still wearing his underclothes. When he heard me say the pearl was missing, he said he would change right away and told me to go wait at the temple."

"And then?"

"I went to call my fellow officer Ma Hongzhuang at his home, then we went to Lotus Flower Temple together. But Chief Luo still hadn't arrived. By then, you were... ahem, very angry. I was afraid Chief Luo would be scolded and punished, so I hurried back to urge him to come."

"And this time you found a corpse?"

Wang Liangcai nodded. "Yes. I knocked for ages again, but I really couldn't wait any longer, so I shook the door hard. Who would have thought it wasn't bolted? It pushed right open..."

Bao Lang finished for him. "Then you saw a headless corpse lying in the room, with entrails scattered everywhere."

"Yes, yes. Special Envoy, that is everything I saw that day. My fellow officer Ma Hongzhuang can bear witness."

Bao Lang challenged him. "Since the head was gone, how could you recognize at a glance that the corpse was Luo Chengye?"

Wang Liangcai froze. This possibility had never occurred to him. He stammered, "The man died in Chief Luo's home, and he was wearing Chief Luo's clothes..."

Finding Bao Lang's keen attention to detail difficult to handle, Hao Jin explained, "Special Envoy, the coroner's examination established that the headless corpse's build matched Luo Chengye's. Besides, he had a tattoo left from his days among the outlaws: a great python coiled around his left arm, stretching from his shoulder to the back of his hand. That identifying mark could not be faked."

Bao Lang's face darkened. He murmured thoughtfully, "A snake again..."

Wang Liangcai's gaze went unfocused, and he suddenly muttered to himself, "His intestines were hanging from the roof beam. They looked rather like a snake too..."

Cold sweat broke out down Hao Jin's back again. He snapped, "Don't spout irrelevant nonsense in front of the Special Envoy!"

Bao Lang paid it no mind and continued his questions. "How much time passed between the last time you saw Luo Chengye alive and your second visit?"

Still kneeling, Wang Liangcai answered, "Special Envoy, less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn. This place is right next to the monks' quarters. It's only a few steps there and back."

"Less than an incense stick..." Bao Lang murmured to himself. He mentally calculated how long it would take him to reach this place from the Many-Treasures Pagoda at full speed, then asked, "Are there any other details you haven't mentioned?"

Wang Liangcai answered, "No. I've repeated it to Commandant Hao dozens of times already."

Bao Lang encouraged him with a smile. "Don't rush. Think again. Have you left anything out?"

Wang Liangcai bowed and kowtowed. "Special Envoy, there truly is nothing else. I've already signed my testimony and put my mark on it."

After leaving the foul-smelling house, Wu Zhiyuan needed a good while to recover before he dared speak. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said, "Could it truly be a snake demon, or some ghost or spirit at work? How could the time it takes an incense stick to burn possibly be enough to kill someone, cut off his head, and pull out his entrails?"

Bao Lang chuckled softly, reached out to pat the county magistrate's shoulder, and said gently, "Your Honor is a civil official trained in books. I don't blame you for not understanding. Cutting off a head actually takes very little time. An instant is enough."

Bao Lang touched the saber hilt at his waist. Neither Wu Zhiyuan nor Hao Jin even saw him draw. Their vision blurred, and blood shot skyward with a hissing sound. Wang Liangcai's head hit the ground with a thud, the cut clean and neat. Bao Lang casually wiped the blood from his blade on the corpse's clothes, then slowly slid it back into its sheath.

"See? Wasn't that quick?"

Dawn had barely broken when the street stalls selling breakfast set up their stoves. Although the city gates remained closed, the people living inside still had to eat. But the small vendors feared trouble, and the scattered stalls were nowhere near as bustling as before the city was sealed.

Baozhu was deeply disappointed to find the eatery selling Willow-Leaf Hotai closed. She settled for buying a piece of jujube cake, took one bite, and gave up on it. Sitting at the stall and listening to the other diners talk, however, she learned some new developments in the case.

The sweeping search of the entire city had unexpectedly solved many old cases. The authorities had arrested a fugitive murderer and three shop assistants who had embezzled money, and uncovered several adulterous affairs and other petty offenses. Yet the crucial case of the stolen pearl and the murder at the pagoda remained unresolved.

The diners spoke in hushed voices of people from this household or that who had been arrested and imprisoned, then beaten unconscious, with not a patch of intact skin left on their bodies. Some yamen runners were also using public authority to settle private grudges, inventing excuses to imprison people whether they were connected to the case or not. So far, not one had come out alive. The County Yamen's Prison Ward was overflowing, and craftsmen had even been urgently summoned to put up several sheds to hold suspects temporarily.

Fear trembled in every voice. Everyone dreaded being implicated, and all manner of strange and fantastic tales sprang from it.

"That White Snake Pearl clearly wasn't a thing of this world. The dead snake demon must have come back to life to take revenge and reclaim its spirit pearl. Who but a snake demon could climb into that pagoda? I heard half of Luo Chengye the 'Lion Hound' was swallowed by the snake demon!"

"Forgive us, forgive us! That pagoda is guarded by Skanda Bodhisattva. He hates evil like a sworn enemy. What demon could cause trouble right under his eyes?"

"As long as the case remains unsolved, the white snake's vengeance won't end. Our whole city of Xiagui will suffer!"

The pearl theft and murder remained unsolved, and the details were still being kept secret, so the rumors circulating through the streets and alleys grew ever more outlandish. After listening for a while, Baozhu felt she could compile a whole volume of fantastic tales.

Yang Xingjian stood beside her, keeping her company. Bending slightly, he said quietly, "Let's go back. Whether this case is solved or not has nothing to do with us. Once the gates open, we'll leave Xiagui and head east."

Baozhu gave no definite answer. Her thoughts still lingered on the two fellow disciples. Where had Wei Xun gone? Did he have anything to do with this major case? If not, why did he refuse to show himself? If he truly had some hardship he could not speak of, or some grievance to avenge, he could at least have left her a note explaining. To leave without a word-how utterly hateful.

Fortunately, with the Household Register Yang Xingjian had brought, Baozhu had encountered no difficulties during the authorities' first round of screening earlier and had passed through easily.

She returned to the inn with him. Once the door was closed and no one else was present, Baozhu told him how Wei Xun had entered the underground tomb to rob it and happened to lift her from the coffin where she had been buried alive. Yang Xingjian was naturally astonished and repeatedly exclaimed that Heaven protected the fortunate princess, and that one who survived a great calamity was sure to enjoy blessings afterward.

He also thought that a thief who dared rob an imperial tomb possessed almost inconceivable audacity. Presumably, he was one of those extraordinary chivalrous thieves spoken of among the common people. Had he not harbored ill intentions toward the princess, he might someday have served Prince Shao and helped him accomplish great things. For a moment, lingering fear and regret mingled in Yang Xingjian's heart, leaving his feelings tangled.

Baozhu asked, "Registrar, what do you make of my being buried alive when I had done nothing wrong?"

Yang Xingjian naturally dared not criticize the sovereign. Weighing the princess's feelings, he said, "I believe this was still aimed at Prince Shao. Though the struggle for succession is a fight to the death, as a woman, Your Highness posed no threat yourself. But you have always enjoyed His Majesty's deep favor and supported Prince Shao from within the palace while he acted outside it. To cut away his support in the palace, his enemies struck with such ruthlessness. This must have been a plot by someone who deeply hates Prince Shao, someone in the same camp as those who slander him."

At this point, Yang Xingjian raised his thumb and bent its first joint.

Baozhu started. "Li Chengyuan? His face was torn to pieces by a bear, and he's permanently disfigured. What does he still have to fight for?"

Yang Xingjian sighed. "The deposed crown prince acted against all reason, tortured commoners to death, and favored his male lovers. Everyone despised him. Even without the accident that disfigured him, he would have been deposed sooner or later. Alas, after Chengyuan, Prince Shao was both the eldest and the highest in standing. Had the Noble Consort still been alive, with the favor she enjoyed, the other princes would have had no chance at all. Sadly, the pearl in her womb destroyed the moon, and beauty met an early death."

Hearing him mention her mother's death in childbirth, Baozhu's eyes slowly reddened. Yes, had her mother still been alive, she would surely have sheltered all her children firmly beneath her wings.

The emperor had loved the Noble Consort deeply and steadfastly. Had he not needed to preserve the crown prince's position and the stability of the court over the years, she would long since have become empress in her own right. Indeed, the moment Li Chengyuan was stripped of his position as crown prince, her elevation to empress had been put on the agenda. Everything was ready; they only awaited the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's selection of the most auspicious and fitting day for the ceremony.

Alas, beauty was ill-fated. Before that day arrived, the Noble Consort died of a hemorrhage. The empress's investiture book and jade seal could only be placed in her mourning hall as memorials.

Baozhu shed silent tears for a while. Yang Xingjian comforted her softly. "Once the gates open, I will send an express letter to Youzhou to tell Prince Shao you are safe. He will surely be greatly relieved. After Your Highness reaches Youzhou safely, we can settle this account in full."

Discussing secrets of the court had already left both of them tense. Suddenly, they heard shouting and commotion at the inn's entrance as a group of men burst through the door. Both started in alarm.

Yang Xingjian hurriedly opened the door a crack and peered outside. A band of saber-wearing yamen runners had kicked the innkeeper to the ground and were shouting that they had come to search for a suspect. The innkeeper hesitated only a moment before they seized him by the collar and slapped him hard several times. Bleeding from his mouth and nose, he trembled as he pointed toward Baozhu's room. Yang Xingjian's face drained of color, and he hastily shut the door.

But how could a wooden door bolt hold back such wolves and tigers? The runners surged inside. Like an old hen, Yang Xingjian spread his arms and desperately shielded the princess. Baozhu hurriedly took a covert grip on an arrow, but five or six men blocked the doorway alone. From the sounds below, another large group waited downstairs, and still more had taken positions on the surrounding rooftops.

These men carried not only swords and sabers but also iron nets, steel forks, and other weapons used to hunt wild beasts. They guarded every approach, casting a net over heaven and earth.

Yang Xingjian assumed their political enemies had learned the princess's whereabouts and come to cut the weeds out by the roots. His heart turned to dead ash, and his whole body went cold. Yet the runners demanded, "Where is the Green-Clothed Slave hiding?"

Yang Xingjian's mind raced, and he hastily answered, "We two are masters, not servants. What brings you officers here?"

"We've learned that a notorious thief dressed in green is hiding at the Sun Family Inn. He's the suspect in the pearl theft and murder! Since you two are his masters, you're harboring a criminal. Come with us!"

They then shook out iron chains and wooden cangues, preparing to bind them both.

Yang Xingjian said hurriedly, "My daughter and I come from an entirely respectable family. We truly knew nothing of our servant's crimes and certainly never intended to harbor him!"

Seeing the young maiden he was shielding, the runner sneered. "Whether you're suspects can only be determined after you're questioned at the County Yamen. A few dozen lashes to rasp away your skin and flesh, and we'll see whether you confess. Dare resist arrest, and we'll cut you down right now!" He then stepped forward and shoved Yang Xingjian.

How could Yang Xingjian stand by and watch the princess be put in chains and a cangue, then tortured? With matters at the point of no return, he could only reveal his true identity. Gritting his teeth and stamping his foot, he roared, "Such insolence! Which of you dares kill an official of the imperial court!"

His shout stunned the runners. Seizing the opening, Yang Xingjian pulled a Silver Fish Bag from his robe and held it high. "I am a sixth-rank official appointed by imperial decree, here on official business! The sealing of the city has delayed me for days, and now you want to cut me down?! You haven't heard the last of this!"

The Silver Fish Bag was embroidered with silver-thread scales that gleamed like rippling water. Exquisitely made, it served as proof of a senior official's identity. Inside lay half a fish tally, carved with interlocking joints to prevent forgery. The other half was kept in the inner court as the matching record; when the two halves were joined, the joints would fit together.

None of the runners had ever seen a Fish Bag in person, though all had heard of one. They took it and examined it carefully. Unable to tell whether it was genuine, they nonetheless no longer dared use force. Seeing Yang Xingjian dressed in an ordinary commoner's white hemp clothes, their leader offered an ingratiating smile. "Sir, why aren't you wearing your official robes and staying at the Official Guesthouse?"

Yang Xingjian snorted coldly, took back the Fish Bag, and tucked it into his robe. He declared in a ringing voice, "I can stay at the Official Guesthouse, but my family cannot. We could make do for a day or two, but the city has been sealed for so long. How could I feel at ease leaving my unmarried daughter alone in an inn outside? If I wore my official robes while cramped in this place, I don't know whether I would be disgracing myself or the imperial house."

Baozhu quietly lowered her arrow. Supporting his story, she turned her face toward the wall and pretended to be a frail, helpless maiden from a respectable family.

Yang Xingjian thought that too many people had seen the Green-Clothed Slave staying here in recent days for him to deny it. He could only retreat to advance and find another path. "I did have a servant dressed in green. I had employed him for only a few days when he ran away before the city was sealed. Whatever that runaway servant has done, could we possibly keep our eyes on him all day? If you persist in this nonsense, I will go to the County Yamen myself and demand an explanation from Wu Zhiyuan!"

As the saying went, an official one rank higher could crush a man to death. Though Yang Xingjian carried little weight in Chang'an, he was still of the lower sixth rank, while Magistrate Wu, the highest official in this county, was only seventh rank. Having revealed his identity, he deliberately threw his official weight around. Every movement radiated authority and lofty arrogance, and he even threatened to return to the capital and submit an impeachment against Wu Zhiyuan.

The runners all felt a headache coming on when the capital official turned on them. Acting on an informant's tip, they had come in force to arrest the Green-Clothed Slave, yet had found nothing and did not dare return empty-handed. Their leader immediately signaled a subordinate to hurry outside and report to County Commandant Hao Jin, who was directing the arrest operation, that a sixth-rank official was staying incognito at the Sun Family Inn.