Would He Alone Die, or His Entire Household?

The southwest corner of the Teng County Yamen.

An unsettling stench of mold filled the air, while a sinister, terrifying aura of death hung in the damp chill.

Suddenly.

Lantern light drove back the darkness, followed by hurried footsteps.

"Coroner, Candidate Gu is here."

Constable captain Chen Sanxiu called out.

The coroner emerged from the shadows, shielding a candle that threatened to go out at any moment with his palm.

They followed the coroner into the inner room, where a corpse lay beneath a white cloth on a wooden platform. The coroner glanced at the silent Gu Zhengchen and lifted the cloth.

Chen Sanxiu and the coroner looked at Gu Zhengchen. They had expected him to faint from fright, but instead, he merely gazed at the remains in grief, without the slightest trace of fear.

Looking at the skeleton before him, Gu Zhengchen could not imagine that this was "his" father.

In his memories, the Gu Family had originally come from Hongtong, Shanxi. After offending a powerful clan, they had been forced to move to the area around Kaifeng, Henan.

During the chaos of war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Gu Pei and Gu Shi had taken the young Gu Zhengchen and Gu Qingqing from hiding place to hiding place. Only two years before the founding of the Great Ming had they emerged from the mountains and settled in Teng County, Jining Prefecture.

In the First Year of Hongwu, Gu Pei and other residents of Teng County had been conscripted to transport provisions and military funds for Xu Da's army.

Later came news of his death.

At the time, the Great Ming's war against the Yuan had reached a critical stage. Leaving the dead out in the wilderness was commonplace; no one would go to great lengths to send a corpse back to its hometown.

His mother, Gu Shi, had wept in secret for half a month, then used one of his father's garments to make a cenotaph beneath the largest mulberry tree in their field.

More than five years had passed, and the Gu Family had long accepted that Gu Pei was gone. Yet now, men from the County Yamen had come to Gu Zhengchen and said: they had found his father, and he had died again.

Looking at the bones before him, Gu Zhengchen asked sorrowfully, "Has the cause of death been determined?"

The coroner pointed to the skull, which bore several fractures, and explained.

Gu Zhengchen clenched his fists, his expression turning somewhat savage. "Where is the magistrate?"

Chen Sanxiu hurriedly replied, "In the Main Hall."

Gu Zhengchen drew the white cloth back over the remains and turned to leave. Led by Chen Sanxiu, he entered the County Yamen's Main Hall.

Li Yi was examining a register. Seeing Gu Zhengchen arrive, he spoke first. "I will get to the bottom of this and secure justice for the Gu Family."

Gu Zhengchen asked bluntly, "Do you have any leads or direction for the investigation, Magistrate?"

Li Yi raised his head, his gaze still on the register, and beckoned him over. Pointing to a name in it, he said, "This is our lead."

Gu Zhengchen stepped forward and saw the name "Gu Pei." It had been written at the end of the list of names crossed out in the register. The handwriting resembled that of the other names above it, but closer examination revealed that it had not been written by the same hand.

"Someone from the County Yamen!"

Gu Zhengchen ground his teeth.

Li Yi sighed. "As things stand, someone in the County Yamen was involved, at the very least."

Gu Zhengchen did not suspect Li Yi. He had taken office in Teng County in February of the previous year, the fifth year of Hongwu, while this case had occurred in the First Year of Hongwu or the Second Year of Hongwu.

Watching Gu Zhengchen ponder, Li Yi asked, "I would like to know whether your father, Gu Pei, ever made an enemy of anyone, or had any disputes or arguments."

Gu Zhengchen sat down and met Li Yi's eyes. "There are four fractures in the skull. Clearly, this was no accidental injury caused by a momentary slip. It looks more like a revenge killing, an outlet for rage. The Gu Family moved to Teng County from elsewhere. As for disputes..."

Seeing that Gu Zhengchen seemed to have recalled something, and that murderous intent had surfaced on his face, Li Yi rose and asked, "What have you thought of?"

Gu Zhengchen gripped the teacup on the table, his breathing growing rapid and heavy.

Crack!

The teacup shattered, and tea and blood immediately spilled out.

Li Yi felt a pang over the delicate teacup he had acquired, but watched Gu Zhengchen with a grave expression.

Gu Zhengchen shouted through gritted teeth, "Wang Fugui!"

Li Yi's heart jolted. Was it indeed the Wang Family?

Yan Bin fetched a clean handkerchief and bandaged Gu Zhengchen's injured hand. Gu Zhengchen told Li Yi, "In March of the First Year of Hongwu, Wang Fugui claimed that the Gu Family's ten mu of land had belonged to his ancestors and sought to take it back. My father refused, and they quarreled. Soon afterward, my father was conscripted to transport provisions and military funds. The Wang Family came to our door several times demanding the land, but my mother refused."

"After the Second Year of Hongwu, the Wang Family members stopped coming to make trouble. Only after I passed the provincial examination in the fifth year of Hongwu did they come to apologize, even giving me forty strings of cash toward my journey to the capital for the examinations! Thinking back now, the Wang Family had been harboring evil intentions all along!"

Li Yi frowned.

According to the edict Zhu Yuanzhang issued in the First Year of Hongwu, any wasteland reclaimed and cultivated by peasants would belong to them, and they would be exempt from taxes and labor service for three years. If the original owners returned home, local officials were to allot them an equal amount of nearby wasteland to cultivate.

Even if the land Gu Pei had reclaimed had belonged to Wang Fugui's ancestors, the Wang Family had no right to demand it back.

Using Yuan Dynasty land deeds to seize Ming Dynasty land-Wang Fugui, what were you thinking...

From this perspective, Wang Fugui had long resented Gu Pei for failing to appreciate his "kindness" and had nursed that grudge. That supplied a motive for murder.

The remaining problem was to find evidence that Wang Fugui's household had murdered Gu Pei!

Li Yi turned to his private secretary, Yan Bin. "Tell him everything we uncovered in today's investigation."

Yan Bin was somewhat surprised. Gu Zhengchen was not a member of the yamen; he was merely being questioned. He had no right to participate in the investigation or its analysis, much less learn the full contents of the case files.

Yet the magistrate had given precisely that instruction.

Yan Bin looked hard at Li Yi and understood. The magistrate wanted to use this murder case to take another look at Gu Zhengchen's abilities, to see whether he had the wisdom and skill to resolve such a thorny problem.

Without that much ability, a local official would become someone else's puppet upon taking office, held in check by the clerks.

Yan Bin could not let Gu Zhengchen read the case files, but he could read them aloud. After finishing, he also told him about the rabbit wearing an official's hat.

Li Yi looked solemnly at Gu Zhengchen. "I know you are grieving, but you must calm down now. If you were the county magistrate, what would you do next?"

Gu Zhengchen looked at Li Yi and said gravely, "Only those four or five people in the County Yamen could have added my father's name to the register of the dead to keep the Gu Family from asking questions or investigating. Judging by the handwriting, the culprit was skilled at imitation. If he did not kill my father himself, then he must have taken money to do the job. That should be enough for you to identify who tampered with the register."

Li Yi nodded slightly. "I can find him, but that is not conclusive evidence."

Gu Zhengchen lowered his head in thought, then stood. "The rabbit wearing an official's hat was hidden beside the pond. Most likely, someone saw something. Find him, and we will have an eyewitness."

Yan Bin said helplessly, "A drawing like that mocks the authorities. It could be classified as a seditious writing or picture, and being caught with it is a capital offense. Who would dare admit to it? Besides, we have no idea who drew it. Finding that person would be harder than climbing to heaven."

Gu Zhengchen looked at Li Yi. "I can find this person, but I need you to agree to one thing, Magistrate."

Li Yi raised his brows. "What is it?"

Gu Zhengchen pointed to the hat on Li Yi's head.

Li Yi understood at once. "You want to erase the official's hat from that drawing? That would indeed spare the artist's life. Very well. Few people know about this anyway. Handle it as you see fit."

Gu Zhengchen walked toward the doorway, then suddenly stopped. Turning back, he asked coldly, "If Wang Fugui is proven to be the true murderer, will he alone die, or will his entire household?"