Gu Zhengchen sat in the courtyard, staring absently into the dim night sky as a copper coin turned between his fingers.
There was no doubt: Father had been murdered!
Besides Wang Fugui, there had to be other accomplices.
Few people could tamper with the register. The former magistrate, Huang Qian, or the County Yamen's current registrar, deputy magistrate, chief constable, or clerks-all were possible suspects!
Whoever they were, I would avenge this blood debt!
His fingers clamped hard around the copper coin. Gu Zhengchen rose and said to Gu Cheng, who was approaching, "Get up early tomorrow. Come into town with me to take care of something."
"Yes, Master."
Gu Cheng obeyed.
Gu Zhengchen glanced back at his mother's room. The candle had been extinguished, leaving it shrouded in darkness.
It was best not to tell her about his father yet. Once he uncovered the truth, he would gather his father's remains and bury them.
Early the next morning, Gu Zhengchen told his mother he was leaving, then headed out with Xue Cheng.
The county town, a small pond.
Gu Zhengchen stood on the bank, gazing at the still water.
"Candidate Gu."
Wang Youcheng sauntered over, waving a white paper fan, and said in a mocking tone, "I heard they fished a skeleton out of the pond last night. Apparently, it was your father. Tsk, tsk, how unfortunate. But I'm curious-with nothing but a pile of bones, are you sure it was your father? Don't go claiming the wrong man as your father. That would be a grave act of unfilial conduct."
Gu Zhengchen turned sideways and fixed Wang Youcheng with icy eyes. "Scholar Wang, your eyes are sunken, with dark circles beneath them. Didn't sleep well last night, did you? What's wrong? Afraid a ghost will come for your life?"
Wang Youcheng's expression shifted slightly. He said bitterly, "What have I got to fear? Gu Zhengchen, you injured my ankle and left me sitting around for half a month..."
"Next time, it won't be a matter of sitting around for half a month!" Gu Zhengchen turned back toward the pond and silently added, I'll leave you lying in a coffin!
Ignoring Wang Youcheng, Gu Zhengchen entered the alley. Looking at the rabbit on the wall, he instructed Gu Cheng, "Fetch a brush and ink."
Gu Cheng promptly agreed and went to borrow them.
Gu Zhengchen had come here the night before and erased the official's hat above the rabbit's head, leaving only the rabbit.
Leaving it there might invite disaster.
After all, throughout the twenty years of warfare at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the rallying cries had been "The Bright King has appeared" and "Maitreya has descended."
Zhu Yuanzhang had risen through the Red Turban Army. Originally a follower of the White Lotus Sect and Manichaeism, he had first served under the Little Bright King. Later, however, Old Zhu betrayed the White Lotus Sect and Manichaeism, drowned the leader of Manichaeism in a river, and became the ruler of Great Ming himself.
In the First Year of Hongwu, Old Zhu issued an edict banning all heretical sects. These chiefly included the White Lotus Society, the Great Ming Cult, the Maitreya Sect, and the White Cloud Sect.
Old Zhu's meaning was plain: Great Ming permitted neither role-playing as sorcerers and writing talismans, nor the indiscriminate formation of societies, much less the circulation of objectionable works.
A rabbit wearing an official's hat implied that officials were all rabbits. If Old Zhu learned of it, he certainly would not let the matter rest until the man's entire family had been slaughtered.
There was no need to turn a minor matter into a major affair.
Gu Cheng returned with the brush and ink. Gu Zhengchen took the brush, dipped it in ink, and, after a moment's thought, raised it to write on the wall:
Grief stirs as I hear the ghosts cry; I weep while jackals and wolves laugh.
With falling tears, I honor the fallen hero; with brows raised, I draw my sword.
Gu Cheng looked at the poem. Though hardly outstanding, it carried an extraordinary force, and he marveled inwardly.
The villains were still laughing.
Wipe away the tears and draw the sword!
Gu Zhengchen stood with his hands behind his back. Once Gu Cheng had returned the brush and ink, they left the alley.
The marketplace.
Gu Zhengchen looked this way and that, stopping to examine the wares whenever he came across a folding-fan stall and studying the calligraphy and paintings on sale as well.
"Master, where are we going?"
After following Gu Zhengchen around for two hours, Gu Cheng finally could not help asking.
Gu Zhengchen reached the end of the street without finding what he wanted. Turning toward an alley beside him, he saw a boy in ragged clothes resting against a wall. At his feet sat a carrying basket containing several paintings, calligraphy scrolls, and folding fans.
Seeing someone approach, the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy hurriedly said, "Big brother, buy a folding fan to cool yourself off. They're cheap-five copper coins each. The calligraphy and paintings are fifteen."
Gu Zhengchen bent down, took a painting from the basket, and unrolled it. It depicted an eagle, and its brushwork and outlines bore a marked resemblance to those of the rabbit. He asked, "Do you have any paintings or folding fans with rabbits on them?"
"Yes."
The boy hurriedly rummaged through the basket, opening several paintings before finding one and handing it to Gu Zhengchen.
Gu Zhengchen unrolled it and examined it. Though the rabbit in the painting differed from the one on the wall, the brushwork was essentially identical, and even their expressions were similar. They had very likely been painted by the same person.
"I'm very fond of rabbits and would like someone to paint a few for me. Can you tell me where to find the artist?"
Gu Zhengchen had Gu Cheng take out twenty copper coins.
The boy accepted the money and said happily, "At the Wenchang Shrine south of town. There's a scholar named Deng Quan..."
"Deng Quan?"
Gu Zhengchen's gaze sharpened.
Leaving town through the southern gate, Gu Zhengchen and Gu Cheng headed toward the Wenchang Shrine three li away.
The Wenchang Shrine was dedicated to Lord Wenchang, the deity revered in ancient folk religion and Daoism as the guardian of scholars' examination success, official salaries, and rank.
Before the two Song dynasties, however, Wenchang had merely been one of the constellations within the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions, largely symbolic rather than a personified deity.
Wenchang had been granted the title of Divine Lord during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Yuan.
In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict:
"Any shrine under heaven whose deity has rendered no service to the people and does not belong in the prescribed rites is an unauthorized shrine. Officials shall not offer sacrifices there."
In other words, worship of any deity outside the court's official sacrificial canon was unauthorized. The Wenchang Shrine, Zhenwu Temple, and Lord Guan Temple all fell into that category, and many orthodox Confucians labeled the worship of Wenchang "illicit worship."
Unauthorized or not, the Wenchang Shrine contained nothing remotely unsuitable for children. The common people went on believing as they always had.
Still, the Wenchang Shrine in Teng County was rather deserted at the time.
It could not be helped. The court had suspended the imperial examinations. With no one sitting the exams, who would come seeking his help? Just look-Old Zhu had forcibly put Lord Wenchang out of work...
After making inquiries, Gu Zhengchen found Deng Quan, a man in his forties, in a side room.
Deng Quan was painting. Thinking it was a Daoist priest from the shrine, he looked up, only to find a stranger, and immediately grew wary.
Gu Zhengchen told Gu Cheng to wait outside, then approached with the painting in hand. Sitting cross-legged before the low desk, he slowly unrolled it. "You painted this, didn't you?"
A trace of unease appeared on Deng Quan's face. "Who are you?"
"Gu Zhengchen."
"You're Gu Pei's son, Candidate Gu?"
Gu Zhengchen looked intently at Deng Quan and said solemnly, "So you do know the truth behind this. Please tell me, sir."
Deng Quan shook his head. "I saw nothing, and I know nothing about it."
Gu Zhengchen's eyes narrowed. "You dared leave a painting to cry out against an injustice, yet you dare not speak plainly. Are you afraid of the people in the County Yamen, or those of the Wang Family?"
Deng Quan lowered his head and said through gritted teeth, "How can you prove you're Gu Zhengchen?"
Prove that I am me?
Gu Zhengchen wondered whether this fellow had flown here from some bank, station, or administrative office in a later age.
"This should be proof enough."
Gu Zhengchen reached for the red cord around his neck and drew a black wooden tag from beneath his clothes. It was two inches long, with his name, "Gu Zhengchen," carved on the front.
In those war-torn years, wives and children could be scattered at any moment. His father, Gu Pei, had made wooden tags for the family so they would have tokens by which to recognize one another after years of separation.
Though they had later settled down, he had never thrown away the tag.
It was a token of identity, one of the few keepsakes his father had left in this world.
He could neither discard it nor lose it.
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