Chapter 062
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
Boss Chen ran himself ragged, pulling every string he could think of, yet his efforts were all for nought.
He had even fewer connections within the county than Lin Miao’s, and every time he tried to look into the deceased’s family, he was blocked. It was clear that Qinghe Academy was doing its best to keep the matter under wraps.
After that first incident at the gate, Qinghe Academy came to make trouble twice more. Not long after that, Qingyuan Academy students found different excuses to leave the school. Yamen officials stopped by to issue a final ultimatum, and Lin Miao could not hold out any longer and could only allow the officials to take several students into custody.
At the same time, he took off his scholar’s robe and volunteered to enter prison alongside them.
In truth, the matter had little to do with Lin Miao. However, he insisted that as the Headmaster of Qingyuan Academy, he was responsible for what befell his students. In reality, he feared that once the students fell into jailor’s hands, they would be forced into false confessions. With him present, the county officials would at least show some restraint.
This was no small incident. Lin Miao was not only a scholar but a registered scholar who received imperial stipends. In short, he was technically under the employ of the imperial court. Therefore, the yamen officials dared not lay their hands on him recklessly. The standoff lasted over half a day before Magistrate Hu finally invoked the ‘obstruction of official duties’ as a pretext to have Lin Miao brought in.
With no one left to lead, the Academy descended into chaos. More and more students left the school, leaving only Teachers Meng and Mo, along with a few students.
Boss Chen was furious and heartbroken by Lin Miao’s stubbornness. Yet, he could not find the will to fully blame the man for his actions. In the end, he could only run around, calling on every connection he had in hopes of salvaging the situation.
Meanwhile, thanks to Zhao’er’s information, Xue Tingxiang and the others were already making their way towards a village about half a day’s journey away from Huyang Township.
Right now, everything hung in a balance.
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Within the county yamen office on Anren Street, Magistrate Hu wore an unusually grave expression as he glared at the man standing on the other side of his massive table. The man was a middle-aged scholar, dressed in elegant scholar’s robes and a square scholar’s cap. Long eyebrows, clear eyes and a wispy beard completed his image as a refined scholar.
He was none other than Gao Youzhi, Headmaster of Qinghe Academy.
“You are certain that nothing untoward will happen?” Magistrate Hu said coldly. “Should this matter unravel itself, not only will I be unable to protect you, but I, too, shall be dragged into this. There is nothing of note about Lin Miao, but do not forget who his teacher is. Lu Huanqing may be a mere headmaster of a private school, but he is a Jin Shi [1] and has disciples across the empire. Many of whom have become high-ranking officials.”
“Please be at ease, Uncle,” Gao Youzhi said smoothly. “I promise that nothing will go awry. Lin Miao is pedantic to the bone. None in that little herd would ever guess that I had used the old Sacrifice the Plum for the Peach strategem. Not to mention, with the Sun family watching closely, what could possibly go wrong?”
“It had better not,” Magistrate Hu said after a beat, stroking his beard. “Best to resolve this incident sooner rather than later. Have the aggrieved party come to the yamen tomorrow and strike the drum. Once they have made their appeal for justice, I shall hold court the following day. Once the charges are settled and the student buried, not even the Heavens could overturn the verdict.”
“Uncle is wise. I shall see to it immediately.”
Magistrate Hu nodded, and Gao Youzhi took his leave.
After he was gone, the magistrate sat in place for a while, carefully pondering over every detail to see if there were any oversights before finally settling down to sip his tea.
Magistrate Hu was shrewd and cautious by nature. Under normal circumstances, he would have never involved himself in such a murky affair. However, Gao Youzhi was the adopted son of his childless younger brother, making him kin in all but blood. Over the years, he had received no shortage of ‘filial respect’ from Gao. And now, with the wealthy Sun family from Xia County coming forward with heavy purses, Magistrate Hu finally decided to dip his feet into the mire for once.
He could only hope that things would go smoothly.
Even so, unease continued to gnaw at him. Magistrate Hu felt restless and uneasy, plagued by a vague sense of foreboding. He could not quite grasp the feeling, but remained unsettled nevertheless.
Within the county jail, in one of the cells reserved for those with influence, sat a group of prisoners.
Even the prison follows a certain hierarchy. The lowest tier was reserved for the nameless and powerless, the ones from whom nothing could be gained. The next tier up was reserved for people of modest means, whose families could still be squeezed for a silver or two. Above them were wealthy households; the highest tier of all these was for the connected ones. Only the magistrate could assign prisoners here, and they had to be treated with utmost care and should not be carelessly touched.
It was in one such cell that a small group of young scholars sat together, watched over by nervous jailors. The magistrate himself had issued the order to not be careless with their treatment of the prisoners. To be precise, only one man commanded such special treatment, but this one person was enough to cause trouble for all of them.
To start with, the jailers had made considerable effort to separate the students for questioning. Yet, their every attempt was foiled by the scholar’s stubbornness. This Surname Lin scholar was not as meek as he appeared. He watched over the students like an anxious mother hen, overseeing them as they ate, drank, slept and even relieved themselves.
At times, even the jailers felt a pang of irony as they observed these scholars, who were usually so concerned about their dignity and image, as they squatted over buckets in front of each other without shame. Perhaps their sense of self-preservation had trumped their need to be seen as refined.
Lin Miao, still dressed in his white scholarly robes, sat cross-legged upon the straw-covered floor, surrounded by several pale-faced youths. The eldest barely twenty, the youngest no more than fifteen or sixteen, anxiety on their faces.
“Headmaster,” one baby-faced boy asked softly, “do you think we’ll ever get out?”
Another snorted. “What sort of question is that? Isn’t it obvious?”
At that, everyone’s faces grew paler, including Yu Ziyou and Wang Qi.
“If we had known, we would never have accepted their challenge that day! Who would have thought that a private literary contest would escalate into such a mess?”
“I don’t believe we killed anyone. We could barely even twist a chicken’s neck, let alone a man?”
“Who knows, with so many people… one blow from you, another from me… anything could-”
“Silence!” Wang Qi snapped.
A curious guard glanced over but, seeing nothing more than a cluster of frightened faces, only smirked and turned away.
“Do you think this is a place for idle talk?” Wang Qi’s expression was grim.
The boy who had spoken out of turn earlier muttered, “I am merely speaking the truth. I was there. Even if we had fought, it was merely a little pushing and shoving. How could anyone die from that?”
Then someone muttered, “If Yu Ziyou hadn’t been so arrogant, none of this would have happened. He was the one who struck first.”
This much was true. At once, all eyes turned toward Yu Ziyou, who was huddled in the corner. The youth lifted his head, his face grim and strained at the eyes boring into him. He looked nothing like the proud youth he once was.
His gaze flickered, and he forced a dry laugh. “How can you blame me? At the time—”
“That’s enough,” Lin Miao interrupted quietly. “Calm yourselves.”
Silence fell.
After a while, Wang Qi said thoughtfully, “I believe we should properly sort out what happened. Now that we have been brought to this place, it’s only a matter of time before we’ll be interrogated. Once we stand before the magistrate, right and wrong must be made clear. We must recall how it all happened. How it began, how it unfolded and how it escalated to blows.”
“Brother Wang speaks truly.”
And so, in voices too low for the jailers to hear, they began piecing together the events of that fateful day. Inevitably, arguments broke out—over who had struck first, who had pushed whom.
They had spent barely a night in the cell, and already they were turning against each other. Even so, as scholars, their quarrels remained restrained. This was especially so with Lin Miao watching them from the side.
As for Lin Miao himself, he merely sat in place as the circle of youths argued. After a while, he gave a weary sigh and closed his eyes.
000
The day of the hearing came swiftly.
To demonstrate his so-called fairness and transparency, Magistrate Hu permitted the townsfolk to attend.
Outside the main hall, the stone terrace and courtyard were already filled with people. At least two to three hundred people had appeared to watch the trial. Some were here to file their own complaints, but even more were here due to the rumours circulating in the marketplace.
[2] For days now, the people had been chewing over the gossip of how the two academies had come to blows, and how it had resulted in the death of a student. In fact, fights were a commonplace thing in the streets, but scholars coming to blows? To the point of death? [2] When it came to fighting, don’t these stuffy scholars prefer to use their words instead of fists? Just what had happened? How exciting, ah!Thus, when word spread that the trial would be happening today, every idle person immediately flocked over to the yamen to enjoy the commotion.
000
“Court in session!”
A sonorous cry rang out, signifying the start of the court session. Yamen runners hurried into position, striking their staves upon the ground.
Thud, thud, thud.
Court in session!
Magistrate Hu emerged from the screen in full official robes, his steps measured and heavy, as clerks and secretaries followed close behind.
He took his seat behind a large banner inscribed with the words [Impartial as a Bright Mirror]. First, he reviewed previous cases presented by the court scribes. In general, appeals and unresolved matters would be reviewed on the 3rd, 6th and 9th of each month.
As time passed, more and more spectators gathered outside.
Meanwhile, several minor cases were dealt with one after another. After a while, Magistrate Hu retired briefly to the Hall of Reflection for a short rest and some tea. When he returned to the bench, the air was thick with excitement and expectations.
At the sharp crack of the wooden block, a clerk announced:
“Sun family versus several students of Qingyuan Academy! Accused of beating their son to death! Plaintiffs, defendants, and all related parties, step forward!”
A moment later, the accused students were brought in—pale and trembling.
Then a commotion rippled through the crowd outside, rising into a rhythmic chant:
“A life for a life! A life for a life!”
Dozens of students dressed in scholars’ robes marched through the yamen gates in neat, three-line formations, their faces indignant with righteous anger. The common folk instinctively parted ways for them.
As though they had rehearsed the move, the students all stopped the moment they reached the edge of the platform. Then, the Headmaster of Qinghe Academy, Gao Youzhi, stepped out from the crowd of regular people.
With an expression wreathed in sorrow, he scolded them, “Speak! Why are you doing this!?”
“Headmaster! Sun He (crane) died an unjust death! As his classmates, we cannot bear it! How we wish we could take his place…”
“You foolish children…” Gao Youzhi sighed, shaking his head repeatedly as he strode into the hall.
At that very moment, Sun Youtian, the head of the Sun family, fell to his knees in the hall and cried, “I beg Your Excellency to grant us justice!”
The watching crowd sighed in pity—and turned their scorn toward the accused.
“Those Qingyuan students, they call themselves scholars and yet, to think they would be so arrogant and vicious as to beat a person to death over a mere disagreement!”
The faces of the Qingyuan students turned deathly pale.
Lin Miao exhaled softly. He refused the seat offered by one of the clerks, choosing instead to stand straight in the middle of the hall, though his back was starting to stoop with exhaustion.
“Brother Lin.” Gao Youzhi greeted him with a polite bow.
Lin Miao ignored him.
Gao let out a little self-satisfied chuckle. “Though we were once fellow students, and your father was my teacher, a human life is at stake here. I hope Brother Lin forgives this junior.”
Lin Miao looked at him. Seeing the false humility and blatant act, Lin Miao could not even find the words to reply to the man.
Gao Youzhi had always been like this. A master of making a pretence of himself. Every word uttered was measured, every gesture just within the bounds of propriety, impossible to fault yet infuriating all the same. There were times Lin Miao had been so angered that he wanted to strangle the man. However, he was a gentleman to his core and could only grit his teeth in frustration and hold his silence.
It was the only thing he could do.
A yamen runner approached Gao Youzhi with an ingratiating smile, “Headmaster Gao, please take a seat. According to court custom, as a registered scholar and aggrieved party, you are entitled to a chair.”
Gao Youzhi glanced at Lin Miao. The clerk followed his gaze and gave an awkward smile, “Headmaster Lin declines his seat.”
“Very well, then I, though unworthy, shall accept this privilege,” Gao Youzhi replied before smoothly taking his seat, taking care to adjust his sleeves.
Another round of staff-beating sounded, restoring solemnity to the court.
From the bench, Magistrate Hu declared, “State your names.”
A thin, middle-aged man in a blue robe stepped forward and bowed, “This humble student Zhu Hesheng speaks on behalf of the Sun family. The bereaved parents are overcome with grief and may not observe proper decorum. Headmaster Gao had therefore asked me to act in their stead.”
This Teacher Zhu was a Xiucai scholar and had the right to call himself ‘This Student’ along with the privilege of not having to kneel before the county magistrate.
Magistrate Hu nodded. Then he turned to the people Qingyuan Academy, “And you? Have you appointed a representative?”
The Qingyuan students exchanged helpless glances. Lin Miao’s face tightened; he shook his head. “No.”
After a pause, he stepped forward. “Then I, as their Headmaster, will—”
“Wait!”
A clear voice rang out from the crowd.
All turned as Boss Chen entered the hall, followed by a tall, refined young man in a slightly worn scholar’s robe of deep indigo.
He was in his twenties, broad-shouldered and poised, exuding quiet confidence. Though plainly dressed, his presence commanded attention. The moment the magistrate saw him, he rose from his seat.
“Third Young Master Shen!”
Magistrate Hu hurried down from the dais to greet him, his stern manner melting into obsequious warmth.
“Magistrate Hu.” Shen Fu inclined his head politely.
He was a Ju Ren who had passed the Imperial Examinations. Though he was not an official, the Shen name was a powerful force that extended beyond Xia County, covering the entire Pingyang Prefecture.
The Shen family’s eldest held a Third Rank official position under the Ministry of Rites, a real high-ranking official indeed. The second son had been a Zhuangyuan—the top-scoring student—of the Imperial Examination during the Shengtian reign and now served as a prefect in the Jiangnan region. The late Patriarch Shen once sat on the Imperial Cabinet itself; even in death, his influence remained.
No wonder Magistrate Hu—despite his rank—bowed low to greet this much younger man.
“I was unaware the Third Young Master would grace us today. May I ask what brings you here?”
“I’ve come merely to observe,” Shen Fu said calmly.
The magistrate blinked, then glanced sidelong at Gao Youzhi. The latter quickly shook his head—ever so slightly.
So, not Qinghe’s doing. Then… Qingyuan?
His heart sank, especially after seeing Shen Fu enter beside Boss Chen, who was known to associate with Qingyuan’s circle. Both the magistrate and the headmaster grew uneasy. How could a simple bookkeeper in a remote, impoverished area invite someone like Young Master Shen? Was there a deeper, more complicated reason behind his presence?
“I simply heard that students in this county had committed murder,” Shen Fu said lightly. “And was curious about this case. Do not trouble yourself, Magistrate Hu. I merely wish to see justice served.”
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At this, Lin Miao turned to Boss Chen. “Brother Mo, I’ve troubled you deeply.”
Boss Chen looked haggard, his voice hoarse as he said, “Don’t mention it. I happened to meet Young Master Shen by chance once. Otherwise, I would never have the privilege to even make such a request. The fact that I was able to move this mountain…” He hesitated before adding, “With him here, at least the magistrate will tread carefully. Brother Anqi, this is as far as I can go.”
There was no need to explain further; Lin Miao understood just how far Boss Chen had gone for him.
Shen Fu was a well-known book addict, a voracious collector of books obsessed with ancient volumes and lost tomes.
Boss Chen came from a distinguished scholarly family that had been collecting rare books for three generations. Although he ran a modest little bookstore, the Chen family owned an exquisitely crafted Song-dynasty woodblock print that had been passed down within their family for generations. The Chen family had never made its existence public, but Shen Fu had somehow learned of it and even sent someone to inquire after the woodblock print.
However, Boss Chen had refused to sell, and Shen Fu, to his credit, had not pressed the matter.
Now, having exhausted all other resources, Boss Chen had brought out that treasured woodblock print to Shen Fu’s door and thus secured his attendance.
Even so, Shen Fu had made it clear that he was only there as an observer. Therefore, though he may speak up if the judgment proved to be blatantly unjust, expecting him to resolve the matter for Qingyuan Academy was going a step too far.
Lin Miao bowed his head. “I am ashamed.”
“What’s there to be ashamed of? Books are dead things; lives are not,” Boss Chen said, waving a hand.
Still, Lin Miao could not shake his guilt. After all that had happened, he no longer knew whether the ideals he clung to were right—or merely futile.
000
Upon hearing that Shen Fu was only there to observe, Magistrate Hu immediately exhaled a sigh of relief.
Now that he had time to think about it, the Shen family valued reputation above all. Moreover, they had no ties with Lin Miao, so why would they interfere with the case? Surely they were just here to show face at someone’s request. Even so, care should be taken to make sure everything appeared above board.
Still, he reassured himself: This was basically an open-and-shut case. Witnesses and evidence were already in hand. The Qingyuan side would never find out the truth in time. Once the verdict was delivered, the matter would be sealed.
For propriety’s sake, he would show leniency—perhaps a sentence of exile rather than execution. That would win him both a reputation for mercy and the favour of the Third Young Master.
After all, neither he nor Gao Youzhi truly wished to have anyone killed. They only needed to protect one person and to have Qingyuan Academy closed down.
Having settled the facts in his head, Magistrate Hu invited Shen Fu to sit, then returned to his bench.
At the signal, the yamen runners struck their staves again. The hall fell silent.
Boss Chen withdrew to the outer court, and silence fell over the room.
Magistrate Hu looked toward the defendants and asked once again, “Have you appointed counsel? If not, this court will proceed.”
Of course, [3] with its most prominent member imprisoned and the stain of murder hanging over their head, there was no one left to stand for Lin Miao. Besides his wife and daughter, Lin Miao had no other relatives. Boss Chen had tried to secure a representative, but no one had dared to take the case.
He had lost count of how many lawyers he had approached, but all had shaken their heads upon hearing the details of the case. Otherwise, Boss Chen would not have used such a drastic measure to invite Shen Fu to witness the case. If nothing else, he could hope for a more lenient judgment from the magistrate.
*None,” Lin Miao said quietly. He stepped forward. “If none will stand for us, then as Headmaster, I shall—”
“Wait!”
A loud voice rang out from the doorway.
Magistrate Hu’s brows drew together in irritation. Unless Heaven itself had sent a messenger, whoever dared interrupt court again would taste his wrath. Did they think that the hall of justice was a place where anyone might cry out at will?
[Gumihou: I like Magistrate Hu, he’s an interesting character.]
[1] Reminder of the scholar’s level
| Tong Sheng | Passed Local exam aka juvenile scholar | |
| Sheng Yuan (Xiucai) | Passed the County Exam | |
| Ju Ren | Passed the Provincial Exam | |
| Gong Shi | Passed the Capital Exam (held every 3 years) | |
| Jin Shi | Passd the Imperial Exam |
Xue Qingshan – Tong Sheng
Lin Miao – Ju Ren
[2] Chose to use shorter sentences and simpler words to indicate ‘common folk thought’ [3] Added details for clarification
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