Chapter 26: Military Inspector Yang Bravely Captures Dayou; Governor-General Kong Conducts a Night Interrogation of Xilai

Now, Tianlai returned to the provincial city and told his brother Junlai everything. The two brothers rejoiced quietly to themselves. From that point on, they only kept a careful watch for news and made ready for their summons to court.

Governor-General Kong returned to his yamen and at once drew out a command arrow, commissioning Yang Fu, the armed inspector of his own yamen, together with Thousand-Commander Su An, to lead a force of sword-and-shield bearers to fly at full speed to Tancun to make arrests. The orders were: "On arriving at the Ling household, bring in every male person, young or old, senior or junior — not a single one is to be left behind!" Yang and Su received their orders and did not dare to delay; they immediately boarded fast boats and flew away.

In the meantime, Ling Guixing — believing that his troubles at the Governor's yamen had been settled — was in high spirits. He had invited the entire company of ruffians to join him at Tancun, and set out a great feast at Yukeng Hall to celebrate. Not content with that, he had also invited a theatrical troupe to come and perform at the house. The whole gathering was present; only Jian Lexian was absent, having received word from his Zhaoqing associates that illicit salt was now easier to move, and he had gone back to Zhaoqing to pursue his old trade. Two others, You Amei and Xiong Aqi, were likewise nowhere to be found — off somewhere committing theft. All the rest of the ruffians were there, calling out and drinking freely.

When the lamps were lit that evening, everyone was flushed with wine. Suddenly they saw Xilai come hurtling in, unable to get a word out, waving his hands wildly toward the door. Lin Dayou, the quickest-minded of them all, took one look at this expression and knew something was wrong. He shoved back the drinking table, walked to the inner courtyard, and caught sight of a carrying pole leaning against a wall. He grabbed it, pressed it to the ground, and used the leverage to leap upward; releasing the pole, he was already at the top of the inner gate. He then pressed both hands onto the gate top, flipped his body, and performed the move called "Dragonfly Touches the Water" — raising both legs straight up, hooking them over the roof tiles, and then releasing his hands, falling into a backward somersault, and landing upon the rooftop. He crouched at the eave's edge to watch the situation below. The rest of the ruffians were all stunned and staring. Ou Juexing urgently demanded: "What is happening? Speak!" Xilai said: "Offi—official soldiers—!" Before the words were out, a military officer led more than twenty sword-and-shield bearers straight crashing in. Juexing knew at once that the situation was dire; he hurried to the rear, intending to open the back gate and escape. But when he opened the gate, he was met face to face by a man wearing a white-stone-button official cap who said: "And where do you think you're going!" He was seized on the spot; the officer called out for the shield-bearers to tie him up, left men to guard the back gate, and had Juexing brought to the front. Meanwhile the other shield-bearers had bound each of the ruffians, one to one. Guixing, his face the color of earth, was kneeling on the ground, kowtowing, saying only: "I beg Your Honor to spare my life!" Juexing scolded him: "You fool! Everything can be argued in court — what are you kowtowing to him for?" He laughed coldly and said: "I don't even know what this is about — not a shadow of official documents, and they come arresting people just like this!" Before the words were finished, Su An flew up a palm and struck him across the face, shouting: "Blind scoundrel! Can't you see the command arrow?" Juexing looked and saw that Yang Fu was indeed holding a command arrow in his hand. He thought to himself: "This time we are finished. How did they use a command arrow? Was the Governor's yamen impossible to contain after all? Or has Tianlai gone and filed again at the Governor-General's yamen?" He changed his expression to a smile and said: "Just now, not recognizing the two honored officers — my apologies for the offense. I don't know which yamen has commissioned the two gentlemen — we haven't yet offered the tea-courtesy money." Guixing, by now already tied up, heard these words and said: "Yes, yes — let me go inside to fetch some tea money for you." Yang and Su paid no attention to either of them; they continued directing the arrests, sent men inside to search, and had every male brought out. A shield-bearer came from the study dragging one man, laughing: "He almost got away — he'd hidden under the opium couch. I crouched down to look, but the underside of the couch is lacquered black, so I could barely see him. Then he gave himself away by calling out 'Lord save my life!' — he's a bandit himself, and here he was taking us for bandits!" Guixing looked — it was Zongkong, face thick with ash and hair full of cobwebs. Yang Fu ordered another search, with swords thrust into every unseen corner. Inside and outside, every space was combed; in all, over seventy people were arrested. As it happened, they had been holding a theatrical performance, and the actors were all swept up along with the rest — which accounted for the large number.

The group was being assembled to leave when suddenly a shield-bearer let out a great cry: "What in the world is this? What a stench!" Yang Fu asked what the matter was. The shield-bearer cried again: "Oh! There is someone on the roof!" Before the words were out, Yang Fu had already lifted his robes, leaped onto the roof, and sure enough found a man there trying to flee. It was Lin Dayou. When he had gone onto the roof he was already drunk, and lying there with the wind blowing on him, the alcohol had surged upward; unable to hold it back, he had vomited — and it landed on the shield-bearer below, which was how he was discovered. Yang Fu flew up after him; Dayou had just managed to stand up and make a move when Yang Fu was already close upon him. Dayou panicked, threw a feint punch; Yang Fu raised his arm to deflect it, but the deflection met nothing — Dayou had already slipped his body to the side and made a light leap of three feet distance. Yang Fu dared not let him slip away, and launched himself forward in pursuit. Dayou turned and with the move "Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain" threw himself at Yang Fu's face, hoping Yang Fu would dodge so that Dayou could use the momentum to flip over him and land behind him. But Yang Fu's eyes were sharp and his hands quick; seeing him come crashing in, he immediately made the move "Boy Worships Guanyin," lowering his body, and in passing thrust out one foot to lightly hook Dayou's leg. Dayou was a man befuddled by drink; for all his ten parts of martial art, his footing was unsteady. Caught by that hook, he went head-over-heels into a fall. Below, there were many people looking up; he fell right into the crowd and was not injured. They swarmed forward and bound him, then marched the whole company overnight to the provincial city. Governor-General Kong ordered strict detention for all.

The next day, the two provincial commissioners and the prefect and county magistrate all came to pay their respects at the yamen. The Governor-General raised the matter of the Liang-Ling case; Magistrate Huang was already so frightened he could not utter a word. Prefect Liu said: "In this humble officer's view, it appears to be a case of malicious false accusation." The Governor-General nodded slightly and said nothing further. When all the officials had withdrawn, the Governor-General opened a court session and conducted the hearing himself. First, he had the thirty-odd actors brought before him, called for their troupe master to submit a guarantee bond, and released them. Then he had Lin Dayou brought in; because Dayou had climbed the roof and resisted arrest, he was first given a heavy flogging of three hundred strokes, and the remaining individuals were then called in one by one for questioning. Some made partial confessions; some denied everything entirely. The Governor-General questioned each briefly, then had each one put into fetters and confined separately.

That evening, Xilai alone was called to the reception hall for questioning. No runners were present — only a trusted household servant attended. The Governor-General said to him pleasantly: "Today in open court you testified that you were a household servant employed by Ling Guixing. Is that accurate?" Xilai answered: "Yes." "How many years has he employed you?" "Six or seven years." "You know that killing people and arson are against the law?" "I know." "You know it is a capital offense?" "I know." The Governor-General suddenly changed expression, slapped the table, and said: "If you know, then why did you knowingly break the law? Confess the truth at once!" Xilai trembled and said: "I have nothing to confess!" The Governor-General said: "Xilai, I see you are still young and I can see you are quick-witted — I intend to clear you of your crime. After all, you were simply a servant in his household — you were not a partner in the conspiracy. He paid your wages, and you could not refuse his orders. None of this is really your fault. If you make a truthful confession now, I will certainly find a way to let you off. If you persist in your stubbornness, someone in your company will eventually confess — and at that point I will treat you as one of the bandit gang: some will be executed by slow slicing, some beheaded, some strangled. By then, you cannot blame me!" Xilai, kneeling on the ground, said nothing. The household attendant beside him said: "What kind of child are you, with no sense! The Governor-General is trying to clear your crime — why have you still not expressed your gratitude?" Xilai knocked his head to the floor. The Governor-General said: "I cannot clear you just from your gratitude — I need your confession! Do you prefer to lose your head, or to live? It is your choice!" Xilai wept and said: "Righteous sir, if you truly mean to clear me, I am willing to make a full confession." The Governor-General said: "Confess, and you will be cleared." Xilai knocked his head again, and began his account from the fortune-teller Ma Banxian reading the geomancy — how the feng shui inspection was arranged; how they tried to buy Tianlai's stone house; how Zongkong came and proposed the scheme to paint the white tiger, tear down the rear wall; how Ou Juexing fabricated a false promissory note; how they blocked the road and robbed, how they seized the flower-pots and tables; how Xiong Aqi, You Amei, Gan Ading, and Li Atian were brought in; how Jian Dang and Ye Sheng were dispatched — and how Jian and Ye, once sent, vanished without a trace; how they came to the provincial city to search for them; how Lin Dayou, Zhou Zanxian, Li Ah'er, Jian Lexian, Cai Shun were recruited; how on the night in question they slaughtered cattle and sheep, worshipped the gods, severed a rooster's head, and swore oaths; how the attack was carried out; how Ou Juexing coordinated the assault; how they attacked the stone house but could not break in, how they then set fire to it and funneled smoke inside — everything was confessed in full. As Xilai gave his account, the Governor-General personally took up a brush and wrote down each sentence as it was spoken.

When the confession was complete, the Governor-General also asked about subsequent bribery. Xilai confessed: "When one thousand taels of gold was sent to Panyu County, I was part of the delivery party. Ou Juexing led us; the gold was handled by Jian Lexian. At the county yamen there was also someone called 'the wife's brother,' though I did not know him. After that, most matters were handled by Ou Juexing, and I did not know the details. I only remember that we sent gifts to some secretary at the Governor's yamen on two occasions, but I've forgotten that secretary's surname. There was one Mr. Li who often came and went with my master. I recall that one day Mr. Li came and said the Governor wanted to see my master's writings; my master said they weren't good enough to show. Mr. Li advised him to hire 'gunmen' (writing proxies); my master went and hired three of them — they were three well-dressed men of letters, who came and lodged at the Sande Inn for five or six days. Then another man was brought in who copied out a book. My master then had me deliver this to Mr. Li, saying it was for the Governor to read. What was in the book, I could not say."

The Governor-General said: "Do you remember what gifts were sent to the Governor's yamen secretary? How many times were gifts sent in all?" Xilai said: "The number of times I cannot recall. The gifts included silk and fabric for garments, pearls and jade, antiques, a large Western self-chiming clock that was taken from the house and sent, and two large glass bottles filled with yellow-and-black powder, packed in a zitan wood case, which were also sent. What that powder was, I could not say." The Governor-General also recorded these items with his brush, one by one. He then had Xilai taken away. Xilai wept and said: "Righteous sir! Did you not say you would clear me?" The household attendant beside him said: "Fool! Even if you are to be cleared, it can only happen when the case is concluded. Not before!" Xilai had no choice but to follow the man out.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, the officials all came again to pay respects. The Governor-General had them all turned away; he requested only the Provincial Judge, the First Prefect, and the Panyu County magistrate to meet with him in the signing room. These three men, having been questioned about the Liang-Ling case the day before, and now being singled out while all the others were turned away — the summons was unusual, to say the least: normally the Governor-General received the two commissioners together, then the prefects as a group, then the district magistrates as a group. Today three men of three different ranks were called in together, and they happened to be the very three who had handled this case. Clearly this was about the case. Among the three, Magistrate Huang was most on edge — desperate to find a crack in the floor to slip into. There was nothing to be done but steel himself and follow the others inside.

What followed the meeting — what did the Governor-General decide? Read on to the next chapter.