Chapter 30: Xilai Absconds with a Fortune — Juexing Sets Out for the Capital

Now, Xiong Aqi came rushing in and said to Juexing, "It is absolutely certain! In Tan Village I followed the plan, going every night to loiter about the Liang family and listen for news. Every night around the third watch (midnight), Tianlai's mother would come out to burn incense and pray to the gods, murmuring something under her breath — I couldn't make out what, for I was on the roof and the wind was strong, and for several nights running I got nowhere. Yesterday, Jundai went home. After his mother had finished burning her incense and gone back to her room, I slipped down and crouched outside the window to listen. I heard Jundai say, 'We owe it all to that Mr. Cai — if he hadn't given Elder Brother travel money, how would he ever have managed to go?' Then a woman's voice said, 'Gone he may be, but who knows whether this grievance of his will actually be redressed?' And I heard Jundai say again, 'That's hard to say! If that man has the power to corrupt even the Emperor, then it truly is Heaven's will!' Now, isn't that absolutely certain?" He made as if to take his leave. Guixing said, "You have nothing pressing — why not stay here for a few days? Something might come up." Aqi said, "I could stay, and I have no particular business — but I'm afraid Zongkong might arrive and, to be honest, I'd rather not see him." Juexing said, "Oh? Have you two fallen out?" Aqi said, "We haven't fallen out exactly, but the things he says are very hard to bear — better not to hear them." Guixing said, "What does he say?" Aqi said, "Why bring it up again?" Juexing said, "Master Ling asked you — you might as well say." Aqi said, "Ever since we all came to know Master Ling, we have enjoyed his many kindnesses — every one of our brothers feels the same. When the case was overturned in Zhaoqing and we came back, Master Ling was especially generous, distributing considerable sums among us, partly to calm our nerves and partly as a reward. When the matter was before the court, I had nothing to do with it directly — and yet the master still shared his bounty with me. I should not have accepted it, but I did. Now whenever Zongkong sees me, if he avoids the subject of the overturned case all is well, but the moment it comes up, it is nothing but 'shameless dog eating unearned rewards' this and 'shameless dog eating unearned rewards' that. I ask you — that was the master's generosity; what business is it of his? Why must he mock me and humiliate me at every turn? I've smoked so much opium these past few years that all my old temper has been burnt away. In my earlier days I'd have punched him for it long ago." Guixing said, "Don't quarrel with him over such things! When he comes, I'll have a word with him and tell him not to carry on like that." Juexing said, "Strangely enough, he has recently taken to offending everyone — I myself have done him no wrong, yet he never loses an opportunity to belittle me. He only knows how to cry 'unearned reward.' If it hadn't been for you three making your escape that day, we'd probably all have been put to death, and there would have been nothing left to receive. In my view, your flight was a great service that saved everyone's lives." Guixing said, "Exactly so. And there is also Ayou Amei — not a word from him, and no idea where he has gone. I'm still holding his share for him. Old Seven, don't take it to heart — stay here with us." Aqi had no choice but to remain.

The three then discussed the matter of Tianlai's journey to the capital, and Juexing outlined the troops he had dispatched. Aqi said, "With such thorough preparations, even if Tianlai could fly I doubt he could get through. Master, put your mind at ease." Guixing said, "I worry about most things, but the fact that he had a three-day head start — what if our men can't catch up? That would be a disaster." Aqi said, "Say he reaches the capital and his petition is approved — then what? Surely they won't send men all the way here to summon us to Beijing for the Emperor to try in person?" Juexing said, "Nothing so simple! If the petition is approved, naturally an imperial commissioner will be sent to investigate." Aqi said, "Well then, that's manageable. Commissioners don't necessarily refuse money. The master has plenty of it — what can't be arranged with money? Unless another Confucius Kong Dapeng turns up. I cannot imagine there is a second fool like Kong Dapeng in the whole world!" That last remark suddenly reminded Ling Guixing that every man alive is moved by the sight of silver, imperial commissioners included — throw enough money at them and none will be unmoved. He could afford to wait until that day came. And so without realizing it he grew cheerful again, and called for wine.

The three of them passed the cup back and forth for a while. Then all of a sudden Zongkong came striding in, and turned on Aqi: "Well! Not a word said, and you just run off here! Is that any way to behave?" Aqi said, "I had urgent business and had to report to the master. When I left this morning you were still asleep — I didn't dare wake you, so I went ahead." Zongkong said, "You have urgent business, and I have none, I suppose! Nephew, I have something to tell you that will cheer you up. This morning when I woke and found Old Seven gone, I asked the houseboys and heard he'd come here. I was bored sitting alone and came along myself. I got to thinking — you all heard that Liang Tianlai had gone to the capital and fell into a panic. Yet I clearly remember you yourself told me a few days ago that Tianlai was ill — that Xilai had brought the news firsthand. How could he suddenly have recovered? So I decided to imitate Xilai and pretend to be ill, then called on Cheng Wanli and asked him, 'Has Tianlai's illness improved?' Nephew — guess what he said! He said, 'Tianlai's illness — even a divine physician couldn't cure it; I've already told him to seek another doctor.' Going by what he said, Tianlai is practically dying — where would he get the strength to go to the capital?" Guixing listened with half-belief. Juexing said, "Cheng Wanli and Tianlai are the best of friends. This is certainly a ruse cooked up between them to prevent us from suspecting anything and taking measures against him. The very fact that they have devised such a deep scheme means we must be even more on our guard." Zongkong stared at him and said, "There you go again, talking as if you saw it yourself! We went and investigated with our own eyes and ears, and our report is solid evidence — unlike your wild guessing!" Juexing ignored him. Guixing, though still half-convinced either way, had hit upon the idea of bribing the imperial commissioner, and so his anxiety was already half gone. Each day he simply drank with Juexing to pass the time.

Without noticing, more than ten days slipped by. Then one day Ayou Amei came stumbling and scrambling in, gasping: "Master Ling — it's bad!" Guixing started in alarm and asked, "I haven't seen you in ages! What brings you here in such a state?" Amei said, "Xilai is gone!" Guixing said, "Gone? What does that mean?" Juexing said, "Whatever it is, catch your breath and start from the beginning." Amei collected himself and said, "After the scare when I heard that Commissioner Kong was arresting people, I fled to Nanxiong, and took shelter at the Huang Yuanhe warehouse as an odd-job hand. Eight days ago Li Atian and his party checked into the same warehouse; since we were all old friends we gathered that evening in their room to catch up. Through their talk I learned that the master's case had been overturned, and that Liang Tianlai had now gone to Beijing to appeal directly to the throne, and that their group had come to Nanxiong to cut off Tianlai's path. They also mentioned that Xilai had come ahead of them, carrying a draft for thirty thousand taels, but had checked into Zhu Yihe's inn separately to avoid drawing attention. They said that in a day's time he would draw the silver, send a portion to Thousand-Captain Liu, and let them know. But we waited three days with no word. I went to Zhu Yihe's inn to ask about him, and was told there had been a guest matching that description who stayed two nights, then left early one morning — they didn't know where he had gone, only that he went north. From what the innkeeper described, it had to be Xilai. I went back and talked it over with the others, but none of us knew where to start looking. Then I remembered two garrison soldiers at the thousand-captain's yamen who knew me, and I went to ask whether anyone had recently brought a gift — not a trace of it. Xilai had simply vanished. With that, the customs post could no longer be arranged. There was no way to get word to Thousand-Captain Liu. No one knew which bank the draft was drawn on in Nanxiong, so there was no way to find out whether the money had been taken. Everyone was desperate. They were all exhausted from the hard journey and no one wanted to make the trip back, so they told me to hurry and come report, and ask the master what to do."

As Amei spoke, Juexing paced and stamped, Guixing grew increasingly frantic, and Zongkong began to grumble: "Nephew, this is your own fault. You had a matter involving thirty thousand taels, and instead of sending me, you sent that wretch Xilai! If I had gone, everything would have been settled by now — what are we to do?" Juexing said, "There is no time to lose. The only course is to draw up another draft and for me to go personally to Nanxiong to investigate. If Tianlai has not yet passed through, I will make the arrangements there; if he has already gone through, I will remit funds from Nanxiong to the capital and seek out Magistrate Chen there, to find out whether the petition was approved, and then arrange the gifts for the imperial commissioner. Beyond this, there is no other plan." Zongkong said, "And we just let Xilai take that thirty thousand and walk away?" Guixing said, "That matter will have to wait — for now the journey to the capital takes first priority." Zongkong said, "The capital! I'll go too!" Juexing said, "Cousin, if you are willing to go, that would save me considerable trouble." Guixing said, "Better let Uncle go, then. Father can stay here — there may be things that come up." Zongkong had no choice but to agree. Guixing also worried that if Tianlai had already passed Nanxiong, and was genuinely making for the capital, thirty thousand would not be enough; he was considering a draft for one hundred thousand. Juexing said, "Three may well be sufficient; if not, we can promise to make up the difference upon arrival here — that will serve just as well." After much deliberation, Guixing drew a draft for fifty thousand, and handed it to Juexing. They arranged that Juexing would leave the next morning, taking Ayou Amei and Xiong Aqi with him.

The three set out at dawn. They had no thought for the scenery along the road, only for pressing ahead as fast as possible. After six days they reached Nanxiong and took rooms at Zhu Yihe's inn — Juexing had chosen that inn precisely so he could discreetly inquire about Xilai's whereabouts. It happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival that day, and the innkeeper, Zhu Yifu, had laid on an extra feast to celebrate with his guests. Juexing, who was by nature a lover of wine, was happy to seize the occasion and drink freely. In the course of the evening, the guests at the table introduced themselves all around. Most of them are irrelevant to this tale and need not be named. There was, however, one guest of note: a man surnamed Su, styled Peizhi, a native of Zhili (Hebei), who had been lodging at Zhu Yihe's inn for more than twenty days. During the drinking, Juexing asked Zhu Yifu, "About ten days or so ago, did a man named Xilai ever stay at your inn?" Yifu said, "We get so many travelers passing through — how could I remember every name?" Juexing described Xilai's appearance and build. Yifu said, "There was someone fitting that description — he gave his surname as Ling, though I never learned his given name. He stayed two days, then left." Juexing said, "Where did he go?" Yifu said, "That I couldn't say." Peizhi said, "I wonder, Brother Qu, why you are asking after him?" Juexing said, "He is a swindler who absconded with a large sum of money." Peizhi said in surprise, "How much?" Juexing said, "A considerable amount." He then asked, "Was there also a man named Liang — Tianlai — who stayed here?" Yifu said, "That name doesn't ring a bell either." Peizhi said, "Would this be a man of about fifty, thin in the face, with white hair?" Juexing said, "Yes, exactly! Has Brother Peizhi met him?" Peizhi said, "Brother Yifu, you really do have a bad memory. As for Liang Tianlai's whereabouts, it happens that I know something."

Juexing hurriedly pressed Su Peizhi to reveal where Tianlai was. What would Su Peizhi say? Read on to the next chapter.