Chapter 34: Lin Dayou Is Arrested Without Warning — Ling Guixing Is Seized in the Night

Now, Guixing sent someone to fetch Su Peizhi; but after a long wait, the messenger returned to report: "That Master Su left his luggage at the inn for a couple of days, then came and moved it all out. We asked where he had gone, but the inn could not say." Guixing was very puzzled. He thought: he said he was coming here to ply his trade — perhaps he has already rented a place and moved there? He told the assistants to keep an eye out along the streets for any sign-boards or flyers advertising Su Peizhi's fortune-telling services, and to note down any address. The assistants agreed and went off. Guixing still hoped Peizhi might come back on his own — but days passed with no sign of him. Lin Dayou, who had been sent to arrange the hire of the vessel, was also nowhere to be seen. Guixing sent someone to find him at the Lin Juxian Lodge outside the North Gate. The messenger came back with only one of the lodge's employees, who said: "The day Lin Dayou returned to us from the master's place, he was on his way to make inquiries about a sea-going vessel when two constables from Nanhai County arrived with a hard-signed warrant and took him away. We asked them what case it was about; they wouldn't say a word. We offered them tea money; they wouldn't take it either. They said the magistrate needed the man immediately and could not wait, so he had no choice but to go with them. He has not returned to this day. We went to the county offices to ask, and could find out nothing." Guixing turned pale with shock. He sent the lodge employee away and immediately summoned Jian Lexian and Li Aer.

Guixing told the two men, "Lin Dayou has been taken by Nanhai County — nobody knows why. You two know the yamen scene well. Go and find out at once, and above all find out whether it is connected to my case!" The two men agreed and left.

Guixing was beside himself with anxiety. It so happened that Zongkong arrived just then, and Guixing told him the situation. Zongkong said, "Nephew, don't worry yourself over him! If it were about our case, they wouldn't have arrested just Dayou and left everyone else. I would say it is his private opium-smuggling that has come to light." Guixing still could not put his mind at rest, and sat there with furrowed brow heaving long sighs. Suddenly he stamped his foot. "It cannot be the opium case. If it were, the Lin Juxian Lodge itself would have been sealed!" Zongkong said, "Whatever the case, it has nothing to do with ours — I can guarantee that. Tianlai has gone up to the capital; even if we say his petition was approved, a commissioner couldn't get here so fast. And who is there here to go and denounce us?" Guixing was somewhat calmed by this.

As dusk fell, Jian and Li returned, shaking their heads. "We couldn't find out anything." Guixing said, "Don't you have contacts inside?" Lexian said, "Even the people inside the yamen don't know. That's why there is no way to find out. The day he was taken in, no one questioned him — instead, on the magistrate's personal instruction, he was put in irons on the spot and placed in the inner lockup." Guixing said in alarm, "That means it is a serious case. Why wasn't he questioned?" Lexian said, "There is more. Last night the magistrate summoned him to the signing room for a brief interview. When he was brought in, only one question was asked: 'You are Lin Dayou?' Dayou answered, 'Yes.' The magistrate only nodded, then took out a dispatch document, handed it to two men dressed like household attendants, and had Dayou taken away together with them — nobody knows which yamen they went to. Two of the men at Nanhai who are friendly with Dayou tried to ask those two household attendants where they were taking him; but those men only stared at them fiercely without a word and went off. The Nanhai men didn't dare follow, so to this day we have no idea where Dayou is." Guixing grew more and more suspicious; he could neither sit still nor stand at ease. The one person he had always relied on for consultation was Qu Juexing — and Juexing was in Hunan. After Juexing, only Lin Dayou could be counted on for important matters — and now Dayou had run into trouble of his own. He was truly at a loss. Lexian said, "Let us spend tonight going around and asking questions — starting at the Prefectural Yamen and working up to the Governor-General's Yamen, until we find some trace of him." Guixing said, "There is no time to lose. Go at once!" The two men left.

Guixing fretted like an ant on a hot pan. Zongkong said, "Nephew, why torment yourself over him? This is one of those cases of 'if it's not your business, don't rack your brain over it.'" Guixing said, "The way this affair has come about is most peculiar. I am still afraid it is connected to our case." Zongkong said, "There you go worrying about nothing again. I'll guarantee it is not about our case. If it were, why arrest only him? He must have committed some offense of his own and been reported." Guixing suddenly thought: why not try to identify the original complainant? If they could get the complainant's name, there would be a thread to pull.

They waited until the third watch (midnight), when Jian and Li returned panting and breathless. Li Aer said, "This business is very strange! We found nothing at the Prefectural Yamen or the Circuit Intendant's Yamen; only at the Provincial Court of Justice (Ans Judicial Commissioner's office) did we catch a hint — but even that was vague and uncertain. The people inside don't know what is going on. All anyone could say is that last night someone inside sent out two household men with an internal warrant, and they were not told where it was going. Not long after, they brought back one prisoner; no questioning, no official detention, just taken straight inside to some unknown location. No news since, though I suspect that prisoner was Dayou. Word is that the new Judicial Commissioner is extremely strict and upright. At the moment, every man in that yamen is on tenterhooks." Guixing said in surprise, "When did a new Judicial Commissioner arrive? What is his name?" Lexian said, "You still don't know, Master? He received his seal the day before yesterday. Commissioner Jiao has been transferred to Zhejiang. The new one is named Chen." Guixing said, "I have been so distraught these days that I haven't even been reading the gazette bulletins. We ought to arrange gifts and pay a call — it would be useful to have some connection for the future." As he said this, he realized that neither Juexing nor Li Feng was available — there was no one who knew how to navigate these channels. He brooded over this for some time and could not think of a single person. He told Lexian, "Tomorrow go back to the county yamen and find out who is the original complainant against Lin Dayou." Lexian said, "You needn't tell me — I already asked at every gate, and no original complainant can be found." Guixing grew ever more troubled. "Could someone have intercepted the magistrate's procession in the street to submit a complaint?" Lexian said, "If someone had stopped the procession, others would have known about it." Li Aer said, "Could the complaint have been filed directly with the Judicial Commissioner?" Lexian said, "Exactly! Tonight is too late, but let's find out first thing tomorrow morning."

The two men, together with Zongkong, stayed the night at Sande Inn. Guixing did not sleep a wink all night, his mind spinning like a mill wheel — worrying about this, fretting about that, growing more frightened the more he thought about it. He considered: perhaps it would be best to hire a sea-going vessel and flee as soon as possible. By the time dawn broke he sat up, first woke Zongkong, and told him of his intention to escape. Zongkong said, "Nephew, why do you keep fretting over this! What makes you so sure it is about our case? If it were, and Dayou has been in custody for several days, why haven't they come for the rest of us?" That argument was not without merit, and Guixing felt somewhat calmed. Before long Lexian was also up; after washing and dressing, without even waiting for Li Aer, he set out alone to make inquiries at the Judicial Commissioner's Yamen.

Guixing, meanwhile, thought again of Su Peizhi, and had people search for him in every direction — to no avail. He concluded that Peizhi must have gone elsewhere, and let the matter go. Not until evening did Lexian return and say: "After enormous effort, I have managed to get a bit of a clue. This matter — apart from the Judicial Commissioner himself — only the two household men who went to Nanhai County that day have any knowledge of it, and even they only know he is an important criminal; they don't know what the offense is, and there was no complainant. Even many of the Commissioner's own private secretaries know nothing of this case at all. We all speculated throughout the day and came to the conclusion that the Judicial Commissioner must have known about Lin Dayou for some time and arrested him in a private investigation of local bullies and ruffians. I have heard that he was taken directly to the inner residence, and not put in any jail. This affair is probably not a small one — otherwise, there has never been such a procedure before." Guixing said, "We must think of a way to get him out." Zongkong said, "Why bother? This trouble of his is not something we brought on him." Lexian said, "For now there is no angle of approach to rescue him. Let us just hope that whatever crime he has committed is not a capital one — then it will be possible to work something out."

Just as they were in the midst of this debate, Jian Dang and Ye Sheng also arrived — both of them had been closest to Lin Dayou, and having received word, they had come specially to deliberate. Jian Dang said, "I have found out that the new Judicial Commissioner ordered the arrest of local roughs and bullies, and drew up a list of names to send to the two county offices. The very first name on the list was Dayou's." Guixing hurriedly asked, "What about the others on the list — who are they?" Jian Dang said, "I don't know the rest; only that there are twelve in total. Seven have been arrested so far including Dayou — but the other six are all in the county lockup, while only Dayou was taken to the Commissioner's office. No one can make sense of that." Zongkong clapped his hands. "Nephew, what did I tell you? I said it had nothing to do with us!" Guixing said, "Can either of you think of a way to get him out?" Ye Sheng said, "Right now the only thing to do is first make arrangements inside the jail so he doesn't suffer, and then figure out the next step." Lexian said, "You still don't know — he is not in the outer jail or the inner jail." Ye Sheng said in surprise, "Not in any jail — then where? Don't tell me they have him sitting in the reception hall?" Lexian said, "Further than that — right in the inner residence!" Jian Dang and Ye Sheng were thrown into fresh bewilderment; the others heard "arrest of local roughs" and could not help their own private anxieties. Only Guixing felt somewhat relieved, since he thought of himself as a scholar and educated man, surely not to be classed as a local rough. Being classed as such would not touch his case directly, he thought; his spirits settled a little. From that day on he sent people every day to get news of Dayou. But it was like a clay ox entering the sea — not the slightest word ever came back. For the first few days Guixing remained apprehensive when at Sande Inn; but after a time, with no other developments and still no news of Dayou, the anxiety gradually faded from his mind entirely.

Time flies like an arrow and the months rush like a loom — without noticing, more than two months had passed. It was now mid-winter. All of a sudden a letter arrived from Li Feng by a special courier from Jiangxi. Guixing tore it open and read:

"The imperial commissioners have reached Jiangxi. The senior commissioner is none other than former Governor-General Kong himself. Fortunately, the deputy commissioner is my uncle, who has been able to put in a word. The funds have been received, and he has agreed to handle the matter with some flexibility. You would do well to gather all those concerned and practice and agree upon your testimonies in advance; also recruit as many neighbors, elders, and community guarantors as possible. These are my uncle's particular instructions — of the utmost importance! I am presently attending my uncle here, and shall accompany the commissioners on the journey."

Guixing set the letter down in great elation. "What can Liang Tianlai do to me now? How fortunate that the commissioner happens to be Li Feng's uncle — it was worth sending him after all!" He gave a generous reward to the courier and arranged for all the assembled ruffians to gather in Tan Village to work out the agreed testimony. The provincial capital had too many eyes and ears, and the Ling family retainers were mostly in Tan Village — it had to be done there. That day they all convened in Yugeng Hall, where inevitably a feast of rich fish and meat was laid out. Several elderly men of the village were also invited to serve as guarantors; each was first given ten taels, with a promise of a handsome additional sum after the matter was resolved. They were all poor villagers who had long been bullied by Guixing — not one could refuse. The assembly met until evening before dispersing. Guixing and the assembled ruffians then spent the rest of the night working out their testimonies. The next day was spent in further discussion, and when the ruffians were about to leave, Guixing was in high spirits and wanted to lay on a banquet in advance celebration; everyone stayed on together. By evening the revelry was in full swing, when suddenly a cannon shot rang out beyond the gate. Torches blazed up from every direction, and a crowd of men poured in, giving Guixing such a fright that he could neither think nor move.

Who were these men? Read on to the next chapter.