Chapter 36: The Original Petitioner Pleads for a Descendant to Be Spared — The Commissioners Close the Case and Redress the Injustice

Now, Kong Dapeng, hearing that Li Feng had a plan by which all the criminals in the case could be caught in a single net, was greatly pleased and asked, "What is the plan?" Li Feng said, "The criminals in this case number thirty to forty. If we simply issue a rapid circular order to Panyu County instructing it to arrest Ling Guixing and the others, it will catch this one and miss that one — capturing all of them at once may not be possible. Moreover, that whole gang are men of the rivers and lakes (jianghu), most of them with some fighting skill. If matters are pressed too hard, some may resist arrest. It would be better for your nephew to write a letter here and have a special courier deliver it to Guixing, telling him that the commissioner has agreed to be flexible. Upon receiving this news, he will certainly believe it and will assemble all his people to settle on their testimony. Once the commissioners are on the move, simply borrow one or two platoons from whichever garrison falls along the route in Guangdong, follow the courier at a discreet distance, and go to make the arrest. That way you will catch them all in one net. If you rely instead on Panyu County constables, they have long since been won over by Guixing, and might very well tip him off and ruin everything." Kong Dapeng was greatly pleased. "Let us follow the gentleman's method — please write the letter." Li Shicai said, "Be careful you are not writing a letter behind our backs to secretly warn him." Li Feng said, "Your nephew will write the letter in your presence, Uncle, and submit it for your inspection before it is sealed." Dapeng said, "Sir, there is no need to doubt him. Now that your nephew has sincerely come forward to surrender, he would surely not dare to do anything underhanded. And since he will write the letter in our presence and then remain with us to travel together, how could he secretly warn Guixing?" Accordingly, Li Feng wrote the letter and presented it to Dapeng and Li Shicai for examination. Then it was sealed. Li Shicai dispatched an official courier dressed as a commoner to deliver it.

The next day the commissioners set out. Li Feng went to his lodgings to collect his baggage and joined the party, and Liang Tianlai also set off with them of course. On this imperial mission, Tianlai had not spent very much; his travel funds were comfortably sufficient. Now accompanying the commissioners on their return journey, he was busy from morning to night tending to connections inside and out, making friends with the household men of both commissioners and all four accompanying officials. Word of Li Feng's surrender had already reached him through someone in the know, and he was naturally pleased. Whenever occasion permitted he came to call on Li Feng to thank him for his help, and in this way Liang and Li became acquainted. Each day on the road the two of them traveled together.

Before long they arrived in the area of Shaozhou Prefecture. The two commissioners Kong and Li summoned the Shaozhou Commander-in-Chief, Wan Fu, to headquarters, gave him a list of names, and instructed him to commission a capable officer with two platoons of troops to go to Sande Inn in the provincial capital to arrest Ling Guixing and all the other named criminals — not a single one to be allowed to escape. Wan Fu received the orders and went to appoint Reserve Captain Ye Jian. After receiving the commission, Ye Jian came to headquarters to receive final instructions before departing. Dapeng told him, "If Ling Guixing's party is not at Sande Inn, they will be at his family home in Tan Village — by all means take every precaution and let not one escape. Arrest the female members of the household as well." He also gave Ye Jian an official document: "Once they are captured, regardless of the hour, bring this document together with the prisoners straight to the Judicial Commissioner's Yamen and report in." He further said, "That gang of criminals is largely composed of outlaws and ruffians who know some fighting. Be extremely careful that none escape." Ye Jian received his orders, then went back to see Wan Fu and said, "If this lot are indeed outlaws and fighters, two platoons may not be sufficient — may I request a full company?" Wan Fu agreed. Ye also sent two trusted soldiers ahead at a fast march to scout out whether Guixing and his party were in the provincial capital or at Tan Village, then set out himself. The entire operation was laid out so carefully and thoroughly that the arrest went like a hand reaching to catch something already in the palm. Guixing and all the assembled ruffians had no inkling of what was coming. Small wonder they walked into the lockup still thinking they were in a dream!

But enough of that. Now, once the two commissioners had dispatched Ye Reserve Captain on his mission, they halted at Shaozhou for two days. First they sent two accompanying officials, pressing ahead at full speed to the provincial capital, to summon all the relevant case files from every yamen for review. They also issued a circular to the Governor's Yamen instructing it to relieve Guangzhou Prefect Liu, Zhaoqing Prefect Lian, Panyu County Magistrate Huang, and Mudeli Inspection Station Magistrate Li of their posts, and summon them all to the provincial capital to await charges.

In these two days, Liang Tianlai and Li Feng found they had much to say to each other. Li Feng mentioned that in arresting Ling Guixing's group, even the women of the household were to be taken — and at this severity of punishment, Guixing might well be facing the extermination of his entire family line. Tianlai was suddenly reminded: "Mother has always said that on the night of a certain Mid-Autumn Festival, Cousin Guixian came secretly to our home, saying she feared that Guixing would bring a catastrophe of family extermination upon himself, and that should he truly meet with such a fate, she begged us to look after the survivors. Now that my great enmity has been avenged by this imperial prosecution, I cannot, in all conscience of the family bond, stand by and watch his entire line wiped out." He said to Li Feng, "You and Guixing are acquainted. If he is truly destroyed to the last, can you do anything to save him?" Li Feng said, "This is a matter of the law — there is nothing to be done." Tianlai said, "On account of our family connection, I cannot bear to see his line extinguished. Brother Li, when you speak to Commissioner Li, I beg you to put in a word: when the verdict is handed down, might they spare his son Yingke, to preserve a remnant of the Ling line? Yingke has not yet come of age, and killing seven and eight lives was not a thing done by women and children — there is perhaps room for mercy under the law. After all, he is my kinsman, and your friend — a matter of a common bond!"

Li Feng listened, and thought of his own old friendship with Guixing, and his heart too was not unfeeling.

Suddenly another important matter came to mind, and he immediately excused himself from Tianlai and went to see Li Shicai. Li Shicai and Kong Dapeng happened to be together. Li Feng performed the customary greeting and took a seat to one side. He then said to Li Shicai, "There is something your nephew forgot to mention before. When Guixing sent your nephew to Jiangxi, he drew up several bank drafts as bribe money. Your nephew did not hand them over at the time; I have now located them in my luggage and wish to present them to Uncle for disposal." He produced them with both hands. Li Shicai took them and counted: eight drafts, each for fifty thousand taels, totaling four hundred thousand. He could not help letting out a gasp. He said to Kong Dapeng, "How much property can this person have, to be so lavish with it? No wonder the whole official class of Guangzhou was bought and sold by him!" Li Feng said, "It is said that Guixing's father once unearthed a cache of buried silver, so much that even they themselves did not know the total." Dapeng said, "Let these funds be held in custody for now; after the case is settled, hand them over to the various charitable institutions in Guangzhou to be distributed for public benevolent purposes." Li Feng could not help a private flash of regret. "Why did I not quietly take two of them for myself? They had no idea of the exact count; it was already out of my hands and there is no taking it back." He could only stamp his foot privately.

Seeing that Li Shicai's manner was calm and mild today — quite unlike the cold severity he usually showed in Li Feng's presence — Li Feng took the opportunity to describe on Tianlai's behalf the plea for Yingke's life, relating the whole thing in full. Dapeng said, "When he came to petition at Haichuang Temple, I received him at first sight and immediately saw that he was a man of loyalty and good character. That the original plaintiff should plead for the defendant — that is indeed a rare thing." Li Shicai said, "As for the child — he has not yet come of age, and murder and arson are not things done by women and children; there is room here for the law to show mercy." The two men deliberated further; Li Feng withdrew and went to inform Tianlai, and Tianlai too was gratified.

The next day the commissioners resumed their journey and arrived at the provincial capital in a matter of days. All the civil and military officials of the city came out to the Welcome Pavilion to receive them, standing in ranks by grade to offer the imperial salutation. The two commissioners then proceeded under ceremonial escort to the Imperial Guesthouse to rest. Reserve Captain Ye was already waiting at the gate. After the commissioners alighted from their sedan chairs, he stepped forward to report that the prisoners had all been handed over to the Judicial Commissioner's Yamen and placed in custody; only Lin Dayou had been seized in a separate case by the local magistrate beforehand, and Xilai had long since absconded, while Qu Juexing had gone to Hunan. Dapeng told him to go and rest.

Presently, numerous civil and military officials came to pay their respects and make their reports. The two commissioners declined to see any of them, and invited only Judicial Commissioner Chen for a private meeting. Dapeng raised the matter of the three prisoners still at large; Chen Tai said, "Those three prisoners were secured well before this. When this Commissioner arrived in the provincial capital and called on the previous administrations before taking office, and before I had yet received the official seal, I had already instructed Nanhai County to bring in Lin Dayou. After taking office, I immediately sent a circular to Hunan to summon Qu Juexing, and to Jiangxi to summon Xilai. As for two other persons — Du Qin and Xu Feng, who though not principal criminals were witnesses to the passage of bribes — this Commissioner also had them summoned. As these two hold purchased official titles, they are currently in the custody of the jail warden." The two commissioners were greatly pleased. "So Your Excellency also knew of this case." Chen Tai said, "This Commissioner began making inquiries along the entire road from the moment of leaving for this post. At this point the prisoners are all in custody and the evidence is conclusive — I believe the case could in fact be closed in a single hearing." The commissioners were more pleased than ever. They summoned the two accompanying officials who had gone ahead, and asked, "Have all the case files been collected?" The answer: "All collected." The commissioners then decided to rest for one day and proceed with the hearing the day after. The notice was posted; Commissioner Chen also took his leave and returned to his yamen.

On the day of the hearing, the two commissioners in their official robes took their seats at the head of the dais, side by side, with four public desks arranged on either side for the four accompanying officials. Commissioner Chen sat at a separate desk below. The First Prefecture and the First County officials waited in attendance in the outer hall. Prefects Liu and Lian, County Magistrate Huang, and Inspection Magistrate Li — all already stripped of their insignia — were summoned to stand by in anticipation of questioning. Tianlai knelt to one side and first recounted the full story in accordance with his petition. Ling Guixing and the rest were led up from the Judicial Commissioner's Yamen custody, every one of them in iron chains, and knelt in a row before the dais. Dapeng brought down the gavel and announced: "Ling Guixing! A fine scholar you are! You put blind faith in geomancy, transgressed the laws of the Emperor, and bribed officials throughout — this case was personally adjudicated by this Commissioner while in office, and you contrived to have it overturned. Confess fully!" Guixing began, "This subject, holder of a purchase student title..." Li Shicai thundered furiously, "A fine holder of a student title! Strike his mouth!" He flung down a marker. The attendants on either side caught it and dealt him fifty slaps across the mouth, until blood flowed from his gums and both cheeks swelled red. When asked again, he was so stunned for a moment that he could not speak. Dapeng then said, "Ling Guixing — your death is at hand today! Confess honestly and spare yourself physical suffering. Do not entertain any idle notion that this Commissioner is himself among the recipients of your bribes!" He then called up the two county magistrates (First County officials), who came in from the outer hall at once. Dapeng produced the eight bank drafts and said, "Here are four hundred thousand taels that Ling Guixing sent as bribes to this Commissioner — I ask the magistrates to take them and summon the directors of all charitable institutions in the jurisdiction, and have them distributed among the charities for public benevolent works." Both magistrates agreed and accepted the drafts and withdrew. Dapeng again addressed Guixing, "Ling Guixing — surely now your heart is set. Confess!" By this time Guixing was already entirely unmoored in spirit, when he heard Commissioner Chen say, "Ling Guixing — there will be no room for your trickery today! If you do not believe me, raise your head and see who this Commissioner is!"

When the whole gang had been pushed in under guard they had all kept their heads bowed, not daring to look up. Now that Commissioner Chen spoke those words — though addressed to Guixing alone — everyone heard, and one by one they could not help looking up. What they saw: at once Guixing felt half of himself die. Juexing silently cried out, "I've been tricked!" Xilai was completely at a loss. Lin Dayou finally understood why Nanhai County had dragged him away. And Liang Tianlai, lifting his eyes, was overcome with such grateful emotion that he very nearly broke into great sobbing weeping. For this Commissioner Chen was none other than the man who had met Tianlai, Xilai, and Juexing at Nanxiong, then gone to Tan Village to call on Guixing, stayed a night at Yugeng Hall, read through the case files in detail, and carefully inquired into how much bribery had been paid and to whom — the very Su Peizhi! Now, Commissioner Chen related briefly for the commissioners' benefit how, after arriving in Nanxiong, he had assumed a false name and conducted a covert investigation; and added, "This Commissioner observed that Lin Dayou, with his crafty temples and rat's eyes, is certainly a man of cunning and deceit. Furthermore, it was he who proposed to Guixing the plan to flee overseas — and with such a man at Guixing's side, it was essential to remove him quickly in order to cut off Guixing's wings. As for Juexing and Xilai, the method of the lure — drawing the tiger from the mountain — was employed to separate them for the time being. But fearing they would hear something and run far away, this Commissioner, without waiting for Your Excellencies' arrival, first transferred them back here to hold them ready for the case." Juexing was kneeling immediately beside Guixing and quietly whispered to him, "Even if the divine strategists Sun Tzu and Zhang Liang came back to life now, there would be nothing left to argue. Confess — and spare yourself the torture!" Guixing had no choice but to confess. What he said in his confession is so lengthy that this editor of the novel cannot record it all. There is only one brief statement from his deposition that need be mentioned: what he confessed matches entirely with all that has been recorded of his deeds in this novel, Nine Lives' Extraordinary Injustice.

Once Guixing had given his deposition, the assembled ruffians also had no choice but to tell the truth, each in turn. Each affixed his mark to his deposition. Du Qin and Xu Feng also confessed to having passed the bribe money. The two commissioners then deliberated and handed down the sentences: Ling Guixing — death by slow slicing (lingchi); Ling Zongkong, Ling Mei Xian, Qu Juexing, Lin Dayou, Zhou Zanxian, Li Atian, You Amei, Xiong Aqi, Li Aer, Gan Ading, Jian Dang, Ye Sheng, and Jian Lexian — thirteen men, execution by decapitation (zhan jue); Cai Shun and the Ling family men Yue Wen, Yue Wu, Yue Shun, Yue He, Zong Meng, Zong Ji, Zong Xiao, Zong He, Qi Yu, Hai Shun, Liu Yu, Liu Quan, Run Bao, and Run Zhi — fifteen men, death by strangulation (jiao si); Xu Feng and Du Qin — stripped of their purchased titles and sentenced to penal servitude; Xilai — also sentenced to penal servitude; the women of the household variously flogged and released; Yingke, being a minor, exempted from punishment — that exemption was the result of Tianlai's intercession. They also issued a summons order to Panyu County to bring the fortune-teller "Half-Immortal Ma" (Ma Banxian) before the bench for a heavy flogging of five hundred strokes, public pillorying for one month, and repatriation to his home county. As for the many other officials who had received bribe money, the two commissioners decided that the entanglements were too wide to pursue and left them uninvestigated. With the sentences decided, the executions were set for the next day; the bench was adjourned. A memorial draft was then drawn up setting forth the full facts of the corrupt officials who had accepted bribes — not one spared, large or small — and submitted at the fifth watch (just before dawn). At daybreak, the condemned were brought out; the imperial warrant of execution was received. The prisoners were escorted to the Tianzi Dock to be executed.

How pitiable that Ling Guixing — so prosperous and powerful in his part of the world — should have come to such an end! All of it was the harvest of those two words: "blind faith" (superstition). As for that whole gang of ruffians, there is no need to speak of them further. After the commissioners' business was concluded, they chose a day to set out on the return journey to Beijing to report. In due course the memorial reached the capital, and the imperial rescript came down: Prefect Liu and Prefect Lian, County Magistrate Huang, and Inspection Magistrate Li were all sentenced to military exile; Censor Xiao received a demotion-and-transfer; Governor-General Yang was referred to the Board for deliberation on punishment; Judicial Commissioner Jiao was sent to the Board of Punishments for inquiry into the separate matter of having flogged Zhang Feng to death — all of them bearing the fruit of that one word, "greed." Only poor Prefect Liu, even after being convicted, remained a muddled soul to the end; and Censor Xiao had fallen somewhat for Li Feng's scheme as well.

And here, with this, the public case is concluded, and I, the editor of this new edition of Nine Lives' Extraordinary Injustice, consider my task finished.