A shocking arson case involving oil-throwing and fire-setting in the dead of night spread like wildfire through the streets and teahouses of the capital, even reaching the ears of officials in the imperial palace.
The fire claimed over a dozen lives, with three or four of the affected households being those of ranked officials in the capital. Officials from Shuntian Prefecture came in droves to offer condolences, with the prefect himself personally visiting each home.
On the second day after the disaster, emergency relief in the form of grain, cooking utensils, temporary tents, and medicines for heat stroke and epidemic prevention were quickly distributed.
Two or three groups of monks and Taoist priests were invited in succession to perform rituals. On the east side of the burnt-out Seven Scholars Lane, a row of Buddhist monks chanted sutras and performed ceremonies, while on the west side, a row of Taoist priests conducted Taoist rituals.
The Ying family, being small, only received one cowhide tent, but fortunately, it was quite large.
The temporary location assigned to the Ying family was also good, not far from Seven Scholars Lane, on a cool, south-facing spot. Above was a leafy white poplar tree, providing shade during the day and allowing for good ventilation at night. A well was just a hundred paces away.
The official from Shuntian Prefecture responsible for resettlement and relief was particularly attentive to the Ying family, visiting three times a day. At this moment, he was talking to the adoptive mother outside the tent:
"...Is everything arranged satisfactorily? Madam Ying, if there's anything unsatisfactory, please don't hesitate to say so. This official will arrange it immediately..."
"No, no, Madam Ying is too kind. The Ying family has a deep friendship with Young Master Yan, so we should naturally take extra care, hehe... We wouldn't dare to fail Young Master Yan's instructions. It's our duty, our duty..."
Inside the cowhide tent were two wooden plank beds, with a low table next to them. On the table was a plate of freshly washed purple grapes.
Zhi's cheeks were stuffed full, her hands full of grapes, as she offered some to Ying Xiaoman sitting on the wooden bed: "Sister, you eat too."
Ying Xiaoman ate the grapes absent-mindedly.
Grapes were cheap. The family had been eating them every day lately.
It was all they could afford to eat now.
After a trip through the fire scene, she was fortunate to have only burned her hands, with her legs unharmed. After the fire was extinguished, she and her mother returned home once to salvage any remaining items.
Compared to the houses to the west, the Ying family home hadn't collapsed in the fire, with the roof beams still intact - a blessing amid misfortune.
But in this blessing lay another misfortune - the small hanging basket under the eaves of the main room where money was kept... had been completely burned.
All the paper money in the family had been in that basket, and several tens of thousands of paper notes had gone up in smoke.
The two strings of copper coins in the basket were still there, fused together with the bamboo basket into a large black lump. They had to be pried out one by one when needed.
With their home burned down, naturally, they couldn't open their mutton shop.
Yan Seventh Young Master had sent people many times to deliver money and goods, but Ying Xiaoman hid in the tent and refused to see anyone.
When the skilled doctor who had previously treated her adoptive mother came to their door, Ying Xiaoman still hid and refused to see him. Her adoptive mother had to drag her out of the tent to have her smoke-irritated eyes and burned hands examined. They only accepted a few packages of external medicine, refusing all other items that were sent.
Several days passed like this, and Ying Xiaoman had mostly recovered.
With nothing to do after the disaster, little Zhi couldn't sit still. So Ying Xiaoman simply pried out about a hundred copper coins from that large black lump and took Zhi out to wander the streets.
She originally planned to buy some cheap seasonal summer fruits to satisfy the little glutton's sweet tooth.
Passing by the same vendor from whom she had grudgingly bought grapes in May, she suddenly remembered someone mentioning that grape prices in the capital had dropped dramatically lately...
Ying Xiaoman mustered up the courage to ask the vendor: "Do you have any cheap fresh fruits? The cheaper the better. I don't want the expensive Western crystal grapes that cost a thousand coins per bunch."
The vendor, upon seeing this young lady of about fifteen or sixteen, looked as if he had seen his long-lost mother of twenty years. With tears in his eyes, he brought out a basket of purple grapes and tried to push it into her arms:
"I've finally waited for you to come, young miss. I was foolish before. How could I have the ability to sell Western crystal grapes, such tribute items? It was all nonsense, I apologize! These are all purple grapes grown in the suburban farms, very cheap. I don't dare to charge you, young miss. Take the whole basket to eat!"
Ying Xiaoman: ?
One trip to the street, and with the hundred or so unspent copper coins still in her pocket, she inexplicably returned dragging a whole basket of large, sweet purple grapes given to her for free by the vendor.
After distributing grapes to all the disaster-affected neighbors, half a basket was still left.
She sat down with Zhi to wash them clean, and the two of them ate noisily.
Even the fragrant and sweet purple grapes couldn't dispel the buzzing worries in her ears.
The Shuntian Prefecture official outside the tent still hadn't left. He was beating around the bush, probing her adoptive mother:
"It seems your young miss and Young Master Yan are quite close... No, no, madam, you're too kind. Many people saw Young Master Yan carry your daughter out of the fire that night, there's no mistake, haha... May I boldly ask, is there perhaps good news coming soon... This official would certainly send congratulatory gifts..."
With a soft splat, Ying Xiaoman crushed the purple grape in her hand.
Juice flowed all over her hand.
The tent flap was suddenly lifted, and she said to her adoptive mother, who was awkwardly unsure how to respond:
"Mother, don't mind him, come inside the tent and rest!"
The Shuntian Prefecture official's laughter stopped abruptly.
What was originally just her adoptive mother's awkwardness now became a face-to-face awkwardness on both sides.
Then both sides laughed awkwardly, one apologizing politely, the other bidding farewell.
Her adoptive mother, having experienced awkwardness many times, had gotten used to it. She came back into the tent and ate a few grapes, ultimately unwilling to scold her good daughter who had rushed into the fire to save her, only gently advising: "After all, he's an official. For us common folk, it's never wrong to be polite."
After eating two more grapes, her adoptive mother continued on her own: "But it's also good that you drove him away with those two sentences. The more I think about it, the more it feels off. This Young Master Yan they keep mentioning in their mouths, they're talking about Seventh Young Master, right? Why does it sound like he's some big official when they talk about him?"
Ying Xiaoman didn't make a sound, thinking to herself, the Vice Minister of Ministry of Justice who manages criminal cases for the whole country is a fourth-rank official. The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture who manages the capital's security is only a seventh-rank official!
Although there's only a five-rank difference between a seventh-rank and a fourth-rank official, many sixth and seventh-rank officials can't rise to fifth rank in their entire lifetime. How can a fourth-rank official not be considered important?
But the words "Young Master Yan" that many officials kept mentioning, when associated with Seventh Young Master's face, immediately made her feel flustered and irritable.
Even the grapes in her mouth no longer tasted sweet.
"Don't mention him," she said angrily.
She then solemnly said to Zhi, "In the future, when Seventh Young Master comes, don't pay any attention to him, don't lift the tent flap for him, and definitely don't talk to him."
Zhi had heard similar words at least eight if not ten times before, and no longer had the big reaction of crying profusely like the first time she heard it. Instead, she calmly continued eating grapes.
"Sister doesn't allow me to talk to Seventh Young Master because sister wants to talk to Seventh Young Master herself?"
Ying Xiaoman vehemently denied, "Of course not!"
"Oh."
Facing Zhi calmly eating grapes in front of her, Ying Xiaoman was very angry. She turned to complain to her adoptive mother, "See, Zhi has been corrupted by Seventh Young Master."
Her adoptive mother slowly peeled a grape: "Let me say something fair, child. If it wasn't for Seventh Young Master leading people to carry soil and mud to extinguish the oil fire that was over a man's height outside the Shen family's door, and then rushing into the fiery doorway to carry you out on his back, how could you be sitting here comfortably cursing him now? How could your old mother be sitting across from you eating grapes? That night, I would have certainly hanged myself with a white silk rope!"
Ying Xiaoman fell silent and peeled a grape to eat herself.
After finishing one grape, her anger rose again: "But he deceived me for so long, fooling our whole family! Every day I cursed the dog official Yan Rongshi in front of him, and he would often join in cursing too..."
She ate grapes while suppressing her anger: "The dog official Yan Rongshi, I really didn't curse him wrong at all. He's so cunning and slyly wicked!"
"Indeed cunning," her adoptive mother agreed while eating grapes, "but not wicked towards you."
Ying Xiaoman: "..."
Not only had Seventh Young Master corrupted Zhi, even her mother was starting to speak for him...
Mentioning Seventh Young Master's matters, her adoptive mother couldn't help but say a few more words.
"Your father told you to come to the capital for revenge. Is the head of the enemy's family really Seventh Young Master? Did your father make a mistake? Did you make a mistake?"
"No mistake, it's him," Ying Xiaoman pursed her lips, her anger rising again.
"He knew from the beginning that the enemy I was looking for was himself, and he used flowery words to fob me off."
Her adoptive mother, unable to sit idle, began mending clothes after finishing the grapes, muttering as she worked:
"You said last time that Yan Seventh Young Master is twenty-four this year? When your father was working for his family in the capital, who knows if Yan Seventh Young Master was even born yet. All the people involved have passed away, and now you, a ten-year-old child, are traveling thousands of miles to the capital to seek revenge on a twenty-something Yan Seventh Young Master. If you ask me, this whole thing, from start to finish, is just your father being old and muddle-headed!"
Ying Xiaoman: "...Don't criticize Father. He'll be angry if he hears it from the underworld."
The Adoptive Mother snorted, "Which part of what I said is wrong? Even if your father crawled out of his grave at night and stood before me, I'd say it to his face: you were old and muddle-headed!"
"..."
"Yan Seventh Young Master carried you out of the fire, not only saving your life but also mine in a way. Child, you should listen not only to your father but also to your old mother. Even if your father's master had a deep grudge with Yan Seventh Young Master's family in the past, a life for a life, Yan Seventh Young Master's debt to our family is settled. Don't seek revenge on him anymore."
The old mother's words were rough but not unreasonable. Ying Xiaoman pondered while eating grapes for a long time, and finally nodded slightly, "Mm."
The Adoptive Mother's expression relaxed a bit.
The child had inherited her father's straightforward and stubborn nature since she was young. It was a good thing that she was now willing to listen to reason.
With the matter of seeking revenge against Yan Seventh Young Master settled, the Adoptive Mother's thoughts turned to another matter.
"I've noticed that although you and Yan Seventh Young Master often bicker, people who are close can't avoid arguing, even our own tongues sometimes bite our teeth. The other night when you brought him home for lotus leaf chicken, I saw with my own eyes that you two got along well. Now that the revenge matter is settled, why don't you consider Yan Seventh Young Master..."
Before the Adoptive Mother could finish, Ying Xiaoman suddenly sat up, rummaged in the corner for a moment, and took out a blackened copper incense burner that had been rescued from the fire. She placed it on the south-facing ground, inserted three incense sticks into the burner, lit them, and bowed solemnly several times.
"Father, don't be angry. Although a life for a life, Yan Seventh Young Master... no, Yan Rongshi, he saved me and my mother from the fire. I can't seek revenge on him anymore, but I won't marry the enemy. Father, rest in peace, don't crawl out of your grave at night to argue with mother."
The Adoptive Mother didn't know whether to laugh or cry, feeling both helpless and worried. She raised her hand and patted her, "You little rascal, don't use your father to shut me up."
Ying Xiaoman stood up after bowing three times: "I'm serious."
As they were arguing, there came a sound of hurried footsteps outside the tent.
The voices of several men could be heard asking along the way, "Which tent belongs to the Ying family?"
The Adoptive Mother made a surprised sound and was about to lift the curtain to answer when the visitors had already found the Ying family's tent. With a thud, two large packages were dropped at the door, and a loud voice called out, "My master has sent some urgently needed items for Miss Ying!" Then they left quickly.
Ying Xiaoman heard the commotion and came out, lifting the curtain: "Who came, and what did they bring?"
One package contained food, and the other daily necessities. The food consisted of very fine pastries and fruits, with twelve varieties packed in exquisite boxes, looking quite expensive.
The package of daily necessities contained ten strings of coins, a hefty amount.
The Adoptive Mother opened the package, rummaged through it, and asked suspiciously, "Is it from Yan Seventh Young Master again? But the previous times when Yan Seventh Young Master sent people to deliver things, they always politely greeted us face to face, not like today where they just dropped things off and left."
"It's not from him," Ying Xiaoman pressed her lips together, "He's very busy."
Looking up at the sun that had just risen above the courtyard wall, she muttered softly:
"The Vice Minister of Ministry of Justice is busy hearing cases during the day, how could he have time to send things early in the morning? He only sends things in the afternoon or evening—he only has time to send things during his meal times."
*
Deep within the Ministry of Justice.
The interrogation hall was brightly lit. The interrogation of the suspect had been going on for more than a day and a night.
The several interrogating officials on the bench had also been up for a day and a night.
The suspect below the bench was, surprisingly, an official wearing a cyan official robe. At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged, eyes closed and silent, like a clam that couldn't be pried open.
This person was a low-ranking official of the Ministry of Justice, an eighth-rank Judicial Officer of the Ministry of Justice, surnamed Bian, known as Judicial Officer Bian.
Looking at Judicial Officer Bian's appearance, he was indeed the cyan-robed official responsible for searching for documentary evidence in the study room when the Ministry of Justice sealed off Seven Scholars Lane and searched the Zhou family's house for the second time.
The chief interrogator on the bench was the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice. He angrily slammed down the judge's gavel with a bang, and the interrogation hall echoed:
"Bah! Offending official Judicial Officer Bian, you have such great audacity! Five days ago, you accompanied Vice Minister Yan to Seven Scholars Lane to search for evidence of the Zhou family's crimes. Taking advantage of your official position, you greatly manipulated the search, concealing important evidence without reporting. That night, you colluded with others to pour oil and set fire, intending to destroy evidence—will you not confess truthfully?!"
Judicial Officer Bian opened his eyes with a cold smile and said:
"It's all speculation, without any evidence."
Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice: "You have had private dealings with Zhou, the chief clerk in charge of warehouses at the Ministry of Justice. Several neighbors in Seven Scholars Lane have testified that you often visited the Zhou family as a guest, is this true?"
"Indeed, I have had private dealings with Chief Clerk Zhou, and indeed I sometimes visit as a guest. So what?"
Judicial Officer Bian sneered, "On the night of the fire, I was sleeping at home, and there are many witnesses who can confirm this. I'll say it again, it's all speculation, without any evidence."
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice slammed the judge's gavel heavily again, "You still quibble! Since you are on good terms with Chief Clerk Zhou, on the day of the search of the Zhou family, you should have voluntarily recused yourself from this case according to the law. Why didn't you voluntarily recuse yourself, but instead went to search the Zhou family as if nothing was wrong?"
"Haha, Vice Minister Yan ordered me to follow and investigate the case. When a superior entrusts an important task, of course I do my best to assist Vice Minister Yan in handling the case."
"Haha, pushing it onto Vice Minister Yan, do you think you can quibble your way out? Knowing that friends and relatives are involved in the case but not recusing yourself or reporting it, deliberately participating in the investigation of the case, this is dereliction of duty. Come, strip Judicial Officer Bian of his official robe and put him in stocks!"
In the stone room separated by a wall from the interrogation room.
Sitting behind the black lacquered cloud-patterned long table was Yan Seventh Young Master, no, now wearing the official red robe of the fourth rank in the Ministry of Justice office, he should be addressed as Vice Minister of Ministry of Justice, Yan Rongshi—
He flipped through the case files on the table, stood up and walked to the wall, turned the copper speaking tube in the corner of the wall half a circle to the left, and considerately asked the prisoner confined in the wooden fence on the left: "Can you hear clearly?"
Chubby Zhou, confined in the wooden fence, grimaced: "This official can hear clearly."
There were only Yan Rongshi and Chubby Zhou in this stone room. The more Chubby Zhou listened to the interrogation next door, the more he felt something was wrong. He plucked up the courage to ask: "May I ask Vice Minister Yan, when the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice just mentioned 'pouring oil and setting fire, intending to destroy evidence'... it couldn't be that my house was burned down, could it?"
"It was burned down," Yan Rongshi said casually:
"What good items were hidden in your study? Your friendship with Judicial Officer Bian runs deep, and that day when we went to search for evidence at your house, I happened to assign him to go along. This good friend of yours searched through your study during the day, taking away several boxes of casual books, but not finding a single piece of key evidence. That night, someone poured oil on your study and set it on fire, intending to destroy evidence—the fine study, along with all the items and furnishings inside, were reduced to ashes."
Chubby Zhou listened with his mouth wide open, gradually showing a regretful and pained expression, biting his teeth without speaking.
"Regrets?" Yan Rongshi glanced at him lightly.
"I see that although your study was not large, every item inside was elegant and of high quality—you must have spent a lot of effort collecting them, right? All burned to nothing by this good friend of yours. That's what happens when you choose your friends poorly."
Chubby Zhou forced a smile: "Vice Minister Yan is joking. Without proof or evidence, how can you say it was done by Judicial Officer Bian? In the dry summer season, if lamp oil is spilled in the study, a fire is not uncommon."
Yan Rongshi also smiled, removing his hand covering the copper tube, and the sound from the interrogation room next door came through clearly again.
With the official robe stripped off, torture had begun in the interrogation room. Judicial Officer Bian was howling, refusing to confess no matter what.
"That night I was at my own home, many neighbors can testify! I have nothing to do with the Zhou family arson case!"
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice questioned loudly: "If you have nothing to do with the Zhou family arson case, why did you quickly go to speak with Zhou's wife in the backyard during the brief moment when Vice Minister Yan left the Zhou house during the search? There are two eyewitnesses on the scene who can identify you!"
"Haha, Chief Clerk Zhou and I have been good friends for many years. When a good friend is imprisoned, what's wrong with me seeking out Mrs. Zhou to say a few words of comfort?"
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice said, "If you only spoke a few words of ordinary comfort, why did Mrs. Zhou quickly leave the house with a small bundle, looking frightened and avoiding neighbors, sneaking out for two hours before returning, right after the Ministry of Justice officials finished their search and left? Clearly, you instructed her to hide crucial evidence elsewhere!"
Judicial Officer Bian was obviously caught off guard and remained silent for a long time.
After a while, he sneered, "So that's it. You're trying to trick me. This story about Mrs. Zhou sneaking out with a bundle is all fabricated by you. It's not true at all."
Judicial Officer Bian, having figured out the ploy, laughed loudly, "Don't think you can fool me! I only spoke a few kind words to comfort Mrs. Zhou. Why would she sneak out with a bundle? She clearly stayed at home. The Zhou family's house was doused with oil and set on fire, burning to the ground with everyone inside. What does that have to do with me? I have nothing to do with the arson at the Zhou house!"
On the other side of the wall, Yan Rongshi once again covered the speaking tube with his palm.
"Judicial Officer Bian says he didn't do it," he said in his usual calm voice, addressing Chubby Zhou behind the wooden fence, whose face had drastically changed.
"The facts of that day are exactly as Judicial Officer Bian guessed. Mrs. Zhou never left the house. Why is he so certain? Only he and Mrs. Zhou knew."
"During the daytime search, I briefly left the Zhou house on an errand."
"Judicial Officer Bian seized the opportunity to quickly speak with Mrs. Zhou in the back courtyard. Two witnesses saw this."
"After the Ministry of Justice officials left, the Zhou house remained tightly closed, eerily quiet until nightfall, with no one entering or leaving—not even the coachman or the cook who usually liked to visit neighbors."
"That night, someone doused the house with oil and set it on fire. You're right, the summer in the capital is indeed dry, and the fire spread fiercely, instantly engulfing every corner of the Zhou house... Mrs. Zhou, your two children, the servants in the back courtyard, the cook, the coachman, not one of them escaped. Everything, down to the last blade of grass, was destroyed in the fire."
"Mrs. Zhou was found clutching her two children, lying under the collapsed beam of the main house... I went to see when the bodies were being collected. The mother and children were inseparable, so they had to be buried together."
The calm voice stated the facts, gently describing the tragic scene.
As Chubby Zhou listened from behind the wooden fence, he seemed to fall into an icy pit. His whole body shook, his teeth chattered, and he gradually slumped to the ground.
As he collapsed, he finally broke down and began to wail loudly.
Yan Rongshi took out a wooden plug he had prepared earlier and sealed the speaking tube.
There was no need for him to say anything more. Chubby Zhou was already a quick-witted and shrewd person. The few words transmitted through the wall and Judicial Officer Bian's unusually long silence in between were enough for him to piece together the true course of events.
Chubby Zhou cried and cursed heartbreakingly in the stone chamber:
"Bian, you shameless bastard, you heartless monster! You knew the ledger was hidden in the secret compartment behind the wall in the study, and you knew my wife was aware of it! You were afraid my wife would reveal the ledger in the secret compartment, so you tricked her into keeping the whole family indoors, then set fire to the house at night, destroying all evidence and witnesses! How could you be so cruel!"
Yan Rongshi sat back down behind the black lacquered desk, dipped his brush in ink, and recorded everything in the blank case file:
"The key evidence, a ledger, was hidden in a secret compartment behind the wall in the study of Zhou Xianguang, an official of the Ministry of Justice."
"Zhou Xianguang confessed that Bian Hongshu, Judicial Officer of the Ministry of Justice, was a close acquaintance and knew about the case. He may be connected to the Zhou family arson case."
"..."
After a long while, the crying and cursing in the stone chamber subsided. Chubby Zhou, having cried until he was nearly breathless, lay weakly in the wooden enclosure.
Yan Rongshi rose from behind the black lacquered desk, spread out the still-wet confession in front of the wooden fence, handed over a brush and ink, and gently persuaded:
"On the night of the arson at the Zhou house, Judicial Officer Bian was sleeping soundly in his own home. Someone else carried out the act. As he said himself, Mrs. Zhou died in the fire, and there are no witnesses to what he said to her that day, making it difficult to convict him."
"Do you want Judicial Officer Bian and the hidden mastermind behind him to confess and face justice?"
"Do you want to avenge your wrongfully killed wife and two children?"
"Sign and put your seal here. I swear I will investigate this case thoroughly and bring justice to your family."