Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Shen Guan came to Qingshi Town to investigate the relief grain.
This was something no one knew in the previous life.
It wasn’t until many years later, when Xie Wujiu reopened the old Zhou Family case, that he found Shen Guan’s name among a pile of half-burned ledgers.
He originally had the chance to uncover that Magistrate Zhou had embezzled relief grain, colluded with bandits, and was hunting down the Orphan of the Yan Prince on behalf of powerful officials in the capital.
But he died too early.
In this life, I wrote him a letter in advance.
The letter didn’t mention rebirth, only three things.
The false accounts at the granary south of town.
Magistrate Zhou’s secret possession of Prince Yan’s Bronze Token.
Among Shen Guan’s retinue, there was a man surnamed Liang who had taken money from the Zhou Family.
I didn’t know if he would believe it.
Thankfully, he came.
Zhou Cheng’an’s face turned pale.
The constables released their grip.
Shen Guan walked into the school, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the crowd, finally resting on Xie Wujiu.
“What’s your name?”
Xie Wujiu looked at him. “Xie Wujiu.”
“Wujiu?”
Shen Guan repeated it and said softly, “A fine name.”
Zhou Cheng’an said urgently, “Sir, he is a Descendant of the Yan Rebel!”
Shen Guan smiled faintly.
“The Prince Yan case was closed twenty years ago. The court documents clearly state that the entire family of the culprit was executed. By claiming he is a descendant of Prince Yan, are you saying that the Ministry of Justice erred in its ruling back then, or that your Zhou Family has been privately pursuing an imperial case?”
Zhou Cheng’an was tongue-tied.
Shen Guan looked at the constables. “Take him to the county office.”
Zhou Cheng’an breathed a sigh of relief.
Shen Guan added, “Take Zhou Cheng’an.”
Zhou Cheng’an’s legs gave way.
Xie Wujiu was not taken away.
But Madame Qin had disappeared.
When we rushed to the south of town, the ramshackle house was empty.
On the bed, a half-finished bowl of medicine was still sitting there.
Xie Wujiu stood at the doorway, motionless.
I was afraid he would go mad right then.
“We’ll find her.”
He said, “How?”
I was speechless.
“Don’t you always have a way?”
His voice was flat, not accusing.
The flatter it was, the worse I felt.
“Lin Wanzhao, you sent me to this school, made me study the sages, told me not to steal, not to fight, not to kill.”
He finally looked at me.
“But they took my mother away.”
I couldn’t say a word.
Xie Wujiu walked inside and picked up the medicine bowl from the floor.
“If I had killed Zhou Cheng’an last night, today wouldn’t have happened like this.”
I said immediately, “No.”
“Yes.”
He looked at the bowl in his hand.
“You taught me to endure. The price of enduring is my mother.”
Those words were like a knife.
I knew he wasn’t entirely right.
But I also knew he wasn’t entirely wrong.
I was reborn to change his fate.
I forced him to study, forced him to follow the rules, forced him to believe that there was still justice in the world.
But justice didn’t protect his mother.
It was only because Shen Guan came that he was temporarily safe.
What if Shen Guan hadn’t come?
What if my letter hadn’t been delivered?
What if in every instance in his past life, he had never waited for a Shen Guan?
I suddenly understood that forcing a man dying of hunger to speak of righteousness was itself a cruelty.
Xie Wujiu set the bowl back on the table.
“I’m going to find her.”
I said, “I’ll go with you.”
He gave a faint smile.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill someone?”
I looked at him.
“I’m afraid you’ll kill the wrong people.”
He paused.
I said, “Those who need saving must be saved, the evidence that needs investigating must be investigated, and those who deserve to die should not be let off too easily.”
For the first time, Xie Wujiu looked at me seriously.
“Does Mr. Lin know you think like this?”
“No.”
“Is this what the sages taught?”
“No.”
I picked up the old cloak from the table.
“So tonight, we won’t recite The Analects.”
“Then what will you recite?”
“The accounts.”