Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The madam was thrown off by my interruption. She wanted to leave, but couldn’t shake me off, so she had no choice but to set down the water bucket for the moment.

“Go on, then. What did you hear?”

I took a deep breath and yanked the madam down hard enough that she had to bend at the waist.

“Last night, when I got up to use the chamber pot, I heard Master Liang and Luo Niang talking. They said Madam was skimming too much off the top, clinging to her connection with Constable Li and refusing to let go. They said you were looking down on him more and more, guarding against him like he was a thief. So they bought a packet of rat poison and planned to put it in the tea you usually drink. Once you drank it, they’d report it as a sudden illness and fool the officials. Then Luo Niang would take over Madam’s business, and everything would just go on as before.”

The news was too explosive.

For a moment, the madam even forgot to hit me.

I swore up and down.

“This daughter owes her life to Madam’s mercy. You saved me and even gave me a mouthful of food. I wouldn’t dare lie about a single word. If Madam doesn’t believe me, that rat poison is hidden in a broken hole at the foot of the eastern wall in their room. It’s wrapped in three layers of oiled paper and tied up tight.”

“Besides, I’ve only been here a few days. I haven’t even learned everyone’s faces yet. How would I know anything about Constable Li or Luo Niang? They were the ones who let their guard down and said the names themselves.”

“If Madam doesn’t believe me, go look for yourself. See if I’m wrong. I’m willing to confront them face-to-face. If even one thing I say doesn’t match up, Madam can beat me to death as she pleases.”

Was it the truth?

Of course not.

But wasn’t that how lies were supposed to be told?

Mix one lie into ten truths, and that was enough.

Last night, he had indeed spent the night with Luo Niang. The girls in his own courtyard cost him nothing, and the madam had always turned a blind eye.

There was rat poison too, of course. That summer, the man had bought it to kill rats. It worked so well that the rats were gone before the poison was used up. In the end, after being left there for so long, it had fallen into that dead corner. I had used it more than once.

The first time, I used it to poison the madam to death, and then Master Liang dragged me to the authorities.

The second time, I used it to poison Master Liang to death, and then the madam dragged me to the authorities.

The third time, I poisoned both Master Liang and the madam, and then the other women dragged me to the authorities.

The fourth time, I simply poisoned everyone.

Using that one night, I found everyone’s indenture contracts, the deed to the house, and the madam’s savings.

I forged footprints, arranged the scene, and rolled the lie around in my stomach a thousand times until it was perfectly smooth.

To be safe, I even imitated the madam’s handwriting and wrote a “will” for her.

In it, I specifically stated that after her death, this little courtyard would be inherited by me. The witness was her lover, and there were enough fingerprints for all three people.

But what was the result?

The result was that I won myself another trip to jail.

There was no so-called courtroom interrogation, nor any legendary torture to extract a confession. What I received was a flawless written statement.

It listed the name of a customer who had once quarreled with the madam over money, and described how he had nursed a grudge because of it. It recorded the exact year, month, and shop where he had bought a certain amount of rat poison, and the excuse he had used. It explained how he had climbed over the wall, slipped the poison into the great cooking pot without anyone noticing, then vanished without a trace, avoiding every pair of eyes.

No one asked whether I agreed.

The yamen runner surnamed Li, who was familiar with the madam, simply took my hand and pressed my fingerprint onto it for me, just as I had done to the madam.

After that, I died in jail of hunger and a high fever.

After I woke up that time, I thought for a very long while.

Then I understood.

This was an age without surveillance. The enforcement of the law was riddled with holes.

No surveillance meant that while no one could prove I was lying, I also had no way to prove the other side was lying.

Loose laws meant that the people who controlled the right to interpret them held the key to killing whomever they pleased.

The county assistant magistrate needed to quickly find a suitable culprit and close the case perfectly. The yamen clerks were watching like tigers, eager to divide up the meager assets of both households.

As for me, I was nothing more than a certain so-and-so added to the case summary. Insignificant. Better off dead.

There was, in the truest sense, no way out.