In the front courtyard, Madam Su felt her head was about to explode from the commotion.
Her husband, Lu Paizhang, had left Taizhou Prefecture for another garrison post just the day before on official duty. Early this morning, before she could even wash her face, the cacophony outside had already erupted. It was as if the heavens were turning upside down.
Such a noisy scene reminded Madam Su of the day her youngest daughter went missing, stirring a deep irritation within her. However, she had no choice but to hastily compose herself, putting on the demeanor of a household matron to handle the situation.
Outside the gates of the Lu Residence, layers upon layers of onlookers had gathered, tightly sealing the area like an impermeable wall.
Armed and brazen yamen officers stood openly in the courtyard. Madam Su recognized the tall one leading them—it was Liu Tuzhi, whom she had previously met on occasion.
Liu Tuzhi said, “Third Madam Lu, please don’t make things difficult for us. Madam Zhang’s formal complaint has already reached the prefectural yamen. And this involves serious accusations like abducting a common woman and seizing property by force. You’d best bring out Young Master Lu quickly.”
Madam Su sharply sensed something was amiss. While exchanging pleasantries and making small talk with Liu Tuzhi, she discreetly signaled Zhenya to slip a heavy pouch of money into his hand.
Madam Su said, “Everyone, you’ve been up since early morning and likely haven’t had a chance to eat breakfast yet. Perhaps later, you can enjoy a drink.”
A smiling face is hard to strike. For the madam of an official’s household to lower herself this much, the officers naturally wouldn’t press too hard.
At this moment, Lu Huaihai and Xie Miao’er finally arrived.
Madam Su cast the two a deep look before pulling Lu Huaihai aside to whisper, “It’s no coincidence that your father isn’t here.”
“I know,” Lu Huaihai replied, his deep eyes sweeping over the crowd seemingly unintentionally.
Compared to his calm demeanor, Xie Miao’er was much more anxious.
Unaccustomed to appearing before so many people, she reached out like someone drowning grasping a piece of driftwood, quietly clutching Lu Huaihai’s sleeve.
Feeling her action, Lu Huaihai’s steps paused briefly.
Noticing Xie Miao’er, Liu Tuzhi said in a mocking tone, “Oh, so this is the Xie family girl? Perfect timing, no need to summon her separately. Both of you can come along together!”
Lu Huaihai turned his head and whispered to Xie Miao’er, “Don’t be afraid.”
Just three simple words, yet they reassured Xie Miao’er significantly. Seeing that his left hand remained by his side, she felt at ease to continue holding onto his sleeve.
The officers roughly parted the crowd, leading them away.
As the son of an official family, Lu Huaihai wasn’t someone they dared to treat too harshly. Whether the east wind prevails over the west or vice versa, if any wind grew unhappy, it would be easy for these low-ranking officers to become scapegoats.
At the county yamen, under the large characters “Fair and Impartial,” sat the magistrate, Chen Bingwu. To his left stood Wang Tuiguan, and to his right stood He Tongpan.
In the main hall, everyone had arrived. It looked as though a dramatic scene was about to unfold.
Upon seeing who else was present, Xie Miao’er was shocked.
What was going on? Why was “her” stepmother, Mistress Du, also here?
At this moment, the magistrate Chen, seated at the head of the hall, also felt a headache coming on.
As the parent official of the county under the prefecture, his position seemed glamorous on the surface. In reality, if he threw a brick into the crowd, nine out of ten people hit would outrank him.
Madam Zhang, whose maiden name was Qian, had a brother named Qian Wude. Just a few days ago, Qian Wude had been promoted to Thousand-Man Commander for his military merits. Recently, his influence was growing, and he seemed poised for further promotion.
As the plaintiff in this case, Madam Zhang, though a commoner, carried significant weight. Magistrate Chen did not wish to offend Qian Wude. Thus, he did not make her kneel and even instructed the officers to bring her a wooden stool to sit on.
However, Magistrate Chen, an experienced official, also thought: Lu Paizhang is a fourth-rank official. He only has one son, and in the future, Lu Huaihai is bound to inherit his father’s position. While Lu Huaihai is currently a commoner, if Madam Zhang was allowed to sit while he enforced strict discipline on Lu Huaihai, wouldn’t others see it as him, the magistrate, being biased?
Chen the Old Fox coughed lightly, instructing the yamen officers to bring Lu Huaihai a seat as well. Then, noticing the delicate girl trailing behind him, who appeared soft and frail, he added, “Miss Xie, you’re a witness. Considering your young age, you need not kneel—just stand to the side.”
Behind him, Magistrate Wang silently criticized: Young age, my foot. Clearly, he’s just taken pity on her beauty. Isn’t Mistress Du, also a witness, kneeling right there in the hall?
Xie Miao’er, still immersed in the shock of seeing her stepmother present, almost didn’t hear what Magistrate Chen had said. It wasn’t until Lu Huaihai gently pinched her wrist through his sleeve that she snapped out of it and hurriedly moved to stand behind him.
Chen Bingwu cleared his throat and said, “Madam Zhang, what grievance do you bring? State it swiftly.”
Thinking of her deceased husband, her only son now gone as well, Madam Zhang needed no performance. She immediately began wailing and accusing through tears:
“Your Honor, today I accuse Lu Huaihai, son of Lu Paizhang, of bullying men, oppressing women, and tyrannizing the local people. He forcibly married my late son’s fiancée, the eldest daughter of the Xie family, seized the Xie family’s assets, and drove my son to his death. Such wickedness must not go unpunished!”
Xie Miao’er could hardly believe these words came from Madam Zhang’s mouth.
Bullying men, oppressing women, tyrannizing the local people—wasn’t that her son’s doing?
Moreover, since when had she been betrothed to Zhang Duan? Looking at the figure of Mistress Du kneeling on the green-bricked ground, Xie Miao’er suddenly had a bad premonition.
The crowd outside the yamen, which had grown even larger, broke into murmurs upon hearing this.
Magistrate Chen struck the wooden block on the desk and shouted, “Order in the court! Madam Zhang, do you have any evidence to support your claims?”
“The mother of Miss Xie is my witness.”
Mistress Du trembled as she kowtowed, then straightened up and said, “This humble woman, Du, can testify. Back when my husband was still alive, we exchanged the birth characters with the Zhang family, and the marriage contract was drawn up.”
The yamen officers brought the marriage contract and handed it to Chen Bingwu.
The marriage had not yet been formalized, only arranged, so the contract bore no official seal.
Chen Bingwu asked, “Was the contract brokered by a matchmaker?”
Without a matchmaker’s involvement, the marriage contract would be invalid.
Madam Zhang replied, “Of course. Your Honor, you can summon Madam Wu from South Second Street.”
The yamen officers went to fetch the matchmaker. Meanwhile, the court was not idle. Chen Bingwu turned to Lu Huaihai and asked, “Lu Huaihai, what do you have to say?”
Lu Huaihai stood, clasped his hands in salute, and glanced calmly at the opposing party. He said, “May I ask, Your Honor, what is the punishment for making a false accusation?”
Though young, his poise and commanding presence nearly caused Chen Bingwu to lose his sense of authority. He almost blurted out an answer, but Magistrate Wang on the left spoke just in time:
“According to the laws of Great Yong, those who falsely accuse others shall be punished with the penalty of the crime they accused.”
Madam Zhang, seething with rage, did not wait for the matchmaker to arrive and continued, “On that day, my son visited the Xie family to discuss the marriage. Out of jealousy, Lu Huaihai wanted to forcibly marry Miss Xie instead. He hired thugs to disrupt the Xie family’s business. My son was caught off guard and fought with him. In the chaos, Xie Jinfu, trying to protect his daughter, hit his head and died!”
Xie Miao’er could no longer bear it. She said, “That day, it was clearly your family bullying us too much! I had no choice but to flee into the streets, where I was saved by the old madam of the Lu family. How can you twist the truth like this?”
Madam Zhang seemed prepared for her response. “Miss Xie, I understand that you look down on my son. Were it not for his deep affection for you, I would never have agreed to such a mismatched marriage. But marriage is a matter of parental arrangement and matchmaker’s words. Your parents agreed to this, and now you dare to turn around and slander him for the sake of another man?”
She finished speaking, and Mistress Du hurriedly added, “The marriage contract was indeed made. I can testify to this.”
Xie Miao’er’s face turned pale.
They had planned this all along—to use the “parents’ arrangement” to pin her down, distorting the truth so that anything she said would seem like an impulsive reaction.
Xie Miao’er took a deep breath, trying her best to remain calm.
She sneaked a glance at Lu Huaihai and saw him calm and composed, which reassured her a great deal.
He must have a plan, she thought. I can’t cause trouble now.
After much commotion, the yamen officers finally brought in the matchmaker, Madam Wu.
As soon as Madam Wu entered the court, she kowtowed twice loudly.
Chen Bingwu asked, “A few months ago, was it you who arranged the marriage between Zhang Duan and the eldest daughter of the Xie family?”
Madam Wu hurriedly replied, “Yes, it was I who arranged it.”
Before Madam Zhang could revel in satisfaction, Madam Wu continued, “However, it was not a proper marriage. Young Master Zhang intended to take the Xie family’s daughter as a concubine.”
Hearing this, Madam Zhang was startled.
No! This isn’t what I had discussed with Madam Wu earlier!
In the courtroom, Madam Wu went on, “Young Master Zhang wanted to take Miss Xie as a concubine, but Xie Jinfu refused. Earlier this month, Madam Zhang approached me, asking me to provide false testimony to claim her son and Miss Xie had a marriage agreement.”
Madam Zhang flew into a rage. “You wretched old crone! How dare you slander me!”
Chen Bingwu felt his headache worsen. How is this situation becoming even more chaotic?
Forcing himself to be patient, he asked, “Madam Wu, mere words are not enough. Do you have evidence?”
Madam Wu prostrated herself and said, “I was blinded by greed at the time and tempted by Madam Zhang’s gold and silver. I signed and stamped the marriage contract under her influence. The gold and silver are still in my house. It can be checked easily. I make my living as a matchmaker and could never have obtained such a large sum of money on my own.”
The tide turned, and Chen Bingwu sent yamen officers to Madam Wu’s house to retrieve the evidence.
Madam Zhang, overwhelmed with anger, suddenly realized something terrifying: since the moment Lu Huaihai had entered the courtroom, he had spoken only one sentence, done nothing else, and yet the situation had entirely shifted in his favor.
She felt a chill run down her spine.
It was as if he had seen through her long ago.
He seemed to have anticipated every move she would make.
But there was no turning back now. Madam Zhang could only continue to prop herself up with a facade of bluster. “You ungrateful wretch! You must have been bribed by him!”
After observing silently for so long, Lu Huaihai finally spoke, his tone measured and unhurried. “Your Honor, I have something to say as well.”
Chen Bingwu, his head throbbing from Madam Zhang’s shouting, was eager to hear someone else speak. “Go ahead.”
“Whether or not I abducted a common woman will become clear once the evidence is retrieved and Madam Wu’s words are verified. As for the accusation of seizing the Xie family’s assets…”
At this point, without needing any prompting, Xie Miao’er stepped forward with perfect timing.
She gracefully lifted the hem of her dress and bowed to the officials seated at the top of the hall.
Xie Miao’er said, “The claim that Young Master Lu seized the Xie family’s assets is completely baseless.”
She cast a deep look at Mistress Du, who in her memory had once been gentle, and continued, “Because the Xie family’s assets now belong to me.”
Chen Bingwu asked, “Is this true?”
Xie Miao’er nodded. “It is absolutely true. Some days ago, Young Master Lu helped me recover the assets of my family, which had been lost for a long time. As my father has been deceased for years and my younger siblings are still children, I went to the yamen to transfer the ownership of the cloth workshop and other properties to my name. The deeds can prove this.”
As if catching onto a significant loophole, Madam Zhang shouted, “Impossible! You’re just a concubine! How could he transfer all the assets to you? This is nothing but a cover-up, a left hand passing to the right to conceal the truth!”
When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will also be askew. Zhang Duan was spoiled growing up, and naturally, Madam Zhang was no virtuous mother either.
Relying on her brother’s domineering influence, Madam Zhang looked down on concubines. The day she learned of her son’s death, she also heard that someone at a gambling house was selling items her son had lost. Among the buyers was Lu Huaihai. Of course, she assumed he had kept the items for himself, never considering the possibility that Lu Huaihai had returned them to Xie Miao’er.
But her words played right into Xie Miao’er’s hands. Smiling faintly, Xie Miao’er said, “The account books of the cloth workshop are now under my management. The workshop’s steward, Cheng Yuandao, can testify for me. If you don’t believe me, Your Honor, you may summon him.”
She had even arranged for Cheng Yuandao to receive a 30% share of the workshop’s profits that day, with the contract still in place.
Chen Bingwu ordered the yamen officers to retrieve the evidence and summon the witness.
Then he realized a problem…
There weren’t enough yamen officers.
Fortunately, the team sent to investigate Madam Wu’s home had returned. As soon as they stepped in, they split into two groups—one headed to the Lu residence for the account books, the other to the Xie family’s cloth workshop to summon Cheng Yuandao.
“Your Honor, the amount of silver found in Madam Wu’s home is far beyond what she could have earned legitimately.”
Chen Bingwu swept his gaze across the courtroom.
Though his years in office had yielded little advancement, his piercing look still carried great intimidation for ordinary people.
Mistress Du, trembling as if struck by a sieve, stammered in her defense: “Your Honor… this humble woman… I was forced! I was forced!”
Her betrayal threw Madam Zhang into a furious rage, and she lunged at Mistress Du in the courtroom.
Chen Bingwu, utterly exasperated, struck the wooden block on the desk hard and roared, “How dare you cause such a disturbance in the courtroom?”
He had no interest in hearing Mistress Du’s excuses. Ordering her mouth to be gagged, he decided to wait for the account books and the steward to arrive—there was no need to listen further.
When Cheng Yuandao and the account books arrived, the situation had already left Madam Zhang with no room to argue. Her limbs felt weak, but she forced herself to maintain her arrogant demeanor.
At the right moment, Lu Huaihai reminded the court, “Those who falsely accuse others are subject to the penalty of the crime they alleged.”
Chen Bingwu, an experienced old fox, replied smoothly, “Given the complexity of the case, all parties are dismissed for now. This case will be retried tomorrow. As for those involved in false accusations—Mistress Du and Madam Wu—they shall be detained in the yamen’s holding cells until the trial resumes.”
Under the officers’ orders, the crowd scattered like startled birds.
As Xie Miao’er passed by Mistress Du, she felt a hand tugging at her skirt.
She paused but did not lower her head. She shook off Mistress Du’s hand without a word.
Xie Miao’er was angry, but not for herself.
She felt deeply sorry for her late father, Xie Jinfu.
In her memories, Xie Jinfu had never treated this second wife poorly, yet today she had colluded with those responsible for his death.
Walking alongside her, Lu Huaihai’s emotions were similarly complicated.
Though the accusers had been detained, he felt no satisfaction. This outcome had been within his expectations all along.
The magistrate had listened to his careful arguments not because the facts were clear or compelling.
It was only because he had a father in a high-ranking official position.
If he were merely a commoner, facing a relative of officials in the courtroom, no one would have paid him any attention.
Similarly, because he had a good father, even if Madam Zhang succeeded in her accusations against him today, the consequences for him would be minimal. The magistrate would never truly impose exile or severe corporal punishment on him in accordance with the law.
But what about Xie Miao’er?
If Madam Zhang were to succeed, with the prior marriage contract in place, the later concubine contract would become invalid. By then, he would remain unharmed, but she would suffer the consequences. She would be taken back by her stepmother, and then…
Lu Huaihai’s gaze darkened.
If I can’t even protect the people around me, what kind of man would I be?
Years ago, in a bustling crowd, he had failed to protect his young sister. But such a thing would never happen again.
Lowering his eyes, Lu Huaihai noticed the few fingers of Xie Miao’er still tightly clutching his sleeve.
I must grow stronger—and quickly.
Because she needed his protection.