Hurling a head, the Southern Hero strikes terror into the treacherous clique;With evil swept away, the Academician puts an old bawd on trial

Now, Xing Ji was in the midst of his magic when all at once he felt a streak of cold light behind his head. He swerved aside, and already he could see Zhan Zhao, eyes blazing and bristling with murderous intent, while a shaft of yang light1 shot straight at the bottle on the altar. This is what is meant by the saying, “Evil cannot prevail against the upright.” There was a loud crack, and the bottle burst in two. Seeing his magic broken, the old Taoist cried out in dismay before he could stop himself and toppled off the altar platform. Afraid he would get away, Zhan Zhao spun round and went down from the platform after him. The old Taoist had only just picked himself up to run when Zhan Zhao kicked him from behind. He pitched forward and fell flat on his face. At once Zhan Zhao was on him: from behind, his sword rose and fell, and head and body lay apart. When he had beheaded the old Taoist, Zhan Zhao went back up onto the platform to take a closer look. The table was smeared all over with foul blood, and in the middle of it lay a little wooden figure. He lifted it out, quickly but gently. Then, looking down, he saw the cloth frontal hanging before the table; he tore off a piece, wrapped the wooden figure up well and tucked it inside his robe. He came down from the platform, picked up the head and made straight for the study. By now it was halfway through the fifth watch.

Meanwhile, Pang Ji was in his study with Pang Fu. “When day breaks today, it will be six days,” he was saying, “and tomorrow the thing will be done. I shall have my revenge for my son’s murder — though it lets him off lightly, dying with his body whole2.” He had got just this far when — crash! — the big pane of glass in the window shattered, and in flew a human head, shaggy with hair and dripping with blood. The sudden shock all but toppled Pang Ji out of his chair, while Pang Fu, beside him, shrank into a quaking huddle. A good while passed and nothing more happened; only then did the villainous Pang and his servant screw up their courage and bring a lamp to look. It was the head of the old Taoist, Xing Ji. All at once Pang Ji understood. “The Kaifeng yamen must have sent some able man in secret to break the spell and kill the Taoist.” He had Pang Fu call out the household at once to search high and low, but there was not so much as a shadow of anyone. There was nothing for it but to have the garden cleaned up, the Taoist’s body buried and the altar platform taken down, while he seethed with rage and regret.

Our story turns to the Southern Hero. Leaving the garden, he went to the tree outside the wall, took down his bundle, threw his long gown on over his clothes and made straight for the Kaifeng yamen. There, inside and out, lamps and candles blazed: everyone was keeping watch over His Excellency. Zhan Zhao quickly had himself announced. When Mr. Gongsun heard that Zhan Zhao had come, he was overjoyed and went out with the four brave men to meet him. They had barely set eyes on one another — there was no time even to ask how each had fared — when Zhan Zhao said, “His Excellency has been unwell, hasn’t he?” Mr. Gongsun was astonished. “How did you know, brother?” “Let’s go inside,” said Zhan Zhao, “and I’ll tell you all about it.” Saluting one another with clasped hands, they went to the officers’ hall, where Zhan Zhao set down his bundle. They urged one another to take a seat, and when tea had been served, Gongsun Ce asked him, “How did you know His Excellency had fallen ill? Please tell us the whole story.” “It’s a long story,” said the Southern Hero. “Take a look at this, brothers, and you’ll understand.” With that he took something from the front of his robe and quickly unwrapped it. It was a scrap torn from a table frontal, and wrapped inside it was a little wooden figure. Gongsun Ce took it and examined it closely under the lamp with the others, but none of them could make anything of it. Then, looking harder still, Gongsun Ce made out writing on it: it seemed to be Lord Bao’s name and the date and hour of his birth3. “Good heavens!” he cried out in spite of himself. “This is bewitchment — someone has worked a spell on him!” “It takes a man of your great gifts, sir,” said Zhan Zhao. “You’ve guessed it.” Everyone asked Zhan Zhao where the thing had come from. He was just about to tell them when Bao Xing came running out from inside. “His Excellency’s awake! He’s sitting up already — he’s in the study this minute, drinking some gruel. He says he came back together with the gallant Zhan, and he’s sent me out to ask him into the study to see him. But has Master Zhan come or not?” They were all overjoyed to hear it. Because everyone had been crowded round the lamp looking at the wooden figure, Bao Xing had not seen Zhan Zhao; it was Zhan Zhao who hurriedly rose and came over to greet him. Bao Xing was so happy that his heart burst into flower. “So Master Zhan really has come! This way, please — His Excellency is waiting for you in the study.”

Mr. Gongsun went with Zhan Zhao to the study at once, and they paid their respects to Lord Bao. Lord Bao hastily asked them to sit. Zhan Zhao, with a word of thanks, took the chair facing him, and Registrar Gongsun kept them company from a lower seat to one side. Then Lord Bao said, “Again and again this Academician has owed his safety to you, gallant sir. How can I ever repay you? This time, had it not been for you, I, Bao, would all but have lost my life! From now on I earnestly hope you will stay here at Kaifeng and lend me a helping hand, so that my heartfelt longing for you may not have been in vain.” “I am not worthy, I am not worthy,” said Zhan Zhao. Gongsun Ce answered at his side, “Some time ago His Excellency sent a man to your home to invite you, brother, but you happened to be away and had not come back. We never thought you would arrive today, of all days.” “I drift like duckweed, with no fixed home,” said Zhan Zhao. “When I heard that Your Excellency had been made Chief Minister, I came specially to offer my congratulations. I never expected to learn at Tongzhen Temple what lay behind Your Excellency’s illness, and so I hurried here through the night. And sure enough, Your Excellency is well again, so I can say I have done my small part. This too is owing to Your Excellency’s great good fortune.” Lord Bao and Gongsun Ce did not quite follow him. “Where is Tongzhen Temple?” they asked. “And how did you come to hear the news there?” “Tongzhen Temple isn’t far from Sanbao Village,” said Zhan Zhao, and he told them how in the night he had overheard the young Taoist talking with a woman in the side court. “So I hurried to the Grand Preceptor’s garden, and there was the old Taoist at his altar. The bottle burst, I killed the old Taoist, wrapped up the wooden figure and came here.” The words poured from Zhan Zhao in a stream as he told it all from beginning to end, and as Lord Bao listened he was like a man waking from a dream. “If that is so,” said Gongsun Ce at his side, “the Widow Huang4’s case will be easy to settle.” That one remark jogged Lord Bao’s memory. “Yes, of course! That old woman said the other day that her daughter had gone missing. Can it be that the young Taoist stole her away?” “Yes,” said Gongsun Ce at once. “Your Excellency sees it exactly.” Then he rose to his feet again and reported all the rest as well: how he had sent in a memorial reporting the illness, and how His Majesty had sent Chen Lin specially to visit and had granted imperial physicians to examine him. Lord Bao nodded. “In that case, sir, tomorrow please draw up a memorial. First, it is to ask respectfully after His Majesty’s health, report that my sick leave is over and give thanks for his grace; second, it is to impeach5 Grand Preceptor Pang for resorting to bewitchment and black magic to do away with a minister of the court in secret, with the wooden figure and the slain old Taoist, Xing Ji, as evidence. I shall present it at court at the fifth watch the day after tomorrow.” When Lord Bao had finished giving his orders, Gongsun Ce quickly said, “Yes, sir.” Then Zhan Zhao rose to take his leave, for Lord Bao had only just recovered, and he was afraid of tiring him. Lord Bao told Gongsun Ce to look after him well, and the two of them said goodbye and left the study.

By now day was breaking. Lord Bao took a little rest, with Bao Xing and Li Cai to wait on him. Out in the officers’ hall, Zhan Zhao, Mr. Gongsun and Wang, Ma, Zhang and Zhao were telling one another all that had happened since they parted. Zhan Zhao told them once more how he had come to hear of His Excellency’s illness, and only now did they all understand. They were overjoyed. Though they had sat up for several nights without a proper sleep, now they were all bursting with fresh spirit, their weariness flung beyond the clouds of the Nine Heavens and forgotten. This is what is meant by the saying, “Good news puts new life in a man,” and truer words were never spoken. They were still deep in talk when the attendants came in, set out cups and chopsticks and laid on a magnificent spread of wine and food. While Zhan Zhao was in with Lord Bao, the four brave men had told the kitchen to hurry and prepare a feast, to welcome him and wash the dust of the road from him, so that they could all celebrate together. All these days, with His Excellency unwell, the whole yamen from top to bottom had been in an uproar, everyone fretting and on edge — who had given a thought to meals? They had done no more than drink a few cups of gloomy wine. But today, with this weight lifted, their delight was beyond all measure. The cups went round and round amid loud and lively talk, and whenever the talk turned merry and they found themselves of one mind, they could not help roaring with laughter until their cheers fairly rang in the ears. Fourth Master Zhao Hu alone let himself go even more than the rest: every cup drained, every goblet emptied, until he was dancing for joy.

Suddenly Bao Xing came in from outside, and everyone made room and urged him to sit. Bao Xing was all smiles. “His Excellency sent me out to give the runners their orders,” he said, “and I’ve snatched a moment specially to offer Master Zhan a cup or two.” “Oh, I couldn’t, I couldn’t,” said Zhan Zhao hastily. “I’ve already drunk more than I should — I really can’t do as you ask.” But Bao Xing would not hear of it, and Zhao Hu egged him on from the side, insisting that Zhan Zhao drink three cups straight off. In the end it was Wang Chao who settled it: he had Bao Xing pour one brimming cup and offer it to Zhan Zhao. Zhan Zhao took it at once and drained it at a draught. Again everyone urged Bao Xing to sit down. “I haven’t a moment to spare,” said Bao Xing. “I still have to go back and report to His Excellency.” “And what errand has His Excellency sent the runners on now?” asked Gongsun Ce. “His Excellency only just woke up,” said Bao Xing. “He drank his gruel and had a bite to eat, and then straight away he sent out the warrant tallies: Tan Ming, Tan Yue and the woman are to be arrested at Tongzhen Temple, and the Widow Huang and Zhao Guosheng summoned to appear in court along with them. I expect that as soon as they’re brought in, he’ll open court and get to work. That just shows you how His Excellency never stops thinking of the realm and its people for a single moment. He’s truly worthy of the Chief Minister’s seat — it’s a great blessing for the whole realm, it truly is!” And Bao Xing took his leave and went back to the study to report.

Hearing that His Excellency was about to open court, nobody dared drink much more — only Zhao Hu was drunk already. They made haste to finish their meal, and then Gongsun Ce invited Zhan Zhao to his own room, where they talked while he worked out a draft of the memorial of impeachment.

By now Tan Ming, Tan Yue, Jinxiang and Yuxiang, together with the Widow Huang and Zhao Guosheng, had all been brought in, and Lord Bao opened court at once. The runners gave the court cry, Lord Bao took his seat, and he ordered Tan Ming brought up first. Tan Ming was led up into the hall and dropped to his knees. He was a man past thirty, gaunt and haggard, but his bearing was grave and composed; he did not look like an evildoer. “Are you the one called Tan Ming?” asked Lord Bao. “Tell me at once what you have done.” Tan Ming knocked his head on the floor toward the bench. “Your humble Taoist is called Tan Ming,” he said. “My master is Xing Ji, and it was at Tongzhen Temple that I left the world6. At first there were just the two of us, master and disciple. My master, Xing Ji, was forever up to shady business. I often begged him to mend his ways, but far from listening to me, he punished me for it, until I fell ill with worry. Then, as it happened, a younger cousin of my clan came to see me. He was a gambler and a whoremonger — there was nothing he wouldn’t do — and he had come to a sorry pass. Visiting me in my sickness was only a pretext: he had really come to borrow money. How could I have anything to do with him? So he begged and wept. But my master, Xing Ji, heard him and called him in, and somehow, after a few words, he too left the world. Then and there he changed his clothes and his shoes and socks, and he was given the name Tan Yue. Oh, Your Excellency! From the day Tan Yue came to the temple, my master was like a tiger that had grown wings. The shady goings-on of those two are more than I can tell. Later, when Grand Preceptor Pang sent for my master, it was Tan Yue who went with him, and I stayed behind to look after the temple. Then one night there was a knock at the gate. I hurried to open the temple gate and look, and there was Tan Yue, coming in with a young Taoist. I took him for one of our calling — or if not, then who knew what sneaking business master and disciple were up to now? I didn’t dare interfere; I shut the temple gate and went to bed. Next day, since Tan Yue had brought someone of our calling, I thought it only right to go and pay my respects. So I went to the side court and went in — and what I saw gave me a terrible fright. It wasn’t a Taoist at all, but a young woman, sitting there combing her hair! I was just about to slip out again when Tan Yue came back from relieving himself. He said, ‘Since you’ve seen her, Brother, there’s no use my hiding it. I brought this girl here on the quiet. If nothing comes of it, well and good; if there’s trouble, I’ll answer for it alone. All I ask, Brother, is that you keep quiet about it.’ Just think, Your Excellency: I’d always been under his thumb. When he talked like that, how could I do anything about him? All I could do was mumble ‘Yes, yes’ and back out, and count myself lucky if only he’d leave me be. From that day on he went to Grand Preceptor Pang’s mansion every day as before. When he went out, he locked up the side court; when he came back, he ate and drank and laughed and played with the woman. And today, just as he was about to set off, a whole crowd of Your Excellency’s men arrived and arrested us. That is the truth of the matter. I am ready to bear witness to it, and I would never dare tell a lie.” When Lord Bao had heard him out, he nodded to himself. “I could see this Taoist was no evildoer,” he thought, “and so it has proved.” And he ordered him taken aside.

Next Tan Yue was brought up. He came into the hall and knelt, and Lord Bao looked him over carefully. He was about twenty and strikingly pretty for a young man, but his eyes kept rolling and darting this way and that, which already gave him away as a bad lot. Besides, he was dressed in finery from head to foot — not at all the look of a man who has left the world. Lord Bao struck the startle block. “Debauching a woman and carrying her off on the sly — is this what a man who has left the world should be doing? Speak!” Tan Yue was about to open his mouth when Tan Ming said sharply at his side, “Tan Yue, now you’re in the court hall, you’d better confess the truth. I’ve just told His Excellency everything you’ve done.” That one remark left Tan Yue choking for breath, and he had no choice but to confess the truth. “I, Tan Yue, happened to be passing the Widow Huang’s door when I saw two girls there, one as ugly as could be and one very pretty, and I took notice. After that, one thing led to another, and little by little we got to know each other. Every day I’d see the pretty one standing at the door, and we took a fancy to each other; so we made a secret pact, and I came and went quietly by the back door. Then, as luck would have it, the Widow Huang walked in on us. I bought her over with plenty of gold and silk, and she went along with it. But then the Zhao family wanted to come and fetch the bride7, and the Widow Huang got into a panic and laid a plan. On the very night they came to fetch the bride, in all the bustle and confusion — I was there as a relative of the household, you see — I disguised Yuxiang and we slipped away. We’d already explained everything to Jinxiang. She was so ugly that nobody would ever ask for her hand, so she might as well go in her sister’s place; once she was there, the raw rice would be cooked rice, as the saying goes, and they couldn’t go back on it. I thought it was a clever stroke. Who’d have thought I’d end up in court today?” With that he knocked his head on the floor toward the bench. “How much silver did you use to buy the Widow Huang?” asked Lord Bao. “Three hundred taels of fine silver,” said Tan Yue. “A young Taoist like you,” said Lord Bao, “where would you come by so much silver?” “I stole it from my master,” said Tan Yue. “And where would your master come by so much?” asked Lord Bao. “My master has a wondrous art of bewitchment,” said Tan Yue, “and it never misses — a hundred shots, a hundred hits. When he wants to do someone in, all he needs is to carve a little man out of peach wood8, write the person’s name and the date and hour of his birth on it, and shut it in a bottle with foul blood. Once my master sets to work with his magic, in seven days, no more, the man breathes his last. It’s only because Old Bao —” Here he broke off and hastily spat9. “Pah! Pah! It’s only because Your Excellency put Grand Preceptor Pang’s son to death. The Grand Preceptor has nursed a grudge ever since, and he sent for my master and made a bargain with him: if he pulled this off, there would be fifteen hundred taels of silver in it for him. My master asked for five hundred first, and the other thousand was owing, to be paid once the job was done.” When Lord Bao had heard him out, he said, “No wonder you meant to steal the thousand taels from your master and fly far away with Yuxiang, to be man and wife for good! So that’s how it was.” Tan Yue was more than a little startled to hear this. “I said that to Yuxiang,” he thought. “How can His Excellency know it? Tan Ming must have been listening on the quiet.” Little did he know that Zhan Zhao, unseen in the dark, had given his secret away. Lord Bao had the two of them taken down for the time being and ordered the Widow Huang and her daughters brought up before him.

To learn how the case was tried, read the next chapter.