by Jeannie Lin
“He came looking for you. I came looking for you.”
Huang nodded slowly, and rubbed a hand over his eyes again. “Wei-wei,” he said finally. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
She seated herself across from him. She was reminded of childhood and sitting across from their father and the very same great wooden desk.
“I don’t work in the records office. Or rather, I don’t only work in the records office.”
She glanced at the towers of paperwork rising beside him.
“I am officially a member of the Censorate.”
The Censorate?
“You report directly to the Emperor!” she gasped.
“Well, I report to a senior official who reports to the Emperor. And I submit many reports.”
How could he be so subdued about this? A censor held a very important position in the imperial government. Way more impressive than the Assistant Collator of the Left Office. “But you’ve seen him?” she asked. “You’ve been in the presence of the Emperor?”
“Only from the back of a huge assembly hall—”
Wei-wei sank back in her chair, overwhelmed. Proud. “You must have done very well in your exam.”
Huang managed a chuckle, despite the lines of exhaustion in his face. “It’s nothing. Instead of holding a minor bureaucratic position, I have a moderately more elevated bureaucratic position.”
“When I came to look for you, a member of the Censorate came out to speak on your behalf. His name was Zheng Shi.”
He was surprised to hear it. “Zheng is the censor-in-chief who oversees the entire Censorate.”
All of the sudden, the last few weeks made sense. Huang’s role was to investigate the conduct of other government officials and matters of corruption. It was why he would be summoned at odd hours.
“But why can’t you tell anyone?” she asked.
“It’s a special position. The Emperor wanted to have his own men who could operate without anyone else knowing.”
Her mind was spinning. Her brother, not only a censor, but a secret censor.
“You can’t tell anyone,” he warned, seeing the expression on her face. “Not Mother or Father. Not even Yue-ying.”
“Your wife doesn’t even know?”
He shook his head. “There’s no need to tell her. This is my duty to the empire.”
“And Father?”
“He’s a member of Ministry of War.”
Her eyes widened. “Surely he’s not under investigation—”
“No,” he said hastily. “Stop spinning wild stories, Wei-wei. But Father knows and interacts with many officials. It’s beneficial to have those connections available with no one being aware.”
“It seems so dishonest.”
Huang shot her a pointed look with his eyebrow sharply raised. “Dishonest? Who has another forged ward pass under her pillow? And took my clothes to have them altered? Who’s been bribing the matchmaker for years? Years?”
Wei-wei clamped her mouth shut. She didn’t realize Huang knew about the matchmaker. It wasn’t exactly a bribe. The woman just knew that if Wei-wei were to be married off, there would be no more visits and no more gifts.
“Why are you telling me now?” she asked him.
“I can’t seem to keep any secrets from you,” he admitted. “And this current case—”
He let out a long sigh as he shuffled through the papers.
“Is it related to the victim by the canal?” she asked again. “Or the jade chop?”
“I don’t know, but it’s possible.” He sat back again, his gaze wandering helplessly over the stacks of documents. “There was an assassination in the capitol city. You’ll hear of it soon—everyone will hear of it soon. The Chancellor who was killed was a powerful man who wielded considerable influence in the imperial court. The Censorate has been given ten days to solve this case, that’s why I haven’t come home. Tomorrow I’ll go out again.”
“Why ten days?”
When her brother met her eyes, it was the most serious she’d ever seen him. “The Emperor suspects conspiracy from on high. A murder like this rarely stands on its own. If the chancellor’s death is part of a larger plot, the co-conspirators will need to act fast. If we take more than ten days to find them, it may be too late.”
When Wei-wei and Huang were young, they had both learned how to read and write. When the family had hired a tutor for Huang, he was instructed to teach the Classics to both of the Bai children. It was accepted within the household that Wei-wei was more focused, had the better memory, loved learning more. But it wouldn’t matter. Huang was the one who would take the imperial exams.
“Help your brother,” Mother would urge her when he fell behind in his studies.
And so she did from when they were still children to the present. On Huang’s final attempt to pass the imperial exam, Wei-wei had frequently stayed up half the night with him. When Huang had finally passed, she’d felt in some part it was her triumph as well. It was the closest she could come to realizing any accomplishment of her own—through her brothers.
This night felt very much the same. They stayed awake late into the night to sort through documents that had belonged to Chancellor Yao.
“We make stacks,” she instructed. “Petitions, notices, letters. Catalog and date everything. Also note any names mentioned.” Details were her strength.
“We’ll start from the most recent and work back,” Huang added. “I need to find anyone who might have reason to seek revenge. Or a rival of the chancellor’s.”
As they worked, Huang told her the details of the case. The Chancellor had been killed on the way to an early morning meeting with the Emperor. He’d been surrounded by his own servants and functionaries.
“The meeting was on the chancellor’s itinerary as well as the Emperor’s. The Chancellor’s secretary would have known as well as his attendants. Same with the Emperor. The palace eunuchs, the guards. The guardsmen in the nearby lookout tower claimed to have been distracted at that very moment. They failed to detect anything unusual down below, even once it was over.”
“How many were there?”
“There were two in the lookout tower. They’ve both been imprisoned for questioning.”
A chill went down her spine. Given the seriousness of the crime, the two might be assigned blame and executed regardless. In that situation, it would make sense to her to tell the truth and hope for leniency. Huang’s job had some very grim aspects to it.
“The arrows came from on high. The assassins were likely perched on the rooftops and shooting downward at the attendants. They killed the servants first. Then someone approached the Chancellor on foot and dragged him from his horse.”
A lump formed in the back of her throat. Huang paused when he saw her expression. “I’m sorry, this is frightening you.”
She remembered being sent away by Magistrate Li to protect her frail femininity. “I’ll be fine. Go on.”
“Then…actually, you don’t need to know what then—”
She shot him a look.
“They stabbed him in the heart.”
She regretted giving him that look.
“This had to have been done by more than one killer,” Huang concluded. “And someone powerful had to give the order. Whoever he was, he remained far away from the bloodshed.” Huang gestured towards the papers. “I believe it was someone Chancellor Yao had made an enemy of.”
“What was Chancellor Yao going to meet with the Emperor about?” she asked. “Maybe the traitor wanted to stop that meeting.”
“That part is for someone who holds a higher rank than I do. For me, it’s the records.”
Despite the grimness of the situation, he managed a grin.
They worked beside each other for the next hour until she could see that her brother could no longer keep his head up.
“How long has it been since you last slept?” Wei-wei asked.
“I don’t remember what sleep feels like.”
“Go to bed. You’re more likely to miss something if you’re too tired.”
He nodded groggily and stood. “I’m grateful to have your help on this, Wei-wei.”
“Anything for my Elder Brother.”
Anything to feel valued and useful. Huang left to go to his wife for what few hours of sleep were left, and Wei-wei kept on working.
Chapter 6
Gao found Fu Lin hunched over a dice table. It was late in the evening, deep into the Rat Hour, and the gambling den was full of desperate souls searching for a change of luck. Gao recognized Fu Lin by his prominent forehead, his brow furrowed deep in thought as if he could will the dice to obey. The rascal’s eyes grew large when he spotted Gao. He scooped up his remaining coins — there weren’t many — into his palm before turning to go.
“Don’t worry.” Gao hooked a hand into the collar of Fu Lin’s tunic just as he started to tear away. “I’m not here for your money.”
“I-I gave you a good deal on that jade, Brother Gao!”
“Yes, about that—”
He directed Fu Lin into the alley outside, all while the boy stammered and begged and apologized. Gao took this to mean he still owed money to Hui after pawning all his ill-gotten gains.
“Tell me more about how you got that chop, Fu.”
“I found it. Someone had dropped it.”
Gao shook his head slowly, and Fu Lin sank back against the wall. “Truly, I just found it.”
“By the canal?”
Fu Lin paled. “Brother Gao, I don’t know anything else.”
“Fool, the magistrate has plastered up notices on every street. Tell me what you know or you’ll be talking to the constables.”
That afternoon, Magistrate Li had taken him to the constable station house where the body was being kept. Gao suspected it was to see his reaction. To see if he flinched or revealed any sign of guilt.
Gao had known there would be trouble when he bought the seal from Fu. He just hadn’t realized how much.
“The body was found lying beside the canal according to the magistrate’s report. I know you didn’t kill him,” Gao said. “Tell me everything you remember. I won’t tell the magistrate.”
“I…I saw him floating down the canal. At first I thought someone had fallen in.”
“When did you see him?”
“Yesterday morning. I’d spent all night playing tai sai and then the dice turned on me halfway through the third hour. Tiger Hour. That hour is always unlucky for me.”
“Why were you at the canal in the middle of the night?” It would have been several hours before sun up.
“I had lost all my money,” he confessed. “I was wandering around, trying to think of some way out of everything I owed.”
“Then you saw a man,” Gao prompted.
“I saw someone floating through the water. I shouted to him, but there was no answer so I waded into the canal. He was so heavy! He had on an expensive robe and it was soaked from the canal. The water was pushing against me and it took all my strength to drag him onto the bank. I nearly got killed myself dragging him out!” Fu Lin added indignantly.
“And the only thing you found on him was the jade seal.”
“There was a very small amount of money in his purse,” he admitted. “He was already dead and his family must be rich. They wouldn’t need it.”
“When you pulled him out, you discovered he had drowned?”
“No, I didn’t say that.”
Gao halted. He had been prepared to ask a whole series of questions about strangulation or other injuries. Magistrate Li had only revealed the victim to him for a matter of seconds before ushering him out of the room.
“He didn’t drown,” Gao posed. “But he was already gone when you found him?”
“He’d been pierced from the front and back. One of the shafts had broken off, but I could see the arrow through his chest when I dragged him ashore. It was awful.”
An arrow. The man had been shot, but the magistrate had led him to believe the victim had drowned.
Magistrate Li had a barrage of questions for him earlier that day. Had Gao seen this man in the area? Did he frequent the gambling dens, the brothels? Had he seen him in the streets?
There were mansions within the ward interspersed between the pleasure houses and common dwellings. The magistrate must have checked first with those households. If one of the wealthy residents of the ward were missing, he would have been discovered quickly. Instead, no one had reported him missing and no one was looking for him.
The victim must be an outsider. Pingkang li was the pleasure district. There were many reasons people would come from outside the ward.
Suddenly, Gao recalled something that Fu Lin had said.
“The water was pushing against you,” Gao said.
“Yes, when I went in.”
The current. There was a current flowing through the canal.
Gao envisioned what must have happened. Fu Lin had pulled the victim out of the water, perhaps believing he was saving a drowning man. When he’d found the man was already dead, Fu Lin had dragged him onto the bank to search his belongings before scurrying off. It was hours later, late in the morning, before the body was discovered. Whoever the man was, he’d first been shot before falling into the water. Then he’d been dragged along by the current.
“Get up,” Gao instructed. “And take a break from losing for one night. I have some work for you.”
Fu nodded, though Gao doubted he’d be able to stop. Not while there was anything in his possession he had left to lose.
Magistrate Li and his constables were searching the Pingkang li for information about the victim. They didn’t know how long the body would have floated in the water or when it had been taken out. Only Fu Lin knew those details, and he was going to put that knowledge to use.
A bowl of tea at Mingyu and Wu Kaifeng’s tea house cost more than it did at the stand across the street. Gao assumed it was because you had the luxury of drinking with a roof over your head, while sitting in chairs that weren’t buckled and splintered. He was surprised the tea was recognizably better, even to his unrefined tastes.
“What did you think?” The smooth voice pierced his thoughts. A pale hand appeared over the table to tip more hot water into his bowl. “That you would come and sit here and she would just appear?”
Gao glanced up only to be skewered by a pair of exquisitely shaped eyes. Pretty, like two jeweled daggers.
“Lady Mingyu,” he greeted. The title was honorary. More a street name, much like how he was sometimes called the Knife.
“I didn’t realize you had such imagination.” She tapped an elegantly manicured fingertip against the table. “To dream such dreams.”
“I have no such dreams.”
Gao thought about telling her his plan had worked at least once. He’d been hovering around Mingyu’s tea house for an entire week now, and hadn’t Wei-wei shown up the other day, just as he’d hoped?
Her gaze slid over him, taking in his every measure. Mingyu knew the power of silence as well as the effectiveness of words. He lifted his tea and took a drink as an appeal for peace. There was no need to make an enemy of her, especially when he was there to speak to her husband.
Mingyu narrowed her eyes just so at him before turning to tend to other business.
It wasn’t long before the formidable Wu Kaifeng arrived. He appeared from the backroom, his expression severe, and walked directly over to where Gao was sitting. That, in itself, should have been worrisome.
“You won’t be conducting any business here.”
Wu cast an imposing shadow. The former constable towered over most people, in physical height as well as demeanor. If Gao were standing, he’d be close in stature to Wu Kaifeng. At least tall enough to see eye to eye, but he remained seated with this posture relaxed and neutral.
“I’m not here to cause any trouble. I’ve come to ask your opinion.”
He’d avoided dealing wit
h Wu Kaifeng until now. When Wu was head constable of the county, outlaws knew to stay out of his way. Fortunately, their paths had never crossed.
“What do you want to know?”
“It’s rumored that you could look at a victim and tell when he had died.”
“That is only occasionally true.”
It was an unusual conversation to have with the former lawman, but Gao sensed there was an answer to his question out there.
“There’s a strong current in the canal that runs through the city.” Gao began. “If a body is found floating in the canal in this ward at the Tiger Hour, can we determine where it fell in?”
Wu stared at him without expression for a long time. So long that Gao wondered whether Wu had heard the question.
“There are many factors to consider,” Wu said finally. “The speed of the current, the weight of the body.”
To his surprise, Wu pulled a chair over and sat down at the table. “You’re talking about the man who was found just yesterday.”
Gao nodded.
“Are you working for the crime lord, Hui?” Wu inquired.
“Not on this matter,” Gao replied honestly.
Once again, Wu was silent for a long time. Whatever he was calculating in his head, he was taking his own time with it. Let the world be damned.
“Are you looking to collect the bounty?”
“Bounty?”
“A hundred taels of silver.”
Gao hadn’t known about that. Had that amount been set after he and Wei-wei had shown the jade seal to the magistrate?
“I have no interest in the bounty,” Wu continued. “But I do want to see justice done.”
“I wouldn’t mind some silver,” Gao admitted with a shrug. One bought things with money.
“I will assume, for now, since you’ve come to ask, that you did not have anything to do with this man’s death.”
“Not this one,” Gao agreed.
There was a flicker behind Wu’s eyes at that, but he went on. “My wife does not like me being pulled in whenever a body is found. There are many unresolved deaths in this city.”
Gao recalled Bai Huang had come to speak to Wu Kaifeng yesterday as well. It seemed no one had forgotten that Wu Kaifeng had been head constable not long ago. He’d been involved in solving several notorious cases in the capital.