Chapter 13: 13

 The first reaction Wang Da Xia had was the embroidered uniform guards wanted to arrest him, again? Didn’t I already prove my innocence?

 

This isn’t right, how does the embroidered uniform guards know I’m hiding at the young widow’s home?

 

Wei Cai Wei’s first thought was also that the embroidered uniform guards wanted to arrest her, however, she was already prepared, her confidence was watertight…

 

Wei Cai Wei pointed at the back door in the courtyard saying quietly: “Quickly leave, don’t worry about me, it won’t be good if the embroidered uniform guards found out you stayed at mine last night.”

 

That’s also correct, if the embroidered uniform guards came in to search the house, such a large living person as myself can’t be hidden.

 

Wang Da Xia slipped away with the bundle on his back.

 

Wei Cai Wei: Really...he can’t do anything right, apart from running away quickly.

 

After Wang Da Xia left via the back door, Wei Cai Wei opened the door.

 

When she opened the door, the embroidered uniform guard outside was also kicking the door, if Wei Cai Wei’s reflexes weren’t quick, she would have been kicked in the chest!

 

Wei Cai Wei stepped back too quickly, her back hit the incense burner table, the memorial tablet once again fell over.

 

Hualala tens of embroidered uniform guards came rushing in, leading them was actually a rather attractive young man, the young man raised his hand, “Search!”

 

Like locusts, the embroidered uniform guards rushed upstairs and downstairs, small courtyard, even the kitchen which hadn’t been used yet wasn’t let off, everything was turned upside down.

 

The young man asked Wei Cai Wei, “Why did you open the door just now?”

 

Wei Cai Wei said: “A widow living alone ought to be cautious, people come knocking claiming to be the embroidered uniform guards, women don’t dare to hastily open the door, just now I made sure it really was the apparel of the embroidered uniform guards through a crack in the window before opening the door.”

 

The young man lifted the corner of his gown, spreading his legs into a horse stance, settling himself down onto the day bed, both hands placed over his knees, looking Wei Cai Wei up and down, “You don’t seem scared at all when so many people came in.”

 

Wei Cai Wei picked up her dead husband’s memorial tablet, lighting brushing off the dust on it, once again putting it upright, she said: “Embroidered uniform guards investigate cases to root out the strong and give people peace, this woman can only comply.”

 

The young man looked at her in rumination, “You’re not going to ask why the embroidered uniform guards came to find you?”

 

Wei Cai Wei clasped her hands together, “Last night this woman was fortunate to see the embroidered uniform guards arrest the suspect Wang Ya Nei, Wang Ya Nei is a tyrant in the northern city yet was still chased down like a stray dog by the embroidered uniform guards, his life hanging by a thread. Even the beloved son of the northern city military’s commander is treated like this by the embroidered uniform guards, this woman is as weak as a mole cricket and ants, no matter what the embroidered uniform guards do, this woman will submit, whatever captain asks, this woman will answer, this woman doesn’t dare question the captain.”

 

The young man took out a hand copied account book, “Wei Cai Wei, seventeen years old, a native from Tieling prefecture in Liaoning province, registered doctor.”

 

At the establishment of the great Ming, the emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang had the census register  divided according to occupation, there was a military census, horse breeder census, salt census, merchant census, craftsman census, medical census and so on.

 

Wei Cai Wei appeared surprised, “How does the captain know of this woman’s background?”

 

The young man said: “Last night you stayed at the tavern opposite Shuntian prefecture yamen, the law is to register your name as in the census and your address before checking in, Chen Qianhu was murdered by poison that night, that’s why all those who stayed at the tavern that night are being investigated by the embroidered uniform guards.”

 

Wei Cai Wei said: “Is that so.”

 

That night she had filled in her current address as Tianshui lane.

 

The young man reached out his hand, “Take out your household record, I want to verify it’s genuine.”

 

Wei Cai Wei used a hairpin from her head to pry open the base of her dead husband’s memorial tablet, it was surprisingly hollow, there were a few banknotes and a light yellow household record inside.

 

The young man raised his eyebrows, “Oh, you know how to hide things. But I saw it, so from now on you need to find another place to hide it.”

 

Wei Cai Wei didn’t say anything, handing the household record to the young man with both hands, “Please captain take a look.”

 

The young embroidered uniform guard unfolded the household record, the edges of the household record was covered in plum blossom border, from top to bottom was written: 

 

“Female household, one Wei Cai Wei, a registered doctor in the Tieling prefecture census, registered in the census in the thirty-seventh year of Jia Jing. 

 

One woman, currently fifteen years old.

 

Properties: Seven houses, four slopes in the Nanbei mountainous region. Twenty fields. One boat.

 

The household record was handed over to Wei Cai Wei to keep. This is all.

 

Thirty-seventh year of Jia Jing, May seventh, number seven hundred.”

 

At the back of the household record three lines were stone rubbed on: “Tieling appointed official”, “County head magistrate Qian Wen De, County deputy Fu Xue”, “Functionary official Ding Wu”, these three people each had a crimson signature.

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This household record couldn’t get any more genuine.

 

The young embroidered uniform guard looked over the household record twice, pointing at the memorial tablet he asked: “You’re a widow, and the head of a female household, why wasn’t the son-in-law Wang erlang noted on the household record?”

 

Wei Cai Wei said: “The records last for ten years before they are redone. After I lost my parents, this daughter inherited the medical census, serving the great Ming’s Tieling prefecture, this household record was issued on the thirty-seventh year of Jia Jing, my husband passed away less than a year after we married, so he didn’t enter the household record.”

 

Simply put, the household record was effective for ten years, after ten years once again the number of people and properties over this time had to be reported for another record, a new household record would be issued, the court set taxes based on the number of people and properties on a household record.

 

Currently it was the thirty-ninth year of Jia Jing, there was another eight years before a new record had to be issued.

 

Her husband had died before he could be written into the household record.

 

The young embroidered uniform guard gave the household record back to Wei Cai Wei, then asked: “As a young widow why didn’t you return home, why did you spend the night at a tavern?”

 

“It’s a long story.” Wei Cai Wei spoke of the entanglement of the three people landlord Wang Ya Nei, his stepmother, manager Chen, “...The key to the second lock was on Wang Ya Nei, I had a home I couldn’t return to, so I stayed at a nearby tavern.”

 

The young embroidered uniform guard asked: “Do you remember which room you stayed in?”

 

“I don’t remember.” Wei Cai Wei shook her head at a loss, “I only remember it was the second door around the corner to the left side on the second floor.”

 

The young embroidered uniform guard said: “That is the seventh room, the window faces the Shuntian prefecture yamen, you can see the hitching posts outside the yamen gate. What did you see that night?”

 

Wei Cai Wei paused, “Dinner that night was wontons, but I only ate half of it when the embroidered uniform guards came to arrest Wang Ya Nei, I went to watch the scene with manager Chen, I got hungry later at the tavern so I went to the refreshment store next door and brought a bag of butter puffed conches as a midnight snack, the butter puffed conches were somewhat sweet and unctuous, I asked the waiter to steep a pot of green tea to have with it.”

 

Wei Cai Wei picked up the tiger palm moving it about, producing a tinkling sound, “I am a wandering doctor who walks the streets, I’m very tired at the end of the day, after I finished eating I laid down but because I had drank green tea before sleeping, I tossed and turned and only finally slept at daybreak, when I woke up it was midday.”

 

“I paid the bill after I finished lunch downstairs, I had only slept there for a night but the shopkeeper said since it’s past midday it counted as two nights, so I exchanged a few words with the shopkeeper, I said when I came downstairs it wasn’t midday yet, I only missed the time eating at your establishment. The shopkeeper scolded me for being a country bumpkin, not knowing the rules of the taverns in the capital. I’m a widow, it wasn’t good for me to hurl insults in public, I paid for two nights and left, I won’t ever stay at that scam of a tavern again.”

 

Wei Cai Wei guessed when the embroidered uniform guards had examined Chen Qianhu’s corpse, they definitely discovered three pin holes in the thigh was where the poison had spread from, from this they would have found the poisoned needles stuck in the leather saddle and therefore determined Chen Qianhu had not actually been poisoned while drinking tea at the Shuntian prefecture yamen, rather someone had done something to the saddle.

 

The point was, last night Wang Ya Nei and his father were not caught under surveillance of the embroidered uniform guards, so it was clear as the father and son were in the court, they couldn’t have done something to the saddle.

 

The embroidered uniform guards had some abilities, they immediately eliminated the possibility of everyone in the court, the suspicion fell on those who could possibly have contact with Chen Qianhu’s horse.

 

The tavern opposite the Shuntian prefecture was the main focus of the embroidered uniform guards investigation.

 

When Wei Cai Wei had placed the needles she knew it would come to light, she knew the rule that this tavern charged for two nights once midday had passed, yet she still pretended to be ignorant, dillydalying by eating lunch at the tavern before settling the bill and quarrelled with teh tavern shopkeeper.

 

She deliberately wanted the shopkeeper to remember her--- because a true killer would want to stay hidden and not attract the attention of others, they definitely wouldn’t argue with the shopkeeper over paying for another night!

 

Moreover, a killer wouldn’t use their real name and address, they would have disappeared after, how could they be like her obediently waiting at Tianshui lane for the embroidered uniform guards to find her? 

 

Wei Cai Wei had predicted the embroidered uniform guards would come, only she didn’t expect them to come so quickly, they almost came across Wang Ya Nei staying at her house.

 

At this moment the embroidered uniform guards searching her house came one by one to report: “Lord Lu, there’s nothing suspicious.”

 

So this young embroidered uniform guard’s surname was Lu.

 

After Lord Lu had inspected the household record and questioned Wei Cai Wei, he also felt Wei Cai Wei couldn’t have been Chen Qianhu’s murderer.

 

A person who used such a meticulous method of hiding poisoned needles in the saddle to murder Chen Qianhu, wouldn’t have dared to argue with the shopkeeper the following day, and left a correct address for the embroidered uniform guards to come knocking. 

 

What’s more, before killing Chen Qianhu, the murderer even slit Chen Qianhu’s son’s throat!

 

Killing two people in one day, a young widow couldn’t do it.

 

Lord Lu stood up from the day bed, once again waving his hand, “We’ve troubled doctor Wei today, we’ll leave.” 

 

He had just spoken when an excited embroidered uniform guard held up a dead rat, “Lord Lu, success! There is poison hidden in this house! Look, a poisoned rat!”

 

Wei Cai Wei wanted to castrate her husband so badly: Wang Ya Nei! I told you to deal with the dead rat, you tossed the rat into the courtyard! How lazy are you! 

 

Wei Cai Wei was thinking of an excuse when Wang Da Xia’s voice came from outside the door, “Everyone come quickly, the embroidered uniform guards kicked down the door of a widow in broad daylight, a group of men are bullying a young widow! Is there Heavens law? Is there justice? Do you know who this house belongs to? You broke my door, you need to pay for the damage! I would be in the right if this is brought to court!”

 

Wang Da Xia actually left and came back to help me out at the risk of being taken back home and detain? 

 

Wei Cai Wei changed her mind again, maybe he could be saved?

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