IBGSW Chapter 142
Fourth Madam Zhuang
Zhuang Laoqi had been stubborn at first, but now that he'd tasted the paddle, he understood fear.
Zhao Fusheng deliberately let him stew, though, and didn't press him right away. Instead she turned to Gou Laosi:
"You said Zhuang Laoqi has two relatives who married into Kuailiang Village?"
Gou Laosi's nerve was already broken.
It had started as a scuffle between him and his cousin, a bit too loud, and he never imagined it would drag out a ghost case, let alone draw the notice of the big shots of the Demon-Suppression Bureau. He regretted stirring up trouble. Seeing Zhuang Laoqi lying beside him, unable to get up from his beating, made his heart quake, and he didn't dare delay his answers. The moment Zhao Fusheng spoke, he nodded repeatedly.
"Yes."
He swallowed nervously.
"Zhuang Laoqi, I mean my cousin, was seventh in his family. My uncle by marriage—"
Afraid Zhao Fusheng would lose patience with the family tree, he glanced up at her anxiously.
"It's fine. Take your time and lay out the relationships clearly," Zhao Fusheng said expressionlessly.
As she spoke, her mind turned quickly. Zhuang Laoqi was hiding something, and it had to do with the Kuailiang man's plea for help. And when his cousin Gou Laosi had brought up the ties between Zhuang Family Village and Kuailiang Village, Zhuang Laoqi had tried to silence him. So the problem clearly lay in the marriages between the two villages.
Since she needed to start from the marriages, she needed to sort out the relationships first.
Her words eased Gou Laosi's anxious heart a little, and he said:
"My mother and Zhuang Laoqi's mother are cousins. My grandfather and Zhuang Laoqi's grandmother were full brother and sister."
Since the older generation was still alive and they were within the five degrees of mourning1, the two families visited each other regularly and knew each other's circumstances fairly well.
Zhao Fusheng nodded.
Gou Laosi relaxed further and continued:
"Zhuang Family Village isn't far from Kuailiang Village. There's only a river between them."
"A river?" As he spoke, Zhao Fusheng sketched a rough map of the two villages in her mind.
"It's a branch of the Shangjia River. The current splits off at Baozhi County and flows into our Wan'an County. Seventy years ago, Lord Liu of the Ministry of Works oversaw the digging of the channel, to prevent floods."
Magistrate Pang, listening quietly nearby, saw that Zhao Fusheng had a question and hurried to explain.
Gou Laosi nodded.
"It's no small river. The two villages face each other across it, so they're close, and there's constant traffic between them. Besides trading goods, they marry into each other's families."
Zhuang Laoqi's aunt (his father's cousin) had married into Kuailiang Village.
"This aunt was the daughter of my cousin's granduncle. She married the village elder of Kuailiang Village, the sixth in his family, whom everyone calls Sixth Uncle."
Gou Laosi looked at Zhuang Laoqi in confusion as he spoke.
"Sixth Uncle Kuai is upright and fair-minded. He has great prestige in the village, and everyone trusts him."
In fact, after this aunt of Zhuang Laoqi's married into Kuailiang Village, the two villages grew even closer and visited more often.
Zhuang Laoqi's branch of the family was nothing much in Zhuang Family Village, but with this marriage tie, even the village chief of Zhuang Family Village took their branch more seriously.
As cousins, Gou Laosi naturally saw that Zhuang Laoqi didn't want him to mention this marriage, and he found it baffling.
In fact, whenever relatives visited back and forth in the past, the Zhuang family had always been proud of Sixth Uncle of Kuailiang Village.
When the younger generation went out into the world, they often told people: "My great-aunt married Sixth Uncle of Kuailiang Village."
By that measure, the match wasn't something shameful. So why couldn't it even be mentioned now?
His doubt was exactly Zhao Fusheng's doubt.
She realized sharply that the marriage between the two villages must have gone wrong.
For the villagers to avoid it so deeply, even to be ashamed to speak of it, something must have happened to a daughter of the Zhuang family that the Zhuangs saw as a disgrace. If the other side had been at fault, the Zhuangs should have been angry about it, not stammering and evasive the way Zhuang Laoqi was.
And an error of that kind had to be a matter of a woman's chastity and reputation.
This aunt of Zhuang Laoqi's had married into Kuailiang Village more than twenty years ago and must be fairly old by now. If it were truly a scandal of an unfaithful wife, it wouldn't have waited until now to explode.
When Gou Laosi had mentioned the marriages between the Zhuang and Kuai families, he'd also mentioned another match—
Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng asked Gou Laosi:
"Tell me about his elder cousin."
As she asked, her gaze fell on Zhuang Laoqi.
At the words "elder cousin," Zhuang Laoqi's expression visibly changed.
When Gou Laosi had mentioned the aunt, he'd still forced himself to stay calm, but at "elder cousin," he instinctively tried to rise.
But he had just been paddled, the backs of his thighs were torn open, and the slightest movement made cold sweat pour out. He went pale from the pain and shook all over.
"...Yes."
Gou Laosi also noticed the change in his cousin's breathing at the mention of "elder cousin."
Though he came from the countryside, he was no fool, and he could tell perfectly well that the matter had to do with Zhuang Laoqi's cousin sister.
By now, though, Gou Laosi had no way back.
With his sharp instincts, he sensed that Zhao Fusheng already knew something was wrong with the elder cousin, because when she asked about the "elder cousin," her gaze was so sharp he couldn't evade it.
Lord Zhao really was terrifying!
Gou Laosi sighed inwardly.
Zhuang Laoqi was still slumped beside him after his beating, and he could even smell blood on his cousin. Zhao Fusheng had said as much: in a ghost case she would sooner kill the wrong person than let one go. If he held out stubbornly too, he'd probably end up like Zhuang Laoqi, no, perhaps even far worse.
He shivered and hurried to say:
"Zhuang Laoqi's elder cousin was fourth in her family at home, and people called her Fourth Madam Zhuang.2"
At this he turned to glance at Zhuang Laoqi, who nodded helplessly.
"Before she married, Fourth Madam Zhuang was quite famous in Zhuang Family Village." She was pretty and gentle, and her reputation for hard work had spread far and wide even while she was still at home. As soon as she'd come of age,3 plenty of people had their eyes on her.
Every day, the matchmakers who came to Zhuang Family Village to ask around wore down the threshold of Zhuang Laoqi's uncle's door. In the end, though, through the introduction of Sixth Aunt (née Zhuang), who had married into Kuailiang Village earlier, Fourth Madam Zhuang married into Kuailiang Village instead.
"Which man of Kuailiang Village did she marry?"
Zhuang Laoqi's secret might lie with this cousin who had married out, so Zhao Fusheng naturally couldn't let the thread go. She looked at Gou Laosi and Zhuang Laoqi and asked.
Gou Laosi said:
"I don't know his name. I only know he was fifth in his family."
"Kuai Wu?" Zhao Fusheng asked.
Gou Laosi nodded. When he spoke of this Kuai Wu, a trace of contempt crossed his face.
"You could call him that."
Zhao Fusheng saw the change in his expression and thought it over. Two daughters of the Zhuang family, of different ages, had married into Kuailiang Village, yet when Gou Laosi spoke of the two husbands, his attitude was completely different.
When he talked about Sixth Uncle, his tone and manner were markedly respectful, plainly full of admiration for him.
But when he spoke of Kuai Wu, whom Fourth Madam Zhuang had married, he couldn't hide his disdain.
"What kind of man is this Kuai Wu?" Zhao Fusheng followed up on Gou Laosi's words.
"This Kuai Wu—"
He curled his lip as if to give a scornful laugh, but the moment the sound came out, he realized he wasn't gossiping with neighbors in the countryside. He was being questioned in the great yamen of the county government, with distinguished officials all around.
Gou Laosi's heart tightened. He pressed his knees together and knelt up straight, no longer daring to be careless.
"This Kuai Wu is a famous loafer around the Wulidian side."
He sighed.
"Kuailiang Village backs onto the mountains, and the villagers there are all of one clan and very close. They stick together and help each other, and when they go out for work, one call brings everyone."
They lived by farming, and sometimes took farm produce to market to supplement their income.
When the farming season slacked off and there was nothing to do, many of the men went up the mountains to forage for herbs and other valuables, or cut firewood and burn charcoal. They couldn't sit idle, or how would a family of old and young be fed?
"When they do these things, the whole village goes out in groups. Only this Kuai Laowu is lazy and does nothing at all. His reputation spread long ago."
"Then what does his family live on?" Zhao Fusheng asked, puzzled.
"What does he live on? On Fourth Madam Zhuang, of course—" Gou Laosi said it offhandedly and then realized where the problem was.
He looked awkward and secretly glanced at Zhuang Laoqi, who hung his head dejectedly.
Zhuang Laoqi looked resigned, gave a bitter laugh and said:
"My elder cousin was very capable. Hiss— she worked no worse than a man. Carrying loads, working the fields, she could do it all. What Kuai Laowu couldn't do, hiss— she could. They just about got by at home, hiss— but life was very poor. I heard my mother say she often came back to her parents' home to borrow rice—"
After his beating, Zhuang Laoqi's wounds must have hurt badly; he sucked in cold breaths as he spoke.
But it didn't stop him from telling it, and from his account Zhao Fusheng got a rough idea of the whole story.
Two women of different ages from Zhuang Family Village had married into Kuailiang Village in succession. The earlier one, Zhuang Laoqi's aunt, had married Sixth Uncle, the most respected elder of Kuailiang Village.
After this aunt had found her footing, she acted as matchmaker and arranged for Zhuang Laoqi's elder cousin, Fourth Madam Zhuang, to marry into the same village as well.
Fourth Madam Zhuang had been known for her virtue before marriage, hardworking, beautiful and gentle. Her husband Kuai Wu, by contrast, was a loafer even Gou Laosi looked down on. The family was held up almost entirely by Fourth Madam Zhuang, who also often went home to borrow grain and was mocked by her own family for it.
Piecing all this together, Zhao Fusheng asked:
"From what you two say, the relationship between Fourth Madam Zhuang and Kuai Wu must have been poor?"
"Oh, not at all!"
Hearing this, Gou Laosi shook his head.
Zhao Fusheng was stunned.
"With a husband like that, they still got along?"
Zhuang Laoqi hung his head and said nothing.
An uneasy, bewildered look came over Gou Laosi's face. He seemed baffled by Zhao Fusheng's remark, but didn't dare argue back loudly given her position, so he said:
"Every family has its own hard-to-recite scripture4. Kuai Wu is a bit lazy, but what couple doesn't live like that? Someone's always hardworking and someone's always lazy—"
"..."
Zhao Fusheng didn't agree with his view. She turned to Zhuang Laoqi.
"Does your cousin mean that Kuai Wu and your elder cousin got along?"
"Orig— originally they did—"
Zhuang Laoqi's eyes shifted.
"What do you mean, 'originally'?" Seeing him hesitate again, Zhao Fusheng sneered. "Explain yourself clearly, or I'll beat your backside to pulp!"
Zhuang Laoqi was frightened into silence.
"Have mercy, my lord," he called out, and then said:
"My elder cousin has been married to Kuai Wu for more than eight years. Sure, they had spats now and then, but like my cousin says, what couple doesn't live like that?"
"After so many years of marriage, do they have children?"
The root of the matter surely lay with Fourth Madam Zhuang, and Zhuang Laoqi was clearly hiding something. He needed an opening before he'd speak.
Zhao Fusheng simply asked questions centered on Fourth Madam Zhuang's life.
As soon as she finished, Zhuang Laoqi nodded.
"Yes, they had a daughter, named Manzhou." Then he added: "Kuai Manzhou."
"Kuai Manzhou?" Hearing that, Zhao Fusheng frowned.
From that one sentence alone, she sensed something off about the couple.
In this era people had little entertainment. They rose with the sun and slept when it set, and the first few years of marriage were when couples were warmest toward each other, and most conceived easily in those years.
For Fourth Madam Zhuang and her husband to have only a single daughter after eight years of marriage was not common at that time.
Either the couple was cold toward each other and rarely intimate after the first daughter, or they'd had more children but given them away because they couldn't afford to raise them.
"How old is she?" she asked again.
"Seven," Zhuang Laoqi answered honestly.
"Having only one daughter, did Fourth Madam Zhuang suffer exclusion in Kuailiang Village?" Zhao Fusheng asked.
"No."
Zhuang Laoqi hurriedly shook his head. Seeing the doubt on Zhao Fusheng's face, he added:
"Really not. Kuai Wu may have been dissatisfied, but he has an elder brother in the family, so he didn't dare do anything."
His words revealed a great deal.
That meant Kuai Wu was somewhat unhappy that Fourth Madam Zhuang had borne only a daughter. But Kuailiang Village was organized by clan, and the others in the village kept him in check, so he dared do nothing.
"Did the people of Kuailiang Village protect Fourth Madam Zhuang?"
"Very much so," Zhuang Laoqi nodded.
"My aunt's husband, Sixth Uncle of Kuailiang, pitied how hard my cousin sister worked and worried they couldn't pay their taxes, so he often took out money to help. Most of the time their taxes were collected among the villagers."
"Sometimes when the harvest was poor and they had nothing to eat, Third Brother Kuai helped out. Besides farming he slaughters pigs for people, and sometimes he'd buy scraps of meat and share some with my cousin sister's family for a treat."
From Zhuang Laoqi's words, Zhao Fusheng could tell that Kuailiang Village really did hold close to the clan code, and that its people helped one another.
She nodded, then changed tack and asked:
"Then start from eight days ago. What did the Kuailiang villager come to Zhuang Family Village to ask help with? What happened in Kuailiang Village?"
Fearing Zhuang Laoqi wouldn't be honest, she warned him:
"I'm giving you only one chance. Tell it honestly and think before you speak. If you dare hide anything—" As she spoke, she shook her sleeve, and a brown, withered arm slid out of it.
Zhao Fusheng gripped the ghost arm and tapped it several times, and it revived in an instant.
Badly damaged, though, it twitched a few times and lacked the strength to grip anything.
Even so, it was enough to awe everyone else in the hall.
Zhuang Laoqi saw the rotted severed arm actually move, and his scalp went numb. If his legs hadn't been injured, he would have fled screaming and scrambling in every direction.
"I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll tell everything. Kuai Mancai came looking for the village chief and said my elder cousin was dead."
In truth, Zhao Fusheng had expected this answer.
A ghost fog couldn't appear out of nowhere in Zhuang Family Village and Kuailiang Village. There had to be a prior cause that made a malignant ghost revive.
And the ghost domain's appearance was tied to the man who came from Kuailiang Village to report: much like how, when a murder occurs, the person who reports it is very likely the prime suspect. The two have the same effect by different means.
