33

Squire Zhang, in His Noble-Mindedness, Adopts an Orphan

Judge Bao, in His Wisdom, Recovers a Document

As the poem says,

Gains, losses, ups and downs are all decreed by fate;

All clever intrigues are but labor lost.

Greed makes a snake try to swallow an elephant;

In the end, all efforts will come to naught.

No medicine can prolong your life span;

Money cannot buy success for your offspring.

Accept poverty and take life as it comes!

You will then be as free as a divine being.

Our story tells that there lived in Daliang [present-day Kaifeng, Henan] a rich man by the surname Zhang. His wife died, leaving him no son but only one daughter and a live-in son-in-law. In his seventies now, Mr. Zhang ceded all his possessions, including his landed estate, to his son-in-law, believing that the merged properties of the two families provided him with enough to live on for the rest of his life. With his daughter and son-in-law making a show of bowing and scraping to him, he gave up all wishes of having a son of his own. However, it turned out that things began to go wrong for him with the passage of time.

One day, as he stood idly at the front door, his grandson went out, claiming to ask his grandfather to dinner. Old Man Zhang said, “So, you’re looking for me.”

The boy replied, “No. I’m looking for my own grandfather, not you.”

Old man Zhang’s heart sank. He thought, “How true the saying ‘A daughter belongs to another family the moment she is born’! I may be old, but I’m still energetic. Why don’t I get myself a new wife? If she bears me a son, I’ll have an heir to carry on the family name.”

Taking money out of his private savings, he engaged a matchmaker and took a Miss Lu for his wife. Soon thereafter, Lu-shi conceived, as he had hoped, and gave birth to a son on their wedding anniversary, to the immense joy of old man Zhang. Many of his relatives came to offer him congratulations, but his daughter and son-in-law privately seethed with resentment. (MC: Such is human nature.) Old man Zhang named his son Zhang Yifei, known simply as “Young Zhang Yi” to all and sundry.1

About two years later, Mr. Zhang was laid up with a grave illness. On his deathbed, he drew up his will in duplicate. Handing one copy to his wife Lu-shi, he said, “I married you because my son-in-law and my grandson have no respect for me. Since Heaven, out of pity for me, gave me a son, I wish to bequeath all my possessions to him. But he’s still a baby, and you’re but a woman unable to stand on your own, so I’ll have to ask my son-in-law to act as the caretaker. If I specify that what belongs to me will one day go to my son, my son-in-law may get evil ideas. So I’ve buried a secret in this will. Keep your copy of it in a safe place. When our boy comes of age, you can appeal to the authorities. A wise judge who takes up the case will do the right thing.”

Thus instructed, Lu-shi hid her copy of the will in a safe place. Old man Zhang then called his daughter and son-in-law to him, gave them a few words of instruction, and handed them the other copy of his will. His son-in-law took it and read: “Zhang Yi not [“not” (fei) 非 is a homophone of 飛, part of the boy’s name] being my son, I bequeath all my possessions to him—my son-in-law. Someone who’s not a family member has no right to fight for the inheritance.”

Overjoyed, the son-in-law gave the copy to his wife for safekeeping. Privately, old Mr. Zhang gave his remaining savings to Lu-shi and their son for their daily expenses and rented a house for them. A few days later, his illness took a turn for the worse, and he died. After his burial, his son-in-law and daughter glowed with delight at the thought that whatever had belonged to the old man was now theirs.

When the son came of age under Lu-shi’s care, she recalled her husband’s deathbed instructions and took her copy of his will to the authorities, with her son in tow, to make an appeal. However, the officials all ruled in the son-in-law’s favor because the will was in the old man’s own handwriting and his intentions were clearly spelled out. Moreover, since the son-in-law was rich enough to influence the outcome of the contest anyway, who would bother to reinterpret the will? The old man’s relatives all felt that Zhang Yi was being shortchanged. (MC: The relatives have a better sense of justice than the yamen. The yamen may have other motives, but the relatives do not. But they could also be bribed into changing their tune.) They said, “How ridiculous that Old Man Zhang was so unfair when he made that will!” But there was nothing they could do about it.

After some more time went by, a new county magistrate came into office, one who enjoyed a fine reputation for competence. Again, Lu-shi took her son to the yamen to appeal for justice and said, “My husband told me on his deathbed that there was a secret to his will.”

After reading the will over and over again, the magistrate suddenly understood. He sent for Mr. Zhang’s daughter, son-in-law, and other relatives and the village elders and said, addressing the son-in-law, “Your father-in-law was a very wise man. Had it not been for this will, you would have seized all his possessions. Let me read the will aloud to you: ‘Zhang Yifei being my son, I bequeath all my possessions to him. My son-in-law, who’s not a family member, has no right to fight for the inheritance.’2 You may ask, why did he write the character 飛 as 非? Well, he resorted to this trick because he was afraid that, as his son was still too young, you might decide to murder him on reading the will. Now that I’ve read the will the correct way, what had belonged to your father-in-law is rightfully his son’s. What more is there to say?”

Then and there, he picked up a writing brush, punctuated the text, and ruled that all of Mr. Zhang Senior’s possessions now belonged to Zhang Yifei. Everyone present respectfully accepted the justice of the ruling before exiting the yamen. By now, they all realized that old Mr. Zhang had already planned out everything when naming his son. Verily,

He with a different surname cannot be an heir;

All property doubtless goes to the son.

Who could see through the secret of the will?

How impressive the magistrate’s divine wisdom!

This story testifies to the fact that blood is thicker than water. A wise judge can detect and correct any temporary confusion in a case. Any attempt to play tricks will be to no avail in the end.

This humble storyteller now proposes to move on to another story, one that is titled “Judge Bao, in His Wisdom, Recovers a Document.”3

Where does this story take place? Well, in Yidingfang, outside the west gate of Bianliang [also known as the Eastern Capital] of the Song dynasty, there lived a Mr. Liu Da, courtesy name Tianxiang, and his wife, Yang-shi. His younger brother, Liu Er, courtesy name Tianrui, was married to a Zhang-shi. The two brothers and their wives, living under the same roof, had never divided the family property between them. Tianxiang did not have children of his own, but his wife, Yang-shi, having been married once before, had brought a daughter by her first husband into the household. Tianrui had a son named Liu Anzhu. The village chief by the name of Li lived in the neighborhood. He had a daughter named Dingnu, who was the same age as Liu Anzhu. The Li and Liu families being close friends, the two children had been promised to each other in a prenatal engagement. When Liu Anzhu was two years old, Tianrui sent betrothal gifts to the Li family. Yang-shi, a woman lacking in wifely virtues, had ideas of her own. She eagerly looked forward to her daughter coming of age and marrying a husband willing to move into the Liu residence, so that her daughter could inherit the entire family fortune. Therefore, the sisters-in-law sometimes bandied words with each other, but thanks to the amity between the brothers and Zhang-shi’s good nature, there was little family strife.

All too unexpectedly, the crops failed one year. The authorities issued orders for residents to divide into smaller families and, as a way of reducing the local demand for food, to flee to other places that had bumper harvests. Tianxiang told his younger brother about his wish to take to the road, but Tianrui objected, “You’re getting on in years, my brother. You shouldn’t undertake such a journey. Let me and my wife and son go.”

Tianxiang agreed. He asked Village Chief Li over and said to his kinsman, “Life is so hard in this year of famine that, since the government wants local residents to seek a living in places where the harvest is good, all three members of my brother’s family will be leaving on a distant journey. (MC: The government is being meddlesome. If it has no good policy for relieving the famine, doing nothing would have been enough.) My brother and I having never divided up our family property, we’re now planning to draw up a document in duplicate, listing all the land, farming implements, houses, and other possessions we have. We’ll each keep one copy of the document. All will be well if my brother comes back in just a couple of years. If something untoward happens and he fails to return in five or even ten years, this document will serve as evidence of his right to the properties. That’s why I invited you here, to be a witness and affix your signature to the document.”

“I’m so glad to be of service,” said Chief Li. Thereupon, Tianxiang produced two sheets of blank paper and wrote the following:

In this time of famine, Brothers Liu Tianxiang and Liu Tianrui and the latter’s son, Liu Anzhu, residents of Yidingfang outside the west gate of the Eastern Capital, hereby act on the government’s orders about dividing into smaller families and seeking a livelihood elsewhere in order to reduce the local demand for food. The younger brother, Tianrui, volunteers to take his wife and son to another part of the country. All the family possessions and landed estate remain undivided, as attested by this document, which is to be kept in two copies, one for each brother.

Date: the _th year, the _th month, and the _th day

Signatories: Liu Tianxiang

Liu Tianrui, younger brother

Witness: Village Chief Li

Then and there, all three men signed the document, and each brother took one copy. After treating Mr. Li to a meal, they took leave of him.

On a chosen auspicious day, Tianrui packed and bade farewell to his brother and sister-in-law. The two brothers broke down in tears, but Yang-shi was only too happy to see the family of three take their departure. There is a ci poem to the tune of “Admiring the Flowers in the Musical Mode Xianli” that bears witness to this event:

With one copy of the document for each,

The brothers were grief-stricken at their parting;

As the family of three left their home,

With all crop seedlings wilting,

They were determined to go.

And so Tianrui, his wife, and their son ate their meals in the full force of the wind and spent their nights at the water’s edge. As is usual with travelers, they dismounted their horses when they came to bridges and boarded a boat when they came to ferries.

Before many days had passed, they found themselves at Xiama Village in Gaoping County of Luzhou, Shanxi. It happened to be a fat year there, and business was booming, so they rented a house from a rich man, Zhang Bingyi. Squire Zhang and his wife, Guo-shi, were generous in giving aid to good causes and were charitably disposed. In spite of their vast land estates, they were vexed with a lack of children, male or female. They found much in common with the amiable Mr. and Mrs. Liu. Squire Zhang was so taken with the three-year-old Liu Anzhu, with his refined features, good sense, and quick mind, that he consulted his wife about adopting the boy. Guo-shi had the same idea. And so they asked a middleman to approach Tianrui and Zhang-shi. The middleman said, “Squire Zhang likes your son so much that he would like to adopt the boy, and the two families can spend more time with each other. What do you think?”

How could Tianrui and Zhangshi object to a rich man adopting their son? Tianrui answered, “In our poverty and humbleness, we wouldn’t even have dreamed of claiming connections with such a distinguished family. But thanks to Squire Zhang’s kindness, the two of us will feel so proud to be living here.”

On hearing this reply through the messenger, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were overjoyed. They chose an auspicious day for the adoption ceremony and changed the boy’s name to Zhang Anzhu. Since Zhang-shi had the same surname as the squire, she honored him as an older brother. Henceforth, Squire Zhang treated Tianrui as a brother-in-law, and they became so attached to one another that Squire Zhang waived the rent and provided the Lius with free room, board, and clothing.

About half a year later, before happiness had quite set in, disaster struck again. Liu Tianrui and his wife both came down with a contagious disease and took to their sickbeds. Indeed,

Bitter frost likes to hit rootless grass;

Disasters strike only the most luckless.

Treating the patients as if they were his own flesh and blood, Squire Zhang engaged physicians for them and tried to nurse them back to health, but their condition only worsened. Within a matter of days, Zhang-shi breathed her last. Tianrui cried his heart out. Squire Zhang, as kind as ever, bought a coffin for the funeral. A few days later, Tianrui grew so gravely ill that, knowing he was not going to get any better, he asked for Squire Zhang and said to him, “My benefactor, may I tell you something that’s nearest to my heart?”

“My brother-in-law,” said the squire, “you and I are as close as if we were flesh and blood. I’ll do anything you want me to. I won’t fail you. Just tell me.”

“I have a blood brother and a sister-in-law. When I took leave of them and left home, my brother drew up a covenant, in two copies. He took one and I took the other, meaning to have the document as a testament if something untoward should happen. I’m greatly obliged to you, my benefactor, for showing me such kindness. But as ill luck would have it, I’m about to die, away from my home village. Anzhu is too young to know much. Now that you’ve so kindly adopted him, I hope you’ll add to your credit record in the netherworld and bring him up into adulthood and then give this document to him, so that he can move the remains of me and my wife to our ancestral graveyard. Since I’m in no position to repay you in this life, I’ll serve you as a donkey or a horse in my next one, to requite your kindness. Please be sure to let the boy know his original family name.” With that, he burst into a flood of tears. Finding himself also in tears, Squire Zhang readily gave his promise and consoled Tianrui with kind words. At this point, Tianrui took out the document and entrusted it to Squire Zhang. That evening, he closed his eyes and died. Squire Zhang again prepared a coffin and burial clothes. He buried the two coffins next to the Zhang family’s ancestral graveyard for the time being.

From that time onward, Squire Zhang and his wife treated Anzhu as their own son. When he reached school age, they sent him to school without telling him the secret. Anzhu proved to be quick and clever by nature and was able to memorize a passage verbatim after a single reading. When he was barely more than ten years old, he knew all there was to know about the Five Classics, the philosophers, and the histories.4 In addition, he was of a gentle and amiable disposition and was full of filial respect for his adoptive parents. Squire Zhang and his wife also treated him as they would a rare treasure. Every spring and autumn, they took him to the family graveyard and made him kowtow to his own parents but refrained from telling him who they were.

Time sped by like an arrow, and the sun and the moon shot back and forth like shuttles. With the snap of a finger, fifteen years had gone by, and Anzhu was eighteen years of age. Squire Zhang consulted his wife about telling the young man the truth so that he could return to his home village and bury his parents’ remains. When the Clear and Bright Festival rolled around, he and his wife took Anzhu, as usual, to the Zhang family graveyard.5 Pointing to the earth mounds off to one side, Anzhu asked the squire, “Year after year, you always tell me to kowtow to them, Father, but I never asked how the ones buried there were related to me. Could you please tell me?”

The squire replied, “My child, I was about to tell you to return to your home village, but I’m afraid that once you learn who your real parents are, you’ll care less about us, the ones who brought you up. In fact, your family name isn’t Zhang, nor are you a native of these parts. Your true family name is Liu. You’re the son of Liu Tianrui of Yidingfang Ward outside the west gate of the Eastern Capital. You have an uncle called Liu Tianxiang. Because the crops failed in your native place, your parents brought you here to take advantage of the harvests and reduce the local demand for food. As it turned out, both of them passed away and were buried here. Before he died, your father gave me a covenant that lists all the family possessions and asked me to tell you the truth when you came of age, so that you can take this document and go see your uncle and aunt and bury your parents’ remains in the Liu family graveyard. My son, I have no other option but to tell you the truth today. I played no part in the first three years of your life, but I did raise you for fifteen years. Don’t forget me and my wife!”

On hearing this, Anzhu broke down in such violent sobs that he collapsed onto the ground. After Mr. and Mrs. Zhang called out his name and brought him back to consciousness, he kowtowed to his parents’ tombs and said, “Only now do I know who my birth parents are.” Turning to Squire Zhang and Guo-shi, he continued, “Father, Mother, now that I’ve learned the truth, there’s no time to lose. Please give me the document, so that I can take my parents’ remains to the Eastern Capital. After the burial, I’ll come back to serve you two. What do you think?”

“What you’re about to do is an act of filial devotion. Why would I block your way? I only hope you return quickly so that you won’t make us worry.”

As soon as all three of them returned home, Anzhu began to pack things he needed for the journey. The next day, when he took leave of his adoptive parents, Squire Zhang produced the document and handed it to him. Then the squire had the remains of Anzhu’s parents dug up and gave them to Anzhu so that he could take them along. Before his departure, the squire again enjoined him, “Don’t stay on too long in your home village, to the neglect of your adoptive parents!”

Anzhu said, “I’d never be an ingrate. After this major mission is accomplished, I’ll come back to serve you.” The three of them took tearful leave of one another.

Traveling at top speed, Anzhu arrived soon enough at Yidingfang on the western outskirts of the Eastern Capital and asked the way to the Liu residence. At the sight of an old woman standing at the gate, Anzhu went up, chanted a greeting, and said, “Could you please announce me? I’m Liu Anzhu, son of Liu Tianrui. I’ve been told that this is the residence of my uncle and aunt. I’m here to pay my respects to them and claim my kinship with the clan.”

Her face darkening somewhat, the old woman asked, “Where are Second Brother and Second Sister? If you’re Liu Anzhu, you should have the covenant to prove your identity. Otherwise, why would anyone believe the words of a total stranger?”

“My parents died fifteen years ago in Luzhou. Luckily, I was brought up by my adoptive father. I do have the covenant in my luggage.”

“I’m Liu the older brother’s wife. If you have the document with you, you’re no impostor. Give it to me. You stay outside the door while I show it to your uncle. (MC: By telling him to stay outside, she is in fact playing a trick. This suffices to show her evil nature.) Then he’ll ask you in.”

“I didn’t know you were my aunt. I’m so sorry for my lack of manners.” So saying, he opened his luggage, retrieved the document, and handed it to the old woman with both hands. Yang-shi took it and went inside. Anzhu waited for the longest time without seeing her reemerge from the house. What had happened was this: Yang-shi already had a live-in son-in-law and was eagerly looking forward to his inheriting the entire family fortune. Day and night, she was on guard against the return of her brother-in-law Tianrui and his wife and son. On hearing that her brother-in-law and his wife were both dead and gone, she thought that since her husband and the nephew would not recognize each other, she could very well resort to trickery. Having now laid her hands on the document, she hid it securely on her person and was determined to lie should the young man come again to pester her. It was Liu Anzhu’s predestined ill luck to have run into her. If he had met his uncle Liu Tianxiang first, things would have turned out differently.

In the meantime, Liu Anzhu waited until his throat was parched. Without seeing even the shadow of a ghost and not wishing to force his way in, he was wondering what was wrong when an old man walked up to him and asked, “Young man, where are you from and why are you standing motionless here at my gate?”

“Might you be my uncle? I’m Liu Anzhu. My parents took me to Luzhou fifteen years ago to flee from the famine.”

“From what you say, I believe you’re none other than my nephew. Do you have the covenant with you?”

“My aunt just took it inside.”

All smiles, Liu Tianxiang took his hand and led him into the main hall. As Anzhu prostrated himself on the floor and kowtowed, Tianxiang said, “Child, you’ve just had a tiring journey. There’s no need to do this. My wife and I are old and ailing, like candles sputtering in the wind. We haven’t heard anything from the three of you since you left fifteen years ago. You’re the only male heir to me and my brother. Believing that no one was going to inherit such a large family fortune (MC: With such a large family fortune, why did you break up the family and send him to live elsewhere?), I’ve been so vexed that my eyes have gone blurry and my ears quite deaf. Luckily, here you are! What a joy! But how are your parents? Why haven’t they come with you to see us?”

With tears streaming from his eyes, Anzhu told his uncle about his parents’ deaths and his adoptive parents’ kindness. Liu Tianxiang also broke down in tears. He called out to Yang-shi, saying, “Wife! Your nephew is here to see you!”

“What nephew?”

Tianxiang replied, “The very Liu Anzhu who left fifteen years ago to seek a living elsewhere.”

“What Liu Anzhu? There are so many swindlers around here. Most likely he’s an impostor trying to lay claim to our abundant family fortune. Before his parents left, they drew up a covenant. If he has it, he’s my nephew. If he doesn’t, he’s an impostor. As simple as that!”

Tianxiang said, “The boy said he gave the document to you.”

“I never saw it.”

Anzhu said, “I gave it to you with my own hands. How could you say that, Aunt?”

Tianxiang said, “Wife! You jest! The boy said you took it.”

As Yang-shi kept shaking her head in denial, Tianxiang again asked Tianzhu, “Tell me where the document is. I want the truth.”

“Why would I lie to you? The truth is, Aunt took it. How can the truth be denied like this, against all conscience and the will of Heaven?”

Yang-shi lashed out, “What a little liar! When did I ever lay eyes on your document?”

“Wife! Don’t be so defiant! If you took it, what’s the harm if you show it to me?”

Flying into a rage, Yang-shi cursed, “What a muddleheaded old thing you are! You don’t believe your own wife but trust a total stranger. Why would I need that document? To paper over the window? If he’s our real nephew, I’ll be only too delighted. Why would I lie? But he’s a sweet-talking fraud, here to cheat us out of our money!”

“Uncle,” said Anzhu. “I don’t want the family fortune. My only wish is to bury my parents’ remains in our ancestral graveyard. (IC: Important detail.) As soon as that’s done, I’ll return to Luzhou, where I have a home of my own.” (MC: Good point.)

“I’ll have none of your sweet talk!” So saying, Yang-shi picked up a thick carrying pole and swung it straight at Anzhu’s face.

As blood spurted out of Anzhu’s head, Tianxiang, off to one side, tried to act the peacemaker, shouting, “Let’s find out the truth first!” However, since he did not know what his nephew would look like now and his wife was so adamant in her denial, he could not make up his mind. In this moment of indecision, he felt obliged to yield to his wife. Yang-shi then pushed Anzhu out and closed the door. Truly,

A black python’s tongue and a wasp’s stinger

Are less vicious than a woman’s heart.

Overcome by sheer rage, Liu Anzhu collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness. After he gradually came to, he turned to face his parents’ remains and burst into wails of grief. “My aunt,” he exclaimed, “how can you be so cruel?”

At this point, a man coming toward him stopped and asked, ‘Young man, where are you from? Why are you crying?”

“I’m Liu Anzhu, taken out of this village fifteen years ago by my parents, who were fleeing the famine and looking to make a living elsewhere.”

The man looked startled. Giving Anzhu a closer look, he continued, “Your head is bleeding. Who hit you?”

“This has nothing to do with my uncle. It was my aunt who refused to acknowledge me. She took my document, denied she took it, and hit me on the head.”

“I’m none other than Village Chief Li. In fact, you’re my son-in-law-to-be. Now tell me everything that has happened in the past fifteen years. I’ll do right by you.”

On hearing that the man was his would-be father-in-law, Anzhu respectfully chanted a greeting and said tearfully, “My father-in-law, my parents, and I settled down in Xiama Village, Gaoping County, in Luzhou of Shanxi. My parents rented a house from Squire Zhang Bingyi. Soon they both died of illness, and Squire Zhang adopted me and brought me up. Only when I reached eighteen years of age did my adoptive father tell me about my background. So I’ve brought my parents’ remains here for burial, and I wanted to greet my uncle. As it turned out, my aunt tricked me into giving her my document and hit me on the head. Where can I appeal for justice?” With that, he burst into a flood of tears.

Li’s face flushed purple with anger. He asked Anzhu, “Now that she’s tricked you out of the document, do you remember what it says?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Recite it for me.”

Anzhu recited the entire text from beginning to end without making a single mistake.

“Yes! You are my son-in-law. No doubt about it! That woman is so unreasonable! Let me knock at the Lius’ door and talk to her. If she comes around, well and good. If not, I’ll take you to Prefect Bao of Kaifeng who’s the wisest judge there is. He’ll surely rule in your favor and give you what’s rightfully yours.”

“I’m in your hands, my father-in-law.”

Right away, Li knocked at the Lius’ gate and, once admitted, said to Mr. and Mrs. Liu, “My dear kinsmen, what is wrong with you? Your nephew has returned, but you refuse to acknowledge him and even hit him on the head and wounded him!”

Yang-shi retorted, “What kind of man are you, Chief Li? You have no idea! He’s an impostor, here at our door to swindle money out of us. If he’s our nephew, he would have produced the document that bears your signature. If he can produce that, I’ll acknowledge him as Liu Anzhu.”

“He told me you tricked him out of the document and hid it. How can you lie like this?”

“How ridiculous can you be? When did I ever see it? And you talk to me as if I were a thief ! Why should you poke your nose into what doesn’t concern you?” So saying, she again raised her rod to hit Anzhu.

Afraid that his prospective son-in-law would be hurt, Li stepped forward to shield him and then took him out of the house, saying to him, “How can that vile woman be so cruel? She won’t get away with her refusal to acknowledge you. I’m not done with her yet. My good son-in-law, don’t worry. Take your parents’ remains and your luggage to my home and stay the night. Tomorrow we’ll go to Kaifeng, the prefectural seat, to appeal to the authorities.”

Heeding his advice, Anzhu followed him home, where Li introduced Anzhu to Mrs. Li and treated him to a nice meal. Then they dressed his head wound and applied medicinal ointment to it.

Early the next morning, Chief Li drafted an accusation letter and took his son-in-law to Kaifeng. After a brief wait, Judge Bao declared the court session open. Behold!

Boom, boom go the yamen drums;

Lictors stand lined up on both sides.

It is like King Yama’s hall of life and death

And the dais of the God of Mount Tai.6

When Chief Li and Liu Anzhu cried out their grievances right there in the courtroom, Judge Bao took their letter of accusation and, after reading it through, told Li to approach the bench first to answer questions. After Li gave a complete account of what had happened, Judge Bao asked, “Did you set him to filing this lawsuit, and are you running the whole show?”

“He’s my betrothed son-in-law, and the covenant bears my signature, so I advised him to file this lawsuit out of sympathy for the young man when such an injustice has been done to him. How could I even dream of misrepresenting the truth to Your Honor?”

“Do you recognize your son-in-law in this young man?”

“He left home at age three and didn’t return until now, so I can’t say I recognize him.” (IC: He is hardly to be blamed if he doesn’t recognize the young man.)

“If you don’t recognize him and he doesn’t have the document with him, why do you believe he is who he claims to be?”

“The Liu brothers and I are the only three people who laid eyes on the document at the time it was drawn up. And now he can recite the whole text from the very beginning without a single mistake. Isn’t that enough proof of his identity?”

Judge Bao then called Liu Anzhu to him and queried him on the details. Anzhu came out with everything he knew. After examining his wound, Judge Bao continued, “Could you be a swindler posing as a son of the Liu family?”

“Your Honor,” said Anzhu, “in this world, any lie will be exposed in the end. Why would I do such a stupid thing? What’s more, my adoptive father Zhang Bingyi’s large estate will be more than enough for me to live on for the rest of my life. I repeat that I don’t want my uncle’s family fortune. My only wish is to bury my parents’ remains in the family graveyard. That done, I’ll return to Luzhou to go on living with my adoptive parents. These are the facts for your consideration, Your Honor.”

Convinced of the truth in the depositions of Mr. Li and Mr. Liu Junior, Judge Bao accepted the case and summoned Liu Tianxiang and his wife. Upon their arrival, Judge Bao called Liu Tianxiang up to him first and said, “You’re the master of your household. How can you have no mind of your own and listen to your wife in everything? Tell me, is this young man your nephew or not?”

“Your Honor, I haven’t seen my nephew for so long that I wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him. The covenant is the only proof of his identity. And now the young man insists that he had the document and my wife insists that she never saw it. I don’t have extra eyes in the back of my head, so I can’t make up my mind.”

Judge Bao then called Yang-shi to him, but despite his repeated questions, the woman held on to her story that she had never seen the document. Turning to Anzhu, Judge Bao said, “Your uncle and aunt being so merciless, I give you permission to have them beaten so as to vent your spleen.” (MC: Just to test Anzhu.)

His eyes misting over, Anzhu said, “No, that won’t do. My father was his brother. How could a nephew beat his uncle? I came to greet my relatives and bury my parents’ remains in an act of filial piety, not to fight for an inheritance. If I’m asked to do such an unfilial thing, I’ll never comply.”

Judge Bao gained some idea of the truth when he heard these words, as is attested by this quatrain:

Judge Bao in his divine wisdom

Could easily get at the truth.

By refusing to have his kinsmen beaten,

The young man proved his blood ties with them.

After a few more questions directed at Yang-shi, Judge Bao said artfully, “That young man is indeed an impostor defying all norms of human behavior and is not to be tolerated. Mr. and Mrs. Liu and Mr. Li may go home now. The young man will be held here in jail for harsh interrogations another day.”

The Lius and Chief Li bowed and exited the court, whereas Anzhu was put in the jailhouse. While Yang-shi was privately exhilarated, Li and Anzhu were puzzled and wondered to themselves, “Judge Bao has always been known for his divine wisdom. Why is he putting the plaintiff in jail?”

In the meantime, Judge Bao secretly instructed the jail wardens not to be hard on Liu Anzhu. He also ordered yamen staff to spread the word that Anzhu had fallen prey to tetanus and was about to die. A messenger was then sent to Luzhou to bring Zhang Bingyi to court. A few days later, Zhang Bingyi arrived. After questioning him in detail, Judge Bao gained a full understanding of the situation. He told Squire Zhang to see Anzhu in the jailhouse and comfort him with kind words. The next day, after issuing the order for an interrogation session, he secretly told the jail wardens what to do during the interrogation. Soon, all the parties involved in the case, except Anzhu, were brought to court.

When Judge Bao told Zhang Bingyi to confront Yang-shi, the latter stuck to every word of her story, whereupon Judge Bao ordered that Liu Anzhu be escorted out of the jailhouse to the courtroom. A jail warden came to announce, “The prisoner is gravely ill and about to die. He’s incapable of movement.”

On seeing Zhang Bingyi, Chief Li verified the facts with him and, in a moment of anger, exchanged a few heated words with Yang-shi. At this point, another announcement came from the wardens: “Liu Anzhu has died from his grave illness.”

Not knowing what was at stake, Yang-shi exclaimed, “Heaven and earth be praised! His death spares my family from all trouble!”

Judge Bao asked, “What illness did Liu Anzhu die of ? I want a coroner’s report as soon as possible.”

After an examination, the coroner appeared in court and announced, “The eighteen-year-old individual involved in this case died of an injury from an object that hit him on his temple, as can be proved from the surrounding bruises.”

Judge Bao said, “This has grown into a major case of murder. What’s to be done? Yang-shi! How are you related to the young man? Was he a close relative?”

“Your Honor,” replied Yang-shi, “he was no relative of mine.”

“If he was a relative of yours, you wouldn’t be guilty of a capital crime if you caused his death, because you’re one generation older than he was, and a case of involuntary manslaughter of an offspring is punishable by nothing more than financial compensation. But since he was no relative of yours, haven’t you heard the saying ‘Pay with your life for a life you have taken; pay with money for a debt you owe.’ Since he was no relative of yours, you needed only to ignore him. Why did you hit him on the head with an instrument and cause his death from tetanus? According to the law, beating an innocent person to death is a capital crime. Lictors! Put this woman in a cangue and send her to death row. She’s to be executed after the Autumn Assizes as repayment for the young man’s life.” (MC: Wonderful!)

The ferocious lictors standing on both sides of the dais thundered in acknowledgment of the order and brought over a cangue. With the color draining from her face in her fright, Yang-shi cried, “Your Honor! He was my nephew!”

“What proof do you have?” asked Judge Bao.

“I have the covenant as proof.” (MC: A deceitful but stupid woman.) Right away, she extracted the document from her person and submitted it to Judge Bao for his inspection. Indeed,

The facts are all too clear

But were twisted into a mess.

A little scheme that the judge hatched

Is enough to get the paper out of her.

After reading the document, Judge Bao said to Yang-shi, “Since Liu Anzhu was your nephew, I’ll have his corpse carried out for you to bury. Don’t say no.”

“I’m willing to take care of my nephew’s burial.”

Thereupon, Judge Bao ordered that Liu Anzhu be brought to him from jail and said to him upon his arrival, “Liu Anzhu, I resorted to a little ruse and cozened her into producing the document.”

With a deep bow, Anzhu said gratefully, “If it hadn’t been for Your Honor, I would have been a victim of injustice.”

Yang-shi raised her head to look and found Anzhu to be as healthy as the last time she had seen him. Even the wound on his head had healed. With shame written all over her face, she found herself tongue-tied.

Judge Bao picked up his writing brush and wrote the following:

Since Liu Anzhu’s act of filial piety and Zhang Bingyi’s kindness are quite exceptional, honors are to be conferred on both men. Village Chief Li is to choose a date for the wedding ceremony for his daughter and Liu Anzhu. The remains of Liu Tianrui and his wife are to be buried at the ancestral graveyard. Liu Tianxiang, for all his lack of good sense, is hereby exempted from punishment on account of his advanced years. His wife, Yang-shi, should have been punished but is set free on bail. Her live-in son-in-law, with no blood ties to the Liu clan, is to be driven out and excluded from the Liu family inheritance.

After the verdict was delivered, all the parties were dismissed and therefore were free to return home. Everyone kowtowed before departing.

Squire Zhang made name cards indicating his relationship with the Lius. After paying his respects to Liu Tianxiang and Chief Li, he went back to Luzhou. Upon his arrival at home, Liu Tianxiang reproached his wife at some length before joining his nephew in burying his brother’s remains in the ancestral graveyard. That done, Chief Li chose an auspicious day for the wedding of his daughter and Anzhu as a live-in son-in-law. One month later, the newly wedded couple went together to Luzhou to pay their respects to Squire Zhang and Guo-shi. Later on, Liu Anzhu rose to eminence in his career as a government official. Liu Tianxiang and Squire Zhang being without issue, Liu Anzhu inherited the property of both families. It can thus be seen that all rises and falls in life are predestined and that one should not seek the impossible. In addition, cheating one’s own family is most hurtful. That is why this story advises people not to betray one’s flesh and blood for the sake of some paltry family fortune. There is a poem that bears testimony:

The boy’s adoptive father was most kind,

Whereas his own kith and kin played him false.

Fate will assert itself in the future;

’Tis better not to resort to clever tricks.