"Summon Yan Guan of Yangzhou!" a voice boomed through the courtroom.
Immediately after, several constables squeezed into the not-so-spacious hall pushing a man forward.
"Yan Guan, a physician from Yangzhou, colluded with river pirates leading to the defeat of our navy. According to the law, you should be sentenced to death. However, considering your reputation and your service in the community, your death penalty is commuted. Instead, you will be exiled to Liangzhou!"
Yan Guan almost spat out blood upon hearing the magistrate’s self-righteous verdict.
"Your Excellency, please listen to me!(1)" Yan Guan banged his head on the stone floor with a loud thud, just the sound of which made one cringe in sympathy.
"I have been wronged!(2) On March 18th, I went to the Lotus Hill to gather some medicinal herbs and stopped by to offer incense to the gods. I was ambushed on a country path, and knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I was already on the pirate ship. How could I have colluded with anyone? I don’t know a single one of those pirates! Someone must be framing me! I beg Your Excellency to deliver justice!"
The magistrate, a frail old man who had only recently taken office this year, knew nothing of the prior situation.
Yan Guan shivered at the thought. If only the previous magistrate, Cheng, were still in office. He was a just, incorruptible and upright official, and would have definitely cleared Yan Guan's name. Unfortunately, Magistrate Cheng had been transferred to Jiangning.
Fear gripped Yan Guan’s heart as he glanced up at the people in the courtroom.
Bang! The sound of the gavel slamming down made Yan Guan jump.
"Nonsense! On March 18th, our troops were preparing to ambush and wipe out these vile pirates. Why were you the only one found on their ship? Wasn’t it because you discovered our navy at Lotus Hill and immediately went to warn the pirates, causing us to lose the element of surprise and suffer heavy casualties?"
In recent years, the coastal trade had started booming, and with it, there had been an increase in pirate activity. But these were mostly small-time raids, easily suppressed by a few hundred soldiers.
Yan Guan, however, had been truly misfortunate.
The official in charge, Kong Ding, who took office last year, was lazy and corrupt. He accepted bribes, spent his time indulging in pleasure houses, and let the pirate problem fester for a year. But now, fearing that the pirates would affect his performance in this year’s inspections, he hastily dispatched troops to suppress them.
Who knew that his decision would turn out to be a mistake, and he would be beaten by the other side instead. If this were pursued, how could he possibly bear the responsibility for the lives of dozens of people? He hurriedly wrote a letter asking his father-in-law, who held power in the central government, to save his life.
As a result, Yan Guan and a dozen or so soldiers who had no backing became scapegoats.
To be fair, it really was just his bad luck. The pirates had kidnapped him merely to ransom a little money, but once the fighting started, no one paid attention to him, and he was tossed into the ship's hold. Before he could even feel grateful for being rescued and seeing daylight again, he was thrown into prison the next second.
For more than half a month, Yan Guan was completely confused and couldn’t figure things out no matter how hard he thought.
By the time he appeared in court and met the prefect, he had become somewhat enlightened.
Someone actually believed this jumbled logic? He didn't think so. There must have been some hidden dealings behind the scenes, otherwise he wouldn't believe it.
He was just a person of low status with little influence, not someone who could sway the tides like others. Still, he had to be grateful that the other side showed some mercy by not cutting his throat, leaving him with his life.
Before long, a written confession was brought up for him to sign and seal. Yan Guan stared at the document accusing him of his crimes, so furious he felt like coughing up blood.
"Just admit it, it'll spare you some suffering." One of the constables, seeing Yan Guan's young age, couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.
Yan Guan gave a bitter smile, "But I didn’t do it. How can I confess?"
He thought about how truly unlucky he was. Both his parents had passed away, leaving him with barely enough to scrape by. He ran a small apothecary to earn a living, but here he was, unjustly accused of a crime.
"Please tell me who it is?" Yan Guan, who had never encountered such an injustice before couldn’t hold back his tears.
The constable hesitated for a moment, then coldly responded, "And what difference would it make even if you knew?" As he spoke, he roughly grabbed Yan Guan’s hand and pressed it onto the paper. A bright red handprint stained the black and white paper, so absurd it felt like a cruel joke.
Yan Guan struggled, crying out, "I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it! Why should I take the blame? Those who commit the crime won’t own up to it, and the lives of ordinary people are treated as if they don’t matter. Aren’t you afraid that the ghosts of the dead will haunt you at night?"
“Ugh!” A constable quickly rushed forward, pressing Yan Guan to the ground, and stuffed a filthy cloth into his mouth, making him tear up instantly as he gagged. His arms were twisted behind his back, and several large feet kicked his waist, causing him immense pain.
"Why hasn’t he been dragged out yet?" someone in the courtroom shouted angrily.
Yan Guan was yanked up by his hair, his scalp tearing in the process. He had already fared poorly in his cell, his body covered with large and small wounds, bleeding and festering with pus. Then, like a dirty rag, he was thrown back into the filthy prison.
The night grew cold.
Huddled in a pile of straw to keep warm, Yan Guan started thinking.
His neighbourhood uncles and aunties were probably worried sick, but there was nothing they could do. He didn’t want to drag them down either.
There were a few pieces of silver hidden in the cracks of the bricks near his bed at home. When it was time to set off, he would ask someone to fetch it for travel expenses. He had heard that without money, the constables would bully you on the road...
Every few years there would be a general amnesty. Maybe, very soon, he could return. But when that time came, if he went to Kaifeng to appeal his wrongful conviction, would anyone even listen to him?
In Yangzhou, April’s days were fresh and vibrant. The willow trees at the gate must be bright green and full of life. If he were to leave, all the flowers and plants at home would surely die. And what about grandma’s medicine?
...
Yan Guan, lost in his hazy thoughts, unknowingly began to cry. His frail, small body curled up into a ball as he sobbed helplessly.
He was only sixteen, with no family to depend on. What could he even do?
Two days passed, but for some unknown reason the date of his exile kept getting postponed again and again. It ended up giving the families of the prisoners more time to come and visit.
The prison had gotten a little livelier, though that had nothing to do with Yan Guan, who remained alone in the world.
"Little doctor Yan."
Yan Guan had been idly pulling at the grass on the ground when he suddenly heard the voice and whipped his head around.
“Sister-in-law Yang(3), why did you come?”
Yang Guilan squeezed out a smile and called out, “Come over quickly. I brought some flatbread and eggs.”
Yan Guan crawled over and grabbed the wooden bars. “Sister-in-law Yang, did you sneak money in here?”
“What’s the point of asking that? Hurry up and eat something. Look at how much weight you’ve lost!”
Since Yan Guan’s mother had passed away, Yang Guilan had taken care of him in many ways. After Yan Guan started earning money, he would often bring things to the Yang family.
Taking the still-warm flatbread, Yan Guan began to eat, sniffling as he said, “You shouldn’t come anymore. I won’t be able to get out.”
Yang Guilan gently stroked his head with a pained expression. “You’ve suffered so much. I read the court’s verdict. I watched you grow up—how could I not know you?”
As she spoke, she pulled out a cloth pouch from her bosom, glanced around, and quickly stuffed it into his hand. “I exchanged the silver from beside your bed for silver notes. The road to Liangzhou is long, you’ll need money on you. Hide it well, put it in your shoes.”
When Yan Guan squeezed the pouch, he instantly knew that it contained far more than what he had saved. Sister-in-law Yang(4) had added extra.
"Take it, take it! Everyone says you’ve been wronged, but now the authorities refuse to re-judge the case. I have a letter of appeal written by a scholar. In a couple of days, I’ll take it to the capital to file a complaint!"
Yan Guan quickly grabbed her hand. "No, don’t go! My case is over, please don’t appeal it anymore."
Aunt Yang, an illiterate woman, had already gone above and beyond out of kindness. How could he let her go to the capital for him? What if she offended the powerful...
Yang Guilan let out a sigh, gently patting the back of his hand in reassurance. "Don’t worry. I’ve found a top-notch lawyer. I don’t believe every official in this world is so blind and heartless. If it comes to the worst, I’ll go to Jiangning to find Magistrate Cheng."
Cheng Yu was once the Chief of Criminal Justice in Yangzhou, known for handling cases with strict fairness. He was promoted to Jiangning, so while he knew of the injustices in Yangzhou, he was now powerless to help.
Yan Guan, understanding the difficulties, said, "Auntie, I’ve never asked anyone for help before, but today I beg just one thing: don’t appeal. I accept this injustice."
"You stubborn child! If you accept this, when you return later, your face will be branded. Who will still treat you like a person? You’ll be bullied to death!"
As she spoke, Yang Guilan began to cry.
"Auntie," Yan Guan tugged on her sleeve, just like when he was a child seeking affection. But the words that came from his mouth were heart-wrenching: "My parents left early. I wanted to serve you like an elder, but now it seems I don't have that fortune. Please… just think of me as dead... Don’t go to the capital, I beg you."
Aunt Yang held Yan Guan’s hand through the wooden bars, unable to say another word.
During his time in prison, listening to the officers who were jailed with him, Yan Guan had come to understand who was really behind all this.
Kong Ding’s father-in-law was a high-ranking official, a first-rank minister. Yan Guan didn’t fully grasp what a Guanglu Dafu was, but he knew it referred to someone for whom human lives didn’t matter.
His fellow prisoners were men who had served under this person’s command. After surviving the battlefield, they were now caught in this calamity, feeling indignant but powerless.
"Kong Ding doesn’t know a damn thing. He won’t even let people speak the truth. His commands were a complete mess, and he still dared to dream of emulating General Han’s tactics. He doesn’t even know his own worth."
"Now that the army has been defeated and a review is coming, he’s heading to the capital. How can he afford to have a blemish on his record? He’s scrambling to find scapegoats, shutting everyone up."
"In my opinion, this move of his to get out of trouble is pretty clever. He grabs this young brother and accuses him of colluding with the enemy, which conveniently shifts the blame of his own poor command away from himself. Then, he falsely accuses us of disobedience and desertion, without mentioning a word about how he didn’t train the troops for an entire year, just sitting idly in his position."
At this point, Yan Guan felt a pat on his shoulder.
He sighed deeply. By now, he was utterly resigned to his fate. In his spare moments, he could still be thankful that he was headed to Liangzhou, not Huizhou or Qingzhou.
Liangxia had only recently made peace a few years back, and while there were occasional border skirmishes, Liangzhou was home to the Wugan tribe and was under the rule of the Liang Dynasty. Though it was far away, it was still better than dying while defending the border.
Footnotes:
恩相明鏡 (ēnxiàng míngjìng): "Your Excellency, you must see the truth clearly"
小人有冤 (xiǎorén yǒu yuān): lit. "this humble one has been wronged"
楊嫂子 (Yáng sǎozi): Sister-in-law Yang, a respectful or familiar way to refer to a woman of a similar generation, indicating a close relationship.
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