Chapter 41: Beautiful on the Outside, Rotten on the Inside

The night was hazy, and a thin layer of mist rose across the fields. Only the flickering lights of fishing boats and the distant howling of wolves in the wilderness added a touch of lively spirit to the profound silence of the dead of night.

Fan Jin had just blown out the candle and was about to sleep in his clothes when he suddenly heard a commotion coming from the front.

Initially, he had no desire to pay it any mind, figuring that things would settle down in a moment or two. Unexpectedly, instead of stopping, the noise grew increasingly intense, completely driving away all his sleepiness.

"What is going on out there?" Fan Jin asked, stepping out with a robe draped over his shoulders and coughing twice.

Old Fu was walking toward them carrying a lantern, while Monk Hui strode in closely behind, wielding a crescent spade.

"Master, the Yan Gong-sheng family lives up ahead. It seems a dispute has broken out..." Old Fu explained concisely.

Just as Fan Jin was about to go and see for himself, Monk Hui hurriedly stopped him and whispered in his ear for a moment. "Master, I heard that Yan Jian-sheng fled Gaoyao County overnight and intends to escape to the provincial capital."

Being an official monk after all, Monk Hui was well-connected and spilled all of Yan Gong-sheng's background in just a few words.

Fan Jin frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, let out a turbid breath, and slowly said, "If I were unaware of this, it would be one thing, but Yan Gong-sheng and I share a meal's friendship and are traveling on the same boat. If I were to play deaf and dumb and avoid him, it would also be inappropriate."

He guessed that even if he pretended completely ignorance of the matter, Yan Gong-sheng's family members would soon come seeking help here anyway.

Monk Hui did not try to persuade him further, only saying in a muffled voice, "Then I shall accompany you, Master."

With that, he freed one hand and took the lantern from Old Fu.

Fan Jin nodded, his sleepiness entirely gone, and said to Old Fu, "It is getting late, Old Fu, go back and rest early. Master Hui will accompany me."

Having dismissed Old Fu, Fan Jin and Monk Hui headed straight toward the quarters of Yan Gong-sheng's family.

"Please report to your master that Master Fan, a holder of the provincial degree, has come to visit!" Monk Hui shouted at a servant boy, who scurried off like a wisp of smoke to make the report.

Before long, Yan Gong-sheng's son, Yan Fusheng, lifted the curtain and came out to welcome them. His gaze fell upon Fan Jin as he bowed repeatedly, "Could this be Uncle Fan?"

Fan Jin gave a hum of assent, "I heard that Brother Yan is also staying here, so I came to take a look."

"Quickly invite the provincial graduate inside to speak." Before Yan Fusheng could reply, a woman's voice came from the inner room.

Fan Jin recognized the owner of the voice; it should be Yan Gong-sheng's wife, with whom he had briefly crossed paths during his trip to Gaoyao County.

Fan Jin and Monk Hui entered the inner room, and after being served tea, they waited for a long time without seeing Yan Gong-sheng appear. While Fan Jin was inwardly puzzled, Yan Fusheng invited out his two uncles, as well as Yan Gong-sheng's wife, Madam Wang.

At this moment, Madam Wang looked entirely different from her previously radiant self; her face was sallow and emaciated, and her brows were wreathed with an unresolved sorrow as she merely murmured a low greeting to Fan Jin.

Immediately afterward, she patted her young son's back, urging him to pay respects to Fan Jin.

Fan Jin glanced over and saw that the toddler was about three or four years old, wearing a silver neck ring and red clothing, as he came forward to address Master Fan.

Fan Jin repeatedly said, "No need for such formalities, please take a seat."

Then, turning back to Madam Wang and looking over at Monk Hui, he instructed, "I recall that in our accompanying chests, there is a fifty-year-old ginseng root. Have someone deliver it to Madam Yan shortly."

Having said this, after a brief deliberation, he inquired about the situation regarding Yan Gong-sheng.

Logically speaking, Yan Gong-sheng was also a local gentry figure, enjoyed deep ties with Magistrate Tang, and was even a prospective in-law. How could he have fled in a panic to the provincial capital overnight with his entire household of young and old?

Madam Wang looked somewhat embarrassed, "Speaking of this matter, it is indeed rather complicated."

"Let me tell the story," Madam Wang's elder brother took over the conversation, making everything clear in just a few words.

To trace its origins, the disaster stemmed from a single pig.

As mentioned earlier, Yan Gong-sheng had a close neighbor. In March of last year, a newborn piglet from the Yan family wandered into the neighbor's house, and the neighbor hurriedly returned it to the Yan family.

Logically, the matter should have ended there.

Yet, the Yan family claimed that since the piglet had already run off to someone else's house, getting it back would bring bad luck.

Consequently, using their power and prestige to bully others, they demanded eight taels of silver and forced the neighbor to buy it.

Left with no choice, the neighbor bought it.

More than a year passed, and this piglet had been raised by the neighbor to weigh over a hundred catties, only for it to mistakenly wander back to the Yan family through another twist of fate.

This time, the Yan family locked the pig straight into their sty, intending to slaughter it at the end of the year to entertain relatives and friends.

When the neighbor learned of this, he went over to demand the pig back. Consumed by greed, Yan Gong-sheng immediately flew into a rage, declaring that the pig was originally his. "If you want the pig back, estimate its current market value, bring a few taels of silver, and lead the pig home."

Previously, the neighbor had been forced at gunpoint—or rather, coerced—into spending eight qian of silver to buy the pig, and he was already deeply resentful. How could he possibly be willing to shell out several more taels of silver to buy back his own pig now?

For a time, both sides reached an impasse and a fierce quarrel broke out.

Yan Gong-sheng simply declared that "unruly commoners are bullying me too much," and shouting to his sons, they grabbed door bolts and rolling pins, beating the neighbor black and blue until he was a total mess.

Yet, unexpectedly, his sons failed to gauge their strength and lost all sense of proportion, breaking the neighbor's leg and leaving him bedridden and unable to move.

The victim then hired someone to submit a formal complaint, beating the drums at the county yamen to cry out against the injustice.

With such a major incident occurring, Magistrate Tang could not openly shield them and sent yamen runners to investigate.

As the saying goes, it never rains but it pours.

Before a few days had passed, another old man in his fifties directly intercepted Magistrate Tang's sedan chair to voice a grievance.

With people coming and going at the county office, Magistrate Tang had no choice but to suppress his irritation, lower the sedan chair, and have the yamen runners bring the man forward. "What is your name?"

The old man was not intimidated in the least, and said with righteous indignation, "This petty person is called Huang Mengtong, living in the countryside.

Because I went to the county town last September to pay taxes and fell somewhat short, I begged the gentryman Yan to lend me twenty taels of silver, agreeing to an interest rate of three percent per month. We drew up a loan contract on the spot and delivered it to the Yan estate.

However, shortly after, before I had even received his silver, I happened to meet a rural relative who told me he had a few taels of silver to lend me at a lower interest rate, and if I went down to the countryside to borrow a little more from an old kinsman, I could probably get by.

Afterward, I went home with my relative.

Now, more than half a year has passed, and remembering this matter, I wanted to retrieve my loan contract from the Yan family. But Gentryman Yan instead demanded that I pay several months' interest!

When I refused, Gentryman Yan sent his servants to seize my donkey and my rice.

I beg the magistrate to uphold justice for such an unjust and grievance-laden wrong!"

The old man rattled on in a torrent of words, leaving Magistrate Tang with his temples throbbing and stars dancing before his eyes. The magistrate cursed bitterly, "He is a holder of a gentry title and enjoys official standing, yet instead of doing good deeds in his village—like repairing bridges and paving roads—how is it that he only commits such heartless acts!"

First, he beat someone to disability; then, he practiced usury; and on top of that, he played double-cross games.

Even Magistrate Tang was unwilling to protect a person of such despicable character and immediately ordered his youngest daughter to promptly sever all contact with Yan Gong-sheng's son.