Chapter 282: Drowned

By the time Kong Juan had set out all the fishing gear and baited the hook, it was nearly the hour of Chen, and the farmers working the fields were gradually increasing in number, adding a measure of liveliness to what had been a quiet scene.

The contiguous fields on both banks of the Yi River southeast of the city all belonged to the Duke Yansheng's mansion, and together with the lands in other counties and prefectures of Yanzhou Prefecture, the entire Kong family held nearly fifty thousand qing of prime farmland that paid no taxes.

The lands around South Wild Goose Lake were all fine irrigated fields, fetching a market price of four or five taels of silver per mu. The years of severe drought had not affected these good fields along the river that could be effectively irrigated, and with two harvests a year in summer and autumn, each mu yielded close to two dan of grain and miscellaneous crops.

The Duke Yansheng's mansion produced nearly a million dan from its several hundred thousand mu of land each year, and after setting aside enough grain for the rations of the various Kong family branches and fodder for the livestock, everything else was converted into gleaming white silver.

But numerous as the Kong family's lands were, they still could not compare with another behemoth of Yanzhou Prefecture — the Prince Lu's mansion, for that was of the imperial bloodline, not something a commoner aristocracy like the Kong family could match.

Kong Yinzhi sat upright on a brocade stool in the shade of a willow tree, gazing intently at the changes on the water's surface, attentively feeling the slight tremors transmitted through the fishing rod when a fish took the bait, his whole person seemingly merged into one with the surrounding environment.

A dozen or so paces away, Kong Juan was adding pine cones to an exquisite red clay brazier, the oily pine cones crackling softly as they burned, while an old earthenware pot sat atop the stove mouth, filled with the clear, cold water of the Yi River.

Four household retainers were lounging far off in the shade of some trees, chatting away heatedly about something, bursting into odd, lewd-sounding laughter from time to time — it went without saying that their topic of conversation carried a distinctly bawdy flavor.

Kong Yinzhi's luck was not with him today; in the better part of an hour he had caught only two small fish the size of a palm, which gradually made him restless and irritable, and with the rising temperature, his attention began to wander.

Several women carrying bamboo baskets and willow hampers suddenly appeared in the retainers' field of vision, and as the distance closed, the women's loose-fitting jackets and skirts hung slack on their bodies, revealing large expanses of fair, soft flesh below their necks. The retainers pointed and gestured at the women, their raucous comments growing louder.

Something then happened — when the women were still over a hundred paces from the retainers, an argument seemed to break out among them. As the quarrel escalated, several of the women fell to grappling with one another, and soon they tumbled to the ground one after another, where they began tearing at each other, scolding and striking, until before long they were all disheveled and wild-haired, some with their jackets ripped open, thighs and breasts exposed.

The retainers' attention was all drawn to the fighting women, and they rose one by one and trotted over to watch the excitement, some even hoping to cop a feel while they were at it. On this side, only Kong Yinzhi and Kong Juan, who was brewing tea, remained.

The moment the quarrel broke out over there, someone in black water gear had already slipped into the water from among the reeds here, a hollow reed stalk held between his teeth for breathing, swimming quietly underwater toward Kong Yinzhi.

Kong Yinzhi, already somewhat vexed and distracted, vaguely heard the distant commotion and turned his head back in displeasure, only to see the retainers standing several hundred paces away with arms crossed, gathered around something, while Kong Juan, a dozen or so paces off, also craned his neck curiously in that direction.

Kong Yinzhi gave a cold snort, resolving inwardly that when he returned to the mansion he would have the steward teach these household slaves some discipline.

Just then, the fishing rod in his hand suddenly felt a tug toward the water, followed by a powerful force. Delighted, Kong Yinzhi turned his head while instinctively gripping the rod tighter with both hands.

The man beneath the water, wearing deerskin gloves, seized the fishing line and yanked it hard downward. Kong Yinzhi, who had just turned back and not yet registered what was happening, clutched the rod tightly and was pulled into the water with a splash. The last image in his mind was that what he saw upon turning back was not a great fish, but a pair of cold-blooded eyes beneath the surface.

The man underwater released the fishing line, circled around behind Kong Yinzhi like a fish, seized Kong Yinzhi's already drifting gray-white hair with one hand, swept his other arm rapidly, kicked hard with both legs, and dragged Kong Yinzhi down with all his strength toward the lakebed, a full seven or eight meters deep.

The instant Kong Yinzhi was dragged underwater he tried to cry out, but the water choked him until his head ached as if it would split. In panic he clamped his mouth shut, yet the surging lake water still poured through his nasal passages into his lungs and windpipe. The overwhelming terror of drowning to death threw him into utter chaos — he flailed his arms wildly in every direction, kicked his legs without cease, but as his body sank, all he managed to grasp were a few swaying strands of waterweed.

The tremendous splash of Kong Yinzhi hitting the water startled Kong Juan, and when he turned around, he discovered that the master seated on the brocade stool was gone. Stricken with terror, Kong Juan's legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, then scrambled on hands and knees to the water's edge, only to see water churning and splashing on the surface not far away. In an instant, the surface calmed, with only a long fishing rod floating upon it.

"Master! Master! Someone come quickly, help!"

"The master has fallen in the water! Help!"

Kong Juan's shrill cries finally roused the retainers in the distance. Though they could not make out what was being shouted, they immediately sprinted back toward this spot.

The man in black who had dragged Kong Yinzhi underwater, seeing that the face of Kong Yinzhi as he turned over showed bulging eyes and a belly already distended, immediately released his grip and swam back underwater toward where he had entered. By now Kong Yinzhi had ceased struggling, his body slowly sinking toward the lakebed.

Some twenty-odd breaths later, as the Kong household retainers were running back, the man in black surfaced at the waters where he had started, gasped for air several times after emerging, and the two others waiting on the bank asked in near-unison, in lowered voices: "Done?"

"Done, done to the bone!"

The man in black replied between great heaving breaths.

"Move fast!"

The three quickly scrambled ashore and hurried away, disappearing into the tall grass and underbrush before long.

The retainers came running from all directions with all their might, only to find Kong Juan kneeling prostrate on the ground — of their master's figure there was no trace.

"Where's the master? Where did the master go?"

"The master fell in the water! Waaah... help!"

"You idiots! The master must have fallen in! Get in the water and save him, now!"

"I can't swim!"

"Ding San, you can swim — you go down!"

"I'll ride back to town to fetch people — you all save the master!"

After a brief flurry of confusion, one retainer ran to where the horses were tethered, untied the reins, swung himself into the saddle, wheeled the horse around, and spurred it at a gallop toward the county seat.

Of the remaining men, two had some knowledge of swimming. They unbuckled their waist sabers and tossed them aside, stripped off their robes in haste, then dove into the water one after another and began searching for Kong Yinzhi.

In the noise and confusion, no one noticed that while that retainer had ridden off to report to the city, the several women who had been tearing at one another had quietly risen to their feet and were hurrying off, without a word, toward a distant patch of woods.

Half an hour later, the spot on South Wild Goose Lake where Kong Yinzhi had fallen in was thronged with people, with still more streaming in from the city. Among the crowd were members of the Kong family, officials of the government, many scholars, and even more common folk who had come upon hearing the news to watch the excitement — numbering well over a thousand in all.

Kong Yinzhi's eldest son, Kong Xingxie, had likewise lost his usual composed bearing. Having hurried over, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Qufu County Magistrate Li Shaohua, from time to time shouting hoarse orders at the top of his lungs. From anxiety and agitation, his voice had already turned raspy and harsh, and his eyes were shot through with blood.

Several small wooden boats, the sort farmers normally used for fishing, moved slowly across the lake's surface. A dozen or so men skilled in the water either swam on the surface or dove beneath it, while those on the boats dragged several fishing nets along, straining to search for any trace of Kong Yinzhi.

"Brother Qi Lü, do not be so anxious. The Duke Yansheng's constitution is as robust as a man in his prime, and heaven looks after the good. Perhaps he merely swallowed water and fainted — once he is pulled up, he is sure to be unharmed!"

Li Shaohua spoke words of comfort to Kong Xingxie, but even he did not believe these consoling words himself.

Kong Xingxie seemed not to hear, only staring fixedly at the wooden boats and the men in the water who kept diving under and surfacing again.

More than an hour had already passed since Kong Yinzhi had fallen into the water. There was absolutely no chance Kong Yinzhi was still alive. What needed to be done now was to recover the corpse as quickly as possible, lest the large fish in the water gnaw it away if too much time passed.

At this very moment, in the prefectural seat of Yanzhou, over thirty li from Qufu County, in the second hall of the former Yanzhou Guard command office, the young Centurion of the Yanzhou Hundred-Household Station of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Wang Ancheng, sat upright in an armchair. Before him stood three captains in Embroidered Uniform Guard attire. Had Kong Yinzhi still been alive, he would have recognized a pair of familiar eyes among these three men — it was the owner of those very eyes who had dragged him underwater and drowned him.

"Qiao Cun, you did a fine job this time. When this Centurion reports to my superiors, I will naturally record your merit as first! Li Li and Zhou Qiang, your merit is second! Qiao Cun receives thirty taels of silver in reward, and you two receive twenty taels each! Don't blame this Centurion for being stingy — this is merely an appetizer! This matter was personally assigned by the Regional Military Commissioner himself, and I estimate that once it is reported up, our superiors will surely reward us handsomely! There will be plenty of joy for you fellows! Have those women made their getaway and returned? Think carefully once more — is there anything left overlooked?"