Chapter 143: An Eternal, Heaven-Sent Injustice?

"Let me tell you all, my brother-in-law… Chen Ping is tall and big. People sometimes ask me, since our family is so poor and my husband and I are thin and gaunt, what on earth did Chen Ping eat to grow so burly…"

"At the time I was furious at Chen Ping for idling about all day, neglecting the family property and never helping in the fields, so I told everyone that Chen Ping ate nothing but chaff and husks — and that a brother-in-law like him was worse than none at all!"

Chen Ping's cast-off sister-in-law was not pretty. Though not as swarthy as Chen Bo standing behind her, her hands were rough, she wore a thornwood hairpin and coarse cloth dress, and her eyes, having just wept, were slightly swollen and red. Her speech carried a sharp, shrewish edge.

At this moment, she, Chen Bo, and Chen Ping all stood inside the "village school," which served as the township officials' office and court for hearing cases. Before the "three-judge tribunal" — Se Fu Zhang Bo, San Lao Zhang Fu, and the Qin patrol officer Hei Fu — Sister-in-law Chen appeared somewhat trembling and fearful, but she still laid out the whole story from beginning to end.

The so-called "chaff and husks" were the bran left over from pounding rice, fit only for feeding pigs. Sister-in-law Chen was cursing Chen Ping as a fattened pig. But other people's pigs could be slaughtered for meat come the twelfth month — what use was this pig in her own house? Those words were rather harsh.

She said aggrievedly, "As it turned out, Chen Bo overheard this remark."

Sister-in-law Chen turned her head to look at Chen Bo, who still stood beside her seething with anger, and said through a sob, "He actually disregarded over ten years of husband-and-wife affection, drove me back to my maiden home, and even said he would divorce me…"

With that, she bowed toward Hei Fu and the others. "That is the whole story. As for cuckolding my brother-in-law? Absolutely no such thing! I already despised Chen Ping — how could I possibly have…"

At this, Sister-in-law Chen's face flushed red. She turned and cursed loudly at the crowd gathered at the village school gate to hear the case: "I don't know whose crow-beak mouth is spouting filth and spraying dung!"

"Good. As long as the matter is clearly stated, that will do. Step aside for now."

Se Fu Zhang Bo nodded and said to Hei Fu, who sat beside him, "Patrol Officer, are you satisfied now?"

According to the Qin state's system, the Se Fu was responsible for hearing lawsuits and collecting taxes — adjudicating cases was Zhang Bo's proper duty. But the previous two or three cases had been thefts and assaults that could not be ignored, so Hei Fu, whose duty was to patrol against bandits, had reason to participate as well.

Moreover, they did not judge cases by Qin law, because from Zhang Bo on down, not a single person in the entire township understood Qin statutes and ordinances. To punish without first teaching is tyranny. Until the Qin court dispatched law officials to promulgate the law, local cases would still be governed and judged by Wei customs. Hei Fu did not press the point excessively, and their cooperation had been fairly pleasant.

But this case had come up somewhat inexplicably.

Originally it was just a trivial matter of divorcing a wife, plus the whispered rumors of Chen Ping "cuckolding his brother." Affairs like this — in village lanes and hamlets, under the melon trellis and beneath the plum tree — weren't there two or three every month?

Hei Fu, who by all reason should not have meddled in this matter, acted as if injected with chicken blood. He first sought out San Lao Zhang Fu and spoke at length about the Qin king's emphasis on proper relations between men and women. Under Qin law, illicit affairs and adultery caught in the act were all punishable offenses, and a younger brother secretly cuckolding his elder brother's wife was to be punished even more severely without leniency…

This line of argument made Zhang Fu unable to ignore the matter. The Zhang clan prided itself on being a house of poetry, documents, rites, and music — Confucians were extremely sensitive about the barriers between men and women within the family.

"The Patrol Officer is right. We absolutely cannot allow the deeds of Qingfu and Ai Jiang to spread unchecked in this township!"

So the two of them then sought out Se Fu Zhang Bo — one appealing to emotion, the other to reason — and in the end arranged this "unprecedented" three-official joint hearing in Huyou Township.

Over the past half month, although Hei Fu still could not speak much, he could already understand seventy to eighty percent of the local dialect. Zhang Bo asked whether he was satisfied with Sister-in-law Chen's testimony, unaware that Hei Fu was already hearing it for the second time…

The day before yesterday, after hearing Zhong Ming's gossip about "Chen Ping cuckolding his brother," he had immediately sent Zhong Ming to inquire further.

And then he discovered that these rumors were mostly baseless speculation, growing more and more outrageous as they spread — all sorts of nonsense had been said. Yet Chen Ping's actual neighbors all flatly denied the matter.

"Sister-in-law Chen and Chen Ping have always been on bad terms. She has consistently despised him for neglecting the family property and would frown at the mere sight of him. When Chen Bo was not home, she would loudly scold Chen Ping in public. How could she possibly have had an illicit affair with him?"

After learning this inside story, Hei Fu swiftly brought men with him, under the pretext of a routine patrol, to the maiden home of Sister-in-law Chen.

Faced with the uninvited Qin official, Sister-in-law Chen's brothers were terrified, and Sister-in-law Chen herself, trembling, recounted the whole matter from beginning to end once more.

Only after carefully investigating and confirming that Chen Ping truly had not cuckolded his brother did Hei Fu decide to go take another look at Chen Ping's house. There he saw that impoverished courtyard — poorer even than Hei Fu's own circumstances when he first arrived in this era. So the future Han Chancellor Chen Ping had truly risen from the humblest beginnings.

After meeting Chen Ping face to face and marveling at the beauty of his features and the propriety of his speech and bearing, Hei Fu became even more resolved.

"Chen Ping — this is a major figure of the Chu-Han transition and the early Han, and the first historical celebrity I've encountered. Though his intellect and temperament are not yet fully mature, letting him owe me a great favor early on might prove useful someday…"

Besides, since the story of Chen Ping cuckolding his brother was indeed a baseless rumor, casually helping Chen Ping shed this hat of "an eternal, heaven-sent injustice" — thinking about it, it was rather amusing.

But this matter could not be cleared up by Sister-in-law Chen's testimony alone. Hei Fu had Zhong Ming relay to the Se Fu and San Lao that Chen Bo and Chen Ping must each give their own accounts as well.

"These Qin people certainly have a lot of rules."

Zhang Bo was growing impatient. In the past when they judged cases, they never used any Wei state law — they simply decided based on village customs and rites. But Zhang Fu secretly tugged his sleeve, and Zhang Bo then allowed Chen Bo and Chen Ping to speak.

Chen Bo was a hot-tempered farming man who spoke crudely. His testimony was entirely biased toward Chen Ping, refusing even to mention the so-called "cuckolding" rumor, while insisting that Sister-in-law Chen was unvirtuous and unfraternal, and that was why he had cast her out.

"A wife like this is worse than none at all!"

After ending his testimony with these words, Sister-in-law Chen flew into a rage and began cursing Chen Bo viciously, calling him heartless. It looked as if this quarrelsome couple was about to come to blows right there in the hall.

Zhang Bo was furious and was about to order someone to separate this ill-mannered husband and wife when Chen Ping, who had remained silent all along, his eyes moving back and forth observing the two Zhangs and Hei Fu with a thoughtful expression, suddenly stepped forward.

With a thud, he knelt before his elder brother and sister-in-law and kowtowed heavily. "Brother, Sister-in-law, stop quarreling. All of this is Chen Ping's fault."

Chen Bo and Sister-in-law Chen stopped their mutual cursing and looked at Chen Ping.

Chen Ping raised his head. His originally shrewd and wise eyes were now streaming with tears.

"Since childhood, Ping lost both parents early. It was Elder Brother and Elder Sister-in-law who raised me with their own hands. Brother doted on me and let me avoid working the fields. When I wanted to study, Brother scrimped on food and clothing to buy me books. When I wanted to travel for learning, Brother borrowed everywhere to fund my travels. For over ten years, you toiled without complaint and never spoke a harsh word. In Ping's eyes, Brother is like a loving father!"

Chen Bo looked somewhat embarrassed and rubbed his hands together. "We're own brothers — why say all this."

Chen Ping shook his head. "These words I have kept in my heart. Now, if I do not speak them, it will be too late."

He looked at his sister-in-law and kowtowed again. "The same is true of Elder Sister-in-law. In Brother's view, Sister-in-law was always scolding me for not doing proper work — it sounded awful. But scolding aside, the clothes on Ping's body, the shoes on his feet — which of them was not sewn stitch by stitch by Sister-in-law, working day and night? Whenever anything was torn or damaged, Sister-in-law would first scold me for not taking care of it, and then immediately help me mend it…"

The handsome young man touched the patched hemp garment he wore and said with emotion, "Our family is poor, with only thirty mu of thin fields. Life is hard, and saddled with a brother-in-law like me who does no productive work — to have no resentment, one would have to be a sage! Besides, when Sister-in-law scolded me, at root it was for my own good, afraid I would truly become a good-for-nothing loafer. So in Ping's eyes, Sister-in-law is like a strict mother!"

At these words, Sister-in-law Chen, who had been looking at him with utter contempt, could no longer hold her composure. She turned her face away, her eyes reddening again. Chen Bo also sighed, no longer so irascible and impulsive.

Chen Ping continued, "Ping regards Brother and Sister-in-law as father and mother. Brother and Sister-in-law have no children of their own — how could you not regard Ping as your own son? But as the proverb says, indulgent fathers and mothers raise wastrel sons. Brother was already loving — if Sister-in-law had not been stricter, supervising and reprimanding me, Chen Ping might truly have become a worthless man! This kindness of raising me is beyond repayment. Not just one remark, but even ten or a hundred — Chen Ping must listen. So, Brother, you need not act out of spite, casting aside your wife and dissolving the marriage over one careless remark from Sister-in-law."

Chen Ping pointed to the bloody welts on his shoulder left by the hemp rope and said, choking with emotion, "Today Ping went out to carry firewood, and only then understood how heavy and bitter Brother and Sister-in-law's daily labor is. Here, Ping swears an oath before heaven: from this day forward, I will earn my own keep and will certainly not idle about, neglecting the family property as before, letting the entire burden of the household fall on Brother and Sister-in-law's shoulders!"

With that, Chen Ping kowtowed a third time and pleaded, "What makes a family a family is deep love between husband and wife, and filial fraternal duty between brothers. If one is missing, how can a family be a family? Brother and Sister-in-law have supported each other through many years — you cannot suddenly separate over a trifling matter. Here, before the township officials and the village elders, Ping begs Brother to take back the words of divorce, and begs Sister-in-law to forgive Chen Ping and come back home."

"My brother, you…" Chen Bo had not expected his younger brother to publicly urge him to reconcile and was at a loss.

"Brother-in-law, you… why must you go so far." Seeing that her brother-in-law had finally come to his senses and declared he would shoulder responsibility for the family, Sister-in-law Chen no longer felt her earlier grievance, shrewishness, and resentment — instead she felt somewhat pained for him.

After this quarrelsome couple exchanged a glance, though they immediately looked away, their attitudes seemed to soften slightly. Husband and wife — though in daily life they might inevitably shout about killing and beating each other, after more than ten years, familial affection had grown between them. Quarrels at the bedside end in peace at the bedside.

Seeing that he had moved the two of them, Chen Ping smiled. "I hope Brother and Sister-in-law will consider it."

Only then did he rise, elegantly dust off his clothes, and bow respectfully with clasped hands toward the Zhang brothers and Hei Fu.

"Chen Ping's family affairs have caused you gentlemen trouble!"

"There is nothing in the world more important than family affairs. If this matter can be resolved here, that is a good deed. As the San Lao in charge of moral instruction, this official could wish for nothing better."

Zhang Fu's expression had shifted from the initial disdain toward a "brother-cuckolder" to surprise, and now, at this moment, to full admiration.

Hei Fu was likewise inwardly applauding in admiration, thinking to himself, "The young Chen Ping is indeed far removed from the image of the schemer I remember. Though I cannot yet see the bearing he will have in later years, his grasp of opportunity is extremely acute. That speech urging his brother and sister-in-law — it seemed spoken with emotion, but in truth, every sentence had been carefully carved and weighed in his mind beforehand."

Hei Fu looked at the Chen couple, who were no longer at each other's throats, then looked toward the village school gate at the fellow villagers whose mouths hung open, their gazes shifting from disdain to sympathy and admiration, and felt even more that Chen Ping was no ordinary man.

"This public hearing, which should have been orchestrated by me to clear his wrongful accusation, has at this moment become a stage for Chen Ping to wash away the villagers' poor impression of him?"

The dispute between brother and sister-in-law — this was the very root of the slander Chen Ping attracted. This kid had immediately found the crux of the conflict, untied that knot, and the slanderous talk collapsed on its own.

Though he hadn't found many chances to take the field, Heifu was not worried but rather pleased:

"This Chen Ping — he's rather interesting!"

……

PS: Been running nonstop these past few days and got too tired, so I slept in. A full night's rest has me feeling recovered. Chapter 2 will be up at 4:30 PM. Also, there's been a lot of debate about the character Chen Ping, but I've written him exactly as he appears in the Records of the Grand Historian. Chen Ping is a classic example of 'a bone broken in three places makes a fine physician.' He entered society with a grand ambition to govern all under heaven, only to be tripped up time and again by slander and useless teammates, until he finally turned dark. When I have some free time, I'll write a dedicated commentary on Chen Ping.

(End of chapter)