Chapter 9: Legalists Are All Virgo Control Freaks

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"Making a clamour in the court of law — liable for a bastinado flogging!"

Even before Heifu could answer, the fierce-eyed Ordinance Clerk, Nu, glared and pointed straight at Ji Ying. At once the two martial clerks standing by in the hall strode over, forced Ji Ying to the ground, and pinned him down!

"This humble one merely had case details to bring forward…"

Ji Ying hollered that he was wronged, but one thing was one thing. Nu personally took up the bamboo stave and brought it lashing down across his back and buttocks!

Heifu could only shut his eyes helplessly and listen as the bamboo stave cracked ten times and Ji Ying yelped ten times; only then was this impromptu punishment considered over.

What a fine thing — the accused went unbeaten while the accuser took the board first. But Ji Ying had only his own loose tongue to blame.

The bastinado was the lightest of the corporal punishments; apart from the pain of skin and flesh, it caused no major injury. Once the beating was done, Xi asked Ji Ying exactly what case information he had to present to the authorities.

Ji Ying was obedient now. He recounted, in full detail, every word that the robber Pan had spoken that day.

Xi heard him out, nodded, and looked towards the robber. "Pan — is this true?"

"That was just me talking nonsense at the time." Pan, still clinging to a sliver of luck, flatly denied it, for he knew full well what the consequences of killing a man were.

"Very well. Since you refuse to admit to other crimes, then listen to this."

Xi spread open a bamboo-slip document before him and read aloud: "Twentieth year, ninth month, jiayin day. The Assistant Magistrate of Jingling County dares to inform the Assistant Magistrate of Anlu County…"

This was the deposition-letter sent in reply from Jingling County. What followed was a long litany of Pan's crimes, including how in his youth he had been conscripted into the army several times and taken part in campaigns, yet was reprimanded for lack of fighting spirit; how after returning to his village he spread defeatist talk and was reported by his neighbours, whereupon he was sentenced to garrison duty and sent north to man the frontier; and how, while travelling north, he assaulted his escorts, seized armour and weapons, and fled into the Cloud-Meng Marshes.

After that, Pan had tried to slip back to his native place and take his wife and children away with him, but his neighbours stopped him. Pan wounded people yet again and fled.

"Do you still dare claim you have no other offences?" Xi's voice turned stern. Seeing that his entire past had been laid bare, Pan's head drooped in despair and he admitted to these crimes.

Xi's voice softened again; he seemed to have grasped every detail of Pan's doings. "There is not one of your crimes that this clerk does not know, not one that this clerk is not aware of. The reason I did not expose them was to see whether you possessed a heart willing to confess… For instance, half a year ago, that case of breaking into a house, killing the occupant, and plundering it, by the little river in Jingling County — did you take part in that as well? The deposition-letter from Jingling County states that the description of the culprit's appearance and build, as given by the survivor in that case, matches you exactly!"

Xi's expression shifted in an instant as he threatened, "If you do not confess truthfully, this official will resort to judicial torture!"

Unlike the Ten Great Tortures of the Qin dynasty that later ages would conjure up, Qin judicial procedure held the collection of evidence and cross-examination as the highest method. Only when an offender was utterly and hopelessly obstinate would torture be applied — and in the eyes of the clerks, that was already a low-grade approach.

Pan had been merely dejected a moment ago; now he turned ashen with fright. He kowtowed repeatedly and, like beans pouring from a pod, spilled out every single crime he had ever committed.

As it turned out, he truly had two lives on his hands and had taken part in five or six robberies, large and small, though the money and valuables he plundered were not much.

A pity for him that when Qin judged a case, it did not care how much you stole — it looked at your criminal heart! Even if it was just a single coin, or a piece of rope or a mulberry leaf not worth a single coin, it still counted as theft — to say nothing of killing a person.

Yet homicide was not even the most extreme crime. In the Qin penal code, the gravest offence, apart from plotting rebellion, was the crime of gang-banditry.

Next, Xi had Pan's two accomplices state, one by one, their names, native places, and crimes. The result was startling: they were actually Chu men who had fled from the Jiangnan region of Chu (modern Hunan) into the Cloud-Meng Marshes — three men in all, who had only joined up with Pan this summer.

This now posed a bit of trouble. Although Xi had long known of this, he still furrowed his brow.

Qin's laws applied only to Qin's commanderies and counties; they could not reach into Chu. That being so, the native places and crimes of these two Chu robbers could not be verified, and the case could only be decided according to customary practice.

At this point, it was Heifu's and Ji Ying's turn to step forward. Just as before, they first stated their names, status, and native places.

Xi repeatedly confirmed with them: the robbers they had seen at the time — only four men?

"Indeed, only four." Heifu now felt deep admiration for Xi. The entire main hall of the county jail had become a stage for his performance; in sharpness and capability, he was in no way inferior to any professionally trained judge of later ages!

"According to the statutes, since they number fewer than five, the crime of gang-banditry cannot be constituted."

Xi stroked his beard and addressed the assembled clerks: "Record this — Pan and the others do not count as gang-bandits, and can only be sentenced for the ordinary crime of homicide by robbery."

By now, the course of the case and the nature of the crime were perfectly clear, but it was not yet over. Xi's gaze shifted back to Heifu and his companion, and he inquired about the process of capturing the robbers.

Ji Ying, seemingly having forgotten the beating he had just taken, launched into an animated, gleeful account, and in particular made a great boast of how Heifu had fought three robbers alone and disarmed a blade with his bare hands. Ever since he had acknowledged Heifu as his brother, Heifu's prowess seemed to have become his own prowess as well — he shared in the glory.

Ji Ying might be good for little else, but he certainly had a knack for gossip and bragging. When he reached the most thrilling parts, the minor clerks who had been continuously recording the trial proceedings actually set down their brushes one after another and listened with rapt attention.

Xi still did not interrupt Ji Ying. Only after the latter had talked himself hoarse and dry did Xi tilt his head and ask Heifu, "Is that how it was?"

Heifu had no choice but to steel himself and reply, "Though the words are somewhat exaggerated, the gist is not far off. This humble one did indeed fight three men alone. However, Ji Ying also grappled with the other robber for a long while. Had it not been for his assistance, I fear I would be a corpse by the roadside by now."

Xi nodded. He did not accept this rashly, but questioned the three robbers once more. Only after confirming that they raised no objection did he cast an inquiring look towards the Ordinance Clerk, Nu.

As it turned out, Nu's duties were not limited to maintaining order in the court; they also encompassed corpse examination and on-site inspection work — the equivalent of a forensic investigator in later ages. Qin governed the state with Legalist thought and strove for precision in all matters. When dispatched two days earlier to interrogate the three robbers, Nu had already recorded each man's wounds in detail and submitted an inspection report — a "deposition-letter".

"Chu Robber A: on the outer side of the left ankle, one blade wound, transverse, nine inches long — the mark of a slash from a short sword. On the abdomen, bruising — the mark of a heavy fist strike. Chu Robber B: on the outer side of the right leg, one blade wound, longitudinal, four inches long, one inch wide, the wound opening smooth — the mark of a short-sword thrust. No injuries to other parts of the body…"

After reading the wound-inspection deposition-letter, Xi was able to determine that Heifu had not lied; the locations where the robbers were struck and the depth of the wounds all matched one by one. Only then did a look of surprise appear on his face. "You do not look very old, yet you possess such courage and such skill."

Heifu was still reeling from the shock of how advanced Qin's inspection system was — it could almost rival the forensic science of later ages — when he heard Xi ask him, "And from whom did you learn your martial art?"

He cursed inwardly. His capture-and-subdue fist technique was not something from this era. Seeing how Xi, with the obsessive exactitude of a Virgo, would quibble over the slightest flaw, he naturally dared not spout nonsense and could only find a dead man to serve as his shield.

Heifu therefore said, "It was passed down by my late father. He once served in the army, won merit by taking heads, and was granted the rank of Gongshi. He also once gathered firewood in the mountains and wrestled with a wild boar, through which he grasped a set of fist techniques. Because he favoured me most among his three sons, he taught it only to me…"

Who was he trying to fool! If he remembered correctly, the one his cheap old man had doted on most was clearly the youngest son, Jing — that is, the younger brother who, historically, went to the army camp together with Heifu. But by now Heifu had practised lying until he showed no cracks; in any case, his cheap old man had been dead for several years. No matter how capable Xi was, could he go interrogate a ghost?

Sure enough, Xi furrowed his brow. Although his intuition told him that Heifu had not told the whole truth, he found nothing suspicious, so he did not press further. He merely said to the document clerks in the hall:

"Record this — the three robbers were indeed captured by Heifu and Ji Ying, no error. Next is the matter of the Hu Yang Village Chief…"

He looked at Heifu. "Heifu, earlier you brought a private accusation that the Hu Yang Village Chief, the Thief-Catcher, and others sought to steal credit and swindle the reward. Do you still stand by it?"

Heifu cupped his hands. "The authorities encourage the reporting of wrongdoing. This humble one likewise persists in his private accusation."

Xi's face hardened. "The Hu Yang Village Chief is a petty clerk who eats from the government's grain allowance. Do you understand that if a false accusation against a clerk is substantiated, you will be subject to the penalty for false counter-accusation and receive severe punishment!"

At this stage there was no turning back. Heifu raised his head. "This humble one understands. But this humble one is merely stating a grievance; he dares not conceal anything."

"Good." Xi nodded and gestured to Nu and Yue. "Bring up the Hu Yang Village Chief and the others! Before this day is out, these two cases shall be tried and concluded together!"

Accompanied by a patter of footsteps, the Hu Yang Village group was led up separately from below the hall — the scrawny Thief-Catcher, along with three village guards. Once they reached the hall, every one of them glared fixedly at Heifu, their resentment written plainly on their faces…

The Hu Yang Village Chief, who had a long horse-face, walked at the very rear. Upon entering the hall, the first thing he did was look around until he spotted the merchant Bao, who was standing to one side as a witness. He pressed him with his gaze; only after Bao cringed and gave a nod did the Hu Yang Village Chief let out a breath of relief.

He then turned to look at Heifu and let out a secret, cold laugh. "You little brat — when the time comes to confront and cross-examine, I guarantee you'll be left gaping and speechless, unable to clear yourself!"

…

PS: The trial procedure, the question-and-answer sequence, and the judge's final explanatory remarks in this chapter are referenced from the "Trial Procedure" section of the *Models for Sealing and Investigation*.

Additionally, appended below is a translation of the deposition-letter "A Murdered Corpse" from the Shuihudi Qin bamboo slips:

One male corpse lay south of a certain house, supine. On the man's head, at the left frontal angle, was one blade wound; on the back were two blade wounds, all longitudinal, each four inches long and one inch wide, the wound centres sunken, resembling the marks of an axe blow. There was bleeding around the wounds, staining the head, the back, and the ground. No injuries to the remaining parts of the body.

He wore a single-layer short jacket and a skirt, one of each. On the back of the short jacket, at the positions corresponding to the wounds, were two places where the cloth had been cut through by a blade; both the back and the front of the jacket were stained with blood.

West of the corpse was a pair of Qin-style hemp shoes; one was a little over six paces from the corpse, the other ten paces from the corpse. When the shoes were put on the corpse, they fitted exactly. The ground was hard; no traces of the murderer were seen. The deceased was a robust adult male, fair-skinned, body length seven *chi* one *cun*, hair length two *chi*. On the abdomen were two old scars from moxibustion treatment…

After reading it, I felt I needed to calm down a bit.

(End of chapter)