Chapter Twenty-Nine: Blackmail

After reporting to his superior and meeting his colleagues one by one, Di Ying sat down in his own office, staring in a daze at the thick book before him.

It was merely the catalogue of accumulated case files.

Its weight exceeded ten pounds.

Di Ying turned straight to the last page, and gazed at the number of accused: 17,687. He fell silent.

Peng Liang was also dumbfounded. Would he even have time to visit his family’s graves?

But after only a brief hesitation, he decided that protecting the master was the priority.

Seeing the master sit quietly before flipping through the case catalogue, Peng Liang thought for a moment, stepped outside for a walk, then returned with tea.

He set it at the master’s hand and withdrew to a shadowy corner of the room.

Di Ying did not notice Peng Liang’s departure. After leafing through the catalogue, he selected a case.

It was late November. This case had occurred in April three years prior.

Forty-three months and seventeen days had passed.

A verdict had been rendered at the time—first trial, second, third—each upholding the original judgment.

But because the accused kept appealing, he remained imprisoned while the case lingered among those not finally adjudicated.

From this alone, one could see that the laws of the current dynasty were quite rigorous.

However—

Everything is shaped by human hands.

Di Ying noticed this case precisely because he suspected “human intervention.”

It was not a major affair.

The accused was the wealthiest merchant in Qu County under the capital—Qian Fu.

At the time, Qian Fu was thirty-five, with only one beloved daughter, Qian Xiner, age fourteen.

Qian Fu doted on her, his whole family cherishing her as the apple of their eye.

That April, Qian Fu visited the capital to inspect his silk shop and strolled through the streets.

He came upon a large cosmetics shop and thought to buy something new for his daughter.

After a warm introduction by the shopkeeper, Qian Fu purchased three sets of the latest products, those just below tribute grade, and brought them home.

His daughter was overjoyed, immediately cleansing her face and applying a box of rouge.

But the next day, Qian Xiner’s face became red, swollen, flaky, and ulcerated.

The family was terrified, taking her everywhere to seek medical help.

But her condition did not improve; in fact, it worsened.

In the end, Qian Xiner was disfigured.

Doctors, after examining the cosmetics Qian Fu had bought, confirmed the cause lay within them.

Heartbroken and furious, Qian Fu confronted the shopkeeper of “Run Jiao Cosmetics,” demanding compensation of ten thousand taels of silver.

Qian Fu lacked nothing, but he could not swallow the insult.

He had lived a virtuous life, conducted his silk business honestly.

He remained in the town: first, because it was his ancestral land; second, there was space for his own weaving and dyeing workshops; third, he wished to give back, offering locals opportunities to earn.

Thanks to him, Qu Town had flourished.

He thought, if things continued thus, he would find his daughter a husband, and their lives would be peaceful.

Who could have foreseen disaster from a box of rouge, robbing his daughter of her beauty?

He sought compensation, hoping for psychological relief.

But the shopkeeper was arrogant, and upon hearing the demand for ten thousand taels, he reported Qian Fu to the authorities.

He accused Qian Fu of extortion.

Judge Song Wen of Jingzhao, after much deliberation, sentenced Qian Fu for malicious extortion, imposing a five-year prison term.

How could Qian Fu accept this? He never admitted guilt.

His wife, upon hearing of his imprisonment, absconded with most of the family’s wealth.

Qian Xiner, struck by these blows, shut herself away, falling ill with melancholy.

Fortunately, there remained a loyal steward, Qian Mo.

He collected debts, used the money to run errands for Qian Fu, and continued to appeal.

He even petitioned the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and finally the imperial court.

Alas, all upheld the original verdict.

Qian Fu still refused to confess.

Because he kept appealing, his sentence was repeatedly extended, now reaching twenty years, with the case ultimately shelved.

...

Di Ying set down the dossier, lifted his teacup, and leaned deeply into his chair.

On the surface, every verdict seemed sound.

The doctors Qian Fu summoned had testified in court about the ingredients of the cosmetics and their potential to ruin a person’s appearance.

The shopkeeper never denied the cosmetics’ issues.

He focused solely on Qian Fu’s demand for compensation.

Thus, everyone decided Qian Fu’s demands were excessive.

A merchant’s daughter, ten thousand taels? Was he robbing them? That was surely the consensus.

Moreover, it was merely disfigurement, not death; therefore, they judged it extortion.

Yet, in Di Ying’s view, they all missed one point.

Legal principles serve as the basis for conviction, but morality is the grounds for acquittal.

Law sets the lowest standard of human conduct.

But clearly, the verdict against Qian Fu had not adhered to this.

Qian Fu had contributed to the county’s development, earned wealth without losing his conscience, helped build bridges and roads, enriching the locals.

He had done more good deeds than could be counted, spending far more than ten thousand taels.

He never indulged in vice; his wife, though...

He never sought concubines or caroused, but devoted himself to his daughter.

To Qian Fu, his daughter was priceless, more important than his own life.

Her tragedy, her disfigurement, to him, was no less than the collapse of heaven.

His demand for ten thousand taels was merely for justice.

Without it, he would live forever with a choking bitterness.

Di Ying now felt that same bitterness.

For a woman, to lose her beauty is to lose her future—worse than death by a hundred, a thousand times.

To destroy a life, and only ask for ten thousand in compensation—is it excessive?

Di Ying did not think so.

Had it been him, he would have demanded not only compensation, but imprisonment for the shop’s owner.

Otherwise, the grievance could never be resolved.

If the harmful cosmetics were sold widely, causing more women to be disfigured, Di Ying believed even execution would not quell public outrage.

But for now, because Qian Xiner used the product immediately and reacted the next day, and after the doctors’ inspection Qian Fu confronted the shopkeeper, other women were spared disaster.

In misfortune, this was a small mercy.

Yet, it was precisely this point where the trouble lay.