Chapter 63: The Xuzhou Go Game Conspiracy, Part 1

After Fang Guohuan finished his meal, the sky had grown completely dark, and the inn lit its candles. The old man led Fang Guohuan to the courtyard at the back of the pancake shop, unlocked a room door, lit the candle on the table, and said, "This is a humble household, nothing like a grand inn. Please make do, guest. Just shout if you need anything." With that, the old man turned and left.

Seeing that the room, though small, was tidy with a bed and a table, Fang Guohuan felt it had the air of a proper guest room. He placed his bundle at the head of the bed, bolted the door, blew out the lamp, and lay down to rest.

After an unknown length of time, he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly in the courtyard, "Little sister, fetch a basin of cold water! I need to douse my head and cool down, it's scorching hot!" Following this came the old man's voice, "Erniu, there is a guest in the house. Keep your voice down and do not disturb him." The one called Erniu replied, "A guest! Where is he from?"

The old man said, "A gentleman was traveling late and couldn't make it into the city, so I put him up for the night." "Oh!" Erniu's voice indeed dropped a bit. At that moment, the female voice from before chimed in, "Second brother, I will help you." Then came the sound of splashing water, clearly indicating she had brought a basin of water and poured it over him. Immediately, Erniu let out a shiver and cried, "Ah! So cold! I'm done, I'm done." The young woman giggled and asked, " Weren't you asking to cool down?"

At this point, the old man's voice was heard again, "Erniu, why didn't Daniu come back with you?" Erniu answered, "After buying the flour, elder brother went to our aunt's place east of the city to share a few cups with our uncle, and now he's as drunk as a heap of mud. I'm afraid he won't be coming back tonight." The old man said with some displeasure, "He's almost a man with a family of his own, yet he still behaves so unreliably. The Song family in the city ordered ten flour pancakes—won't this mess up their delivery?" Erniu impatiently replied, "It won't be messed up, don't worry." The old man muttered a few more words before leaving.

Then Erniu said, "Little sister, what is the Song family in the city ordering ten pancakes for? They are used to eating fish and meat every day." The young woman replied, "I heard it's an offering for the monks at Longmen Temple."

Erniu said, "The monks of Longmen Temple are truly fortunate to be able to eat our Wu family's ancestral large hearth-baked pancakes." Then Erniu added, "Oh, little sister, a major event happened in the city today." The young woman asked, "Could it be the usual nonsense—someone lost a child, or someone's daughter-in-law jumped into a well?"

Erniu said, "It's not that sort of messy business." The young woman asked, "Then what fresh news could there be? Let's hear it." Erniu said, "I heard that today in the city, five lives were lost over a single game of chess." Hearing this from inside his room, Fang Guohuan was startled and thought in shock, *Could Li Ruchuan, the grandmaster eunuch, have already arrived in Xuzhou?* He hurriedly got up, went to the window, and strained his ears to listen. The young woman then exclaimed in astonishment, "Five people died just because of a game of chess? What on earth was the reason?"

Wu Erniu replied, "I'm not too clear on the details either. I heard it happened this afternoon, and I happened to pick it up on the street; it's already spreading all over the city." The young woman sighed and said, "To lose five lives over a game of chess when everything was fine—what a strange affair!" Wu Erniu said, "In this day and age, what strange things don't happen? I heard someone even fell into their own water vat and drowned." The brother and sister exchanged a few more casual remarks before going inside. Fang Guohuan's heart was deeply unsettled, and he resolved to enter the city early the next morning to get to the bottom of the matter. He lay awake all night until dawn.

The next morning, Fang Guohuan rose early, partook of a hasty meal, and then placed three liang of silver on the table. He said to the old man, "Elder, thank you for putting me up last night. This modest silver is no token of deep respect, but merely serves as payment for food and lodging."

Upon seeing this, the old man naturally offered some hesitation, saying, "Our hospitality was lacking. Guest, please do not be so courteous; it truly makes this old man uneasy. Better..." At that moment, Wu Erniu and his sister walked over. Catching sight of the ingot of silver on the table, Wu Erniu quickly chimed in, "Father, this is the gentleman's expression of goodwill. If you don't accept it, wouldn't you be rejecting the gentleman's sincerity?"

The old man then said, "Since the guest is so generous, this old man will accept it without further refusal." Fang Guohuan smiled and said, "It is only right." He then cupped his hands in farewell, and the old man followed him out to see him off.

When the old man returned, he saw Wu Erniu tossing the ingot of silver in his hand and gazing at it with great delight. Shaking his head, Erniu said, "Father, you really are something. When you met such a wealthy patron, why didn't you treat him to fish and meat? This is worth much more than a mere three liang of silver."

Hearing this, the old man chided him reproachfully, "You ungrateful wretch! This already covers two or three days' profit for the inn. Having gained an advantage, you still complain. Besides, how... how could I have known a lone traveler would be so generous?" With that, he stepped forward, snatched the silver from Wu Erniu's hand, and turned to walk into the inner room. The young woman stood aside, shaking her head endlessly.

Once Fang Guohuan entered Xuzhou City, knowing that the murder case over the chess game from yesterday afternoon would surely be tried in court today, he inquired his way along the street straight toward the Xuzhou prefectural yamen. Along the way, he indeed saw people discussing the matter and rushing off to watch the spectacle. When Fang Guohuan arrived in front of the Xuzhou prefectural yamen, the court session had not yet begun, but a massive crowd had already gathered, showing just how great a sensation the case had caused.

Listening in on the discussions of the crowd around him, Fang Guohuan managed to grasp the general outline of the event. It turned out that there were two martial arts instructors in Xuzhou City, one named Xue Yong and the other named Wang Guofu. While playing chess, a dispute arose over the board, which escalated into a violent brawl. Not only did the two men kill each other in the fight, but they also killed three disciples who had stepped forward to intervene, resulting in a horrific multiple homicide. Fang Guohuan was astonished, thinking, *To resort to bloodshed and weapons over a dispute in a game of chess? Incredible!*

At that moment, a chorus of weeping arose, and three women in mourning garments were seen dragging their children along, crying and kneeling outside the yamen, holding up legal petitions and loudly proclaiming their grievances. An old man shook his head and sighed, "Pitiable! Truly pitiable! The master killed the disciples, and now the disciples' wives and children come to seek justice. What kind of wicked fate is this?" Soon after, two yamen runners emerged from the gates, took the petitions from the three women, and clearly signaled that the court was about to open for trial.

Finding it extremely bizarre that such a bloody case could stem from a game of chess, Fang Guohuan squeezed his way to the front of the crowd to witness the proceedings firsthand.

Inside the prefectural court, two rows of fierce, wolf-like yamen runners stood on either side. An official sat high upon the main bench, flanked by two seats. In one sat a clerk holding a brush to record the testimony, while the other seemed to be occupied by someone observing the trial.

The moment Fang Guohuan caught sight of that person, a wave of pleasant surprise washed over him. The man was none other than Zhang Linping, a master of the Allied Guild. He had made Zhang's acquaintance back during the bloody battle of Tianyuan outside the Dushikou Pass. Fang Guohuan knew that Zhang Linping was the leader of the Xuzhou branch of the Allied Guild, though he could not fathom why he was sitting on the official bench to observe a government trial.

At that moment, the official struck the gavel, and instantly the runners inside the court and the commoners outside fell into absolute silence.

The official proclaimed, "Bring forth the witness of yesterday's bloodshed." A fellow was promptly led onto the bench by the runners.

The man knelt and kowtowed, saying, "This humble commoner, Song Qian, greets Your Honor." The official asked, "Song Qian, this court asks you: were you at the scene of the crime yesterday? Did you witness the entire course of the bloodshed?"

Song Qian replied, "Reporting to Your Honor, I am a disciple of Master Xue Yong. Yesterday... yesterday I was indeed at the scene and witnessed the entire course of events." As he spoke, a look of terror appeared on Song Qian's face, showing that he was still haunted by everything that had happened the day before.

The official nodded and said, "Song Qian, since you were at the scene of the crime, you must recount everything you saw yesterday truthfully, without any falsehoods." Song Qian hastily answered, "This humble person would not dare speak falsely."

Collecting his composure, Song Qian said, "Yesterday afternoon, my three junior fellow apprentices—Li Hai, Zhao Fei, and Xu Shutao—and I had practiced martial arts for a while under our two masters, Xue Yong and Wang Guofu. Afterward, the two masters told my three junior apprentices and me to practice by ourselves in the courtyard while they returned to their room to play chess. Both masters were addicted to chess and played a few rounds every single day, but they both had fiery tempers and constantly argued over victory and defeat on the board. For some reason, an argument broke out between them over yesterday afternoon's game, and they both came out to look for cold water to cool off. Junior apprentice Zhao Fei then fetched a bucket of water from the well for the two masters to drink. Who would have thought that after taking a few sips, the two masters began cursing each other, immediately followed by blows? They drew their swords and sabers and fell upon each other in a fierce fight. At that point, my three junior apprentices, Zhao Fei, Li Hai, and Xu Shutao, stepped forward to intervene. To our dismay, the two masters were blinded by bloodlust and struck out wildly. Master Xue Yong killed junior apprentice Zhao Fei with a single slash, and Master Wang Guofu pierced junior apprentice Li Hai to death with his sword. Seeing that things were taking a disastrous turn, junior apprentice Xu Shutao tried to flee, but before he could get away, Master Xue Yong hacked off his neck with a blade. Following that, the two masters hacked each other to death, each perishing from multiple wounds inflicted by the other." By this point, cold sweat was streaming down Song Qian's face, and he was gasping heavily. The runners on the bench and the onlookers near the front of the yamen were chilled to the bone, and even Fang Guohuan felt a shudder run through him.

With a sigh, the official shook his head and asked Song Qian, "This court asks you, where were you when the incident occurred?" Song Qian answered, "Reporting to Your Honor, at the time I was in the kitchen boiling tea. When I suddenly saw the two masters hacking wildly like madmen, I was too terrified to come out of the kitchen, and thus I miraculously escaped with my life."

Upon hearing this, the official nodded and asked, "Apart from you witnessing all this at the scene, were there any others who saw it?"

Song Qian replied, "Reporting to Your Honor, yesterday afternoon both mistresses had arranged to go out to the street and were not at home. Only a maidservant named Qiufeng from Master Wang Guofu's household was inside the house and saw it." Hearing this, the official ordered, "Bring forth the maidservant Qiufeng."

A seventeen-year-old maidservant was immediately brought up to kneel before the bench, weeping and sobbing, clearly still out of her mind with terror from yesterday's gruesome spectacle. The official struck the gavel and commanded, "On the official bench, weeping is not permitted! Qiufeng, recount truthfully everything you saw yesterday."