In the guest hall of the front courtyard, the guards of the Old Gu Family were eating and drinking.
Constable Ma was drinking wine and eating meat while saying: "You guys donât know how accommodating Gu Jinâan can be, he gave the brothers thirty taels of silver joy money. After the brothers returned to the government office, his servants even brought workers from the Futai Building to deliver three banquet tables for us. One was given to the squad leaders, one to the brothers cleaning the road, and one to us."
This Constable Ma was Constable Xiao Ma, a cousin of Squad Leader Ma, who had helped during the Prefecture Examination in the Ritual Room, and after the examination, came back to guard the Old Gu Family.
He wasnât originally stationed at the Old Gu Family but was assigned to the Tong Vice Magistrateâs place. However, Zhang Sanjin recently made a contribution, and the Lord Magistrate saw him in a new light, giving the easy task of guarding the Vice Magistrate to Zhang Sanjin, so he was transferred to guard the Old Gu Family.
After receiving the joy money, Constable Ma mocked Zhang Sanjin: "That brat Zhang Sanjin is envious to death and secretly sent Little Qiangzi to find out how much joy money I got? Ha, I directly slapped the silver on the table, thirty taels, did you see it clearly! It startled Little Qiangzi so much that his eyes bulged out."
"Hahaha, Brother Ma sure has luck, one trip is worth a yearâs salary." The constables guarding the house with Constable Ma said, flattering him.
Constable Ma felt very comfortable inside, but his cousin told him that recently Zhang Sanjin was being favored by the Lord Magistrate, so he shouldnât go too far. Constable Ma took out two taels of silver and had someone order a simple banquet table to be sent to the Tong Vice Magistrate for Zhang Sanjin and his men.
"Let them share some joy too, so they wonât say Iâm stingy." Constable Ma said.
"Hey, I will take care of it right now." A small constable took the silver and left the house to order the banquet.
"Brother Ma is generous and righteous, truly magnanimous." The fellow constables at the table said.
With a good mood from hearing flattering words, Constable Ma was happier, but he hadnât been happy for long when a maid ran in hurriedly and said, "Lord, Lord, something bad has happened!"
Constable Ma frowned and said, "Why the panic, Iâm doing great, whatâs happened? Is it that crazy bunch at the Old Gu Family causing trouble again?"
The maid said, "Itâs... itâs Gu Chengxian! He, he, he hit the wall and is lying on the ground motionless, probably dead."
The maid was responsible for watching over Gu Chengxian, Gu Youlu, and Qian Guangzong, the father and son prisoners who had venereal disease. When she strolled to Gu Chengxianâs yard and was calling into the house, she heard a thud, like something hit the wall.
The maid was startled, thinking Gu Chengxian had fallen, so she continued calling into the house, but Gu Chengxian never responded.
The maid felt something was wrong, hurriedly opened the window, and saw Gu Chengxian lying in a pool of blood.
"There was so much blood, it was like a river," the maid said fearfully, urging Constable Ma and the others, "Lords, hurry and take a look, this old woman will go find a sack to collect the corpse."
The maid was convinced Gu Chengxian was dead, and after speaking, went to find a sack.
"What bad luck! Canât the people of the Old Gu Family settle down? I only had eaten half of my banquet." Constable Ma cursed with anger, but if Gu Chengxian was dead, they couldnât just ignore it. He had to get up and called the constables, "Letâs go take a look, if heâs dead weâll report it to the Lord Magistrate, if heâs not dead, weâll let him live a few more days."
For someone like Gu Chengxian, who had a venereal disease, it was all just a matter of waiting out the daysâlife or death didnât really matter, so the constables werenât nervous.
They didnât know Gu Chengxian was faking it all along.
Gu Chengxian had the disease and bribed Elder Lin and Gu Changfa to put something in the Prefecture Examinationâs provisions. Knowing Magistrate Gu wouldnât let him go, since he was bound to die anyway, he would make sure to take the constables with him.
All this time, he had suffered a lot of mistreatment from the constables and he had to vent this anger.
Constable Ma and his team came to the courtyard where Gu Chengxian was detained but didnât enter rashly. Instead, they had a constable put on old clothes, then a sack, covering him securely, to check if Gu Chengxian was really dead.
"Shiqi, be careful, poke him with a stick, see if heâs really dead, and donât touch him, heâs been stinking these days, the venereal disease seems to have worsened." Constable Ma instructed Liu Shiqi.
"Hey, Uncle Ma, donât worry, I understand." Liu Shiqi, quite young, had just joined last year, and did all the hard and heavy work.
He entered the room, didnât approach Gu Chengxian, poked him with a stick, and seeing no movement, gritted his teeth, extending his hand to test Gu Chengxianâs breath, quickly pulling back for fear of infection, saying, "Uncle Ma, he, he really seems dead."
"What do you mean âseems likeâ?" Constable Ma frowned and said discontentedly: "Check again."
But Liu Shiqi was scared; he had just gotten married, and didnât even have a son yet. How could he bear contracting a venereal disease?
Yet Liu Shiqi was more afraid of losing his job, so he had to probe again for Gu Chengxianâs breath, and, finding none, happily said: "Uncle Ma, itâs confirmed, really dead, you can come in and collect the corpse."
However, Liu Shiqi didnât know, Gu Chengxian wasnât dead at all, he just held his breath, pretending to have no breath.
Constable Ma relaxed at this.
"Lord, Lord, the sack is here." The maid brought a very large sack, handing it to Constable Ma.
Constable Ma handed the sack to a constable beside him: "You take the sack inside, and have Shiqi bring Gu Chengxian to the courtyard, and after the Lord Magistrateâs instructions, itâs estimated theyâll burn him in the courtyard."
The venereal disease couldnât be moved elsewhere, itâs best to burn on the spot.
"Yes." The constable put on old clothes, wrapping himself like a dumpling, took the sack inside, and with Liu Shiqi, after a bit of struggling, lifted Gu Chengxian onto the sack, dragged him out of the room into the courtyard.
Yet, just as they dragged Gu Chengxian into the courtyard, he suddenly sprang up, spitting at the constables.
Seeing this, the maid rolled and crawled towards the courtyard door: "Run, this bastard isnât dead, heâs pretending, wanting to infect us with venereal disease!"
Constable Ma quickly shouted: "Retreat, retreat, donât let his saliva get on us."
He reached to pull those nearest to Gu Chengxian, Liu Shiqi, and another constable, dragging them back.
Gu Chengxianâs face was covered in blood, staring at the constables with a twisted look, continuing to spit at them.
When he found he couldnât spit on them, he charged at Constable Ma, laughing wildly: "You bunch of lowlife dog slaves, mocking this young master, laughing at me for having a venereal disease, today this young master will let you taste this venereal disease!"
Gu Chengxianâs mad, desperate appearance of dragging everyone down with him scared all the constables.
Constable Ma was terrified, but being the leader of the constables, in a critical moment, suddenly drew his knife, slashing toward the charging Gu Chengxian.
With a cracking sound, he cut Gu Chengxian to the ground.