the official, and the waiter laid upon the table cups and wine, vegetables and fruits.
The official asked, “Where does Xue Ba, the other constable, live?”
Dong Chao said, “He lives in the alley over there.”
The official then told the waiter to go and bring Xue Ba. The waiter went off, and very soon Xue Ba arrived.
Dong Chao said, “This official has something to say to us.”
Xue Ba said, “I dare not ask for his name.”
The official said, “You will soon find that out. Please drink some wine.”
The three men sat down, and very soon the waiter brought them some warm wine. After they had drunk a few cups of wine the official took ten taels of silver out of his sleeve, and placed them on the table. He said, “I have a little troublesome business for you two men to do, and you can have five taels each.”
The men said, “We have not seen you before, so why do you offer us money?”
“Are you not going to Cangzhou?” asked the official.
Dong Chao said, “We have received an order from the yamen to escort a prisoner, Lin Chong, to Cangzhou.”
“That being the case, I shall have to trouble you. I am Lu Qian, the confidential steward in the family of Marshal Gao Qiu of the Imperial Guard.”
Dong Chao and Xue Ba made many salutations and said, “We should not be sitting at the same table with you.”
Lu Qian said, “Are you two men aware that Lin Chong has offended the Marshal of the Imperial Guard? You must now observe the order of the Marshal. He told me to give you these ten taels of silver, and say that you are not to take Lin Chong very far away. When you reach some quiet deserted spot you must kill Lin Chong, and then get an official near there to give you a report about his death. If any questions are raised when you get to Kaifeng you will be free from blame as the Marshal will deal with the matter himself.”
Dong Chao said, “I am afraid that we cannot do that. Our order from the Prefect of Kaifeng says that we must escort the prisoner, and says nothing about killing him. Moreover, I am not very old, so how can we do such a vile thing? We are also afraid that we should be blamed if anybody got to know of the affair.”
Xue Ba said, “Old Dong, you just listen to me. You must not forget that even though Marshal Gao Qiu, condemns us both to death we have to obey him. Moreover he has sent this official to give us this money. Let us talk no more about it, but just divide the money. When we have done the deed Marshal Gao will be grateful to us, and will find us something to do. There is a wild deserted forest—let us dispatch him there.” Xue Ba took his part of the silver and then said, “We shall do this after we have traveled not less than fifty li, or not more than one hundred li.”
Lu Qian was much pleased at this and said, “That will be very well. Don’t forget that after you have murdered Lin Chong you must tear off the skin of his face, bearing the brand mark, and bring it back as an evidence that you have killed him.” He also promised to give them an extra ten taels of silver when they returned. He would wait anxiously for their report, and he also urged them to get the matter done without delay.
During the Song Dynasty it was the practice to brand criminals on their faces when they were sentenced to banishment. But as the branding was disgustful to the people, it was called, “Fixing Golden Seals.”
The three men finished their wine, and then separated. Lu Qian paid for the wine.
Dong Chao and Xue Ba divided the bribe between them, and took the money to their homes. There each man made up a bundle of necessary things for his journey, and carried this on a stick over his shoulder. They got Lin Chong out of the jail, and escorted him out of the city. That day they traveled about ten li before they stopped for the night.
During the Song Dynasty it was a rule that all inns were to give shelter to an escort in charge of criminals without charging for the room, but would receive payment for food or wine taken.
The next day the three men rose early, and after breakfast they started out again on the road to Cangzhou. It was the sixth lunar month, and the weather was very hot. Previously Lin Chong had felt no pain from the blows he had got at Kaifeng, but under the heat of the day he now felt pains, and limped along slowly.
Xue Ba said, “You do not seem to realize that we have to go about seven hundred li to Cangzhou, and that it will take a very long time to get there if you walk like this.”
Lin Chong said, “While I was at Kaifeng I did not feel uncomfortable, but, owing to the hot weather I now feel pains resulting from being beaten with the bamboo the day before yesterday. I beg you to walk a little slower.”
Dong Chao said, “You can walk slower, and take no notice of what we say.”
Xue Ba resented this kind of talk, and muttered to himself as he walked along. “We two are unlucky as we meet such a demon as this prisoner.”
It was getting late in the evening when they got to an inn. When they got inside they all three took off their bundles. Lin Chong did not wait for the two constables to speak, but taking some silver out of his bundle he gave it to waiter, and told him to bring some meat, rice, and wine for dinner. He then asked the two constables to dine with him.
The two constables purchased some more wine, and they gave Lin Chong so much that he became drunk, and lay down on the floor with the cangue still round his neck.
Xue Ba then went, and boiled some water, and when it was extremely hot he poured it into a tub. He then roused Lin Chong, and said to him, “Just wash your feet, and afterwards you will sleep better.”
Lin Chong struggled to get up, but the cangue prevented him from doing this.
“I will wash your feet for you,” said Xue Ba.
Lin Chong would not agree to this, but Xue Ba insisted that as they were traveling together they need not be too particular.
Lin Chong did not suspect anything, and therefore put forward his feet, which Xue Ba seized and thrust them into the boiling water. Lin Chong yelled with the pain, and quickly withdrew his feet, but they had already been scalded, and covered with red blisters. He said that it was awfully painful.
Xue Ba said, “Before this I have seen prisoners waiting upon us, but now we have apparently to wait upon a prisoner. We had the best of intentions in telling you to wash your feet, but you are so fastiduious and would complain that the water was too cold if it was only a little cold and too hot if only a little hot. So we get no thanks for our labor.”
Xue Ba continued muttering about this for a long time, and as Lin Chong dared not reply to his remarks he lay down on one side and tried to sleep. The two constables threw the boiling water away, and getting fresh water washed their own feet, and then went to bed. Early the next morning long before any of the people of the inn were out of bed Xue Ba got up, and after washing himself he lit the fire, and cooked some rice. But Lin Chong could neither get up, nor eat his breakfast. Xue Ba seized his stick, and told Lin Chong to get up. Dong Chao seeing the difficulty unloosened a pair of new straw sandals from his belt, and told Lin Chong to put them on.
But Lin Chong seeing the huge blisters on his feet would have preferred to wear his old shoes as being more comfortable, but as he could not find them he put on the
