“We seized this weapon from him,” he said.
“Aha! So, he indeed had malicious intent to murder me!” Shi Men shouted angrily. “Even animals wouldn't be as treacherous and deceitful as this man! With a pure heart, I intended to help him, providing him with three hundred ounces of silver so he could work on his own and live a peaceful and sufficient life, but in return.. He roams around at night with wicked intentions to kill me! If not, why would he carry a sharp cleaver?” He then ordered his employees,
“Take him to his room to retrieve the three hundred ounces of silver he received from me!” Meanwhile, the commotion was heard by Lian Cu, Lai Wang's wife who was chatting with another servant, had no idea about the calamity that befell her husband. She quickly ran to her room and saw it full of people. Seeing how her husband had become the accused and everyone was searching for the three hundred ounces of silver, Lian Cu grew angry at her husband.
“This is the result of your love for excessive drinking!” She yelled, crying.
“How many times have I warned you, and now in your drunken state, you dare attack someone with a cleaver!” Lian Cu took out six bundles of silver money that had never been opened from within the chest and handed them over to the men who brought Lai Wang back to their master. Shi Men opened the bundles of money one by one, under the lamp light and the watchful eyes of his servants. And everyone was shocked to see that only one bundle contained silver, while the other five were filled with worthless copper.
“You murderer and robber,” Shi Men bellowed angrily. “Where have you hidden the five bundles of silver?”
“But... but, Kongcu,” Lai Wang, utterly shocked at the content of the bundles, retorted. “I never exchanged the silver bundle contents with anything. I truly don't understand how this could happen.”
“Enough!” Shi Men shouted. “Not only did you intend to kill me, but you even tried to rob me. All the evidence is sufficient, and can be further corroborated by the witness, Lai Seng, step forward.” Lai Seng stepped forward and knelt, then described how he heard the drunken Lai Wang's threats against Shi Men, speaking of a knife that went in white and came out red.
“All the evidence and witnesses are sufficient,” said Shi Men. “Chain him and put him in the detention room. Tomorrow, I will sue him in court!” Lai Wang could only watch and listen to all this with a pale face, unable to defend himself. As he was dragged away, Lian Cu rushed into the room with disheveled hair and a pale face. She immediately threw herself at Shi Men's feet.
“Kongcu, why is he treated like a thief? I was the one who stored those six bundles of money and the bundle strings were never broken or touched. How could these bundles be swapped? He has been framed, Kongcu! Punish him with a whip, I don't care, but why does Kongcu want to report him to the court?”
“Calm yourself,” Shi Men said gently. “This matter has nothing to do with you. It's not just yesterday that I knew this wicked employee. The cleaver he had on him tonight proves his malicious intent. You know nothing about this.” Shi Men signaled his servant, Lai An, to take Lian Cu to her room and console her, but the woman refused to rise from where she knelt.
“Your judgment is clouded by resentment, Kongcu. Kongcu has lost justice and wisdom. It's not wrong that he speaks nonsense in his drunken state, but no matter what, he wouldn't be able to commit the crimes Kongcu accuses him of!” Shi Men lost his patience and angrily ordered Lai An to forcibly take the woman back to her room. Lian Cu struggled and cried as Lai An forcibly carried her away from the room. The next day, Shi Men filed a complaint. It was useless for Goat Toanio to try to persuade him to settle the matter in the house and not bring it to court. But Shi Men rebuked her, causing the lady to retreat with a red face of shame.
“Hmm, everything here is in chaos,” the eldest wife said to her co-wives, all of whom, except for Pang Kim Lian, were present in the room. “This house is filled with the aura of a nine-tailed fox spirit. There must be a foul and evil mouth whispering all this venom to our husband. It's truly regrettable to treat a good and loyal employee as a criminal without a strong reason. The evidence is fake. Ah, he has lost his mind, he has been infected by the venom!” Of course, her words were intended for Kim Lian, and indeed they were. It was the Golden Lotus, Kim Lian, who arranged all the schemes to bring down Lai Wang, as hinted at by Goat Toanio earlier.
“You, calm yourself,” she comforted Lian Cu, who was crying at her feet. “The court will surely see your husband's innocence and he will definitely be released.” But Goat Toanio did not expect that her husband was truly in the grip of Kim Lian's influence who did not want to do things half-heartedly and had persuaded Shi Men to continue his endeavor to bring down Lai Wang.
It was not in vain that Shi Men sent valuable gifts to the Prosecutor and the Judge examining Lai Wang's case so that the court's decision was far opposite to what Goat Toanio expected and predicted. What's the use of all the defenses screamed by Lai Wang at the court hearing about his wife's affair with Shi Men, and how all this was a trick set up by Shi Men to frame him? What's the point of all his screams that he was being wronged? The Judge and his assistants acted as if they were hearing the shouts of a madman.
“Is this how you repay your kind-hearted master, you ungrateful man?” Judge Cia shouted angrily.
“He has bestowed kindness upon you, providing you and your wife with a sufficient life in his house and also gave you capital to trade on your own, but you repay him with evil deeds!” But no matter the punishment, Lai Wang refused to admit to the charges, and in the end, he was thrown into the detention room. Shi Men was satisfied with the course of the trial and he ordered his servants not to send any food to Lai Wang, and not to inform Lian Cu of the court proceedings.
He instructed a beloved servant to comfort and persuade Lian Cu not to grieve, saying that her husband would surely be released soon. But this promise was ignored by Lian Cu who, since her husband was detained, refused to eat or drink. Her face was pale, her clothes were disheveled, and she never combed her hair. Her trust in Shi Men began to fade. Only then was she willing to believe, after Lai An, Shi Men's servant, informed her that her husband was indeed treated well and his release was only a few days away. And she agreed to comb her hair, change clothes, and receive Shi Men's visit.
“How is my husband doing?” she asked Shi Men when her master visited her in her room.
Glossary
- Kongcu: An honorific term used to address a master or owner, derived from Confucian culture.
- Goat Toanio: A term for the eldest wife in a polygamous relationship, indicating her superior status.
- Golden Lotus (Si Teratai Emas): A nickname for Kim Lian, one of the wives in the story.
- Judge Cia: A character in the story who serves as a judge.