As Ronghe sank into the aged wooden chair in his dimly lit study, he stared at the scrolled up report under the candlelight. His subordinate had just delivered the scroll sent from the town's physician.
The town's physician wrote his findings at the accident site into the neatly joined bamboo strips which formed the scroll in front of him. Paper was too expensive for a poor rural town physician to use, but bamboo was plentiful. Bamboos grew like weeds around Bian town.
The Grand Prince gave Ronghe three days to resolve a matter. In the interim, the Grand Prince also took away Ahan and his coachman, only sending a guard as a replacement to man his carriage.
Have both Ahan and the coachman seen something which they shouldn't? Ronghe regretted being distracted by the scene. He knew that would be a death sentence in Huangcheng. The powerful didn't like witnesses.
The guard told him that Ahan would have the Grand Prince's residential physician looking after him, while they wanted to question his coachman about the area since he had lived in the area for a long time.
Ronghe felt uneasy at those words. Could he trust the Grand Prince not to harm Ahan? The frosty glare of the Grand Prince from the mask made him worried about the safety of both coachman and Ahan.
If anything untoward happened to the coachman, he didn't know how to face the coachman's oldest son. The oldest son already came to ask about his father's location past dinner time.
With the deadline looming over him, Ronghe steadied his mind. He needed to close this case. His trembling fingers traced the edge of the scroll restlessly. The sewn bamboo strips on the scroll blurred before his eyes, his mind consumed by the implications of the day.
Although the physician seemed to understand the delicate nature of the accident that was not an accident, Ronghe glanced at the report with a certain anxiety.
The women were killed by sword — slashed to death. Not by a wild animal mauling. He could see the wounds for himself. A snow leopard only bit a chunk off an already dead person. No further teeth or claw marks seen.
His foot rubbed in nervousness against the wooden floorboards as he sat up straight and rolled open the scroll. He read the detailed description of the wounds and the physician's final summary as 'Carriage fell from a high place. Bodies too mangled, but it is my opinion, the fall caused their deaths along with the horse.'
He exhaled in relief at those words and leaned back in his chair. The creaking of the floorboards and the knock on the door made him sit up again.
"Come in," Ronghe said, and the door creaked open with the pale face of the coachman peeking in.
"What is it, Uncle Li?" Ronghe asked, feigning a calm demeanor, while watching the weary coachman shuffle inside with his winter hat in hand.
He addressed the sixty-year-old coachman as an uncle out of respect for the local tradition and seniority. Uncle Li faltered in his steps and lowered his head to avoid meeting Ronghe's gaze as though guilty of something. His trembling hands were still squeezing the hat in his hold.
Ronghe knitted his eyebrows but said nothing, allowing Uncle Li to calm down. Something must have happened.
"S-sir," the old man spoke hesitantly and took a nervous gulp to soothe his nerves. "I w-was asked some q-questions by the G-Grand P-Prince."
"What questions?" Ronghe glanced at him with curiosity. He wanted to ask if they tortured him, but no blood or dirt stains on Uncle Li's clothing made Ronghe think they didn't. His eyes went to Uncle Li's hands. No marks or swelling seen.
"I t-think the G-Grand Prince might have t-thought…Ahan and you…" Uncle Li trailed off and shut his eyes tightly.
Ronghe gazed at him in silence, tapping his fingers on the table. He wondered how the Grand Prince may have interrogated. Uncle Li seemed listless, bothered about something. Even the wrinkles on Uncle Li seemed to deepen.
But he needed to hear it from the man. No matter how unpleasant it sounded.
"Did they do anything to you?" Ronghe asked with grave concern.
Uncle Li looked up in surprise and shook his hands together with his head. "No…no…they didn't harm me. Only questioned me about you."
"What did they ask?"
"From their questions, the Grand Prince thinks you have funny…um…," Uncle Li averted his gaze.
"Funny what?" Ronghe narrowed his eyes while Uncle Li leaned forward with his hand covering the side of the face.
Ronghe leaned in.
"That you like little boys," Uncle Li whispered low while his eyes darted about as though wary of anyone approaching.
The shocking revelation of the accusation formed a knot in Ronghe's stomach, tightening with the realisation that the Grand Prince thought of him as one of those sick perverts who preyed on vulnerable children.
"But I told him you're a good man who treated Ahan as a younger brother."
Ronghe felt faint. Now, the Grand Prince might have mistaken Ahan for his illegitimate brother. Wait, was this why they took Ahan away? Ronghe smacked his forehead.
"That's not it…they found Ahan's old home. That's why the Grand Prince is keeping him," Uncle Li continued, looking puzzled by Ronghe's reaction. He thought he did a good job defending the magistrate.
"What old home? Did Ahan ever tell you where he came from?" Ronghe asked. Ahan had never spoken to him about where he came from.
Uncle Lee shook his head and his eyes brightened. "But I can show you the location they asked about."
Ronghe walked to his book shelf and opened a box to retrieve a folded cloth map. He placed the map on the table and beckoned to Uncle Li to show.
Uncle Li pointed to the virgin forest marked on the map. "There."
"Do you know anything about it?" Ronghe glanced at the map. There were no symbols or word to show any village where Uncle Li's fingertip laid. Just painted green blotches of thick forest on the cloth.
"Well, there are stories of people hiding deep within the forest. Some say they are bandits, but others say that they are fugitives hiding from the law," Uncle Li said. "And I heard the guard saying that there were burnt bones there. But forest fires often happen around the area in summer when the air is dry, and the sun is strong enough to burn."
Ronghe rubbed his chin, contemplating Uncle Li's world. If so, then they would have released Ahan together with Uncle Li. There must be more to Ahan's story. And he probably won't know until he delivered his ruling on the case.