Futile Devices Scans

“Young Master,” Old Tao called in a lowered voice.

Tao Mo quickly sat up from the mat and hurried to the iron bars in three long strides, lowering his voice even further than Old Tao’s. “Why are you here?”

“I came to see Young Master.” Old Tao surveyed the cell, his brows drawing into a deep frown. Never mind that it was dark and damp—there was not even a bed, only a mat that had likely been trampled by countless people, with a filthy, thin, undersized quilt spread over it. “I will get Young Master out of here!” Back then, his fear of danger from every direction and his indecisiveness had allowed Master Tao to die unjustly. This time, he absolutely would not repeat the same mistake.

Tao Mo shook his head. “I am not leaving.”

“Young Master!” Old Tao raised his voice slightly.

Tao Mo hurriedly made a shushing gesture. “I cannot deny the charges the prefect has listed against me. I deserve to be punished.”

“The prefect is deliberately targeting you,” Old Tao said.

“If I were not riddled with flaws, how could he target me?”

“Riddled with flaws?” Old Tao could not be bothered to consider whether that expression was appropriate at such a time. “Has Young Master forgotten how Master Tao died?”

Tao Mo’s face went pale. Biting his lip, he shook his head forcefully. “It is precisely because I have not forgotten that I cannot leave.”

“The prefect has no authority to imprison Young Master.”

“And I have even less authority to escape from prison,” Tao Mo said. “If I knowingly respond to another person’s wrongdoing by committing an even greater wrong myself, would that not be utterly mistaken?”

For the first time, Old Tao discovered that Tao Mo could be so eloquent. “Where there is life, there is hope. Young Master should return to the inn with me first, and we can make further plans. With Adviser Jin… and Gu She present, you need not worry about encountering difficulties under the law.”

“Even if I could justify it under the law, I could not justify it to myself,” Tao Mo said. “This time, I was the one at fault first. Had the prefect not said that the county magistrate must be present when the coroner examines a body, I would not even have known such a regulation existed. As the parent official of an entire county, I ought to shoulder the responsibility of guiding its people. Yet in the end, I am less familiar with the law than an adviser or litigation master. With that being the case, how could I have the face to openly demand that I be released from this cell?”

Old Tao fell silent for a long while before saying, “Young Master, I fear this matter is connected to Huang Guangde.”

“We should judge the matter itself. If I was wrong, then I was wrong. What difference does it make who is or is not behind it? Even if it truly was Huang Guangde, at least regarding this matter, his accusation was correct and I was at fault,” Tao Mo said. “Since I was wrong, I ought to be punished. I deserve this.”

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Old Tao sighed. “I will have people protect you in secret. If anything truly happens, remember to shout loudly. I mean if they use torture or abuse their authority.”

Tao Mo nodded. “You should also take care.” If the person behind this truly was Huang Guangde, then he would never let matters end here. When that time came, Old Tao, Adviser Jin, and Gu She might all be in danger.

Old Tao removed his padded coat and pushed it through the iron bars. “The nights are cold. You have only just recovered from your illness and cannot afford to catch a chill.”

Tao Mo was about to refuse, but Old Tao seemed to know what he would say. The moment he pushed the coat through, he turned and left so quickly that Tao Mo had no time even to call after him. Tao Mo could only hold the coat and silently lie back down upon the mat.

After giving Tao Mo his coat, Old Tao was chilled to the bone. He finally returned to the inn and was about to climb beneath the blankets when he saw Gu She standing outside his door. Judging from his appearance, he had already been waiting for quite some time.

“Young Master Gu.” As Old Tao pushed open the door, he considered how to dismiss him, but the instant the door opened, Gu She stepped inside ahead of him. Old Tao said displeasedly, “It is the middle of the night. May I ask what guidance Young Master Gu has come to offer?”

Gu She did not circle around the matter. He came directly to the point. “How is he?”

Hearing his concern for Tao Mo, two or three parts of Old Tao’s irritation faded. He sighed. “How could he be in a place like that?”

Gu She pressed his lips together.

Remembering Gu She’s family background, Old Tao’s eyes lit up. “I wanted to rescue Young Master, but he refused. Unless the prefect shows leniency and personally permits his release.”

Gu She said nothing.

Old Tao grew somewhat impatient and spoke plainly. “Is Young Master Gu willing to help?”

“In your opinion…”

“Chancellor Gu has students and protégés throughout the realm. Surely such a minor matter would be no difficulty?” Old Tao inwardly cursed him for putting on airs and asking what he already knew.

Gu She said blandly, “What does Chancellor Gu’s influence have to do with me?”

Old Tao frowned. From the sound of it, Gu She was unwilling to intervene.

“Do you know why he refused to let you rescue him?” Gu She asked.

“He said he deserved punishment. But what sort of crimes are those two accusations the prefect listed? If we are truly speaking of crimes, the prefect’s unauthorized detention of an imperial official is the greater one!”

“He refused to let you rescue him because doing so would lack proper justification,” Gu She said. “If I invoked my father’s reputation, would that make it properly justified?”

Old Tao was rendered speechless. Gu She was indeed Chancellor Gu’s son, but Gu She himself held no official position. Under imperial law, let alone the son of a chancellor, even an imperial prince could not arbitrarily interfere in local government affairs without an imperial edict or seal. If Gu She demanded Tao Mo’s release in Chancellor Gu’s name, it would not merely lack proper justification—it would amount to perverting the law for personal reasons.

“If I did that, would it not make Tao Mo appear even guiltier and the prefect utterly impartial?” Gu She asked.

Old Tao came from the Demon Sect and moved through the jianghu. He was accustomed to solving problems directly. Hearing Gu She explain it this way gave him a faint sense of sudden enlightenment, though naturally he would never admit it aloud. “Then in your opinion, what should we do?”

“Follow the proper procedure,” Gu She said.

“Follow the proper procedure? What procedure?”

“Beat the grievance drum.”

“…” Old Tao scoffed. “Although the prefect is targeting Young Master, as Young Master himself said, he did commit a minor fault first. If the prefect insists on making a major issue of it, there is nothing we can do. What grievance is there to proclaim?”

“If he has made no mistake, then find a way to make him commit one,” Gu She said. “If he has committed a small mistake, then turn it into a grave one.”

Old Tao asked, “You mean…”

“Detaining an imperial official without cause is already a mistake,” Gu She said. “At present, however, it remains only a minor one…”

“No.” Before he could finish, Old Tao refused decisively. “Young Master is physically weak. One day in a place like that is already torment enough. How could he possibly remain there for ten days or half a month?”

“Why would I devise such a simplistic plan?” Gu She asked.

Old Tao looked at him suspiciously.

Gu She’s expression remained blank. “Since he is to make a mistake, then let him make one so grave that he has no choice but to release Tao Mo without further pursuit—and perhaps even turn against those behind him.”

Early the next morning, there were few pedestrians on the streets.

Wrapped in a cloak, Gu She walked to the great drum outside the yamen and picked up the drumstick.

Gu Xiaojia grabbed his arm and said anxiously, “Young Master, are you… are you truly going to appear in court?”

“Mm.”

“Young Master has never appeared in court before. Why not return to Tanyang County and ask Master One-Hammer to act instead?”

“You do not trust me?” Gu She asked.

“It is not that I do not trust you, only…” Gu Xiaojia lowered his voice. “Given Young Master’s status, you truly should not soil yourself with a filthy place such as a yamen courtroom. If Young Master genuinely wishes to save Tao Mo, why not let me act instead? I could go persuade the prefect.”

Gu She silently looked at him, his expression as still as deep water.

Under his gaze, Gu Xiaojia’s heart began pounding with fear, and the hand gripping Gu She’s arm slowly loosened.

Boom!

Boom, boom, boom!

Boom, boom, boom!

…

The drumbeats rolled like thunder, each one shaking the heavens.

The prefect hurriedly took his place in court and glared at Gu She standing below. With practiced ease, he seized the gavel and slammed it down. “Who stands before this court?”

“This commoner is Gu She.”

“Why do you not kneel before this official?” the prefect demanded.

“I have come to seek redress.”

“If you have come to seek redress, why do you not kneel?”

“Because the person I have come to accuse is Your Excellency.”

“Outrageous!” The prefect slammed the gavel down heavily. “Do you know that when a commoner accuses an official, he must first suffer the paddle?”

“Then what if one official accuses another?”

The prefect sneered. “What official position do you hold?”

“I hold none, but my master does.”

The prefect began to understand. “Who is your master?”

“Tao Mo.”

“County Magistrate Tao neglected his duties and accepted illicit funds. I have already taken him into custody,” the prefect said. “Have you come to protest his innocence?”

“That is precisely why I am here.”

The prefect waved a hand. “The evidence of his crimes is conclusive. There is no injustice to redress!”

“In that case, I ask Your Excellency to enumerate the evidence against him one item at a time, so that we may be thoroughly convinced,” Gu She said.

Anger rose in the prefect’s heart. Pointing at Gu She’s nose, he shouted, “Insolence! Since I dared arrest Tao Mo, I naturally possess evidence. But who are you? Why should I show it to you?”

“I am merely an ordinary commoner,” Gu She said. “However, since Your Excellency says that you arrested Tao Mo, this commoner dares ask: under which law of our dynasty did Your Excellency dare to detain an official appointed by the imperial court without approval from the Ministry of Personnel or authorization from the Ministry of Justice?”

Adviser Jin, Old Tao, and Hao Guozi had been standing in the outer hall, listening in amazement as Gu She and the prefect exchanged verbal thrusts. It was the first time they had ever known that Gu She could speak so many words in a single breath.

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