Year 1 of the Xining era (1068 CE), Dengzhou Prefectural Prison.
The prison was damp, gloomy, and filled with a nauseating stench. Rows of wooden bars divided the small prison into more than twenty cell.
Inside each cell, there was a bed made of bricks, and on the brick bed, there was a pile of dried grass called a “mattress.” It could barely accommodate a person who was 1.6m tall with their legs stretched out. Next to the bed, there was an old, wooden bucket. Besides that, there was nothing else, so it was unclear whether the bucket was for washing or for urinating.
Just living here was already a form of torture.
For those who committed heinous crimes, all of this was what they deserved.
But there were always exceptions. Not everyone who lived here ought to be here.
The sound of clanging could be heard.
The prison door opened, and two jailers entered. Even though they were accustomed to coming here, they instinctively covered their mouths and noses upon entering, casting angry and disdainful glances at every prisoner inside, as if reproaching them, asking why they were so unclean or perhaps wondering how they managed to survive here for so long.
But the prisoners remained motionless. Only a few of them glanced lightly, then continued to doze off. It was not like what was shown on TV, where the prisoners would cry out for justice as soon as the prison doors opened.
It was evident that they understood their situation, or rather, they had already lost hope and had no expectations.
The two jailers suppressed their nausea as they approached the innermost cell. Inside, they saw a person sitting with his back against the wall, his head bowed, and his face covered with unkempt hair. Therefore, his appearance was unclear. However, his attire was different from the others. He wore a round-collared gray garment on top and tapered trousers below. But like the others, he wore a pair of straw sandals adorned with fresh scabs of blood.
Just like the others, this person showed no reaction to the arrival of the two jailers.
One of the jailers shouted, “Zhang San.”
Only then did the prisoner slowly raise his head. Although his face was somewhat dirty, it couldn’t hide his handsome features. He seemed to be around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.
“You can leave now,” one of the jailers said.
As he spoke, the jailer opened the prison door.
The young man, known as Zhang San, showed no signs of surprise on his face. He simply closed his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, and slowly got up. He walked outside the door, stretched his arms slightly, and, to the astonishment of the two jailers, he towered over them by more than half a head. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow and questioned the jailers, “That’s it?”
The two jailers were puzzled by the question and exchanged glances. One of them, slightly confused, replied, “What else could there be?”
The other jailer wasn’t as polite and retorted, “What do you want?”
Zhang San suddenly chuckled and said, “Please don’t misunderstand, I just wanted to thank the prefect for clearing my name and express my gratitude to both of you for taking care of me these past days.”
“That’s more like it,” the expressions of the two jailers softened a bit.
Zhang San suddenly asked, “By the way, which direction is the main gate of the prefectural office?”
“Why do you ask?” one jailer looked at him warily.
Zhang San sincerely replied, “You see, I know the prefect is busy with official matters and can’t personally receive my thanks. That’s why I want to bow before the main gate to show my appreciation.”
The two jailers found his reasoning reasonable. After all, it was indeed the prefect who helped Zhang San clear his name. So they told Zhang San how to go to the prefectural office’s main gate.
Zhang San stepped out of the prison. Although it was early autumn, the sun hanging in the sky still felt scorching, as if it were midsummer. The intense sunlight made it difficult for Zhang San to open his eyes. He felt the piercing beams of light shining on him, nearly causing him to faint.
The two jailers immediately went to support him, then forcefully brought him to the front gate of the prefectural prison. They pushed him out and closed the gate behind him.
As long as he didn’t faint within the prison, it had nothing to do with them.
In other words, go die somewhere else.
Feeling dizzy already, Zhang San almost stumbled after being pushed. With all his strength, he managed to steady himself, hunching over and gasping for breath before slowly straightening up. Suddenly, he lifted his head, and the friendly smile that was there before had vanished, replaced by a face full of indignation.
Ignoring the glaring sunlight, he opened his eyes wide with anger and vented his dissatisfaction, “Even the sun tortures me! This is truly outrageous.”
In fact, his name wasn’t Zhang San; his real name was Zhang Fei. Moreover, he wasn’t a person from the Northern Song Dynasty but a junior lawyer from a thousand years later.
He remembered that afternoon when he was on a business trip, and on the way back, he unfortunately encountered a flash flood. He and the car were swept away together. He struggled for his life in the car for a while. Although he managed to escape from the vehicle, he couldn’t withstand the raging flood. He felt his body becoming heavier, his consciousness gradually fading. However, when he resurfaced, he found himself leaning in the arms of a young girl.
The girl had saved him and then had left quickly.
In a daze, he noticed that the girl was dressed in ancient attire, which piqued his curiosity, but he didn’t think too much about it.
After a long time, he finally recovered from the drowning. As he felt around his body, he realized he had nothing on him. His phone and everything else were left in the car. Even the new pair of sneakers he bought was gone. Planning to borrow a phone from someone, he suddenly encountered several men dressed as ancient runners,[1] who arrested him.
Zhang Fei was dumbfounded. Who were these crazy people? He resisted desperately, even hurling threats, urging them to go back and have the court issue a proper summons. As a result, he was beaten until he vomited sour water and was tightly bound.
What made it worse was that he couldn’t understand what they were saying, and the people he encountered on the road all avoided him. Moreover, all these passersby were also dressed in ancient clothing.
It was only when he saw the ancient city gate that he gradually realized that he might have transmigrated back in time.
However, the stranger part was still to come. He seemed to be involved in a murder case.
Due to the language barrier, communication between the parties was exceptionally difficult. He couldn’t even clearly state his own name.
Before he could figure everything out, he was thrown into a prison cell.
It was while communicating with other prisoners in the cell that he gradually learned the language spoken there and finally understood what had happened.
It turned out he had traveled to the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The woman who saved him that day was named Ayun, from Penglai County in Dengzhou Prefecture. A year ago, her mother passed away, and her uncle arranged for her to marry a farmer named Wei A Da in the neighboring village.
This Wei A Da was well-known in the vicinity for being extremely ugly. On the other hand, Ayun was well-known in the vicinity for being stunningly beautiful.
Naturally, Ayun was unwilling to be married to Wei A Da. But in feudal society, women did not decide on their own marriage. Most women could endure it, as even the ugliest person could become less ugly if you saw them enough, and the handsomest person would become ordinary if you saw them every day.
A resolute woman might have sought her own death.
But Ayun was different. On that day, under the cover of night, she sneaked into the neighboring village with a blade and attempted to kill Wei A Da, who was by his fields. However, being a weak woman, none of her strikes hit any vital spots despite swinging the blade more than ten times. She only managed to cut off one of Wei A Da’s fingers.
Filled with fear and seeing Wei A Da covered in blood, Ayun believed she had killed him. She hastily left the scene. On her way back home, she coincidentally encountered Zhang Fei, who seemed to be drowning. Therefore, she saved him.
Coincidentally, a passing firewood gatherer saw Ayun embracing Zhang Fei, so when the authorities were investigating Ayun’s motive for murder, they suspected Ayun and Zhang Fei of adultery and conspiring to murder Wei A Da.
To make matters worse, Zhang Fei couldn’t understand what they were saying and couldn’t explain himself. So he was imprisoned.
This imprisonment lasted for three months.
Faced with this unjust calamity, Zhang Fei once felt despair.
In the feudal era, being imprisoned usually meant there was little chance of being released. However, after he learned some of the local language, he immediately offered an explanation. Since he didn’t know how to pronounce the character “Fei” in his name, he introduced himself as Zhang San.[2]
Fortunately, the prefect wasn’t completely clueless. Ayun had already confessed and accepted her punishment. After a thorough investigation, it was finally determined that Ayun’s confession was true, and Zhang Fei was not her accomplice.
As for Zhang Fei’s explanation of his origins, due to the prosperous commercial activities during the Song Dynasty and the widespread practice of avoiding census registration, it wasn’t thoroughly investigated by the authorities. It would be an extremely cumbersome task.
And more importantly, it had nothing to do with the current case.
Hence, Zhang Fei was released this day.
But for Zhang Fei, suppressing his anger and frustration became increasingly difficult! His heart was filled with anger and resentment, as if it would burst from his chest. He desperately needed a place to vent.
After leaving the prefectural prison, he detoured to the front gate of the government office. Facing the solemn main gate, he took a deep breath and headed straight for it.
However, this wasn’t a small county office but a prefectural office. There were guards stationed at the gate, and when they saw a disheveled man rushing toward them, they immediately stepped forward to intercept him.
One of the guards shouted sternly, “Halt! This is an important place of government, you cannot enter without permission.”
Zhang Fei’s face became serious, but he replied with righteousness, “I am here to file a complaint.”
Saying so, he took out a letter written in blood which he had prepared in prison and handed it over.
He had studied the ancient judicial system of China before and read numerous books, so he was able to write most of the traditional Chinese characters.
“A complaint?” The two guards appeared somewhat surprised. However, seeing the blood-written letter, they didn’t dare to ignore it. One of them asked Zhang Fei to wait while the other hurriedly went inside.
After a while, a middle-aged man with a mustache came out of the gate.
This person’s name was Liu Hai, a clerk of the prefectural office responsible for reviewing and delivering written complaints.
“Who is filing a complaint?” he asked.
“It’s me,” Zhang Fei immediately replied.
Liu Hai stared at him, feeling that this person looked somewhat familiar, though he couldn’t recall where he had seen him. Curious, he accepted the written complaint and looked at the signature. Suddenly, he remembered and looked up at Zhang Fei, exclaiming, “It’s you?”
Zhang Fei nodded with a slight smile. “Yes, it’s me.”
Liu Hai furrowed his brow and looked at the complaint. After a moment, a shocked expression appeared on his face. He immediately turned and rushed back inside.
Although the guards at the gate had once arrested Zhang Fei, they were also curious. They had worked in the prefectural office for many years, but they had never seen a situation like this before. If this was someone who was aggrieved, why had they arrested him？
Could it be another sensational case?
One of the guards couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer and asked Zhang Fei, “Young man, who are you filing a complaint against, and for what reason?”
Zhang Fei replied, “I am filing a complaint against a person named Xu Zun.”
Xu Zun?
The name sounded familiar!
Suddenly, one of the guards understood and pointed at Zhang Fei with shock and anger. “Audacious commoner! How dare you file a complaint against our prefect!”
It turned out that the person in question, Xu Zun, was none other than the prefect of Dengzhou.
[1] In ancient China, officials, clerks, and runners had distinct roles within the bureaucratic system. Officials were appointed by the central imperial government, and usually had to pass the civil examinations. They were in charge of implementing the policies of the imperial government. Clerks were educated but unable to pass the civil examinations. They supported the system by maintaining records and drafting documents. Runners could be conscripted or hired. They performed menial tasks like delivering messages, chasing for taxes, and escorting prisoners.
[2] The “san” in Zhang San means three. So Zhang San is a very casual name or nickname which literally means “third son of the Zhang family”.
