A Corrupt Official Takes Bribes and Alters the Case Files; A Talented Girl Expresses Her Feelings Through a Qin Score

After Aunt Xue finished reading the letter Xue Ke had sent, she called in the servant who had brought it and asked, “You heard the Elder Master say with your own ears—how exactly did he beat the man to death?” The servant said, “I did not hear the whole thing. That day the Elder Master was talking about it with the Second Master, Xue Ke.” Then he looked around to make sure no one else was nearby and lowered his voice: “The Elder Master said that ever since the household had been turned upside down, he had been feeling miserable, and he planned to go south to buy goods. That day he meant to ask a man to travel with him. The man lived more than two hundred li south of the city. On the way to see him, the Elder Master ran into Jiang Yuhan, an old acquaintance, who was bringing a troupe of young actors into town. The Elder Master dragged him into a tavern for a drink. The waiter there, Zhang San, kept eyeing Jiang Yuhan, which put the Elder Master in a very bad mood. Later Jiang Yuhan left first. The next day, the Elder Master treated the man he had originally planned......