Huang Liuhong Lesson 2

The year is 1670. You have just become the magistrate of Tancheng county of Shandong province in the northeast of the Great Qing empire. One of your first tasks is to adjudicate a murder case filed by a local, Li Yuan, involving a “homicide of four persons” in the same family. You have dispatched your constables to investigate, but residents seem reluctant to discuss the case for reasons that are not quite clear. (unless: (visited: "Li Yuan's Testimony") is true)[[[Question Li Yuan->Li Yuan's Testimony]]] [[Question Constable Yu->Yu Biao's Testimony]] (if: (visited: "Ask Yu for advice") is true)[ [[Question Guan Mingyu->Guan Mingyu’s Testimony]] ] [[Open journal->Journal]]

Li Yuan is the man who filed the charge of a “homicide of four persons” with the office of the county magistrate, but he has not yet named a culprit. You sense that he and others are afraid to publicly name the culprit, and so you invite him to speak with you after dark, hoping that it will not raise any alarms. [[Ask Li who the murder victims are->Ask Li About Victims]] [[Ask Li if he knows who committed the murder->Ask Li About Murderer]] [[Return to the Yamen->Yamen]]

You understand that the victims are all members of Li's own family, but you want to be sure that you have the facts right. "Your plaint is over the murder of four victims in one family," you point out to Li. "For my records, can you tell me who the victims are?" A clearly distraught Li Yuan nods and says, "Yes. The victims are my father, Li Dongzhen, and my three youngest brothers -- his fifth, sixth, and seventh sons." [[Ask Li who committed the murder->Ask Li About Murderer]] [[Return to the Yamen->Yamen]]

Strangely, Li has not yet accused anyone yet in the case. "You haven't named a culprit," you point out to Li. "Do you have any idea who committed the murder?" Li hesitates for just a moment, then blurts out: "Of course! It was the scoundrel Wang San, his son Wang Guoxi, and their henchmen. They broke into my father's house and murdered him in cold blood." (set: $Discovery1 to "Li Yuan believes the killer was Wang San.") [[Ask Li who the victims are->Ask Li About Victims]] [[Ask Li how his father was killed->Ask Li About Father's Death]] [[Return to the Yamen->Yamen]]

Your constable Yu Biao has lived in Tancheng longer than you have and is close to many of the residents, but he seems nervous when you ask him about the case. [[Ask Yu if he knows who the killer is->Ask Yu about Murderer]] [[Ask Yu for advice]] [[Return to the Yamen->Yamen]]

<br><br>(align:"=><====")[(b4r:"solid","none","none")+(b4r-colour:white)[ [[References]] ]]

The source material for this game is taken from historian Jonathan Spence's classic book, //The Death of Woman Wang//. Spence, Jonathan D. //The Death of Woman Wang//. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1979. [[Return to the Yamen->Yamen]]

(t8n: "fade")+(t8n-time: 2s)+(t8n-delay: 2s)[The Great Ming empire has fallen.] (t8n: "fade")+(t8n-time: 2s)+(t8n-delay: 5s)[The Manchus, a tributary people from the north, have seized the throne and declared an empire of the Great Qing.] (t8n: "fade")+(t8n-time: 2s)+(t8n-delay: 10s)[In Tancheng county, on the edge of northeast China’s Shandong province, life continues much as before. But war and natural disasters have thinned the population, and anti-Manchu rebels have turned into local strongmen.] (t8n: "fade")+(t8n-time: 2s)+(t8n-delay: 15s)[The year is 1670. You have just become the magistrate of Tancheng County.] (t8n: "fade")+(t8n-time: 2s)+(t8n-delay: 20s)[<br>Your name is Huang Liuhong.] (t8n: "fade")+(t8n-time: 2s)+(t8n-delay: 22s)[[[Click here to begin->Yamen]]]{ (set: $Discovery1 to "") (set: $Discovery2 to "") (set: $Discovery3 to "")}

You ask Yu if he knows who committed the crime. He looks very uncomfortable, but you aren't sure why, exactly. "Though I know who it is," he says eventually, "I dare not tell you the name." You suspect that Yu may be in danger if he says too much. But you need to get to the bottom of this case! [[Ask Yu for advice]] [[Return to the Yamen->Yamen]]

You ask Yu if he has any advice on how to proceed. "Tell me how we can catch the murderer," you demand. "The difficulty would not be in catching him," Yu explains, "but I'm afraid he'd get advance news of it." You contemplate for a moment. "Can you think of anyone who would like to be revenged on this robber?" you ask. Yu thinks for a long time, then answers: "There's a man in this county called ''Guan Mingyu'' whose younger brother was killed by the robber; every time he talks about it he is moved to tears, but he doesn't know how to take his revenge." [[Ask Yu if he knows who committed the crime->Ask Yu about Murderer]] [[Return to the yamen->Yamen]]

You are alarmed to hear that Li's own father was murdered in cold blood. Your heart aches for him. "How was your father killed," you ask. "I did not see it with my own eyes," he explains, "but when I collected his body, he had been stabbed twice, and his neck was slashed by some sort of blade. Those who were there say that he was attacked by a man with red face paint." "You must catch the monsters who did this!" he adds emphatically. [[Ask Li who the victims are->Ask Li About Victims]] [[Return to the Yamen->Yamen]]

Notes: $Discovery1 $Discovery2 $Discovery3 [[Return to Yamen->Yamen]]