13 Results with the "Nine Lives of Unjust Suffering" tag

Chapter 11: A Violent Riot in the Hall of Abundant Harvest; Au Cheuk-hing Fattens His Pockets Twice Over Seeing the situation turn dire, Kwai-hing sent Hei-loi to fetch the “strategist” Cheuk-hing while he consulted Zong-kong. Before Cheuk-hing arrived, Zong-kong tried to bolster Kwai-hing’s courage: “She took poison herself! We didn’t force it down her throat. What is there to fear?” He had barely finished…

九命奇冤 (Nine Lives of Unjust Suffering) By Wu Jianren (吳趼人) Set in the Guangdong province during the Yongzheng era, the story begins with a horrific crime: the Liang family is brutally murdered when their home is set ablaze. Nine lives are lost in the inferno, but the tragedy doesn’t end there. The local wealthy gentry and corrupt officials conspire to bury the truth, framing…

Chapter 12: Commander Huang Favors the Thugs; Ling Kwai-hing Leads a Brazen Robbery After settling with his father-in-law, Ling Kwai-hing turned the “Hall of Abundant Harvest” into a site for a massive forty-nine-day funeral rite. Beneath the banner of “helping out,” his gang of thugs swarmed the house day and night, drinking and feasting. Kwai-hing, now free of the “nagging” of his wife and…

Nine Lives of Unjust Suffering Chapter 1: A Chaotic Outcry, The Bandits Strike First, A Slow Unfolding: The Prologue Begins “Hey! Mates! We’ve reached the spot! Look, the main gate is bolted tight. How do we break in?” “Bah! You fool! It’s just two wooden doors—you think we can’t smash through that? Come, come! Hand me my sledgehammer!” Crash! Boom! “What a racket!” “Success!…

Chapter 13: Zong-kong and Cheuk-hing Recommend Assassins; A Direct Assault and a Narrow Escape When Lady Leang and her sons heard that Kwai-hing was at the door, they hesitated for a long time, paralyzed by indecision. Finally, Lady Leang spoke: “Let him in. I will ask him myself why he persists in this vendetta. He is my nephew; surely he won’t dare harm me.…

Shareholders of Guangyuan Shop Dissolve Their Partnership; A Fortune-Teller Discusses the Stars on Saddle Street Guangdong has long been known as a region of immense prosperity, a gathering place for merchants where goods flow freely. Before the sea routes were fully opened, those traveling to the northern provinces mostly went through Jiangxi. On the border between Jiangxi and Guangdong stands Mount Nanxiong. This area…

Chapter 4: Anxiously Awaiting the Results as if Boiling; Casual Talk and Tall Tales About Feng Shui In the year of Bing-wu (1726), the results of the Guangdong provincial examinations were scheduled to be posted on the ninth day of the ninth month. By the eighth day, Ling Kwai-hing was already in a frantic state. He grabbed Zong-kong to plan the menu, arrange the…

Chapter 5: Family Ugly Scenes Over Daily Bread; Stirring Up Trouble Between Relatives Ling Kwai-hing’s ancestral home was in Mude-lisi, but his father’s wealth had allowed them to build a grand mansion in the provincial capital. Kwai-hing spent most of his time in the city under the guise of “studying,” but after the Feng Shui excursion, he stayed behind at the old house, sending…

Chapter 6: Minor Disputes Lead to a Breach; With Tigerish Greed, Kwai-hing Plots His Scheme Zong-kong, seeing that Kwai-hing was already enraged, added fuel to the fire: “When I heard him say those things, I couldn’t stand it for your sake. I argued with him, and the brothers and their father nearly came to blows with me. All the neighbors came to mediate, but…

Chapter 7: Forging a Three-Thousand Debt to Steal Three Hundred Silver; The Thugs Succeed While the Village Elder Suffers Au Cheuk-hing addressed Kwai-hing: “If we simply round up a mob to rob them on the road, bystanders will intervene, and it will ruin the Ling family’s reputation. I have a plan. We shall write a false promissory note that reads: ‘In the 48th year…