Woman Disguised as a Man: the Key Criminal in Dongchang Was Killed at the Beginning of the Trial

Lu Ying disguised herself as a man and infiltrated the Northern Embroidered Uniform Guard. On her very first day, she interrogated an important Eastern Depot prisoner to death. Her face stayed calm, but inside she was freaking out. Old He told me to dress as a man, not to interrogate someone to death! When Wang Xinchun, a thousand-household commander of the Eastern Depot, came to claim the prisoner, she opened Room B: “You wanted him alive, but he didn’t make it.” She failed to save the man, but managed to save herself: she dodged water, shut the door before taking off her clothes, and turned away whenever she saw a young woman. From then on, everyone in the Northern Embroidered Uniform Guard believed she was a delicate young guard who had been bitten by a dog as a child and was afraid of water, undressing, and young women. Only Wang Xinchun didn’t believe it. He didn’t expose her. “The Eastern Depot has good tea. Come by often.” She had half a list and a copper coin, and both pointed to her father’s death. Before he died, her father had said, “Stay away from that thread in the palace.” But she was determined to follow it. There was no spring in the Northern Embroidered Uniform Guard, but she was going to drag spring in with her own hands.