The Death of Woman Wang

Jen and his father went to Huang’s court and accused Kao of having an affair with Wang and killing her. Kao’s wife provided an alibi that helped absolve him from the allegations. Interrogating witnesses and using fear of the City God to his advantage, Huang discerned the truth: Jen had killed Wang.

Jen and his father should have been executed for “falsely accusing an innocent person of a capital crime” (138), but because of Jen’s father’s old age, the fact that Jen was the family’s only son, and the circumstances of Wang’s adultery, Huang lightened the sentence. Jen’s father was absolved, while Jen was beaten and subjected to having to wear a cangue (pillory) in public.

Huang was also concerned about revenge from Wang’s ghost. To appease her spirit, he arranged to have Wang’s body “buried in a good coffin, in a plot of land near her home” (139). Kao had to pay for the burial as punishment for striking Jen in the face.