In June, it was time to carry out the execution. The day was very hot. Lots of people congregated at the execution ground. Dou E, bound in heavy chains, was led through the streets as a warning to the public. She was filled with grief and indignation. At the time, Cai rushed out of the crowd, jumped on her and wept bitterly. She cried out, “Mom, don’t cry for me any more. After today, please just come to see my grave at festivals, and bring me some food if there is extra that you don’t need. Burn me some paper money also.” Cai was choked with sobs and her wailing was deeply sad.
The overseer of the execution ordered that the time was up. Dou E’s chains were taken off. She went down on her knees, and begged, “My lord, I have a petition. Please grant my last request. ”
“Ok. Ok. Go ahead.”
“I need a clean white silk mat four meters long hung. If I am innocent, my blood will splash onto the silk and not one drop will fall on the ground. ”
“I will grant your wish. Anything else? ”
She went on, “If I am to be persecuted to death, after my death, over one metre of snow will fall to cover my innocent body.”
The overseer laughed, “It is the height of summer. Even if what you say is true, it is not possible for even one piece of snow to fall. Don’t talk nonsense.”
Dou E got down on her knees once again, “My lord, I am unjustly condemned! If Gods are listening, I curse Chuzhou with three years of drought.”
At that very moment, the sky grew dark. A wind began to blow and the air got colder and colder. The overseer ordered the executioner to carry out his duties. He raised his knife, and Dou E fell dead. Her blood fell onto the piece of white silk – and not one drop of it fell on the ground. The official was shocked. In a very short time, he was even more shocked because large snowflakes started to fall from the sky. The overseer quickly wrote his verdict, “This girl must have suffered a terrible injustice. Her first two prophesies have come true; if the third one happens, it will be disaster for all of us.”
After Dou E’s death, no rain fell in Chuzhou for the following three years. In the third year, a senior official from Lianghuai (encompassing the areas of Huaiyin County and Huai’an County) and Lianfang was sent to investigate local officials’ performance and to put to right cases that had been badly handled. This man was none other than Dou E’s father, Dou Tianzhang.
Sixteen years before, Dou had left his daughter to go to Chang’an to take the imperial exams. He had achieved the grade of Jin-Shi – successful candidate in the highest imperial examination, and had become an official in Chang’an. He had sent emissaries to look for Dou E. But Cai had already moved away. Nobody knew where they had gone.
Dou had been trying to find her ever since.
Dou was an honest official and he enjoyed the unwavering trust of the emperor. On this occasion, he was appointed as Lianghuai-Lianfang Inspector. Upon his arrival, he heard that Chuzhou had suffered droughts for three successive years. He wanted to investigate the circumstances of the local people.
When he got to Chuzhou, Dou Tianzhang got straight to work. The first case he looked at was the trial of Dou E for murdering her father-in-law. He did not know Duanyun had changed her name to Dou E. When he read that a young woman who had the same first name as him had committed such a wicked crime, he sighed deeply and put it at the bottom of his list of cases to be looked at.
He took out the second case, but suddenly felt tired. So he bent over and took a nap on the desk. In a dream, he saw a young woman. She said she was his daughter Duanyun and told him that Cai had changed her name to Dou E. She was the woman who was accused of killing her father-in-law in that case.
Dou looked at her carefully and saw that she was his daughter. Sternly he asked her “As my daughter, how could you commit such an unforgivable crime? And now how dare you come to see me?”
Dou E got down on her knees, “Father, I was wrongly accused. I beg you to believe me and not to think me capable of such a terrible crime.”Then, she told him the whole story.
After hearing the truth, Dou Tianzhang said, “It seems you were indeed treated unjustly. I will redress your injustice after I check the whole thing out.”
It became light. Dou Tianzhang woke up and thought that perhaps it was all just a dream. But something still troubled him and he resolved to open the case again.
That night, Dou Tianzhang studied the case carefully. The second day, he sent some people to arrest Sai Luyi and Zhang Lu’er and he also summoned Cai. All were brought to the Yamen. Dou interrogated Zhang first. At the beginning, Zhang denied everything. However, Dou E’s ghost had been hounding him since her death. He was frightened out of his wits and started to beg for mercy. Then Sai Luyi was brought before the official. He knew the cat was out of the bag so he confessed his crimes openly. This forced Zhang too to make a full confession.
Dou Tianzhang reversed the original verdict: Zhang Lu’er was sentenced to death; Sai Luyi was permanently exiled to a remote wilderness for attempted murder and the illegal sale of bane; the Chuzhou prefect Taowu, for misuse of authority and executing an innocent person received, a hundred lashes and was dismissed from his post. Dou E was declared innocent.
The case was concluded. Dou Tianzhang met with Cai. He promised to bring her back home and provide for her for the rest of her life.
