The situation of the public trial for the April 12th Massacre had spiraled out of control to such an extent that continuing to allow observers seemed like an impossible task. The judge finally permitted reporters to observe, but ordinary masses were barred from entering the court. The public broadcast channels continued, and around several loudspeakers, tens of thousands of people gathered in seas of humanity.

China's *tanci*, storytelling, and operas have never lacked content regarding trials. However, those popular entertainments did not propagate fair trials, but rather propagated privilege and personal legends. The People's Party's trial of Feng Guozhang and Cai Yuanpei was the first time the people of Zhejiang witnessed what was called law, and what was called a trial. Before even hearing the prosecution's content, everyone already knew that Feng Guozhang and Cai Yuanpei were dead men walking. Having killed so many people and being caught by the People's Party, there was no reason for them not to die.

This trial conveyed a message to the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang: it turned out that even high-status individuals had to pay with their lives for slaughtering the common people. At least under the rule of the People's Party, the act of slaughtering commoners required the heads of those "big shots" as repayment. Although they didn't know why they were happy, most of the commoners who heard the trial felt a sense of elation. Some spoke loudly, declaring their stance or foresight. More commoners stood quietly, pricking up their ears to listen to what was actually happening inside the courtroom.

The situation inside the courtroom was not as solemn as outside. Feng Guozhang, Wang Ziming, and others were all from officialdom. According to their experience, being caught by the enemy was already a reason for certain death; whether they had slaughtered people was merely a side detail. In the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty and the Beiyang clique, the reason for sentencing was just to find a reasonable excuse for execution. In a state where hostile forces ensured they could kill the other party, drinking a mouthful of cold water could be a reason to sentence the enemy to death. The only method now was to express as much as possible that they personally had no hostility towards the People's Party. Given how bad the situation was, the chances of this succeeding were minuscule. However, when doing nothing meant certain death, doing something couldn't possibly make things worse. Without exception, these people pushed the responsibility onto Cai Yuanpei.

Cai Yuanpei was not angry. Facing everyone pushing the responsibility onto him, Cai Yuanpei actually didn't find it incomprehensible. He had never looked up to this bunch from Beiyang; their despicable and cowardly behavior completely fit Cai Yuanpei's judgment of Beiyang. After Feng Guozhang and the others had performed to their heart's content, Cai Yuanpei finally spoke, "The People's Party calls itself revolutionary, then wantonly slaughters counter-revolutionaries. As far as I know, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, have died at your hands. As the Speaker of the Zhejiang Assembly and the President of the Restoration Society, how I handle the affairs of the Restoration Society is my duty. Since I have fallen into your hands, there is naturally nothing to say. You can kill me however you wish. I just have a question: on what principle are you gentlemen killing me?"

These words, even if not sonorous and forceful, could be considered open and aboveboard. The judge had long discussed various possible situations with his colleagues, including the reactions of Cai Yuanpei and others. Differences in revolution were not Cai Yuanpei's crime. To break Cai Yuanpei's psychological defenses and make him admit he was a counter-revolutionary would indeed be satisfying. However, refuting Cai Yuanpei and judging Cai Yuanpei actually had no relation to each other. The former targeted personal thoughts, while the latter targeted actual actions. Personal thoughts were not the reason for bringing Cai Yuanpei to court. Nor were they reasons that needed to be discussed in court. If ideological issues were discussed in court, it could only be described as "not attending to proper duties."

The judge asked, "Cai Yuanpei, do you believe the prosecutor's accusations against your actions are incorrect? If you believe you did not do these things, you have the right to question and refute."

Cai Yuanpei's bellyful of thoughts were originally like a surging river, ready to gush out in words, but as soon as the judge mentioned "what was done," he was immediately rendered speechless. What was thought, what was said—these were matters where everyone had their own logic, and Cai Yuanpei was confident in arguing on the basis of reason with anyone. But as for what was done, unless one refused to admit it or hoped others hadn't discovered it, the facts certainly could not be erased.

Seeing Cai Yuanpei fall silent, the judge continued the trial proceedings.

Fan Ainong had worked in education. After following the Western Zhejiang Branch to join the People's Party, his attitude towards the People's Party was very positive, and he had now left the Restoration Society. As a probationary member of the People's Party, as the Acting Director of the Zhejiang Education Bureau, and also as one of the witnesses to the massacre, Fan Ainong appeared in the witness box.

There were not many witnesses to the Wujialing Massacre who were innocent; Fan Ainong was one of them. When Cai Yuanpei saw Fan Ainong appear in front of him, his eyebrows twitched slightly. Fan Ainong did not pay much attention to Feng Guozhang and the others; his gaze also fell on Cai Yuanpei's face. Both of them had once appreciated each other greatly, but now they appeared in court as irreconcilable opponents. Neither of them was calm. Before Cai Yuanpei could see Fan Ainong's expression clearly, he saw Fan Ainong turn his head away.

The procedures in court were fixed. After asking for the witness's name and other basic information, the judge asked Fan Ainong if he knew that giving false testimony would lead to punishment under criminal law. Fan Ainong stated that he knew and would completely follow a realistic and pragmatic attitude, and that his testimony was all based on what he had seen with his own eyes.

After the initial process ended, under the prosecutor's questioning, Fan Ainong introduced what he had seen and heard at the time. No lyricism, no criticism. He simply introduced under what circumstances he arrived at Wujialing, the river dyed red with blood, the execution process he witnessed, several piles of corpses, the identities of the executioners, and Fan Ainong's conversation with them. Then Fan Ainong withdrew.

Cai Yuanpei did not care about these killing processes. Firstly, he had heard too much of such scenes; secondly, he didn't really care how many people were killed. The Party Purge was originally meant to kill all the chaotic parties; it would be strange not to kill people. The only thing that caught Cai Yuanpei's attention was Fan Ainong's demeanor. Without looking at Cai Yuanpei again, Fan Ainong simply withdrew. Cai Yuanpei really appreciated Fan Ainong, a straightforward and justice-minded young man. Cai Yuanpei was somewhat puzzled by Fan Ainong's cold performance.

Next, the prosecutor summoned other witnesses. Wen Side, the head of the Wujialing militia, had been shot dead, but many other militia members had been captured. When the militia's deputy head, nicknamed Tiger You, was brought up, his expressions were much richer. During the interrogation, whenever there was a chance, Tiger You would try every means to push the responsibility onto the dead Wen Side. If one didn't listen to the statement of facts, Tiger You's other words simply described himself as a pure and kind little white rabbit who ate vegetarian food, chanted Buddha's name, and didn't even dare to step on an ant. Of course, Tiger You's appearance did not match his description. A long scar ran down the right side of his face like a centipede. This was said to have been chopped out by a group of Hainan bandits when Tiger You was escorting goods in the south. In Tiger You's fierce self-vindication, the scar not only twisted but also stood out prominently with the changes in his skin color, as if the centipede had come alive.

The judge and prosecutor managed to ask about many specific occurrences. Wen Side had accepted instructions from Beiyang and, under the funding and command of local gentry and landlords, carried out the massacre at Wujialing. The official documents of the Beiyang Army were also confiscated. After Tiger You was taken down, the Beiyang Army officer who commanded this matter was also brought up to provide testimony. The Beiyang Army officer proved that he had signed it, and the one who ordered the signing of these documents was a higher-ranking commander.

The chain of evidence was pulled out link by link. Finally, human testimony and physical evidence all proved that this was an action planned by the Zhejiang government based on documents approved by Feng Guozhang, and the purge list attached to the documents formulated by Cai Yuanpei. Its purpose was to use the mode of physical elimination to completely kill off the members of the Western Zhejiang Branch in the Wujialing area, as well as the members of the local Peasant Association.

The judge asked Feng Guozhang and Cai Yuanpei if this was true. Feng Guozhang quickly explained, "If not for Cai Yuanpei's list, I wouldn't even know where Wujialing is. Cai Yuanpei wrote the list, Yuan Shikai gave the order, and I signed the document. I'm just a worker!"

Cai Yuanpei didn't want to defend against this question at all. Even the list and the original official documents had been confiscated by the People's Party; what else was there to say?

"Cai Yuanpei, you drafted this list, correct?" the judge asked.

Although reluctant, Cai Yuanpei answered, "Yes!"

"You drafted this list requiring people to be killed according to it. Is that so?" the judge continued to ask.

"Yes!" Cai Yuanpei felt his momentum was too weak, so he raised his head and answered in a louder voice. After saying this, Cai Yuanpei finally added a sentence, "I drafted this list for them to kill chaotic parties. There were absolutely no women or children in the list."

The court clerk swiftly recorded the speeches of everyone in the court. Hearing Cai Yuanpei say this, Feng Guozhang quickly interrupted, "I only wrote an official document to second the motion; I didn't ask the people below to slaughter those women and children either!"

All the upper-level handlers immediately emphasized their innocence in this way. The lower-level suspects simply cried and howled, adding, "There were so many official documents at that time. I was in a hurry to go to a banquet and didn't read what was on the document at all. I just signed it casually. I really didn't mean to. I couldn't not sign it at the time! If I didn't sign, I would have been treated as a chaotic party and killed by Feng Guozhang, Cai Yuanpei, and the others! I was forced! I was forced!"

The court was not a place for lyricism; the job of the trial was to determine whether the events that occurred were true. Since these people admitted that these things were true, the trial continued to the next fact.

Cai Yuanpei felt that these people from the People's Party were really enduring enough. They never mentioned why, only asking what happened. No speculation, no fabrication, just taking out all the evidence. And looking at it, they seemed to really intend to clarify everything that had happened. If they simply wanted to kill people, just the things that had already been proven were enough to drag all the suspects out and kill them. Even sentencing them to death by *lingchi* (slow slicing) would be enough. Cai Yuanpei really couldn't figure out what medicine was sold in the People's Party's gourd.

Cai Yuanpei inside the courtroom could not hear the sounds outside, but Fan Ainong, who walked out of the courtroom after testifying, heard clearly and saw plainly. Among the masses listening to the trial through electric loudspeakers, waves of shouts to kill arose. The political propagandists of the People's Party stood in front of the masses, loudly proclaiming the People's Party's concepts, "Folks, fellow countrymen! No matter who it is, no one can punish others for things they haven't done. We, the People's Party, arrested these people not because they were officials, but because they did bad things! We won't let bad people who did bad things go. Everyone, is that right?"

"Right! Absolutely cannot let bad people go!" The masses responded enthusiastically.

"For those who did bad things, we absolutely cannot let them go. For those who didn't do bad things, we also absolutely cannot wrong them! Everyone, is that right?"

"Right!" The masses continued to respond enthusiastically.

Fan Ainong stood with a gloomy face around the excited masses, quietly watching the masses echo the propaganda of the People's Party cadres. Although his face was cold, Fan Ainong was very excited in his heart. He had once admired Cai Yuanpei very much, so Fan Ainong was half angry and half pained that Cai Yuanpei had done such a thing. Seeing that revolutionary senior of high moral character actually reduced to such a state, Fan Ainong felt even worse than if he had been reduced to such a state himself.

But this was the fact, something that had happened. Facing indisputable facts, Fan Ainong couldn't bear to look at Cai Yuanpei in court at all, because he didn't know what he would say if he kept staring at Cai Yuanpei. In the heat wave formed by the indignant emotions of the masses, Fan Ainong felt a little better in his heart. The fluctuations of the outside world were strong enough, which actually made Fan Ainong feel that the excitement in his heart appeared calm. If he were alone, Fan Ainong would have no way to handle his mood.

And this cold performance was so out of place with the outside world that some people had already noticed Fan Ainong. More and more people looked at Fan Ainong, with expressions ranging from incomprehension to resentment on their faces. Seeing Fan Ainong continue to stand there thoughtfully, some of the masses' movements were eager, probably wanting to come over and question Fan Ainong.

Just then, a hand was suddenly placed on Fan Ainong's shoulder. Fan Ainong slowly turned his head and saw Xu Dian, the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, standing behind him with two bailiffs. Xu Dian's hand was resting on Fan Ainong's shoulder.

Although the masses didn't know Xu Dian, they could see that Xu Dian was a high official of the People's Party. The emblem on his uniform and the guards following behind him proved Xu Dian's identity. Seeing Xu Dian affectionately put his arm around Fan Ainong's shoulder and walk out of the circle together, the masses who had originally intended to find trouble with Fan Ainong in their excitement immediately gave up on this idea.

Just then, the People's Party cadres were shouting slogans, and the attention of the masses instantly turned back to the intense emotions gathered by the propaganda.

Xu Dian said something when he pulled Fan Ainong out, but at that time, voices were noisy, and Fan Ainong didn't hear clearly at all. Walking to a place far away from the gathering place of the masses, Xu Dian spoke again, "Comrade Fan Ainong, you feel very bad in your heart, right?"

To this question, Fan Ainong only responded with a long sigh.

"Let's go, let's stroll around West Lake. I've been in Hangzhou for a few days, but I haven't had time to walk around West Lake. If I return to Wuhan and people ask about West Lake, even if I can't say exactly what's good about West Lake, I should at least be able to say what West Lake looks like," Xu Dian laughed.

Fan Ainong knew that Xu Dian was doing this to ease the atmosphere, but he really had no intention of chatting. However, he couldn't refuse Xu Dian's invitation. He nodded silently and followed Xu Dian towards West Lake.

Arriving at the lakeside, Fan Ainong saw an old friend, Zhou Shuren, already waiting there. After the People's Party took control of Zhejiang, Fan Ainong and Zhou Shuren were now colleagues again. Fan Ainong was the Acting Director of the Zhejiang Education Bureau, recently focusing on the construction of the Political Science and Law College. Zhou Shuren was the Acting Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Education Bureau, recently focusing on the construction of the Medical College.

The three walked side by side by the West Lake. Xu Dian spoke, "I once heard a saying: the truth will never hurt us. I wonder what thoughts you two have on this."

Zhou Shuren had always been steady, so he was just slightly stunned but did not speak. Fan Ainong, however, had a fierce temperament. He didn't care at all about the huge gap in rank between him and Xu Dian; he glared at Xu Dian fiercely with a look of disgust.