25-year-old Henan resident Peng Jingjing (real name unknown) has accused Li Chun'en, vice chief of Pingqiao District in the city of Xinyang, of attempting to "force her into marriage."
Peng, an "advanced national-level tea expert" supposedly known as the "Tea Fairy of the Central Plains," told Legal Evening News that the 61-year-old government official demanded RMB60,000 from her if she did not become his wife or lover.
Li told reporters in a separate interview that he was the victim of "slander" and that his name will soon be cleared when the provincial discipline inspection committee concludes their investigation.
According to Peng's account, the two met at a dinner party in Spring last year, after which Li invited her to perform a tea ceremony at his countryside villa and expressed an interest in studying the art of tea under her. The two thus developed a relationship as "master and pupil," and Li would would sometimes gift her with items from his immense collection of antiques and calligraphy, and Peng would reciprocate with famous teas or by performing more tea ceremonies - a relationship Peng characterized as "returning politeness with politeness."
When Li was taken ill in April, Peng and her sister would often visit him in hospital and the two maintained in "constant constant" after Li was transferred to Wuhan to undergo surgery. When he returned to Xinyang in May, however, things took a serious turn for the weird.
On one afternoon in the middle of the month, Li showed up at Peng's tea studio and slapped a divorce certificate between him and his ex-wife on the table, announcing: "You're single and so am I. You must marry me today. If not, becoming my lover is also OK. If you don't agree, you have to give me RMB60,000." Peng says she pointed out the age difference between them and clearly said there are no way they could be together. Li left his divorce papers with her and told her to think it over.
RMB60,000 was Li's estimate for the sum of gifts he had given her, but Peng says that most of his gifts were fakes and all the tea she gave him and the countless tea ceremonies she performed easily for him easily made up for it.
On October 26, Peng was taken away by police as she was performing a program on tea culture and detained on suspicion of fraud. Although she was released later that night, she believes it was another attempt by Li to intimidate her into doing his will.
"Li has vast assets," Peng told reporters, "and it's completely corrupted his lifestyle."
[Images via iFeng]
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