As we approached it, I could see the prison was a depressing place, as I guess they are supposed to be the world over. It was a long, low building at the end of a dirty, packed-earth road on the furthest edge of town. There were half a dozen doors arranged along the side facing the road, and we could smell the odour of unwashed bodies and human despair as we got close. A grille was set at head height in each door, but the only one that showed evidence of a prisoner in residence was the end one. A pale, round face looked out of the interior gloom, only pulling back when we got close enough to begin to discern its features. Before she had stepped back, I had seen that they were those of a young, attractive woman.
As I knew Jianxu was a woman of only twenty years of age, despite already being a widow, I assumed the pale face had been hers. As we got closer, a short, bandy-legged Chinee appeared from behind the cells, and scurried over. He bowed low, grinning like some tame but fearful monkey. Knowing he would not speak a Latin tongue, or Turkish or even Mongol, I confined our conversation to the name of the person we were coming to see.
‘Jianxu.’
He hissed, and displayed his versatility by bowing and scurrying over to the end door at the same time. He motioned us over and bowed yet again, muttering something in his Chinee tongue. I looked pointedly at the bunch of keys hanging from his belt. In my most communicative way I nodded, and turned my gaze on the cell door. Bandy legs nodded eagerly back and grinned. Obviously my language skills were not working well. Then Gurbesu nudged me in the back and whispered in my ear.
‘He wants an emolument, you idiot.’
I frowned, and then enlightenment came.
‘Oh, a bribe, you mean.’
I produced a small coin from the purse at my waist, waving it in the air. Amazingly, my ability to communicate suddenly improved. The gaoler grabbed the coin, and inserted a large key in the lock of the cell door. Peering through the grille to make sure the prisoner was not going to rush out, he pushed the door inwards. Before he went in himself, he grabbed a large plank that stood against the outside wall of the cell block. It was split in half, hinged, and had a hole in the middle of it. I realized what it was, having seen petty thieves in Xanadu being punished using it. It was a cangue, which the Chinee called mu jia, and was a sort of large, flat collar that prevented the wearer from escaping simply by its bulk. Sometimes, it was used as a means of punishment in itself. The offender wearing it could not reach round to feed himself, and so starved unless others fed him. The gaoler was clearly proposing to put it on Jianxu to prevent her fleeing. I grabbed his arm, and wrenched the device from his grasp.
‘You will not put that on her. I am the Investigator of Crimes, appointed by the Great Khan himself, and I will say what happens here.’
I spoke in Mongol, and didn’t think he understood a word. But he heard the tone of my voice, and could see the anger and authority in my eyes. Hissing apologies, he backed off, and retreated to a leafless tree that was the only thing that alleviated the drab monotony of the approach to the prison. He sat cross-legged under it and stared back at me. He was not going to desert his post, even if it was Zhong Kui who had chased him off. I tried to outstare him, until a pleasant, light voice spoke from inside the opened cell door.
‘Then you are the Investigator of Crimes himself, and not the tame demon of the red robed one.’
I laughed, and looked round. A willowy girl, dressed in a drab shift that did not hide her shapely figure, stood in the doorway of the cell. Her face was pale and drawn, but she faced me boldly, not overawed by my presence. Jianxu was a very attractive young woman indeed.
‘Oh, I am both of those things in one body. The Khan’s investigator, yes. But also the tame servant of Lin Chu-Tsai, Senior Clerk to the Chief Justice of the Mongol Empire.’
Gurbesu nudged me aside, and spoke to Jianxu herself.
‘Oh, he does like to boast. Just like a man.’ She gave me a look, and I realized I was probably scaring the girl. Gurbesu carried on smoothly. ‘You were right the first time — he’s Lin’s tame monkey really.’
Jianxu’s face remained impassive for a moment, but then she giggled briefly. She was probably amused for the first time since she was accused and judged to be the murderer of Geng Biao. I knew it was time to retreat and leave Gurbesu to do what she did best.
NINE
I sat in the shade of the shattered tree next to the gaoler while Gurbesu talked to Jianxu. They had the best of it, sitting comfortably inside the cell. The tree had few branches on it, and fewer leaves, and the bandy-legged Chinee had claimed whatever shadow was cast by them. The ground was hard beneath my arse. When it began to get numb, I tried a few simple Mongol words with the nameless gaoler, and finally he got the idea. He listened with his head cocked to one side like a dog, as I said a word such as ‘head’ and pointed to the appropriate part of my anatomy. When he had understood what I had said, he told me the Chinee word in return. At first he laughed through broken and blackened teeth when I essayed the pronunciation, but I got it eventually. Then we moved on to another body part. Eventually, I decided I could surprise Lin with my command of his language when we met later that evening. I just hoped the gaoler hadn’t taught me obscenities. Lin was a man of refined tastes.
Finally, both women came to the cell door, and my language teacher jumped up, ready to chase Jianxu if she decided to make a run for it. But she didn’t. In fact she looked very relaxed for someone whose execution had only been delayed. If I could find no fault with the judgement passed down by Li Wen-Tao, and confirmed by Taitemir, she would still be beheaded. And a beautiful head it was too, with thick, black hair braided and hanging down her back, and a pale face with exquisite almond eyes. She stared at me as Gurbesu crossed the courtyard towards me, and I smiled. And even though her face remained impassive, I suddenly wanted with all my heart for her to be innocent. Gurbesu saw where I was looking, and stood in my line of vision.
‘Do you want to know what I learned from Jianxu? Or does it not matter any more?’
I grinned inanely at her.
‘Of course. Tell me everything.’
‘She says that she doesn’t know how the soup that killed Old Geng was poisoned. She admits to making it, but not with the aim of killing Geng. In fact, she says she made the soup for her mother-in-law, Madam Gao.’
‘So she intended to kill her?’
Gurbesu snorted and shook her head.
‘No! Do pay attention, Nick. She made the soup because Madam Gao felt unwell. It was a broth to nourish and revive her spirits, as she hadn’t eaten for two days. Old Geng saw her taking it to Madam Gao, and told her to give it to him. He was hungry, he said. She was annoyed, but couldn’t show it, and obediently gave Geng the soup. She went back to the kitchen to make some more, and the next thing she knew, the boy…’
‘Wenbo.’
‘Yes, Wenbo came into the kitchen saying his father was dying. That he was complaining of cramps and numbness at the same time, and was vomiting. Wenbo said his father had tried to rise from his bed but his limbs wouldn’t move. He begged Jianxu to come and help. When they got to the old man’s room, he was lying in a foul pool of his own internal fluids. He was already dead.’
‘That ties up with the doctor’s report on the body. I saw it in Lin’s files on the case. It said that, from the symptoms observed, aconite or wolfsbane must have been added to the soup. If so, it would have been an unpleasant death.’
I could see over Gurbesu’s shoulder that Jianxu still stood in the doorway of her cell. She had not moved a muscle as Gurbesu and I had been speaking, and I had the feeling she was a person very much in control of her emotions. In fact, she made me feel uneasy for a moment. Taking Gurbesu’s arm, I led her a little way away from the prison. When I no longer felt we were being observed, I looked Gurbesu in the eye.
‘If she claims to be innocent, did she say why she signed a confession?’
Gurbesu nodded, her thick, dark hair swirling round her face.
‘Yes. She did it to spare Madam Gao being tortured as she, Jianxu, had been by the prefect. Her feet and legs
