shall study it carefully. It is my duty to warn you, however, that I keep an open mind as to the portent of its secret message. It may either be in your favour or prove that you have been guilty of the crime of adultery. In either case I shall take appropriate steps and justice shall take its course. I leave it to you, Madam, to decide whether you will want me to keep this scroll or whether you prefer to take it back with you and withdraw your claim.'
Mrs. Yoo rose. She said with quiet dignity:
'I beg Your Honour to keep this scroll for study. I pray to Merciful Heaven that it will grant you to solve its riddle.'
Then she bowed deeply and took her leave.
Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan had been waiting outside in the corridor. Now they came in and greeted the judge. Tao Gan was carrying an armful of document rolls.
The sergeant reported that they had inventoried Chien Mow's property. They had found several hundred gold bars and a large amount of silver. This money they had locked in the strongroom together with a number of utensils of solid gold. The women and the house servants had been confined to the third courtyard. Six constables of the tribunal and ten soldiers had been quartered in the second courtyard under supervision of Chiao Tai, to guard the mansion.
Tao Gan placed with a contented smile his load of documents on the desk. He said:
'These, Your Honour, are the inventories we made, and all the deeds and accounts that we found in Chien Mow's strongroom.'
Judge Dee leaned back in his chair and looked at the pile with undisguised distaste.
'The disentangling of Chien Mow's affairs', he said, 'will be a long and tedious task. I shall entrust this work to you, Sergeant, and Tao Gan. I don't expect that this material will contain anything more important than evidence of unlawful appropriation of land and houses and petty extortion. The guildmasters have promised to send me this afternoon suitable persons to take up the duties of the clerical personnel, including a head of our archives. They should be useful in working out these problems.'
'They are waiting in the main courtyard, Your Honour', Sergeant Hoong remarked.
'Well', the judge said, 'you and Tao Gan will instruct them in their duties. Tonight the head of the archives will
GOVERNOR YOO'S PICTURE
assist you in sorting out these documents. I leave it to you to draft for me an extensive report with suggestions as to how Chien Mow's affairs should be dealt with. You will keep apart, however, any document that has a bearing on the murder of my late colleague, Magistrate Pan.
I myself wish to concentrate on this problem here.'
As he spoke the judge took up the package that Mrs. Yoo had left with him. He unwrapped it and unrolled the scroll picture on his desk.
Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan stepped forward and together with the judge they looked intently at the picture.
It was a medium-sized picture painted on silk, representing an imaginary mountain landscape done in full colours. White clouds drifted amoung the cliffs. Here and there houses appeared amidst clusters of trees, and on the right a mountain river flowed down. There was not a single human figure.
On top of the picture the Governor had written the title in archaic characters. It read:
BOWERS OF EMPTY ILLUSION
The Governor had not signed this inscription, there was only an impression of his seal in vermilion.
The picture was mounted on all four sides with borders of heavy brocade. Below there had been added a wooden roller and on top a thin stave with a suspension loop. This is the usual mounting of scroll pictures meant to be hung on the wall.
Sergeant Hoong pensively pulled his beard.
'The title would seem to suggest', he remarked, 'that this picture represents some Taoist paradise or an abode of immortals.'
Judge Dee nodded.
'This picture', he said, 'requires careful study. Hang
it on the wall opposite my desk so that I can look at it whenever I like!'
When Tao Gan had suspended the picture on the wall between the door and the window, the judge rose and walked over to the main courtyard.
He saw that the prospective members of his clerical staff were decent looking men. The judge addressed them briefly, and concluded:
'My two lieutenants will now instruct you. Listen carefully, for tomorrow you will have to start your duties when I hold the morning session of this tribunal.'
Seventh Chapter
The next morning, before the break of dawn, the citizens of Lan-fang began trooping to the tribunal. When the hour of the morning session approached a dense crowd filled the street in front of the main gate.
The large bronze gong was sounded three times. The constables threw the double gate open and the crowd poured inside and into the court hall. Soon there was not a single standing place left.
The constables ranged themselves in two rows to right and left in front of the dais.
Then the screen at the back was pulled aside. Judge Dee ascended the dais clad in full ceremonial dress. As he seated himself behind the bench his four lieutenants took up their position by his side. The senior scribe and his assistants stood next to the bench, now covered with a new cloth of scarlet silk.
A deep silence reigned as the judge took up his vermilion brush and filled out a slip for the warden of the jail. Headman Fang took it respectfully with two hands and left the court hall with two constables.
They came back with the elder of Chien's two counsellors. He knelt in front of the dais. Judge Dee ordered: 'State your name and profession!' 'This insignificant person', the man spoke humbly, 'is
called Liu Wan-fang. Until ten years ago I was the house steward of Chien Mow's late father. After the latter's death Chien kept me as his adviser. I assure Your Honour that I have always on every possible occasion urged Chien to mend his ways!'
The judge observed with a cold smile:
'I can say only that your attempts had a remarkably small result! The tribunal is collecting and sifting the evidence of your master's crimes; doubtless this material will prove your complicity in many of Chien's misdeeds. However, at present I am not concerned with the minor crimes you and your master committed. For the present I wish to confine myself to the major issues. Speak up, what murders did Chien Mow commit?'
Liu answered:
'Your Honour, it is true that my master appropriated unlawfully people's land and houses and he often had persons severely beaten up. But to the best of my knowledge Chien never did wilfully kill anyone.'
'Liar!', Judge Dee shouted. 'What about Magistrate Pan who was dastardly murdered here?'
'That murder', Liu replied, 'baffled my master as much as myself!'
The judge shot him an incredulous stare.
'Of course we knew', Liu continued hurriedly 'that His Excellency Pan was evolving plans to oust my master from his position. Since Judge Pan had no one with him but one assistant, my master did not act for a few days. He wished to wait and see what course of action Judge Pan would take. Then one morning two of our men came running to our mansion. They reported that Judge Pan's body had been found on the river bank.
