My head was heavy and I did not immediately find the right phrase to put that boorish yokel in his place. Instead I inquired after my guest, describing his appearance in some detail.
The waiter answered that earlier in the evening he had been serving another section of the restaurant, and anyway did I think that he had time to look up and down every single guest? Presently he produced a bill for two six course dinners and eight pots of wine. I could do nothing but pay, although by then I greatly doubted whether my encounter with the old gentleman had not been a dream, and whether that rascal of a waiter was not taking advantage of my confusion to overcharge me grossly.
I left feeling I had been ill-used and walked home through the deserted streets. My page was fast asleep huddled in a corner of my library. I did not wake him but tiptoed to the bookshelves. I took down the annals of the Tang dynasty, the Imperial Gazetteer and my own notes on Judge Dee. Poring over these volumes I found that although the general features of the old gentleman's story accorded well enough with historical fact, there existed no such place as Lan-fang on the Northwestern border. I thought that possibly I had misheard the name and resolved to visit the old gentleman next day to ask him for further elucidation. Then I found to my dismay that although I clearly remembered every word of the story he told me, try as I might I could not recollect one single personal detail concerning him; I had forgotten both his full name, and his present place of residence.
I shook my head, moistened my brush, and that very night committed to writing the entire story he told me, laying down my brush only when the cock started crowing.
The next day I made exhaustive enquiries among my friends but no one had ever heard about a retired prefect by the name of Dee living in our town; neither did subsequent investigations as to his whereabouts bring to light more information. Still this fact did not dissolve my doubts. The old gentleman might well have been only passing through, or he might be living somewhere in the countryside.
Thus I now make bold to offer this story as it is, leaving it to the better judgement of the discerning reader to decide whether my encounter on the lotus lake was dream or reality. If this tale of three mysterious crimes should distract the reader for a few moments from the cares and anxieties of daily life, I shall not grudge the coppers extorted from me. For no matter what actually happened, that waiter evidently was a mean rascal; it is quite inconceivable that one, or even two gentlemen of refined taste ever should consume eight pots of wine at one single sitting.
Four horse carts were slowly wending their way through the mountains east of the city of Lan-fang.
In the first cart Judge Dee, the new magistrate of Lan-fang, had made himself as comfortable as was possible on such an arduous journey. He was sitting on a bed roll, and leaned his back against a large package with books. His faithful assistant, the old Sergeant Hoong, was sitting opposite him on a bale of cloth. The road was rough and these precautions provided scant protection from the continual bumps.
The judge and the sergeant both felt tired, for they had been on the road for several days on end.
After them followed a large tilt cart with silk curtains. Here Judge Dee's three wives, his children and the maids were trying to snatch some sleep, curled up among pillows and padded quilts.
The two other carts were loaded with luggage. Some of the servants were sitting precariously perched on top of the bales and boxes, others preferred to walk by the side of the horses which were covered with sweat.
Before dawn they had left the last village. Thereafter the road had led through a desolate mountain region. The only people they had met were a few wood gatherers. In the afternoon their progress had been retarded for two hours by a broken wheel and now dusk was falling, making the mountains seem even more forbidding.
Two tall fellows rode at the head of the procession. Broad swords hung down their backs, each had a bow fastened to the pommel of his saddle, and arrows rattled in their quivers. These two were Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, two of Judge Dee's loyal lieutenants. They acted as the armed escort of the group. Another of Judge Dee's lieutenants, a lean man with a slight stoop, called Tao Gan, brought up the rear together with the old house steward.
Arrived on top of the mountain ridge Ma Joong reined in his horse. The road ahead descended into a wooded valley. Another steep mountain rose up on the opposite side.
Ma Joong turned round in his saddle, and called out to the coachman:
'An hour ago you said that we were approaching Lan-fang, you dogshead! And here is another mountain to cross!'
The coachman grumbled something about fellows from the city always being in a hurry, then said sullenly:
'Don't worry, from the next ridge you will see Lan-fang lying at the foot of the slope.'
'I have heard that bastard speak about a 'next ridge' before', Ma Joong observed to Chiao Tai. 'How awkward that we arrive in Lan-fang at so late an hour! The departing magistrate must have been waiting for us since noon. And what about the other dignitaries of the district administration and their welcome banquet? By now their bellies must be as empty as mine!'
'Not to speak of a dry throat!', Chiao Tai added. He turned round his horse and rode up to the judge's cart.
'There still is one valley to be crossed, Your Honour', he reported, 'but then we shall at last reach Lan- fang.'
Sergeant Hoong suppressed a sigh.
'It is a great pity', he remarked, 'that Your Honour was ordered to leave Poo-yang so soon. Although two major criminal cases came up directly after our arrival there, all in all it was a pleasant district.'
Judge Dee smiled wryly and tried to settle his back more comfortably against the book package.
'It would seem', he said, 'that in the capital the remnants of the Buddhist clique joined forces with friends of the Cantonese merchants, and effected my transfer long before my term of office in Poo-yang had expired. Yet it will be most instructive to serve as magistrate in such an outlying district as Lan-fang. Doubtless we shall find there interesting special problems that one will never meet with in the larger cities of the interior.'
The sergeant agreed that that was so, but he remained gloomy. He was over sixty years old, and the discomforts of the long journey had worn him out. Since his early childhood he had been a retainer of Judge Dee's family. When Judge Dee had entered official life, he had made him his confidential adviser, and at every post where the judge had served he had appointed him sergeant over the constables of the tribunal.
The coachmen cracked their whips. The cortege passed over the top of the ridge and descended into the valley along a narrow winding road.
Soon they found themselves down in the valley, where the road was darkened by high cedar trees that rose from the thick undergrowth on both sides.
Judge Dee was just thinking of ordering his servants to light the torches, when he heard confused shouting ahead and behind.
A number of men, their faces covered with scarves of black cloth, had suddenly emerged from the wood.
Two men took hold of Ma Joong's right leg and dragged him from his horse before he had time to draw his sword. A third had jumped from behind on Chiao Tai's horse, and had pulled him down to the ground by a strangle hold on his neck. At the end of the cortege two other robbers were attacking Tao Gan and the steward.
The coachmen jumped down and disappeared in the wood. Judge Dee's servants ran away as fast as they could.
JUDGE DEE ATTACKED BY TWO ROBBERS
Two masked faces appeared before the window of Judge Dee's cart. Sergeant Hoong was knocked unconscious with a blow on his head. The judge could just dodge a spear that was thrust inside. He quickly gripped the shaft with both hands. The other pulled from outside to wrench it loose. The judge first held on tight, then suddenly pushed it in the direction of the pulling man. His assailant tumbled backwards. Judge Dee pulled the spear from his hands and jumped out of the window. He kept his two attackers at a distance by whirling the spear round and round. The robber who had hit Sergeant Hoong was armed with a club, the man with the spear had now drawn a long sword. Both attacked the judge fiercely, and he reflected that he would not be able to hold out long against these two determined opponents.
