The old gentleman shook his head and angrily stamped his staff on the stone flags.
I was delighted to learn that my guest was indeed a descendant of the famous Judge Dee. I rose and bowed deeply in front of him to show my deference for his distinguished family. Then I spoke thus:
"Venerable Sir, know that I am a keen student of true accounts describing the feats of detection performed by the eminent judges of our glorious national past. Far from being an idle gossip, however, I delight in a careful analysis of those ancient records. For do they not serve as a mirror for us who live in this late age, warning us by showing our own foibles and defects? Those accounts not only improve the morals and ameliorate the customs, they also act as a powerful deterrrent for all wicked people. Nowhere can be found more eloquent proof of how closely the net of Heavenly justice is woven, and of how no evil-doer in the long run ever succeeds in slipping through its mazes.
Now in my opinion antiquity has no detective that can compare with Judge Dee. For many years I have been sedulously collecting notes about the cases solved by his brilliant mind. Now that a propitious fate has granted me this meeting with you, Sir, who are a fount of information on this subject, I wonder whether it would be presuming on your kindness if I humbly requested you to give me the benefit of hearing a few lesser known cases from your own lips."
The old gentleman readily agreed, and I invited him to join me in a simple supper.
Twilight was falling and the guests had left the terrace for the restaurant inside where the servants had lighted candles and coloured paper lanterns.
I avoided the main hall with the chattering dining crowd and led my guest to a small side room overlooking the lake, now bathed in the red glow of sunset.
I ordered two dinners of four courses and a pot of warm wine.
When we had tasted from the dishes and drunk a few rounds, the old gentleman stroked his long whiskers and said:
"I shall relate to you three astonishing criminal cases which my revered ancestor Judge Dee solved under most unusual circumstances. At that time he was serving as magistrate of Lan-fang, a far-away district on the Northwestern border of our Empire."
He then set out on a long and complicated narrative.
Although what he told was not without interest, he proved much given to lengthy digressions and his voice was as indistinct and monotonous as the humming of a bumble bee. After a while I found my attention flagging. I emptied three cups in succession to clear my mind but the amber liquid only made me still more drowsy. While the voice of my guest droned on and on I seemed to hear the spirit of sleep rustle in the close air.
When I woke up I found myself alone in the chilly room, bent over the table with my head resting on my folded arms.
A surly waiter was standing over me and told me that the first nightwatch had been sounded; did I perchance mistake this restaurant for a hostel where people stay overnight at will?
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!"