He resigned from all his high offices and came to live here a life of retirement, tending his fields and his garden. So we met again, after more than fifty years. We had reached the same goal by different roads."
The old man suddenly chuckled softly like a child as he added:
"The only difference was that one way was long and tortuous, the other short and straight!"
Here his host paused. Judge Dee debated with himself whether he should ask for some explanation of that last remark. But before he could speak his host went on:
"Shortly before he passed away, he and I were discussing this very point. Then he wrote down that couplet on the wall there. Go and admire his calligraphy!"
Judge Dee obediently rose and went to look at the paper scrolls on the wall. Now he could read the signature: "Penned by Yoo Shou-chien of the Abode of Tranquillity." The judge knew now for certain that the testament they had found in Mrs. Yoo's scroll picture was a forgery. The signature resembled the one added to the alleged last will, but it was definitively not the same hand. Judge Dee slowly stroked his beard. Many things had become clear to him.
As he sat down again the judge said:
"If I may respectfully say so, Governor Yoo's calligraphy is excellent, but yours, Sir, is in the inspired class. Your inscription on the gate to the Governor's maze struck me as…"
The old man seemed not to have listened. He interrupted the judge saying:
"The Governor was so full of purpose that a life time was not enough for exhausting his energy. Even when he had settled down here he could not stop. Some of his plans for righting old wrongs were not even meant to bear fruit until years later, when he himself would be dead! Wanting to be alone, he built that astonishing maze. As if he could ever be alone, with all his schemes and plans buzzing around him like angry wasps!"
The old man shook his head. He poured another cup of tea.
Judge Dee asked:
"Did the old Governor have many friends here?"
His host slowly tugged one of his long eyebrows. Then he chuckled and said:
"After all those years, and after all he had seen and heard, Yoo still studied the Confucianist Classics. He sent me a cartload of books out here. I found them most useful. They made excellent kindlings for my kitchen stove!"
Judge Dee was going to offer some respectful objections to this derogatory remark on the Classics, but his host ignored him. He continued:
"Confucius! Now that was a purposeful man for you! He spent his entire life rushing all over the Empire, always arranging things, always giving advice to whomsoever cared to listen to him. He buzzed about like a gadfly! He never paused long enough to realize that the more he did the less he achieved, and the more he acquired the less he possessed. Yes, Confucius was a man full of purpose. So was Governor Yoo…"
The old man paused. Then he added peevishly:
"And so are you, young man!"
Judge Dee was quite startled by this sudden personal remark. He rose in confusion. With a deep bow he said humbly:
"Could this person venture to ask a question…"
His host had risen also.
"One question", he gruffly replied, "only leads to another one. You are like a fisherman who turns his back on his river and his nets and climbs a tree in the forest to catch fish! Or like a man who builds a boat of iron, makes a large hole in the bottom and then expects to cross the river! Approach your problems from the right end and begin with the answers. Then, one day, perhaps, you will find the final answer. Good-bye!"
Judge Dee was going to bow his farewell but his host had already turned his back on him and was shuffling back to the screen at the end of the room.
The judge waited till the blue screen had dropped behind his host's back. Then he went out.
Outside he found Sergeant Hoong sleeping with his back against the garden gate.
The judge woke him up.
The sergeant passed his hand over his eyes. He said with a happy smile:
"It seems to me that I have never slept so peacefully! I dreamt of my childhood when I was still four or five years old, things I had completely forgotten!"
"Yes", Judge Dee said pensively, "this is a very strange abode…"
They climbed the mountain ridge in silence.
When they were standing once more under the pinetrees on the top, the sergeant asked:
"Did the hermit give Your Honour much information?"
Judge Dee nodded absent-mindedly.
"Yes", he replied after a while, "I learned many things. I know now for certain that the testament we found concealed in the Governor's picture is a forgery. I also learned what was the reason why the old Governor suddenly resigned all his offices. And I know now the other half of General Ding's murder."
The sergeant was going to ask for some further explanation. But noticing the expression on Judge Dee's face he remained silent.
After a brief rest they descended the slope. They mounted their horses and rode back to the city.
Ma Joong was waiting in Judge Dee's private office.
As he started on his report of how he and Chiao Tai had caught the Uigur, the judge shook off his pensive mood and listened eagerly.
Ma Joong assured the judge that no one knew about the arrest. He related in great detail his conversation with the Uigur chieftain, omitting only his unexpected meeting with the girl Tulbee and her warning; he assumed, quite correctly, that Judge Dee would not be interested in that romantic interlude.
"That is excellent work!", Judge Dee exclaimed when Ma Joong had finished. "Now we have the trump card in our hands!"
Ma Joong added:
"Tao Gan is now entertaining Yoo Kee in the reception hall. They are drinking tea together. When I looked in there a few moments ago Tao Gan was fretting because Yoo Kee is talking so fast that he can't get in a word!"
The judge looked pleased. He said to Sergeant Hoong:
"Sergeant, go to the reception hall and tell Yoo Kee that to my great regret I am unavoidably detained by urgent business. Offer him my apologies and inform him that I shall see him as soon as I am free!"
When the sergeant made to go the judge asked:
"Did you, by the way, succeed in finding out the whereabouts of Mrs. Lee, that friend of the Governor's widow?"
"I ordered Headman Fang to see to that, Your Honour", replied the sergeant. "I thought that since he is a local man he might obtain quicker results than I."
The judge nodded. Then he asked Ma Joong:
"What are the results of the autopsy on the old couple we found in the garden of the Governor's mansion?"
"The coroner confirmed that they died a natural death, Your Honour", Ma Joong replied.
Judge Dee nodded. He rose and started changing into his official robes. While he was placing the winged judge's cap on his head he suddenly said:
"If I am not mistaken, Ma Joong, you reached the ninth and highest grade in boxing about ten years ago, did you not?"
The tall fellow squared his shoulders. He replied proudly:
"Indeed, Your Honour!"
"Now think back", Judge Dee ordered, "and tell me how you felt towards your master when you were still a beginner, say of the second or third grade!"
Ma Joong was not accustomed to analyse his feelings. He knitted his brows and thought furiously. After a while he answered slowly:
"Well, Your Honour, I was deeply devoted to my master. He certainly was one of the finest boxers of our time and I admired him greatly. But when I boxed with him and he eluded my cleverest blows without the slightest effort, playfully hitting me anywhere he liked despite my frantic defence, I still admired him but at the same time I hated him because of his infinite superiority!"
Judge Dee smiled wanly.
"Thank you, my friend!", he said. "This afternoon I went to the mountains south of this city and there met a person who greatly disturbed me. Now you have put into words exactly what I did not dare to formulate so clearly for myself!"
Ma Joong had no idea what the judge was talking about but he felt flattered by the praise. With a broad smile he pulled aside the screen leading to the court hall. The judge passed through and ascended the dais.
Twentieth Chapter
A REBEL CHIEFTAIN CONFESSES UNDER TORTURE; A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER IS AT LAST IDENTIFIED
Three beats on the gong announced the opening of the afternoon session of the tribunal.
No one knew that anything but routine matters would be dealt with, so only a few dozen spectators had drifted into the court hall.
As soon as Judge Dee had seated himself behind the bench and opened the session, he gave a sign to Headman Fang. Four constables went to the entrance of the court hall and remained standing there on guard.
"Because of important reasons of state", Judge Dee announced, "no one shall leave this court before the session is closed!"
A murmur of astonishment rose from the audience.
Judge Dee took up his vermilion brush and filled out a slip for the warden of the jail.
Two constables brought in the Uigur. He walked with difficulty, they had to support him by his arms.
In front of the dais he let himself down on one knee; the splinted leg he stretched out in front with a groan of pain.
"State your name and profession!", Judge Dee ordered.
The man lifted his head. Deep hatred shone from his burning eyes.
"I am Prince Ooljin, of the Blue Tribe of the Uigurs!", he snapped.
"Among you barbarians", the judge said coldly, "a man
calls himself a prince as soon as he has twenty horses! But that is neither here nor there.
The Imperial Government in its infinite grace has deigned to accept the Khan of the Uigurs as a vassal and he has duly sworn allegiance to His Majesty taking a solemn oath with Heaven and Earth as witness.
You, Ooljin, have been scheming to attack this town. You have betrayed your own Khan and you are guilty of rebellion against the Imperial Government.
Rebellion is a most serious crime, it is punished with the extreme penalty in a severe form. Your only hope for having this punishment somewhat mitigated lies in telling the complete truth; this means that you must also reveal who are the Chinese traitors who promised to collaborate with you in the execution of your nefarious scheme."
"You call such a Chinese a traitor", the Uigur shouted, "I call him a just man! Some Chinese recognize that what they have taken from us must be given back. Dit not you Chinese encroach on our pastures, your peasants ploughing our good grasslands and transforming them into rice fields? Have we not been driven away farther and farther to the desert where our horses and cattle die on our hands?
I shall not reveal the names of those Chinese who realized the awful wrong that your people have done to us, the Uigur tribes!"
The headman was going to hit him but the judge raised his hand.
Leaning forward in his chair he said quietly:
"It so happens that I have no time for preliminaries. Your right leg is already broken, you cannot walk anyway. So it won't inconvenience you much if your other leg should be broken too."
Judge Dee gave a sign to the headman.
Two constables threw the Uigur on his back on the floor and stood with their feet on his hands. Another brought a wooden trestle of about two feet high.
The headman lifted Ooljin's left leg and bound the foot to the trestle. He looked up at the judge.
As Judge Dee nodded, a sturdy constable struck the knee with a heavy rounded stick.
The Uigur let out a hoarse scream.
"Take your time", the judge ordered the constable," don't hit too fast!"
The constable struck a blow on the shin, then two on the thigh.
Ooljin screamed and cursed in his own language. When his shin was struck again he yelled:
"One day our hordes shall invade your accursed country, we shall raze your walls and burn your cities, we shall kill your men and make your women and children our slaves…"
His voice became a wild scream as the constable hit him another vicious blow. As he raised the stick again for the final blow that would break the leg, Judge Dee held up his hand.
"Yoo will realize, Ooljin", he said casually, "that this interrogation is mere routine. I just want you to confirm what your Chinese confederate told me when he reported on you and your tribesmen and gave away the entire plot!"
With a superhuman effort the Uigur tore away one of his hands from under the feet of the constable. Raising himself on his elbow he shouted:
"Don't try to catch me with brazen lies, you dog official!"
"Well", Judge Dee observed coldly, "of course a Chinese is much too clever for you stupid barbarians. He made it appear as if he was on your side. And when the time came, he reported everything to the authorities. Soon the government shall appoint him to a lucrative post as a reward for his valuable information. Don't you see how you and your ignorant Khan were made fools of?"
As he began to speak the judge gave a sign to Ma Joong. Then Yoo Kee was led before the dais.
When he saw the Uigur lying on the floor Yoo Kee's face turned ashen. He wanted to run away but Ma Joong grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip.
As soon as the Uigur saw Yoo Kee, he spat out a string of curses.
"You son of a dog!", he yelled, "You vile traitor! Cursed be the day on which an honest Uigur resolved to work for a double-dealing Chinese cur like you!"
"Your Honour, this man is crazy!", Yoo Kee shouted.
Judge Dee ignored him. He calmly addressed the Uigur:
"Who are your accomplices in this man's mansion?"
Ooljin gave the names of the two Uigur warriors hired by Yoo Kee ostensibly as fencing masters. Then he shouted:
"And let me tell you that there are also Chinese traitors! That dogshead Yoo may have fooled me but I assure you that those other Chinese bastards were prepared to do everything just for the money!"
He then enumerated the names of three Chinese shopkeepers and four soldiers.
Tao Gan carefully noted down their names.
Judge Dee beckoned Chiao Tai to his side. He said in a whisper:
"Go immediately to your quarters in Chien's mansion and place those four soldiers under arrest. Then go with Corporal Ling and twenty men to Yoo Kee's mansion and arrest the two Uigurs there. You will then apprehend the three Chinese shopkeepers. Finally you will arrest The Hunter and his confederates in the Northern Row!"
As Chiao Tai hurried away Judge Dee said to Ooljin:
"I am not an unjust man, Ooljin. I won't stand for a
Chinese receiving a reward because he betrayed you after he had instigated and abetted your crime. If you want to prevent this man Yoo Kee from getting away with his treacherous deeds, you had better tell how Magistrate Pan was murdered!"
The Uigur's eyes blazed with unholy glee.
"Here is my revenge!", he shouted. "Listen, you official! Four years ago that man Yoo Kee gave me ten silver pieces. He told me to go to the tribunal and tell the new magistrate that that very night he could catch Yoo Kee in a secret conference with an emissary of the Uigur Khan, near the ford. Magistrate Pan came along with one assistant. The latter I knocked down as soon as we were outside the city gate. I myself cut the magistrate's throat and dragged his body to the river bank."
Ooljin spat in the direction of Yoo Kee.
"Now what about your reward, you dog?", he yelled.
Judge Dee nodded to the senior scribe. He read aloud his notes of what the Uigur had said. Ooljin agreed that it was a true account of his confession. The document was handed to the Uigur and he impressed his thumbmark on it.
Then Judge Dee spoke:
"You, Ooljin, are an Uigur prince from over the border and your crime of sedition concerns the external relations of our Empire. I am in no position to find out if and how deeply your Khan and the chieftains of the other tribes are implicated in this scheme of rebellion. It is not within my competence to pass judgement on you. You shall be
conveyed immediately to the capital. There your crime shall be dealt with by the Board for Barbarian Affairs."
He gave a sign to the headman. Prince Ooljin was laid on a stretcher and carried back to the jail.
"Bring the criminal Yoo Kee before me!" Judge Dee ordered.
A CRIMINAL CONFESSES HIS NEFARIOUS SCHEMES
As Yoo Kee was pressed to his knees in front of the dais, Judge Dee said sternly:
"Yoo Kee, you are guilty of high treason. This is a crime against the state for which the law prescribes a terrible punishment. Yet perhaps the great name of your late father and a recommendation from me might bring the authorities to mitigate somewhat the fearful fate that awaits you. Therefore I advise you to confess now and give a full account of your crime!"
Yoo Kee did not reply. His head hung low and he breathed heavily. Judge Dee gave a sign to the headman to leave him alone.
At last Yoo Kee looked up. He said in a toneless voice, quite different from his accustomed animated way of talking:
"Beyond the two Uigurs, I have no accomplices in my mansion. I would have told my servants at the very last moment that we were going to take over the town. The four soldiers received a gift in money. Tomorrow, on the hour of midnight, they would light a signal fire on the highest watch tower in the Chien mansion. They were told that this would be the sign for a band of ruffians to create a disturbance and that that was the cover under which the two large goldsmiths' shops of this city would be looted. In fact, however, the fire would be the sign for the Uigur tribes over the river to attack. Ooljin and his Chinese helpers would then have opened the Watergate, and…"
"Enough!", Judge Dee interrupted him. "Tomorrow you shall have full opportunity for telling the entire story.
Now I only want you to answer one question. What did you do with the testament you found concealed in your late father's scroll picture?"
The Chinese Maze Murders Page 19
