The Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Stories

by The Poisoned Bride(Lit)

  Now, while the vernal breeze encourages idleness, and I find myself with time hanging heavily on my hands, I am putting this story on record, to be offered to the reading public. While I would not make bold to assert that the narrative of these strange happenings will caution the people and thus improve their morals, I yet venture to hope that its perusal will serve to beguile some idle hours.

  A poem says:

  While placing on record these strange and baffling cases,

  One cannot but admire this judge of days gone by:

  Unselfish and perspicacious, he was a man of supreme rectitude,

  He shall always be remembered as redresser of grievous wrongs.

  The present book describes some exploits of a magistrate who lived during our glorious Tang dynasty, in the first half of the seventh century A.D.

  This magistrate was a native of the town Tai-yuan, the capital of Shansi Province. His family name was Dee, his personal name Jen-djieh, while he had adopted the literary appellation of Hwai-ying. Being a man of exemplary honesty and penetrating wisdom, he was in due time appointed to a high position at the Imperial Court, and by his frank and courageous memorials to the Throne helped tide over many a crisis in state affairs. In recognition of his loyal service, he was later appointed a governor, and finally ennobled as duke Liang. His illustrious deeds are duly entered in the official “History of the Tang Dynasty”, and this material is thus easily accessible to all interested persons.

  A number of facts, however, relating to the early career of Dee Jen-djieh, who at that time was famous as “Judge Dee”, have either been omitted or only treated cursorily in the official records. One must search for them in minor historical writings, in the local records of the towns where he served as magistrate, and suchlike sources. Yet these lesser-known facts are of no mean interest. They serve to heighten our respect for Judge Dee. These facts show that, next to being a loyal servant of the Throne, Dee Jen-djieh was also a wise magistrate, a great gentleman who combined remarkable acumen with a benevolent and justice-loving disposition and who, as a district magistrate, succeeded in solving an amazing number of strange and puzzling criminal cases.

  The present story, therefore, is concerned only with the early phase of Judge Dee’s career, going back to the time when he was appointed district magistrate of Chang-ping.

  Having assumed his office there, Judge Dee immediately devoted all his energy to the weeding out of unruly elements, the protection of the law-abiding citizens, and to the disposition of pending litigations.

  Judge Dee was ably assisted by four trusted followers in accomplishing these burdensome tasks.

  His chief assistant was a man called Hoong Liang, an old servant in the Dee paternal mansion, who had seen Judge Dee grow up from a small boy. Although well advanced in age, Hoong Liang was nevertheless a courageous person, who promptly executed any dangerous or delicate job that Judge Dee assigned him, showing considerable tact and a natural gift for detection. Judge Dee appointed him sergeant over the constables of his tribunal, and treated him as his confidential adviser.Two others, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, Judge Dee used for all especially dangerous jobs connected with the apprehension of criminals. Originally these two had been “brothers of the green woods”, or, in plain language, highway robbers. Once, when Judge Dee was traveling to the capital on some official business, these two men attacked him and his party on the road intending to rob them. Judge Dee at once saw that Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, far from being common thieves, were men of a heroic disposition, while the passes they made at him showed him convincingly that they were well versed in the arts of fencing and boxing. It seemed to Judge Dee that he might well try to reform these men, and engage their service later to assist him in executing the King’s business; in such a way their talents might be used to good purpose. Thus Judge Dee, not deigning to draw his sword, just ordered them sternly to desist. Thereupon he gave them a good talking to which greatly moved Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. The former said respectfully:

  “The two of us have resorted to this despicable occupation only because we found the Empire in turmoil, and wicked ministers in charge at Court. We, having nothing in this world but our able bodies and our knowledge of the martial arts, and finding no one who would employ us, thus had no other course open to us than to become highwaymen. But since Your Honour has now so kindly spoken to us, our only desire is to be allowed henceforward to follow your whip and hold your stirrup, in order thus to show our gratitude for Your Honour’s favour”.So Judge Dee accepted these two braves as his lieutenants. His fourth lieutenant was a reformed itinerant swindler, named Tao Gan. This man had long before mended his ways, and he had become a runner for a certain magistrate’s tribunal. But since there were many people who harbored grudges against him, he was continually harassed and bothered by these old enemies, and finally sought refuge with Judge Dee. He was a man of many parts and great cunning, so Judge Dee retained him as his assistant. This Tao Gan became a close friend of Sergeant Hoong, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai.

  Since his assumption of office in Chang-ping, these four men proved very useful to Judge Dee. They were kept busy on secret investigations for the Judge, and the information they gathered helped him to solve not a few difficult criminal cases.

  * * *

  One day Judge Dee was sitting in his private office at the back of the court hall, attending to some routine business, when he suddenly heard the sound of the gong at the entrance of the tribunal. Thus apprised that a case was being brought in, he hurriedly donned his official robe and cap, and having entered the court hall, seated himself behind his high bench. Below, in front of the bench, the clerks, constables and other minions of the law had already lined up themselves in two rows, to the left and right. Looking towards the entrance of the hall, Judge Dee there saw a man of the common people, of about forty years old. He seemed in a state of great agitation, his face was all covered with perspiration. He stood there incessantly crying that a great wrong was being done him.

  Judge Dee ordered two constables to bring the man in. As he knelt down before the bench, Judge Dee thus addressed him:

  “Who are you, and what grievous wrong did you suffer, that you beat the gong before the hour on which this tribunal convenes?”

  “This insignificant person”, the man said respectfully, “is called Koong Wan-deh. I live in the Six Mile Village, outside the southern gate of this city. Since my house is fairly large, and I have only a small family, I use the greater part of it as a hostel. For more than ten years I have been peacefully engaged in this business. Yesterday, towards twilight, there arrived two traveling silk merchants. They said they had come from Kiangsu Province, and were only passing through, doing business along the road. As it was getting dark, they wanted to stay overnight at my hostel. I, seeing that they were much-travelled men, accordingly gave them a room. They had their dinner, drank wine, laughed and talked, as can be attested by several witnesses. This morning, just before daybreak, these two merchants departed.

  “Then, unexpectedly this morning the village warden Pang Deh at nine o’clock, came to see me, saying that two dead men had been found lying by the roadside, before the gate of the marketplace nearby. ’these two men', he said, ’stayed as guests in your hostel, and you murdered them to rob them of their money. Then you dragged their dead bodies to the market gate'. Having thus addressed me, before I could say one word in my defense, he had the two corpses dragged to my hostel, and threw them down right in front of my door. Thereupon he started to shout, and threaten me, demanding five hundred pieces of silver for hushing up this crime. ‘these two men came from your hostel’, he roared, ‘it is therefore evident that you murdered them there, and then dragged their bodies to the market, to cover up the traces of your crime’. I immediately rushed here in great anguish, praying Your Honour to redress this wrong.”

  Having heard this statement, Judge Dee looked at the man kneeling in front of the bench, and thought that he certainly did not look like a dangerous crim
inal. On the other hand this was apparently an important murder case, and of course he could not decide its merits on the statement of this man alone. Hence he said:

  “You claim to be a law-abiding citizen of this locality. Why then did Warden Pang immediately pounce on you as the criminal? I find it hard to believe that you are really the innocent citizen you profess to be. I will have to hear Warden Pang, in order to check your statement.”

  Thereupon he ordered a constable to fetch the warden, and soon a man of about thirty years was brought in. His face was covered with wrinkles, and he wore a blue robe. Kneeling down before the bench, he said:

  “I, Pang Deh, warden of Six Mile Village, respectfully greet Your Honour. This murder falls under my jurisdiction. This morning I saw the bodies of two men lying by the roadside, in front of the market gate. At first I did not know where these two men had come from, but on questioning the people living in the neighbourhood, I found that they all said that these men had stayed as guests in the hostel of this man Koong last night. Therefore I questioned Koong, pointing out that it was evidently he who had dragged these two corpses to the market, having murdered them in his hostel for the purpose of robbing them. For according to Koong these two men left his hostel before daybreak. Now at that time there were already a number of people on that road, and none of them reported having seen any suspicious characters about. Furthermore, on questioning the people living near the market, it appeared that none of them had heard any cries for help. These facts prove to my satisfaction that the victims were killed during the night in Koong’s hostel, and that afterwards Koong dragged their bodies to the market gate, in order thus to divert suspicion from him. Since the culprit is already here, I beg Your Honour to proceed against him.”

  Judge Dee thought to himself that Warden Pang’s argument seemed not without reason. On the other hand, giving Koong another good look, he still felt that that man could hardly be a brutal criminal, murdering people in cold blood in order to rob them. After some reflection, he said:

  “You two have made conflicting statements. Without having held an inquest, I cannot proceed with this case. The investigation shall be continued after inspection of the scene of the crime”.

  He had Koong Wan-deh and Warden Pang led away by the constables, and ordered the necessary preparations for proceeding to the scene of the crime with the tribunal.

  Second Chapter

  WARDEN PANG’S SLANDER BRINGS HARM ON HIS OWN HEAD; SERGEANT HOONG OBTAINS A CLUE BY A CLEVER SURMISE.

  After returning to his private office, Judge Dee ordered a constable to summon the coroner. After three beats on the gong, he donned his official robe and cap, and proceeded to Six Mile Village in his palanquin, surrounded by the constables and other servants of his tribunal. The people living along the road had heard about the double murder. Knowing Judge Dee’s reputation as a great detector of crimes, a vast crowd gathered and followed the procession, in order to see what was going to happen.

  Before noon they arrived at the market of Six Mile Village. Warden Pang, his assistant Djao San, and the village-headman had already arranged a temporary tribunal, and came forward to bid Judge Dee welcome.

  After the customary exchange of amenities, Judge Dee descended from his palanquin, and said:

  “I shall first go to Koong’s hostel for a personal investigation, and then open the tribunal and proceed with the inquest”.

  He ordered them to lead him to Koong’s hostel, where he found the dead bodies of the two men, showing several wounds apparently inflicted with a knife, lying on the ground in front of the door. Judge Dee asked Warden Pang: “Where were these two corpses originally found?” Warden Pang answered hurriedly:

  “By Your Honour’s leave, these men were killed by Koong Wan-deh for gain; thereafter he removed the bodies to the market gate, so as to be able to repudiate his crime later. Since I would not have innocent people become involved in this affair, I had the bodies moved to this place in front of Koong’s hostel. I beg Your Honour to verify this”.He had hardly finished speaking, when Judge Dee roared at him:

  “You dogs-head, I am not asking to be advised by you as to the identity of the criminal. What I demand to know is, how can you, charged with an official function, and supposed to know the rules and regulations, thus offend against the law? You ought to know what the punishment is for wilfully moving dead bodies, and thus tampering with important evidence. Quite apart from the question whether or not Koong is guilty of murder, you had no right to remove the two bodies from the place where they were originally found, before having duly reported to me, explaining your reasons, or before I held the inquest and drew up and sealed the official report. Why, I ask you, did you thus dare to offend against the laws of the land, and were you so bold as to tamper with the bodies without authorisation? Evidently you yourself are trying to cover up some nefarious scheme. Probably you planned this crime together with Koong, and having quarreled with him over the division of the loot, now try to shift all the blame on to him. Now I shall first have you beaten with the heavy bamboo, and then I shall question you under torture.”

  Judge Dee ordered the constables to let Warden Pang have hundred strokes with the heavy bamboo, then and there. Warden Pang’s wails rose to heaven, and soon blood began to trickle from his bursting skin. By now all the onlookers were convinced that Koong had been wrongly accused, and they admired Judge Dee for his shrewdness.

  After Pang had received the full hundred strokes, he still persisted that he was innocent. Judge Dee decided for the time being not to press him further, but entered Koong’s hostel with his retinue. First he asked Koong:

  “Your hostel has a great number of rooms. Give me a clear account of where the two murdered men stayed”.

  “The three rooms at the back of the house are the living quarters of myself and my wife, and our small daughter. The two rooms on the east side are used as kitchen. Thus these five rooms are never used by the guests: for them I have reserved the rooms in the first and the second courtyard. Since the two guests that arrived yesterday night were silk merchants, I knew that they would not grudge expense, and so offered them the best room of the second courtyard, this being more comfortable than the first, by reason of its being further removed from the noise and dust of the street”.

  Koong then led Judge Dee and his assistants to the second courtyard, and showed him there the room that had been occupied by the two murdered merchants.

  Judge Dee and his lieutenants carefully scrutinised this room. They saw that the remainder of yesterday’s dinner was still on the table, and that in front of the couch two night utensils were still standing about. There was not the slightest evidence of a struggle, let alone of a murder having been committed there. Judge Dee, thinking that Koong might still be holding back something, asked him:

  “Since you have been keeping this hostel for more than ten years, surely there is much coming and going of guests. I presume that yesterday you had also other guests staying here, next to the two silk merchants?”

  “Aside from them there were three others. One was a leather merchant on his way to Shansi, and the two others were a gentleman with his man servant, from Honan Province. Since the gentleman became ill, he and his servant are even now resting in their room in the first courtyard.”

  Judge Dee had the leather merchant and the man-servant of the sick traveller brought before him. He first questioned the leather merchant.

  “I am a leather merchant from Shansi”, the man said, “and I have been engaged in this trade for a number of years. When passing through here I always stay in this hostel. I actually saw the two silk merchants leave here just before daybreak, and I can also attest that during the night I heard no cries, nor any commotion. Of course, I am completely ignorant as to how and where the two men met their death”.

  Judge Dee then turned to the man-servant. This man confirmed what the leather merchant had said, adding that, owing to his master’s illness, he had hardly slept during the night, if
anything out of the ordinary had happened in the hostel, he would certainly have noticed it.

  On hearing this evidence, Judge Dee thought that it tended to confirm his doubts of Koong Wan-deh’s guilt. To be doubly sure, however, he ordered his men to go over every single room of the hostel inch by inch. This they did, but they failed to discover any trace of a crime having been committed there.

  Judge Dee was now convinced that the murder had been committed somewhere outside, after the merchants had left the hostel. For even if one assumed that all three witnesses were in the plot together with Koong, how could they have obliterated all the traces of the crime?

  Deep in thought he took his retinue back to the market place, and closely scrutinised the spot where the two bodies had been discovered. There, ample evidence sprang to the eye that the murder had been committed right on the spot: the ground showed that much blood had been shed.

  There were no houses in the immediate vicinity, but some stood a little farther away, on the market place itself. Judge Dee had the people living there brought before him, and questioned them. But this produced no results. The first thing they knew about were the shouts of some early passers-by that woke them calling out that a murder had been committed. Thereupon they had immediately reported to the warden, and during his investigation it had become known that the victims had been staying at Koong’s hostel.

  This information made Judge Dee incline to believe that Warden Pang might after all turn out to be the culprit. But since night was falling, it was too late to start holding the inquest. He decided to send his assistants out to do some private sleuthing that same night, and see what information they could gather. The inquest could be held early the next morning. He said to the village headman: