“Thus one sees how closely woven are the nets of Heaven’s justice! Well, since the criminal is there, let me go and get him!”
Judge Dee told him to wait till Ma Joong’s return from Huang-hua Village. In the mean time he drew up an official document for the magistrates of the districts they would have to pass on their way out there, stating their business and adding the usual request that if the need should arise, they give them the necessary assistance.
That night Ma Joong came back. He also was overjoyed to hear the news. Judge Dee ordered him to pack his luggage that same night, and set out early the next morning, together with Djao Wan-chuan, Chiao Tai and the old constable. Then he handed him their credentials and money for travelling expenses.
After an uneventful journey, in the afternoon of the seventh day, the four men arrived at the city of Lai-chow, the last stop before they would reach the passes.
They sent the old constable ahead to reserve a room in a hostel. The other three went to the office of the district magistrate to have their credentials stamped. Just as the clerk brought their documents back, the old constable entered the gate of the tribunal and told them he had found a nice room in a cheap hostel. They went there together and informed the manager that they were travelling silk merchants.
When the waiter brought their dinner to the room, Ma Joong asked him about the silk market in the passes. The waiter said that the market was not bad. People there had plenty of money. But he added that he hoped they were not planning to go out there to sell their wares, but would do business in the city. For a very moderate commission, the waiter was willing to introduce them to some people who might be interested in buying. Djao Wan-chuan, however, cut him short and told him that the next morning they were going to Turnip Pass, and that they were not interested in the market in the city.
The waiter gave them a queer look. He said that it was a lonely place, with bad roads. There was a garrison of about six hundred soldiers stationed there, to guard the passes. But doubtless they knew all that.
Ma Joong told him that they were newcomers but the waiter did not seem to believe that. When asked again about a large silk merchant there, he said reluctantly that he had heard a shop Lee Da mentioned. Suddenly the waiter departed without waiting for a tip.
“What”, Ma Joong exclaimed, “is wrong with that bastard?”
Djao Wan-chuan looked rather unhappy and said: “Friends, now I remember that I have been to the place before, although at that time I did not know that one of the villages scattered around the passes was called Turnip Pass. Let me tell you that we shan’t have an easy job. The people living there are a bad lot. In summer, when the grain is standing high in this part of the province, they lie in ambush along the highroads killing and robbing all merchants and travellers that happen to pass. So bad is the reputation of the region that experienced travellers prefer to make a long detour to avoid passing through there when the grain is standing high. The garrison is stationed there to prevent the local people from creating disorder on a large scale rather than for guarding the passes. All these robbers are banded together in gangs, and Shao Lee-huai must be well in with them. If we try to arrest him there we will have the whole gang on our necks”.
Ma Joong said laughing:
“Now brother, that is queer talk from you! You don’t mean to say that you are afraid?”
“There you are wrong”, Djao Wan-chuan said, “But I know what I am talking about. I stand up to anyone, but there is a difference between courage and foolhardiness”.Chiao Tai fully agreed with Djao, and added:
“Let us not forget that we are far from our own district and that the local authorities won’t thank us for stirring up trouble. You can assume that the district magistrate is content at leaving that crowd of robbers in the passes well alone, as long as they don’t rebel or refuse to pay their taxes”.
Then Djao Wan-chuan said:
“What about the military? We have our credentials and we could apply through the district magistrate to the garrison commander”.
Now the old constable laughed aloud and said:
“You fellows may be strong and good fighters, but in this you are extremely new. Listen to a old man grown grey in official service: that garrison commander is either getting a share of the loot or he is completely satisfied with his easy life there. Try to get his help against the gangs, and what will happen? If he has you flogged as trouble-makers and sends you back to Chang-ping in chains, you will be lucky!”
Ma Joong fully agreed with the old constable. They all fell silent and thought hard how this difficulty could be solved. After some time, Djao Wan-chuan struck the table with his fist, and said:
“Friends, I have found it! I have promised the judge that I would get this Shao Lee-huai, and I am going to do it. When we arrive at the passes tomorrow, we will separate as soon as we have located a hostel. Then I will go alone to the Lee Da silkshop and try to locate our man through them. When I have found him, I will tell him some cock and bull story about Manager Loo having cheated me with the silk, and that he must go back with me, in order to get our money out of him and something extra for our trouble. I shall invite him to the hostel where we give him a good dinner and persuade him to leave together with us the next day. And then, as soon as we have left and get near the city, we tell him that he is arrested!”
They all thought that this was an excellent plan and Ma Joong praised Djao’s resourcefulness. They had a last round of wine and then went to bed for a good night’s rest.
Chapter 17
DJAO LEARNS THE WAYS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE PASSES; HAVING FOUND SHAO, HE IS ENTICED BY A CLEVER LIE
THE NEXT MORNING they left the hostel early, and towards noon they saw flags fluttering in the wind in the distance. Soon they arrived at the military camp and noted that it was surrounded on all four sides by high walls of packed earth.
Having passed the fort, they found themselves in a lonely mountain landscape. Only here and there were there a few patches of arable land. Rocky surfaces with large boulders predominated. Late in the afternoon they crossed the first pass. Suddenly they came upon a village that had quite a prosperous look. There were shops on both sides of the road and the people that passed were well clad. Before long they saw the signboard of a hostel. The manager seemed not too eager to take strangers, but after some haggling over the price he reluctantly let them have a room.
Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and the greybeard went inside, and Djao Wan-chuan shouldered his two bundles of luggage, and went on alone to find the Lee Da silk shop. After having inquired about the road of a couple of street urchins, he finally came to a large shop, with the two characters Lee Da displayed over the door.
Djao Wan-chuan walked in and asked a young plug-ugly who was standing behind the counter whether this was Lee Da’s silkshop. That fellow immediately started cursing and shouted:
“Can’t you read, you fool? Isn’t the signboard outside large enough?”
Djao had promised himself that he would do his best to avoid trouble, but this was more than he could stand. He promptly shouted back: “You bastard, answer a civil question!”
“Would you be looking for trouble?” said the thug vaulting over the counter with amazing swiftness, simultaneously aiming a long blow at Djao’s middle.
Djao could not use his hands because he was still carrying his bundles, and a lesser man would have fared badly in this situation. But Djao, being an expert boxer, just lifted his right foot, and placed it accurately in the other’s groin. He could not put much force in his kick, but he knew that that would be amply supplied by the impetus of the other’s attack. As it was, the ruffian just gasped and doubled up on the floor moaning.
Djao grinned, and said:
“Now you see what a beginner you are in this game, you dogshead! This time I shan’t beat you to pulp here, but next time you meet a stranger who asks you a polite question, remember to keep a civil tongue in your mouth!”
While the ruffian was trying to
scramble up, four others had emerged from the back of the shop and asked Djao what he meant by bursting in and beating up their friend.
“I only came”, Djao said, “to try to locate an old sworn brother of mine named Shao Lee-huai”.
The others suddenly became friendly, and said:
“Please come in the backroom, stranger, and have some tea. Don’t mind that fellow. He is in a nasty temper today and getting knocked down serves him right”.
At that moment a voice called from inside: “Who is asking for me?”
Djao went in and stood face to face with Shao Lee-huai. Djao greeted him cordially, and Shao took him to the reception room, where they sat down. Then Shao Lee-huai asked him:
“How did you know that I live here and what business has taken you to this part of our province?” Djao took a few sips of tea, and then answered: “That is a long story. Suffice it to say that I have been grievously wronged, and that this affair indirectly affects you too. Let me tell you that we shall have to settle it in no uncertain manner. It won’t be an easy job, although there is a tidy bit of money in it. But I cannot do it without a couple of stout fellows to help me. Fortunately I remembered that you once told me that you often stayed in this place, so I hastened here to ask for your help”.
Shao was quite interested now and wanted to know what had happened.
Thereupon Djao Wan-chuan told him a sad story. When he arrived in Divine Village, he had handed the bales of raw silk of Shao and the late Liu to Manager Loo to sell it for him. Loo had told him he would do his best, and take but a very moderate commission. The very next day he indeed managed to sell the entire lot to a silk merchant from Peking at a good price. But when Djao went to Manager Loo to receive the money, he only reviled him, shouting that he had never got a single bale of silk from Djao. On top of that he had hired a gang of ruffians, who had beaten up Djao badly when he protested. Warden Djiang was absent on a journey to a relative, and since there had been no witnesses, there was nothing Djao could do about it.
Shao Lee-huai got very excited, he swore that Djao could count on him to get even with that crook Loo. After all his own money was involved and he wanted to teach that fellow how to treat decent merchants. They were fully entitled to the money that Manager Loo had received for the silk, and if he happened to have some other sums lying about there, well, after all Djao had a right to comfort money for the beating he had received, and he himself was entitled to a refund of his travelling expenses. Djao said:
“I knew I could count on you, brother. Now I have already collected three old friends, two tough fellows who used to be in the ‘green woods’, and one wily old thief. They are waiting in the hostel in the main street. What about accompanying me there. Have a snack and a drink, and then let us take counsel about how we shall get even with this crook Loo.”
“I am at your service”, Shao Lee-huai said, “and I shall be honoured to be introduced to your friends. We must plan this affair well, for Manager Loo belongs to an old family in Divine Village and the local people there are all on his side. But between the five of us we should be able to manage”.
So they walked to the hostel and Djao presented Shao Lee-huai to Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and the greybeard.
Shao called the manager. He told him that these people were old friends of his. The surly manager brightened up visibly and promised to bring a good dinner with plenty of wine. Soon the party was in high spirits, one round of wine followed the other. When the night had well advanced, Djao proposed to Shao Lee-huai that they should leave the village the next morning; they could work out their plans while on the road to Divine Village.
Shao Lee-huai, however, would not hear of that. He said that after all they had come a long way to see him, and he was an important person here who had to act as their host. He proposed that they stay a couple of days, and give him an opportunity to entertain them properly; also to introduce them to a number of old friends of his.
Djao tried to refuse politely, saying that they could not put him to all this trouble. But Shao said that he had also a bit of business to set right, a fellow still owed him a gambling debt, and he wanted to settle that before leaving. At last they agreed that their departure would be deferred one day and that they would set out the day after tomorrow. Then Shao Lee-huai took his leave, promising to come back the next day.
As soon as he had gone, Ma Joong congratulated Djao Wan-chuan in a low voice on the success of his ruse. The stratagem of “enticing the tiger out of his mountains” certainly seemed to have worked well. The only snag was that they could not leave the next morning. At any moment a travelling merchant might arrive in the village who had heard about Judge Dee appearing in Divine Village, in connection with the murder near Chang-ping. News travels fast along the silk roads, and the fight of Ma Joong and Djao Wan-chuan and their subsequent reconciliation would be the topic of the day among the local people there. If Shao Lee-huai should discover that he had been tricked, and that all four of them were working for Judge Dee, they would never leave the village alive.
While Ma Joong, Djao Wan-chuan and Chiao Tai were discussing this risk, the old constable spoke up and said:
“Here again you badly need the advice of an old and experienced police officer. Let me tell you that the danger is even greater than you think. Such a well-organised band of robbers as these scoundrels here in Turnip Pass will certainly have their spies in the tribunal of Lai-chow. You had your credentials stamped there, and I am willing to lay a heavy wager that tomorrow a spy will come rushing here from Lai-chow to warn the people that four officers of the tribunal of Chang-ping are on their way to arrest the murderer of Six Mile Village. If we are hacked to pieces here the magistrate of Lai-chow will just report to Chang-ping that we muddled the affair, and Judge Dee will never solve his case. Now how about this plan? Let one of us leave before dawn and run back to Lai-chow as fast as he can. He will report to the magistrate that we have found the murderer and are returning that afternoon to Lai-chow; he will ask the magistrate to send a posse of local militia to meet us halfway to help arrest the criminal.”
“What is the advantage of that?”, Ma Joong wanted to know.
The old constable pulled at his beard, and said with a smile: “In the first place, it will give the magistrate a personal interest in this affair. If a couple of men from the tribunal in Chang-ping arrest a dangerous criminal in Lai-chow, that does not interest the local magistrate at all. But if he can report to his superiors that he, as always vigilant in weeding out bad elements in his district, had his constables locate and apprehend a longsought murderer and duly delivered him in chains to the magistrate in whose district the murder was committed, that will make an excellent impression on the higher authorities, and may accelerate his promotion. You can count on it. He will send out his men to meet us without delay. In the second place, once the local magistrate has committed himself officially in this affair, the bandits here will hesitate to murder us right away, should Shao Lee-huai discover our ruse before we have left; and they won’t come after us if they learn through their spies after we have left. For although they won’t hesitate to kill a few constables from a far away district, they don’t like to stir up trouble with the local authorities. After all, Shao Lee-huai may be their sworn brother, but he still is not a native of this place.”
Ma Joong and Chiao Tai shook their heads in admiration and conceded that there was much more in this work than mere courage and a knowledge of boxing. Also Djao Wan-chuan was enthusiastic about the plan and assured them that he would be able to persuade Shao Lee-huai to leave the next day.
They decided that Ma Joong would leave before daybreak, and hurry to Lai-chow. If the others would leave the village with Shao Lee-huai after noon, they would meet with the militia somewhere between the fort and the city.
These matters having been thus decided, they all went to bed for a few hours of sleep.
Chapter 18
HALFWAY FROM THE PASSES A CRIMINAL IS ARRESTED; IN THE T
RIBUNAL OF CHANG-PING THE TRIAL IS OPENED
AFTER BREAKFAST Djao Wan-chuan, Chiao Tai and the greybeard went to the Lee Da silk shop to pay a courtesy call to Shao Lee-huai. Ma Joong had left already an hour before.
Shao Lee-huai received them cordially, and introduced them to the manager of the shop. When all were seated in the reception room after tea and cakes had been served, Shao Lee-huai asked why Ma Joong had not come with them. Djao Wan-chuan answered that he had gone to look up a distant relative who was supposed to be living in the neighbourhood; he had said that it might take some time to locate him, and had asked to be excused for not taking part in the courtesy call.
Shao Lee-huai said that a good friend need not apologise. More tea was brought in. He seemed intent on impressing his new friends, and practically had open house in the Lee Da shop. A number of local people kept strolling in. All were introduced to Djao and his companions.
It might have been nice entertainment for them, were it not for the fact that they could not help giving each newcomer an anxious look, to see whether he was perhaps the person bringing the news that would expose them. Moreover the old constable had got into one of his fits of absent mindedness, and they feared that the greybeard would say something that would betray them. Fortunately during such fits he was more deaf than usual and Shao Lee-huai and his friends soon gave up trying to make conversation with him.
Towards noon Shao took them out for a stroll, to give the manager of the Lee Da shop an opportunity to prepare the table in the reception room for a noon meal. They were just walking through the main street, when Djao Wan-chuan was startled by the sight of a tall fellow rounding the corner in the distance, who looked very much like Ma Joong.
When he came near it proved to be perfectly true. To the great consternation of Djao and Chiao Tai, it was Ma Joong himself, with a worried look on his face. Djao managed to conceal his anxiety, and asked cheerfully: “Well, brother Ma, did you find your relative?”
The Celebrated Cases Of Judge Dee Page 14