The Red Pavilion

XI

Since it was still early in the afternoon, the street of the dormitories was quite busy. Messengers and tradesmen went in and out of the front doors, and everywhere one heard the sound of flutes, guitars and drums as the courtesans practised music and singing.

Ma Joong halted in front of the door marked 'Second Rank, No. 4'. He explained to the surly elderly woman who opened that they wanted to see the courtesan Silver Fairy, on official business. The woman silently led them to a small waiting-room, then went to fetch the girl.

Silver Fairy came in and made a low bow. She discreetly ignored the wink that Ma Joong gave her behind Judge Dee's back. The judge motioned the elder woman to leave them alone, then kindly addressed the girl:

'I am told that you are a pupil of the Queen Flower. She taught you singing and dancing, I suppose?' As the girl nod­ded, he went on: 'So that means that you came to know her well, doesn't it? '

'Oh yes, sir! I saw her nearly every day.'

'In that case you'll be able to enlighten me on a point that is puzzling me. I gathered that she had expected my colleague, Magistrate Lo, to buy her out, and I know that she was very disappointed when she found that she had been mistaken. Then she began at once to look for another patron. This proves clearly that she was keen to find a lover willing to take her away and marry her, doesn't it? '

'Very keen indeed, sir! She often told me and the other girls that being chosen Queen Flower is the golden chance for finding a wealthy protector and establishing yourself in a secure position for life.'

'Exactly. That being so, why then did she refuse the offer of such an eminent and wealthy person as the late Academician Lee Lien?'

'I have been wondering about that too, sir! I discussed it with the other girls; we all think that she must have had a special reason, but we can only guess what that was. There was something secretive about their relationship, we never knew where they ah . . . sported together. He invited her to all his parties, but after dinner they never made use of the private rooms provided by the restaurants. And she never went back with him to his own hostel either. After I had heard that the Academician had killed himself because of her, I . . .' She blushed and gave the judge a quick look. 'Well, I mean to say, I was a bit curious about how those two had gone about it, so I asked the old maidservant who looks after the Queen Flower. But she said that the Academician visited the Pavilion only once, on the same night that he committed suicide. And on that occasion they only had a brief talk. Of course the Queen Flower has the freedom of the island, so there are numerous other places where she can receive her lovers. Yesterday after­noon I made bold to ask her herself, but was told curtly to mind my own business. I thought that rather strange, for she always told us in great detail about her intimate experiences. I remember how she made all of us laugh when she described how that portly Magistrate Lo had . . .'

'Quite!' Judge Dee cut her short hastily. 'You are a good singer, I hear. According to my lieutenant you are studying under a certain Miss Ling, a former courtesan.'

'I didn't know that your man is so talkative!' the girl said, giving Ma Joong an annoyed look. ' If the other girls here get the wind of it, they'll engage Miss Ling too, and presently they'll all be singing the same songs as I!'

'We'll keep your secret!' the judge said with a smile. 'I want to have a talk with Miss Ling, you see, about the old days here. I don't want others to know about that interview, therefore I can't summon her officially. I leave it to you to arrange a suitable meeting place.'

'That would be difficult, sir,' she said with a frown. 'As a matter of fact, I went to see her just now. She wouldn't let me in, she said through the door that she was coughing badly again, and that she wouldn't be able to teach me for a week or so.'

'She can't be too ill to answer a few simple questions,' Judge Dee remarked testily. 'Go and warn her that in an hour or so you'll be coming back to her place, together with me.' He got up and added: ' I'll pass by here again later.'

Silver Fairy conducted them ceremoniously to the door. Out­side the judge said to Ma Joong:

'I want Tao Pan-te to be present when I question Miss Ling, for he'll be able to make useful suggestions. Let's ask in that large wine shop over there where we can find him!'

They were in luck; the manager informed them that Tao Pan-te happened to be there. He was in the warehouse behind the shop, inspecting a newly arrived lot of winejars.

They found Tao bent over a large earthenware jar, sealed with clay. He apologized profusely for receiving them in a warehouse, and wanted to take them upstairs to sample the new wine. But Judge Dee said:

'I am in rather a hurry just now, Mr Tao. I only wanted to tell you that later in the afternoon I shall question an old woman who thirty years ago was a famous courtesan here. I thought you'd like to be present.'

'I certainly would!' Tao exclaimed. 'How did you find her, sir? I have been trying to locate such a person for years!'

'It seems that few people know about her existence. I am now going somewhere else, Mr Tao. On my way back I'll pick you up here.'

Tao Pan-te thanked the judge warmly.

When they were outside again Judge Dee remarked:

'It would seem that Mr Tao takes a much greater part in his business than he made me believe this morning!'

'Few people dislike a taste of a new brand!' Ma Joong said with a grin.

Wen Yuan's curio-shop was located on a busy corner. They found it crammed with larger and smaller tables loaded with vases, statues, lacquer boxes and other antiques of all kinds and sizes. When the shop assistant had gone upstairs with Judge Dee's large red visiting card, the judge whispered to Ma Joong:

'You'll go upstairs with me, I'll say you are a collector of porcelain.' He cut the tall fellow's protests short, saying: 'I want you to be there, as a witness.'

Wen Yuan came hurriedly down and welcomed the judge with a low bow. He started on the usual polite phrases but his thin lips were twitching, he could only bring out a confused stutter. Judge Dee said cordially:

'I had heard so much about your fine collection, Mr "Wen, that I couldn't resist the temptation to come here and have a look.'

Wen again made an elaborate obeisance. When he had righted himself it was clear that, having learned the innocent object of Judge Dee's visit, he had got over his fright. He said with a deprecating smile:

'What I have here downstairs is nothing, Your Honour! These things are meant only for ignorant tourists from up-country. Allow me to lead you upstairs!'

The hall on the second floor was tastefully furnished with good antique pieces, and on the shelves along the walls stood a choice collection of porcelain. The curio-dealer took Judge Dee and Ma Joong to a small study at the back, and bade the judge sit down at the tea table. Ma Joong stood himself behind Judge Dee's chair. The screened light of the paper windows fell on the scroll paintings that covered the walls, showing to advantage their delicate colouring, mellowed by age. It was agreeably cool there, but Wen insisted on presenting his guest with a beautiful silk fan. As the curio-dealer was filling Judge Dee's cup with fragrant jasmine tea, the judge said:

'I myself am interested in antique pictures and manuscripts. I brought my assistant along, because he is an expert on porcelain.'

'That's a lucky chance for me!' Wen said eagerly. He placed a square lacquer box on the table and took from its padded inside a slender white flower vase. He resumed: 'This morning a man brought this vase to me, but I have some doubts about it. Would the gentleman favour me with his opinion?'

The unhappy boxer stared at the vase with such a horrible scowl that Wen hastily put it back in the box, saying contritely:

'Yes, I too suspected it was a fake, but I hadn't thought it was as bad as all that. Well, the gentleman certainly knows porcelain!'

As Ma Joong resumed his position behind Judge Dee's chair with a suppressed sigh of relief, the judge addressed the curio-dealer affably:

'Sit down, Mr Wen! Let's have a leisurely talk.' As Wen took the seat opposite them the judge added casually: 'Not about antiques, but about the lies you told this morning in court.'

Wen's hollow face went sickly pale. He stammered:

'This person fails to see what Your Honour . . .'

'You stated,' Judge Dee interrupted coldly, 'that last night you came directly here from the Crane Bower. You thought that nobody had seen you cruelly maltreating a defenceless girl in the courtesans' training hall. But a maidservant watched you, and reported to me.'

Red blotches had appeared on "Wen's face. He moistened his thin lips, then said:

'I didn't think it necessary to mention that, Your Honour. Those wayward girls need some punishment from time to time and . . .'

'It's you who shall be punished! For contempt of court, which means fifty lashes with the heavy whip! Subtract ten lashes for your advanced age, the rest'll still suffice to cripple you for life!'

Wen jumped up and knelt before the judge. Touching his forehead to the floor he begged for mercy.

'Rise!' the judge ordered. 'You shan't be flogged, because your head will be chopped off on the execution ground. You are implicated in a murder!'

'A murder?' Wen screamed. 'Never, Your Honour! Impos­sible . . . What murder? '

'The murder of the Academician Lee Lien. Someone over­heard your talk with him, ten days ago, on the morning he arrived here.'

Wen stared at the judge with wide eyes.

'Near the landing stage, under the trees, you bastard!' Ma Joong growled.

'But nobody was . . .' Wen began, then caught up with himself and continued: 'That is to say . . .' He broke off, mak­ing a desperate effort to collect himself.

'Speak up, tell the truth!' Judge Dee barked.

'But.. . but if our conversation was overheard,' Wen wailed, 'then you must know that I did what I could to make the Academician see reason! That I told him it was sheer madness to try to get hold of Feng's daughter, that Feng would take a terrible revenge and that he . . .'

'Tell the complete story!' the judge interrupted. 'How it led up to murder!'

'That crook Feng must have slandered me! I had nothing to do with the Academician's death! It must have been Feng, he himself!' He took a deep breath, then went on in a calmer voice: 'I'll tell you exactly what happened, sir! At dawn the Academician's servant came to my shop here, I had just risen. He said that Lee, whom I had been expecting the night before, had been held up by a collision with another boat, and now was waiting for me on the landing stage. I knew his father, Dr Lee the Censor, I expected to do good business with the son. I thought that perhaps he . . .'

'Keep to what really happened!' Judge Dee ordered.

'But Lee didn't want to buy any antiques. He told me that he wanted me to help him arrange a secret meeting with Jade Ring, Feng Dai's daughter! He had met her when their boats collided. He had tried to persuade her to pass the night with him in his cabin, but she had refused. Now the fool's pride was hurt; he was determined to force her to comply with his wishes. I tried to explain to him that it was absolutely impossible, that she was a virtuous girl and that her father was a wealthy man, with great influence not only here but also ...'

'I know that. Tell me how your hatred for Feng Dai made you change your mind!'

He saw Wen's haggard face twitch. His guess had been right. The curio-dealer wiped the perspiration from his fore­head. He spoke dejectedly:

'The temptation was too strong for me, Your Honour! I made a terrible mistake. But Feng always treats me as ... as an inferior, both in business and in ... in private affairs. I thought, fool that I was, that this was an opportunity for humiliating Feng, deal him a severe blow, through his daugh­ter. And should the plan miscarry, then all the blame would go to the Academician. So I told Lee I knew a way to force the girl to come to him and grant him her favours. If he would come to my house in the afternoon, we would discuss the details.'

The curio-dealer shot a quick look at Judge Dee's impassive face before he went on:

'Lee came. I told him that formerly a leading citizen here had killed himself, because the courtesan he loved had jilted him. That it was well known that Feng Dai had been the dead man's rival in love, and that there were rumours that Feng had murdered him. There must have been some truth in those rumours, Your Honour! I swear that on the night the man died I saw Feng, slinking about behind the hostel where it hap­pened! I am convinced that it was indeed Feng who had murdered that man, making it appear as if he had committed suicide.' He cleared his throat, then continued: 'I told Lee that Miss Feng knew of those rumours about her father. If the Academician would send her a message, telling her that he possessed irrefutable proof of her father's guilt, she would certainly come to him, for she is very fond of her father. Then he could do with her what he liked, for she would never dare to accuse him. That's all, I swear it, Your Honour! I don't know whether the Academician actually did send her such a message; I don't know whether, if he did, the girl really paid him a secret visit. I only know that, on the night Lee died, I saw Feng in the park, just behind the Red Pavilion. But I don't know anything about what happened there. Please believe me, Your Honour!'

Again he fell on his knees and knocked his forehead re­peatedly on the floor.

'I shall verify every word you say,' Judge Dee spoke. 'I hope that you told the truth — for your sake! Now you'll write out a full confession, stating that you told the court a deliberate lie, that after Autumn Moon had whispered to you that you could find Silver Fairy bound naked to a pillar in the training hall and completely at your mercy, you went there, and when the girl refused to comply with your disgusting proposals you cruelly beat her across her hips with a long bamboo flute. Rise, and do as I told you!'

Wen hastily came to his feet. With trembling hands he took a sheet of paper from the drawer and spread it out on the table. But after he had moistened his writing brush he didn't seem to know how to begin.

'I'll dictate it!' Judge Dee snapped. 'Write! I, the under­signed, herewith confess that on the night of the 28th day of the seventh month . . .'

When the curio-dealer had finished, the judge told him to impress his seal and thumbmark on the document. Then he pushed it over to Ma Joong, who also added his thumbprint, as a witness.

Judge Dee rose, put the document in his sleeve and said curtly:

'Your trip to the capital is off. You are under house arrest until further notice.'

Then he descended the stairs, followed by Ma Joong.