"Well, I am glad anyway that nothing happened to you two!"
Ma Joong pushed the heavy iron helmet back from his perspiring brow. He said dejectedly:
"No, nothing really happened, but I still think that things don't look too good, Your Honor! This morning, when we had passed through the west gate of the capital, two men on horseback overtook us, both elderly men. They said they were tea merchants on their way to the western provinces, and asked whether they might join us as far as Han-yuan. They spoke civilly enough, and they carried no arms, so what could we do but say yes? But the elder one had such a thoroughly mean look that I felt shivers up my spine every time I caught his eye! They didn't make any trouble, however, although they were remarkably silent all the way."
"You were tired," Judge Dee remarked. "Probably you were a bit oversuspicious."
"That wasn't all, Your Honor!" Chiao Tai now said. "Half an hour later a group of about thirty horsemen emerged from a side road. Their leader said they also were merchants, and also on their way to the western provinces! Well, if those were merchants, then I am a nursemaid! I seldom saw such a fine collection of assorted ruffians, and I am certain they carried swords concealed under their robes. However, since they took the lead and went to ride in front of us, it didn't look too bad. But when after another half hour or so another thirty self-styled merchants came and joined us, and brought up the rear of our cavalcade, Brother Ma and I thought that we were in for trouble."
The judge had straightened in his chair. He looked fixedly at Chiao' Tai as he continued:
"Since we had delivered the document, we didn't worry. We thought that if the feast started, at least one of us should be able to fight his way through to the roadside, take to the field and fetch help from a military post. But what makes it look so bad is that the fellows didn't attack us at all. They were completely sure of themselves; they evidently had larger things in mind than killing two messengers! Their only aim was apparently to prevent us from raising the alarm. But we could hardly have raised any alarm, for all the guard posts we passed were deserted! Not a soldier in sight, all along the road! When we were rounding the lake, the men started to melt away in groups of five or six, and when we entered the town we had only those two elderly fellows with us. We told them they were arrested, and took them here to the tribunal. But they didn't seem to mind that at all; the insolent rascals said they would like to speak to Your Honor!"
"Those sixty scoundrels who rode with us are but one column of the rebels, Your Honor!" Ma Joong added. "When we were approaching the town I saw in the distance two long files of horsemen riding through the mountains, heading for the city. They probably think they can take us by surprise! But our tribunal is solidly built and occupies a strategic position; we can easily defend it!"
Judge Dee crashed his fist on the table.
"Heaven knows why the government didn't take any action on my report!" he exclaimed angrily. "But whatever happens, those despicable rebels won't be able to take my town so easily! They haven't got battering rams, and we can dispose of about thirty able men. How are we standing with our stores of arms, Chiao Tai?"
"There are plenty of arrows in the armory, Your Honor!" Chiao Tai said with enthusiasm. "I think we can hold them off at least one day or so, and give them a bad time too!"
"Bring those two miserable traitors here!" Judge Dee ordered Ma Joong. "They think they can make a deal with me! Han-yuan is their headquarters; they hope I'll hand the town over to them without a fight. We'll show them how wrong they are! But first we'll make those two scoundrels tell us how many men the rebels have, and where their positions are! Get them here!"
Ma Joong left the room with a happy grin.
He came back with two gentlemen in long blue robes and wearing black skullcaps. The elder one was tall; he had a cold, expressionless face with a thin, ragged ring beard. His heavy-lidded eyes were half-closed. The other was a thickset man with a sharp, sardonic face. He had a jet-black mustache and a stiff, short beard. He looked at the judge and his four lieutenants with watchful, very bright eyes.
But Judge Dee stared only at the elder man, speechless with astonishment. A few years earlier, when he was serving in the Cabinet Archives in the capital, he had once seen this dreaded person, from a distance. Someone had then told him his name, in a frightened whisper.
The tall man raised his head and let his queer, slate-colored eyes rest for a while on the judge. Then he made a move with his head in the direction of Judge Dee's assistants. The judge motioned the four men peremptorily to leave them alone.
Ma Joong and Chiao Tai looked dumfoundedly at the judge, but as he nodded impatiently they shuffled to the door, followed by Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan.
The two newcomers sat down in the pair of high-backed armchairs that stood against the side wall, reserved for important visitors. Judge Dee knelt down in front of them, and touched the floor three times with his forehead.
The elder man took a fan from his sleeve. Leisurely fanning himself, he said in a curious, flat voice to his companion:
"This is the Magistrate Dee. It took him two months to discover that here in Han-yuan, in his own district, in his own town, a treacherous conspiracy had its headquarters. Apparently, he is unaware of the fact that a magistrate is supposed to know what is going on in his district."
"He doesn't even know what is going on in his own tribunal, sir!" the other said. "He blithely states in his report that the rebels have a spy among his personnel. Criminal negligence, sir!"
The elder man heaved a resigned sigh.
"As soon as these young officials get appointed outside the capital," he remarked dryly, "they at once start to take things easy. Lack of control by their immediate superiors, I suppose. Remind me that we summon the Prefect of this region; I'll have to speak to him about this disgraceful affair."
There was a pause. Judge Dee remained silent. One spoke to this exalted person only when asked to. And it was his duty to blame and criticize. For the elder man, although officially ranking as an Imperial Censor, was in reality the Grand Inquisitor, the formidable Chief of the Imperial Secret Service. He was called Meng Kee, a name that made the highest metropolitan officials shiver in their gold-embroidered robes. Fiercely loyal, completely incorruptible, of inhuman, detached cruelty, this man was invested with practically unlimited authority. He represented in his person the final check, the ultimate control on the colossal apparatus of the Imperial civil and military service.
"Fortunately, you were, as always, diligent, sir!" the bearded man said. "When ten days ago our agents reported rumors about the White Lotus being revived in the provinces, the Generalissimo was informed and immediately took all necessary measures. And when this Magistrate Dee at last woke up from his comfortable slumber and reported that the headquarters were located here in Han-yuan, the Imperial Guards took up positions in the mountains and around the lake. They never yet have caught you napping, sir!"
"We do the little we can!" the Censor said. "It's the local officials that are the weakest link in our administration. The rebellion will be crushed, but with considerable bloodshed. If this man Dee had been more diligent about his duties, we could have immediately arrested the leaders, and crushed the insurrection in the bud." Suddenly his voice rang out with a metallic ring as he directly addressed the judge: "You made at least four inexcusable mistakes, Dee! First, you let Liu Fei-po escape, although you yourself state that you suspected him. Second, you allow one of the rebel agents to be murdered in your own jail, before you extract information from him. Third, you kill Wang when you should have captured him alive so as to question him. And fourth, you send an incomplete report to the capital, with the key missing. Speak up, Dee, where is that key document?"