‘It was such a cruel battle indeed,’ Zhuang went on, shaking his head like a rattle drum. ‘The river water was dyed red with blood. For a month or so, no one wanted to taste the fish or shrimp caught in the stinking, scarlet liquid.’

  ‘So local fishing people must have suffered a huge loss of income?’ Judge Dee inquired.

  ‘Fortunately, the river no longer smells so horrible, Your Honor.’

  ‘A different question for you now, Zhuang. Do you happen to know the herbal doctor surnamed Hua well?’

  ‘You’re asking because of his connection with Luo Binwang?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Judge Dee replied.

  ‘In fact, some people from the capital recently contacted me again, asking about Doctor Hua.’

  ‘Who were those people?’

  ‘The secret police, I guess. They must have had a direct order from the very top in the Forbidden City.’

  ‘I see,’ Judge Dee said, even though he still did not see why Empress Wu had set so much store by finding Luo. Now that the uprising had been firmly defeated, what harm could an old, wounded poet do?

  Mayor Zhuang then launched into a more detailed background report about Hua, and about the herbal doctor’s relationship with Luo. It did not seem to contain anything new or relevant to what he’d already spoken about, though. And if the secret police had already interrogated Dr Hua and repeatedly searched his hut, but found nothing, surely the man had nothing to hide? Dee could not understand their continued interest in him.

  ‘In other words,’ Judge Dee said reflectively at the conclusion of Zhuang’s report, ‘there seemed to be nothing particularly suspicious about the relationship between Luo and Hua.’

  ‘Nothing. If anything aroused suspicion, it must just be that the two of them had talked quite a lot – Luo and Hua, I mean. But that may not be considered surprising. Hua had participated in the civil service examination – several times – without success. Luo had succeeded, but not until he was in his late forties. So they might have shared some common experiences and topics.’

  Five

  ‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.’

  – Marcel Proust

  ‘What we think or what we know or what we believe is in the end of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do.’

  – John Ruskin

  ‘Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the “new, wonderful good society” which shall now be Rome, interpreted to mean “more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious”.’

  – Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Early the next morning, Judge Dee approached Dr Hua’s hut with slow steps. As he chewed a betel nut, he cudgeled his brains, thinking and re-thinking about what plausible excuse he should give for the unannounced visit to the herbal doctor.

  A splendid pheasant flashed up from a patch of the roadside bushes, dazzling in the sunlight, as Judge Dee moved into view of the wooden hut in question. From a distance, he could see the hut was discolored and ramshackle, constructed of pinewood, with several large pieces of bark peeling from its outside walls. It was located close to the small, shady woods. He could hear a faint gurgling sound from somewhere nearby, so he deduced there was probably a tiny stream behind it.

  At closer range, he was able to discern the black holes here and there in its thatch roof, like footnotes about the poverty of its inhabitant. There were a couple of tiny holes in the time-yellowed paper window as well. It would be far from a pleasant experience for people to stay there on rainy days.

  After knocking on the door once, and then again, yet getting no response, Judge Dee gingerly pushed it open.

  He could see a bamboo basket lying on the ground inside the threshold, containing a variety of fresh herbs, still lushly green with dewdrops visible on the fresh leaves. They could have been collected earlier in the morning. By the side of the basket, he noticed something else – like a spade but smaller, with a different-shaped head. Quite possibly, it was a tool specially designed for the purpose of digging and gathering herbs in the high mountains. A pair of wet-mud-covered straw sandals lay nearby, further anchoring Judge Dee’s impression of the impoverishment of the hut’s owner.

  For a moment, Judge Dee could not help recalling several idyllic lines written by another contemporary poet named Jia Dao. He then suddenly felt unsure about the authorship. It could be just another sign of his impending old age, and he heaved a sigh at being so forgetful, and sentimental too.

  I inquire of a young boy servant

  standing under a pine tree.

  ‘My master is away,’ he said,

  ‘collecting medical herbs,

  somewhere secluded in the mountains,

  deep in the white clouds—

  but about exactly where? Um,

  I cannot really tell.’

  It was nothing but a Daoist poetic vision. In the real world, a herbal doctor like Hua, living in the mountainous countryside, had to struggle hard for survival. To say the least, Hua did not have ‘a young boy servant’ waiting around for him.

  What was worse, Hua must have been ruthlessly, repeatedly interrogated about Luo, and eventually uprooted into an omnipresent, omnipotent basket of government surveillance. There was no possibility of his escaping – as in the poetic fantasy – into the peaceful, white-cloud-mantled mountains.

  Judge Dee was trying to suppress another long sigh, shaking his head, when Hua stepped into the room. He was a man who pretty much looked his age, his temples silver-streaked and his brow deep-lined. Wearing a homespun long gray gown, and a pair of dry straw sandals, Hua hurried over to meet Judge Dee and made a respectful bow still at a distance. The long gown, usually worn by intellectuals, somehow contributed to Judge Dee’s impression of him being an experienced, learned doctor.

  Judge Dee offered Dr Hua his business card.

  ‘Your visit really brightens up my humble abode, Your Honor,’ Hua said, carefully taking the card from his hand. ‘Wow, Judge Dee? Indeed, it’s such an honor for an obscure country bumpkin like me.’

  ‘We both study Confucian classics, Doctor Hua. So what’s the difference between us? You are also an experienced medical doctor. According to an ancient saying, one should be either a good politician or a good doctor. In unstable times like ours, a politician’s scheme might work for the current moment, but it could also turn out to be a huge disaster in disguise. On the other hand, being a good doctor is different: you save so many lives. In fact, I wish I, too, could serve as a life-saving doctor like you.’

  ‘You flatter me too much, Your Honor. I have heard of people saying a lot of things about you – mostly good.’ Hua came straight to the point. ‘To be honest, I know little about politics, and I’m not in a position to judge. Nonetheless, I believe you’re an insightful statesman of integrity in your own way, resourceful and far-sighted in terms of seeing the bigger picture with regard to the welfare of the whole empire. I’ve been particularly impressed by your courageous suggestion to the empress in the court. I mean, of course, the suggestion about keeping the Lis in line for the smooth succession to the throne. It’s all for the welfare of the Tang Empire and the Tang people, I understand. So please go ahead with whatever questions you want to ask me. I’ll try my best to answer.’

  ‘I think I got your point, and I thank you so much, Doctor Hua. It’s understandable what some people might have said about me, both good and bad. Let me tell you one thing that recently happened to me. Just before I set out for this trip, I called on my sister-in-law. When I was still a young boy, she married my elder brother. She took very good care of me for years, even after my elder brother passed away in an accident, until the time I succeeded in the civil service examination and obtained an official position. It’s just like in the old Chinese saying: a kind elder sister-in-law could have been like a mother. I’ve been deeply beholden to her all these years, and she knows that. But that day she gave me such a harsh dressing down.

  ‘“You’re bringing shame to this door, Renjie, and to our family name of Dee. You actually have the nerve to grovel at the feet of that lascivious bitch of a woman, and to bark like a mad dog on her behalf, trying to hunt Luo Binwang down. Luo Binwang did the right and proper thing when he composed his powerful ‘Call to Arms’. All of the details in the declaration are true. He did nothing wrong.”

  ‘Then she shut the door in my face with a loud bang, saying as she did so that she was ashamed to have a spineless brother-in-law like me. My elder sister-in-law is an educated, self-­righteous woman. From her perspective, her furious outburst made so much sense.’

  ‘I know,’ Hua said deliberately, ‘but that may not be fair to you. She was, in fact, too harsh on you, I would say. People cannot help judging from their own perspectives.’

  ‘Like her, there are also a number of Li loyalists being very harsh on me. From their point of view, they’re not without their reasons. But I still beg to differ. One has to be loyal, first of all, to the welfare of the Tang people. Not necessarily to one particular person, whether surnamed Li or Wu.’

  ‘That’s a valid point, Your Honor. Mencius has said something just like that too.’

  ‘I would also like to add,’ Judge Dee said, ‘that however notorious and lascivious the empress appears to be in the people’s gossip, she’s still a capable, competent ruler. She has been doing her best for the Tang Empire in her way. You have to admit that the Tang dynasty has been enjoying prosperity under her rule. And things are quite peaceful too – except, that is, for the recent rebellion led by General Xu.’

  ‘Again, you have a point. But as we have discussed, other people may also have their points. You must have heard of the scandalous affair between the empress and Monk Xue?’

  ‘Yes, people can argue on and on. But enough of the political debates, Doctor Hua. Let’s switch topics. You talked quite a lot with Luo when he stayed with you for treatment in the hut here, I have been told.’

  ‘I’m a huge fan of Luo’s poetry. He is one of the most excellent poets of our time. In my opinion, he’s definitely number one among the Tang Empire’s “four most excellent”. As for me, I’m just a poor, unsuccessful candidate in the civil service examination, and I do not have one-tenth of his poetic talent. So it meant a lot for me to have the opportunity of talking and discussing with him.’

  ‘I too wish I could have had such an opportunity, Doctor Hua. I have never met with Luo Binwang in person, but I also like his poetry a lot. Please tell me more about your meeting and talking with him. It’s also for my continuous education.’

  ‘In the early stage of the uprising, the rebellious army had won several major battles in quick succession, so they pushed on with unbelievable momentum. A lot of people attributed it to the brilliant and inspiring “Call to Arms” penned by Luo Binwang. But unfortunately, Luo was wounded in one of these battles. General Xu had him moved into this poor hut of mine, so I could take better care of him with my herbal medicine and acupuncture.’

  ‘How serious was his wound?’

  ‘Not that serious. In fact, he remained in high spirits most of the time. He even copied out a poem of his for me about one of the battles fought near the distant borders.’

  Hua climbed up into a small attic, and then descended with a silk scroll of the poem titled ‘Seeing Off Officer Zheng at the Border’.

  Facing the barbarian invasion from the enemy,

  our heroic soldiers are marching east,

  crossing Shanggan River to defend the country.

  The shining arrows keep shooting, tearing

  through the dense green willow leaves,

  over the white-jade-decorated saddles,

  against a blaze of blossoming peach flowers.

  The bright moon projects the shadows

  of the full-stretched bows to the ground,

  with stars gathering around the tip

  of the gigantic sword suspended in the sky.

  Oh, don’t be like a failed assassin

  in the ancient times, singing,

  in vain, the sad, sentimental song

  of ‘Chilly Wind by Yi River’.

  There was a line underneath the poem in smaller characters: ‘Copying an old poem for my good doctor and friend Hua – as a token of my sincere gratitude to him for the miraculous treatment during my convalescence at his home.’

  So Luo had not written the poem specifically for Hua, but just copied it out. Judge Dee had no idea who ‘Officer Zheng’ was in the title of the poem. Still, such a copy in Luo’s own calligraphy along with the dedication would mean a lot to a man of letters.

  ‘It’s a wonderful poem,’ Judge Dee said, nodding. ‘The last stanza is full of intertextual allusions to the failed assassin, Jin Ke, at the beginning of the Qing Empire. It could also serve as a sort of self-portrait of Luo Binwang. Not to mention the fact that it’s copied in his own calligraphy, with your name mentioned as well. As a highly collectable item, the scroll may be truly invaluable. Make sure you keep it in a safe and proper place, Doctor Hua. It takes a poet of Luo’s caliber to produce a masterpiece like this.’

  ‘Who could have thought that, shortly afterward, General Xu’s army would suffer such a stunning defeat, from which they would never recover?’ Dr Hua said. ‘Nobody could have anticipated such an abrupt, irrecoverable turn in the civil war. It’s just like in an old saying: the defeated army is fleeing away, as helter-skelter as if they were in the midst of collapsing mountains and crushing earthquakes.’

  ‘You’re absolutely right about that, Hua. The situation on the battlefield can change so dramatically overnight. What happened to Luo then?’

  ‘Luo believed that he had pretty much recovered, and he insisted on going back to the front. It would have been safer for him to rest for another week or so. I tried my best to dissuade him, but without success. Perhaps that’s just like him – an idealistic “frontier poet”, fighting and writing for what he really believes in.’

  ‘Perhaps he realized that his aspirations could also vanish like a curl of smoke with the impeding tragic end of the uprising. But Luo has never contacted you since?’

  ‘No, he has not. It wasn’t easy for people to contact one another during the time of the rebellion. Besides, I’m definitely not someone that important to him. And, of course, Luo could have been killed in the last battle.’

  Judge Dee thought he could detect a ring of truth in the response made by Hua, who had talked matter-of-factly without any furtive changes in his expression.

  It was also true that Luo himself had a lot to worry about as the rebellion army began to suffer one big defeat after another.

  ‘By the way, I’ve just gathered some rare herbs in the mountains this morning. You look a bit tired. The herbs might serve as a tune-up for your Yin-Yang system, Your Honor. Would you like to try them? All are natural, fresh, organic – a tonic for the system. At the very least, the medicine won’t hurt or have any side effects.’

  His words were like a subtle signal. No more on the topic of Luo Binwang, please.

  Judge Dee understood only too well the reasons behind this request. Hua had every reason to be extra-cautious. He had already been repeatedly interrogated by secret agents from the capital and must have shared his information about Luo a thousand times.

  But Judge Dee decided not to leave immediately. He might be able to pick up something else in his ongoing conversation with Hua, he thought.

  Dr Hua moved over to a small wood-burning stove, put a variety of herbs into an earthen urn and started preparing a herbal drink for Judge Dee.

  ‘Normally, one-third of the herbs would be enough for a couple of doses. So, I’m making six doses for you, Your Honor. Enough for three days. One dose in the morning and another in the evening.’

  So Judge Dee and Dr Hua sat around the stove, and Hua delivered a long, serious lecture about the miracle of traditional herbal medicine. It was a speech full of concrete details as well as illustrations from the fresh herbs nearby. Dee listened attentively, making numerous notes and nodding in response.

  Judge Dee finally rose and bid farewell to his host. After about three hours spent in Hua’s hut, however, Dee did not think he had gained anything substantial or relevant regarding the case of Luo Binwang.

  Six

  No man is an island,

  Entire of itself.

  Each is a piece of the continent,

  A part of the main.

  If a clod be washed away by the sea,

  Europe is the less.

  As well as if a promontory were.

  As well as if a manor of thy friend’s

  Or of thine own were:

  Each man’s death diminishes me,

  For I am involved in mankind.

  Therefore, send not to know

  For whom the bell tolls,

  It tolls for thee.

  – John Donne

  ‘True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.’

  – Socrates

  What with the greenish herbal drink Dr Hua had carefully prepared for him and the joyful chorus of chirping birds outside the hostel window, Judge Dee woke up the next morning feeling rested and refreshed.