The Willow Pattern

'Why didn't you protest?' the judge asked sharply. 'The transfer of bonds is illegal.'

'How could I have done that, sir?' Yuan asked, astonished. 'Mr Hoo was our master and our benefactor. Hadn't he saved my late father's reputation by making good the theft?'

'Why then didn't you denounce Yee after he had murdered your wife in that abominable manner?'

'I, a steward's son, denounce Marquis Yee, the lord of the "old world"?' Yuan scoffed. 'High up here in your palace, my lord, you know very little indeed about the kind of justice meted out by the minions of the law to us, the poor.'

'I try to keep myself informed,' the judge said dryly. 'Abuses are punished severely, but we cannot prosecute if the people don't denounce offenders. A gong hangs in the gatehouse of the High Court, and at the gate of every tribunal in the empire, and every citizen has the right to beat that gong to announce that he wants to report an in­justice. That is not only his privilege, but also his civic duty. There is impartial justice in the empire, Mr Yuan. Has been for the last two thousand years, if you except periods of national crisis and upheaval.'

'Living as I do in the slums of the old city, that fact must have escaped my attention,' the puppeteer said dully.

'If you had gone to my predecessor, six years ago, you would have noticed it all right,' Judge Dee said unperturbed. 'Then there would have been no need to arrange an elabor­ate kind of marionette-play, involving a degrading experi­ence for your young daughter, and exposing her to grave risks.'

As Yuan remained silent, the judge went on:

'Being a puppeteer, you imagined that human beings can be manipulated in the same way as your marionettes. You knew Hoo's violent temper and his crude sensual appetites, as well as Yee's perverted lusts. You thought that, through your daughter, you could stir up trouble between those two, and that Hoo would kill Yee, or Yee Hoo. In either case your wife would have been avenged, for the murderer would have been executed. For achieving that purpose you did not shrink from making your daughter, a sweet young girl, expose herself naked to two evil lechers, apart from the risk that one of them would simply violate her on the spot.'

'Coral did not mind taking risks, sir. She was very fond of her mother, and she would do anything to avenge her. She fully approved my plan, for it meant avenging her mother without me or she actually raising our hand against our former masters. And as regards dancing in the nude, that also is a fine art. It does not degrade the serious per­former. Only the wrong kind of spectator.'

'Suppose one of those lechers had tried to overpower her up there in the gallery?'

'The keeper of the Tavern of the Five Blessings always went with her, my lord. He is my best friend, and he can play the drum very well.'

'I saw him!’ Ma Joong exclaimed angrily. 'An undersized hunchback! And you entrusted him with ...'

"That hunchback is the best knife-thrower in the city, Mr Ma,' Yuan interrupted him with quiet dignity. 'And a man without fear. Further, Yee was firmly convinced that Coral was a professional courtesan and the hunchback her tout. He bargained several times with him, as a matter of fact, about buying Coral. Yee thought she would be his to do what he liked with as soon as the price was agreed upon.'

'Did your other daughter know about your scheme?' Judge Dee asked.

'Heaven forbid, sir!' Yuan exclaimed aghast. 'I had always told her that her mother met with an accident while working for Yee, that she fell into a deep well. If Bluewhite had known the truth, she would have gone to Yee at once and strangled him with her own hands! She is a good straightforward girl, sir, but she has a violent temper and she is awfully strong-minded. If she has set her mind to do something, even I, her father, can't keep her back. Coral is quite different, she is a meek and docile girl, her main interest is in singing and dancing.' He shook his head resignedly, and went on: 'All went well until last night. Coral went there without telling me, and all alone. She ...'

'I prefer to hear the rest from her own mouth,' the judge interrupted him. 'Bring her in again, Tao Gan!'

When she was standing before him again, Judge Dee said to her:

'Your father has just told me about the plan to avenge your mother. Miss Yuan. Now I want to hear from you exactly what happened last night.'

She gave the judge a timid look and began in a soft voice:

'Yesterday, at noon, I went to the market with my twin sister, my lord. We wanted to see if we could find some vegetables. All of a sudden, someone tugged at my sleeve from behind. It was Mr Yee. I was in a dead fright, but he smiled at me and said in a pleasant voice: "How are you, Coral? And this is your twin sister Bluewhite, isn't it? The famous girl-acrobat. I knew your father well, you know, when he was serving in the house of my good friend Hoo." I couldn't imagine how he could have discovered my identity, and I was at a loss what to say. I just dropped a low curtsy, and so did my sister. Then, after some desultory conversation, Yee said that he wanted to talk to me alone for a moment, about an old family affair. As soon as my sister had walked on to have a look at the stalls, Yee's manner changed. He called me awful names and said that one of his retainers had seen me when going to his place. The man had recognized me as Yuan's daughter, and in­formed Yee. "Your father always was a tricky bastard," he hissed. Then he went on to tell me that he would inform Mr Hoo, and that they would kidnap my father and torture him to death. I begged him to forgive us. At last he said: "All right. I promise that I shall leave your father in peace. On condition that you dance once more for me. Come tonight, and alone, mind you".'