The hall had a most warlike appearance, it resembled an armoury rather than a reception hall. The walls were decorated with spears, pikes and shields, the floor was covered with the skins of wild animals.

MA JOONG AND CHIAO TAI ARREST A CRIMINAL

The three men looked up at the intruders in speechless amazement. Judge Dee did not say a word. He walked straight to an empty armchair and sat down. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai planted themselves right in front of Chien Mow and gave him a baleful look.

Chien's two counsellors hastily left their footstools and retreated behind their master's armchair.

The judge addressed Ma Joong in a casual voice:

"Captain, the town is under martial law. So I leave it to you to deal with these rascals!"

Ma Joong turned round.

"Corporal Ling!", he bellowed.

The corporal hurriedly stepped over the threshold, followed by four of his men. Ma Joong asked:

"Which of these criminals is the traitor Chien Mow?"

The corporal pointed to the man in the armchair.

Ma Joong snapped:

"Chien Mow, you are arrested on the charge of sedition!"

Chien jumped up. He stood in front of Ma Joong and shouted in a voice that yielded nothing to Ma Joong's in harshness:

"Who is giving orders in my own house? Guards, cut them down!"

As he spoke Ma Joong struck him with his mailed fist full in the face. Chien fell down upsetting an elegant tea table that crashed to the floor together with a costly porcelain tea set.

Six fierce looking ruffians came rushing from behind the large screen back in the hall. They carried long swords and their leader brandished a double axe.

They suddenly halted when they saw Ma Joong and Chiao Tai in their full armour. Ma Joong folded his arms. He gruffly addressed the body guards:

"Give up your arms! Our commander will decide later whether you underlings are guilty or not."

Chien's nose had been broken, a stream of blood stained his robe. He lifted his head and called out:

"Don't listen to that bastard, men! Have you not eaten my rice for ten years? First kill that dog-official there!"

The leader of the body guard sprang over to the judge raising his axe.

Judge Dee did not move. He slowly caressed his side whiskers staring contemptuously at his attacker.

"Wait, brother Wang!", Corporal Ling shouted, "did I not tell you that the whole town is swarming with soldiers? We have not got a chance, the army has taken over!"

The man with the axe hesitated.

Chiao Tai stamped his foot impatiently on the floor.

"Let us get a move on!", he cried. "We have better things to do than picking up these few rascals!"

He turned round and made to step outside.

Chien Mow had lost consciousness. Ma Joong, completely ignoring the body guards, stooped down and started to bind up Chien.

Judge Dee rose from his chair. As he straightened his robes he said coldly to the man with the axe:

"Put that dangerous instrument down, my man!"

He turned his back on him and looked hard at the two counsellors. They had stood there silently throughout the proceedings. Evidently they did not want to commit themselves either way before the issue was decided.

"Who might you two be?", the judge asked haughtily.

The elder one bowed deeply.

"Your Honour", he replied, "this person has been compelled to serve this man Chien as a counsellor. Allow me to assure Your Honour that…"

"You will tell your tale in the tribunal!", Judge Dee interrupted him. To Ma Joong he said: "Let us hurry back to the tribunal. We shall take only this man Chien Mow and his two counsellors. We shall deal later with the rest of them." Ma Joong said promptly:

"As you order, Magistrate!"

He gave a sign to Corporal Ling. The four soldiers bound the two counsellors securely. Chiao Tai unwound a thin chain from his waist. He made a loop at either end and threw the nooses over the heads of the two prisoners. He dragged them outside. As he fastened the chain to his saddle bow Chiao Tai said curtly:

"If you don't want to strangle yourselves you had better walk fast!"

Chiao Tai mounted his horse and Judge Dee followed his example. Ma Joong slung the unconscious Chien Mow over his saddle. He called out to Corporal Ling:

"Divide your soldiers in four groups of twelve. Each group is responsible for ten of Chien's men. Go to the city gates and lock your prisoners in the towers. At noon an officer shall inspect the four gates!"

"I obey!", the corporal shouted.

The three rode across the courtyard, the two counsellors trotting behind Chiao Tai's horse.

In the second courtyard an elderly man with a grey goatee was waiting for them. He fell on his knees and knocked his head on the stoneflags.

Judge Dee halted his horse. He said curtly:

"Rise and state your name!"

The other hastily scrambled up. He replied with a bow:

"This unworthy person is the steward of this mansion."

Judge Dee ordered:

"You will be fully responsible for this mansion and everything in it, including the servants and the womenfolk, till officers from the tribunal come to take over!"

Then the judge rode on.

Ma Joong bent over in his saddle and asked the steward in a conversational tone:

"Have you ever seen how in the army they sometimes flog a criminal slowly to death with a thin rattan? It usually takes about six hours."

The bewildered steward respectfully replied that he had not yet had that advantage.

"That is exactly what will happen to you if you don't execute His Excellency's orders to the letter!", Ma Joong said casually. He spurred on his horse, leaving the steward standing there trembling, his face ashen.

As the three horsemen passed through the main gate of Chien's mansion, the four guards presented arms.

Once returned to the tribunal, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai delivered the still unconscious Chien Mow and his two panting counsellors to Headman Fang. Then they went to Judge Dee's private office. Sergeant Hoong was assisting the judge to change into his informal dress.

Ma Joong pushed back his iron helmet and wiped the perspiration from his brow. He looked with admiration at the judge, exclaiming:

"If that was not the most colossal bluff I have ever seen!"

The judge smiled bleakly.

"It would never have done", he explained, "to fight it out with Chien. Even if we had really had some two hundred soldiers at our disposal it would have been a sanguinary battle. Chien Mow is a rascal but he is by no means a coward and the men under him would have put up a stiff fight.

From the beginning I had planned to bluff them, impressing upon Chien and his men that all was over and done with and our victory a foregone conclusion. My original plan was to pose as a provincial governor or an Imperial censor on a border inspection tour.

As soon as Tao Gan informed me that there were many deserters from the regular army among Chien's men I changed my plan accordingly."

"Was it not taking a risk to let that corporal and five men return to Chien's mansion after the attack on the tribunal?", Chiao Tai asked. "They might have started making inquiries and found out that we were bluffing."

"That", Judge Dee replied, "was exactly what decided the issue. No one in his senses would have let six good men march back to their master unless he had overwhelmingly superior numbers behind him. It never occurred to Corporal Ling to check. Chien is a shrewd man but even he did not doubt the presence of the regular army. He decided to die in a last desperate fight but his followers thought better of it, especially when we suggested that we might let them go free."