from the high tower to the far-away view

of the lambent mountains. The wind chilly

on the bamboo mattress, I can only express

my sadness through the decorated zither …

Were those lines she wrote in that poem to Wen? Or were they in another poem? Or to someone else? Judge Dee was confused again. Nor was he sure about its being the entire poem or not. As far as he could recollect, the poem seemed to end in a more explicit complaint about her inconsolable solitude.

Frustrated with the elusive memory, Judge Dee concluded he was getting old.

‘See, there’s a yellowish banner behind the turn of the mountain trail,’ Yang said, breaking into Judge Dee’s somber reveries. ‘That’s it, the temple banner, I think. The temple is not located far from the hostel.’

The carriage was already slowing down.

At the entrance to the temple, Judge Dee was greeted by a receptionist monk named Nameless. Possibly in his mid-twenties, with a round face and alert eyes, Nameless bowed respectfully in a red, ample-sleeved silk cassock.

‘I’ve heard that the well-known poet monk Han Shan is staying at your temple, right?’ Judge Dee lost no time in raising the question.

‘Yes, Han Shan has been here for a month, and possibly for half a month more.’

‘That’s fantastic. I would like to have two rooms booked next to his. One for me, one for my assistant. We’ll stay for a couple of days at least. It’s a great opportunity for me to meet and talk with Han Shan here.’

‘But Han Shan does not talk to everyone, as you may know,’ Nameless said with a suggestion of hesitance, scratching his shaved bald head. ‘And there may not be any vacant rooms at the moment.’

Judge Dee gave him a handwritten name card and then added a small piece of silver. ‘Please give my card to the poet monk. He knows me. And here is something small for your trouble in making the room arrangement for us. It’s a celebrated temple with a lot of visitors, I know.’

Nameless cast a look at the name card and nodded with astonishment written on his face before he accepted the silver, stuffing it into the ample sleeve.

‘Confucius says, “You cannot decline something from a senior gentleman.” No trouble at all, Your Honor. I’ll double-check the rooms.’

As Nameless hurried back into the temple to check the availability of rooms, Yang moved up to his master in strides.

‘For this morning,’ Judge Dee said, ‘you don’t have to stay here with me. I’ll probably have a long talk with Han Shan about poetry. But there’s one thing you can do for me. Go and find a copy of Xuanji’s poetry collection.’